But Wait!  There’s one expression of Chardonnay that I truly enjoy: Chablis.  Actually, all well-made, cool-climate Chards that don’t see a judicious amount of oak are pretty fantastic.  The problem is that these other examples from the Loire, Northern Italy and Austria are produced in miniscule quantities and rarely seen, so therefore, we shall focus on our more widely available buddy Chablis.

What makes Chablis special?

The Climate.  Chablis is technically in Burgundy but is actually closer to Champagne in the north of France than the rest of Burgundy in the South.  It is significantly cooler, producing a high-toned style with higher acidity and because the wines tend to be much leaner, the wines are aged in stainless vats or large, neutral barrels.  In the other parts of Burgundy and the New World, judicious amounts of new barrels have become the norm, producing a rounder, oakier style of wine.  If Chablis is all about finesse, heavily oaked Chard is about as graceful as a newborn’s first steps.

The Soil.  All the prime sites of Chablis sit in a dried-up ocean bed full of oceanic minerals combined with chalk known as Kimmeridgian soil.  These attributes are reflected in the wines and possess a chalky, steeliness that is more reminiscent of Sancerre than any other version of Chard.  For those who prefer crispier whites, these are the Chardonnays for you.

Value-Oriented Chablis:

William Fevre, ‘Champs Royaux’, ’08

Gilbert Picq, ’08

Both of these wines rock for the price.  These bottlings represent an awesome chance to have a glimpse into the possibilities of Chablis without breaking the bank.

Non-Value-Oriented Chablis:

There are 3 rockstar producers of Chablis and the prices reflect their efforts: Fevre, Dauvissat and Raveneau.  These guys predominantly work with only the best Premier Cru and Grand Cru sites, so if you have the chance, jump on it and drink that juice because it is probably on somebody else’s tab.

Ballstein

Post-Argentina

Recently, I had a wonderful opportunity to spend some time touring Mendoza, home of the Argentinian wine community, courtesy of William-Harrison Imports.  First and foremost, a sincere thanks to William-Harrison Imports is warranted.  It was an absolutely wonderful experience.

Now to the juice.

I’m not going to lie- I’ve never been a huge fan of Argentinian Malbec or really any of their reds.  They are great values but tend to be to overbearing and lack complexity.  Sadly, this was mostly reaffirmed during my stay there.

Mendoza is a hot dessert and subsequently, the wines produced are over-extracted and lack nuance.  I’m sorry but 100% new American oak does not provide nuance, just intense vanilla and coconut flavors to add to the jammy berry fruit.  This has become the go-to style down there and unfortunately, just about everybody is hopping in.  I honestly tasted the same wine 100 times.  It reminded me of our buddies on the other side of the globe, the Aussies, and for anyone who keeps up with the wine biz, the future is not bright and does not require shades.

HOWEVER,

There were some big winners!  Two areas in particular that impressed me were Patagonia and the Cafayate Valley near Salta.

Patagonia is a significantly cooler area than Mendoza and the wines show much more refinement.  The only problem is that there are currently only 7 wineries down there compared to the 1,100+ in Mendoza.  Keep your eyes peeled for the producer Nemesio in particular- very impressive juice across the board.

The Cafayate Valley is actually north of Mendoza which would lead one to believe that it is warmer.  Not so.  This area is home to the highest vineyards in the world (over 10,000 ft) and produces some wines of stunning quality.  The best juice here is by far the wonderfully aromatic white Torrentés.  It is reminiscent of Alsatian Gewürtztraminer with intense lychee and rose pedal notes, but its lineage is actually Muscat crossed with a little known indigenous varietal.  If you haven’t the chance to experience it, put it on your list.  Recommended producers who are easy to locate are Susan Balbo’s ‘Crios’ and Columé.

ONE NOTE- the Torrentés being produced in the other regions of Argentina, such as Mendoza and La Rioja, pale in comparison to the Cafayate version.

Ballstein

The impetus for all this love is that Social won 3 categories in the Charleston City Paper “Best of”, right on the heels of our 3rd anniversary.  It has been a roller coaster of a ride (think one of those new, super intense, Superman-style ones at Six Flags) and being able to earn such accolades makes all the effort 100% worth it.  I could not be more grateful to our wonderful staff and of course, all our fantastic customers.  None of this could have been possible without the contribution of all involved, both directly and indirectly.

