Laura Catena: An Interview with the Luca and Catena Maven

It's been a month since an interview was featured on Vin de la Table, dear readers, but I promise that this one was worth the wait. I'm happy to present to you my discussion with Laura Catena, the owner of Luca Wines, a small quantity, vineyard specific, highly esteemed winery in Mendoza, Argentina. The interview, conducted via email, provides an overview on Argentina's quiet but prominent wine history and her family's role in Argentina's emergence as a wine giant, as well as Catena's insights on the country's bright future, and the inspiration behind her own celebrated label.

I hope that you enjoy this interview as much as I did, and I encourage you to take your time with this one. We have much to learn about Laura Catena, her family, her country's wine history, and how one manages to raise three kids, run a winery, and still work full time as a doctor in the emergency room of a San Francisco hospital.

The focus of Vin de la Table is food and wine pairing, so of course we'll discuss this delicious venture later in the interview. To start, however, I like to begin interviews by introducing readers to the interviewee, their projects, their winery, and maybe even pieces of wine and wine culture particular to a region or people before delving into food and wine. Let's begin on that note.

BACKGROUND

Your family has a very long history of winemaking that stems back to at least the 1800's in Italy. Many people may not know that a large majority of Argentinean wine families have Italian roots. Could you briefly speak to the Italian influence on wine in Argentina? Is it true that your grandfather, Nicola Catena, planted the first Malbec vines in Argentina? What was his inspiration?

NICOLA CAME TO ARGENTINA IN 1898 WITH ALMOST NOTHING. HE FIRST WORKED IN VARIOUS JOBS IN SANTA FE PROVINCE WHERE HE HAD FAMILY, BUT HIS GOAL ALL ALONG WAS TO GET TO MENDOZA AND PLANT A VINEYARD. HE WAS A VINEYARD WORKER IN MARCHE, ITALY, THE YOUNGEST SON OF AN ITALIAN FAMILY. HE SAW THE NEW WORLD AS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE HE COULD OWN HIS OWN PIECE OF LAND AND DO SOMETHING IMPORTANT. IN 1902 HE HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY A PIECE OF LAND AND PLANT A VINEYARD SO HE CHOSE MALBEC BECAUSE AT THAT TIME IT WAS CONSIDERED THE BEST GRAPE....IT WAS CALLED THE FRENCH GRAPE (LA UVA FRANCESA) LOCALLY, BECAUSE IT WAS THE VARIETAL THAT MOST PEOPLE THOUGHT COULD YIELD THE BEST WINE. ( MANY PEOPLE IGNORED MALBEC IN FAVOR OF CHEAPER MORE PRODUCTIVE VARIETALS LIKE CRIOLLA)

THE FIRST MALBEC VINES WERE BROUGHT TO MENDOZA BY A SCIENTIST, DR POUGET, WHO WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE ARGENTINE PRESIDENT TO BRING HIGH QUALITY VINES TO ARGENTINA. THESE ORIGINAL MALBEC VINES WERE BROUGHT TO ARGENTINA IN 1856.

I REALLY LOVE THE STORY ABOUT MY GREAT GRANDFATHER. ON A SAD NOTE, HE RETURNED TO ITALY AND SAILED BACK TO ARGENTINA WITH HIS ELDERLY PARENTS...THEY WERE VERY OLD AND DIED WITHIN A FEW MONTHS OF ARRIVING TO ARGENTINA. NICOLA WAS SO PROUD OF HIS NEWFOUND LAND AND FORTUNE THAT HE WANTED HIS PARENTS TO SEE IT.

MY THIRD CHILD (THE YOUNGEST) AND ONLY DAUGHTER IS NAMED NICOLA, AND SHE IS AS FEISTY AS CAN BE. I ALSO HAVE A WINE, A 100% PURE MALBEC NAMED NICO BY LUCA.

ABOUT THE ITALIAN INFLUIENCE, IT IS VERY SIMILAR TO CALIFORNIA WHERE MANY OF THE ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS CAME FROM WINE PRODUCING REGIONS IN ITALY AND HAD WINE "IN THEIR BLOOD"

NOW

Your father has been credited with cultivating Argentine winemaking to a level where it can now compete with other high-end winemaking in all countries. With the launch of your own label in 2000, what further contribution did and do you hope to make to the world of Argentinean wine?

MY FATHER IS A TRULLY AMAZING PERSON. HE HAS ALWAYS ENCOURAGED ME TO DO WHAT I AM MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT. I HAVE ASKED HIM WHY HE DIDN'T PUT MORE PRESSURE ON ME TO GO INTO THE WINE BUSINESS WHEN I WAS IN SCHOOL. HE ANSWERED: YOU WOULDN'T BE WORKING WITH ME TODAY IF I HAD DONE THAT.

IN THE LATE NINETIES I WAS WORKING FOR CATENA A BIT, MOSTLY IN SALES AND WINEMAKING RESEARCH. I WAS LIVING IN CALIFORNIA AND WATCHING ALL THESE LITTLE WINE PROJECTS COME OUT WHICH WERE BUYING EXTREMELY HIGH QUALITY GRAPES FROM GROWERS. I ALSO SPENT SOME TIME IN FRANCE (I HAVE LIVED IN FRANCE AND AM FLUENT IN FRENCH) WITH OUR WINE PARTNERS AT CHATEAU LAFITE (WE HAVE A PARTNERSHIP THAT STARTED IN 1999 AND THE WINERY IS NAMED CARO) AND BECAME SORT OF "OBSESSED" WITH THE CONCEPT OF OLD VINES. BACK HOME IN MENDOZA, EVERY TIME I TASTED A WINE MADE FROM OLD VINES IT SEEMED TO HAVE SO MUCH MORE DEPTH AND CHARACTER. I BEGAN TO LOOK INTO OLD VINE VINEYARDS IN MENDOZA AND FOUND OUT THAT MOST WERE OWNED BY SMALL FAMILY GROWERS WHO WERE SELLING THEIR GRAPES IN BULK. MOST SERIOUS VITICULTURALISTS AND WINEMAKERS FELT THAT GROWERS COULD NOT BE PERSUADED TO DECREASE YIELDS AND IRRIGATION AND TO FARM FOR QUALITY. THAT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME, AND THAT IS HOW LUCA STARTED.

I PRESENTED THE IDEA TO MY FATHER AND HE WAS VERY ENCOURAGING...HE EVEN LENT ME HIS TOP PERSON, ALEJANDRO SEJANOVICH AS WINEMAKER. WHAT IS REALLY SWEET ABOUT MY FATHER IS THAT HE IS SO PROUD WHEN HE GOES TO A TOP RESTAURANT AND HE SEES LUCA OR TIKAL (MY BROTHER'S WINE) ON THE LIST AND NOT CATENA....I THINK HE WOULD ALMOST RATHER HAVE OUR WINES DO WELL THAN HIS OWN.

