Hartford Family Winery
When I met Don Hartford, President of the Hartford Family Winery, in Manhattan for dinner (along with my friend writer Bill Marsano), the initial conversation did involve yeast, but we weren’t yet talking about wine. Both Don and Bill try their hand at artisanal pizza. I do not, but I have a degree in baking and take pride in my bread. The yeast bubbled in concept, frothing in metaphor, as Don came to state that “I take plenty of time and patience producing my Pinot, but get a little impatient when it comes to the pizza dough.” The patience required for the Pinot (and the Hartford Chardonnay and Zin) runs into the 24-month-plus level, while the pizza patience calls for little more than an overnight dough rest in the refrigerator. Before we poured, Don vowed to let his pizza of the future take its sweet yeasty time.
A native of western Massachusetts who now makes wine in Sonoma, Don Hartford is as enthusiastic and as gregarious a winemaker as I have met, yet the seriousness seeps through. I shall taste the perfected pizza at some future date, but I had the privilege of tasting through four Hartford Court Chardonnays, eight Hartford Court Pinot Noirs, and a delightful Hartford Zin. Each wine out of this baker’s dozen brought a distinct personality. “Tight-grain oak is one of our keys,” Don stressed, “with 24 to 36 month aging, always carefully managed. It’s all to support the personality of the place.” All these wines see 100% French oak, from 40-60% new.
I understand the logic of “starting with the Chards,” although sometimes I wish I could have a separate tasting for the whites, go home, get a night’s sleep, and then return fresh for the reds. Not to be, alas. The 2008 Stone Côte Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, $60, hails from what they call the “true” Sonoma Coast (meaning you, and the grapes, can smell the Pacific). The vineyard, on an uplifted stony riverbed, is decidedly cool-climate. I enjoyed aromas of key lime and warm sweet vanilla, with flavors of white peach and nectarine. The best aspect: a powdery mineral finish, with a pleasant bit of peach-pit at the end.
The 2007 Four Hearts Vineyards Russian River Valley Chardonnay, $40, refers to the four core regions of the Russian River Valley: Middle Reach, Laguna Ridge, Green Valley and the Santa Rosa Bench. The sandy loam “Goldridge” soil of the region comes into play. My first impression was of green gage plum, pear, green apple. A full impression entered my notes as “apple pie with vanilla pie crust.” The wine has distinct components, guided by a round acidity, leading to a spicy finish.
The 2007 Seascape Vineyard Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, $65, hails from a chilly ridge overlooking the Pacific where, as Don puts it, “you are not supposed to be able to grow good wine grapes.” These grapes do not ripen until mid-October or even November. On the nose, this Chardonnay is a mix of citrus and mineral. As you can imagine, the acidity in the wine is far from shy. Fruit in the mouth has tropical elements, mango and pineapple, with a concentrated, almost candied fruit finish.
The 2007 Laura’s Russian River Valley Chardonnay, $65, is a product of barrel fermentation. I loved the nose of ripe pear, honey, and orange blossom (with a touch of mulling spice). The spice continues in the form of baking spice, nutmeg and clove, in the mouth, accompanied by yellow delicious apple. A mouth-filling sensual delight, with a buttery element.
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Persimmon Creek Vineyards
by Elliot Essman
Songwriter Hoagy Charmichael (who was actually a native of Indiana) gave us the song standard “Georgia on my Mind.” Composed in 1930, it is the official song of the state of Georgia, even though in fact the song was originally written to celebrate a woman named Georgia. No matter, as to agriculture, the state is associated with peaches, perhaps peanuts, but winemaking? Yes, in fact, if husband and wife team Sonny and Mary Ann Hardman have anything to say about the matter. A decade ago, the Hardmans scoped out a plot of farmland in northeastern Georgia, 110 acres situated at an elevation of 2100 feet. The couple did careful soil and climate analysis before planting. They decided popular varietal wines like Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon would not do well in the high elevation cool-climate conditions of Clayton County. Instead, they planted sections of French white hybrid Seyval Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet Franc, and some Merlot. The Hardmans keep at it, doing it all by hand.
The Persimmon Creek Vineyards 2007 Georgia Seyval Blanc, $23, is a near water-white in color. The nose is lovely: mineral, white flowers, honey and a deep lime citrus. Before any other quality, I must bill this as a food friendly wine. It is dry, with medium-plus, racy acidity. Palate notes are a mix of well-concentrated lemon, peach, apricot and mango. Later on in the process, kiwi and green plum take over, through to an exceedingly clean finish. This is a tasty bottle that emptied rather quickly.