We won “Best Wine Selection” for the 3rd year running, “Best Happy Hour” (we really do have the best happy hour if you have yet check it out- let’s just say $3 for most anything), and “Best Upscale Bar”.  Our goals for this upcoming year are loftier and we will strive to be the best at all capacities in which we operate.  Your feedback is necessary in making this happen and we will be adding a section to our website to allow for anonymous criticisms and (hopefully) praises about your experience (keep you posted when this becomes live).  Until, Thank You and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Ballstein

Moving on…What a jammed pack month.  Social celebrated its 3rd anniversary- it is still incomprehensible that three years have passed.  A gigantic ‘thank you’ to all who attended the festivities as well as made it possible.  The juice was flowin’, the music via Space Invaders was bumpin’ and the debauchery was incitin’.

Next, I competed in the Regionals of the Youth Sommelier Competition.  Didn’t win, didn’t advanced but I learned a massive amount and plan to be a tour de force next year.  I’m gunnin’ for the gold mofos.

More importantly, our new GM, Zach Smith, started on the 1st and is now in full swing.  He hails from Charlotte via Houston has been a GM for Upstream restaurant and XO wine bar and lounge.  One should expect higher standards in all facets of the operation so pop by and make friends.  He happens to be a really nice guy too.

Lastly, I was accepted to sit the Advanced Sommelier Examination (Level 3) in Anaheim at the end of April.  The pass rate is painfully low at 20% but everybody needs a challenge.  Over the next two months, I will be sure to keep you posted of all the odd rules, regulations and appellations that I must learn to pass.  The wine world is a funny place and quite often, bureaucracy as opposed to logic, becomes the driving force- just ask Tyler Coleman(www.drvino.com).

That’s the update.  I have a lot of big, big plans for this blog in 2010 so stay tuned…or just check back in a few days.  Tell then, drink some delicious juice and stay warm (unless you are currently cold, then get warm).

Ballstein

So I had the most awesome of opportunities to attend the Wine Entrepreneur Conference in DC last week and I figured  that the least I could do is share with you the insights I learned from it.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy two days worth of seminars condensed down into this bite-size blog post.  I realize that this post would have to be of an extraordinary length to actually fully cover all the material covered, so here are the big picture lessons.

1. Buying a vineyard = Worst Business Model Ever!!! Don’t buy a vineyard and produce wine with the intentions of making millions.  I must reiterate the most classic wine business joke, “How do you make a million dollars in the wine industry…Start with 10 million!”.  I will take my chances in the airline industry.

2.If you want to make wine, source the grapes, rent part of an already existing warehouse and start producing juice immediately.  Not overly capital-intensive and if you can make some good enough wine and market it properly, you can grow organically and one day you can have a winery of your own.  Baby Steppin’!

3. Importing is a beast horse!  Lots of laws, lots of time trying to sell your product in your market, very little time traveling around the world sourcing products aka writing off awesome vacations.  It’s one of those ‘if it was easy, everybody would be doing it’ kinda things.

4. Wine Journalism=Super Fun…but hard to monetize (though becoming easier).

5. Can’t underestimate the power of social media in the wine industry.  Just ask Hardy Wallace.

6. How do you combine the aesthetic and rigidity of a glass bottle with the sustainability of an aluminum can?  That’s right- The Aluminum Bottle…aka the way of the near future.

Can’t wait until next year!

Yeah Boy!!!  Flavor Flav loves the Ribera del Duero and I bet you can’t guess why.

It’s the FLAVOR!!!  This is hedonism at its best for an Old World junkie like myself (the old-school European juice).

The details: Spain is technically an old world wine producing country since it is part of Europe and has centuries-old growing culture.  However, Spain tends to be a little bit warmer than the majority of its counterparts and also has a preference for American oak for the aging process, so the wines are more reminiscent of new world examples than most of its old world counterparts.  This is not true across the board because nothing is true across the board in the wine world- it would make it too simple.  The wine world feeds off complication- you could say it is its life force.  Moving on.  Ribera del Duero is comprised predominantly of Tempranillo and represents a more full-bodied, fruit-forward style of wine but still manages to show secondary (non-fruit) flavors and aromas while maintaining its sense of balance and structure.

Huh?  Let’s just say new world wine is visiting the old world and happens to be tearin’ up the discotheque.  New world wine happens to meet old world wine and is enamoured by her European ways and of course, the accent.  Old world wine is taken by the brazen, spunky style of new world wine and they hang out all evening.  One things leads to another and after a little too much to drink, out pops Ribera del Duero nine months later.  The beautiful little baby lived with old world wine but was largely influenced by new world wine and what blossomed was a cross of the two.  It’s a beautiful story I will tell my kids every night as they fall asleep, assuming they aren’t living with old world wine.  Then I will tell them every other weekend.

I think I’m digressing.  The point of this post is big, soul-warming reds and Ribera del Duero is one of the gratifying winter delights.  The prices for these wines range from very reasonable to mind-boggling pricey.  Here’s a list of my recommendations but these are just the ones that have proven themselves to me over the course of time.  Salut!

