The Westin Kierland Villas is once again proud to
present to you our quarterly Wine Newsletter. It is our hope that this
publication finds you in good spirits, happy, and healthy. Your wine
experience at your home away from home is important to us and we are pleased
that we can continue to provide insight following your departure. Sit
back, relax, and enjoy our fourth quarter installment, authored once again by
our resident Wine Expert, Mr. Tony Miller.
From my perspective, the best part of our weekly tastings and
dinners is the conversation we have about all things wine. It is your questions,
comments, and viewpoints that illuminate these conversations and, since I never
know what questions are coming, our group Q&A causes me to study every day
to be prepared to field your questions.
In this newsletter, I will address (in more detail than we
have time for at our events) two questions/topics that I'm asked about often:
1) Sparkling
wines and how they differ from Champagne.
2) Petite
Sirah and how it is different from Syrah.
Let's explore these two issues and then look at two wines that
exemplify these two topics. By sheer coincidence, the two featured wines are also
perfect wines for the Holiday season.
Sparkling Wines
All wine with bubbles is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling
wine is Champagne. Champagne, which accounts for less than 10% of all sparkling
wine, is made in the Champagne region of France from three grapes: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay,
and Petite Meunier. Champagne grapes go through
the same crushing and fermentation process that all wine grapes do, but a
second fermentation process called “Methode Champenoise”,which creates the bubbles,
is employed. The semi-finished dry wine
is pumped into the same bottles from which you drink Champagne and the still
wine is dosed with yeast and sugar to initiate a second fermentation. The yeast
in the bottle consumes sugar and creates carbon dioxide bubbles in the bottle,
which makes the wine sparkling.
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| Courtesy of www.ewineasia.com |
Many other sparkling wines are made outside the Champagne region
of France in the traditional method, including French Cremants, some Spanish
Cavas, and some sparklers from the United State, Italy, and Australia. There
are, however, other ways to produce sparkling wines. The most widely used is referred to as the “Charmat
Method”. Invented in Bordeaux, France in
the early 20th century by Eugene Charmat, this process completes the
second fermentation in a pressure tank instead of the bottle. All of the same traditional steps are
followed in Charmat but the secondary fermentation that creates the bubbles is
done in the pressured tank. Once the wine is finished, the sparkling wine is
pumped into bottles under pressure to maintain the effervescence. Prosecco is perhaps the most widely known
sparkling wines created via the Charmat Method. This method allows larger
quantities to be produced in a shorter time with less cost. Charmat sparkling
wines may not always show the same delicacy and complexities as the traditional
method of bottle fermentation, but those potential drawbacks are more than
compensated for by increased availability, a wider array of grapes from which
to make interesting sparkling wines, (like Shiraz), and a consumer-friendly
price.
A perfect example of a Charmat bubbly is Bleasdale Sparkling Shiraz.
My tasting notes below detail Bleasdale's long history in Australia. This 100%
sparkling Shiraz was incredibly popular when we last featured it at our
Monday wine tasting in December 2012. It
has limited availability in the United States and we have not been able to
get it since, but we now have a good supply available and the current release
of this special wine is simply wonderful. The perfect wine for holiday entertaining,
it is very dark purple/almost black in color, with bubbles. Whether used as an aperitif,
with assorted appetizers or with a festive holiday meal, it’s a crowd-pleaser
and a great conversation-starter. A purple-black bubbly. $25.95 is the
price. Try a bottle. But be warned: You will be hooked.
Petite Sirah
What is it? Is it the name of a grape or a marketing term,
like Pinot Grigio, which is actually Pinot Gris. Why is it called petite? Why does Europe and some parts of Australia
call this grape Durif? These questions
have come up regularly at our wine events so let us take time now to explore
the backstory of this intriguing grape.
This grape was created by Dr. Francois Durif in France during the
1880's. He was trying to create a grape
that was resistant to powdery mildew so he cross-pollinated Syrah with the
obscure Peloursin grape and named this new breed after himself. The new grape never really caught on in
France for, although it was more resistant to downy mildew, this new grape
has tight clusters, which proved more susceptible to bunch rot. Today
very little Durif is grown in France.
This new grape was brought to the United States by way of
Linda Vista Winery in 1884. They brought
vines of many dark purple/black varieties to California to make field blend red
jug wine and among those vines was Durif. Linda Vista called this grape “Petite Sirah”
because it looks like a Syrah cluster except the grapes were smaller. Petite
Sirah became quite popular during Prohibition because it has a thick skin
which allowed these hearty grapes to survive a transcontinental train shipment to
the East Coast for home winemaking.
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| Courtesy of www.conclusionwines.com |
As an aside, during Prohibition, it was legal for each
head-of-household to make 200 gallons of wine for home use. Much of that home
wine was made on the East Coast and Petite Sirah grapes were shipped across the
country for that purpose. In fact, into the mid-1960's, Petite Sirah was the
most heavily planted grape in California, but as tastes changed, vines were
pulled and vineyards were re-planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and other
premium red grapes. Today Petite Sirah is making something of a comeback as,
after falling from a high of 14,000 acres planted in California and a low of
2400 acres, there are now over 4000 acres planted. This grape is typically characterized by high
tannins and high acids that need plenty of time in bottle before drinking
a premium Petite Sirah. Patience during
the wine's aging process is usually rewarded with a beautifully rich, very
full-bodied red that is the perfect match for holiday prime ribs or a crown
roast.
