French versus American Oak - is there a winner?

I have noticed recently a bit of wine competition going on.  Of course, living in Australia and having a place in The Hunter Valley, I have my favorites and will defend them to the death.  But I am a pretty open-minded guy who loves to continue to taste new experiences and continuously learn about new and different things.

Next Friday I am going to a 'Best of USA versus Australia' wine tasting and four-course meal in Melbourne.  What a great night that will be!  Its only $150 per head and the 13 wines and food look magnificent.  If you are interested, I would love to see you there.  Contact Top Australian Wines or just order tickets online.

And this weekend, I will be watching the movie Bottle Shock, which is the 1976 competition between French and Napa Valley wines, which is entitled as it is because of the shock that the Americans came out on top.

But the focus of this blog post is the comparison between wines stored in French Oak and wines stored in American Oak.  The different is mostly two-fold in terms of the effect it has on wine.  French Oak is a tighter grain with the American Oak being courser.  And American Oak has twice to four times the amount of lactones, which provide sweeter and stronger, yet different vanilla overtones.  I had a rare opportunity to compare the exact same wine using the same grapes and from the same vintage stored in both French and American Oak, the wine being the 2008 Rothvale Chardonnay.  Both wines were magnificent!  If I remember correctly, I spent about $22 per bottle for these wines and only bought four of each.  This is the first time I have tried either one as I had been waiting for the right moment to compare both.  My bride, DAZ in the Kitchen, felt the wines would go well with a cheese platter this afternoon and also go well with the mushroom soup we are making this evening.

We sampled and greatly enjoyed both wines.  They are truly spectacular and drink like $50 - $75 bottles of Chardonnay.  Both wines have some similar characteristics:

• Exact same ingredients and stored in respective oak barrels for 9 months
• Both have a smooth mouth feel, almost velvety
• Both are bright yellow, turning golden in color
• Both are very easy to drink and of extremely high quality

Yet, there are some noticeable differences.  The 2008 Rothvale Chardonnay in French Oak was:

• More elegant and beautifully balanced
• Edgier, and slightly more acidic, more lemon citrus flavored
• Purer, subtler vanilla taste
• Taste like a typical Montrachet

Whereas the 2008 Rothvale Chardonnay in American Oak was:

• More in-your-face vanilla flavoring but courser
• Sweeter, honey-like taste plus smoked almond taste as secondary flavors
• Richer, more robust flavor overall, but not as integrated or balanced as the French Oak

I would have to give a slight nod to the 2008 Rothvale Chardonnay in French Oak as the better drinking wine today, but I am pretty certain that the 2008 Rothvale Chardonnay in American Oak will drink better in several years time.  I just hope I have a few bottles of each left by then to prove the point!  I am definitely stopping by the winery tomorrow to see if there is any of the 2008 Chardonnays left or if there is an even better vintage since where the Rothvale Chardonnay has been stored in both the French and American Oak.

I have limited experience with great Montrachets, but have certainly been drinking more of them recently and truly enjoy a great Montrachet.  I was under the impression that the characteristics of the individual Montrachets had to do with the locale and soil conditions and I have noticed the differences between a Puligny-Montrachet and a Chassagne-Montrachet.  I thought the difference characters unfolding in the wine were mostly the results of the grapes being in different locations.  But after comparing the Hunter Valley Chardonnay in both French and American Oak, I can understand how impactful the French Oak is in making any Chardonnay (of very good grapes) taste like a Montrachet.

I greatly look forward to drinking both of these wines with the mushroom soup we are making this evening to see if either goes better than the other with the soup.  Hats off to Rothvale on making great wines using both French and American Oak!


Steve Shipley

Twitter: @shipleyaust
My other blog (on business, tech, world issues):  Steve Shouts Out!
My Blake Stevens blog: From Blake's Bookshelf
Still Stupid at Sixty in Amazon Kindle Store

Wonderful wine gift from in-laws

I suppose now that I have you reading this blog post, I could tell you the wine gift my in-laws provided was their daughter, my lovely bride, DAZ in the Kitchen, who shares in good food and wine with me.  And I do thank them every day for that gift, one which you can not put a price on (even though my father-in-law tried to during his speech at our wedding.  Something about transferring a liability from his balance sheet to mine!).

