A NICE, UNCOMPLICATED BORDEAUX

For a brief refresher, Bordeaux is divided into two distinct regions, with regards to red wine, thanks in large part to the Gironde River, which flows almost through the middle of Bordeaux, fed by the tributaries, the Garonne and the Dordogne. The Left Bank of the Gironde, which consists of the communes of the Medoc (Pauillac, St.-Julien, St.-Estephe, Margaux, etc.), is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant wine, while the Right Bank is home to more Merlot-dominant wine from Pomerol and Cabernet-Franc dominant wine from Saint-Emilion.

The estate of Chateau d’Aiguilhe is found in the hills alongside the right bank of the Dordogne River, on the border of the Cotes de Castillon and Saint-Emilion. This “right-bank” producer focuses on Merlot and Cabernet Franc, as is fast becoming one of the top producers of the Cotes de Castillon AOC. The Cotes de Castillon is a region in Bordeaux that is synonymous with value, and the second label to Chateau d’Aiguilhe, the Seigneurs d’Aiguilhe 2006, is no exception.

80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, this red claret is a drink-now red, with lots of red plums, blackberries, dark cherries and hints of spice that I automatically thought of when making pizza tonight. French wine with Italian cuisine, you say? This would be no different than serving a nice California Merlot with the same dish. It worked really well, with the soft, suppleness of the Merlot-driven wine with the tomato sauce, fresh basil, spicy pepperoni and doughy crust of the pizza.

I love vacations when they are kept simple and uncomplicated, and pizza with the Seigneurs d’Aiguilhe was all I could have hope to get out of a casual meal at home with the wife. I brought this wine into the store because 1) I knew this was a ready-to-drink Bordeaux 2) yes it did get some nice press from Parker, but most importantly 3) I could sell this wine for $17.98 a bottle. Very cool to get the customer a very-pleasing red Bordeaux for under $20 and it not taste like blackberry Kool-Aid. Give this nice claret a try with your next meal at home, or just sitting on the back porch with a fire lit and watch the night sky with friends, lovers, or both.

TALKING ABOUT BORDEAUX 2006

This week, while am enjoying a bit of R&R, I plan on exploring a bit of the 2006 Bordeaux wines that just came in to our stores. With the follow-up to the downright uber-ripe 2005 vintage – wines that most would argue mirror those from Napa in density and richness – the 2006 vintage was by most accounts, a solid vintage. The issue isn’t that the wines are good (because they are). No, the issue is that the vintage comes after a very, highly-sought-after vintage, one which found collectors stockpiling and neophytes clamoring to get their share.

Many of the wines I brought in from the 2006 vintage were the usual, consistent suspects such as Chateaux Lynch-Bages, Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Leoville-Poyferre and Gloria. Yet my focus, as is with most buys these days, is value; I wanted to bring in the most “bang-for-your-buck” wines from this storied region.

In doing so, I stumbled onto four very solid choices: the Chateau La Vieille Cure Fronsac, the Chateau Croix-Mouton Bordeaux-Superieur, the Chateau Paveil de Luze Margaux, and the Seigneurs d’Aiguilhe Cotes du Castillon. Each one offers a bit different style, yet each one satisfies the curiosity of wine buyers eager to try Bordeaux, yet unwilling to sacrifice a car payment or a utility bill for a bottle of the stuff.

Over the next week, I will offer up my notes on these four particular wines, while also offering up a bit of insight into the places from which they came. Hopefully, you’ll get a bit more understanding of the venerable and often-misunderstood and maligned region of Bordeaux.

Stay tuned.

WINE & MUSIC: DAVID BOWIE AND SMITH & HOOK

My musical tastes growing up were warped, indoctrinated into music via the mellow pop of the seventies with stuff like The Carpenters, Bread and 10CC. My dad had his jazz records, and there was some rock infused with the Funk scene I was exposed to thanks to my growing up in Dayton, Ohio (one of the focal points with hometown bands like Roger and Zapp, Heatwave and Ohio Players). I thank friends of mine who turned me onto groups like KISS, Boston and Queen, opening the door to rock ‘n’ roll for me. My tastes just kept getting broader the older I got.
One artist I of which I have always been a fan is David Bowie. Even the old stuff like “Rebel Rebel”, “Suffragrette City”, “Jean Genie” and “Space Oddity.” I don’t really remember where it was or when it was that I started listening, but I do know that I love listening to any artist who has the guts to reinvent himself as the times change.

