Maker's Table

Tinged, Not Tainted

Navarro Vineyards
Anderson Valley Deep End Blend Pinot Noir
2008
13.8% ABV | Price: about $36

"Dear Navarro Friend," the letter began, "We need your opinion, which is why we are sending you this sample bottle at no charge."

The friend in question is a friend of mine, a member of Navarro's pre-release program. Last summer he purchased futures of this 2008 Pinot, and this September was to receive six bottles.

But 2008 was an unusual season in California, with over 500 lightning complex wildfires flaring up during June and July. Many vineyards were shrouded in smoke during fruit development, leading to fears of smoke taint, a complex and poorly understood condition in which compounds in the smoke penetrate the grapes' skin and vegetation, impacting the flavor of the wine. (Read an excellent primer on smoke taint from Reign of Terroir, and an article on the 2008 wildfires from Wine Spectator.)

Mendocino County was particularly impacted, as a thick layer of smoke lay over the vineyards for nearly three weeks. Pinot noir grapes, the kind in this wine, are thought to be especially susceptible to taint. "Reactions to the smokiness have been wildly varied," Navarro's letter continued. "One concerned friend sampled the wine, emptied it into the kitchen sink, opened a 2007 instead, and then wrote an impassioned email recommending that we recall the wine. The next day another faithful customer wrote us about the same wine: 'I opened it with some trepidation because of the smoke issue. But I was happily surprised. There is no issue.'"

So, rather than simply bank the cash and ship the wine as previously agreed, Navarro decided to let its customers decide, shipping each a free single bottle, saying Try it. Let us know. If you like it, we'll send it to you, knocking ten dollars off the price. If you don't like it, we'll credit you or ship a substitute.

Give Navarro a gold star for transparency, plus one more for customer service.

It's smoky. Not a toasty-oak kind of smoky, not a caramel or vanilla smoky, but a minerally scorched-earth smoky, like charred vegetation, roasted landscape, woodsmoke, campfire. But the smokiness is evenly balanced with juicy ripe aromas of red fruit: it also smells pinot-y, varietally correct, with a fresh, brilliant edge. The smoke is there on the palate, too, but happily just one element of the flavor profile, adding a dark edge to this young wine.

The wine is fine on its own, interesting and almost, but not quite, a curiosity, because the smoke flavors aren't overwhelming. But it really sang last night when we tasted it with a pork shoulder I'd been smoking on the grill for five hours. These two were perfect partners, the light-bodied Pinot a match for the pale, juicy center of the cut, and the smokiness marrying beautifully with the meat's crackling outer layers.

The verdict? Ship it.

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Riesling, Dry

Hermann J. Wiemer
Dry Riesling
2008
12.0% ABV | Price: about $17.50

We purchased this bottle at the winery on a recent three-day trip to the Finger Lakes. We visited Wiemer last that weekend, after having tasted about a hundred other wines—mostly Riesling, but a little Gewürtz and Cab Franc and Merlot, and a few other varietals or blends the Finger Lakes winemakers cook up. Wiemer's wines were the best of our tastings, and we bought a few of these Dry Rieslings and their low-end Gewürtztraminer, plus a blend they call Frost Cuvée, all of which struck us as good values.

Upstate New York Rieslings are, in general, bone dry with searing acidity, and this wine's no exception. But it manages some nuance, with a little more fruit and body than its peers. It's a light gold color, with a nose that's citrusy, with green apple and jasmine. On the palate it spreads out, filling the mouth with clean, bright sour apple and lemon, and finishing long and dry. Cleansing, and a good ambassador for the region.

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Enfants de la Patrie

Domaine des Varinelles, Famille Daheuiller
Saumur-Champigny
2006
13.5% ABV | Price: about $25

It's Bastille Day, so a good time to think about my French heritage. My maternal lineage hails from the Loire, from the tiny village of Faye-la-Vineuse. (I wish I'd known Faye. Given her vinous proclivities, I'm sure we'd have gotten along famously.)

In celebration, tonight we opened a Saumur-Champigny, a wine made not too far from my ancestral stomping grounds. It's 100% cabernet franc and deep ruby in the glass. The nose is spicy and peppery, and blooms with fresh herbs like catmint and tarragon. It somehow manages to smell both fresh and dark, young and old, with bright ripe fruits like strawberry and black raspberry standing forward against darker brambles, plus a plummy earthiness. On the palate it's supple, with smooth, spreading fruit and good acidity. It finishes dry, astringent like strong black tea.

"This wine is about its nose," my husband observed. And for me, it's about its provenance, too.

 

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Riesling Lessons

Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt
Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Kabinett
2005
9% ABV | Price: about $19

I'm trying to learn about Riesling, so I'm buying all I can find (and afford). My local merchant thrust this into my hands the other day. "It's delicious," he said, shaking his head lightly, the way one does when one recalls a memory with both disbelief and pleasure. 

I poured myself a glass as I began to strip fresh peas from their shells, shave young fennel into thin strips, and prep fresh herbs from the garden. The wine is deep gold, with a savory, floral aroma weighted by something a little oily, a little herbaceous. I had picked a lot of sage tonight, and as I washed it gently, its fragrance bloomed in my hands, marrying suddenly with the wine, the two blending high notes and low notes, dissolving into the middle distance, together.

It's a Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, off-dry, with blushing stone fruit and good acidity. I like learning about Riesling.

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Stony, Steely

Domaine de la Pepière
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie
2009
12% ABV | Price: about $15

This wine is clear pale yellow, offering bright, lightly flowery, almost salty aromas. On the palate it's flinty, like a cold nickel in your mouth, with very faint citrus and stone fruits balanced by strong acidity. It tastes a bit like Brie, or Camembert (maybe from the lees?).

Cleansing, Old World, steely. Not loose; serious. Pure.

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Summer of Riesling

Prinz du Salm-Dalberg'sches Weingut
Schloss Wallhausen Riesling
2000
10% ABV | Price of current vintage: about $18–20

We don't know where we got this bottle, and we don't know when. We don't know how much we paid, and we couldn't find the price for this vintage or the current release. We only know that at some point we put a sticker on this bottle to "Open in 2010," and that it seemed like it might be just right for a hot night in New Hampshire.

These grapes were grown in the Nahe region on the oldest continuously owned family wine estate in Germany, dating to 1200 (terroir, baby). The land is now organically farmed—and likely was back then, too. Wines labeled "Schloss Wallhausen" are not from designated vineyards, so are not this producer's top quality, and this one is a simple Qualitätswein.

Still, it's a delight. Gold in the glass, it has a full, white-flowered nose with a bit of lime and faint petrol. On the palate there's apricot and light citrus, with good acidity and a mineral aspect that together balance its moderate sugar. It finishes very long, the stone fruit trailing into the stony distance.

It's hard to say what age has wrought upon this wine, beyond buyer's remorse: I wish we'd laid down more.

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First of the Garden Meals, 2010

Suppertime. There's no veg in my fridge, nor fruit, for that matter. No meat, and only a little cheese.

But I do have veg in my garden, and it's starting to yield. So tonight I picked two small Japanese eggplants, some radishes, a handful of shell peas, garlic scapes. There's baby spinach and arugula, and a few leaves of adolescent kale. And herbs; there are always herbs.

I can do something with this. Something I call supper.

 

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