Amusing Musings From the Wine Road

Clos Mimi, 2003 Syrah, Brave Oak Vineyard

A big blockbuster Syrah from winemaker Tim Spear, the 2003 Brave Oak Vineyard is currently available for $297 per 6-bottle case.  Click to Buy.

Tasting Notes
If ever there was a wine ideally suited to the Flintstones car-tipping Brontosaurus ribs, this is it.  Deep and dark and brooding, though surprisingly well balanced - the proverbial velvet hammer. This award-winning wine is a solo act that demands, and deserves, your attention.  Aromas and flavors dominated by ripe, warm dark berries, an anise/black licorice essence that boldly crosses the boundary into "tar", and enough ripe fruit so the high alcohol is well balanced.  Despite the pleasant bottle bouquet beginning to emerge from this wine, I recommend decanting at least an hour before drinking.

The Winemaker
Winemaker/Owner Tim Spear takes his wines seriously. But he is convinced his current wines - as good as they are - are training him for making wine in his next life. You see, Tim believes in reincarnation.  REALLY believes in it, and has been able to a prior life as a winemaker in northern Burgundy, where he made world-class Pinot Noir.  He is just as certain he'll be a Burgundy winemaker again in his next life.

So why does he make Syrah instead of Pinot Noir?  "Because Syrah does well in the heat of Paso Robles, and Pinot doesn't," he says. "And global warming is going to change winemaking in Burgundy by my next life, and I don't expect they'll be growing pinot noir there by then."

It may be tempting to dismiss Spear as having taken Harry Potter just a little too seriously. He talks about myths and pagan rites. He times his harvest by the phase of the moon. He seeks tips from "The Witches' Almanac: The Complete Guide to Lunar Harmony." But yielding to such taunting temptations would be unwise.  Tim is serious about his wine, and you don't have to accept his theories on reincarnation, witchcraft or anything else to appreciate them.

The Vineyard
Overlooking the Estrella River, the "Brave Oak" vineyard is exactly 4 miles north of highway 46-East and 2 miles north of the Paso Robles airport. This remarkable vineyard is owned and farmed by Tony Domingos, a young vineyard maverick raised in Santa Maria whom I met in 1994 while working for Bob Steinhauer and Meridian Vineyards. With two rows of vines per terrace, "Brave Oak" is planted with 1,922 vines per acre, which is very rare for Paso Robles. Vines are planted 3.5 feet apart. The 1.08-acre block has a north-south row orientation. The 0.47-acre block has an east-west orientation. These blocks are planted with the Estrella clone of syrah on 1103P.  The soil at "brave oak" is a medium drained clay loam weathered from calcareous shale. These terraces contain a large amount of limestone below the topsoil.

The Harvest
In 2003 yields were 33.5 hectoliters per hectare (2.79 tons per acre). Harvest was the 10th of September. The sugar content in the grapes was 26.3° brix (north-south terraces) and 30.0° brix (east-west terraces). The grapes were 100% destemmed, 100% treaded by foot, and fermented with 100% indigenous yeasts. Total maceration was 59 days (north-south terraces) and 74 days (east-west terraces) exactly two and three full moons after harvest.

The Barrels
The wine from the north-south terraces was aged in 225-liter Seguin Moreau barrels 3 and 4 years old. And the wine from the east-west terraces was aged in new 225-liter Seguin Moreau barrels. In August of 2005 I declassified the new barrels into the 2004 "petite rousse" syrah. Total time in barrel was 28 months. The wine was racked barrel-to-barrel one time on the summer solstice in 2004. This wine was never pumped, acidulated, fined or filtered. This wine was bottled by hand via gravity on Clos Mimi's own equipment. There is no press wine in the bottle.

I visited Tim at the new Clos Mimi facility long after this vintage was in bottle.  But I'm sure it received the same barrel aging technique he was applying during my visit - a combination of jazz and classical music, depending on the season, time of day, etc.

The Wine

15.8% Alcohol

100% syrah

Drinking well now, will age for years to come

Total production is 122 cases The 2003 Brave Oak Vineyard is currently available for $297 per 6-bottle case.  Click to Buy.

Cheers!

Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant

Dave@SidewaysWineClub.com

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Kiss and Tell and Support WomenHeart!

February 18,2008

Among my emails from this morning was an invitation to "Kiss and Tell".  I only wish it had arrived in time for me to tell you about it before Valentine's Day.  But sending kisses is really a year-round activity, as is supporting heart disease research.