When his record, “Let’s Dance” came out in the eighties, it was a melding of the New Wave stuff going on with some great blues, courtesy of an emerging guitarist named Stevie Ray Vaughan. I still love that whole record (CD, whatever). “Earthling” came out in the nineties with guitarist Reeves Gabriel, and the sound was totally different. Check out his duet/remix with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails:



A wine that I’ve known for years is Smith & Hook Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2006 is a rich, full-bodied red that is dark, brooding and really complex. It has always been a good Cab, but recently, perhaps in the last couple of vintages, it has taken on that David Bowie-chameleon-like personae, morphing with the times to become something equally as good, but something completely different than what I remember it being.

The Smith & Hook Cab is one of my most-recommended California Cabs, outshining a lot of Napa and Sonoma Cabs, for both its complexity and its price tag. Pick up a bottle today, and go back and listen to some David Bowie, be it “Ziggy Stardust”, “China Girl” or even “The Heart’s Filthy Lesson.” Try ‘em together and see why change is always good.

LIFE IS CHANGE AND PERSPECTIVE IS THE KEY

You never know when inspiration will strike you. I sift through wine blogs and wine magazines, wine texts, as well as just stroll through the aisles of the store, just looking for something, on the rare occasions when my mind is nothing more than a blank sheet of paper, balled up next to that great big trash can of Life.

And then it hit me.

Soon, the stores for which I have worked the past 7 years will be changing their names from Liquor Direct Wine & Spirits to D.E.P.’s Fine Wine & Spirits. “Why?” is the question I am sure we will be getting a lot in the weeks and months to come, most likely because most people don’t do well with change. I’ve never been sure why that is, but there it is – I said it. However, change is good, and keeps things new and fresh, and with our name change, we wanted to reflect the direction we have been heading for the past several years, which is more wine sales. Our owners, Greg and Mark Depenbrock, have been at it for a long time, and both of them often go by the nickname “Dep” – short for Depenbrock (get it?). Also, our mantra has always been “Discount Everyday Prices.” D-E-P, get it?

It’s not much of a stretch, and the fact that when you walk into our stores, Liquor is certainly not the first thing people see, although we still sell spirits. Yet our growth has been in selling wine, which is why, after several years of deliberating, our owners have decided a moniker change is needed.

With the change, there will be the standard questions: “Are you under new management?” “Who bought the place?” “Are you part of a chain now?” I am sure that many questions will come. But what’s in a name, really? We aren’t replacing our staff – arguably the best damn wine staff in the Midwest if I do say so my damn self – and our pricing and selection won’t change. Sure, the Web site will change, the signs out front, the logos on our shirts, etc., etc. – sure all that will change, but not “us.”

I thought about the name change when one of the staff recently brought up the negative side of it. The questions – the new management thing – I could see their point of view, yet all things change over time. It is an evolution of things, morphing into a newer, more focused wine store, still growing, still striving to open up people’s minds and palates, getting them to be more adventurous, and exploring the ever-burgeoning world of wine.

Life is change. The good and bad are all in the way you look at it.

BETWEEN KNOWING THE PATH AND WALKING THE PATH

It’s official, I am a Certified Specialist of Wine, thanks to my passing (barely) the CSW exam held in Atlanta by the Society of Wine Educators. Now, for many of you, that begs the question, “What the hell does that mean?”

Well, for starters, the Society of Wine Educators is a non-profit educational organization, founded in 1974, to help promote wine education through various professional development programs and certification processes. The CSW certificate is the first step in becoming a Certified Wine Educator, one of the many letters I have been chasing for several years now.

I’ve passed the first level test of the Master Sommelier program, which was a 75 question test, multiple choice, and you had a day-and-a-half seminar which served as an overview/prep session for the CS (Certified Sommelier) and Advanced Sommelier tests. While it took many years to study and prepare for the 1st level test, the review session helps fill in some gaps you may have from information overload. Unlike the first MS test, the exam for the CSW is 100 questions, based solely on the study guide they provide, and is far more detailed and far more specific than the former. It is a much tougher test than the first MS. It is a different focus – restaurant for the sommelier, education obviously for the SWE – yet the intentions are the same – excellence in the field of wine.

It is a weird feeling to being one step further in my own pursuit of all these certifications (the two aforementioned along with the Master of Wine (MW) program). I really backed into this line of work, thinking I would be an English professor or a Linguist. All the years of schlepping around in the restaurant biz led me here. One down and many more tests to go. I just hope it won't take as long as I took getting my Bachelor's degree (14 years). I just might be ready for retirement by then.

