Dr Vino's wine blog

Regional American wines are increasingly popular, with winery tasting rooms buzzing in New York, Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and… Utah!?

Yes, Utah. After all, there are wineries in fifty states. Even in that most Mormon of states, where beer is weaker than elsewhere in the country and wine is exclusively sold from state-run shops.

Wine production isn’t exactly a major industry in the state, but it is a small touristy bonus for visitors to the southeast portion of the state looking for a short diversion from the routine of hiking, rafting, mountain biking, and generally being extreme.

I visited two of Utah’s four “real” wineries (sorry, fruit wines don’t count) on a trip to Moab in May. The larger of the two, Castle Creek winery, was also the first commercial winery in the state. It’s in a lovely setting, along the Colorado River, northwest of Moab proper. The grounds include a lodge and a film museum, tracing the area’s history as a backdrop in Westerns. (The Marlboro Man ads were shot here.)

Production is small: Castle Creek only produces a total of 2000 cases of wine a year, produced from grapes grown in the Moab area. Some vineyards exist on the property (pictured above), but most fruit comes to the winery from local growers, some of whom grow grapes in their backyards or along fencelines. These are small, small suppliers. If you look for vast vineyards, you won’t find them. The white wines were superior to the reds — the “Lily Rose White” blend was full of fruit (like all wines here, actually) and easy to glug.

South of town, smaller Spanish Valley Vineyards only produces 700 cases. The co-owner, self-taught winemaker Cory Dezelsky, used to send his fruit across the state line to Colorado wineries in the Grand Junction area, but figured he could do as well or better making and selling his own wine.

The winery is tiny. Really, really tiny. The entire process, from crushing to fermentation to bottling, takes places within the confines of the small yellow house (pictured). Interestingly, Spanish Valley doesn’t age their wines in oak barrels, or even steel. They use plastic. (Fermentation en plastique!) The process works reasonably well for Dezelsky, especially for the dessert wines. Other wines are generally competent, though I would avoid the zinfandel at all costs.

Utah wines won’t be a sommelier’s pick at Per Se or Trotter’s anytime soon, but the wineries are run by motivated wine lovers who want to showcase their skills and local character. You won’t find a 98-point wine that you’ll want to cellar for years to come at either of these wineries, but no matter where you are, it’s nice to step out of the sun and into the tasting room.

–Mark Ashley

Dr. Vino 7/21 update: Congratulations, guest author Mark! This post was just named one of the “top five blog posts of the week” by Food & Wine magazine’s website!

tags: wine | Utah | travel

The Perigord–aka the Dordogne–specializes in three declining agricultural products: wine, tobacco, and foie gras. Although wine consumption is rising in the US, it is headed the other way in France. Grape vines used to be more abundant up the Dordogne River in centuries gone by but now it is pretty much limited to the thirteen appellations around Bergerac. Bordeaux lies downriver what is today a couple of hours drive. Cahors and its vineyards lies to the south on the River Lot but several wines are available in the Dordogne. I’m tasting through many of these wines and some of my notes and picks will follow.

Originally imported from America, the producers in the region used to make dark tobacco that was a specialty of French cigarettes (think Gauloises). But dwindling demand for that has led growers to transition to lighter varieties for the international market–or stop production altogether.

The Perigord has typically been a center for foie gras production. This, the object of American bans and boycotts, is produced and consumed throughout the region. More on this fascinating subject too in future postings.

The region is also known for other gastronomic delights including its walnuts, truffles and strawberries. We bought some strawberries in town over the weekend and finished the whole box before we got back to the kitchen. They are like candy. It’s great to have real strawberry flavors. Too often at home strawberries look pumped up and are strangely white inside and relatively flavorless.

I have managed to find a way on to the internet so I can resume a more normal schedule of posting . Although we’ll see just how normal–excuse me while I go get the rose…

tags: wine |

A frequent question that I get from readers is: do you have any travel tips for Napa? So let me turn it back to you now!

