Do Valle

What happens when great winemaking talent sells its world renowned winery? Well that talent goes on to make great wine somewhere else, naturally, or at least that was the case with former Screaming Eagle winemaker, Andy Erikson, who has already released six successful vintages of his new project at Leviathan Winery.

The winery releases just one wine annually – typically a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah; some years will not include all of the grapes in the blend and the percentages change with the vintage. Unlike Erickson’s previous work, however, this wine is far more approachable and accessible in both style and price. The wine is meant to be consumed young and is known for its bold, bright flavors featuring powerful fruit character, smoke, graphite, cocoa, espresso, and black peppercorns.

From the winemaker:

“Blending is one of the most enjoyable and most creative parts of the winemaking process. In producing our Favia wines, which are very small production wines from highly coveted sites, we always end up with many blending components of all different varieties. Fitting these together like a puzzle creates Leviathan. It allows us to push the envelope, try new things, and have an outlet to give people something unique and, frankly, pretty damn delicious.”

-Andy Erickson

As appellation, “California,” Erickson is able to source fruit from the top vineyards around the state and is not tied down to any one area. Now in its sixth vintage, and eagerly awaiting the release of the seventh, the wine has proven itself among California wine connoisseurs. The wine retails for a mere $50 which is an excellent bargain considering other wines in its category of quality can retail for two or three times as much. Truly a wine worth experiencing!

Check with your local Do Valle sales rep for wholesale pricing and/or more information – the current, 2009 vintage is now in stock!

The CT senate has voted “yes” for Sunday alcohol sales in a landslide vote of 28-6; the bill is now on Governor Malloy’s desk. The passing of the bill will make Connecticut the 49th state to allow alcohol sales on Sundays leaving only Indiana with the ban still in place.

The new law states that store owners will now be allowed to open from 10am-5pm on Sundays and can also open on holidays such as Memorial Day, Labor Day, and the Fourth of July.

The change is expected to raise an additional $5.2 million in revenue over the next year…assuming that consumers will purchase more alcohol than they previously did and/or those on bordering states will, instead, purchase from within the state. There is concern, however, that because of CT’s high tax on alcohol (raised last year) many consumers may still travel over the border seeking better prices.

Some opponents believe that small liquor store owners who have been opposed to Sunday liquor sales for years, arguing it will hurt them not help them, were pressured into voting for the bill. The bill encompasses other benefits that will likely prove helpful to smaller companies including special deals for products and additional ownership of store locations which is why some believe opponents voted for the law.

Malloy still has to sign the bill and once it is passed it will take 45 days to go into effect… but that means by July 4th Connecticut should be able to get your booze on all week long… happy sipping.

Photo courtesy of the Manhattan Cocktail Classic

It’s here once again – the annual Manhattan Cocktail Classic, the time of year in NYC that the cocktail-curious and cocktail know-it-alls can “geek-out” together without judgement from either side.

It’s fast approaching and tickets are selling out even faster! There are still some available to much of the seminars, but tickets to highly-desired events such as The Gala – the MCC’s opening party and one of the best in NYC all year – which welcomed over 3,000 guests last year, 115 mixologists, 5,000 oytsers, and 40,000 cocktails. As I said, unfortunately, tickets are no longer available to this event…but perhaps you can snag some elsewhere (plan better next year!)

Fear not, you can still enjoy a plethora of other events whose tickets are not yet gone. Some highlights:

Fortify Yourself: Unlock the Secrets and Wield the Power of Port, Sherry and Madeira

Evolution of the Cocktail: Session 1 & Session 2

Detox to Retox: the Art of Drinking 4 Drinks a Night and Never Getting a Hangover

Handcrafted Cocktails: Create Homemade Ingredients, Syrups, Cordials, Infusions and Accompaniments

Among many others. Events range in price, but they’re worth every penny. If you’re in the trade, there are special tastings and events set up throughout the weekend.

This event is not to be missed – it’s the East Coast’s biggest cocktail celebration and anyone who has ever given thought to the alcoholic beverages in which they are indulging should definitely attend. I’ll be at least a couple of the sessions so I hope to see you there!

Collaboration. A fitting word Sandhi Vineyards…after all,  not only are the words “sandhi” and “collaboration”  literally synonymous, but the winery focuses on the balance of the earth, man, and vine which are, of course, the essential pieces to make any great wine.

Despite the young age of the winery, these wines have already made a big impact on consumers which is unsurprising considering the team behind the wines. The winery opened its doors in 2010 and was founded by Rajat Par, the well-known Wine Director of the Michael Mina restaurant group and author of Secrets of a Sommelier, Charles Banks, former owner of Screaming Eagle and Jonata (both well-known California-cult wines,) and Sashi Moorman, esteemed winemaker who allows the fruit to speak for itself focusing on minerality, structure, balance, and finesse as well as acidity which can, at times, be lost in Californian wines.