No, I am referring to a beautiful half bottle of 2002 Inniskillin Vidal VQA Ice wine from Canada.  This is a real gift.  Embarrassingly, I left it sit on the counter for six weeks before even looking at it.  I assumed it was just another dessert wine and I had a few already in the fridge and the Vintec, so I figured in due time I would get around to storing it.  There was no ceremony or exclamation of bringing me such a nice gift.  The in-laws were back from a long time overseas and we had not seen them for a while, so had them and my wife's brother and his wife over for dinner.

The in-laws came in, we shook hands and hugged, took their coats and then my mother-in-law says, "Oh yeah, here's a bottle of ice wine."  I said, "Thanks," and we left it at that and proceeded to talk about things and then sat down to dinner.  No explanation of why they decided to pick that bottle to give me or what a special bottle it is.  (I wonder if they knew?)  Therefore, I thought nothing of it and laid it down on the counter.  I figured it was a current vintage and had a screw top, but fortunately, I laid it down horizontally as a matter of course.  And a good thing I did, as it was neither a current vintage or under screw top:  It was a 2002 vintage under cork.

This morning I decided to finally do something with the bottle and that was the first time I looked at it since they gave it to me.  It was then I noticed it was a 2002 vintage and that surprised me.  I then looked at the alcoholic content (10% which is nice for a dessert wine and a good way to finish off an evening) and was high in residual sugar so I know it is going to be a sweet dessert wine.  I kept looking for the grape used wondering if it was Semillon or Riesling.  Even though the word Vidal was prominently displayed on the bottle and box, I though that was some sort of brand name, not a grape name.  However, Vidal is the name of the grape used.

Some study provided me with background on the Vidal grape.  It is a hybrid grape (Trebbiano and Rayon d'Or) with a very thick skin.  It was originally intended to be used for production of Eastern Canadian brandy.  However, it proved worthy of being used to make great Ice wine.  The grape is now grown in Eastern Canada, upper state New York around Niagara Falls, and in selected locations in the US Midwest region.

Further study showed me that this wine is difficult to source in Australia, and I can only assume my in-laws got it when in London or some other major metropolitan city around the globe.  It is an expensive bottle of wine.  The 1992 vintage is one of the very best.  I greatly look forward to drinking this bottle in the right setting and context.  This wine matches up well with several cheeses and with a pear tart or dessert with caramel sauce - I like the sound of that!  I might bring it along for one of our spectacular lunches at Bistro Molines in the Hunter Valley.  Robert (Molines) does great things with caramel and I could call ahead and ask him to make a special dessert for us.

I am gob-smacked that they gave me such a unique and special bottle of wine.  I have no idea about where they got it and why they decided to give it to me (but will now find out), but I am thankful and greatly anticipating drinking this special bottle.  I can only hope it lives up to my anticipation, but from everything I have read, it should!  Thank you, in-laws!


Steve Shipley
Twitter: @shipleyaust
My other blog (on business, tech, world issues):  Steve Shouts Out!

2005 Pepper Tree Grand Reserve Tannat - Top Notch? - Think Not!

I bought a six pack of the 2005 Pepper Tree Grand Reserve Tannat several years ago and set it in the cellar.  I just opened my first bottle yesterday.  I was making a chirizo and chickpea soup with lots of flavor including chili, paprika, smoked paprika, mushrooms, black olives, lentils and rocket lettuce.  I just wasn't sure what wine to serve with this soup.  And knowing there would be some left over to go with lasagna this evening and having already matched up some nice Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon wines to go with the lasagna previously, I decided to give this wine a try with both the soup and lasagna.

The 2005 Pepper Tree Grand Reserve Tannat comes from Wrattonbully, a great wine region for Cabernet Sauvignon and some other fine wines.  When my wife first tried this wine at the cellar door several years ago, her reaction was "I can't describe this wine, but I love what it does to my mouth!"  Maybe that was all the description necessary.

When opening the bottle yesterday, and trying my first sip, I noticed the wine to be quite lively, almost fizzy, like a weak sparkling wine on my palate.  It also had large tannins and was a bit gritty.  I was expecting this wine to provide a 'punch in the mouth' in terms of flavors, but it did not.  The fruit was lively enough and it tasted of berries, but more like raspberries and a bit weak overall.  I searched hard for secondary flavors and only found the smallest trace of chocolate.

