ABigSlice Journal

And the Wine Spectator Wine of the Year is...

Clos des Papes
Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005
98 points / $80
7,500 cases made
France

In the Southern Rhône's recent trio of great vintages starting with 2003, no other Châteauneuf-du-Pape domaine has produced better wines than Clos des Papes. Under Vincent Avril, quality has improved steadily, and the 2003 (97 points) was Wine Spectator's No. 2 wine in 2005. At 98 points, the 2005 is Avril's best wine yet, displaying an enormous core of fruit and minerality along with massive structure. The Clos des Papes red (the estate also produces a white) is a blend of 65 percent Grenache, 20 percent Mourvèdre, 10 percent Syrah and other grapes from 74 acres of vines around Châteauneuf. Avril keeps yields low, picks vineyard blocks separately for ideal ripeness and vinifies the destemmed grapes in ceramic-lined vats. The wine is aged in large wooden foudres for up to 12 months before the final blend is assembled.

To see the entire top 10 click here.

Pinot Envy, Mapping the Pinot Noir Genome

A national wine magazine once posed a question to wine drinkers. What is your favorite type of wine? The number one answer was Pinot Noir. Then a second question was posed. What type of wine most often disappoints you? The number one answer was again Pinot Noir. Surprised? You shouldn't be. The Pinot Noir grape is finicky at best. It is extremely difficult to vinify and is very prone to disease and mutations. It takes a true artist to handle the testy Pinot Noir.

In an effort to better understand the grape a team of researchers from France and Italy undertook the quest to map its genome. Their results? This grape, used to make some of France's most elegant reds and Blanc de Noir Champagnes, contains about 30,000 genes in its DNA. Here's the revelation. That's about 5,000 more than humans! Suffering from pinot envy? They also determined that the grape has an unusually high number of genes dedicated to the creation of flavor (100 in Pinot Noir as compared to about 50 for other plants). This certainly helps to explain why wine made from this grape has such a wide variety of smells and flavors.

Practically speaking, researchers think that Pinot Noir could eventually be biologically manipulated to produce specific and unique flavors, but they admit that this is many years away. For wine drinkers, this just supports what they have always known; when well made, there are few things, even humans, that can touch the class of a great Burgundy.

Harvest Report 2007 : Italy

As we reported in the French Harvest Report below, 2007 will be remembered as having one of the earliest and leanest grape harvests in the past 30 years. The Union of Italian Winemakers said that grape picking began some 15-20 days ahead of normal due to a massive heat wave and drought this summer. But take heart wine drinkers, the reduce yields and lack of rain can mean superior quality wine with higher than average alcohol.

Local sources have noted that Nothern and Southern Italy have had dramatically different experiences. In the north the yield is essentially normal. The best qualtiy appears to be in Northeast in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Tuscany appears to be good not great, but growers are not even that optimistic in Piedmont, makers of Italy's premier wines. A hail storm on May 29 ravaged the vineyards in the heart of the Barolo producing region. They are keeping their fingers crossed and are anticipating low alcohol and high acidity in the Nebbiolo grapes.

The South has fared significantly worse. The makers of some of Italy's best bargain wines have had a horrific summer. The drought of 2007 has left the vines withered and leafless. Enologist Riccardo Cotarella said that it looks more like January than August in some vineyards. So for them it is a waiting game. Overall not very good news coming out of Italy - now it is up to the artistry of the winemaker.

Inland Seafood and Quality Wine and Spirits Show

On Monday, September 10, I attended one of the best wine and expos ever! The show was co-hosted by Inland Seafoods (click here for more information), and Quality Wine and Spirits (click here for more information). The show is aimed at the hospitality industry and features a winde range of food (and not just seafood) and spirits (and not just wine).

Everyone that I met was extremely nice and well-informed about their products, with a special shout out to Moto Vino, (click here). Mr. Pennington took the time to explain his delicious wines in detail as my host and I strolled past his table.

A Big Slice would also like to thank Vickey Murphy for including us in her invitation. It was a spectacular event and we are already looking forward to next year.

Harvest Report 2007 : France

This was a crazy year for grape growers throughout France. The hottest April in 30 years had vines flowering and had most forecasters predicting an early harvest. But somehwere along the line, Ms. Nature decided not to cooperate. A horribly wet, and cool summer left most just scratching their heads. Roussillon, in Southeastern France, did start picking on August 2 which was the earliest ever. But overall August was very uncharacteristic and some of the grandest of of the French regions are still waiting for the skies to clear.

For most of France, the soaking started in May and, like many vacationers, decided to stay put for the summer. The unfortunate result was a widespread vine mildew that affected greatest of the wine producing regions, the Loire Valley, Bordeaux, Beaujolais, and Champagne. It even reached as far south as Languedoc which usually manages to stay clear of such problems.

Is there a bright spot? The Rhone Valley, which includes the venerable Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Hermitage regions, benefitted from a hot dry summer, unlike the rest of France. Both the Northern and Southern Rhone are looking to begin harvesting ion September 5, which is only a few days before normal.

Not so for the rest of France. Results seem to be mixed in Burgundy and Champagne. Early reports suggest that the cool summer will allow Chardonnay to retain a level of good acidity that hasn't been seen in years. But Bordeaux has been one of the hardest hit by the mildew. And the clay soils of the lovely St.-Emilion (a merlot-based Bordeaux wine) have fared much the worst as the clay component just retains the water.

Hope springs eternal! There is a saying in Bordeaux,"Wait until the last grapes are in before making a judgment." A week of warm dry weather could turn things around. But at a certain point Nature takes over, and they are left with no choice.

