lgsjr – Page 11 – Power Tasting – The Wine Tasting Experience

L’Angolo DiVino

This is a continuation of Power Tasting’s irregular series on great wine bars of the world. Previous issues have taken readers to locations in Paris, London, Copenhagen and Lisbon…and now, Rome.

If you google “Best wine bars in Rome” you’ll get various lists made by people with different tastes and experiences. In almost all cases, you’ll find Angolo DiVino there, often at the top. It’s a Roman attraction, albeit a bit difficult to find. Nonetheless, Italians do find their way there and these days you’ll hear other languages spoken, not least American-accented English.

It’s located on a very narrow street called the Via dei Balestrari. Cab drivers have never heard of the street; GPS gets lost; and in typical Roman fashion, everyone you meet on the street will give you directions, whether they know where it is or not. The key is that it is only a block off of one of the corners of the Campo di Fiori, which every cabbie can definitely find. Ah, but which corner? There’s a restaurant at one end, called Carbonara. That’s the wrong end. But if you turn your back to the restaurant, go to the corner of the Campo to your right and walk one block, you’ll be there.

And once you get a table, you’ll be glad you did. L’Angolo DiVino is quite small and you may have to wait a while for a table. Of course, you can order a glass and stand outside sipping while you wait. Once seated, you’ll be handed the wine list of the size of a short novel. There must be a hundred wines to choose among. However, most of them are sold by the bottle and it seems that most patrons, especially groups larger than two people, order bottles. Buying by the bottle gives you a greater selection to choose from but less chance to experiment with the little-known wines on the by-the-glass list.

There is also food to be had from a rather short menu of bruschettas, salads, cold cuts, olives and cheeses. It’s possible to make a meal from these dishes, but it seems that most patrons order their antipasto at l’Angolo DiVino before moving on. We must say that the prosciuttos, salamis and cheeses complement the wines quite well.

You can get an education in Italian wine at l’Angolo DiVino, if you have the time and stamina to work your way through their list. But you can also get an education in the easygoing way of Roman life. This enoteca is no different from the hundreds of others scattered around Rome, with a better quality of wine and a less rambunctious clientele. Voices are not raised at l’Angolo DiVino. Families get together there. Couples sit, sip and talk. And the servers really do know what they are talking about when it comes to the wines on offer.

As said elsewhere in this issue, enotecas are beloved gathering spots in Rome. Many are neighborhood hangouts. L’Angolo DiVino is a destination.

And oh, about the name. Angolo means corner, and indeed this wine bar occupies a corner. The rest is a play on words, so it’s either the Corner of Wine or the Divine Corner.

Querciabella

The whole idea behind Power Tasting’s winery reviews is that we share our impressions at wineries and tasting rooms where we have had tastings. In this article, we review a winery we haven’t visited. A story goes with it.

We were on a wine tasting trip to Tuscany and focused on two regions within the province. One was the area between Montalcino and Montepulciano, where Brunello and Vino Nobile are made. The other, of course, was the area of Chianti Classico. We had been drinking the namesake wine of Querciabella (quercailbella.com), a Chianti, at home and liked it a lot so we wanted to meet the people who made it and taste some of their other wines.

Querciabella is located in the tiny town of Ruffoli, on a hillside outside the somewhat larger town of Greve. On a Saturday, we had lunch in Greve and then drove to the Querciabella vineyard, only to find it deserted. We knocked on the door of what was evidently a house, and a rather angry man opened the door. To our embarrassment, our appointment was for Friday. The proprietor (who we now know to be Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni) had invited his publicist to drive down from Milan to meet us and had evidently planned quite a tasting. He slammed the door in our faces and he had a right to be angry.

The Querciabella winery. Photo courtesy of Winedering.

So this article is our attempt at amends.

In a region of Italy where winemaking goes back for millennia and many labels have histories over the centuries, Querciabella is a relative newcomer. Founded in 1974 on a single hectare in Ruffoli, it now encompasses over 100 hectares in Chianti and Maremma.