The Persimmon Creek Vineyards 2007 Georgia Cabernet Franc, $23, is a medium-depth ruby in color. The nose is pronounced, with aromatic notes of licorice, black plum, nutmeg, dried flowers, violet and mocha with a vanilla tinge. The wine is dry, with soft fine grained tannins and well integrated acidity. Mouthfeel is on the soft side, a quality that dovetails well with fruit notes of plum and blackberry, with tobacco, licorice, and vanilla each playing a part. The tobacco and vanilla linger on the finish, a nice touch.
The Persimmon Creek Vineyards 2007 Georgia Ice Wine, $75, is 100% Riesling from west-facing vines that take their time ripening, often lurching deep into November or December. The grapes freeze naturally on the vine, making it the state’s only true ice wine (artificial freezing, as used by some vineyards, does not count). The wine is a deep amber in color. Honey, dried flowers, peach, apricot, and almond meet the nose, with a similar amalgam on the palate. Acidity balances out the sweet. This is a wine you drink slowly, with a gentle touch. The finish is long, unctuous, and dryer that you would expect. The wine in fact is in many ways more subtle than I first expected. I look forward to further vintages.
Verdict: Expands American wine horizons.
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Use Wine to Make Sense of the World!
Use Wine to Make Sense of the World, the new book by award-winning wine and food writer Elliot Essman, is a civilized romp through the limitless world of wine, written with a true sense of whimsy and fun. The book takes an ambitious interdisciplinary look at how we can use wine to dig deep into the experience of life, love, the senses, our bodies, our thought processes, and more. Key themed sections include:
Use Wine to Make Sense of Desire and Lust
Use Wine to Make Sense of the Five Senses
Use Wine to Make Sense of Other People
Use Wine to Make Sense of the Natural World
Use Wine to Make Sense of Your Body
Use Wine to Make Sense of Language
Use Wine to Make Sense of Your Brain
…all interspersed with Elliot’s sage observations on taste, wine behavior, the French, the British, wine education, literature, spirits and cocktails, philosophy, history, internet dating, and anything else his inventive mind latches onto.
Copyright © Elliot Essman 2010. (Wine not included.)
-Paperback: 166 pages -Publisher: Outskirts Press -ISBN-10: 143274903X -ISBN-13: 978-1432749033 -Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches -Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
Author Elliot Essman responds to frequently asked questions about Use Wine to Make Sense of the World.
Q. Is the book about the world’s wine regions? A. No, the book is not about wine geography. Use Wine to Make Sense of the World is designed to be an investigation into ways in which wine can enhance our understanding of our lives.
Q. What are the book’s subject areas? A. Using wine to make sense of other people, the senses, desire and lust, the natural world, the body, language, and the brain.
A. Is Use Wine to Make Sense of the World serious or tongue in cheek? Q. That’s up to the reader. I use plenty of humor, but I really do think wine makes life more worthwhile, and I hope the seven main sections of the book show it. I cover some serious subjects, but in the final analysis I hope the book is considered light reading; there are too many grim things in this world.
Q. What are your credentials in the world of wine? A. I have an advanced certification in Wine and Spirits from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust through the International Wine Center in New York. I am a James Beard Foundation Journalism Award nominee in the beer, wine and spirits category. I am a career writer and essayist and make a full time profession of writing about and reviewing wines.
Q. May I begin reading the book at any point? A. Yes. The book is divided into a number of short essay sections, each of which can be read and enjoyed separately, in any order.
Q. How much do I need to know about wine in order to benefit from the book? A. The book presupposes that the reader has at least a basic knowledge of wine, the level that would be covered in any standard entry-level wine appreciation book or course.
Q. What about people who are alcoholics or have drinking problems? A. I allude to these issues, but, as with most books about alcoholic beverages, this book is designed for people who tend to drink moderately and who are not alcoholics or problem drinkers. Even when I talk about getting “drunk” or inebriated, I am implicitly referring to an experience to be enjoyed occasionally rather than habitually.
Q. You write about desire and lust. Do you believe people who drink wine together ought to have romantic and sexual connections with each other? A. Yes, if appropriate, but I stress that humans can share the sensual experience of wine without necessarily having physical or sexual contact with each other.
Q. Do you recommend individual wines? A. No I do not. The world of wine availability changes too rapidly to allow this. I strive to write in more general terms, hoping to give my reader greater discrimination when they go out and purchase or order wine. I do, however, refer broadly to various types of wine and occasionally recommend they be sampled.
Q. You seem to be “down” on many so-called “house” wines as served in bars and restaurants. Aren’t you being a little unfair? A. No I am not. Someone needs to bring the subject to the public’s attention.
Q. You frequently counsel people to try many different wines. Can’t a person have a good experience with wine if they drink the same wine every time? A. Not in my opinion. An important part of the uplifting experience of wine is an enjoyment of wine’s inexhaustible variety.