MY ROLE AT CATENA ZAPATA HAS ALSO GROWN OVER THE YEARS. I MAKE AND APPROVE ALL BLENDS FOR THE TOP WINES (CATENA, CATENA ALTA, NICOLAS CATENA ZAPATA) AND SPEND A GREAT DEAL OF TIME MANAGING OUR RESEARCH DEPARTMENT. MY GOAL IS TO DISCOVER NEW AREAS AND MAKE THE MOST OUT OF THE CATENA ZAPATA MALBEC CLONAL SELECTION. I DID A LOT OF RESEARCH IN COLLEGE AND MED SCHOOL AND I ENJOY DISCOVERING NEW THINGS. I ALSO FEEL SOME SORT OF PATRIOTISM, AS IF I HAVE A DUTY TO MY COUNTRY AND MY FAMILY TO DO THIS. ARGENTINA HAS GONE THROUGH SO MUCH ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL TURMOIL THAT WATCHING THE SUCCESS OF ARGENTINE WINE, PARTICULARLY MALBEC, MAKES ME REALLY PROUD OF BEING ARGENTINE AND DOING WHAT I AM DOING.




Most involved in wine worry about their vines getting hit by phylloxera- insects that attack grape vines and leave the roots vulnerable to fungus infections that often kill the plant. Scared of the havoc these insects wreak after the disastrous 1800's phylloxera epidemic that devastated French viticulture for years, the majority of people in the wine industry choose to graft their vines with phylloxera resistent clones instead of transporting vines directly from Europe, which could essentially be more inviting to these insects. Please tell me about the unusual selection process for your "Laborde Double Select" wine, and how thoughts of cloning, phylloxera, and old-vine plantings were involved the choice to make this unique wine. I'd also love to hear some about the vineyard specifics that led to some of the flavor profiles in this wine.

IN MENDOZA MOST VINES ARE OWN ROOTED, EXCEPT FOR CHARDONNAY AND A FEW OTHERS THAT ARE GRAFTED MOSTLY TO RESIST OTHER DISEASES SUCH AS NEMATODES. BECAUSE THE MENDOZA AIR IS VERY DRY AND THE SOILS ARE VERY SANDY, THE PHYLLOXERA LOUSE DOES NOT THRIVE, EXPECIALLY NOT IN THE FLYING FORM (THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF PHYLOXERA AND THERE HAS BEEN FOR AT LEAST 2 DECADES). IT IS THE SOIL AND CLIMATE IN EUROPE AND CALIFORNIA THAT IS MORE INVITING. LET'S CROSS OUR FINGERS THAT WE NEVER HAVE A PROBLEM.

THE LABORDE DOUBLE SELECTION IS AN EXAMPLE OF A REALLY VISIONARY PERSON AHEAD OF HIS TIME. LUIS LABORDE WAS A RESEARCHER AT THE MENDOZA WINE INSTITUTE AND HE LOVED RHONE WINES. HE THOUGHT THAT SYRAH WOULD BE WELL SUITED TO MENDOZA AND HE WAS RIGHT. HE WENT TO FRANCE AND BROUGHT BACK SYRAH CLONES, THEN GREW THEM AND STUDIED THEM BETTER IN MENDOZA AND CREATED A UNIQUE SELECTION OF VINES. TO THIS DAY, I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND A BETTER VINE SELECTION OF SYRAH IN MENDOZA. HIS SON IS A LOVELY PERSON AND CLOSE FRIEND AND VERY PROUD TO CONTINUE HIS FATHER'S TRADITION AND PASSION FOR HIGH QUALITY SYRAH. I HAVE SOME NICE VIDEO AND PHOTO FOOTAGE OF LUIS LABORDE, HIS WIFE AND THEIR DOGS. HIS WIFE JUST HAD THEIR FIRST CHILD A FEW DAYS AGO.



The Laborde son, in the vineyard with Laura.

What wine direction are you looking in new future, and if you had one overwhelming goal in wine, what would you say it is?

I WANT TO GET A LOT OLDER QUICKLY SO THAT THERE ARE MORE OLD VINES AROUND!...I AM SERIOUS. BESIDES THAT, I WANT TO CONTINUE TO MAKE PROFOUND WINES OUT OF MENDOZA AND REALLY SHOW THAT OUR WINES ARE ON PAR WITH THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT EVERY PRICE POINT.

Who inspires you in wine? In Argentina? Europe? The United States?

IN ARGENTINA MY FATHER AND ALL THE STAFF AT CATENA ZAPATA AND LUCA. WE REALLY ARE LIKE A FAMILY. IN EUROPE, GUIGAL, OUR PARTNERS AT CHATEAU LAFITE, THE BURGUNDIAN WINE CULTURE OF SMALL PARCELS AND EXTREMELY LOW YIELDS. IN THE US, PAUL HOBBS, AN OLD FRIEND AND SOMEONE THAT IS MAKING AN IMPACT ON WINE WORLD-WIDE WITH ALL HIS CONSULTING JOBS, PEOPLE LIKE BILL HARLAN, WHO HAVE A VISION AND ACCOMPLISH IT. PEOPLE WHO MAKE WINE TEND TO BE CHARISMATIC AND PASSIONATE, I LOVE THE CULTURE OF OUR INDUSTRY.

From the research I've done on you, I discovered that you are a wine consultant to your family's winery, an owner of your own winery, a mother of three, an ER doctor at UCSF, a graduate of both Harvard and Stanford, a really nice person, and perhaps I shouldn't mention this but I'm going to anyhow because photos have revealed thus, have an excellent fashion sense. I'm looking forward to coffee with you! What have I missed? What else are you doing?

I AM WORKING ON A BOOK FOR WINE LOVERS THAT VISIT MENDOZA. IT WILL INCLUDE MANY OF THE WINERIES MAKING TOP QUALITY WINES...ABOUT THE FASHION SENSE...THANKS BUT, I'VE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF MYSELF AS MORE OF A GEEK, SO I AM REALLY FLATTERED. MY BROTHER IS THE FASHION KING IN THE FAMILY. I DO ALSO LOVE TO EXERCISE AND GO TO THE DAILEY METHOD IN SF REGULARLY AND JOG SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK. I ALSO LIKE TO PLAY SPORTS, SOCCER, TENNIS, PING PONG, GOLF AND JUST ABOUT ANYTHING WITH MY HUSBAND AND KIDS, AND I DON'T EVER WORRY IF I AM BAD AT THEM.

FOOD AND WINE PAIRING

Some winemakers focus on making great wines that pair well with food. Others focus entirely on making great wines, period. Would would you say your winemaker's focus is with Luca wines?