Querciabella is famous for several reasons. While they make Chianti at several quality levels, Querciabella was among the pioneers in producing Super Tuscans. Eschewing the traditional rules of Chianti winemaking – at least 80% Sangiovese and no more than 20% of grapes such as Canaiolo or Colorino – Querciabella started mixing Sangiovese with French grapes, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The first Super Tuscans were produced in the 1970’s; Querciabella’s first was released in 1981. That wine was Camartina, the winery’s flagship to this day. Their Turpino is a Bordeaux blend with no Sangiovese at all. And they also make a 100% Merlot, which they call Palafreno, but only in years when conditions are ideal. Querciabella has only released it a dozen times.

They are also famous for their commitment to sustainability. All their wines are organic, biodynamic (without the manure-filled cowhorns), and vegan. No animal products of any sorts are used in their winemaking.

We can attest that their Chiantis are not to be looked down on. The Classico is accessible but has lots of Chianti character. The Riserva is more of the same with greater depth. Querciabella has had a Gran Selezione since that designation was allowed in the previous decade. It’s a single vineyard Sangiovese, using their best grapes.

They also make a few white wines. Naturally enough, these wines are blends of Italian and French grapes, too.

A word about Querciabella’s labels. They all have drawings evocative of restaurants, for reasons unknown. They’re cute, belying the seriousness of the wine behind the labels.

So should you be wine tasting in Tuscany, make a point of visiting Querciabella. Just don’t tell them we sent you.

Roman Enotecas

You can find great wine bars around the world, as Power Tasting’s irregular series on such places evidences. But in Italy, in Rome in particular, bars called enotecas fill a special niche.

Around Italy, especially in towns in wine making regions (which is most of the country) you’ll find wine stores offering degustazioni, or tastings. These are primarily meant for the tourists; you almost never see local people in them. The idea is to pour a little of four or five wines in order to entice potential buyers to come inside to purchase some bottles. That’s not the same thing as an enoteca.

Likewise, there are plenty of bars, in Rome and elsewhere. There you can get a Scotch or a glass of wine. Italians don’t just drink wine; they too like a stiff one every now and again. But these bars are not enotecas, either.

Outside a typical enoteca in Rome.

The real thing is a wine store with tables and a list of wines by the glass or the bottle. There are tables and often some food to eat, but they are not really restaurants, either. The menu is more for snacks and sliced meats and cheese, not complete meals. People do sit at the tables to drink their wine, but just as many take their glasses outside to mix and mingle with their friends. Tourists are not made to feel unwelcome, but more attention goes to the customers who will be back tomorrow, and for years after that.

Hanging out inside a typical Roman enoteca.

Enotecas fill the spot in Roman lives that pubs do for Londoners. Yes, alcohol is involved and people do choose specific enotecas based on the wines they serve. But more often, the local enoteca is just the place they go because it’s close and, well, everybody else is there.

In many restaurants, we have found a predilection for serving wines from the local region. Some enotecas have wine lists that constitute an education in Italian wine. Most enotecas have wines from all over the country. Of course, quality differs from place to place, but for the most part we have found that most enotecas serve wines that are reflective of their grapes and terroirs. Thus, you have everything from a northern Lagrein to a Sicilian Nero d’Avola (and everywhere in between) available to you and most are quite drinkable if not the very best of their sort.

When foreigners arrive in an enoteca, they are marked as tourists immediately because they consult the list of wines by the glass. The regular clients seem to have the list memorized and, moreover, they know that they want the Verdicchio or the Montefalco because they always want the Verdicchio or the Montefalco. We have found that if you act like you are guests in someone else’s house (or bar), the servers are quite friendly and willing to help you select something to your taste.

And then there’s the matter of price. Enotecas are, at least to those of us who are used to the cost of drinking wine in American bars, ridiculously inexpensive. It is rare to find a glass of wine priced at more than 10 euros (around 11 US dollars at current rates) and most run between six and eight euros. And the pours aren’t skimpy, either.

So when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Stop by an enoteca.

Béziers

As you drive into the town of Béziers in Southwest France, you’ll see signs welcoming you and announcing that you’ve arrived at the “world capital of wine” (capitale mondiale du vin). Now, this claim may be contested by the people in Bordeaux, Montecino or Napa. But it is fair to say that there’s a lot of wine made in the area around Béziers, in the heart of the Languedoc region, although even there Narbonne and Montpellier have a claim.

