Looking for a new name for my import company . . .

. . . and I want your help!

Rinascimento Wine Co. has served me well. It was truly a rebirth when I created this company three years ago. That said, since no one can pronounce the company name (except the Italians) and no one knows what it means (except the Italians), it is time to move on.

Thus, a contest is born. A case of my finest wine to the winner!

What is in a name? What makes it resonate with customers and clients?

So here are some helpful hints:

1. This is an Italian wine import company but I represent other importer portfolios, too.
2. Must not already be taken!
3. Latin is good but somewhat rough for some. No Bacchus, please.

That is about it.

Let's get the press some grapes and see what kind of juice comes out!

J

Harvest begins in the Lower Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet - Yea!

Bonjour,

Les vendanges ont commencées ce matin sous un beau soleil.

Comme vous pouvez le constater sur les photos prises hier sur la parcelle du pavillon, le millésime 2010 s’annonce très prometteur.

Sincèrement,

Hervé et Nicolas

Grapes (Melon de Bourgogne) used to make Muscadet from the Loire Valley

Noticeably absent of rot (Botrytis), these grapes look really healthy and ripe so it is going to be a good vintage for dry, fruity wines.

Very promising, as the owners of Domaine Haut Bourg say above.

Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu

Gros Plant, Vin de Pays

A great post on the development of the "Natrual Wine" movement in Italy . . .

http://www.sucking-grapes.co.uk/?p=75

This gives you an idea of the history of the movement and where it is going today. It also mentions in passing a new wine I picked up lately, a Prosecco, Costadila`, that is going gangbusters.

Check it out.

Vajra Barolo Albe on the Do Bianchi website . . .

Great little article on the Vajra Barolo Albe from Jeremy Parzen of Do Bianchi.

http://dobianchi.com/2010/07/20/the-story-behind-vajras-barolo-albe/

This wine is currently by the glass at Camino in Oakland, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Sociale in San Francisco, Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles and a few others, too.

And for you that want to purchase it at retail, there are a few bottles left through K & L Hollywood and their central warehouse at a really good price:

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1052905

Vintage II at UCLA Extension Summer 2010 part 2

2007 Roland Schmitt Pinot Gris

Clear with medium straw color, with weak to moderate youthful aromas of green apple, green pear, white flowers and mineral, ginger snap, apricot, fruity pebbles,

Dry in the mouth with low to medium acidity, weak flavor and short finish. Flavors of palate different than what is in the nose, mineral and not on the palate.

Conclusion is that it is 79 points that it is a poor and out of balance.

Many in the class disagreed with this review and I thought it was tasting great but as we know, de gustibus non est disputandem!

2008 Bott-Geyl Gewürztraminer Les Elements

Deep golden color, exceptionally aromatic, reminded of late harvest sauternes with aromas aged. Aromas of orange blossom, roses, geranium, guava, lychee nut and cardamom and star anise, full flavor and intesnisty and a medium long finish and and slightly off dry, ginger snappy character and a long finish.

It was mentioned thought it would pair it with strong cheese.

2001 Domaine Roland Schmitt Riesling Grand Cru Altenberg de Bergbeiten

Clear and bright with deep gold color, aromas of classic petrol, caramel, butterscotch, developed and aged and powerful aromas of straw or hay and a little coppery , fruity parmesan and peaches.

Sweet, low in acid or high in acid (depending upon who you asked) with medium alcohol with moderate to powerful medium finish.

Flavors of mineral green apple, citrus, lime and overall balance was good. Tasted like a classic delicious Riesling

A+

So that is it for Champagne and Alsace and now we are on to Burgundy!

Vintage II at UCLA Extension Summer 2010 part 1

So I teach this class at UCLA Extension and we taste a lot of wines from France, Italy and Spain.

Our first class was the other day and we talked about Champagne and Alsace.