FOOD IS VERY IMPORTANT, SO I TRY TO MAKE MY WINES FOOD FRIENDLY. BUT I ALSO LIKE A BIT OF "FLASHINESS" IN A WINE, AND SOMETIMES A FLASHY WINE IS NOT AS GOOD WITH FOOD. BUT MY GOAL IS TO MAKE WINES THAT GO WELL WITH ALL KINDS OF FOODS. I AM PARTICULARLY PROUD OF MY SPICY (THAI OR INDIAN) FOOD PAIRINGS WITH LUCA MALBEC AND SYRAH.

I was able to try your "Laborde Double Select" and it had a very pretty bacon, dark berry and flinty taste that immediately made be want to eat it with foods grilled over charcol or wood and maybe even some aged sheep's cheeses. What would you pair with this wine?

I WOULD PAIR IT WITH PORK, WITH THAI OR INDIAN CURRIES, WITH VEGETABLES AND TOFU IN A SWEET AND SOUR KIND OF SAUCE, LAMB, ANYTHING WITH A BURNT FRUIT OR NUTTY SAUCE.

What do you eat with your wines at home? Do you think that this is similar to what people pair them with at restaurants?

I DRINK WINE EVERY NIGHT WITH DINNER, UNLESS I AM GOING TO WORK AT THE HOSPITAL. I DRINK A LOT OF WHITE WINE AT HOME AND MORE RED WHEN I GO OUT....I AM NOT SURE WHY. WE EAT A VERY DIVERSE DIET AT HOME, SOME REAL SIMPLE STUFF, BROCCOLY AND CHICKEN, LOTS OF RICE....I USUALLY EAT STEAK ONLY WHEN I AM IN ARGENTINA BECAUSE I AM VERY PARTICULAR ABOUT THE TASTE OF BEEF.

What are some of your favorite food and wine pairings, and some of your favorite wines with food?

MALBEC IS DEFINITELY A FAVORITE BECAUSE IT GOES WITH JUST ABOUT ANYTHING BECAUSE OF ITS SOFT SWEET TANNINS, MY FAVORITE MALBEC PAIRING IS PROBABLY MY HUSBAND'S PORK WITH APPLE SAUCE. CAB SAUV WITH STEAK IN BERENAISE SAUCE, GERMAN AND ALSACIAN WHITES WITH VIETNAMESE OR THAI FOOD, SYRAH WITH COQ AU VIN....I AM SURE I CAN COME UP WITH MORE, BUT IT'S MAKING ME HUNGRY!

In Europe, there is a strong sense of pairing wines with regional foods. Do people practice this in Argentina too? Any examples?

NOT THAT MUCH, BUT I DO HAVE A FEW FAVORITES. CHARDONNAY WITH HUMITA (CORN BAKED IN A CLAY OVEN WRAPPED IN THE CORN TUSK), CHORIZO (SAUSAGE) WITH MALBEC, TORRONTES WITH APPETIZERS.

Lastly, when you are in a restaurant in North America, what foods and wines are you most likely to order?

I AM VERY PARTIAL TO ITALIAN FOOD (MY SF FAVORITES ARE DELFINA AND A16) BECAUSE I GREW UP WITH IT IN ARGENTINA AND ASIAN FOOD WITH LOTS OF VEGETABLES (I LIVE RIGHT NEXT TO EOS AND ALSO LOVE THE SLANTED DOOR).

Thank you very much for your time Laura!

Winemakers Interview: Bill Easton of Terre Rouge and Easton Wines

It’s interview central here at Vin de la Table. Last week it was Ryan Williams of Ana Mandara, this week, it’s winemaker and owner of Terre Rouge and Easton wines, Bill Easton. Ah, but we are a blessed crowd. So many interviews, so little time.

One of the most notable winemakers in the Amador County, Sierra Foothills region of California (yes, they make wine there!), Bill Easton is a true wine professional. Not only is he experienced in the field, in the cellar, and in the tasting room, Easton owned his own wine shop, served as a European wine importer, and acts as a mentor to inspiring winemakers from across the globe. And he makes some damn tasty wines.

When I spoke to Easton he had just finished weeding, tuckering, suckering his vineyard, and setting up irrigation to battle with low rain yields in the fields.

We're familiar with each other because you were the first owner of the shop where I currently work. You owned the shop for seventeen years and made a name for it as a great place to go for small production California wine. When did you open Solano Cellars, and when you first opened the shop, did you think that someday you'd try your hand at winemaking?

I owned Solano from March 1978 to June 1994. I had been in the wine business since 1975, right after UC Berkeley. While I was at Solano, I also worked in Russian River Valley, at a winery, and I went back and forth between there and Berkeley. My heart was always in the production side, but the path I took was in retail, for a little capital accumulation. I started making home wine in 1980, and in 85,' I started the Terre Rouge label.

At that point, I didn't own a vineyard. I owned house in Fiddletown [small Amador County town], which is now my business office. I talked to local grower and convinced him to graft over vines to Grenache, Syrah , Mourvèdre, and Cinsualt. That was the beginning of the Terre Rouge project.

Later these were supplemented with historical sources- old plantings of Grenache that I suspect were used for home winemakers on east coast after World War II, that were eighty-five plus years old.

We later abandoned some of those vineyards because now we have better plantings. We experimented and now we are more sophisticated about vineyard sittings and terriors.

In what ways?

Well, we now know where some varieties are excellent. Light, sandy, loam soils are good for Grenache. Syrah likes volcanic soils and high elevation. And if you use different clones, you'll get a more different, varied syrah palate and flavors. Mourvèdre likes sandy soil. Basically, every site is going to give you a different grape expression.

What was the final push that lead you to owning your own vineyards?

I decided that I wanted to consolidate my life in the foothills. My wife Jane and I decided that we wanted to raise our son there. And I exhausted my interest in retail. I realized that my passion was the wine and terriors of Sierra Nevada.

Why Amador county? Why not Sonoma County?

It's the terrior. To start, the winery is in the Shenandoah Valley of California. This is where our Cabernet Sauvigon and Zinfandel are located, in granite-based sandy, loam soils. The winery business office is in Fiddletown. That's where we also have some Syrah and Viognier, where there are granite and volcanic soils like Côte Rotie. In these soils is where these grapes excel, as in the old world - France. Condrieu [a Viognier appellation in the Rhone Valley] is basically decomposed granite, for example. These are some of different terriors around us.

I was attracted to the foothills because they’re so many varied terriors and they are so similar to Rhone terriors [where many of the same grapes that Easton grows are centered]. That’s why Rhone winemakers like my wine so much. People complement me by saying that my wine taste like Rhone wines. They don’t have that overly fruity, high alcohol fruit like some in Central Coast or Washington. They’ve got a backbone. I think that you can grow wine more authentically like Rhone wines here than you can anywhere else in the United States.

Do you find the differences in lifestyle in Napa or parts of Sonoma affect the style of wine- the final product?

The kind of wine that I wanted to make is the number one thing; lifestyle is secondary. I really admire people like Josh Jensen at Calera, Paul Draper at Ridge, the Bennetts at Navarro, and Jim Clendenen [of Au Bon Climat] in Santa Barbara, with his mineral chardonnay. They are people who put the wine first. They put their passion for terrior before lifestyle.

