Today’s podcast is another vintner profile interviewing Willamette Valley Vineyards founder and President Jim Bernau. I also play a podcast promo and talk about a new poll on Winecast.

Show Notes:
00:21 - Welcome, show theme and sponsor message
03:07 - Interview with Jim Bernau
19:44 - Tasting Notes
19:58 - Willamette Valley Vineyards, Riesling 2005 ($12)
20:56 - Willamette Valley Vineyards, Pinot Gris 2005 ($16) +
21:15 - Willamette Valley Vineyards, Pinot Noir, “Whole Cluster” 2005 ($18)
21:45 - Willamette Valley Vineyards, Pinot Noir, “Vintage Selection” 2003 ($22)
22:06 - Willamette Valley Vineyards, Pinot Noir, “Estate” 2003 ($40) *
23:04 - Willamette Valley Vineyards, Pinot Noir, “Freedom Hill” 2002 (~$45)
23:38 - Willamette Valley Vineyards, Frizzante 2002 ($12/half bottle)
24:19 - Best of Tasting *
24:55 - Best Value +
25:25 - The Frank Truth promo
27:15 - New poll on the blog
29:02 - Contact details
29:31 - Next show theme

Feedback: winecast@gmail.com
Copyright 2006 Acan Media, Inc. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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In my quest to taste the entire range of this label, I present the final red:

HRM Rex-Goliath, “Giant 47 Pound Rooster”, Cabernet Sauvignon NV ($9) - Dark purple in color with aromas of currant, plum and vanilla. Black currant and plum flavors with sweet tannins. Another nice value from this producer. Score: 8/10

You can catch my takes on their Shiraz, Merlot and Pinot Noir in the archives. Now just have their whites to taste, just as the weather has turned to summer

Since I got into wine back in the early 1980’s, the flavor profiles of wines, particularly red wines, has changed significantly. Most of this change has been for the good; more consistent quality, vibrant fruit and early maturity. But there is one downside to these riper styled wines: they are significantly higher in alcohol than they used to be. I remember the ripest Bordeaux and Napa Valley Cabs being around 12%, now many are routinely 14% or more. So for Wine Blogging Wednesday 22, I propose we drink on the lite side and choose red wines that are 12.5% alcohol or less. The wines can be from any country and grape varietal. Special kudos will go to those who choose an Aussie Shiraz, California Zinfandel or Rhône wine that meets this relatively low alcohol threshold. I’ll be especially looking for your impressions of how much flavor, if any, is missing from your selection.

Join me on June 14th for this event and once you post, please trackback to this entry or drop me an email with a link to your post so I can complete the summary.

Cheers!

Today’s show is the first special edition from Beau Jarvis’ Live Austrian Wine Adventure featuring interviews with Weingut Wohlmuth and Weingut Gross. You can find more information and stay up-to-the-minute at Beau’s blog.

Show Notes:

00:22 - Welcome and Introduction
01:12 - Beau’s interview with Weingut Wohlmuth
12:50 - Interview with Weingut Gross
21:49 - Wrap-up and contact details
22:23 - Next show theme

Feedback: winecast@gmail.com
Copyright 2006 Acan Media, Inc. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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Last evening, sixteen Twin Cities bloggers, podcasters and wine lovers were introduced to the wines of Stormhoek at Zander Cafe in St. Paul. Luckily, thirteen bottles were ready to be consumed, so I thought we had more than enough. By evenings end almost 3 hours later, only two bottles of Pinot Grigio were still sealed.

The wine of the night was the stunning “The Sixteen Barrel” Semillon 2004; pear, fig, herbs, smoke and caramel in a very round, creamy package. We only had one bottle of this and my pours were too generous so we ran out before everyone had a chance to taste (including me; thanks to Garrick for allowing me to try some of his). The most popular wine of the evening was the 2005 Pinotage. As I said when I presented this wine, most Pinotage is very earthy and somewhat green in character (”weedy” is a term that comes to mind) and sometimes produces wines that are quite unpleasant to drink. It’s also a binary wine with people either loving or hating it. This was the first Pinotage I have tried with a large group where everyone enjoyed the wine. I think this is because Stormhoek has made this in a bold, jammy style featuring forward boysenberry and blackberry fruit with the earthy character of this varietal in the background. This tasted almost like a Shiraz, making me wonder how they do with that grape. We started the evening with the 2005 Pinot Grigio that was a quaffable citrus and green apple with a touch of minerality; good, but not close to the Pinotage or the delicious Semillon.

All in all, we were impressed with all three wines but wish we had some of the other varietals to try. Sixteen new Stormhoek customers here in Minnesota are now ready to pay for our further exploration

Thanks to Jason and Samantha from Stormhoek for sending two parcels from the winery and Hugh for the great prints and brochure. I’ll be collecting my notes and audio from the evening and combining it with an interview with Jason and Hugh recorded at the beginning of the month for a podcast later in the week.

I expect to see some other impressions of the evening to be posted shortly and will collect them here:

- Garrick Van Burren has already posted his (nice Treo pic, Garrick!)
- Dan and Lynn Hook’s podcast (he recorded part of the evening)

Just a quick reminder that the Twin Cities Stormhoek geek dinner is on this coming Tuesday evening in St. Paul. I have some wine and Hugh’s signed prints for the first 20 attendees (and plenty of the Stormhoek marketing booklets for everyone). If you haven’t sent me an email, please do now if you are planning to attend. See you there…

Venue:
Zander Cafe
525 Selby Ave
St Paul, MN 55102
Google map here
Eventful details here

Time: 6:30 p.m.