I do have a few tips for the frugal epicurean (included this now dated list of free wine tastings in the valley), but not many. Some things that leap to mind:

* Mrs. Vino and I did a “blending seminar” at Joseph Phelps a few years ago where we blended nine barrel samples from different vineyards to create our own version of Insignia. Very cool. But my final blend was way off. It’s not offered all the time and you need to reserve ahead. (707) 963-2745

* At the bottom of the hill from Phelps, you can drop in to Frog’s Leap, the red barn with no sign. John Williams is committed to organic farming and they have diverse heirloom fruits and vegetables as well as vines. Drop in 10 AM – 4 PM or call ahead to get arrange a tour: 800.959.4704 or ribbit@frogsleap.com

* Try a lunch at the Auberge du Soleil and soak up the view with prices a fraction of dinner. 800-348-5406

What’s your favorite thing to do in Napa? What are some good resources for tourists? I remember this story from the NYT a year ago on traveling with kids in Napa. I gotta try those aerial trams at Sterling with our little guy…

tags: wine | wine travel | Napa

I’ve started a photo set on flickr of my trip to Argentina. Check it out!

tags: wine | Argentina | photos

Walking into Lasal, an intimate restaurant on Belgrano Avenue, it’s hard to know what will strike you first as the most different: the contemporary decor on two levels, the live guitarists, or the sign that says “sushi night is Tuesday night.” Diners who have fatigue of Mendoza’s many restaurants specializing in grilled meat (aka parilla) would do well to seek out the inventive cuisine here.

A starter salad of frisee with crunchy beef carpaccio was very good as was the insalata caprese (though the mozarella was local, not di buffalo). The best part? They were three US dollars each.

The main dishes, which range from about $7 – 10, include an unusual but effective beer and honey risotto, a vegetarian crepe with creamy vegetables and mushrooms on the side, and pork roast with vegetables. If this sounds eclectic but good, consider that the live guitar the night I was there last week ranged from Hava Nagila to flamenco.

The wine list is a well-chosen selection from the many excellent local wineries. I liked the fact that not only do they list the winery but also the winemaker. While the restaurant may be above average in price by local standards, it’s still an excellent value for American and European visitors, especially those craving culinary creativity.

Lasal, Belgrano 1069, not far from Plaza Independencia. Tel (54 261) 420 4322

tags: wine | Argentina | Mendoza | dining

It is 10:00 AM and I shiver in my short sleeved shirt. I wander down a row of vines five feet wide and pick a small Malbec grape off a 60 year old vine and put it in my mouth. The flesh is sweet while the seeds and skins are tannic and bitter. Another week and this cluster will be in the de-stemmer.

The vineyard makes the Afincado line of wines from Terrazas de los Andes. I half expected to see terraces like those found in the Duoro or the Rhine given the name of the winery but the name derives from the different altitudes of the different vineyards. The vineyard where I am standing is at about 3,500 feet while the Chardonnay vineyard lies slightly higher and the Cabernet Sauvignon slightly lower.

“Thermal amplitude” is the phrase of the day, a phrase that refers to the range between the day’s high and low temperatures. Although we felt this high-high and low-low phenomenon in Cafayate too, it is probably in the 60s now and the high is forecast in the 80s. I dressed for that high but am regretting it now. It’s a desert here in Mendoza and the vineyards are only possible because of the vital water from snow melt from the Andes. And the wine is only possible thanks to the “thermal amplitude” since the grapes need the cool evenings to recover from the heat of the day.

Terrazas rests under the Chandon umbrella. Chandon has had a presence in Argentina since the 1950s and has built up a dominant share of the domestic market of sparkling wines to the tune of 95 percent market share. In fact, if you were wondering how to say “sparkling wine” in Argentina apparenly it is simply “Chandon.” Now that’s a way that any bubbly producer would love to finesse the perpetual struggle over the names sparkling wine and Champagne.