Plus, around here it's quiet. Fiddletown is a really nice, quiet town. But there are also some great restaurants nearby, and we're close to cities like Sacramento and San Francisco. Living here is probably more similar to the more rural living around Howell mountain in Napa as opposed to living off Highway 29.

Who were your early influences when you started winemaking? Any of the people that you just mentioned?

Their inspiration was really in the way they approached their projects and terrior. As far as my mentors, I spent time in cellars in Europe. I spent a lot of time there in particular when I was buying wine for Solano Cellars. I went to France, Italy, Spain, where I spent a lot of time in cellars. I was also fortunate to tour with famous wine writers in Italy. I got to hang out, ask questions about philosophy and technique. I learned so much from these meetings and I've always been interested in winemaking in that way. I mean, even when I owned Solano Cellars, I subscribed to winemaker magazines.

When you starting winemaking, did any experiences from your wine shop/bistro days shape your winemaking style?

I try to make the best wine I can from the fruit I have to work with. I try to wine balanced wine that I like to drink. Two of my main things are that I make wine that appeal to my palate, wines that I want to take home and drink. I also try to make hedonistic wines, that after you have one glass, you want another. I tend not to make monolithic wines and don't focus on scores. My wines often make Parker's newsletter, and he's said good things about them, but I don't focusing on getting extreme scores.

Good friends of my family, Joanne, Felipe and Joseph Craig-Ferraz have a little house in Fiddletown. I found out a while ago that they have been renting out one of their rooms to burgeoning young winemakers who have come from different areas in Europe to learn from you.

I have a program that is my way of giving back to people who are passionate about wine. Or, it's also a program that allows people to find out if they are really passionate about wine, or passionate enough about it. From late August to November, people come from France. They often rent a room in that Fiddletown house, which is in an old brewery. It's kind of a French atmosphere, the interns like it.

How do these people find you?

They’re hooked up with me through winemaker friends. They make recommendations.

I've been to France, and even in Paris, there didn't seem to be as much exposure to smaller production California wine as there is here. If fact, Cali wine is hard to find there and pretty expensive. Most wine in shops was Gallo or Mondavi. That being, how did these Europeans find out about your winery? Do you travel to Europe on business?

There's not much a market for U.S. wines except at two or three wine shops, and at some restaurants in Paris, and in tourist areas. Most parts of France are still very regional with their wines. They drink the wines of the area with the region's food.

Something I am really looking forward to is going with ZAP next June to promote Zinfandel in France and other European places. We'd like to create more exposure.

How does it make you feel that people are coming from another country that has centuries more experience than our own in winemaking to work with you? Seems pretty flattering to me…..
What do they learn from you that they might not in, say, France?

[Laughs] They often come to learn English better. They come because people who want to be world class in wine these days, they want to have experience in California, not just their region. They go out to other places. They want to see how we are approaching wine, along with South Africa, Australia. They want to expand their knowledge of cellar and vineyard techniques everywhere.

FOOD AND WINE

We recently taught a food and wine class where we used your Terre Rouge de l''Ouest Syrah to show how a nicely fruited, well-balanced Syrah is an excellent wine to lean on when pairing wine to cuisines that most times aren't traditionally paired with wine. It was fantastic with Indian food and Moroccan chicken, for example. And, it was also showed well with a sharp cheddar- a cheese that can be finicky with red wine.
Is this news to you at all?

Syrah is such a luscious wine, but also it's spicy, gamey, with great garrigue. It likes spiced foods. One of best matches for Syrah is lamb. That's my top match, and it's great in a Moroccan style preparation.

What do you drink with your wine at home?

My wife is a chef, so we eat well. Last night, we had a Côtes-du-Rhône with leftover chicken sausages with fresh squash from Red Bluff. Another night, we made some pizza dough and topped it with tomatoes, pecorino and had a salad. We don't always drink our own wine. We drink lots of French, and Italian. Recently we had a Corbières with lentils and greens with jasmine rice and pine nuts, and a salad. We're well fed!

Jane is a really talented cook- she started the bistro at Solano Cellars after returning from Europe. She started it simply with quiche, meats, and fruit. Then before we knew it she was cooking cassoulet, and braised duck legs.

At there foods at winemaker dinners hosted at restaurants that you commonly see paired with your wine, or have you had exceptionally good pairings at any of these events latley?

One of the best dinners this year so far was one at Plymouth, CA, at Restaurant Taste.

I’ll leave you here, Vin de la Table readers, with the menu that Taste was kind enough to send me. Food and wine for thought. I hope that you enjoyed the interview.

2008 Seasonal Dinner Series featuring Terre Rouge and Easton Wines at Restaurant Taste – Plymouth, Ca, Sunday, June 1, 2008


Grilled Jumbo Prawn Bites, Lobster, red pepper essence

2007 Terre Rouge Vin Gris


Crispy Soft Shell Crab, creamy risotto, spring peas, spring onions, fava beans

2005 Terre Rouge Roussane
[earned 5 stars from Easton for best pairing]

Roasted Diamond H Ranch Quail stuffed with mushroom duxelles, fresh cherry compote, savory goat cheese danish

2005 Terre Rouge Tete-a-Tete


Grilled Cedar Springs Lamb, caramelized fennel and eggplant caviar, grilled local asparagus

2003 Easton Estate Zinfandel
2001 Terre Rouge Sentinel Oak Syrah Pyramid Block


Toasted Almond Tuile, apricot sorbet, toasted coconut, caramel

2004 Terre Rouge Muscat-a-Petit Grains


Next month’s winemaker interview.... Laura Cantena of Argentina’s Luca Wines.

T-Vine Vineyards: An Interview with Winemaker Greg Brown

I am very happy to add an interview with the winemaker/owner of T-Vine Cellars (pictured with flowing hair above) to the growing collection of winemaker Q & A’s on Vin de la Table. Most certainly one of the best of the two, this interview invites us into the wine world of Greg Brown, a talented and successful winemaker who only wishes the best for his fellow craftspeople, and who would be happy pairing baked beans with his finest T-Vine wines. In short, he’s a Vin de la Table interview dream.



Although T-Vine has a cult following for their berry-luscious Grenaches, purple Sryahs, decadent and fierce Petite Sirahs, jammy Zinfandels, brooding Cabernet Sauvignons, and occasional Merlots, winemaker Brown has little need to uncork his bottles to sell his wines.

His power to garner a following pre pouring has as much to do with his gracious and spirited nature as much as the fine reputation of his wines. Thankfully for those of us who have occasionally been swayed to buy on the basis of pure winemaker charisma, Brown does pop his corks for the public. And by god, his wines are terrific. They are concentrated, stunning, and in short, a California wine lover’s dream.

