Farewell (for now) to One of Our Dudes

Dude Patrick!

For more than two years a group of friends have gathered nearly every 2-3 weeks to sip wine, compare thoughts, and tell each other that they have no idea what they're talking about.

We tasted all sorts of wines at low price points, high price points, and from countries around the world. We've done dinners, blind tastings, and a couple of videos for this blog.

After all, isn't that what friends do? We dubbed ourselves "Dudes on the Porch." That's because it all started on my front porch when I lived near the center of town in grand 100-year old home. I've moved to a newer condo, Dude Mike has moved away because of his wife's career, and tonight we lose Dude Patrick for a year as his Professor Wife goes on sabbatical.

So tonight we're opening some wines. I'm going to update throughout the evening. We've sort of pledged to bring different wines but only good ones!

I'll udpate with the wines, some thoughts and a few photos as we go along. This is sort of a "live blogging" night!

We started with a wine I carried back from Wisconsin last year - Ledgestone 2009 Le Crescent. Le Crescent is an Elmer Swenson creation. Swenson was a grape-development pioneer at the University of Minnesota. He developed the slightly better known Frontenac as well.

Le Crescent combines another of Swenson's grapes, St. Pepin, along with a clone from Muscat Hamburg. What you get is a refreshingly tart white wine with strong apricot and tart citrus. It's quite refreshing. Winemaker Tim Abel talks up the varietals and this wine delivers. The $22 price point is higher than a lot of white wines but worth it to discover these unique varieties you've probably never tried nor heard of before.

Next up was a Burgundy Patrick brought along. We enjoyed a rather big Domaine Larue Saint-Aubin 2008 1st Cru Sur Le Sentier du Clou.

"This has bigger, darker fruit than you get from Burgundy," Patrick said. Indeed, the dark fruit was much bigger than most Burgundy (think bold cherry flavor) but it had great acidic balance for a great mouth feel.

Patrick snatched this $50-plus wine from Cinderella wine.com for just under $30.

Our last wine was John Bojanowski's Clos du Gravillas Lo Vielh - or 100 percent Languedoc Carignan. This wine stands out as one of my favorite finds from a week-long visit to France's Languedoc region in January.

The Lo Vielh - which means old one - is big, earthy, and bold - the perfect way to send Patrick off to Tennessee. John doesn't make much of this wine so the fact it made its way to Indiana is even more amazing. Thanks go to our friends importer Paul Chartrand and Derek Gray of Graybull imports.

The wine features grapes from 101-year old vines on John's small property in the Languedoc. Clos du Gravillas is also certified 100 percent organic by French laws. John has personally taken Carignan on as a personal cause. It's grown widely in southern France but most often used as a blending grape. It has a wonderfully stinky nose and might be off-putting to some until you tasted. If you can find the Le Vielh, because most sold out on the first shipment, expect to pay $25-$35.

All four of us present Monday night really liked this unique bottle of wine. I briefly met John at the Millesime Bio in Montpellier then had the chance to talk with him a bit during a spring visit to Indianapolis promoting his wines. The Kentucky native is an interesting guy making some really unique wines worth seeking out.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Dudes Taste Four Pinot Noirs for the Holidays

Dude Alex

There is nothing better than enjoying great wines with great friends. I've written before, and even done a couple of videos, with my wine drinking buddies. We call ourselves "Dudes on the Porch."

We started about a year and a half ago gathering every 2-4 weeks and drinking some wines. We graduated to theme nights and dinners. We are still doing it and still having just as much fun.

We recently enjoyed our holiday edition of 'Dudes' by planning a Pinot Noir night. We had an inexpensive Burgundy, a mid-priced Napa Pinot, and two Oregon Pinots.

We had a spread of some Italian meats, cheese, a great French goat cheese, crackers, and were about as wine geeky as we ever get.

Dude in Training - Cameron

In other words, we had a ball. I constantly encourage wine newcomers to get a group of friends together and drink some new wines, old favorites and just try things!

Let's go through the four wines and I'll share the group's thoughts. I was having way too much fun to play journalist and take "quotes." But, I did take enough notes to get a good handle on the group thinking about each of the four Pinot Noirs.

