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Red Wines
Wine Tutorial
Wine Makers
Wine Shops
Wine Regions |
Red wines can be
broken down into:
1a) Cabernet Sauvignon (pronounced
Ka-ber-nay Saw-vin-yawn);
1b) Merlot (pronounced Mair-low);
1c) Pinot Noir (pronounced Pee-no Nwar);
1d) Zinfandel (pronounced Zin-fun-del);
1e) Beaujolais (pronounced Bo-zho-lay);
and
1f) Syrah or Shiraz (pronounced Seer-ah,
or Shu-rahz).
Each of these wines has
its unique character.
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Cabernet Sauvignon tends to be
(I say tends to be because wine, unlike soft drinks
or mass-produced beers, changes in character from year to
year and from producer to producer) firmer and more tannic
(tannin is what gives your mouth that slightly
puckery sensation that you get from a cup of tea) than the
other varieties.
Merlot
tends to be softer (and to me, slightly less interesting,
with a few exceptions) and less tannic than Cabernet. Each
of these wines will have aromas and flavors which are
somewhat reminiscent of blackcurrant, spice, oak
(vanilla), herbs, and even cedar and/or leather in some
examples. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are the two great
grapes of the red wines of France's Bordeaux region
as well as of the great Napa Valley and Sonoma
County regions in California. The top makers in
Bordeaux (as well as the most famous) are:
Chateau Latour
Chateau Lafite-Rothschild
Chateau Mouton-Rothschild
Chateau Margaux
Chateau Haut-Brion
Chateau Petrus
Chateau Leoville Las Cases
Bottles of these wines can be had (depending on the
quality of the vintage) from about $100--$400 for recent
vintages which aren't, as a general rule, even close to
being ready to drink for another 10-20 years, to several
hundreds (or in extreme cases, thousands) of dollars for
older, more mature vintages. Buy early and be patient.
Less expensive, but still delicious, wines can be had from
such names as
Chateau Cos-d'Estournel (about $90--$100 for a recent vintage),
Chateau Leoville Barton ($70-$120 depending on the
vintage--2000 was outstanding and expensive)
Chateau Lynch-Bages (about $90 for a recent
vintage)
Chateau de Pez (about $50 for a recent vintage),
and
Chateau Phelan-Segur (also about $50).
Value-level Bordeaux which is still quite good can be had
from such names as Citran and Gloria (about
$15--$25).
Great California makers to watch for are
Robert Mondavi Napa Valley (the regular bottlings run
around $25, while the Reserve bottlings run around
$125; some think this wine has been on the decline in
recent years/vintages--Robert Parker, for one, thinks the
Mondavi wines lack the hedonistic, fully extracted quality
he seems to favor, but the 1999 reserve is one I can vouch
for as an excellent and complex cabernet);
Barnett Vineyards (their Rattlesnake Hill
Cabernet--about $95 if you can get it--is fast becoming a
cult item, but their "regular" Spring Mountain Cabernet is
also fantastic, about $50-$60 depending on where you find
it--I tried the 2001);
Beringer (Knights Valley--the most common
release--runs about $25, while the Reserve runs
about $95--1995-1997, and 1999 are vintages to try if you
can);
Caymus (regular bottlings run about $30-$40, while the
Special Selection runs a steep $150-$175);
Heitz (Martha's Vinyard and Bella Oaks
bottlings will run from $60-$150);
Bryant Family (an extremely limited
production each year, this will be hard to find outside of
California, and will run from $100 to $500, depending on
the vintage);
Schweiger (this is a new winery in the St.
Helena area of Napa, Spring Mountain, specifically, and
its 1995, 1996, and 1997 vintages were outstanding, and though
1998-2000 have not been rated quite as well by James Laube
and WS, I recently tasted both the 1999 and the 2000 and
liked them both a great deal; the 1999 is more classically
structured, and the 2000 is more fruit forward--it will run
anywhere from $45 to $50 for a bottle currently);
Whitehall Lane (right along the main road--Highway
29 through Napa, etc.--this winery makes some absolutely
fantastic Cabernets; look for the Napa Valley--about
$30-$35--and the Reserve--about $75--and don't miss single
vineyard bottlings like the Leonardini: I tried the 1998,
ostensibly an "off" vintage, and it is fabulous--also
about $75).
Other great places to try:
Turnbull
Ehlers Estate
Frank
Family
Larkmead
Barlow Vineyards
Laura Zahtila
Luna
Darioush
Less pricey, but still good-quality California Cabernet
can be had from such brands as
Gallo of Sonoma ($10);
Bandiera ($8);
Fetzer (Valley Oaks $10, Barrel Select
$12-$15); and
Meridian ($9-$12), among others.
Another source of inexpensive, yet good-quality Cabernet
is Chilean wine. Chile has several good, widely available
brands to look out for:
Santa Rita (120 $7, Reserve $12,
Medalla Real $18);
Montes ($6-$8);
Cousiño Macul ($8); and
Los Vascos ($8).