The Sonoma powerhouse winery known as Clos du Bois, in conjunction with Traction Advertising of San Francisco (TractionCo.com), has launched a fun promotion with a compelling altruistic twist - for each "kiss" people send via email, the winery is donating a dollar to WomenHeart, an organization dedicated to the research of heart disease in women.  Clos du Bois will donate a minimum of $50K and as much as $75K, depending on the number of electronic kisses sent.  So I implore you to send as many of these as you can (without incurring the jealousy of your loved ones, of course) in an effort to max out the winery's altruism!

Plus, community vote will determine the "best kissing story" from among those choosing to make their story public, with the top vote-getter winning a trip to Paris.  And if you've never been to La Ville-lumière (the city of lights), this ain't a bad way to go.

Click Here to "Kiss and Tell" - send your own email kissTHEN, reveal your own best kiss story for a chance to win a trip to Paris!

Cheers!

Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant

Dave@SidewaysWineClub.com

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(2/15/08) It's Official: It's Too Late for Valentine's Day Options

February 15th, 2008 Amendment - Actually, it is now too late.  But the highlighted wines continue to be of interest.

February 14, 2008
Procrastinated on buying your Valentine's Day gift?  Don't worry, our electronic gift card offers the same flexibility as the credit card-sized gift cards you see in the supermarket, but without the plastic waste. 

In an instant your recipient automatically receives their gift via email, along with your personalized gift message.  The email contains a link for instant redemption or a unique code for later use, should they choose to ponder their options.  Plus, we remind recipients via email or phone calls of their gift if not used within 30 days.

Sideways Wine Club Electronic Gift Cards

(A perfect last-minute gift solution!)

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Seductive Wine Ideas for After Work

If your plans involve stopping for wine after work tonight, I'm sure your local wine merchant will have some great suggestions, if you can wait long enough for them to help you - most wine shops will be packed with other last-minute shoppers.  You'll be far better off to walk into the shop and head right to some sure winners, wines such as these:

Rosé Sparkling Wine - Nothing quite says "fun" the way bubbles do, and with a hue that ranges from salmon to light ruby, this is the classic drink of seduction.  Here are three favorites I find to be relative bargains at their price range - the Laetitia Brut Rosé  (~$30), the Nicolas Feuilatte Brut Rosé (~$40 - $45), and the Billecart-Salmon (~$90 - $100, and perhaps the classic booty call bait).

Sexto, from Laely Heron ($12,99) - Never mind that the name refers to the Spanish blend of the six grapes in this wine, it is obviously going to be the immediate topic of discussion once the bottle comes out of the gift bag!  I've taken some heat for carrying Laely's wines in a portfolio dedicated to wines from small producers, but Laely is hardly a large producer.  Though this production exceeds my usual production threshold of 5,000 cases, I still find it to be of exceptional value for those who enjoy an old world style wine - a sensation of mushrooms and freshly tilled soil. 

Sexto is also available online here

Dry Rosés!  Not sure what to bring?  Afraid the wine won't accompany the food?  A dry rosé is one of your safest bets, as these wines tend to be very food friendly.  Plus, they provide the added benefit of an appropriate color for tonight's festivities.

Worried you'll pick a horrid, sweet White Zinfandel, instantly transforming you from Wine Wisard to Oaf?  Fortunately, price is an effective barrier to excessive, date-ending sweetness, since the sweet versions cost less than $10 a bottle.  Look for a rosé wine in the $15 - $30 range and it won't be sweet.  But assuring it's of great quality is tougher.  And since today's objective is to avoid waiting for a busy sales clerk tonight, look for these wines from our Dry Rosé collection at your local merchants tonight.  Others to look for:

• Bandol (often identifiable by its confusing label and salmon-pink color!) or any similar wine of Provence, which are subtle, earth-driven and food-friendly
• Italian Rosato (of Sangiovese, Barbera, and numerous other red grapes, which may or may not make it onto the label), or
• Domestic roses of Pinot Noir, Syrah or Grenache which will feature bright fruit and good mouth-watering acidity

Happy Valentines Day.

Cheers!

Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant

Dave@SidewaysWineClub.com

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Harvest 2008 Countdown!

Each year in the wine business, our fates are determined by the weather. Those with great memories for vintage dates - which were bad years, which were good, and which were GREAT - are really simply remembering a year's worth of weather that supported the grapes through their development. And while the poor weather can ruin a vintage at any point in the grape's development cycle, the difference between a good and a GREAT vintage is the weather at harvest time. And this year's harvest will be here before we know it. See for yourself...

Giving credit where credit is due, this feature was first seen on the blog site at Cellar Rat, maintained by blogger and budding winemaker Alan Baker.

Cheers!

Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant

Dave@SidewaysWineClub.com

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Wine, Music, Love

February 6th, 2008
Now before you accuse me of selling out, let me say I don't like cheesy Hallmark-inspired holidays either.  But I am rather fond of love, and taking a day to celebrate it is a tradition that spans centuries.  So here are my recommendations for some soulful wines (and music to go with them!) to help you celebrate love, no matter who or how many are invited to your Valentines Day celebration!

My Playlist for Love
Here are my top ten tunes to make your love-fest just a little bit better (click here to download iTunes 7). To download the recommendations, open the iTunes icon after your download, then search on title and artist.  You'll have your playlist put together in just minutes.  It's the way Cupid would celebrate, I'm sure.

1. My Funny Valentine - Here are two great renditions, the first by Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan (the first song on which Baker sang, thus launching a whole new phase of his recording career), the second a non-vocal version by the Miles Davis Quintet.
2. Sea of Love - Several options here.  For pure folk guitar, search for John Fahey, for a rock version try Iggy Pop, and for a soulful blues rendition, Katie Webster.
3. Kiss - The artist formerly, and now currently, known as Prince throws a little upbeat Pop into the mix, helping to avoid temporal monotony
4. My One and Only Love - with vocals by the golden-throated Johnny Hartman and classic sax accompaniment by the legendary John Coltrane.  Disclaimer - this is a personal favorite.  My wife included it in a playlist for our first Valentines Day, where she was about to receive an unexpected marriage proposal.  She said yes.  But it took her a while.  If this song hadn't put her in the right mood I'd have been single forever.
5. When You Say Nothing at All - Alison Krauss.  It took this talented young lady to make me appreciate bluegrass.  A voice a pure as mountain air.
6. More Than This - while the classic renditions by Roxy Music or 10,000 Maniacs are like comfort food for the ears, you may like the less traditional approach from acoustic folk guitarist Matt Nathanson for something new and different
7. Passionate Kisses - Folk singer Lucinda Williams' unfettered passion edges out Mary Chapin Carpenter for my favorite version of this song.
8. Beyond the Sea - though Bobby Darin was the master who made this into a classic decades ago, try the talented Kevin Spacey's version from his movie by the same name. (Killer band!)
9. Girl From Ipanema - Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz made this the hallmark of cool jazz in the 60's, and it still works.  Our 5-year old sings along with this version, making it even more endearing. At least, for us.
10. At Last - there are may good recordings of this classic, but once you hear Etta James sing it, the others fall off the list faster than Dennis Kucinich.

The Wines of Love
I've selected three wines to for your musical love-fest (see prior posting on how music affects wine).  These are food wines, wines with enough depth of character to reveal more of themselves as the night wears on, wines that linger, and invite you to do the same.

Buttonwood, 2006 Rosé of Syrah, $16  I carry a soft spot in my heart for pink wines, in case you hadn't noticed.  Our love affair was launched in 1996 while bicycling through the South of France, where such wines were the summer drink of choice before there was such a thing as Coke.  I love them for their versatility - as pleasant to sip alone as with most foods; they are, in fact, one of the most food-friendly wines I know of.  And the color is brilliant - a definite plus for your celebration of love!  A medium-to-full bodied rose, with gobs of ripe fruit flavors that hint at its red-grape roots.  Bridges the gap between red wine lovers and white wine lovers.  Just 400 cases produced.

Andrew Murray Vineyard, 2005 Grenache, $29 - What could be more conducive to love than a flirtatious Grenache?  Wines made from this grape are easy to love, and this one is no exception.  Aromas bound from the glass with such enthusiasm it must think it's an air freshener, or maybe cologne, seeing how much people enjoy the aromas of this fruit-forward, spicy wine.  You probably won't find this wine online, it's a special allocation we feel blessed to offer our customers.  Just a handful of cases remain.

Ovene Winery, 2004 Pinot Noir "The Puzzle", $30 - A good Pinot Noir is said to be the sexiest of wines, conjuring images of satin pajamas, candles, dark chocolate, cherries, roses, and massage oil scented with exotic spices.  This pinot from Jeff and Genni White of Ovene Winery adds to all that the allure of a puzzle - in this case, fitting the pieces together from their classified barrels of premium Central Coast vineyards to create a blend that exceeds the sum of its parts.  Use this wine to end your evening and you'll be pleased with where things lead...

Cheers!

Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant

Dave@SidewaysWineClub.com

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Quotes of the Day
"Why was Cupid chosen to represent Valentine's Day?  When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon."  ~Author Unknown

"If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?"  ~Author Unknown

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