It has an interesting mouth feel, being high in tannins and with the fizzy feeling going on.  This settled down the second day the bottle was open and while it was still gritty, it was smoother and less active on my palate.  However, this wine is a disappointment overall.  It just lacks any type of finesse or complexity.  The berry taste is flat and the secondary characteristics (except for that trace of chocolate) missing.  To self-categorize this wine as a 'Grand Reserve' seems almost deceptive.  And coming from Wrattonbully, I was expecting better.

I have had a recent love affair with secondary red grapes, including my affection for Grenache, Tempranillo, and Malbec, but this wine does nothing to put a Tannat in that group.  This is the only Tannat I have ever drank, so I am not sure if the limitations are in the grape itself or the wine making process for this particular brand and vintage.  I need to try a few more Tannats to find out.

Looking back, I thought this might be an interesting and different wine to occasionally serve up, but I was wrong.  Fortunately, I have a leftover glass of the 2007 McWilliams Mount Pleasant Maurice O'Shea Shiraz to go with my lasagna tonight and I just got the call for dinner, so will enjoy that instead of the Pepper Tree Tannat.  It is not a perfect match, but will have to do.


Steve Shipley

Twitter: @shipleyaust
My other blog (on business, tech, world issues):  Steve Shouts Out!
My Blake Stevens blog: From Blake's Bookshelf
Still Stupid at Sixty in Amazon Kindle Store

My new book "Wine Sense(s)"

I have been blogging less recently as my writing efforts have been focused on my full-time job and a book on wine.  I am very excited and have the book well structured, have written about 20,000 words and expect the book to be 75,000 - 100,000 words in length.  This has had an impact though by reducing the time and energy for blogging.

I originally was writing a blog post on how to appreciate wine and how wine interacts with the human senses, but it quickly grew to several thousand words without being close to complete.  I thought about segmenting it into a series of blog posts, but even that would have been a lengthy serial.  Therefore, I decided to turn it into a book which I am thinking of calling Wine Sense(s).  The book is well structured and I am about a quarter complete with the first draft.  I am taking a four day long weekend over ANZAC Day week after next, and taking two weeks off from my day job in July to focus on competing the first draft.  I am getting about 3,000 - 4,000 words written per weekend, and when focused, I can write 5,000 words per day.  Therefore, I am pretty comfortable to have a first draft complete by end of July.

But then the real work begins providing sources, footnotes, links to other resources, and finding 50 - 75 pictures to include.  Then re-writing, editing, and formatting for electronic publishing.  This may take an additional 4 - 6 months.

I think Wine Sense(s) will serve a real purpose and be of interest to a large audience.  I have read a number of books on wine appreciation, wine tasting, and the philosophy of wine, and I believe my book will fit into a nice middle ground and be of use for the novice and experienced wine drinker alike.  It will offer pragmatic advice as to why and how to to learn to enjoy and appreciate wine drinking, and to provide you with confidence and the ability to drink far better wines on a reasonable budget.

I wrote my first book Still Stupid at Sixty a year ago under the pseudonym Blake Stevens.  I have received good feedback on Still Stupid at Sixty plus learned a lot about book writing and publishing.  That effort was 75,000 words and a book I had to write.  It was only published independently and electronically and can be found on Amazon.  My book Wine Sense(s) will be published in both physical and electronic format and I am considering using a traditional publishing house.  I love writing and am passionate about wine, so it is a good combination.

I have turned my life around financially in the last few years as presented in Still Stupid at Sixty, and am now far better off and moving on.  I present it as a gift (and at $3.99, the book truly is a gift!) for others to learn from my mistakes and what to do to avoid making them.

Therefore, I will be publishing a few less blog posts over the next few months, but also taking some excerpts from my new book as preludes and hopefully to get some good feedback on the concepts before final publishing.

I love drinking wine and writing about wine and looking forward to sharing that with you even more in the near future.  Please follow and enjoy the journey with me.


Steve Shipley

Twitter: @shipleyaust
My other blog (on business, tech, world issues):  Steve Shouts Out!
My Blake Stevens blog: From Blake's Bookshelf
Still Stupid at Sixty in Amazon Kindle Store