I am feeling the need for brevity. Or perhaps, I am lazy. Instead of waxing on and on about the rest of my time at The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers – which I was just about to do – I will wrap it up in a pretty little bow. A bow made of pictures. And not so many words. Which is seriously ridiculous considering I am covering a wine WRITERS symposium. But let us move right along, lest we muck up the brevity.
Lunch in the Vintners Hall of Fame at CIA Greystone. So many barrels, so little time. I must say the meals (and wine, of course) at this conference probably beat most any other gathering of professionals in the country. Except for possibly a James Beard function. Or a dinner party at Thomas Keller’s house. Or the holiday party for any Batali-Bastianich outpost.
Wine Faults 101 with UC Davis’ Mark Krasnow. Luckily the plastic lids were firmly in place for most of this master class. Once removed, the aromas of a winemaker’s worst nightmares ran free. Brett and cork taint, oh my. Fault City, USA. If your next wine smells distinctly like either Band-Aid or horse stall, it has been “contaminated” with a yeast called brettanomyces. I say “contaminated” because some people like having that aroma present in the wine. And those some people are not just of the Burgundian persuasion, but me. Yes. I surprisingly found myself nose deep into the glass of “barnyard” brett not wanting to pull away. And yet- sort of disgusted. But intrigued. Like a car wreck. A car wreck of yeasts.
With faults still hanging in the air, Napa winemaker Michael Howell (Cain Vineyard), rushed into the room to our rescue (I had been hypnotized by the brett) and promptly blasted on the AC to a cellar temperature of 55 degrees. He said he needed to get the room back to neutral and since he was more comfortable in those arctic temperatures (I am officially a Californian now) and because we had non-faulted wines to focus on, by all means. This master class was a crash course in Bordeaux varietals. Michael brought along samples of each varietal Cain grows from its 2005 vintage. Those would be cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, merlot, malbec and petit verdot. We then tasted the wine those varietals were blended to create, the Cain 5. Really good wine. And I have to confess I had a special goosebump moment while tasting and smelling the malbec. Man. I’ve never ever considered myself a malbec fan, but jeeze. I could have remained there in that frigid room all day with that glass in my hand.
Just so you know, the Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies is a thing of beauty. It is every wine geek’s fantasy building full of laboratory styled tasting rooms and classrooms. Every station had a spitting/rinsing sink, completely white counter surfaces (to better see the color of the wine) and my personal favorite gadget- the light box. The photo above is of the merlot on the left and the malbec on the right. The color and clarity difference is very easy to see.
The symposium ended with an invitation to a fun event: the kick-off tasting for Premier Napa by Napa Valley Vintners. There were two rooms. One full of Napa chardonnay and the other cabernet sauvignon. Not my two most favorite varietals in the world, but an interesting opportunity. The mission: vertical blind taste dozens of producers. Meaning, us tasters knew only the vintage (’06-’08 for chardonnay and ‘05-’07 for cabernet) and the varietal, not the winemakers. With pen and paper in hand I went down the line, one by one. Needless to say I got bored after the 10th chard. And even more restless after the 5th cabernet. Until, stomach rumbling for a Taylor’s Refresher burger, I just gave up and asked for the cheat sheet of producers. I have to admit that one of the chardonnays I actually liked was…the 2007 Cakebread chardonnay. Cakebread! Chardonnay! Malbec! What has become of me…
Well, if I have become anything after those 4 days in Napa, I hope it is more knowledgeable. I know I definitely left with more friends as well as admiration and respect for my fellow wine writers. It’s not the best paying gig around or the most stable, but it sure is fun.
