Wine Media Guild of New York

By all accounts, our tasting of wines from all producers of Charbono was a success! Wines were from included On The Edge, Pacific Star, Heitz, Robert Foley, Joseph Laurence, Duxoup, August Briggs, Summers Estate, Turley, Tofanelli, Schrader, Fortino Vineyard and Boeger Vineayrds Here are some accounts from people there:

Member Paul Zimmerman, aka Dr. Z, puts a sports spin on the event. Former NFL Coach Dick Vermeil attended the lunch as the owner of OnTheEdge winery in Napa. Be sure to check out this write up of our lunch on SI.com.

Guest Jeremy Parzen calls Charbono “a rustic-tasting, tannic, but fruity and food-friendly grape” in his summary on his blog Do Bianchi.

Guest Gabe Sasso also has extensive notes over on his blog, Gabe’s View.

Prospective member Jennifer Frank also wrote up the event on her blog, Drink the Good Stuff.

Also, WMG member John Mariani wrote a piece for Bloomberg in part based on our April Petit Sirah tasting.

On May 7, the Wine Media Guild will break new ground with a unique tasting — Charbono. It is highly unlikely that you have ever had this wine in a comparative tasting. The wine is produced only in California by about fourteen wineries. There are fewer than 90 acres of the grape under cultivation. Many of the wines are not available beyond CA. The Slow Food movement recently voted Charbono varietal wine in to its “Ark of Taste,” renewing interest in this historic grape. I know most of the 14 current producers, and all 14 have already promised or sent their wines (including Turley). Some are sending older wines.

Our speaker is Paul Smith, the owner and winemaker at OnTheEdge winery in St. Helena. We also will be joined by Sally Ottoson, owner and winemaker at Pacific Star Winery in Fort Bragg and Gregg Smith, son of John Smith, owner and winemaker at Oakstone Winery in Fair Play, CA.

Charbono was at the height of its popularity in the 1960s, when Inglenook produced a lot of it and there was a Charbono Society in San Francisco that held annual black-tie dinners. Its flavor is unique, but one producer described it as having a “soft leathery acid-tannin profile like a Syrah and forward berry fruit like a Zinfandel. The intense nose is full of ripe, ‘purple’ fruit aromas, perfumed blueberry, black cherry and smoky vanilla. The palate is dry with balanced acidity, full body and plush ripe tannins. Overt flavors of black cherry, thyme, white pepper, blackberry and tar burst on the taste buds.” Or, as Randall Grahm once said: “Charbono reminds me of The Wild Child, a feral creature brought back to civilization. One is always aware that this grape is somehow quite different.” –Pat Savoie

And member Robert Simonson posted his thoughts from the Petite Sirah lunch in April on his blog, Off the Presses. FYI Robert also had a recent article on Kosher wines in Saveur.

New member Robert Simonson is the first with a write-up of Wednesday’s lunch. Click through to his blog, “Off the Presses” to check out his thoughts on how New York State Riesling ages ten, twenty and even forty years. And see a picture of the giant striped bass we had!

The Wine Media Guild ended the year with a bang–or perhaps a “pop” since there were many Champagne corks around.

Member and Hall of Fame inductee Ed McCarthy arranged the tasting of 23 grandes cuvees from Champagne, which astounded the 35 members and guests at the luncheon. One member said it was the best Champagne tasting he’d ever been to. With Krug, Cristal, Dom Perignon among twenty other Champagnes, it would be hard to disagree.

For tasting notes on this month’s lunch, we send you elsewhere. Specifically, check out guest attendee Jeremy Parzen who wrote up a thoughtful overview of the lunch, including pictures and many vignettes.

Also of note, member Tyler Colman write up his thoughts on these bling bubblies on his blog DrVino.com.

And finally, Barbara Neibart, a guest of Paul and Linda Zimmerman, was so inspired at the lunch that she drew her own Champagne tasting cartoon! Head over to Bailey Zimmerman to check it out in hi resolution.

See you in the new year for a great lunch in January: Chateauneuf du Pape with speaker and member Terry Robards.

The best ever lunch? So declared one member as the lunch got underway. Indeed, our most recent lunch was packed and the theme–old vine grenache–and wines won lots of praise from the attendees. For the first time, we polled attendees about their favorite wines. After tabulating the results, the top two wines were the Gilles Troullier 2005 from the Rousillon and the Domaine de la Janasse 2004 from Chateauneuf du Pape.

Charter member Paul Zimmerman volunteered to share his notes from the tasting. Take it away, Paul…

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As requested, I am sending along my notes on the Old Vine Grenache tasting on Oct. 3, 2007. They are totally personal, some are probably skewed because someone bumped my arm and put me in a bad mood, some weren’t given enough attention, others found total disagreement in the room. That’s why they’re called PERSONAL notes. At least I got to taste everything, and, surprise, within the allotted time. My grades are based on the old UC Davis 20-point system, with 15 being around a B over B-
Yours for better understanding among certain individuals,

Paul Zimmerman

(Wines are listed as they appear on the sheet)

2006 LA CONRERIA d’SCALA DEI BRUGUERES, WHITE—I got nut shell in the nose (lots of sneezing followed) and in the taste. Not in a bad way. Interesting. Some complexity. 16

2006 LAFAGE CUVEE CENTENNAIRE, GRENACHE BLANC—Fine body, a real feel of class, a nicely made wine. Slight touch of alcohol but lovely with the meal. Remember Bonny Doon’s Le Sophiste, which I believe was the best wine they made at the time? A blend of Marsanne and Roussanne? This reminded me of it very much. 17-/16+

2006 STEPHEN PANNELL GRENACHE ROSE—Simple berry on the nose, taste was criticized by some as being a little one dimensional in the candyish department, but I could see this wine on the patio during the summer, after you chilled the hell out of it, bringing great joy on a summer day. And as I kept thinking of it, I kept raising the grade, until it settled on the upper reaches. The 20 buck price tag was not joyful, though, but I know what they’re doing. They’re using the 1.85 formula. You take the age of the vines (37 years in this case), divide by 1.85 and that establishes the price. 17- (more…)