Croatia is so hot my brother, who once said he’d be happy to stay in New Jersey for the rest of his life, married a Croatian woman and has visited her family’s home three (or more) times. That’s how hot Croatia is. It’s so hot, it’s been burning for three years.

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s a good article from Bloomberg:

Now, with about 33,000 hectares under vines — still more than double the amount of New Zealand — Croatia is looking to fight its way into a saturated global market when it enters the European Union in 2013. Currently, Croatia exports only 5 percent of its 60 million liters annual production, which helps explain why Croatians are third overall in wine consumption.

Go plavac mali.

If all goes well, I should be visiting this year.

[Image from the great Croatian wine blog Croatian Wines]

One reason for the effort to designate Coombsville as a separate appellation is that its soils, geography and climate differ distinctly from nearby regions, according to a news release from the group. It noted that the Coombsville soils are dominated by the volcanic rhyolitic tuff — sedimentary rock and lava flows — of the Vaca Range on the eastern side of the Napa Valley.

Sounds good.

From Jancis: the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine, is the organization in charge of administering, regulating, granting, and protecting the French appellations contrôlées, not just for about 470 different wines and spirits, but for more than 40 different cheeses and a range of other foods including meat, poultry, and olive oil. … INAO was founded in 1935 and, since for much of the 20^th century France’s leading role in the world of wine was undisputed, it provided a role model for the administration of more embryonic controlled appellation schemes in other countries. …

After working your way through the system, the INAO finally grants your designation in 1973. You are now the Coteaux du Tricastin and set about making a name for yourself, mostly from wine made with syrah and grenache in your moderately high altitude Mediterranean climate.

Then, dontcha know, the very next year they start building a nuclear power plant called Tricastin. So you try again. And in 2010 are granted a new name: Grignan-les-Adhémar.

The spur for this post was an article in the New York Times. It’s not exactly news, but it’s interesting and it contrasts with the way it’s so much easier to get an appellation in Italy. Here‘s some info on the region from the Rhone promotional council.

More from Jancis: Grenache and Syrah are the principal vine varieties grown, although up to 15 per cent of Carignan, Mourvèdre, or Cinsaut is allowed (to a maximum of 30 per cent between them). Of the permitted white varieties, Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Marsanne, Roussanne, and Viognier, may also be included. The basic maximum yield allowed is 52 hl/ha (3 tons/acre). The wines are similar to those of the much larger Côtes du Ventoux appellation to the immediate south, which was also promoted to full appellation contrôlée status in 1973. A total of more than 2,600 ha/6,400 acres was devoted to Tricastin in the mid 2000s.

image via steve garfield

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported on a meeting where Dennis Rosen, the chairman of the state liquor authority, covered the impacts of a 2005 law that increased the ability of in-state and out-of-state wineries to ship in and out of New York. Guess what?

The liquor authority has collected $431,375 in permit fees from wineries in the 15 states [with reciprocal shipping agreements]. Wineries that shipped directly reported $54 million in sales to New York consumers between March 2009 and February 2010, which yielded about $4.5 million in sales taxes.

Interstate shipping was a major fight back in the early 2000s. Then in 2005 Granholm v. Heald went in front of the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of laws in Michigan and New York that the court found to discriminate between in-state and out-of-state wineries because it violated the commerce clause.

This opened up new markets, evidenced by the numbers above, but it did not address direct shipping, where a winery can ship directly to a consumer in any state, because, in its silliness to redress the wrong, the court affirmed the right to ship only between states with reciprocal agreements. So a state could choose not to allow shipping at all, whether from an in-state or out-of-state winery, because then it wouldn’t be discriminating. Get it.

The fight continues. Tom Wark, executive director of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, keeps a close eye on developments. The latest is that in March the Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal in Wine Country Gift Baskets vs. Steen, which upheld Texas’s right to prohibit the shipping of wine from out-of-state retailers. Go figure.

Let’s check out the 2009 Santi ‘Solane’ Valpolicella Classico Superiore DOC.

From George:

Santi Valpolicella Classico Superiore is a “ripasso” method Valpolicella, meaning that following primary fermentation the wine sees a second fermentation with the addition of Amarone grapes and skins, creating a richer, more complex and more exciting final wine.