Vina Sastre

Atalayas

Pesquera

Vega Sicilia- the godfather of Ribera

These producers offer a range of wines from reasonable to over-the-top expensive.  Enjoy!

Ballstein

I’ve spent nearly 3 months over the past 2 years of my life in Bordeaux, attending the ’07 en primeur tastings in one of my stints.  Though I had never gravitated towards Bordeaux, it provided an opportunity for me to really sink my teeth into the region.  So enjoy my personal take on one of the most highly revered wine producing regions of the world.

Here’s the skinny- cheap Bordeaux sucks (this post is specific to reds- I think white Bordeaux is highly underrated).  This region produces more wine than any other region of France, mainly accomplished by growing grapes on inappropriate plots of land and high yields (lower the yield, more concentrated the nutrients).  What entails is shit tons of insipid plonk (1 shit ton = 1 metric ton).

…HOWEVER, when Bordeaux is great, it is sublime and will probably necessitate a 2nd mortgage.  That’s not exactly true but expect to drop a couple bills and I’m not talking about the Hamiltons (Lazy Sunday reference).  Why so much you ask?  Well, here’s the problem: Bordeaux experiences vast vintage variations and the wines are priced accordingly.  For example, Lafite Rothschild’s average price for the ‘05 is $790, while the ’06 is $419 and the ’07 is $212 according to wine-searcher.com.  The reality is that the pricing is based on the perceived overall quality of the wine and these indicators tend to be fairly accurate except when the vintage is exalted as the greatest ever.  How can one region have already experienced two vintages of the century in the first 6 years of the 21st? Hmmm…I think not!  From my experience, it is worth spending the money on the better vintages because I don’t care what the name is, a horrible vintage will at best produce a mediocre wine.  However, don’t necessarily buy into the hype either.  Moral of the story- learn all the good to great vintages and stick to them (see below) but don’t overpay just because the press tells you to.

I will admit that I have come across a few estates that produce solid examples in the better vintages that are reasonably priced- around $20-$25 retail, but these are the exceptions.  Two wines that I particularly keep an eye out for are Château Greysac and Croix-Mouton.  However, as soon as any estate starts receiving recognition in the press, the price seems to immediately double.  Cos d’Estournel at the turn of the century is a prime example.

I hope this post doesn’t scare any winos away from Bordeaux but if you are a curious consumer like me, you have experienced a painful amount of shwaggy juice from Bordeaux.  If you do your homework though, you could stumble upon a glorious bottling that satiates all of your desires.  In reality, this is the adventurous connoisseur’s raison d’ être after all.

Ballstein

2000: ‘Vintage of the Century’ #1

2001: Good vintage that is overshadowed by the 2000’s

2002: Another solid vintage that  lives in the shadows- excellent values

2003: Very hot season produced extracted, opulent wines.  Good if you prefer that style.

2004: Uneven vintage- buyer beware

2005: ‘Vintage of the Century’ #2

2006: Solid vintage that is outshined by the ’05’s; Approachable in style

2007: Avoid

2008: Better than ’07 but uneven- be skeptical

In Charleston, we live in a lovely moderate climate where we experience cold weather for about 4 weeks a year (for those readers who are based in the North, you would laugh at our version of cold btw).  Well, it hasn’t broken 50 degrees in a few days and is supposed to continue through the end of the week (told you that you would laugh!), so it’s time for BIG, BOLD REDS- the soul-warming kind that heats your body from the inside out.  Or maybe it’s just the naturally higher alcohol content of these wines numbing your senses.  Doesn’t matter- you don’t notice your frostbitten toes either way.

So onto the juice…there are way too many varietals and wines to discuss in just one entry, so we are going to break this topic up into digestible blocks by writing about whatever varietal I feel like writing about (we apply a highly structured and scientific method to how we go about this obviously).

Part 1

Today’s inspiration is Brunello di Montalcino!!!

I tasted a Brunello over the weekend and was reminded by how much I love these wines.  This might be my favorite brawny wine in the world- more so than great Bordeaux or certain super-Tuscans.  Define brawny you say…well how about medium + to full-bodied wines with obvious tannins that show a darker fruit profile.  Examples include Cab Sauv, Merlot, Syrah/Shiraz, Malbec, Tempranillo, etc…

Back to the Brunello…These wines are based on one of the hundred mutations of Sangiovese, local to Montalcino and must be aged for at least 4 years before release.  The most notable occurrence from the region is the controversy regarding the ‘03s where certain producers were caught blending in Cab Sauv and Merlot to their Brunellos (by law, it must be 100% Brunello).  Like all good scandals, the big boys were busted and punished and the little guys were heralded for staying true to the traditions of the land.  You know, like Braveheart but the hero isn’t tortured to death and the little guys retain their freedom. Alright, it’s nothing like Braveheart but that movie kicked ass.