Q. You also counsel readers sometimes to spend more money on wine. A. Yes, now and then, if they know they will get better wine (this isn’t always so).
Q. What about the wine poems you include in the book? Why do you write them? A. I enjoy writing poetry and think wine is a fine subject for poetic expression.
Q. Can you tell us more about the types of poems you have written? A. The five Wine Haikus follow the 5/7/5 syllable convention of Japanese Haiku. The poem In the Wine Shop is in the form of an Italianate sonnet in the style of Spenser. The poem Wine As It Stands Alone is written in accented verse. The poemWine and the Proper Use of Lips is in the form of an Alexandrine, strictly following the twelve syllable line based on two caesuras of six syllables that is the standard in French poetry; in my case the model is Charles Baudelaire. The poem Ode to Terroir follows the three stanza eleven line rhyming model of Keats’ Ode to Autumn.
Q. You integrate various essays into the book that are not entitled Use Wine to Make Sense of anything. Why? A. The book is designed to be an enjoyable browser, to stimulate the reader to look at wine in new ways. As such I have sprinkled in the best of my independent essays on wine to round out the book.
Q. You use some foreign terms in the book, from French, Italian and other languages. Aren’t you afraid many readers will be put off by these? A. I use these terms in several small articles that I feel will interest many readers who enjoy learning about languages. Those who do not are welcome to skip these sections. That said, most serious students of wine will benefit from learning a few foreign terms.
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La Bobal and Other Stories About Wine
By James Beard Foundation Finalist
Elliot Essman
I recently attended a showing of the documentary film, “La Bobal and Other Stories About Wine” (La Bobal y otras historias del vino, in Spanish), hosted by its creator, Canadian-British artist and filmmaker Zev Robinson, who lives in Spain. See: http://www.artafterscience.com. Bobal is a dark-skinned grape indigenous to the Utiel-Requena region of Valencia. It is also widely grown in some of the nearby provinces. Utiel-Requena’s high altitude favors a red wine with greater acidity and less alcohol than is common elsewhere in southern Spain. I tasted some of the Bobal wine both before and after the film. I adored the chunky tannins and the mouth-filling fruit, and if it were up to me…but of course we have international markets to consider. For generations, Bobal was a bulk-produced blending grape, but today dedicated hands are trying to make it something more.
Robinson takes his time weaving the story of Borbal in Utiel-Requena, allowing viewers to loll around traditional vineyards and wineries, hang out with village cats and dogs on a sunny afternoon, or buzz with the bees around vines-full of developing Bobal grapes. The visual surcease is necessary because when people speak in this documentary, they tend to have strong opinions, and express strong emotions. Wine made from Bobal has either a brilliant future, or else no future at all, depending on where you find yourself in this full-length film. A major visual and auditory punctuation in the film consists of recurring scenes of green wine bottles clanging against each other as they move down a bottling line. Is this a vain effort, or will those bottles fill with wine and cross the ocean to us?
“I got the idea for this film by walking around the small village in which I live,” Robinson explained to a group assembled at the Gabarron Foundation Carriage House Center for the Arts in Manhattan. “I started filming fields of grapes, doing interviews, and discovered that Bobal is a unique grape, now mostly produced by old-time growers whose children don’t want to continue the tradition.” Young winemakers, however, including several cooperatives, have been getting involved at the production end. Fields of Bobal have a distinct look, reflecting Gobelet pruning: stand-alone bushes without training supports, widely spaced in the vineyards. These vines, often up to 80 years old, are completely dry farmed. As a wine, Bobal may appear in a fairly tannic rustic style or in a softer, more fruit-forward style. In either case, this high-altitude wine shows rich layers of aroma and flavor, direct fruit, spice, meaty notes, something for everyone.
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St. Francis Winery & Vineyards, Sonoma
St. Francis Winery & Vineyards, Sonoma
by Elliot Essman
http://www.stylegourmet.com/wine/tas00249.htm
St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, born in Italian Umbria in 1181, is the namesake of the city of San Francisco, hundreds of other municipalities around the world, and, of course, Sonoma’s St. Francis Winery and Vineyard. The connection between winery and saint here is not one of those accidents of California geography. Winery president Chris Silva is personally dedicated to animal welfare. “We have dogs, horses, a camel, an Amazon green parrot, and even an African porcupine on the property,” Silva tells me. “We host a St. Francis blessing-of-the-animals ceremony every September, as well as charity events to support Canine Companions for the Blind and the Sonoma County Humane Society.” Silva is a fifth generation Sonoma native. The family (of dairy farmers) originally migrated from Italian Switzerland. Silva worked as an attorney before coming on at St. Francis.
