| Shane's Wine Opinions |
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| The Napa Fixation |
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Well as luck would have it, I have once again been inspired to jot down some
of my thoughts regarding some observations that I have had lately regarding
wine and the area wine scene. Since I have a lot on my mind these days, these
thoughts are admittedly, quite scattered and have no particular affiliation with
one another. These are just some things I felt like I needed to vocalize out
loud and you know, pretend I am important enough that people would actually
care to read them. Perhaps those of you that stop by today just had some time
to kill instead! (my ranting is continued on the next two pages "New World
Chardonnay & Rose" & "To Age or Not To Age")
The Napa Fixation – A good friend of mine has some high roller
acquintances that run around together and drink and buy big game wines from
Napa. You know the type of wines only the privileged few that have been
anointed with access to the mailing lists of all the latest and greatest cult wines
from Napa. Either that or they just spend so much money on their trips to the
aristocracy of wine country’s that the wineries reward them with single-
vineyard, under 100 case production riches. Upon their return home, they are
the envy of all their cult wine hording aficionados.
Don’t get me wrong here; you could count me as one those envious collectors
as well. However, when asked about which wines they prefer from outside of
Napa a scowl of disgust creeps over their face, as if almost to say, nothing
outside of the Disneyland of Wine is worth drinking. “Not even Bordeaux or
Burgundy”, I rebuke? Nope, nothing else interests them. Wow, this mindset
to me is incredulous. Imagine if Tiger Woods only played one golf course the
rest of his life when there are so many great courses in the world to be played.
What if I had listened to my Mom and never tried Sushi!?!
I reflected on this for a minute. I certainly don’t want to come across as a
hypocrite here, just take a look at my “Wine Cellar List” and you will no doubt
notice that wines from California dominate my collection with French wines
being a very long distant second. Part of that is familiarity and convenience
though. It is easier for me to try before I buy a California wine and easier in
most cases for one to obtain. Well at least all except for the most esteemed of
Napa Cult Wines. But the world is full of too many great and earth-shattering
wines to pigeon hole myself to just one region and style.
Last year at a store tasting I got to taste a bottle of 2004 Ornellaia and
subsequently, I bought one for Leslie and I. I’d have to say it was probably
one of the greatest wines I have ever personally tasted or experienced.
Ornellaia by the way, is a predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon blend from the
Tuscan Coast in Italy. Not Napa. Speaking of Italy, I remember a Barolo
that single-handedly changed my religion, the 2001 Paulo Scavino “Bric del
Fiasc”. I tasted it for the second time after it had been sitting half full on my
bar at home for two days and it was singing like a canary from the glass. Then
of course there were countless Brunello di Montalcino’s that gave me great
pleasure as well.
Ah yes and then there is France’s mystical wine paradise, Burgundy. The
birth place of the wines that have inspired my wine fetish to the inth degree.
Oh the Chassagne Montrachet whites and the Clos du Veugout reds that send
chills up my spine. I have literally had dreams that I was tasting Romanee’
Conti from the barrel….in fact…I think I’ll pause for a moment to soak in that
dream one more time…………….Yummy! What about Chateaunuef du
Pape? Is there another wine in the world like it? I guess the Australians
would say yes, but who doesn’t love a good Rhone wine?
Spain right now probably beats any country dollar for dollar on fantastic wines
for the money. Whether it is the tooth staining Tempranillo’s from the likes of
the Ribero del Duero and Rioja or the fancy artisan Grenache based blends
coming from the new vogue region of Priorat. Speaking of great Spanish
wines, ever tried the Starbucks, mocha-chocolate infused Numanthia wines
from the Toro region?
Washington State is now producing Cabernets and Syrah wines that should
scare the hell out of any good California vintner. These wines show classic
beauty and balance as well as the propensity to age even longer in some
cases. Then there are the Oregon Pinot Noir classics like Ken Wright,
Roco/Argyle, Domaine Serene and Bergstrom, just to name a few. I’m not
even going to bother mentioning some of the great Pinot Noir wines I’ve had
from other places like New Zealand as well.
I wonder where I would be today had I never tried my first of many bottles of
Concha y Toro’s Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley in
Chile? Or any of the great Cabs and Malbec wines from it’s neighbor to the
east, Argentina? Would I know what great Sauvignon Blanc wines taste like
had I never tried the one from Mulderbosch in the Stellenbosch region of
South Africa or Cloudy Bay and Kim Crawford in New Zealand for that
matter? I’ll tell you where I would be….a lot less fulfilled and well-rounded.
To me, its just so exciting to taste and see the differences between wines from
other places.
I will continue to buy and drink my Napa wines because….truth be told…I
really like them a lot. But I will never turn down an offer to taste some
exciting new red or white wine from the likes of some country like say….