We don't always agree but we ended up with pretty similar feelings about each of our Pinot Noirs. We had four of our five regular Dudes and a 22-year-old college senior who has joined us on a number of occasions.

Bouchard Pere & 2008 Reserve Bourgogne - This would fall into the category of a basic entry-level Burgundy. There was very little wrong with it just not enough right to give it a recommendation.

We opened it shortly before drinking and that was a mistake. The wine did improve the longer it was open. At times the wine just didn't seem to have much going on - typical of bargain Burgundy. But with a little time we all detected some strawberry. It was very light bodied and a nice cherry red. There was little finish and not the spicy or earthy finish you'd get on many Pinot Noirs.

Dude Patrick brought this one and couldn't remember exactly what he paid for it but knew it was around $15-$16. (Not Recommended)

Beringer Napa Valley Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir - We struggled with this wine more than any of the evening. It had a short decant and improved with all the oxygen it could absorb. Many will see the Beringer name and think only of the supermarket wines. But Beringer makes wines at other price points as well.

Dude Alex brought the Beringer. I found it online anywhere from $16-$24 - and that's a pretty wide range for the same bottle of juice.

I thought the wine was disorganized. There was no mid-palate but all of us got pronounced oak on the finish - big oak. That is something many people are not going to like but others will appreciate the added structure. For my palate, the Beringer's oak was just too much. I love oak in Cabs and big, big red wines but want my Pinot really well balanced.

Alex got big strawberry after about an hour of having the bottle open and we all agreed. It had all the hints of expected dark fruit but not much terroir or spice.

Still, this might be interesting in another year or so and with a longer decant, perhaps up to two hours. It wasn't bad. It's just not that hard to find better Pinot in that price range. (Recommended)

The Dudes are admitted Pinotphiles and big fans of Oregon Pinot Noir. So we had two great Oregon Pinots at a big price point that really sparked some of our best wine conversation in a long time. Patrick brought a 2008 Cooper Mountain Vineyard Pinot. I dug into my hidden stash of great Pinot and pulled out a 2008 Winderlea Vineyard Pinot from the Dundee Hills.

Cooper Mountain 2008 Mountain Terrior 5 Element Series - We all loved this wine. This is a big fruit-forward Pinot with a really soft finish. The guys were getting a hint of citrus off the mid-palate and back of the palate that was delightful as it was unique.

Patrick described his wine as a Pinot "with layers of dark fruit with a bit of a bite on the back with acid." I can't really disagree with that.

Cooper Mountain sits in the Willamette Valley but is one of the closest wineries to Portland in all of the region. This bottle retails around $45 normally but Patrick picked it up as part of a case discount for $36.

This is fruit-forward wonderful Pinot Noir. It's certainly more widely distributed than the next wine. (Highly Recommended)

The setup for Pinot night!

Winderlea 2008 Winderlea Vineyard Pinot Noir - In the sense of full disclosure, this one of my consistent favorites. I have several favorites actually, but Winderlea is a wonderful story and marvelous wine.

The Winderlea Pinot is a $50 bottle of wine. Alex was the first to utter an opinion and offered "supple" as an adjective. Alex also called it understated.

I loved the floral notes and beautiful dark fruit and finish. This wine shows the terrior of the Dundee Hills ... you can just taste that wonderful red dirt that makes these great wines. I gush about the Winderlea because I think it's just that good.

The Dudes thought the perfect wine would be Cooper Mountian's fruit forward style with Winderlea's supple, spicy, and earthy finish. I'd like to taste that wine but for now, I'm glad there is more Winderlea in the wine cooler.

(Very Highly Recommended)

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

A Wide Variety of Wines for Review (12-1-11)

Who says no one makes a great $11 wine? Well, sometimes I do. But sometimes we find one that works at the price point. Sometimes, you find three that make some sense!

Lots of Italian wine tonight and no real stinkers in the group.

I'm writing tonight while sipping on some Paso Robles Ortman Cuvee Eddy - a great $17 bottle of wine. Unfortunately, the Ortman's have announced they will be ceasing operations later this month. It goes to show that a great product, growing sales, and a dynamic wine story isn't always enough. It's tough selling wine out there!

