HOTEL SAN ROCCO, a small, very welcoming hotel with an incredibly fine restaurant in a tiny town in the wine-oriented region of northwest Istria (Croatia). Stay upstairs, enjoy the pool or spa if you have time.
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Drink and save [the planet]
If you want to save the planet while imbibing — responsibly, of course — you might like to know that Tru Organic Vodka is not only tru-ly [sorry] organic they they are so responsible they have a tree-planting program. (Vodbox in Beverly Hills has already helped plant over 1,000 trees.)
360 Vodka claims to be from “the most energy efficient distillery in America.” AND when you’ve finished, they want to you to “carefully remove the closure and drop it into the prepaid envelope” that hangs from the bottle’s neck by an eco-friendly piece of brown string. OK, I’m almost to the end of the bottle…
Root beer vodka: most fun drink this summer. Really.
Decades ago, after spending a year abroad I got on a flight back to the US and asked for the most American drink I could imagine: root beer.  I was shocked when the flight attendant told me they didn’t carry it. I love root beer.  My father loved root beer. Whenever I see artisanal root beer, I try it – and generally savor my way through it.
But I was skeptical when a bottle of Three Olives Root Beer Flavored Vodka recently came my way. “Is this a good idea?†I asked myself. When my friend Kathy came over to watch a chick-flick, we decided to try it. She is, admittedly, not a drinker but she knows food. When we cracked open the capsule, a lovely, very authentic root beer-y aroma came wafting out. Cautiously, we poured a few drops into a glass. Hey – it’s not even sweet, we marveled. It tasted like root beer in the most appealing – and surprising – manner. We poured out a little more of the stuff, slipped in a few ice cubes, and the evening was off to a great start!
rant against single vineyards
There’s a reason some winemakers are considered great: they know how to blend vinified grapes into great wines. Blend is the key word here. And nothing argues more against the current fad for single vineyard wines than some of the single vineyard wines themselves.
Recently, I tasted three single-vineyard wines from a well known Argentina winery, and it was Goldilocks time. The first one structured but lacking in fruit. The second fruity but lacking finesse. The third delicate and sustained but without depth. After we’d finished, I poured them all together in one glass: Ah, that was more like it. Even this primitive in-glass “blending†began to exhibit this winery’s great potential.
A few weeks ago I tasted another single vineyard grouping, this one of dessert wines – a category I know well. Disappointment set in: each vineyard carried its own set of apricot or peach, honey or grapefruit zest aromas and flavors, along with a variety of structural components. It was an interesting deconstructional analysis for me as a wine writer. But blended together, the wine would have shown its greatness to everyone.
So what’s with all the praise heaped on single vineyard wines lately? It’s about marketing. Wineries and their promoters periodically need new ways to sell wine, and “Single Vineyard†happens to be the current flavor. Not that there aren’t some great single vineyard wines. (Burgundy comes to mind.) But all too often, single vineyard wines turn out to be the Emperor’s New Clothes.
A QUESTION FOR YOU
Should wine writers warn the public about this? On one hand, we don’t want to heap artificial praise on wines that don’t deserve it. On the other hand, is it better to have this faddish hook that gets more people to try more wines? What do you think?
Email your thoughts to Becky@BeckySueEpstein.com
Bordeaux: Evaluating the 2007 vintage
What: en primeur tastings of the 2007 vintage wines
When: April 2008
Where: all over Bordeaux, France
Who: worldwide wine journalists (and top trade tasters)
Why: once you manage to get through Air France’s disdain for US travelers, the people in Bordeaux are exceptionally polite and welcoming.
And you get to catch up with fellow journalists from all over the world, have access winemakers and owners of every chateau in Bordeaux – and evaluate the new vintage wines for yourself.
From the outside, here’s what it looks like:
Dozens of journalists from all over the world moving around the regions of Bordeaux France in an intricate dance of winetastings, luncheons, dinners and overnights at glorious chateaux during the first week of April.
All choreographed by the UGC (Union des Grands Crus of Bordeaux – the association of the top wine-producing chateaux in this prestigious area).
Here’s what it is:
Taste, spit, evaluate and make notes on dozens of wines first thing in the morning.
Red-stained teeth.
Lunch with wonderful foods and great wines. Try not to eat or drink much, because in the afternoon, you have to get to the other (non UGC) tastings that everyone has set up to take advantage of journalists’ presence in Bordeaux: everything from additional producers in this region to biodynamic producers from all over. Every afternoon. Receptions in the evenings, if you can break away (I never have).
More red teeth.
Long, lovely dinners with chateau owners: try not to drink much at all — of the incredible vintage wines they have laid out.
Try to get to bed at a reasonable time, in order to get up in the morning and do it all over again.
Highlights: the people
Quietly devastating, intent Stephen Brook — try to sit near him at meals if at all possible because his wit is as formidable as his knowledge
Endlessly curious Steven Spurrier — perfect companion for dashing about the countryside for additional tastings
Engaging Guy Woodward, always in the right places.
Still recovering from tasting in the presence of greats such as Jancis Robinson, Serena Sutcliffe, David Peppercorn, James Lawther…
LISTEN to my interviews on itunes’ Wine&Dine Radio: Becky Sue Epstein, International Wine and Spirits, Food and Travel Writer, attending the annual En Primeur Bordeaux tasting, from Sauternes on Sauternes, Show 718a and back home in Boston, with her summary thoughts on the 2007 Bordeaux vintage wines. Show 720c
Ornellaia at Zegna
I don’t know why the people at Ermenegildo Zegna on Newbury Street in Boston were willing to let us wander around their shop with red wine, but I’m very glad they did. There I tasted the spectacular Ornellaia 1988, an incredibly full, lively and young Super-Tuscan. The guys from the winery recall that this was the first year they produced wine from their newly-planted vineyards in Bolgheri. They are both mystified and grateful, giving Nature full credit for this wonderful wine.
Next up? A special anniversary bottle design for the 2005 Ornellaia Bolgheri DOC Superiore – a big wine that may rival the ’88; when it’s released in June, plan to buy enough to last for the next 20 years.