Turkey. Because to do so would be…………
of my thoughts regarding some observations that I have had lately regarding
wine and the area wine scene. Since I have a lot on my mind these days, these
thoughts are admittedly, quite scattered and have no particular affiliation with
one another. These are just some things I felt like I needed to vocalize out
loud and you know, pretend I am important enough that people would actually
care to read them. Perhaps those of you that stop by today just had some time
to kill instead! (my ranting is continued on the next two pages "New World
Chardonnay & Rose" & "To Age or Not To Age")
The Napa Fixation – A good friend of mine has some high roller
acquintances that run around together and drink and buy big game wines from
Napa. You know the type of wines only the privileged few that have been
anointed with access to the mailing lists of all the latest and greatest cult wines
from Napa. Either that or they just spend so much money on their trips to the
aristocracy of wine country’s that the wineries reward them with single-
vineyard, under 100 case production riches. Upon their return home, they are
the envy of all their cult wine hording aficionados.
Don’t get me wrong here; you could count me as one those envious collectors
as well. However, when asked about which wines they prefer from outside of
Napa a scowl of disgust creeps over their face, as if almost to say, nothing
outside of the Disneyland of Wine is worth drinking. “Not even Bordeaux or
Burgundy”, I rebuke? Nope, nothing else interests them. Wow, this mindset
to me is incredulous. Imagine if Tiger Woods only played one golf course the
rest of his life when there are so many great courses in the world to be played.
What if I had listened to my Mom and never tried Sushi!?!
I reflected on this for a minute. I certainly don’t want to come across as a
hypocrite here, just take a look at my “Wine Cellar List” and you will no doubt
notice that wines from California dominate my collection with French wines
being a very long distant second. Part of that is familiarity and convenience
though. It is easier for me to try before I buy a California wine and easier in
most cases for one to obtain. Well at least all except for the most esteemed of
Napa Cult Wines. But the world is full of too many great and earth-shattering
wines to pigeon hole myself to just one region and style.
Last year at a store tasting I got to taste a bottle of 2004 Ornellaia and
subsequently, I bought one for Leslie and I. I’d have to say it was probably
one of the greatest wines I have ever personally tasted or experienced.
Ornellaia by the way, is a predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon blend from the
Tuscan Coast in Italy. Not Napa. Speaking of Italy, I remember a Barolo
that single-handedly changed my religion, the 2001 Paulo Scavino “Bric del
Fiasc”. I tasted it for the second time after it had been sitting half full on my
bar at home for two days and it was singing like a canary from the glass. Then
of course there were countless Brunello di Montalcino’s that gave me great
pleasure as well.
Ah yes and then there is France’s mystical wine paradise, Burgundy. The
birth place of the wines that have inspired my wine fetish to the inth degree.
Oh the Chassagne Montrachet whites and the Clos du Veugout reds that send
chills up my spine. I have literally had dreams that I was tasting Romanee’
Conti from the barrel….in fact…I think I’ll pause for a moment to soak in that
dream one more time…………….Yummy! What about Chateaunuef du
Pape? Is there another wine in the world like it? I guess the Australians
would say yes, but who doesn’t love a good Rhone wine?
Spain right now probably beats any country dollar for dollar on fantastic wines
for the money. Whether it is the tooth staining Tempranillo’s from the likes of
the Ribero del Duero and Rioja or the fancy artisan Grenache based blends
coming from the new vogue region of Priorat. Speaking of great Spanish
wines, ever tried the Starbucks, mocha-chocolate infused Numanthia wines
from the Toro region?
Washington State is now producing Cabernets and Syrah wines that should
scare the hell out of any good California vintner. These wines show classic
beauty and balance as well as the propensity to age even longer in some
cases. Then there are the Oregon Pinot Noir classics like Ken Wright,
Roco/Argyle, Domaine Serene and Bergstrom, just to name a few. I’m not
even going to bother mentioning some of the great Pinot Noir wines I’ve had
from other places like New Zealand as well.
I wonder where I would be today had I never tried my first of many bottles of
Concha y Toro’s Don Melchor Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maipo Valley in
Chile? Or any of the great Cabs and Malbec wines from it’s neighbor to the
east, Argentina? Would I know what great Sauvignon Blanc wines taste like
had I never tried the one from Mulderbosch in the Stellenbosch region of
South Africa or Cloudy Bay and Kim Crawford in New Zealand for that
matter? I’ll tell you where I would be….a lot less fulfilled and well-rounded.
To me, its just so exciting to taste and see the differences between wines from
other places.
I will continue to buy and drink my Napa wines because….truth be told…I
really like them a lot. But I will never turn down an offer to taste some
exciting new red or white wine from the likes of some country like say….
Turkey. Because to do so would be…………