Blame it on Rioja

In the vineyards with Marcos Eguren, September 13, 2007. Photo: Jon Stamell.

ADM: Where are we now?

ME: Right now we are in Viñedos de Páganos. Our group has three bodegas in Rioja, Sierra Cantabria, Señorío de San Vicente and Viñedos de Paganos; one bodega in Toro, Numathia Termes; and one bodega that makes vino de la mesa (table wine), the one right behind us, Dominio de Eguren.

ADM: And what does this vineyard, this part of Rioja, have that makes it special?

ME: At Viñedos de Paganos, where we are right now, we make two wines, one of which is El Puntido from this parcel [gesturing over his right shoulder]. This parcel is 25 hectares and is a vineyard planted 75 years ago. In 2001 we decided to make one wine specifically from this vineyard, a site we had been eying for many years.

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Smoke gets in your eyes: Actress Gwyneth Paltrow (center) and Chef Ventura Martínez (right) wait for sarmientos to smolder.

In yet another example of the power of the “Guggenheim effect” – most succinctly defined as, “If you build it with style, they will come” – the Rioja press is all atwitter after actresses Gwyneth Paltrow and Claudia Bassols joined New York-based food luminaries Mark Bittman and Mario Batali earlier this week for an afternoon vegetable barbecue in front of Frank Gehry’s hotel at Bodegas Marqués de Riscal in Elciego.

But before you start planning a vineyard clambake on your next trip to Napa, I should mention: it wasn’t exactly impromptu.

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Even though I found her opening comments on the width of her spa-issued undergarments a little alarming, Yvonne Michie Horn’s piece on Rioja architecture in this past Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle travel section is nevertheless the most comprehensive article on new winery architecture in Rioja to appear in a major American publication to date.

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View from Finca Valpiedra, September 11, 2007

Tuesday, September 11, 2007
3:30pm
On the road to Cenicero

Lachlan Cox at Finca Valpiedra was admirably accommodating with us today, a big relief as logistics become harder and harder to juggle. I saw an opportunity to have both groups, production and sommelier, coincide at Valpiedra at 12:30 p.m. today, which is all well and good except for that fact I had to ask Cox if we could cut into his time with the sommeliers so that we could pull them out one by one and interview them on Valpiedra’s front patio, with the Ebro River in the foreground and the Sierra de Cantabria in the background.

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Conspicuously missing from this already truncated list are two Long Island vineyards that at one time or another have been represented on the Chanterelle wine list: Schneider Vineyards and Wolffer Estate, whose Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay, respectively, have enjoyed critical accolades for years. Wolffler, located across the Peconic Bay near Sagaponack, was just too far away for us. And according to the extremely helpful map and leaflet put out by the Long Island Wine Council, Schneider is not open to the public, although their wines are available for sampling at the Tasting Room in Peconic.

Averages were taken of the points awarded by each judge for each of the five categories: wine (40pts), service (20), facilities (20), value (10), and crowd (10). The final score is the sum of those averages. (more…)

The wines of Long Island are not, for the most part, mood-altering studies in humankind’s ability to harness great soil and microclimates to make wines of great character; to my taste, Long Island wine is too often underripe, over-oaked, and lacking in the structure–the “oomph”–to merit its inclusion among the world’s greatest wines.

Still, we must remember that Long Island winemaking is still in its infancy, especially relative to long-established traditions found in Spain, France, and Italy. All along the North Fork, a narrow peninsula on the eastern tip of the island with hundreds of acres of unspoiled farmland and easy access to mind-quieting coastal headlands, are vineyards occupying land that not so long ago yielded potatoes rather than juice to quench the thirst of city weekenders. I can think of very few places within three hours’ driving distance of Manhattan that offer such a soothing combo of serenity and eco-sensitive agricultural ambition. (more…)

You might recall that in last week’s post on “The Marriage of Wine and Cinema,” I referenced the restaurant double-date scene in Sideways, calling it the most accurate depiction of anxiety-fueled wine overindulgence in the history of cinema.

What a nightmare to be haunted by a lost love, to feel awkward in some forced-upon-you blind date, and to decide that rushed, four-ounce slurps of fine wine might be the only way to make the desperation of that single moment possibly more palatable.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

No, wait. I’m not bitter. (more…)