Terroir Natural Wine Merchant & Catherine Breton's "La Dilettante" 2007

Last night Terroir Natural Wine Merchant and Bar hosted an event for winemakers Catherine Breton, of Domaine Catherine et Pierre Breton, and Jean Montanet, of the Domaine de la Cadette. It was my first trip to Terroir, but certainly not my last. It's the kind of wine bar you just want to hang out in for a long time. Wooden crates of wine are laid out on the floor and the walls, bursting with bottles and straw; a record player fills the room with jazz, as candles and exposed light bulbs illuminate the space just enough. An upstairs lounge area with couches overlooks the bar and shop below.

I counted at least 30 people there last night, and overheard one guy say to his friends: "I've never seen it this packed before..." with another replying "I don't like it like this."

Terroir is out of the way - it's on 1116 Folsom Street off of 7th in San Francisco, so I'm not sure how they do for foot traffic, but I have seen write ups about the bar and shop in several publications, so I'm guessing it's probably building a wine geek following for focusing on organic, biodynamic wines.

The shop had six or seven wines for us to try last night. While al were interesting, I thought it would have been a little awkward to pull out my tasting book in the middle of the crowd and jot down notes. I'm a professional journalist, so this sort of thing shouldn't bother me by now (I've been working in the field for eight years) but my natural inclination is to not stick out or draw attention to myself, and I often have to force myself to get out of my shell and speak to people when I'd feel much more comfortable observing things from a corner.

Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that I only took notes on the '07 La Dilettante because it's one of the wines that Catherine produced by herself, it was the most interesting of the tasting, I talked to her for a few minutes about how she made it, and it's what I was able to write about in my notebook as BART sped me home that night.

So, onto the notes -

This wine, made with Cabernet Franc grapes, had a dirty funky nose. I got burnt rubber, tar and barnyard scents. These aren't negatives, these can be good things to smell in a wine, if you like that sort of thing. I do, and was surprised by how different the wine tasted on my palate. I call it a "double-take" wine, because while the nose is super funk, the wine itself tasted like rose petals and strawberries. Tannins were light, and this was a very enjoyable easy drinking wine.

Catherine said she used carbonic maceration to make this wine, which is a gentler process of pressing the grapes. Basically the grapes are put in a vat and carbon dioxide is pumped in. The gas spurs fermentation within the grape (as opposed to grapes being crushed) and the weight of the grapes and the pressure from the gas slowly presses the grapes. It leads to wines that are light and fruity with less tannins, which is why it's the method mostly associated with making Beaujolais. (For more on carbonic maceration, there's an interesting wiki page on the subject here.)

The shop was selling this wine for $21 last night, and they might sell it by the glass at the bar as well.

Maipe 2008 Torrontes

Picked up this wine for under $12. It's very light in color, almost completely absent of a hay-like tinge. The nose was a gorgeous combo of peaches and pineapple. On my palate I found wet stone and pink grapefruit flavors.

The wine comes from Mendoza, Argentina. For some nice photos and background about the vineyard, click here.

I've had two torrontes so far and have really liked them. I've only recently begun to expand my white wine drinking, and this grape has already impressed me mightily. The aromatics are so exciting - your nose is filled with massive sweet fruit flavors as if you're sticking your face into a bowl of fruit salad. What's even more exciting is how different it can taste. So far, in my limited experience with the grape, the flavors on my tongue tend to be more toward minerality and stone than the massive fruit I got on the nose (though it's still there on the palate). If you have a chance, pick up a bottle of the stuff and take it for a spin, it's quite a fun ride.

Cru 2006 Two Vineyard Pinot Noir

The grapes for this wine come from the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County, an AVA known for producing high quality, high priced Pinot Noirs. The long, cool 2006 season helped make this into a soft, acid-light wine, according to the Cru Website (looks like Cru is owned by the Mariposa Wine Company).

I tried this wine at a tasting, and found a little funk on the nose, leaning toward veggies/dried herbs. In the glass I got nice, light cherry fruit flavors and a touch of vanilla at the end. An easy drinking wine that for the price is pretty good considering what other Pinot Noirs out there taste like.

I generally avoid buying bottles of Pinot Noir for my everyday drinking because unless you're going to spend $40 or more, there's a good chance you'll be assaulted by a massive, overdone wine with posing as a Pinot. The Cru Two Vineyards is not one of those wines - it is more Burgundian.

Kenya - Kiandu, Muthecka Co-op

Grounds smelled like herbs, roots, maybe fresh cut grass. In the cup, I found a nice balance of acidity and body. Honey, chocolate and melon flavors on the palate. Slight cinnamon finish.

From the Nyeri district of Kenya, which is known for quality coffee. Roasted by Ritual, and provided as a sample. Can't find a link right now on Ritual's Website, so maybe they're sold out.

I found another coffee for sale with this name from Barismo in Arlington, Mass. Interesting description of the flavor they got from the coffee (yams!). See it here.

2006 Luna Beberide Mencia Bierzo, Spain

The wine was dark purple in appearance, with a nose of dried coffee grounds, basil and nutty to boot. In the mouth, I got violets. This wine didn't have strong tannins so it didn't have a big structure. Finishes with a little bit of heat. Overall, a nice sipper, but I didn't think it was anything too exciting. Paid about $13 for it.

The previous vintage received high marks all around from Wine Enthusiast (90 points) and was named a "best buy" by Robert Parker, according to the write up on K&L Wines.

The Bierzo DO is located in the northwest region of Spain, and the grape Mencia was once thought to be related to Cab Franc, but DNA analysis has since ruled that out.