The town certainly has a lot of history. Researchers say that it has been occupied since 575 BCE. The Gauls lived there; the Romans conquered it; and it was considered to be a part of Spain until well into the Middle Ages. In the crusade against a heretic branch of Christianity, the Cathars, it was sacked and nearly destroyed in 1209. Béziers’ position along the Mediterranean made (and still makes) it a center of trade and so it sprang back to life.

The entrance to the Cathedral of Saint-Nazaire. The townspeople have decorated Béziers with colorful hanging lampshades.

Visitors today can still detect some of the ravages of that war. The Cathedral of Saint-Nazaire was re-erected afterwards and still dominates Béziers’ skyline. The entrance faces a pleasant square but most of the building is on top of a cliff and is unreachable. That’s because the conquerors didn’t trust the people of Béziers and re-built the cathedral to be a fortress if need be. Fortresses tend to be fairly gloomy inside and this church is no exception, but we recommend a coffee or a glass of that Béziers wine on the square by the cathedral, where you can admire the architecture.

If you’re in the mood to see other churches, we recommend the church of the Madeleine, where the people of Béziers were massacred in 1209. You can still see some of the scars of the battle on the exterior but the interior has been renovated since then and is more attractive than that of the cathedral.

Assuming that you’re interested in other things than churches and grisly history, such as food and wine, we do have some recommendations. For one, visit the grand covered market, Les Halles de Béziers. As a visitor, you may not be able to cook everything, but you can bring home some canned cassoulet or some herbes de Provence. We always enjoy a little of the region’s succulent fruit that we munch as we go along.

There are wonderful bistros everywhere in Béziers, but the area to the west of Les Halles is packed with them. Our experience is that it doesn’t matter which one you choose. They all serve the same local specialties and they’re all good. And of course you can wash your food down with some Languedoc wine, which is wonderfully inexpensive.

The Vieux Pont and the Cathedral of Saint-Nazaire. Photo courtesy of the Telegraph.

Be sure to see the Vieux Pont (old bridge) when you leave town. Erected in the 12^th century, it’s a sight in itself. And from there you can admire the entire town, with the cathedral looming over everything. We guarantee, you’ll want to take pictures.

What to Serve?

You’ve invited some people over for a meal. Or maybe you and your significant other are having a romantic supper at home. Or it’s just an average Tuesday dinner. The same question arises: What wine are you going to serve?

But wait. Power Tasting is about visiting wineries and trying their various wines. What does that have to do with dinner plans? We think the question of what to serve should be on your mind while you’re out wine tasting. It’s unlikely that if you buy some of the wine you’re tasting that you’ll ever have the same experience as at a winery. You’ll be at home and there will be no nice server pouring you a selection of wines and explaining what they’re all about. You’ll choose a bottle, maybe two, and that’s what you’ll drink.

Photo courtesy of V is for Vino.

So we suggest that when you are in Wine Country that you consider the scenarios in the first paragraph and the decision you’ll have to make.

Think about how the wine you’re tasting matches up with the kind of food you like to cook and eat. If you’re a meat and potatoes sort of person, you’ll probably gravitate towards big, powerful reds. On the other hand, if you eat a lot of fish you’ll probably enjoy tasting white wines. This isn’t so much about wine pairing as it is about choosing the flights at a winery that will introduce you to the kinds of wine that you might serve at home.
You don’t have to impress. We have a tendency, when we are in Wine Country, to taste the finest wines in the area. We have also wondered what the Mondavis and Rothschilds of the world drink with a burger and fries. Maybe they don’t eat burgers; worse luck for them. We do and we bet you do too. And we don’t drink our best wines when we’re pouring on the ketchup. So it’s fair to think of what you’d serve at a barbecue and choose wineries to visit that will fit those occasions as well as the steak dinner.
Taste – and serve – what you like. If you’re a fan of, say, Beaujolais, and your guests include people who you believe are more wine-knowledgeable than you are, you don’t have to serve an expensive wine that you don’t know anything about. It’s your dinner in your home, so you can serve what you In all likelihood, the wine will match up pretty well with the food you will be serving. Then, when you’re in France go visit Beaujolais and learn just how wide a taste palate you can find there. And if you’re tasting elsewhere, ask which wines that they make are closest to Beaujolais.
Restaurants are different. When you dine out, you don’t serve a wine; you choose one. There is a server and if you’re lucky there’s a sommelier who will explain the wine to you before you select it. More importantly, there will be different meals consumed by each person, so the selection will almost certainly be some sort of

Amateur Winemaking

We like wine; we know a bit about it; and of course we publish Power Tasting. We’ve had some friends and acquaintances who are aware of our oenological tendencies tell us that they/their neighbor/their father-in-law makes wine at home. And they always tell us it’s as good as the best from Napa/France/Italy. There’s no way to put them off by saying, “I’m sure it’s quite good”. They insist on giving us a bottle to hear our opinion.

