The Wine Newsletter: Q4 2017

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.

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 20^th 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. 

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) 

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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