Clover@Starbucks 2

After drinking too much wine Thursday night at a company party, I found myself feeling pretty awful on Friday morning (although I did discover a great Loire Valley Cab Franc, reviewed here.) Had a french pressed Colombian La Esperanza from Terroir Coffee, which I'll review later, but after lunch I was still feeling out of it, so I decided to hit up Starbucks again and try one of their other offerings from the Clover.

Last time I had the Tanzania Blackburn estate (review here) but yesterday I wanted something with a little more citrus, so I went for the Ethiopian Nardos. At first I didn't get much complexity, tasting the roast more than the coffee. As this cooled, though, the lemony flavors started to come out, and this became stronger the cooler it got. At one point I wrote down that I was getting a lemon jolly rancher taste. Sweet nose as well.

I liked this coffee overall, and if I was traveling and couldn't find a specialty shop, would probably get a Clover coffee from Starbucks. Doesn't need milk or sugar to make it drinkable. Still, while these coffees have been interesting so far, the company needs to roast these lighter to take advantage of the wonderful beans they are selling.

Maramonte 2005 Syrage Lot 7

The Syrage I tasted at Farmstead Cheese & Wine at one of their weekend tasting events was a cab/syrah/cab franc blend, retailing for $20. The grapes are from Napa and Sonoma.

The wine was inky dark in appearance, with a nose of strong spices such as cinnamon and cardamon. I was really impressed with how this wine smelt. In the glass I got lots of red fruit leaning on cherries. Overall the wine had a nice structure and seemed like it could age another decade in the bottle. Pretty good value for such a big wine.

The producer, Mara Wine Group, has released the 2006 version of this bottle, and it is a different blend - this time Syrah and Merlot.

I found this description of the wine I tasted from an online shop:

"Maramonte Wines created Syrage Lot 7 to go beyond the one grape/one wine philosophy. This allows our winemaking staff the latitude to build intense wines of balance to meet the consumer’s desires. Syrah is our pedigree, contributing balance with 18 months of oak aging from Sonoma County vineyards. By using the king of grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, also from Sonoma County, we added structure, finesse and backbone with the royalty of Bordeaux origins. 20 months in small French barrels. The tight concentration of raspberry, cherry and violets from our North Coast Cabernet Franc gives Syrage our signature balance, as evidenced in our prior releases. 18 months in American and French oak."

2007 Catherine & Pierre Breton Bourgueil "Trinch!"

I discovered a great wine at a company party last night, a cab franc from the Loire valley produced by Catherine and Pierre Breton. The couple is known for their natural, organic wines, and this one had a stunning floral nose. In the glass the wine was light and fruity. In searching for more info about this wine, I read that they age it in steel vats, so this could be why the fruit shown through.

People who want to meet Catherine in person will have a chance next Thursday, Oct. 30 at Terroir Natural Wine Merchant & Bar (1116 Folsom St., San Francisco) from 4pm to 7pm. The event is co-sponsored by importer extraordinaire Kermit Lynch.

2006 Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, “Perbacco” Antica Cantina S. Amico, Le Marche

We celebrated my friend Liz's birthday last night at Eccolo , an Italian restaurant in Berkeley's fancy 4th street section near University Ave. The food was great (I got the spit-roasted Hoffman farm chicken with chanterelle mushroom bread salad for $16.00 off the ``recession specials'' menu - a nice touch given the economy). For wine, I was happy to spy a Lacrima di Morro on the list. I've had wine from this obscure Italian varietal at a couple of Bay Area restaurants, but have had trouble finding it in shops. Even specialty shops that have lots of obscure Italian wine haven't heard of this grape.

What I have liked about it in the past is exactly what I found in this particular bottle, the 2006 Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, “Perbacco” Antica Cantina S. Amico, Le Marche - a really bright nose consisting of grapefruit and blood orange scents. It's pretty profound, and I spent a good part of dinner shoving my glass in front of the noses of others at the party. Almost everyone was able to smell that.

That citrusy flavor was evident in the mouth, although not as prevalent as in the nose. Nice tannins, red berry flavors balance out the wine. Definitely try a Lacrima di Morro if you happen to come across one.

Sutton Cellars 2006 Carignane, Piffero Vineyard

I really like finding small production wines that are unique and affordable, and this certainly fit the bill. Purchased at Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco for $15.99. Less than 300 cases were made of this grape that hasn't received much attention as a stand alone varietal. It doesn't have a good reputation and is known in France for its quantity and contribution to the country's "wine lake," but efforts recently have sought to bring out the best of this grape, also spelled as Carignan.

I had a bottle of wine from this grape last month (see review here).

This bottle was more complex that that one, and I got floral, sweet tar and violets on the nose. In the mouth, the flavors simplify a bit focusing on violets. It's a light wine, but very nice.

Cool label too - the bottle got recycled before I had a chance to photograph it, but it's a brown paper bag color with a drawing of what I'm guessing is a wine press. Here's the producer's Web site, which looks like it hasn't been updated in a while. Actually it says it was last updated in Autumn 2006.

Here's what the label says on the back of the bottle:

"Always a bridesmaid, never a bride...The often maligned Carignane grape has been planted in California for more than a century and mostly used for blending. When dry farmed and cropped low the grapes produces juicy, quaffable wines with flavors of coca, blueberry, and mulling spices reminiscent of the country wines of Spain and Southern France. This is such a wine... 268 cases made."

I found another bottling of Carignan from the same vineyard in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, California, by Pellegrini. I'm putting some info here about it because it gives some background on the soil where the grapes were grown and how the vines originated there:

"Located on a rocky, reddish soil bench, the old head pruned vines were planted in 1934 by the grandparents of Ric Piffero. The vineyard is composed mostly of Carignan, but is also interspersed with Zinfandel and Barbera. It is dry farmed and averages a little over two tons per acre."