Real Wine in Queens

The notes that follow are from a tasting with Neal Rosenthal at his Queens, NY warehouse on August 17. A half-dozen wholesalers and sommeliers, accompanied by one pesky retailer, gathered for a brutally early-morning survey of new wines being offered by Rosenthal Wine Merchant, a first look that I found really inspiring. Rosenthal's obvious enthusiasm for his new discoveries (and the wines he represents in general) adds greatly to the tasting experience, but I feel that even if we tasted in some sort of impossible hypothetical sensory vacuum, these would shine. But it was nice to try them with a group of dedicated winos and fellow travelers who really seemed to grasp the importance of what Rosenthal is doing for the health of the industry. After three tastings and a number of meals together, I'm convinced Mr. Rosenthal is the real thing. He cares deeply about preserving and protecting food culture, and promoting the role of quality food and wine in society in all its wonderful variations, to an intensity that he appears deeply bothered (despairing in fact) at the continuing loss of unique foods and wines to the twin threats of agribusiness homogenization and consumer apathy. I suspect this passion makes Neal most proud of his ten acres of buckwheat used for the production of buckwheat honey, and the small number of heirloom chickens he keeps in rural Duchess County, NY. Conversation seems inevitably to return to the subject of memorable meals shared with his growers and their families, as Neal recognizes the intrinsic part real wine plays in the creation of these most ephemeral and fundamental of life's pleasures. I can't say enough good things about what Rosenthal Wine Merchant is doing, and not only because Neal treated us to two memorable meals, a sashimi extravaganza at 32 Bond St., and a knockout traditional Brooklyn Italian lunch at Frankie's Spuntino. Fresh pasta, spicy sausage, sage butter sauce done to perfection. Unpretentious, yet they have an Italian wine list that would shame 99% of NC restaurateurs. Freisa from Castiglione Falleto? Erbaluce di Calusa? Awesome.

Tasting Notes

Muscadet de Sevre and Maine "Tire sur Lie" (Domaine des Trois Toits) 2004
Good. Bright citrus. Perfectly pleasant, focused.

Anjou Blanc (Chateau Soucherie) 2004
A little herbal, but just barely. Innocuous. Very easy-going. Cheap, and we do need more French stacks...

Cassis Blanc (Domaine du Bagnol) 2003
Ripe lemon and softer fruit aromas. Lovely spice. Soft texture, but not at all heavy, still summery.

"L'Etincelle" Vin de Pays de l'Herault Blanc (Mas Cal Demoura) 2004
Herb. A bit of prickly acidity, fresh, light, green. Viognier/Chenin Blanc/Bourblenc/Grenache Blanc/Petite Manseng.

"Roucaillat" Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc (Hautes Terres de Comberousse) 2001
Mustard yellow. Seriously mature/oxidative aromas. Really lovely. This wine has a completely harmonious, long finish. Still alive on the palate, despite total oxidation. Grenache Blanc/Rolle/Roussanne

"Rocalhan" Coteaux du Languedoc Blanc (Hautes Terres de Comberousse) 2001
Tasty. Not fruit-driven. Charming. Good long finish.

Saint Romain Blanc "La Perriere" (Domaine des Margotieres) 2002
More clean, up-front aromas than the previous wine. More lemon/cleaning product aromas. More pent-up than the other St. Romain Blanc, but still pleasant enough.

Saint Romain Blanc "Sous la Velle" (Domaine des Margotieres) 2002
Light oak spice. Sulphur dioxide? Lovely on the palate - engaging, incredible persistent ripe apple and red berry fruit. Incredible finish for a "cheap" Burgundy.

Mersault "Clos de Tavaux - Monopole" (Gaunoux) 2002
Oak spice, vanilla, and ripe apple. The Mersault archetype that often gets too close to the border of California for me. If you like this style, it's a good example.

Saint Romain Rouge "Sous Roches" (Domaine des Margotieres) 2001
Very animal. Brambly red berry and fennel. Very satisfying. The good side of competently done.

Volnay 1er Cru "Les Brouillards" (Louis Boillot) 2002
Red candied cherries. Tart cherry aromas. Juicy and dry at once, great brightness. A wine for the cellar (long tannic finish). There's a lot worth thinking about here.

Pommard 1er Cru "Les Fremiers" (Louis Boillot) 2002
Very tight. Less give than the Volnay, but still dead-on. As it should be.

Nuits-St. Georges "Les Poisets" (Arnoux) 2000
A bit of alcohol on the nose. Still closed. Nice texture, but needs to shed a bit of tannin. Juicy bing cherry fruit is in there, though.

Vosne Romanee "Les Hautes Maizieres" (Arnoux) 2000
This is uber-elegant. Wide-open juicy. Balanced wines can be easy to enjoy.

Chambolle-Musigny (Arnoux) 2000
Big stank. Really nice limestone mineral fruit.

Gevrey-Chambertin "En Jouise" (Harmand-Geoffroy) 2001
Oh, the stink. Way too young. Flavor and texture show great promise.

Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru "Lavaux St. Jacques" (Harmand-Geoffroy) 2000
Lovely.

Mazis Chambertin Grand Cru (Harmand-Geoffroy) 1999
Very tight still. More pure/focused than the other bottle I've tasted.

Pommard 1er Cru "Les Rugiens" (Gaunoux) 1997
Juice. Bit of herb. Bit of age. Nice.

Coteaux du Languedoc Rouge "L'Infidele" (Mas Cal Demoura) 2001
Major stink. It is the infidel.

"Sassella" Valtellina Superiore (Triacca) 2001
This is delicious. Bright red fruit.

"Riserva La Gatta" Valtellina Superiore (Triacca) 1999
A little more sweet fruit than above, but in a tart cherry candy way.

"Prestigio" Valtellina Superiore (Triacca) 2001
Tastes like above wine, but with mid-palate fatness, riper fruit, but still a pleasant, dry, tannic finish.

"Sforzato" Valtellina Superiore - San Domenico (Triacca) 2001
Smoke. Meat roasting on a campfire. Good.

Cotes-du-Rhone "Vignoble de la Ramiere" (Domaine de Monpertuis) 2003
90% Grenache. Very wide-open - definitely hot vintage. Blueberries.

Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge "Cuvee Classique" (Domaine Monpertuis) 2003
75% Grenache. Syrah/Mourvedre. Holy blueberries. Sweet and ripe, and not very distinctly Chateauneuf.

Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge "Cuvee Tradition" (Domaine Monpertuis) 2003
90% Grenache. Better than above, more tannin. Still not my style. Too blousy.

Here are some new and weird wines that I'd recommend-

2001 Alma 4 Sparkling Bonarda last tasted 07/04/05

An odd bird. Sparkling, meaty, dry. My Champagne flute is black, with a rim of bubbly purple kool-aid. Served chilled it still isn’t exactly refreshing, but it is persistent, drawing my thoughts back around to just what is going on in this glass of Argentine mayhem. Bubbles and tannin in tandem can be a little off-putting.

I first tasted sparkling Bonarda in the middle of Familia Zuccardi’s enormous vineyards south of Mendoza, an estate that felt like an amalgam of visitor’s center, colonial Italian villa, and once one wandered away from its manicured heart, a large dose of South American agrarian reality (I imagine a similar reality exists in the San Joaquin valley, so don’t take this statement to be judgment or hubris).

Alma 4 is an “experimental” wine, I gathered the winemakers are engaged in some sort of intern/grad student program. I begged for (and received in July 05) a few cases for my store. I wanted more. This wine is so much more intellectually engaging than Zuccardi’s competent, commercial products, which do deserve kudos for being largely organic. I’m hoping to see again someday a “project wine” hewn from the Tannat grape that we tasted on this tour. I’m patient, but it does seem that after a year of waiting, an arrival is unlikely.

Tasted at a distance of 3,000+ miles, Jose Zuccardi is probably correct: this wine isn’t a viable international commercial proposition. But standing on the red soil of Zuccardi’s land, on a warm summer afternoon surrounded by the people who brought it to life, the wine was somehow more. Most real wines are. I think it’s inevitable that wines true to their home are often diminished or lost as they travel away from it.

2001 Rubbijano Lacryma d’Morro d’Alba last tasted 7/06/05

After two glasses I’ve figured it out. This wine tastes like Geuze, a Belgian beer that essentially defines acquired taste. But Rubbijano is good, and does still taste primarily of fermented grapes. I liked the first bottle we consumed enough to buy all of these that I could find for myself, so, um, sorry. I’d love to sell you a bottle, once I track another case or two down. The down-side to developing a keen interest in this kind of crafted, distinct wine is an interminable searching, waiting, and general standing about that make up an inevitable part of their acquisition. But there are no wine emergencies. . . .

Megan says it tastes like strawberries. It is certainly aromatic, with more than a hint of wild yeast. Anyway, it worked with spice-rubbed grilled chicken breasts, mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus, and also transitioned easily into sipping on the couch and watching The Young Ones. But now we’re on to Raising Arizona (the wonders of digital cable) and I grow restless. . . .

Roadside Attraction

A Week of Frustration in the Vineyards of Long Island

Really? You want to charge me $12 for a "tasting flight" of 5 1-oz. Pours of Long Island wines?! This is tourist trap hell at its most exploitative. Several of the wineries we visited were making more money from the bottles they poured in their tasting rooms than the bottles they sold at the tasting room, which were generally sold at retail price or higher, even though they are winery-direct, i.e., no middlemen took a cut. High-margin heaven. Still, we stumbled into a few good things amidst the vanity tasting room mansions and "event spaces" along the North and South forks -- median quality largely bested what you'd encounter in NC or Virginia tsting rooms, but rarely gave similarly-priced North Coast Cali or Oregon examples of the same varietals a run for their dough. And there seems to be a lot of dough involved -- I'm sorry about the introductory rant, but the handful of estates we stopped into seemed less-than-interested in familiarizing potential customers with their wares, unless they could make an extra buck along the way, and offered little in the way of infromation or education with our $6 half-glass of wine. Simple questions like "Is this carbonic maceration?" or "How old are these vines?" stumped our pourers. Is it too much to expect that a server whose employer produces perhaps 12 wines have an intimate knowledge of them? I don't care that you think it tastes like tropical fruit. (Simmer down, Jay, dinner is coming.) Hunger makes me angry. Hope the tasting notes that follow help inform your next Long Island tasting journey; a few of these wineries have distribution along the Eastern Seaboard. We're off to Patagonia West, the northernmost outpost of Argentine restauranteur Frances Mallman. The one in Mendoza is fantastic, so I have hopes.