I head inside for a tasting—and some warmth.

tags: wine | Mendoza | Argentina | Malbec

Federal to me implies a devolved system of governance with multiple centers. There ain’t nothing federal about the air system in Argentina where all routes lead to Buenos Aires. As one of our winery guides in Salta joked, “The president lives in Buenos Aires. The Congress is in Buenos Aires. I think God lives in Buenos Aires.”

Although I awoke in Cafayate, I was to sleep in Mendzoa and travel a circuitous route to get there. The two wine growing areas lie about 1000 miles apart so driving would take all day and then some. Instead we flew all day.

The ride back through the Lerma Valley was more spectacular since the cloud cover had lifted and the rock formations seemed more red, and the hillsides more dynamic with the sun and shadows. It is spectacular and really makes the long and windy drive actually enjoyable.

Despite being the closest Argentine city to Bolivia and Paraguay, the sleepy but surprisingly large Salta airport now only welcomes one airline, Aerolineas Argentinas, and has service to one airport, Buenos Aires (domestic).

The check-in counters of several other private carriers that used to service the airport now were ominously dark. Privatization brought only brief joy to the area’s travelers as the return to monopoly now elicits complaints of delays and high prices from the locals.

The flight to Mendoza left only one gate over from the one where we arrived in the clean, new terminal. Back in the air for another two hours only to arrive in Mendoza as light was failing and a rare drizzle was falling.

View this leg on the map.

tags: wine | travel in Argentina

You want big distances, eh? Welcome to Argentina! Cafayate, the main wine growing area of Salta lies three hours south, not by plane, but by van along a windy and bumpy road. Across the fertile valley floor, we passed multiple small-holdings of tobacco and corn—as well as many stray dogs that often made the driver apply a skilled brake-and-swerve maneuver. A quick pit stop at a small goat farm and we entered the Lerma Valley, with dramatic scenery that might have been Utah. A murky river, reddened by the soil, ran the length of the valley and yielded a floor of green that gave way to more arid hillsides and stunning rock outcroppings. It took about an hour to cross this desolate but stunning valley and we encountered only the occasional person or llama before arriving in Cafayate (see topo map).

After the 60-mile long deserted valley, vineyards suddenly appear. The first building is the large colonial style winery of Michel Torino, which we fly by only to return to later.

Cafayate boasts 360 days of sun a year. We got one of the five other ones. Fortunately the rain had stopped by the time we arrived but the ground was wet and muddy and the clouds hung low over the mountains. A narrower valley than that of Salta, it is more dramatic as the steep hillsides rise up from directly behind the vineyards.

Our first stop was El Lavaque. There was an enormous oak with 100 bikes parked. The workers need some way of covering the 600 acres of the property after all. We approached the arcaded winery and had a lunch on their stunning terrace. Sadly, I forgot my download cable so photos will have to wait til I return.

Then we headed over to Patios – a stunning, 30 room hotel in a hacienda style on the adjoining property to Michel Torino. Originally started by the Torino family as a small hotel, a renovation completed in October 2005 has yielded a small luxury resort managed in the Starwood portfolio of hotels. (site).

The whole hotel was designed with feng shui in mind, the manager told us on our brief tour upon arrival. The spa boasts a range of treatments that includes “wine therapy” or beind submerged under the skins and stems of the grapes (there’s a white or a red option). This one is only available at harvest time. They do have other bottles of grape applications available all year round.

Sadly, time again was too constrained to put such treatments to the test. But it is testimony to the high quality of travel that is available now in Argentina, even in such a remote region.

After a tasting of the wines from Michel Torino, a meal in the restaurant, and a final nightcap of coca tea with a band playing music inspired from the Bolivia and Salta, I hit the hay on the 700 thread count sheets. It’s a real testimony to the current state of tourism in Argentina that this isolated town has such luxurious accommodations.

tags: wine | Argentina | Travel | Cafayate |