Our featured red for this newsletter is a truly unique
Durif/Petite Sirah wine that was only recently released. My tasting notes follow for the new Caymus Durif,
but what sets this wine apart from most any Petite/Durif you have ever had is
what you do not see in this wine. It is NOT tannic, it is NOT acidic. It does NOT need time in bottle. This wine is ready to drink right now and if
you've ever had a bold but very tannic Petite Sirah, this wine will stun you
with its smooth texture, its silky mouthfeel, its explosive aromas, its
near-black color, and its endless and complex finish.
We've contracted for a good supply of this new Caymus-Suisan
Petite Durif and we're offering it at $49.99, the lowest price in the country. It is truly unique.
Featured Wines
N.V. Bleadsdale The Red Brute Sparkling Shiraz
Born in England in 1815, Frank Potts joined the Royal Navy at age nine
as a "powder monkey". He worked on several warships until arriving in
Australia in 1836. He worked as a harbormaster
and boat builder until 1850 when he and his new wife bought 120 acres of land
in the Langhorne Creek area near Adelaide, at $1.00 per acre, and cleared the
land for farming. He planted his first 30 acres of vineyards in 1858 and sold
his grapes for the first few years until the mid-1860's when he began making
wine for the local market. He died in 1890 but his sons and, eventually, his
grandchildren, took the family business forward and now the fifth and sixth
generations of the Potts family farms over 4000 acres and operates the
winery. They make a wide variety of acclaimed wines but perhaps
their most unique is their "Red Brute" sparkling Shiraz. Frank's
youngest son Richard named this wine after their huge wooden wine press because
as a small child, he loved watching the now 125-year-old red gumwood lever
wine press gently crush the grapes. To honor Richard, later known as
"Uncle Dick”, that same old wooden wine press is still used to make The
Red Brute. It is 100% Syrah, handpicked
and fermented in stainless steel before brief aging in oak. The final wine is
then transferred to tanks for final sparkling fermentation and eventual
bottling under pressure. The resulting wine offers aromas and flavors of black
plums, black cherry, black raspberry, and blackberry along with slight hints of
black pepper, lavender, and roses. The very dark purple color, medium
effervescence, soft acids and overall richness expertly balanced between
sweet and dry makes this unique sparkler the perfect wine to intrigue any
holiday guest. Greet your guests with a glass as an aperitif or pair this
versatile wine with holiday turkey or ham, goose, grilled shrimp, duck, grilled
salmon, game hens, pizza, red-sauced pastas, aged cheeses, assorted holiday
appetizers or perhaps even cheesecake. A totally unique wine that's perfect for
holiday entertaining all the way through to Valentine’s Day and beyond.
Drink it now and over the next 15-18 months.
2015
Caymus-Suisun Grand Durif
The Wagner family founded Caymus Winery in Napa Valley in 1972 as
the culmination of an eight-generation grape growing family history that began
in Europe. They bought 70 acres in
Rutherford Napa in 1906, planted wine grapes and were producing 30,000 gallons
of bulk wine within a few years. Prohibition
devastated the Wagner's business and by 1941 they were invested more in fruit
trees than wine grapes, but by the 1960’s, they decided to go "all
in" on grapes, so they pulled their fruit trees and replanted wine grapes.
In 1972, they formed Caymus and it has
been a spectacular success and is now a very large family-owned
winery operation that produces a multitude of popular wines at every price. The Wagner's newest project is their
first-ever Durif. Named after the French
scientist who crossed Peloursin with Syrah in the 1880's to create a red grape
with better resistance to mildew, Durif never really caught on in France but
it's become popular in Australia and in the U.S., where it's known as “Petite
Sirah”. Drawn from old vines in the
Suisun Valley east of Napa Valley, these handpicked grapes have yielded a
beautifully soft and rich wine unlike any Petite Sirah in the market. The grapes were handpicked and fermented in
barrel before 12 months aging in new and seasoned French oak. This dark
red-almost-black wine shows classic flavors of espresso, black plums, dark
chocolate, dried blueberries, black cherries and mocha along with a caramel,
plums, a floral note and plenty of vanilla. It’s an elegant and expansive expression of
the Petite Sirah grape with it's soft, plush, full-bodied texture, smooth
fine-grained tannins, balanced acids and it's very long, complex and lingering
black-fruit finish. One might call this
unique wine an iron fist in a velvet glove whereas, generally speaking, Petite
Sirah is usually just the iron fist until the tannins subside after years in
the bottle. Pair it with grilled steaks or beef in any form, holiday turkey,
lamb, goose, pork tenderloin, prime ribs, duck breast, crown roast, a premium
cheese plate or by itself. It's an easy-drinking, fruit-forward crowd-pleasing
BIG red that needs no special occasion to be enjoyed. Drink it now and over the
next 3-5 years. (Wine Spectator 93 points)
__________________________________________________________________________
If you desire any further
information or would like to purchase the wine, please contact The Westin
Kierland Villas Food, Beverage, and FUN Manager John Voita directly at
john.voita@westin.com. Please note that deliveries are not available to all
areas.
Wine
Event Information
It
is always a pleasure hosting the wine events for you. Please be sure to
register prior to your arrival to ensure you are a part of the
experience. Thank you.
Tony Miller
Resident Wine Expert