THE REBELLIOUS BROWN STORY

One day the corporate banker called Greg Brown was invited to a Cain Cellars wine crush, and his life changed overnight. Brown had already begun to feel in his heart (the one behind the breast pocket of his well-tailored Italian or American or British suit, below the ends of his slicked back hair, and far above the shined leather of his fine dress shoes) that banking was not his life calling.

That crush day, the grapes were so ripe with inspiration that almost immediately, Brown quit finance to “drag hoses at Cain Cellars for $7 an hour.” It was all wine from here on out.

After years as a cellar rat, Brown got the itch to try his own hand with wine. His grape of choice was Grenache, a grape indigenous to the Rhone Valley in France which Brown was crazy about.

At this point of inspiration seventeen years ago, few to none were making Grenache in the northern wine country. Most people hadn’t even heard of the grape. Tony Soter, Cain’s consulting winemaker at the time told Brown how funny he thought it that Brown wanted to play with this Rhone grape in a land where the favorite game was making Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Later of course, Soter loaned Brown his crushing facilities. Regardless of the raised eyebrows, the rebellious Brown knew exactly what to do. He made his first Grenache and put it in a Bordeaux bottle so that people would know that it was red wine.

In the millionaire’s game of winemaking, “with only $15,000 and true grit,” Brown worked hard, put his wine out there, helped build awareness for Grenache, and went on to wine hearts.

Proud of the manner in which T-Vine has become successful from the ground up, Brown sees his gumption and passion especially in the early years as crucial to his wine’s draw. Earning a following that loves his wines because of the contents of the bottle and for the inspiration behind them rather than for their ratings is important to Brown, who generally avoids press and ratings systems.

Unlike many winery representatives that actively send their wine to critics or wine ratings organizations, Brown prefers that T-Vine accolades come organically, or not at all. He hasn’t asked wine critic Robert Parker NOT to rate his wines, for example, but he hasn’t sent him sample bottles like so many others do either. Brown normally also avoids interviews, saying that "he could be having morning coffee for years with someone before they know I'm a winemaker.” In Napa, when wines are far too often used trophies, Brown prefers to utilize his as sources to inspire pleasure rather than fame.

INSPIRATION

On the back of his wine bottles, Brown inscribes quotes meant to share pieces of the T-Vine spirit and intention with its drinkers. With it’s main feature being a short newsletter, the T-Vine website stresses simplicity and serenity over marketing. While it's true that Brown's wines have no problems selling, it's clear that his point in life is not making money. Rather, It seems to be to exist in a space of inspiration and peace.

When I asked Brown why winemaking inspires in him more spirituality than other acts in life, he spoke of the act and the end result.

“Nothing else produced has the spirit of the person as infused in the product as wine. In wine, you can see personality, the traits of the person who made it, and if they were inspired, you can taste it. And there are so many metaphors in wine: the new growth in spring time, the pruning back, and these all conjure up thoughts of spirit and consciousness.”

Which brings us to Brown’s model of winemaking, which is invoked with spirituality but refuses to take itself too seriously. Comparing making wine to breathing, Brown states that “it’s extremely important, but no big deal.”

Brown thinks likewise about FOOD AND WINE.

One of the best memories he had, he says, with food and wine was one experienced "at the top of a slide in a French playground, straight out of a brown-bagged bottle with a baguette." While it hurt my cheese-freak heart to hear that Brown’s memory didn’t involve cheese, not even at the top, middle, or lower portion of the slide experience, it’s endearing to hear a winemaker say that his one of his favorite food and wine pairings required only love for the products involved. And a child’s recreation tool.

If there did happen to be cheese present during the playground adventure, I told him, his T-Vines Rhone Wines and Zinfandels in particular would have been good to have handy. At a recent Wine and Food Pairing class session at work, we served three different cheeses, and I was amazed to find that they paired perfectly with all of them. All were a bit funky, perhaps a little stand-offish- either salty and aged, washed cow’s milk or natural rind goat, but after the T-Vine wines strutted their stuff a bit, they were melting with simple pleasures of the pairing within minutes.

Brown was happy to hear his wine was a hit, but let it be known that he was for “rebellious wine drinking,” the sort that inspires blending wines at the dinner table rather than inflicting rules. Which may be why at an upcoming event with T-Vine at the wine shop where I work, we’re serving his wines with big, juicy burgers.

When not sipping T-Vine with America’s favorite sandwich, Greg prefers simple food with his wines and says that people should drink red with fish if they want to. Even though he loves French country or peasant style food such as roast lamb and vegetables with his wines, he’s also cool with “opening a can of Annies’ split pea soup and adding some garlic.”

Brown’s not afraid to admit his not-elitist preferences in the vineyard either.

In a time when it’s become fashionable to knock wines for being “fruit-bombs,” Brown freely admits that he likes his own wines laden with fruit. Why shouldn’t he, he asks.

Instead of picking by brix, Brown picks by intuition. He tastes the grapes like he would a peach. If they taste ripe, sweet, he’ll consider other properties such as mouthfeel and color. Although a some point during the winemaking process he might utilize scientific instruments, Brown relies more on what he’s learned by roaming the vineyards year after year and his own taste preferences than scientific measurements or what people profess is best at the moment.

Not that Brown would say anything negative about his fellow winemakers who might use such analysis systems or be otherwise influenced. He wouldn’t say anything bad about his fellow winemaker’s methods or wines period. He’s not ashamed for liking sweet fruit, canned soup or beans and he wouldn’t criticize other winemakers for staying true to their vision either.

“It’s what makes this country so great. They’re doing what they want and listening to their heart. There’s just too much press focusing on what’s wrong, and not enough focusing on what’s right. People have so many more mentors now instead of corporations leading them on- that’s terrific. They follow their vision. As far as I’m concerned, so much of the wine out there is 95% better than what I was making when I first started anyhow.”

He named one winemaker in particular, David Phinney of Orin Swift’s The Prisoner fame, as someone who really inspired him, because “he’s one of the sweetest guys you’ve ever met, his wines are terrific and really fun, and you can’t help but be happy for him and how successful he’s been.”

Another common theme in Brown’s life besides the showering of those around him with the positive energy he so values in others, is to not take oneself so seriously. With a healthy does of his naughty humor in mind, I will close this interview with a favorite joke of Brown’s.

"A blond and a brunette pass by a flower shop and the brunette looks in to see her boyfriend. "Oh," she groans, unhappy "My boyfriend is buying me flowers." "Why, what's wrong with that, don't you like flowers?" asks the blond. "Well," the brunette replies, "After he buys them, I spend at least a week with my ankles around my neck." "Oh. Why," the blond asks, "don't you own a vase?"

This vintage promises to be a good one for T-Vine.