These are good wines, and well worth the price.
Chateau Ste. Michelle
in Washington also puts out a range of good Cabernets. In
addition to the regular bottling ($12 or so) try the Cold
Creek Vineyard releases, as well as Reserve bottlings
($20-$30).
Pinot Noir
is much less consistent than either of the two wines
above. At its best, it can be the most delightfully
complex and exotic of wines, filled with heady aromas and
flavors of spice, smoke, and red fruit (raspberry, cherry,
plum). However, Pinot Noir does not usually show well at
lower- or mid-levels on the price spectrum. The best Pinot
Noirs in the world are reputed to be the Red Burgundy wines of
France; expect to pay between $30 (at the lowest end of
price and quality) and several hundred dollars for a good
French Pinot Noir-based wine.
Some reliable French Burgundy-producers include:
Joseph Drouhin
Faiveley
Louis Jadot
Jaffelin
Leroy
Henri Perrot-Minot
Domaine de la Romanee Conti
These producers can be expensive (ranging up to
several hundred dollars per bottle for sought-after
vintages), so be forewarned when shopping for that
"prestige" Burgundy.
The best American Pinot Noirs are generally from Oregon
(especially the Willamette Valley) or
from California's Napa Valley (the Carneros region),
Sonoma County (the Sonoma Coast appellation and the
Russian River Valley are places to look out for), and the
Anderson Valley (near the coast in Mendocino County).
Other good American regions are the Santa Maria/Santa Inez
area north of Santa Barbara, and the Santa Lucia Highlands
area of Monterey County.
Robert Mondavi makes
a very good Pinot Noir from Carneros in Napa (Reserve bottlings are about
$65; regular bottlings are about $25), and
Siduri
makes wines in Sonoma and in Oregon, an area that has been
home to a few wines about as
close as anything outside of the Burgundy region has come to
capturing the essence of cool climate Pinot Noir. Other American
makers to look out for are
Calera, and
Chalone.
Others to try from Napa include those done by the
sparkling wine houses like
Domanine Chandon
(on the south end of Highway 29 in Napa), and
Gloria Ferrer
(on the border between Napa and Sonoma).
My own favorites from Sonoma include
Eric Ross and
Papapietro Perry (but there are many, many to try
from this area...). In the Anderson Valley, try
Navarro.
Actually, try anything
from this area...
Inexpensive Pinots like Napa Ridge are certainly
drinkable wines, even tasty wines, but they usually have
only a minimal amount of Pinot Noir character.
Outside of France and the US, New Zealand is one of the
most exciting sources of excellent Pinot Noir. Focus on
producers from he Central Otago and Marlborough regions.
A final note on Pinot (but this applies to many wine
varietals). There is no one correct style.
Purists tend to prefer cool climate wines from regions
such as Burgundy, and to lesser extents, the Central Otago
and Marlborough regions of New Zealand and the Willamette
Valley in Oregon. These wines tend to have an emphasis on
the aromatic qualites as well as a slightly higher acidity
and earthy profile on the palate. Wines from slightly
warmer areas (Carneros, the Russian River Valley, Santa
Maria, etc.) tend to be fruitier on the palate, less
acidic, and possessed of more body and less aromatic
delicacy. But these are generalizations that are not
always true on the level of individual producers and
individual wines.
Eric Ross, in Glen Ellen (inland Sonoma County)
makes a very aromatic, almost Burgundian Pinot, at least
relative to slightly heavier Pinots like those of
Papapietro
Perry in Sonoma, or
Kenneth Volk
in Santa Maria. Try many wines from different areas, and
decide what you like. You may just find you like it
all...just for different reasons.
Zinfandel
is a real delight. It is best known in its somewhat tepid
incarnation as a blush wine, the ever-popular White
Zinfandel. Its real character, however, is only revealed
in its full, rich, red self. It can range in style from a
Cabernet-like wine with blackcurrant and oak character, to
a big, brambly wine with flavors and aromas of peppery
blackberry, herbs, and smoke. It is perhaps the only
uniquely American wine (although the origins of the grape
are disputed). Its best producers include:
Ravenswood (my personal favorite: bottlings include
a $8-$11 Vintner's Selection which is one of the
greatest values in Zin annually, as well as a Sonoma
County bottling ($18) and several single-vineyard
bottlings such as Monte Rosso ($22-$30),
Dickerson ($22-$30), and Old Hill ($22-$30).
Martinelli (look for
something with "Jackass" in the name. You won't be
disappointed.)
Turley (a small winery with small bottling numbers, thus
hard, but not impossible, to find outside of California at
present)
I have, in fact, never had a bad example of red
Zinfandel. I have had mediocre Zins, but no bad ones. The
best examples of this wine will run between $10 and $25,
and they are well worth the price.