To view the full report click here.

Nick Nobilo Passes Away

Over the past year or two, A Big Slice has been on a mission to spread the word about New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. These wines are consistently good and, at least for the time being, bargain priced. The taste and smell may take a little getting used to, asparagus, grapefruit and mouthwateringly acidic, but on a hot summer day, there is nothing like them!

Our introduction to New Zealand's finest was Nobilo. It was well-defined and clean and quickly became the go to wine when we would make recommendations to our friends.

Well, I am very sorry to say that Nick Nobilo, the Croatian immigrant who founded the company, died this past week at the age of 94. He was the last surviving Croatian-born winemaker still working in New Zealand. The tradition that he brought with him to the New World was already 300 years old when he made his way from Europe to Auckland. He and his three sons turned Nobilo into the country's second largest wine producer.

Raise a toast to Nick Nobilo. If you have not tried his Sauvignon Blanc, do yourself a favor. It's a great choice for a warm Labor Day!

Food Trends

If you are wanting to know what will be the food product trends for the coming decade then look no further than the Institute for Food Technologies (IFT) Expo in Chicago. The Expo's popular tasting sessions revealed some... well let's say interesting new products that might make their way to your pantry shelf.

The first category is called "free-from" foods. This mean that the product has none of whatever you think it would have. I know that was a bad explanation - but here are the winners (that should make things clearer):
1. Breyer's Lactose Free, all-natural vanilla Ice cream.
2. Great Value Peanut-Free Smooth Soy Butter ("Mom? Will you make me an sb and j, please?")
3. Soma's Nomato (get it? No mato?) Ketchup made with carrots, and apple and beet juice.

Although I am making fun of these products, they are great substitutes for those with food allergies and in all honesty they are better for you that the traditional versions. The Ketchup is already on sale in Britain.

In the emerging flavors category the winners were:
1. 180 Red with goji berry. This energy drink from Anheuser-Busch is aimed at the adult market missed by beverages like Red Bull, etc.
2. Bissinger's Natural Chocolate Covered Black Sesame Crunch
3. Bolthouse Bom Dia Anti-oxidant Rich Juice. Surprise your friends by conducting a taste test between their acai (pronounced ah-sigh-ee) berry and and mangosteen flavors.

And finally the winners in the brain function category were:
1. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - No I'm just kidding. This is just wishful thinking.

The real winners were:
1. Yoplait Kids low-fat yogurts with omega-3 DHA.
2. Tropicana Essentials Orange Juice with omega-3
3. Lucozade Energy's Sparkling Apple Flavour Drink. This one gets its boost from glucose?!? No kidding this time.

Next year I am going to enter with a Ted's Yeast Enhanced Goji-Free Elixir. The secret ingredient? Ethanol. I call it wine for short.

For the complete article, click here.

Spain's Duero Region in Trouble

In what is being called a "plague of Biblical proportions", north-central Spain is being attacked by millions of voles. They are on a rampage, destroying everything in their path. Normally, the typical winter deep freeze would kill them off. But this year it never came and spring warmth saw the population explode. In numbers this dense, the voles are not just content with the countryside. They are now invading the towns. One man in Valencia found a drowned vole in a pot of coffee in his house! But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Scads of living voles mean scads of dead voles, which in turn feeds the spread of black flies, and a disease known as rabbit fever. In response to the onslaught, farmers are burning their fields to kill the voles directly or, at the very least, deprive them of their food. So far nothing is working. The next target? The voles seem to be setting their sites on Spain's major wine producing region along the Duero river. The damage that the voracious voles produce is long term. If they ate just the leaves then it is only the present crop that would be affected. But the voles prefer the tender roots. This results in a set back of four to five years. The time it takes for new vines to produce grapes. To hear the entire NPR story, click here.

Where has all the Champagne Gone?

Better begin your New Year's toasts a little early because soon there may not be enough of the bubbly to go around. The producers of Champagne in France have seen a remarkable increase in the amount of the beverage that is being consumed worldwide. So much so that they fear they will not be able to keep up. The reason is two fold. First, Champagne is only produced in a particular region in the northeast part of France. If your nose is being tickled by a product from California, or Spain, or Italy, it is not the real McCoy. And second, the sales of Champagne in emerging markets like India, China and Russia, is skyrocketing! So stock up or you may be toasting your next holiday with (gulp) sparkling wine! Read the full article here.

The Return of the Cork!

There is, perhaps, no greater indication of wine snobbery than a person's stand on the cork versus cap issue. I have to admit that for a long time I was a cork snob. For me a good old fashioned cork meant tradition and class. And besides, twisting off a screw cap seemed dangerously close to opening a bottle of soda pop. But I slowly came around, mostly with the help of the wonderful New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs. Reluctantly, I was converted. Ecologically it seemed like a good idea (does this make me an ecology snob?) and it protects the wine better than a natural cork. So far I have never come in contact with a wine that you could call "capped".

But hold the ecological bus! Things have changed. Environmentalists are calling on the wine industry to return to the cork. First off, it is a renewable resource. The fiber stripped from the tree to create the cork, regrows and produces the next year's corks. And with the rise of the screw cap, Mediterranean Cork Oak forests are losing their profitability and in danger of being destroyed for development.

So wine snobs... It seems we are ecologically minded after all. And can anything really compete with the satisfying "pop" of a natural cork freshly removed from a good bottle of wine? I think not - speaking environmentally of course!

For the complete article, click here.