So why do I love Brunello?  Simple, for the same reason why I love the wines I do: complexity, transcendental aromatics, proper balance and structure, long, soulful finish, age worthiness and most importantly, uniqueness.  Great examples of Brunello incorporate every single one of these aspects.  These full-bodied wines with aggressive tannins, particularly when young, have a flavor profile that remind me of yes, Dr. Pepper.  One could say that DP’s 23 flavors are a testament to the complexity of Brunello.  Regardless, every time I drink Brunello, I am transported back to my childhood, sipping on my favorite soda (this could account for my partial fascination with it) because being a kid again, even for a hot minute, rocks.  I could wane on with a painful descriptive tasting note but you are going to have to trust me and a majority of the world’s wine aficionados that there exists nothing else like awesome Brunello, so drop the $50-$100 (retail) and prepare to be overwhelmed by its awe-inspiring aromatic and flavor profile, while slowly slipping back into your budding, adolescent state.  Time for a game of tag.

Ballstein

One Note:  Brunellos need to be decanted.

Well, I was in the NYC doing my thing, mostly tearing up it, when I stumbled onto a bottle of 1990 Chinon ‘Les Picasses’ from Olga Raffault at Astor Wine & Spirits in Soho (Kick ass shop- check it out).  The wino in me started geekin’ out and within minutes I am on the sub with a freshly purchased bottle of juice, painfully excited to pop this thing open.  Unfortunately, I was meeting a group of wine peeps for dinner where I needed to bring an impressive bottling, so I had to bide my time by looking for myself on the ruthless streets of New York- actually, I think I went shopping, maybe had a light lunch.

Anyways, turns out this 20 year old Chinon is da BOMB- that’s assuming:  A. you like Chinon to begin with because the flavor profile of Old World Cab Franc tends to be an ‘acquired’ taste and B. you like aged wine.  With that disclaimer securely in place, this wine rocked!!!  It had no apparent fruit but bell pepper and a confluence of dried herbs completely satiated my interest factors, while impressively maintaining its structure.  The tannins had softened with age, but the remaining acidity provided enough structure so as to give presence to the wine on the palate.  Super Rad and Super Delicious.

So the moral of this story:  If you dig funky wine and come across some aged Chinon, BUY IT!  You will not be disappointed.

This be the proof!

-Ballstein

Every city I ever visit, I’m dialed in, I have done the research and I know where I am going.  I have to make sure I get my fix of wine bardom.  Some are more addicting than others, depending on the degree of awesomeness.  Some are ultimately disappointing and I question their use of ‘wine bar’ for branding purposes.  15 wines by the glass of generic bullshit does not make you a wine bar.  And I should know, I am the proprietor of one.  I sit and analyze and dissect every aspect of an operation as I sip on what I hope is a well-chosen, interesting selection.  Not always the case.

And then, there are places like Terroir in the East Village of wonderful NYC.  Though I have never visited a wine bar as impressive as Terroir, I am assuming there exists something comparable- I could be completely wrong.  There is only a handful of cities in the world that would support such a unique being: New York, London, Chicago and San Fran come to mind.  It’s only been open for a year or two (too lazy to do the research) but every aspect of it is glorious (except maybe the decor that could use a little pop and the size- so small for a city so big, in other words, fills up fast).

The wine program is super esoteric and wine-geeky.  It may seem completely random to the untrained eye, but the beliefs behind the selections bring it all together (Reader: add appropriate metaphor incorporating glue).  The Old World-heavy list (it’s 98% Old World) is slightly spotty, but there are so many awe-inspiring wines from the world’s best producers that you really don’t care.  There are probably 30-40 BTG offerings (should have counted) that rock as much as the bottle list and if you go by yourself like I did the last time, there is a hefty amount of highly amusing yet informative reading material within its James Beard Award-winning binder (Graphics; the list is actually in a 3rd grade-style binder).  Plus, the bartenders are great to converse with if it’s not slammin’ busy.

The food is delicious as well- the peeps that own Terroir also own Hearth, a killer restaurant about four doors away.  It’s a testament to the Slow Food movement, regionality and sustainability.

It’s funny- I started this post with the intentions of writing about this totally random wine that blew my mind that I had at Terroir and instead, I just write about how awesome Terroir is.  I guess I will save it for the next one. (It’s cute that I assume people actually read this)

Anyways, next time you’re in the City, curl up in the warm, cozy belly of Terroir and prepared to be fascinated and entertained by the wine bardom gods.  The place is glorious and easily one of my favorite places to hang out in the world- that’s just the wine bar junkie in me- so ‘check, check, check it out!’