PINOT ENVY?

“SIDEWAYS”, PINOT ENVY, AND THE CREATION OF  "LE VIN DU JOUR"

Goodness gracious, what has Hollywood wrought? Here we have an amusing, low budget movie called "Sideways", in which a nerd bad-mouths Merlot (one of the world’s most celebrated wines is Château Petrus – 95%, Merlot,  5% Cabernet Franc – pre-arrival price for the 2009 is $2,475 dolares per bottle).

In a moment of deep depression, the protagonist drinks a bottle of ’61 Château Cheval Blanc (60% Cabernet Franc and 37% Merlot) from a foam cup. Throughout the movie he extols the virtues of Pinot Noir, while he “treats” himself to a fabulous bottle of wine with a goodly amount of Merlot in it. Thanks to Hollywood ignorance, a new industry was born. Pinot became king and every winery worth its salt has to make one.

Wine Meister's Recent West Coast Pinot Noir Tastings:

I. Saturday, October 2, 2010: San Francisco Wine Club
As a rule, their tastings cost $10 for 10 tastes and take place from 2:00 to 4:45.

My favorite bottle was the Central California Coast ’08 Foxen (Santa Maria Valley) at $30, closely followed by the ’07 Lynmar Estate (Russian River Valley) for about the same price .

II. Saturday October 16, 2010: Solano Wine Cellars in Emeryville, California
Solano Cellars had recently sent me an e-mail, expressing “fear”,  that Pinot may soon lose its exalted status. The e-mail came with (fake) photographs (see example above) of Pinot lovers holding up signs, defending their beloved Pinot.

At the Solano tasting, Oregon Pinots came out on top. My favorite wine was the ’08 Cooper Mountain Reserve Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon for $27. Even less pricey and almost as good was the '08 Amity Pinot Noir “Amity Cuvee” at $21.

The nicest surprise of the whole California bunch was the “second wine” of Talley Winery, the 2009 Bishop’s Peak Pinot Noir, San Luis Obispo, at $19.  It had that typical Pinot stink that I love. (In Burgundy, they say “ça sent la merde” or “ça sent le purin” – it smells of shit or manure. Us sensitive souls over here prefer to call it “barnyard” smell.)

BEAUJOLAIS ALERT

What? Yes, wine lovers, good Beaujolais is one of the greatest quaffing wines in the world. The region also produces more serious stuff that benefits from a few years in the cellar.

With a suicidal marketing ploy called “Le Nouveau Beaujolais Est Arrivé,” celebrated around the world in November, the Beaujolais growers have besmirched their image and now most everybody thinks of Beaujolais as the insipid drink that "Nouveau Beaujolais" usually is.

’09 was a fabulous year in Beaujolais and wonderful wines were made at every level, starting with the lowest category, simply called "Beaujolais". All bottles that I’ve tried were scrumptious, some costing as little as seven dollars.

Make sure you lay your hands on some “Morgon” Beaujolais from Marcel Lapierre when it hits the shelves at Kermit Lynch in Berkeley and at other wine stores. Last year’s edition was $22. Sadly, Monsieur Marcel Lapierre, a true pioneer of the “Beaujolais Improvement Society”, died recently.

MISCELLANEA

Thomas Jefferson, my hero, collected Lafite, Margaux, and d’Yquem, besides TBAs  (fabulous dessert wines) from the Rhine, while he was U.S. ambassador in Paris.

Rumor has it that he fathered several children with the slave lady Sally Hemmings, a claim which now seems to be backed up by DNA. The Wine Meister is dying to know whether our third Presidente had the decency to share his precious first growth bottles and TBAs with the beautiful Sally.  Jefferson scholars, please contact me.

By the way, the so-called "Jefferson Bottles", who supposedly survived the author of the "Declaration of Independence", are still hanging around with the likes of the Forbes family and a certain Mr. Koch, who is suing the guy who sold him the bottles, claiming that they are fakes.

News from the Boonies: Believe it or not, funky Fairfax in Marin County, California, has now a classy wine bar called “123 Bolinas” (www.123BOLINAS.com). Naturally, this being FX, the furniture is made from recycled wood, the wines are mostly organic or biodynamic, and the food is locally grown or produced. Your congenial host and manager is Jason Rupert. The small but superb menu is created by Chef Jeremy Goldfarb.

Cheapskate alert: Two friends of mine, Vernon Jacobs and Anna Maria Knap, wrote a great wine book called “The Cheapskate’s Guide to Wine”. The book shows you how to get and enjoy the best wines for less. What a novel idea.

Here are two wines they might have mentioned had they been available at the time when they published their book:  ’09  Targovishte Traminer and ’09 Vini Vidi Vici Sauvignon Blanc (www.BULGARIANWINE.COM).  Both wines were tasted at Woodlands Market in Kentfield/Larkspur and cost about ten bucks, mas o menos.

One last thing before I down my foam cup of ’61 Château Cheval Blanc, vines have been cultivated in Bulgaria for three millennia.