Here are some you might like:

Banfi Centine 2009 Rosso - The Centine label is generally very easy to find and value priced. The Rosso is 60 percent Sangiovese, 20 percent Cabernet, and 20 Merlot.

This wine has big red fruit and spice but not a lot of balance but the finish is not off-putting. Wine Spectator gave this value bottle a very respectible 87 points. A lot of people may like it for its low 12.5 percent alcohol. It's not unusual to find this bottle under $11.

(Banfi Centine 2009 Rosso, $11, Trade Sample, Recommended)

Banfi Centine 2010 Bianco - This nice white is 40 percent Sauvignon Blanc, 30 percent Pinot Grigio and 30 percent Chardonnay.

I liked the white and the Rose (which I have reviewed from previous vintages) better than the red. The white was a little on the fruity sweet side for my palate but it's clearly a wine many would enjoy.

It had tons of pear and lime for my palate and similar low alcohol at 12-12.5 percent.

(Banfi Centine 2010 Bianco, $11, Trade Sample, Recommended)

Domaine Chene 2009 Bourgogne - It's hard to find drinkable Burgundy under $14 but the Chene makes a run at it. I bought this bottle on the recommendation of a sales person at Indianapolis' Kahn's Fine Wine.

This was typically Burgundian with a very light and earthy mouth feel. If you're used to California Pinot or even Oregon, you might not like this one for its nearly non-existent fruit. This Burgundy is about terrior.

Unless you just really want to try Burgundy at a cheap price, there are plenty of other Pinot Noir choices in a good wine shop. Save a few dollars and buy your first Burgundy at a little higher price point.
(Domaine Chene Bourgogne, $14.95, Not Recommended)

Scagliola 2010 Barbera - A great bottle of $18 wine! I've never consumed much Barbera but I'm ready to buy more after this one bottle.

This Italian red from Piedmont had bright fruit and acidity. I liked the somewhat lighter mouth feel for an Italian wine. You still get some rich dark fruit on the plate without the heavy after taste so many red wines will give you.

This is not a wine for your pasta and red sauce but it would be great with salami, crackers, and Italian cheeses.

The wine can be found in the $13-$18 range.

(Scagliola 2010 Barbera, $17.99, Highly Recommended)

Masi Modello Delle Venezie - Here is an Italian blend that most wine lovers will really embrace.

This is a blend from Veneto, Italy, that can be found under $12 but up to as much as $16 or $17. It's made moslty from grapes most aren't going to be familiar with - Refosco and Raboso. It has a beautiful ruby red color in the glass and a nice pleasant nose of ripe fruit. This wine is another lighter style wine that's dry but quite fragrant with cherry and red raspberry fruit.

(Masi Modello 2008 Delle Venezie Rosso, $11.99, Highly Recommended)

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Something Different? Try a Cab Franc from Loire Valley

A little exploring with Cabernet Franc has provided satisfying results in recent weeks. I have read in national publications and blogs about the merits of Cab Franc from France's Loire Valley.

I've bought a couple and so far like most of them. My best experience to date was Cab Franc - from all places - upper state Michigan. My previous tastes of Cab Franc were mostly disappointing to down right awful.

So I've been buying some French Cab Franc and enjoying it. The Loire Valley is known mostly for it's white wines - Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. But it's also known for its bottlings of 100 percent Cabernet Franc.

Chinon is the Loire region for Cab Franc and about the only part of the region known for red wine grapes. The wines are known for acidity and spiced fruit flavors. I agree with the spiced fruit flavors but haven't found most of the Cab Francs I've consumed to be over-the-topic acidic.

Tonight I opened a bottle of Domaine du Grand Bouqueteau 2006 Chinon. It had the classic stinky nose of French Burgundy or Beaujolais - which I love. It was quite acidic and out-of-whack on opening but softened considerably with just a little bit of time.

It has pronounced fruit and an herbal quality I found pleasing. After decanting, or simply being open a while, it would be a fine sipper without food. I had the wine with a salt-n-peppered Ribeye and some veggies. It was quite nice. It was even better with the couple pieces of dark chocolate afterwards.

You can find many of these wines around the $15 price point in better wine shops. Cabernet Franc should not be thought of as just a blending grape. Pick up a bottle and you might be surprised how easy a good Cab Franc drinks with food or alone.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com