Photo courtesy of the San Diego Amateur Winemaking Society.

We suspect they never tasted Petrus and certainly not their home-made wine next to a glass of it. So we sip what they give us, hoping that it isn’t vinegar, swirl it in our mouths a while and then, trying hard to look earnest, tell them that while theirs is interesting, we prefer to stick with the wines we know. Notice the absence of any actual opinion.

This experience comes to mind in our wine tasting travels because quite a few wineries offer the experience of making your own wine. We are aware of several that have similar programs, including Conn Creek and the Wine Foundry in Napa and several places in Texas called Water2Wine. We have tried our hands at blending at Joseph Phelps in Napa Valley, trying to replicate Insignia, their flagship wine. We have concluded that a) we are not very capable winemakers and b) professional winemakers do an awfully good job.

Neither of those points should have come as surprises. We have no training, no experience and, though we hate to admit it, probably no aptitude for winemaking. We don’t expect rank amateurs to do our jobs, so why should we be expected to become skilled professionals just because a fine winery has given us some fermented juice to play with.

We have been fortunate enough to spend some time with several real winemakers from wineries we admire and we have great respect for them. It’s not just that they have skill at blending varietals. For one thing, they have well-cultivated tastes for wine. Sure, we do too, but we only taste the finished products. They can sip a little of this, a bit more of that and figure out what combination will be consistent with the production of years past and will taste good years in the future.

We’re happy to leave our expertise at opening bottles, pouring wine into glasses and having enough insight into wine to distinguish well-made ones from plonk. At best, we know the difference between good wine and really good wine. Which brings us back to the wines made at home. There are home cooks who can make a great, restaurant-quality meal but not hundreds of meals of exactly the same quality every night for years. The same applies to amateur winemakers. We’re certain that they enjoy what they’ve made, if only because they get to drink the results of their own handiwork. We’ll go further and recognize that if they like their own wine, that’s their own business. But they cannot make great wine, just wine they like.

Having had the chance to make our own wine, we’ve decided to let the professionals do their thing and we’ll do ours: drink it and enjoy it.

Bedell Cellars

A Bordeaux winery founded in 1980 is a newcomer. In Napa Valley, it would have a heritage but wouldn’t be a pioneer. But on Long Island’s North Fork, a 1980 winery is positively ancient. Bedell Cellars in Cutchogue (pronounced KUCH-og) is just such a winery. It has had two owners, the Bedells (Kip and Susan) who started it and the Lynne family who are still there.

Then and now, Bedell made a number of wines, red, white and rosé. At the outset, the winery focused on one grape, Merlot, to the extent that Kip Bedell was known as “Mr. Merlot”. In our earliest forays into Long Island’s new Wine Country, we found Bedell Merlot to be a standout among other wineries trying to do everything for everybody.

Bedell Cellars still bottles Merlot, but today it is a wine, not the wine. The wine that Bedell features most prominently now is Musée, which is a Bordeaux grape blend. It is unusual in two ways: the most prominent grape is Petit Verdot, which is usually used for blending in France. And the 2019 bottling does not contain Cabernet Franc, which many (us included) find to be the grape most suited to the North Fork’s terroir.

The entrance to the Bedell winery.

There are a number of reasons to spend time at Bedell when visiting the North Fork. Not the least is the look of the place, both inside and out. There is a New England-y quality to the exterior of the winery buildings. Since the North Fork was settled by émigré Puritans in the 1700’s, the architecture is an homage to local history. White clapboard and little steeples lead one to expect whalers to be coming home at any minute. These days, especially in the summer months, it is far more likely that it will be tourists who are coming.