Selbach-Oster Rieslings: An Interview with Johannes Selbach

Johannes Selbach, right
(Photo courtesy of the Selbach-Oster website)

At a recent trade wine tasting for the Vienna Wine Company in San Francisco, I had the good fortune of meeting Johannes Selbach. Meeting the man of the husband-wife duo who runs the highly celebrated Selbach-Oster family winery in Mosel, Germany was especially elating for a couple of reasons. First of all, when I met him, he was pouring his (twelve, by the time I got to the table) Rieslings, from both of the 06 and 07 vintages, which are amazing examples of Germany's main grape. I've been taken with the wines of Selbach-Oster since I first had a sip of this bottled nectar, and being able to taste so many of them side by side was, frankly, slightly overwhelming and a mind-blowing Riesling experience. Secondly, the experience was standout because I was lucky enough to secure an interview for Vin de la Table with this very busy man. Not only does Johannes run his own winery, he acts as a negociant and broker/importer of German Riesling and at any given time can be found in a different part of the world representing and pouring his wines.

Well, I sent him some questions that reflected my curiosity about his wines, the future of Riesling, and food and Riesling pairings, and his answers pretty much floored me. To my straightforward questions, Johanne Selbach provided some of the most poetic, clear, and compelling responses that a man as busy as himself has ever taken the time to give.

That said, I'm very happy to say that this interview with Johannes Selbach of Selbach Oster kicks off the first of many forthcoming interviews with winemakers and winery owners at Vin de la Table. What a start!

Like this one, future interviews will touch upon winemaking, wine as nature, wine as a drink, wine as a commodity in the global economy, histories of wine, and wine as an accompaniment to food on the table.

My questions are in bold, and his responses follow


Although more people in the U.S. are developing tastes for German Rieslings, some still insist that they "don't drink sweet wines." How would you respond to a statement like this? What are these people missing?

The word "insist" hints of stubbornness and that is too bad because it precludes giving anything but what they think they know a try. With that attitude we'd all still be eating maccaroni & cheese or sausages with kraut and would never have discovered the intricacies of Asian cuisine or the delight of "raw fish", sashimi or sushi.

First, what is the definition of "sweet" ? Is a soda pop, sweetened with corn syrup or a diet pop sweetened with aspartame or another sweetener sweet ?? Most likely everyone would agree that such a beverage is sweet, very sweet.
Is a September apple, plucked ripe from the tree sweet, ... or a peach in July, ... or a vine ripened tomato from the garden in August ? The answer will also be yes. Is there a difference between sweetness in root beer and in vine ripened fruit ? I believe even the most stubborn " I don't drink sweet wines" blockhead would agree.
At the same time that people insist they don't like "Riesling" they reflect on their experiences with artficially sweetened beverages ( or food ) and forget that the quality of an "un-dry" wine with varying degrees of residual sugar, as long as it is balanced, has nothing to do with that feared thickly sweet, cloying sensation.

Myself, often confronted with this rather silly ( because it shows people haven't tried many Rieslings, leave alone good ones ) prejudice, usually ask them two questions:
One, whether they eat fruit.
Two, if they do, whether they prefer their strawberries green and their peaches hard or rather red and juicy.
I cringe when I imagine that these people think the poor, usually cheap most likely sweetened wines they had ( be they Rieslings or blends ) are "it".
Riesling, like no other grape, is capable of showing the full spectrum of dryness/sweetness from bone dry to very sweet and everything inbetween. Fine Rieslings, like no other grape, can weave the wine's natural sweetness, derived from ripe fruit ( not added ), into the multitude of aromatic expressions this delicately aromatic grape offers ( depending on where grown, how cropped, when and how picked ) and pack it into an always noticeable, sometimes vibrant, sometimes juicy acidity that leaves the mouth salivating in the finish even after it has tasted a touch of sweetness upfront.
That's a long, complex sentence and doesnt come close to describing the sensation a fine, balanced fruity Riesling leaves on the palate.
Pity for those who think they know it all and who, after possibly a bad experience with a cheap specimen, don't give their tastebuds another chance....
When it comes to Riesling, balance is the key. And a well balanced Riesling has almost always won determined Rielsing avoiders over into the Riesling camp as believers. You watch....

Long answer to a short question !


THE RIESLING GRAPE AND SELBACH-OSTER

Your family has been making Riesling since 1661 and are said to be traditionalists. Have there been many advances in winemaking within the past 20-30 years that you have incorporated within your practices, or have you found that the way your family crafted high-end Rieslings for centuries is the way you will continue making your wine indefinitely?

Some but no radical changes. Most notable changes have occurred with the canopy management, certainly the reduction of yields and the sanity of vines and fruit. Less is more is a simple formula and it works well, also concerning our "input".
The overall vineyard work itself has become a bit more labour intensive, with more attention paid to smaller details. Everything has become "greener", geared towards a more organic approach though with the reality of viticulture on very steep slopes in a narrow river valley we are still "conventional".


The Riesling Grape is considered one of the finest grapes in the world, but demands a fair amount of attention from the winemaker. What are just a couple of the hardships Selbach-Oster experiences trying to cultivate Riesling that you believe people working with other grapes may not encounter?
Sorry but I beg to differ: The winemaking part is the less important part as there is not so much "making" in the cellar necessary but the quality of Riesling is rather determined in the vineyard. For obvious reasons, the place, the soil, the mezzo- and microclimate are of the utmost importance but apart from those, the differences are huge when comparing viticultural practices throughout the year and, now comes the most important part, the harvest.
For me, the vineyard work has to be planned and executed with a certain quality and type of Riesling in mind. Then, of course, Nature has to cooperate but it all culminates in the harvest. How to harvest ( when to pick, where to pick, what to pick and how to pick ) is immensely important. How one handles the chosen fruit and how one processes fruit and juice are of equal importance. Of course one needs to know what's needed in the cellar but the simple formula applies : The better the raw ingredient, i.e. fruit, the better ( potentially ) the end result, the wine.
Inbetween one has plenty of opportunity to screw this up but if gently pressed juice from top quality grapes runs into the barrel, most of the groundwork for delicious Riesling has already been laid. No need to spend sleepless nights over the choice of forest for the oak or how it's been dried and which toast the barrels need. No need to worry about whether or not or when to induce a malolactic fermentation. The fruit is "it" and the purer, the better.
Hardships occur when the weather doesn't want to play in tune. Hardships also occur when we gamble for 100% and overshoot the "perfect" day for picking a certain vineyard when the grapes have reached heir optimum.

It's said that Riesling truly expresses the terrior where its planted. You have many vineyards from which your grapes come. Which vineyards most expresses their terrior in the final product?

