Red Wine Musings

The list below is a highly personal view of some red wines that I've tasted over the last few months, with approximate retail prices and in no particular order. And a few additional notes: "Estate bottled" means the grapes were grown and the wine made on the same property.  California wines are usually labeled by county, or a group of counties as in "North Coast."  A label that says "California," means the grapes can come from anywhere in the state.  Terms like "Carneros," or "Russian River" or "Dry Creek Valley" speak to specific geographic areas within a county.  To have a grape name on the label, its juice must make up at least 75 percent of the wine in the bottle.  A proprietary name, a name like "Symmetry" or "Tapestry" or "Opus One" or "Dad's Daily Red," means no grape dominates, but the winemaker likes the blend he has created. In the midst of winter chills, or even what has passed for chill in St. Louis this year, we think of hearty stews and soups, pot roasts and roast pork and steaks as we scan a restaurant menu or get a good whiff of the aromas from our own kitchens. And we think about rich red wines to accompany them. The traditional Big Three of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot noir, from those specific grapes, still dominate the field, but other red varieties are beginning to offer a challenge.  Zinfandel (real zinfandel) leads this group, but these days, one can find excellent red wines made primarily of syrah (or shiraz, in Australia), sangiovese, grenache, cabernet franc, mourvedre, barbera, petite sirah (not to be confused with syrah) and many others. These are mainly considered the so-called "noble" grapes, or vinifera, to use the Latin root (no pun intended). The great wines of Bordeaux are made primarily of cabernet sauvignon, usually with merlot and others (syrah, mourvedre, petite verdot) added to the blend. Merlot softens the cabernet sauvignon, and one of the region's most expensive wines, Chateau Petrus, is almost completely merlot.   Pinot noir is the grape of Burgundy, and the wines of that region are usually 100 percent of that single grape. In France, the owner of a small chateau will use whatever grapes he grows, blending to get the final result, and wines are named by chateau and by region. In the U.S., and in Australia, too, wines are named for the primary grape; Down Under, two, or even three, grapes in a blend get equal billing on the label.  And in France and Italy, as the world gets smaller, more wine labels carry the name of the grape, a move made partly to help Americans read the labels more easily, thus opening the American market even wider. Red wines, with ruby or garnet colors, that even move toward purple, have big, deep, rich, berry, spice or even coffee aromas.  Cherry and berry lead the way in flavors that may have tannic edges, and young reds tend to be rather hard.  Where the wine has not aged in an oak barrel long enough and has not softened, it can be like chewing a toothpick. But red wines need more aging than whites, more time in the barrel and more time in the bottle.  Better reds should not be drunk for at least three, or closer to five years after harvest, and good Burgundy and Bordeaux offerings can wait seven years before they're ready.  Once they reach that point, they'll continue to improve for generations.  I've tasted 40 and 50-year old red wines that were still fresh and youthful, but with the added maturity that makes them soft and rich and full-bodied, with a finish that lasts a long time in the mouth, a longer time in the memory. The comparisons with a sexual partner are obvious – and apt. Rich, flavorful red wines are at their best at so-called "cellar temperature," slightly cooler than an American living room in winter, but certainly without any chill. As dinner wines, they demand rich, hearty meat, but they also blend well with sharp pasta sauces, strong cheese and, a personal favorite, dark chocolate desserts.  A bite of dark chocolate and a sip of full-bodied cabernet is a real treat, and for a startlingly good combination, try a pinot noir with grilled salmon. A husky, brawny old-vines zinfandel, with the hard-to-describe-but-easy-to-find bramble flavor that sets the wine apart, is a taste sensation with a flame-grilled hamburger that is crisp around the edges, soft and rare inside. Red wines are usually more expensive than whites.  