WHEN TOO MUCH IS TOO MUCH

One of the biggest gripes I have as a retail wine buyer is when a producer gets it in their head to “add” to their line of wines. I can understand the natural evolution and growth in business, but when you are a producer of let’s say, 6 wines, decides to suddenly double their line, or when they have wines in the $9.99 price point and $15.99 price point, and they suddenly decide to come up with a line of $12.99 wines – it is simply ludicrous.

I have been inundated recently with line extensions from brands the world over, but mostly, the greatest lunacy comes from California. I understand the glut of juice and all, but why don’t these producers just increase production on their current selections? Why do these producers feel compelled to confuse customers with similar labels and self-competing price tiers?

Long-time friend in the business, Michael Honig, gets even more respect from me these days because he is dedicated to producing two varietals – Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. Sure, he does a single vineyard Cab and a Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, but that is it. Four wines. Meanwhile, other producers have escalated to 30-plus wines. One of my biggest targets for ridicule these days is the Diageo-owned Rosenblum, for decades, renowned as a top Zinfandel producer. Recently they just released a Vintner’s Cuvee Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. What what WHAT?!?! You know that someone has become irrelevant when that someone decides to do what everyone else is doing.

I chuckle to myself when some of my reps come by with these new items. I think, “does Chateau So-and-So really need five different Chardonnays or three Reserve Sauvignon Blancs?” “What the hell are these wine producers thinking?” “Are these winemakers out there bored, or just gigantic whores for the almighty dollar?”

Every retailer is forced at some point to just say, “No more.” I have always prided myself on being easy to work with and laid-back enough to find a way to help my sales reps out when they need placements, but, it is starting to become ridiculous. Line extensions should not muddy a winery’s market presence. The extension of brands should add to the brand’s image, not diminish it. Just because you put a different label on it, the consumer isn’t automatically going to think it is a different wine. This market saturation may have worked 10 years ago, but I think wine consumers are too savvy now, and aren’t fooled. I say to the winemakers out there, do what Mr. Honig and many other focused winemakers do – do what you do best, and stick with it, and you will get all the success you need.

Champagne Rivalries by Shannon

This weekend I participated in celebrating a friend’s birthday, and naturally there was Champagne involved. However, what I noticed while out this weekend is that it seemed like everyone in Cincinnati was celebrating something, because everywhere I looked, people were drinking Champagne!

I’ve always been a huge lover of Champagne. I love the way it sparkles, fizzes and leaves me with a giddy feeling. Not to mention it represents happiness and a good time. Over the past few years in the wine business I’ve been fortunate enough to try some really great Champagnes, and to learn about what is called a ‘grower champagne.’

Grower Champagnes are admittedly the underdogs. They constitute about 3% of the Champagne market, and most people really have never heard of them. Champagne as a region is dominated by a handful of brand names, with most farmers and growers selling their fruit to these large houses. Instead of selling their fruit to the big guys, small growers (recoltant-manipulants) may handcraft their own Champagne, creating something unique, which expresses their beliefs about Champagne and about the specific region where their vines are planted. Supporting Grower Champagnes is comparable to supporting your local coffee shop, instead of Starbucks. These winemakers are brave souls in an industrialized age, offering up their life’s work to the world market.

So I found myself in quite the dilemma sipping on a glass of Veuve Cliquot this weekend, and actually really enjoying it. It had just the right amount of fizz, and the finish had a subtle yeastiness. The orange label of the bottle practically screamed, ‘Let’s Celebrate!’, so I found everything about the experience appealing. Until the guilt set in. Shouldn’t I be drinking a grower, someone like Pierre Gimonnet & Fils? (my favorite producer of Grower Champagne).

Out later that night, I ran into my friends Michelle and Kevin of the blog, My Wine Education, who were radiating with the glow that can only come from drinking through two bottles of Dom Perignon. I know Michelle shares my love and appreciation for Grower Champagnes, so I knew she was also sharing in some of my brand-name-imbibing guilt. We finally decided that given the opportunity, we would choose a grower everytime. However, everything has its time and place, and perhaps a big brand Champagne on special occasions doesn’t hurt. We will continue to stand on our soap box for the little guys, but if someone happens to bring us a cup of Starbucks while we’re up there, hey, we’ll drink it.