I firmly believe that Riesling truly expresses the terroir and have had ample opportunity to put this to the test.
However, caution is to be exercised: "Terroir" has become a buzzword and that horse has almost been ridden to death.
If there is too much "winemaking", forget abut terroir because many manmade interventions from aroma-inducing enzymes to the choice of yeast or new oak can override the terroir - and so does too much of a usually good thing - botrytis.
Overcropping, over- and underripeness each override much if not all of the terroir.
Where we make wines, in the heart of the Mosel, the vines thrive in a mineral rich, relatively soft and crumbly soil that is very old and dates back to the Devonian age, some 450 to 500 million years ago: Blue Devonian Slate. It's the silt from the ancient single ocean that surrounded the single continent, Pangea. The weight of the ocean compressed layer after layer of silt, forming a deposit that looks like a thin wafer, rich in minerals and with water trapped in the molecules ( which gives our slate such a smooth feel when you crumble it with your hands ). When the continents divided and tectonic plates drifted and collided, the former sea bottom was lifted and pushed, twisted and turned until it surfaced in our area where it formed a mountain range through which eventually the Mosel river cut. The roots can force their way down, courtesy of the relative softness of the rock and it's being cracked, twisted and turned, so we have rootsystems in our old vineyards where it is not uncommon to find 10 meter ( 32 feet ) deep roots. With roots deep in the mineral rich soil and with dry farming, with low yields plus a hands-off approach in the cellar, the potential for wines to show their "terroir" is excellent.

From my own tasting experience in our cellar I can say that the differences between the villages, from Bernkastel down to Graach, then Wehlen and finally Zeltingen are indeed noticeable. From amongst those, I find the different expressions of the Schlossberg in Zeltingen and the twin Sonnenuhr vineyards in Wehlen and Zeltingen ( with minor differences between the two siblings ) the most exciting. Zeltinger Schlossberg probably comes in with the most expressive "fingerprint" of minerality with some "crunch".

How do you feel about oak in Riesling?

Large casks of old oak - wonderful, they permit the wines to exhale some of their fementation aromas and also permit a tiny bit of oxidation, something that the "nouveau" winemakers have rediscovered and now artificially induce in their stainless steel tanks ( microboullage ).
New oak only once in a while and only for lending some exotic to a blend but this has to be done very skillfully or else the otherwise subtle and delicate Riesling carries way to much makeup and smells of foreign perfume...and becomes hard to recognize ( and enjoy).

Some readers may not be familiar with the superior aging abilities of German Riesling. Why are they such excellent wines to age? What is the oldest Riesling you've tried and do you have some set aside for younger family members or friends? How long do you plan to age them?

High quality German Riesling can indeed age for a very long time and often baffles even experts with it's relative freshness and added complexity it develops over time. Here, "don't like sweet" drinkers listen up, the wines with residual sugar greatly outperform their dry counterparts. Why ? Because sugar is a preservative just as acidity is. It's the combination of good acidity, relatively low pH, usually moderate alcohol and a varying degree of residual sugar which make for a winning combination for longevity.
The fact that the grapes in the northern German wine regions ( that Riesling calls home ) mature over a long time in a moderately warm climate, rather than a hot and arrid one, make for a unique concentration and diversity of flavours, always healthy acidity and, at the same time comparatively lower than average alcohol levels.
The oldest Riesling I have been privileged to enjoy was an 1864 Schloss Vollrads which the late Count Matuschka Greiffenclau opened and shared with a number of colleagues in the summer of 1986.
We have some old bottles, certainly from all family members' birth years set aside, though no serious quantities as we adhere to my late father's advice that fine wines are made to be enjoyed while both we and the wines are alive, rather than to be locked away from their destiny ( that is to be consumed and to give pleasure and stimulation of the senses ).
Having said that, I hope I'll live the day to drink the best bottles and the big question - always - is to find the "right" opportunity.
Seems I am on a good path to find more and more "right " opportunities.

FOOD AND WINE PAIRING:

Due to the success of your winery, you have had the opportunity to travel all over the world, talking about, pouring, and enjoying your wines with people of other countries. At the wine tasting where I met you, I heard that you and the other winemakers at the event would be enjoying a dinner later at a celebrated San Francisco restaurant. With what different foods do people pair your wines in various countries?
France, Germany, United States, Spain, Italy, China, for example...

With almost everything they eat. Riesling, contrary to widespread belief, is an immensely versatile companion at the table. Ask any chef in a top notch restaurant and you'll be surprised how often Riesling comes up when food friendly wine or the wine of choice is mentioned. The question is not whether Riesling but rather which Riesling with a certain kind of food !
Many people still confine Riesling to the ( very wide ) spectrum of Asian cuisine. Because the yin of fruit and yang of acidity marry so well with the multitude of flavours and preparations of Asian or Fusion cuisine this is understandable but the choices are many more. I dare say almost everything but a thick, bloody steak or leg of lamb & Co. works with a Riesling but you have to have some selection.
Think American traditionals from turkey with all the trimmings to crabcakes to simple pleasures like summer greens with a mild vinaigrette or just sweet corn on the cob and I can think Riesling from left to right.
Go to Italy and think of sweet, vine ripened tomatoes ( which always come with a nice dose of...acidity ) and think the unthinkable...Riesling. Fettucini Alfredo with that creamy Alfredo sauce that certainly has a touch of richness and sweetness...Riesling and when you eat Gorgonzola or melt it over meat or fruit, think Riesling again...
It is not just duck liver or goose liver for sweet Rieslings but also rustic, flavourful patés and, of course, aromatic cheeses, particularly ones with a soft, washed or cured rind ( ... ever tried ripe Epoisses with mature Riesling Spaetlese ? ) and the whole range of blue cheeeses from Stilton to Roquefort. Fruits and dishes prepared with fruit, redcutions sauces, caramelizd things, you name it...Riesling works.

What has put Riesling back on th food map are several things:
One, it's delicacy and relatively low alcohol ( compared to most other wines ) and the fact it is unoaked and with a crisp finish let the food live that's served with it. No competition but live and let live - if not complementing each other. That is why chefs and sommeliers and "foodies" love Riesling.
Two, it's diversity: Most kinds of food and even preparation styles find a matching Riesling and that can range from austere and pure and dry to flamboyantly exotic, rich and sweet.
Three: The much better availability of high quality Riesling . Today's consumer has much better access to more choices of quality Riesling than 10 or 20 years ago.

But, beware of cheap Riesling. It can be as one dimensional and flavourless as a "middle of the road" Pinot Grigio.

What is the worst Riesling pairing that you've experienced, perhaps because someone was so smitten with your wines, they believed they would fair perfectly with everything?


My biggest fear in wine dinners where the pastry chef doesn't know Riesling or thinks ( like many) that riesling is syrupy sweet: Elegant, regular Riesling Auslese with it's traditionally moderate level of residual sugar put against opulent, super sweet desserts ....

With what foods do you eat with your Rieslings at home, and are these typical Riesling pairings in Germany?

Almost everything and that explicitly includes roast red meat where we use aged Riesling ( at least a dozen years old ) .
Same here as said before: The rack of lamb or he thick steak grilled rare usually come with matching reds.

WINE AND RIESLING ABROAD

Who do you count among your favorite winemakers in Germany? In the U.S? France?