Since they wait a number of years to be ready, there's overhead, or interest payments, or rent, so the cash flow is slow. They need more careful vinification, since they are starting with the classic grapes. Every winemaker worth his vines wants to make classic wine, wine that will outlive him (or her, because there are equally fine winemakers on both sides of the aisle), wine that will define and praise its maker to succeeding generations. And they are in all price ranges.  Some of the fancy boutique wineries will put prices upwards of $500 on a bottle, but there are good, flavorful, well-made, easy-to-drink red wines at about $10 in a retail store.  Restaurants usually price the same bottle at about $25. CABERNET SAUVIGNON * Sebastiani (Sonoma, Calif.): 1997 Sonoma County, $24.  100 percent cabernet, a big, husky wine with a long finish, superior body and a flavor of rich, black fruit.  It's non-filtered, which means a little sediment may have collected but just ignore it because it will have no effect on this outstanding wine. * Shafer (Napa, Calif.): 1996 Napa Valley Hillside Select, Stag's Leap District, $125.  Extremely expensive, but I think few people in California make wines as well as the Shafer family.  This is 100 percent cab, and a stunning experience from the initial splash into the glass, bringing a sudden burst of aroma,  to the final sip.  Elegant, delicious, rich and full-bodied.  Exactly what a splendid cab should be after four years in the barrel and two in the bottle. * Foppiano (Healdsburg, Calif.): 1999 Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, $15.  This is 84 percent cab, 16 percent cabernet franc, a soft, round, delightful wine with a bouquet of cedar and a definite flavor of blackberries.  Delicious. * Glen Ellen (Sonoma, Calif.): 1999 California, $10.  Listed as a "reserve," which means the winemaker considers it a premium, this is fairly light, but with pleasant flavor and a slight tannic note. Worthy if price is a major consideration. * Fetzer (Hopland, Calif.): 1999 Valley Oaks California, $10.  Excellent cab flavor, on the lighter side, but tasty and a good value. * Sterling (Calistoga, Callif.): 1999 Napa Valley, $24.  All Sterling wines are well-constructed and flavorful, and this is typical of the winery, with good berry flavor, fine balance and a smooth, long-lasting finish.  This will improve another 5-7 years. * Fleur de Cap (Stellenbosch): 1997 South Africa.  Medium body, good flavor, outstanding with pasta in red sauce. * Buena Vista (Sonoma, Calif.): 1998 Carneros District, Napa County, $17.  Fine, well-made wine that is almost delicate at first sip, but grows richer and deeper and  heartier as the level in the glass goes down. Tastes superb with steak. * Lindemans (South East Australia): 2000 Bin 45, $9.  A superior value, as many Australian wines are these days.  Good balance, rich flavor, quite soft and extremely tasty.  A fine hamburger wine. * Chateau Ste. Michelle (Paterson, Wash.): 1997 Canoe Ridge Vineyard, $24.  A cab with a great deal of balance and a delightfully long finish.  Mouth-filling flavor and a use of oak that is very much under good control, and also demonstrates the value of good oak in the wine. * Penfolds (South Australia): 1998 Bin 707, $80.  Elegant and beautiful to the eye, the nose and the palate, this exceptional cab has overtones of ripe plums, a jammy feel and  rich, deep, complex flavors.  Long finish, aged in American oak for 15 months, this will have a long life and is a superior wine in every respect.  Not made every year, and a superb example of a reserve wine. * Wynns Coonawarra (South Australia): 1997 John Riddich, $49.  A superior example of what a good winemaker can do with the cabernet grape.  No blends here, just fine grapes, aged 20 months in French oak.  A wide variety of aromas and tastes, with mushrooms in the former and cassis and chocolate on the tongue.  Built to age and to keep improving as it does. MERLOT * Foppiano (Heraldsburg, Calif): 1997 Russian River Reserve, Sonoma County. $30.  A splendid example of the wine, superior in every respect, and with all the wine's fine qualities of softness, early maturity, richness and intensity.  This is the winery's first "reserve" designation, and if all wineries used such stylish restraint when it came to boasting, we wine-drinkers would be a lot better off. * St. Supery (Napa, Calif.): 1999 Napa Valley, Napa County, $20.  Toasted oak flavors are there, but not objectionable, and the blend brings in 11 percent cabernet sauvignon  and 3 percent cabernet franc.  