The artwork is by Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com

This month, Wine Blogging Wednesday is on a Friday because founder Lenn Thompson of the Lenndevours wine blog has teamed up with Alberto from Il Forno a premier food blog and founder of Is My Blog Burning. So for IMBB 26 and WBW 21 the rules are fairly simple. For us wine bloggers, pick a bottle from your cellar and find a recipe to pair with it; for food bloggers it’s the other way round choosing one of their favorite recipes and then finding a wine.

So when I read about this theme last month, I immediately thought of a food podcaster, Anne Bramley of Eat Feed, to give me some recipe ideas for the wine I chose. I spoke with Anne earlier today and she gave me several recipe ideas that might match with the White Rose Estate, Pinot Noir I selected from my cellar.

After considering all of Anne’s suggestions, I picked the pork with apples and brandy cream we spoke about and cooked it for dinner this evening. Anne suggested a couple other recipes that can be found online here:

- Pork Chops with Quinoa Pilaf and Dried Fruit
- Pork Tenderloin with Gorgonzola and Figs

Here are my tasting notes for the wine and match with the meal. Much more detail is available on the podcast:

White Rose Estate, Pinot Noir, White Rose Estate Vineyard 2002 ($65/gift from Jay Selman from Grape Radio) - Ruby in color with powerful aromas of earth, black cherry and spice. Some people might be put off by the gamy, earthiness of the aromas of this wine, but I rather like this aspect. In the mouth its concentrated raspberry, black cherry and a little earth, finishing with supple tannins and good acidity to match with food. I really found this wine to be delicious, but I can see why others might not like this style at all. Score: 9/10

As for the match with the dish, I thought that the shallot cream sauce and the mild gaminess of the pork tenderloin matched almost perfectly with this wine, really enhancing the fruit. But when tasted with the sautéed apples, it really didn’t work too well. I think the next time I make this dish I’ll omit the apples or at least reduce the quantity down to a single apple.

Thanks for Alberto and Lenn for a great idea to merge the two leading wine and food blogging events and to Anne Bramley for some great recipe ideas. I’ll see you next month for WBW 22, where I most likely will not have to cook

Show Notes:

00:22 - Welcome and show theme
01:12 - Conversation with Anne Bramley of Eat Feed
15:03 - Selected recipe
16:58 - White Rose Estate, Pinot Noir, White Rose Estate Vineyard 2002 ($65)
18:14 - Wine and food match
20:12 - Contact Details
20:31 - Next Show Theme

Feedback: winecast@gmail.com
Copyright 2006 Acan Media, Inc. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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It’s time to revisit the issue of wine ratings used here and on the podcast. Earlier this year, I flirted with the idea of discontinuing the system I was using but listener and reader response was so compelling that I stayed the course. Recent feedback has compelled me to post a poll on the right sidebar to let you help me figure out what to do (if anything). The 20 point scale I have been using is the first choice, followed by the 100 point scale used by Robert Parker, Steve Tanzer and the Wine Spectator (with subtle differences in degrees between them). The 5 star system used by Decanter and some others rounds out the choices. If you have other ideas, choose “Other” and post them in the comments here. I’ll keep this open for a few weeks before making any decisions.

Thanks!

Now that I’m back in the swing of regular podcasting, I wanted to let enhanced AAC subscribers know that I will be releasing that version at the same time as the mp3 version from Winecast 60 forward. I just put the enhanced version on the feed for Winecast 58 Sunday and show 59 will appear later tonight once most listeners have downloaded the earlier podcast. These shows feature changing pictures and chapter breaks that can be viewed if played in iTunes or on your iPod. Also for those playing back inside of iTunes you will see weblinks embedded in the file for most wines tasted and other points of interest. Another advantage is the file sizes are about 30% less for faster downloads. Finally, you will notice that there are nearly 30 podcasts posted to this feed, so if you just found the show, this is the easiest way to access the back catalog.

If you have an iPod or use iTunes to listen to Winecast, I encourage you to add this feed to your podcatcher or subscribe to it in iTunes now.

Today’s super-sized podcast is an overview of the wines of Austria, featuring an interview with Beau Jarvis of Basic Juice as he kicks off this Live Austrian Wine Adventure.

Show Notes:
00:21 - Welcome and show theme
00:36 - Wines of Austria
03:13 - Interview with Beau Jarvis of Basic Juice
14:50 - Beau’s first LAWA 06 interview - Hotel Rathaus Wien & Design
25:58 - Tasting Notes
26:31 - Schloss Gobelsburg, Riesling, “Gobelsburger” 2004 ($14/provided by listener Tony)
27:08 - Weingut Stadt Krems, Grüner Veltliner, “Sandgrube�? 2004 ($14/Solo Vino sample) *+
27:39 - Weingut Glatzer, Blaufränkisch 2004 ($14/provided by listener Tony)
28:05 - Best of tasting and best value *+
28:24 - Contact Details
28:44 - Next Show Theme

Feedback: winecast@gmail.com
Copyright 2006 Acan Media, Inc. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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