If Silva is sensitive to animals, he shows equal sensitivity to the concept of grape excellence. “We have our own 600 acres, and we deal with many outside growers,” he relates. “We maintain report cards for all our growers. An A grade is necessary for us to accept the grapes. These are terrific growers, usually third to fifth generation family operations.”
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Cooking Vietnamese Style Lamb
Chef Steve Edwards prepares Vietnamese style top sirloin of lamb - 2:24
Courtesy: MyInboxNews.com
Ravenswood Single Vineyard Designate Wines
Ravenswood Single Vineyard Designate Wines
By Elliot Essman
Ravenswood’s founder Joel Peterson is quite the raconteur, a vital man with a story or three at his fingertips at any given time. We met recently at Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan for a tasting of his Ravenswood Single Vineyard Designate line. “I still do the wines I brought to the dance,” Peterson tells me. “I started out with terroir wines back in 1983, nearly went broke, switched gears a bit, came out with 1500 cases of Zinfandel, thought I wouldn’t even sell those, and the rest is history.” Ravenswood Vintners Blend leads the Zin category today, but Peterson keeps looking to do more. With the Single Vineyard Designate line he returns to terroir: old vines, family vineyards, and, yes, no shortage of stimulating anecdotes. “Terroir is not just place,” Peterson insists, “but history, the mix of grapes (including the lesser-known field blends), and especially the people involved.”
“The three sins of zin,” Peterson is quick to explain before we pour, “are too much sugar, too much alcohol, and too much oak. The 13.5% to 15% alcohol level is our window for quality zin. Any higher level of alcohol and you get too much unfermentable residual sugar in the wine. We aim for less than two grams RS per liter. We reach that goal through extremely careful harvesting and grape selection. We make these wines in open top fermenters, using only native yeasts. We age in French oak, an average of 40% new, usually about eighteen months.
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Louis Royer Cognac
Louis Royer Cognac
by Elliot Essman
Louis Royer has recently sent me an impressive line of Cognacs, including a line of three Kosher Cognacs, their special 53% alcohol VSOP, and their evanescent 32-year-old single cask offering (in a very small bottle indeed). Begun by Louis Royer in 1853, the house still has major Royer family input, although it is now an affiliate of the Suntory Group. Cellar Master Laurent Robin has the admirable option of dipping into Cognacs from Royer distilleries in each of the five major production zones. It is not surprising that these blends show both character and individuality.
It may be most fitting to start at the top. The Louis Royer 32-year-old Single Cask Grande Champagne Cognac will set you back from $450 to $600 depending on your bargaining power, but the prospect of still having that money and not having this liquid delight is grim indeed. Here is a Cognac of deep copper and amber hue. Single notes do not do justice to this masterpiece, but I did write several down: orange marmalade, toffee, nutmeg, clove, fruitcake, peanut brittle, and brioche. On the palate these combine with extremely subtle oak richness and a gentle rancio fullness, roasted hazelnut, walnut and coffee bean. The Cognac is extremely soft on initial attack, soft through a lengthy mid-palate, and the finish is eternal. Single cask Cognac has idiosyncratic character, and I can only imagine how 32 years could affect the product of the next cask over. Matchless.
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Jackson Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand
Winemaker Mike Paterson
Jackson Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand
by Elliot Essman
Winemaker Mike Paterson of Jackson Estate in Marlborough, New Zealand likes to talk about his wines in the same way I speak about my granddaughter: with limitless enthusiasm. New Zealand exported 88.6 million liters of wine in 2008, more than ten times the level of 1995. Still a small player by world standards, the country is nevertheless on a major upswing. The Kiwis produce a range of wines of course, but when Americans say they enjoy New Zealand wine they are most often talking about Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.
“While we produce our wines at a winery just next door,” Mike tells me, “we use only fruit grown on the vineyards we own.” I remark that this is about the opposite of the usual case, in which a winery buys in whatever fruit is can get, leading to good or mediocre quality wine, as the case may be. Paterson wants greater control over his raw material. He depends on viticulturist Geoff Woolcombe for this, and uses the sustainably-farmed grapes to produce some stylish cool-climate wines. They keep it simple, as one would expect: Sauvignon Blanc of course, Pinot Noir to no one’s surprise, and a concession toward the world primacy of Chardonnay. All wines are 100% single varietals, appellation Marlborough.
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Big House Wines
by Elliot Essman
Big House Wines
Big House Wines hail from Soledad, California, right up the street from Soledad State Correctional Facility, hence the prison-oriented nomenclature. While produced within the letter of the law, Big House Wine Company may be viewed a committing what could be called a crime in the world of wine. I lunched with winemaker (AKA “warden”) Georgetta Dane the other day and she proudly spelled out her transgression in no uncertain terms. “No Chardonnay. No Cabernet Sauvignon.” Gasp! Can it be?
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