The result is a wine that shows its grape variety, rich and soft, to its full benefit and is a fine accompaniment to roast beef. * Firestone (Los Olivos, Calif.): 1998 Santa Ynez Valley, $20.  Warmer weather and a longer growing season in southern California brings added aromas and flavors of cherries and chocolate in this excellent and well-balanced wine with a smooth finish. * Huntington (Graton, Calif.): 1998 North Coast, $12.  Pleasing flavor, but still a lot of hardness and tannin.  More time in the bottle, or even in the glass before dinner,  will help it open, increasing flavor. * Pedroncelli (Geyserville, Calif.): 1999 Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, $14.  Old hillside vines bring maturity and help round out the flavor here, adding a little extra softness.  The wine is rich and maturing, and while good now, should be superior in another 6-12 months in the bottle.  At this price, it's a worthy selection. * Rodney Strong (Healdsburg, Calif.): 1999 Sonoma County, $22.  Big and smooth, with a touch of cedar in the aroma and a velvety feel across the palate, this is an elegant wine for dinner. Its long, elegant finish is an added fillip.  Best with beef. * Beaulieu (Rutherford, Calif.): 1999 Coastal, $12.  Excellent value, with a wine that gives off elements of black cherry and spice, with a fresh, fruity flavor that would make it an excellent companion to a big bowl of pasta. * Lindemans (Southeast Australia): Bin 40, $9.  Another superior value aimed at those who like a lighter merlot.  Not as much body as some noted above, but good, soft fruit flavor that is forward on the palate. * Sterling (Calistoga, Calif. ): 1999 Napa Merlot, $22.  Surprisingly light, despite an abundance of fruit flavor, there's almost a feeling that the oak didn't add its substance and body.  Not up to the standards usually set by the winery. * R. H. Phillips (Esparto, Calif.): 1999 Dunnigan Hills, $9.  A satisfactory offering, with proper flavor. An excellent value PINOT NOIR * Cambria (Santa Maria, Calif.): 1999 Santa Barbara County Benchbreak, $40.  Chill nights and an ocean breeze help the pinot grape reach extra flavor, and this wine shows style and grace, and lots of dark cherry flavor, from start to finish. * Beaulieu (Rutherford, Calif.): 1999 Carneros Reserve, $35.  The classic grape of Burgundy, made in classic Burgundy style, and the result is a winner, big and powwerful, with dark cherry and black pepper in the aroma and the same cherry and a bit of cocoa in the flavor.  A medium-bodied wine, with elegant, long-lasting flavor, that will reach its peak in 5-6 years.  Stands up to its French ancestors. * Beaulieu (Rutherford, Calif.): 1999 Coastal, $11.  Not in the class of its cousin described above, but a great selection for the bargain-hunter.  Slightly lighter in body and color, but with some similar notes in aroma and taste, it's a splendid substitute while the reserve is getting ready.  Or, for an excellent chance to taste what makes Carneros grapes better than those of the North Coast, try them side by side. * Martin Ray (Redwood Valley, Calif.): 1998 Sonoma, $22.  Very much in the Burgundian style, with perfect balance and a wonderful black cherry flavor just approaching maturity.  The finish is long, and Martin Ray's wines are among the consistently best values in California. * Estancia (Rutherford, Calif.): 1998 Monterey, $15.  Lots of cherry and strawberry in the aroma, slightly less fruit on the palate, but careful viticulture techniques make it possible for plots of vines that are 36 years old, and others of recent planting, to combine in a wine of good balance and a nice feeling of tannin.  A solid value. * Buena Vista (Sonoma, Calif.): 1999 Carneros, $17.  Most pinots work well with grilled salmon, but this seems to do better than that.  Splendid richness and ripe cherries in the aroma and on the palate.  Superior balance and a long, smooth finish. ZINFANDEL * Grgich Hills (Rutherford, Calif.): 1999 Zinfandel, $25.  An interesting blend of 55 percent Sonoma and 45 percent Napa grapes, this excellent zin does not qualify for any designation except "Callifornia," but it's rich and with excellent body yet flows lightly across the palate.  Strong berry aroma and taste, long well-balanced finish.  A delight, and it will be better in a couple of years. * Newlan (Napa, Calif.): 1998 Napa, $20.  Large amounts of forward, bright fruit and the traditional, slightly rough, bramble overtones.  