My favorite examples of Zinfandel these
days tend to come from the
Paso Robles area of
Central CA (about halfway between LA and San Francisco on
the 101). Look for producers like:
Brochelle
Nadeau
Family
Four Vines
Grey Wolf
Beaujolais
is probably the easiest red wine for those who say, "I
just don't care for red wine" to approach. It is a light
wine with lots of fruity aromas and flavors. It is
originally from France, and some of the best Beaujolais
makers are French wineries, but there are some good
California versions (usually referred to as Gamay
Beaujolais, or Napa Gamay) as well.
Every year, on (or about--depending on how faithfully your
local retailer follows tradition) the third Thursday of
November, something called Beaujolais Noveau is
released; it's always worth a try, because at its best it
is a real charmer--a floral, fruity red with heady aromas
and light, pleasing flavors of berries and rose petals.
The Noveau is released without any barrel aging, so it is
at its peak of freshness and drinkability as soon as it is
released. Don't hold it for more than a few months,
because by spring, it's usually over the hill.
The regular Beaujolais you see on the shelves year-round
has some barrel aging behind it, and therefore has the
backbone to last a while (although it should still be
consumed within a year of purchase). Some of the names to
look for are:
Georges DuBoeuf--The leading French producer of
Beaujolais.
Louis Jadot--A top Burgundy and Beaujolais producer,
also from France.
All of these wines may be found in the $8-$12 range. If you
wish to experiment a bit, French Beaujolais comes in
several regional designations, each with its own
character. Fleurie is one of the more expensive of
the appellations, but it is often one of the tastiest
Beaujolais wines as well. It can have a highly perfumed
floral character, and a lightly fruity taste. Morgon
is at the opposite end of the Beaujolais spectrum; it is
(along with the equally sturdy Moulin-a-Vent)
easily the richest, and most Pinot-Noir-like of the
Beaujolais wines. These wines will be a bit more expensive
than Beaujolais or Beaujolais-Villages wines, but they are
still well worth the price of a little experimentation.
Shiraz
(if you are drinking an Australian wine) and Syrah
(if you are drinking a wine from France or California/Oregon/Washington)
covers the entire spectrum of red wine's glory: from the
simple, yet rich and fruity Vin de Pays of France
Languedoc region, through the delicious medium-priced
Shiraz wines of Australia, to the Hermitage wines of
France's Rhone valley and Australia's Grange by the
Penfold's winery, these wines range from tasty to
delicious to staggering. At their best these wines can
have a spicy, earthy perfume and rich black fruit flavors
mixed with hints of smoke. There can be, of course, flat
and insipid wines which carry the Shiraz and/or Syrah
labels, but I have found that if you stay above an $8
level (retail price--not restaurant price), you will
usually bring home something quite drinkable.
Good wine (my examples are all Australian--I have a
weakness for Aussie Shiraz) to look for in a medium price
range include:
Paringa--an excellent Shiraz,
highly extracted with a gorgeous velvety texture, rich
perfume and fruit flavors (around $10).
Rosemount Shiraz--this is a consistently good wine, and it runs about $10 per bottle.
Look for the blends, like Cabernet/Shiraz and
Grenace/Shiraz. These are tasty, casual wines that will
run about $5, and are easily worth twice that.
Other good, reasonably priced wines can be had from
Lindeman, Black Opal, Wynn, and
Penfold's.
The real luxury wines, fruit bombs of almost
unbelievable extraction (this is a style that seems to
divide wine lovers right down the
middle--some love it, while others decry it as artificial
and excessive) include:
Kay Brothers Block 6
(especially the 1998 and 2001 vintages--expect to pay over
$100)
Torbreck Run Rig (another wine in excess of $100)
D'Arenberg Dead Arm (around $75 or
so)
More of my favorites are coming from the Paso Robles
area again these days:
Red Soles
L'Aventure
Tablas Creek
Adelaida Cellars
Brian
Benson
Denner
and many, many
others...
P.S. Check out the
Hospice du Rhone
festival in Paso each year...
There are, of course, other types of
red wines.
Italian Chianti produced from the Sangiovese
grape can be some of the world's best wine and some of the
world's most dreadful plonk; stay away from the straw
basket-bottles (known as fiascos--the name says it
all). Stick with Chianti Classico. Some names to
look for include: Antinori. Nozzole,
Fontodi, and Ruffino (these wines will cost
between $10 and $30).
Barolo and Barbaresco
wines produced from the Nebbiolo grape tend to be
quite expensive, but the best examples have an astonishing
earthiness and depth of flavor (they should not, as a
general rule, be drunk soon after purchase; give them 5-10
years of controlled storage conditions before opening).
The most famous name in Barolo and Barbaresco is
Antonio Gaja (pronounced Guy-yah), but his
wines run well over $100 per bottle; more
reasonably-priced wines may be had from such names as
Michele Chiarlo (though even these may run as high as
$45-$50) and Produttori del Barbaresco (whose wines
will run from $20-$50).
Barbera wines are generally
inexpensive accompaniments to a simple pasta dish; they
can be quite good as long as you don't expect too much
from them in the $7-$15 range.
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