it is just grapejuice

This quote is found on a pillow at the equestrian center at the amazing Chalk Hill Winery Estate. Since David Ramey left Chalk Hill in the mid ‘90’s; the wines from Chalk Hill were underperformers. Particularly considering the terrior from which all of these wines are produced. Chalk Hill’s newest wine maker, Steve Leveque, has the winery back on track. I tasted through the new releases in April with national sales manager Tucker Spear. The wines were all showing well, but I was partial to the whites…in particular the Pinot Gris and the Sauvignon Blanc.

And Noah he often said to his wife when he sat down to dine,
‘I don’t care where the water goes if it doesn’t get into the wine’.
G.K. Chesterton(1874–1936)

From right to left-

Brian Loring, Dan Kosta, Andrew P. Vingiello, Peter Cargasacchi, Ed Kurtzman, David O’Reilly, and Jim Prosser.
(more…)

“Journalists have a big influence on the success of the vintage, but spit out a year’s work in 20 seconds…”

Florence Cathiard
Chateau Smith Haut Lafite

Sawadee!

Hello everyone! I hpe this finds you all well and happy. I write you from the banks of the Mekong River in Northern Thailand after taking a super tour of tea plantations, temples and the golden triangle (ALL today!) I am leaving in the morning to cross the river for a few weeks in Laos. It seems a bit slower up here which is needed after the frenzy of Thailand.

Brett and I enjoyed his quick 2 week tour from riding motorbikes, to elephants, to kamikaze tuk tuk rides in Bangkok. I must say Iwas overall a bit disappointed with the beaches. Not that the c\scenery our people weren’t exquisite, but they were backdropped by towns that were rebuilt after the tsunami to cater those eurobeachy types. You know, the George Hamilton tans, the bellys, and don’t they even look at theirs toes? Yuck. We did find a safe haven in Railay bay, a sandy beach surrounded by giant limestone islands. Perfect for climbing had we not kayaked our arms off.

Since he’s left I’ve met some lovely people (and some looney toons), taken cooking courses (come for dinner!), sat with more Buddhas than you can imagine and sipped thai wine (lychee, mango and black ginger).

Once a couple of mountain kids got over the stifling heat, we found a country full of clean streets and smiling faces. I’m slowly getting used to the left side driving, but you won’t catch me on any scooters.

I love notes from home, but not sure if I’ll see a computer soon. Send them anyway

…just got back in from Mexico last night and am sifting through emails and the broken shards of a smashed tequila bottle in my pack thanks to the careful handling of the ground crew. We have a few days here to get some things in order before we visit my family in Phoenix for a week. I have gone nearly 9 days without a mouthful of wine and plan to bring that to an abrupt end…. that’s gotta be a record. I had thought about a taste of some mexican chenin colombard for a moment but opted for cerveza. I was in the yucatan which is largely a limestone shelf but an infernally hot scrubland littered with remains of the ancient maya (which is a completely seperate strange obsession of mine and the real motive of our visit, after the food). Wine just doesn’t seem suited to the atmosphere or cuisine which is fantastically tangy and spiked with the formidable habaneros. Much of the grape crop in Mexico is for table grapes, raisins and brandy… the largest obstacle to viticulture may not be the climate but the lack of a wine drinking culture. Baja produces roughly 90 percent of the nation’s wine, but only 20 percent of the grapes. Most of the wine drinkers (who can afford it) choose imports and even if Mexico could produce some quality wines, they would be hard pressed to compete with the growing market of inexpensive South American juice. I guess when you have the blue agave which produces one of the world’s most singularly unique spirits and an incredibly rich and diverse cuisine to match it with you are more fortunate than most.

RF

Sorry to have not been blogging much lately. It has been traveling time. I have just returned from a great Napa Valley trip. The wineries, including Hess Collection, Silverado, Cuvaison, Rombauer, Silver Oak, Chimney Rock, Clos du Val (thanks Scotty) Rudd, Cain and Folio really rolled out the red carpet. We were also able to crash the Taste of Oakville. It was cool to taste the currant releases from Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Bond, Opus One, Plumpjack, Vine Cliff and many others. The Taste of Oakville led to us meeting up with the legendary wine maker Andy Erickson. The Ovid Winery, located on the very top of Pritchard Hill, is one of the wineries that Andy makes wine at. He was generous to give us a tour of this new project…all gravity fed, all concrete fermenters and a basket press. My humble prediction is that Ovid is going to be the next “cult” cab from California. Give them a google and get on their mailing list before it is too late. BTW- the wines of the trip were the ’06 barrel samples from Ovid.

A big thanks to Kenny in the Mountains for setting up this trip.

Post Napa trip, we headed out to Fruita, Colorado. This shot was taken in the midsts of a mountain bike ride known as the “Edge Loop”.

The pioneering French oenologist Emile Peynaud wrote nearly 25 years ago: “I cannot agree with the view that ‘one accepts human intervention (in vinification) as long as it allows the natural characteristics to remain intact,’ since it is precisely human intervention which has created and highlighted these so-called natural characteristics!”

JOSH STEVENSON AND FLASHPOINT PHOTOGRAPHY