PAUMANOK Winery, North Folk, close to Riverhead

2004 Sauvignon Blanc
Inoffensive, a hint of lemon/citrus and acid. Fine.

2004 Festival Chardonnay
OK. Balanced, but not a ton going on.

2002 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay
Tutti Frutti. Tropical aromas. Very little texture, but also not obtrusively oaky. Fine.

2003 Festival Red
Tastes like a cheap Bordeaux blend. Light, fine, probably good with food.

2002 Merlot
Sucks. Long sucky finish.

2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Smells like nothing. Could she give me a smaller pour? Tastes like nothing.

NV Vin Rosé (Cabernet Franc)
Disgusting.

2004 Semi-dry Riesling
A touch of tropical fruit, but only faintly Riesling.

MACARI- Organic Winery on the North Fork
Better staff than Paumanok.

NV Collina 48 White $5.99
Tastes like wine. Little else. Dry, completely anonymous; "Crisp" I suppose would be the best thing you could say. Yucky, pukey aroma would be the worst.

2003 Rosé
Bordeaux varietals. Very average.

2004 Katherine's Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc
Color of water. Smells like cat pee. The cat is supping on grass. Perfectly fine. 1/2 star

2001 Reserve Barrel Fermented Chardonnay
Tropical oak aromas - vanilla.

2003 Unoaked Chardonnay
Ripe soft apples. Nice. 1/2 star

2002 Estate Merlot
Smells like ripe merlot. 1/2 star

2004 Early Wine (Chardonnay)
Sweet with balancing acid.

2002 Reserve Merlot
Odd, smells like Cab. Franc. Tastes like good St.-Emilion. One Star

NV Collina 48 Merlot
Simple. One-dimensional.

2002 Cabernet Franc
Tastes/smells like NC wine: trash and new car vinyl.

2001 Bergen Road (Meritage)
Anonymous Cali-style.

2003 Block E (Eiswein)
A touch of apple sauce.

LENZ WINERY
One of the oldest North Fork Wineries. Current owners bought the winery 20 years ago.

2002 Blanc de Noir
Basically a rosé. Fine, dry, pale salmon color.

2003 Chardonnay White Label
Oaky. Creamy and tart at the same time. Terrible.

2001 Chardonnay Silver Label
Reminds me of bad Argentine Chardonnay.

2001 Chardonnay Gold Label
So much creamy vanilla. Tropical malo yuckiness.

2003 Gewurztraminer
Not a bad example. Certainly a dry style. Reminds me of Mittnach-Klack Alsatian Gewurz.

1999 Cuvee - sparkling
Austere. A bit lacking in fruit, a bit too frothy.

1991 RD
Definitely mature mushroom and toast aromas. A bit clunky but not terrible.

NV Merlot
Very green pepper/herby.

RAPHAEL VINEYARDS
This place is hilarious. Big fake Italian palazzo.

2003 Bel Rosso
Serve chilled. A little weedy inocuous Cab Franc flavor, then no flavor at all.

2002 Estate Merlot "Young Vines"
Soft plum/chocolate aromas. Fine, boring, some greenness.

2000 First Label Merlot
A bit more substantial.

2001 La Fontana
Meritage-type blend. Greenness. A shame, a disappointment.

2001 First Label
More "makeup." Sweet, ripe fruit aromas. Less greenness.

WÖLFFER ESTATE
2001 Pinot Gris
Smoke/fling aromas. Very dry. Not bad. Strangely absent of forward fruit for Pinot Gris. Light texture. One star.

2001 Chardonnay
Light gold color. Aromas of oak toast. Fine in a style stuck between Napa and Mersault. Just a touch of overripe pukey fruit.

2001 Sparkling Cuvee Brut
Smoke, stone, lees aromas. Has the persistent dryness I'd associate with Huet's sec wines. I'd wager you could buy NV Champagne for a similar price that's as good or better, but this is nice nonetheless.

2002 Pinot Noir
It almost smells right. On first glance it's Pinot, but then you get a hint of vinyl/petrochemical. Better than it could be, better than many New World Pinot Noirs - but at $50, I'll take a Premier Cru Savigny instead.

2001 Estate Merlot
A little weed aroma. Half a weed. Impossible to like. Kinda unspecifically bad.

2004 Late Harvest Chardonnay
A touch of apple sauce, but otherwise good. 1/2 star