Located in the Santa Rita Hills of Santa Barbara California, the vineyards from which the fruit is sourced rely heavily on the influence of altitude, climate, proximity to water, and soil conditions. Each is meticulously cared for and there is an emphasis on the relationship between the grower and his vines. Sandhi focuses on the the production cool climate examples of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and each single vineyard wine represents the impact terroir has on the grapes as Moorman uses a relatively non-invasive approach allowing the character to shine. He uses wild yeasts and ferments the majority of the wines in stainless steel with minimal influence of new French oak.

This is the first time these wines have been available in Connecticut, which is a real treat considering the small production levels of the winery. Currently, Do Valle offers the full lineup of the currently released 2010 vintage, the winery’s first, including the Santa Barbara, Rita’s Crown, and Bien Nacido Chardonnays and the Santa Barbara and Bien Nacido Pinot Noirs (consult the latest edition of the Beverage Journal or call you local sales rep for pricing details.)

If you haven’t had the chance to experience true California terroir, Sandhi vineyards is a great place to turn – and with this team behind the wines, how could you go wrong?

Cheers!

I attended my mother’s birthday dinner last night and, naturally, I brought along a bottle of dessert wine I happened to have lying around. The wine: 2004 Sigalas Santorini Vinsanto which, normally, offers lovely presentation of dried figs, orange peel, citrus, high acid, and a long, lasting finish. But unfortunately, this was not the case last night

Paired with a simple fruit salad and small cheesecake you would think the wine would have shown wonderfully. Unfortunately, the finish fell off and the musty aromas and taste were determined to be not to our liking… in a word: corked.

This got me thinking about the issues of cork. Of course, I am likely exposed to more wines than the average drinker, but that is three corked bottles for me in less than one week – one carelessly placed out to taste at a large scale tasting, and the other within the classroom setting.

I decided to do a little research. While there are no concrete numbers (because who could do this study anyway?) it is a general estimate that about 5% of bottles under cork in the US are corked. I suppose if you consider the number of wines I have been exposed to in the past few days, my estimate would be even lower, but still it seems more prominent.

Christmas time gave the whole family a chance to drink corked wine. A simple white Burgundy, of which we had just enjoyed another bottle, was turned rancid in our minds with just one sip – the taint was that bad. Perhaps cork taint is just following me. It seems almost every wine class we have lately has had a wine that is corked. It used to be the instructors would spin it as a good thing so we could recognize flaws… now it’s just plain annoying.

Cork taint is not poisonous to consume, just rather unpleasant. There is belief that cork taint can blow off or even be completely removed under the right circumstances. One method suggests that pouring a wine into a bowl and covering it with Saran Wrap for 24 hours will refresh the wine altogether. Personally, I haven’t found a lot of bottles for which it’s worth the wait.

By its proper name, cork taint is known as TCA or rather 2,4,6-trichloroanisole. There is more than one kind – the other known as 2,4,6-tribromoanisole, but I’ve yet to meet anyone who is able to easily identify which type of cork taint is in the bottle. It is a fungus whose growth can begin virtually anywhere along the production line, which is why quality control in wineries is so important.

If you’ve ever seen someone sniff a cork and automatically labeled them as a fraud for doing so, you are actually acting like a snob. Fact of the matter is that is if there is cork in the bottle there is cork on the cork. The idea behind sniffing the cork is that the rather unpleasant wine doesn’t make it into the glasses of the unsuspecting taster/drinker. Something to remember…

Unfortunately, if I’ve had this much exposure, I can’t imagine others have not – it also makes me wonder how many bottles I consumed that were full of cork flavors unbeknownst to me and, instead, blamed the wine. I’d like to think that if the wine tastes off my former self and those like my former self would just know it was tainted… but this is unrealistic.

I have been a long-time supporter of screw caps… they’re actually my favorite enclosure. They keep the wines fresher, longer, and can all but eliminate the possibility of cork taint, and require no other opener than an able hand. Of course, I know the arguments. Wines meant for aging often do better under cork, but it’s come to the point, for me, that a bottle under cork is something of which to be weary.

Still would a great, old Burgundy be a great, old Burgundy if it weren’t for the cork enclosure? I should hope that the wines that survive for many years are not those that are found to be tainted (then again, they’re susceptible for a whole other world of issues themselves that outweigh the effects of cork.)

I wonder – how many bottles have others been exposed to over the year? Past month? This week? Please share your thoughts.