Bedell’s tasting room.

The décor of the tasting room belies the rustic sense of the exterior. It’s modern, metal and high-tech, all rather dramatic. The servers work behind the bar and interact with visitors languidly on cool, early April days and a bit frantically at the height of the summer. We do recommend a visit to Bedell to get a sense of where the North Fork’s wines have come from. But we further recommend that you do so on a day other than a high-season weekend.

In addition to the tourist hordes, you are likely to find some distractions at Bedell. They often present musical acts, for one thing, and in the summer youmight find yourself surrounded by a lot of surprisingly well-dressed people. They are probably there for a wedding. Winery nuptials are becoming quite the thing on the North Fork, and the beauty of Bedell’s vineyards, grounds and architecture attract quite a few.

We view marriage quite favorably and are happy to see people getting hitched in such lovely surroundings. But the business of winery-as-a-backdrop may have an effect on the business of making and selling wine. It’s enough that winemaking is part farming, part art and part industry. Adding ceremonies as a fourth part of the financial equation can alter a winemaker’s perspective, as well as that of wine tasters. We hope that Bedell keeps its eye on the ball…or at least on the grape.

Peju Winery

We have driven up and down Route 29 in the Napa Valley many, many times. Often, we have passed the Peju Winery (www.peju.com). That’s exactly what we have done, passed it by without stopping in. We guess that’s because we have never seen their wines in stores or on wine lists so, we thought, why bother? On a recent trip, we did bother and we are glad we did.

The rather distinctive Peju winery.

The winery is named after its founder, Tony Peju, who only recently passed away. He was credited with being the father of direct-to-the-consumer wine sales. Thus we hadn’t heard of his wines because he bypassed stores and restaurants. Peju wines are for sale only at the winery and through their wine club. The winery is still owned and run by the Peju family, which is something depressingly rare in Napa Valley today.

The winery is distinctive. As you approach, you see a rather oddly shaped building or, as they prefer to call it, a tower. Surrounding it are lush gardens which visitors are free to roam. There is also a spacious patio where visitors are offered seated tastings. You can also stand at the bar at Peju, which is rather rare these days. We arrived without an appointment and so had our tasting indoors, in the barrel room. However, the winery does urge reservations.

The stained glass mural in the winery.

Peju makes an enormous variety of wines. Of course, not all are available for tasting on any given day, but we did find that the servers were liberal with little extras that weren’t on the official tasting lists. Located in the heart of Napa Valley in Rutherford, they do specialize in the Bordeaux grapes, especially Cabernet Sauvignon. But there are also Malbec, Pinot Noir and Sangiovese in the red wines. Their selection of white wines includes Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc (of course), but also sparking wines and French Colombard, a rarity these days. We are usually of the ABC (anything but Chardonnay) persuasion, but we rather enjoyed Peju’s.

The servers seem quite knowledgeable, if a bit chatty. They are attentive, which can be a problem in some wineries. Combining the renewed popularity of wine tasting tourism with a shortage of staff everywhere, we have often found ourselves sitting and waiting for a server to notice that we wanted to be on to our next wine. This was not the case at Peju, much to their credit. For a winery that makes its market with visitors and club members, it is only sensible that they make the tasting experience as enjoyable as possible. It leads to purchases and memberships. We would only wish that more wineries would adopt that attitude.

Our visit to Peju is an example of why it is a good idea, from time to time, to take a chance on a winery you don’t know. We enjoyed our visit, bought some wine, and will gladly return on another trip. The next time we might even make a reservation.

The Evolution of Wine Tasting in Napa Valley

We’ve been visiting Napa Valley for the purpose of wine tasting for a long time, since 1977 to be exact. Needless to say, the valley has changed greatly over nearly a half century. In some ways, the wine has stayed the same, but in others it has developed quite a bit. And thus, the way that visitors engage in wine tasting has evolved tremendously.

St. Helena in the 1950s. Photo courtesy of Cinema Treasures

Napa Valley was primarily agricultural, and of course it still is. But towns like Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga are unrecognizable from what they once were. For example, we can remember when the French Laundry in Yountville used to source its produce and poultry from farms just across Washington Street. Calistoga was known for mud baths, not wine. St. Helena was a village for locals and Napa was nowhereseville. What changed them? Tourism, of course. And what brought the tourists? Wine.