Santi Solane is sourced from estate vineyards within the original Valpolicella appellation of Valpolicella Classico.

When primary fermentation is complete in early winter, grapes, skins and pomace from Santi’s Amarone are added to the vats. The additional sugars from the Amarone trigger a second fermentation, which adds additional layers of complexity, rich fruit and structure. The wine is blended and then aged for more 3-5 months in small oak cask followed by an additional 12 months in larger neutral casks prior to bottling.

The finished wine has  70 percent corvina and 30 percent rondinella, typical grapes for the region, (but how could you tell?) excluding the third usual suspect of molinara.

George’s tasting notes:

The 2009 Santi Solane has an intense bouquet of cloves, vanilla, cherry jam and almonds. In the mouth, the wine is full, warm and harmonious, with an elegant finish.

The wine is also fairly priced; it’s a $12 wine.

Here’s how Jancis describes ripasso:

Italian term meaning literally ‘repassed’, for the technique of adding extra flavour, and alcohol, to Valpolicella by re-fermenting the young wine on the unpressed skins of Amarone wines after these dried grape wines have finished their fermentation in the spring. While this undoubtedly adds body and character to a ripasso Valpolicella, the fact is that all the goodness has been extracted from the grapes during their first fermentation, so only bitter tannins are leached from the skins. Some producers, notably Allegrini, are therefore substituting grapes that have been dried (though not to the extent required for Amarone) for the fermented Amarone skins, although this technique is necessarily expensive. The technique is also used in South America.   

The wine has also been recognized by the Italian Food Guide, Gambero Rosso, with its Three Glass designation, their highest, known in the trade as Tre Bicchieri. They have a great tasting each year.            

I’ve had other ripassos, maybe George will let me try this one.       

grand cru
means literally ‘great growth’ in French. In Burgundy’s Côte d’Or a grand cru is one of 34 particularly favored vineyards, a decided notch above premier cru. In Alsace, grand cru is a recent, elevated appellation accorded several dozen specific vineyards. In Bordeaux, the words grand cru usually apply to a specific property or château and depend on the region in which it is located.

extraordinary small enclave within the Coteaux du Layon appellation producing, only in the best vintages and usually only as a result of noble rot infection, sweet white wines from botrytized chenin blanc grapes or, increasingly, such grapes dried on the vine. Total annual production can often be as little as a few thousand cases, from just over 30 ha/74 100 acres of vineyard, supposedly the finest quarter, or quart, of the Chaume part near Rochefort-sur-Loire of Coteaux du Layon. The vineyards here have the advantage of a southerly exposition within a sort of amphitheatre. The brown schist and carboniferous soils are distinctive and result in powerful wines, particularly since the average vine age is high—with a maximum permitted yield of only 22 hl/ha (1.2 tons/acre), which is rarely achieved, few new investments are being made in this minuscule but potentially glorious appellation. The naturally high acidity of the chenin blanc grape endows these wines, very similar to those of nearby Bonnezeaux, with impressive longevity.

Anywho, about the Pellegrini 2005 Estate Merlot. They say on the label that it’s unfiltered and is 13 percent abv. Russell Hearn was definitely on the job then in the cellar. The wine is opaque, ruby red with black inflections and a thin pink rim, a nice bright color for a six-year-old wine. It has a lightly intense fruity smell, which I wish I could another way to describe, but it smells like those raspberry, blackberry candies that have small candy balls covering them so they look like fruit.

There you go, that’s it. Which I like, I like that smell. It also has the viscous smell of pectin that I find in a lot of Long Island wine, which usually translates to a viscosity on the palate that I believe to be gylcerol. And I don’t like that. Some people do.

It also smells a little like body powder, which is a talc/mineral smell with a little bit of dried flower sachet. This I associate on Long Island with petit verdot. I know they grow petit verdot at Pellegrini and the wine only has to be 85 (75?) percent merlot to put it on the label. Petit verdot adds color and aroma to a wine, so if there’s some in there, it worked.

So there’s a little bit going on in the nose.

It’s a bit high in acid on the palate and the fruit flavors are starting to fade. What hasn’t faded is turning into nice secondary flavors of dried fruit and leather and, well, wood. The tannins have still a bit of grip and are ripe, which is nice on Long Island and give it a pleasantly chalky finish. The glycerol I expected on the mouthfeel was covered by the acid and alcohol.