Germany: Helmut Doennhoff, Hans-Guenter Schwarz
France: a plethora of Burgundians, too many to single one out and I can't afford DRC...
US: Warren Winiarski for his ability to make lasting, impressive Cabernets at 13% vol and below .
Paul Draper for his Zins but more so Monte Bello Cabs for their "terroir" and relatively moderate alcohol.
Steven Kistler and Mark Bixler for big but balanced and very long lived single vineyard Chardonnays.
Larry Turley and Ehren Jordan for always puzzling me with delicious, aromatic alcohol bombs, big but still elegant Zins, that belie their analyses and don't tasted the slightest bit alcoholic nor hot but rather fascinating.

PS: I must confess I have been bitten by the Zin bug and I believe this is the truly unique "American" wine.

At least in the U.S, Austria has been receiving much attention lately for their Rieslings. What are your thoughts on their Riesling style?

Very fine examples of big, aromatic, dry Rieslings that carry their high alcohol well. The best in the league of the "heavy hitters" from warmer climates.

Are there Rieslings in the U.S. that you particularly like or dislike? Any thoughts on the Rieslings from the Fingerlake regions or from Washington?

I greatly dislike the abundance of simple, cheap domestic ( and imported ) Rieslings, semi-industrially made made from overcropped vines planted in unsuited terrain and too hot a climate with no finger to point into one particular region. The sweet cheap ones are the worst since they ruin the image for the entire category!
However, I do want to point a finger to a region whose Rieslings I have been following since the early eighties and that is the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. Great potential there, never understood why they weren't known by a larger crowd.
I believe there is also still unexploited potential for Rielsing on the West Coast, in cooler areas. If the valley floors are too hot, there are higher altitudes or the proximity to the ocean. It will take a few more years and some more people with a vision and a will ( and the stamina to hold on for several years - - after all it didn't happen in just two generations over here !) .

YOUR RIESLING AND WINEMAKING

The typical Riesling style in Germany has residual sugar. At the tasting, one of the ten or twelve Rieslings I tried of yours was dry. How long has Selbach-Oster been making a dry Riesling, and what inspired you to do this?

We have been making dry Riesings for as long as I can remember and that's the answer I got from my father, too. Speaking of my father, who was one of the true grand old men of the Mosel with an immense wealth of knowledge and even more experience, far beyond the valley, he, like his father, firmly believed in the regional and single site typicity of the wines and also of maintaining a consistent style rather than going with the "Zeitgeist", hence they made the whole range, from dry to sweet, depending on what the individual vintages yielded. So the question dry versus sweet ( or instead of sweet ) never was an issue here and dry wines coexisted with sweet wines for as long as I can think.
Dry wines, trocken by definition of the German Wine Law, however, have never accounted for 50% or more at Selbach-Oster. Roughly a third of our production qualifies as dry wines today.
What he and I always considered "typical" Mosel and I still prefer as our house style, are Rieslings that offer ripe but not overrripe fruit ( the French would say "à point" ) with an infusion of (slaty) minerality and a similarily present, invigorating and balancing acidity, where the wine pleases with a blend of fruits and stones, a refreshing touch of acidtiy but never lets sweetness nor acidity become obvious or take over the palate. None of the ingredients should dominate: ...inner tension...balance ... pleasure. The ideal reflex is "swallow"... and ..."more!" .
That unique sensation of a wine drawing one's attention and being fruity but not sweet is most easy to experience in very good Kabinett from a ripe but not overripe vintage.

I overhead someone asking you about Boony Doon Rieslings at a tasting. What is your involvement with the company, and what inspired you to work with them?

Both Randall and I are nuts about Riesling. In 1996 Randall and I started, after he visited and on his initiative, blending Mosel Riesling ( occasionally from yet another German region, like the Nahe ) with his California and Washington components to make an even better "Pacific Rim Riesling". It worked!
Randall is a man with a vision and it was he who forecasted the coming out of Riesling a long time before that happened. We also published the "Riesling Manifesto" together with André Ostertag from Domaine Ostertag in Alsace in 1999 and stuck our head out and our bodies in straightjackets in the "Riesling Asylum" in Bordeaux during Viexpo in 1999.

GERMAN WINES

Which German wines do you hope will receive more attention abroad in the future, and why? Do you think red German varietials such as St. Laurent or Lemberger could develop a large fan base in the U.S, for example?

My focus and hope is on Riesling, Riesling and Riesling. That's where Germany is unique and where I dare say we ( the northern German regions ) lead the rest of the world. German reds may get a little more attention in the future because the quality is still making progress but for quality I believe this to be Spaetburgunder/Pinot Noir.

Why do you think that you don't see more German Pinot Noir in U.S. wine shops? Where do you see them, besides Germany?

I believe you don't see more German Pinot Noir in US wine shops because
a) most of them, certainly the majority of the top tier, are bought and consumed in Germany
b) prices for the high end Pinots Noirs from Germany reach Burgundian levels and whilst a German wine lover is willing to spend that money, an American would ( understandably ) think twice .

If touring the wine areas of Germany for the first time, what major areas or wineries would you suggest people visit?

Major areas to visit first: Mosel, Rheingau. Mittelrhein as cradles of Riesling with the added benefit of a breathtakingly beautiful landscape but the remainder of the German wine regions is definitely also pretty and worth a visit.

Winery visits are difficult as the system here works much different from what you know in California. Most wineries are small, family operated businesses who do not give tours and who don't have a hospitality person or a tasting room where one can pop in for a tasting or tours. When the family is in the vineyard or in the cellar or on tour, nobody will be available to answer the door, leave alone do a tasting or a tour. There are producers who are set up to receive guests, offer tastes and sell wines and they advertise with signs "Weinverkauf - Probe " ( Wine Tasting - Sales ). The better, more desirable estates, however, are solely by appointment and, due to the fact most are small shops, run by the family, they are hard to get in.
Always try to make an appointment in advance to avoid disappointment.

Many restaurants, wine bars and little shops, however offer the opportunity to taste a selection of the village's or vicinity's wines.
In Zeltingen we have the Weinbar "Ratsschaenke", near the church and marketplace which not only serves a great number of Selbach-Oster wines but wines from top estates from all over Germany, incl. a selection of Pinots Noirs, The Ratsschaenke also serves tapas and local delicacies that complemet the wines and offers three very comfortable guest rooms in their recently renovated 1550ies walls. Contact: www.ratsschaenke-zeltingen.de ( hosts: Andrea & Willi Settelmeier ph +49 6532-954273 ).


If people wanted to read more about German wines, is there a book that you'd suggest they read?

The English journalist Stuart Piggot has written a couple of nice books on Rieslings with special emphasis on German Rieslings which are higly recommendable. Then you have the German Wine Atlas by Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson and certainly the yearly catalogues written by the venerable Mr. Terry Theise are certainly worth seeking out. Those are not available in book stores but rather through Michael Skurnik Wines ( www.skurnikwines.com ).