In the earlier times, growers and wine makers would offer tastes of their wines for free as a form of advertising, in hopes that visitors would buy some. Wine tasting was an afterthought in the commercial scheme of things, conducted in a barn or a barrel room. The visitors were attracted more by curiosity (“Do they really make wine up there?”) than advanced oenological expertise. And while there were always exceptions, the wines were predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

St. Helena today. Photo courtesy of Visit Napa Valley.

By the 1990’s, tourism was well established. There were plenty of excellent restaurants to feed the visitors (quite well), though hotels there were primarily chains and bed-and-breakfasts. Wineries began charging for their tastings, enough at first to cover their tasting costs. These had begun to climb as they had to improve facilities, hire more staff and improve the glassware. And the varietals had expanded. Everyone seemed to have a Pinot Noir from Carneros and Sauvignon Blanc from all over the valley. And the visitors were interested in sipping some of all the wines. The tastings went from a little of one or two wines to flights of four or more.

By the millennium, wine tasting had become a profit maker unto itself. Napa palaces were erected from one end of the valley to the other. And the tasting fees had risen to the point that they were a consideration – along with alcoholic sanity, of course – as to how many wineries could be visited. Many tasting rooms offered two lists, with the premier wines available at a higher price. Increasingly, the visitors demonstrated significant knowledge and taste buds.

Today, especially with the aftereffects of the pandemic, much of the tourism in Napa Valley is directed to resorts, with wine tasting almost a sideline. Of course, Napa Valley wines had long achieved eminence in the world and preeminence in California and the US generally. But the cost of tasting in Napa Valley had made other winemaking areas, such as Sonoma County, Santa Barbara and the Central Coast attractive alternatives. The wines of Napa Valley are still superb, but the tasting fees at the finest wineries are a deterrent for some potential visitors.

Napa Valley will long produce great wines and the scenery will forever be beautiful, but the nature of wine tasting there may never be the same.

Tasting Value Wines in Napa Valley

One definition of value is “whatever someone is willing to pay”. By that token, the most valuable wines in Napa Valley are those that are unavailable for tasting by the average visitor to Napa Valley. These would include Screaming Eagle, Dalla Valle, Harlan Estate or Schrader. By reputation, we’re sure that these are great wines, but we haven’t had the opportunity to taste them.

But another way to look at value is the ratio of quality to price. While some would have you believe that the more something costs, the better it is, this is not necessarily true and certainly not when it comes to wine tasting. In these days when a wine tasting trip to Napa Valley is bound to be costly, it is well to consider this definition of value as you choose which wineries to visit and what to try while you’re there.

Photo courtesy of What the Fab.

Lesser known wineries can make very good wine. Sure, the big labels you read about in the wine columns of your newspaper make good wine (usually, but not always). But we have discovered that smaller, less renowned wineries often have a few wines that offer excellent quality. Our recent experience at Black Stallion falls into this category. In many instances, these better wines are only available at the winery or to their club members. If they are opening them at their tasting rooms, it is often to entice you to join their clubs. But you can enjoy them without joining.
Some wineries that make mass production wines can also have a few that excel. Even though you may have bought some of their easily available wines and not cared much for them, it’s worth giving these wineries a chance when you’re in Wine Country, especially in Napa Valley. We have tried – and bought – some gems from Clos du Val and William Hill, for example, that really exceeded our expectations.
With the prices for seated tastings running so high, it might make sense to include a few lower cost wineries when you’re in Napa Valley. Remember that the overall experience provides as much pleasure as the wines themselves. If you know of a tasting room or patio that has something extra to offer, such as art or an attractive setting, you may choose to just relax with a few tastes of wines that don’t leave you in awe, but are enjoyable in themselves. And you may find that there is one wine that is better than you anticipated. Our experience at Cosentino, with a tasting fee of “only” $30, falls into this category.
Visit wineries that you already know make less expensive wines you know you like. Many people have a few go-to wines you buy just for an informal meal or an easy afternoon outside. Visit those wineries. You know in advance that they make at least one wine that suits your tastes. It may well be that they have others you haven’t had the occasion to try. It’s certainly worth taking a chance with them.