The finish reaches the back of the mouth but doesn’t last too long.

It’s fairly balanced, not too intense, medium length and medium complexity, more so on the nose, but my nose may be more sensitive than my palate.

(That’s Lisa Granik’s BLIC.)

Pellegrini’s website lists it for $19.99 a bottle.

Today, it’s a 2001 Martha Clara Merlot (which also has a new website; someone’s making some money). 2001 was a wonderful year out here; I recently retasted the 2001 Macari Bergen Road, a blend, which was still fresh and complex and definite food wine. It went a far way toward convincing me that blending is the way to go on Long Island. It may be that only Burgundy can put all its eggs in one basket.

(As an aside, the New York Times Magazine was all about food this weekend, and it asked chefs and writers what they would want for their last meal. A great proportion included Burgundy.)

But here is the 2001 Martha Clara Merlot, estate selection, so no single vineyard or reserve with extra oak or aging. I had just moved to the North Fork in May of 2001 and was not yet into the local wine scene, although I was into wine. I believe that Roman Roth made this wine, but as it’s 9 p.m. and during harvest, I won’t call him to confirm.

Anywho, the wine is holding up well. It’s definitely on its way out, the fruit is almost dried up, but the ripe tannins are holding on and there’s flavors there especially on the finish, which I found satisfying. It tastes good for 10-year-old wine. I’m kinda proud of it. This wine was probably $15 upon release.

This leads me to last night’s project. I set up a datebase using Bento to keep track of all the wines I’ve tasted. I wish I started it six years ago. (Bento’s for Mac and is cheap and easy to figure out.)

And it’s true, wines that are too warm do show too much alcohol, but that might be because there’s too much alcohol to begin with.

Giving me wine gifts is an easy call, but of the ones I have, I only really use those jackets you put in the freezer that will chill a bottle of white in enough time for dinner. Those are also great for picnics to keep the sparkling wine cold.

This product seems to be that in reverse, which might make sense because glass is an insulator and working from the center of the bottle to the outside might be more efficient. But the jackets seem to cover more surface area. It seems this might be more of a keep-it-cold rather than a chill-it down-product, but it sure looks cool. And has a cool name, the corkcicle.

I intend to attend at least three of the seminars. From their literature:

Good Better Blends
Not only is this category growing in South Africa, it is also gaining increased recognition internationally. Several speakers will present some of the country’s most respected red and white blends. The speakers are Francois Haasbroek, Waterford;
Niel Bester, Plaisir de Merle; Wilhelm Pienaar, Nederburg.

Chenin Blanc’s Diversity
Chenin Blanc is South Africa’s most widely planted varietal – for good reason. This seminar will showcase the various styles and flexibility of Chenin Blanc, from the fresh & fruity through the rich & ripe to the sweet and sparkling. Carl van der Merwe, De Morgenzon; Ken Forrester, Ken Forrester Wines; Niel Groenewald, Bellingham DGB;
Richard Kershaw, Mulderbosch

Flagship Reds
Winemakers will present some of South Africa’s iconic and ultra premium red wines. These highly recognised reds will include single varietal and blended wines, as well as some older vintages. Bruwer Raats, Raats Family and Mvemve Raats; Emil Den Dulk, De Toren; Henry Kotze, Morgenster; Mike Ratcliff,Vilafonté and Warwick
Ex Africa semper aliquid novi – Always something new out of Africa
The saying “Always something new out of Africa” could not be more true than when applied to the South African wine lands. South Africa has established a pioneering partnership between the wine industry and the conservation body WWF, and now leads the the world in conserving natural biodiversity. A world first, the country’s new seal guarantees both a wine’s integrity and that the wine has been sustainably produced. More and more of our wineries are moving towards producing wine in harmony with nature, moving towards organic or biodynamic. Our new seal, a world first, certifies both a wine’s integrity and that it has been sustainabiy produced. South Africa also has more Fairtrade wines than any other country . This seminar gives you the opportunity to meet some of the vineyard owners spearheading these dynamics and to taste some of their very best wines. Johan Reyneke, Reyneke; Paul Cluver Jnr, Paul Cluver; Vernon Henn, Thandi.