Complex and delicious, with a just-right medium body and a long-lasting finish. * Pacific Star (Fort Bragg, Calif.): 1999 Mendocino County, $14; 1999 Mendocino County Reserve, $24.  An interesting comparison from a young winery that sits on the edge of the ocean in Mendocino County.  Both with excellent balance and fine flavor; the reserve needs a little more time in bottle to bring out its complexity, the regular is ready now. * Fetzer (Hopland, Calif.): 1999 Valley Oaks, $10.  Perfect with pasta, this medium-bodied offering has good fruit but it slightly rough on the edges, meaning it will go well with a heavily garlicked tomato sauce. * Louis M. Martini (St. Helena, Calif.): 1999 Gnarly Vines Zinfandel, $40.  A wine for special occasions, with special flavor and body.  A hint of oak, and lots of fruit with berry overtones and a warm, deep, complex richness.  A wine to savor for a number of years, maybe up to 10, but definitely a wine to savor. MERITAGE BLENDS * Beaulieu (Rutherford, Calif.): 1998 Tapestry, $40.  A Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot, all grown in the Napa Valley.  Like the better wines of Bordeaux, this is extremely full-bodied and rich, with blackberries and currants tumbling all over each other.  Delicious.  Expensive, and worth waiting at least six years before it nears its peak. * Rodney Strong (Healdsburg, Calif.): 1997 Symmetry, $55.  The blend in this Sonoma County entry is 60 percent cabernet sauvignon, 31 percent merlot, 9 percent cabernet franc.  Very good now, will get better in 5-6 years.  Hints of cedar in the aroma and wonderful berries across the palate.  Exciting. OTHER BLENDS * Wynn's Coonawarra Estate (South Australia): A blend of cabernet sauvignon (40 percent), Shiraz (38 percent) and Merlot (22 percent) from 1998, $13, this is a rich, plummy, deep garnet wine, almost black, with superior plummy mouth feel and a richness and balance that make this a great companion to dinner.  The shiraz adds a lovely spicy note. * Rosemount (Southeast Australia): 2000 Cabernet-Merlot, $8.  A 60-40 blend, with more cab than merlot, this is a great value wine.  The blend works and it's a pleasant accompaniment to meals.   * Rosemount (Southeast Australia): 2000 Grenache-Syrah, $10.  A 55-45 blend, with the grenache dominating, this is a wine in the style of Provence and the Riviera.  It is on the light side, with lots of grape flavor forward and a pleasing finish. * Pacific Star (Fort Bragg, Calif.): 2000 Dad's Daily Red, $12.  Lots of grape varieties.  You can taste grenache, shiraz and others, vinified in a light, fruity style to be quaffed with simple fare like pizza, pasta and hamburgers.  A pleasant addition to a meal. SHIRAZ-SYRAH * Penfolds (Southeast Australia): 1999 RWT (Red Wine Trial), Barossa Valley, $70.  A powerful, long-lasting blockbuster of a wine, great with superb steaks or lamb chops.  Extremely rich with a concentrated flavor typical of the red wine that is the highlight of the Australian industry, this wine will improve for 5-8 years and last for several decades.  As an unfiltered wine, it still carries a bit of sediment, but not to worry.  Just ignore it. * R. H. Phillips (Esparto, Calif.): 1999 EXP Syrah, $16.  Deep, dark-colored and extremely rich, this is a splendid wine to go with something from the grill.  Beef would be best, but this is worth a try with a grilled chop, either lamb or pork, and even ribs.  Terrific value. * Cambria (Los Olivos, Calif.): 1999 Santa Barbara County, Tepusquet Vineyard, $25.  Bursting with flavor, a perfect wine with beef, and also with a dark chocolate dessert.  A winner from Southern California.  Superior balance, long, fruit-filled finish. * J. Lohr (Paso Robles, Calif.): 1999 Syrah, $15.  Made from both French and Australian clones, this is a splendid version of the hearty wine. The French parent is from Tain L'Hermitage, one of the great Rhones, and the result is solid, with superior flavor and balance and the backbone to last a while.  Excellent wine. GRENACHE * D'Arenberg (Southeast Australia): 1999 The Custodian, $15.  Richer, deeper flavored and colored than most French or American wines from grenache grapes, this has a strong hint of strawberry in a wine that simply oozes fruit. MOURVEDRE * Sebastiana (Sonoma, Calif.): 1997 Domenici Vineyard Sonoma, $20. Not a grape often made into wine all by itself, this is a curiosity, but a splendid, rich red wine that is a perfect aide to steaks and chops.  Big body, with lush, soft, ripe blackberry flavors that segue into black pepper.  A remarkable wine.