Here are some pictures and notes (collectively taken by the students and by me) on the Champagnes:

Agrapart & Fils Les Sept Crus NV

Blanc de Blancs

Clear, light to medium, straw, with yeasty, apple, butter, slightly anise and petrol

Moderate intensity, and developing.

Persistent fine bubbles in the mouth, dry to medium dry, medium acidity, medium body, flavor intensity was moderate and the finish was long

On the palate, slightly off dry, lemon finish also on the finish a sweetness. Taste a little bit of creaminess, lemon, apple.

Really good balance and liked it a lot.

92 pts

Agrapart & Fils 1998 Mineral Grand Cru

Blanc de Blancs

Clear and medium straw color and tiny bubbles visually.

Rich and full aroma of moderate and powerful, developed and aged aromas of more floral aromas, honeysuckle and definitely yeasty and complex.

Dry with medium acidity, and medium bodied, no tannins, with moderate oak, amd powerful flavor intensity and a medium to long finish.

Flavors with more minerality, nutty, and yeasty and less acidity. A little of baked apple, a little mushroomy and fungoid, pretty smelly and slightly dried leaves and woodsy.

89 pts to 93 pts, slightly off aromas and flavors contribute to a less than ideal experience. Some loved it and some hated it.

R.H. Coutier NV Brut Grand Cru

1/3 Pinot Noir, 1/3 Chardonnay, 1/3 Pinot Meunier

Clear, medium straw to gold and with aromas of mushroomy, loamy, wet earth, walnuts and green apple croissant, and a little straw, cherries, berries,

Dry, with medium high acidity, medium body, a little bit of grape tannin, flavor intensity is pronounced.

Clear, medium straw to gold and with aromas of mushroomy, loamy, wet earth, walnuts and green apple croissant, and a little straw, cherries, berries.

89 to 92 pts from the class.

1987 Chateau Musar Rouge from Bekaa Valley, Lebanon

This was the last wine of the evening and it was just lovely.

Karyn and I visited Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley more than 5 years ago now and it seems like yesterday. The earth there is bright red with iron. Kind of reminds me of the garance colored soil of the Southern Rhone but lots deeper topsoil.

Anyway, you can taste the soil in this wine, and a whole lot of other things.

First things first. We brought back this 1987 bottle from our trip after tasting 20 different vintages in the cellar with Serge Hochar and his son, Gaston. The 1987 stood out to me as one of the best Musar wines I had ever had so Serge kindly offered me a bottle to take home on the plane. (I also brought home a bottle of the mythical 1968, a rain-damaged vintage that he has kept, all 30,000 bottles of it or so as he won't tell me how many he actually has, in their vast cellars hoping that it would one day miraculously turn into something more. But in our tasting of it, there was no possible of a miracle happening. :-( But since it is my birth year wine, I had to have some . . .)

This wine has knocked around our garage for the past few years and although that couldn't have been good for it, there was no discernible flaws from heat or light.

The color was deeper than you would have thought for a 23 year old wine. I would say a ruby core out to a more ruby/orange rim.

The nose was the first thing that jumped out at me. And it literally jumped out of the glass after being decanted by Jon of Jaynes. It is a mix that is hard to describe. On one hand, there is the almost balsamic vinegar of a little volatile acidity wafting into your nose but at the same time, the crushed violets, smell of creosote and other herbs of Provence balance this out. Cranberries, cigar box (cedar and tobacco together) and almost a menthol like eucalyptus were all there.

In the mouth, the wine was surprisingly vibrant with lots of acidity and tannins that were soft and plush but a little gritty, too. The balsamic note and maybe a little soy sauce could be tasted as well as cranberry jelly and warm blood, like that of when you bite your lip. Every sip of the wine tasted different and with food, it was even better.

With every mouthful, I was transported back to Lebanon for another sense memory moment of our trip. The smell of the land and of the ocean which can be smelled from almost everywhere.

The beauty of the people and the unforgettable hospitality, unlike any other.

If you can still find some, I highly recommend you go seek this wine out.

Thanks for reading.