Mo's Wine & Spirits

Our tastes change with the seasons. Which might leave you wondering, “what wines are right for springtime?”  National Public Radio has the answer. Not too long ago, we found a short online audio clip on their web site featuring wine expert Joshua Wesson of Best Cellars. Joshua covers a variety of wine options perfect for the season and available at reasonable prices.

Among his recommendations are Cooper’s Creek Riesling (about ten bucks a bottle), Helderberg-Steen Chenin Blanc from South Africa (a bargain at $8.50) and Firestone Gewurztraminer.

Take a listen as he details his choices by clicking the “listen” link on public radio’s Joshua Wesson’s Spring Wine Picks web page.

They’re here and… They’re moving way too fast. Lots of tannins,yet fruity with loads of character. Outstanding. Spectacular. Classy. Sophisticated. Intense and complex. Best ever. Perfect. The 2005 Bordeaux are among us.

Location or “terroir” as the French put it, is everything to Bordeaux. Floodplains, alluvial deposits, gravel beds, deeper gravel beds, heavy clay soil, limestone soil, high slopes, low slopes, good drainage, rivers and streams. These are only a few of the geographic influences that play a major role in the birth of an outstanding Bordeaux vintage.

Mother Nature and winemaker together have created their masterpiece. Right bank or left, the 2005 Bordeaux vintage is here for what seems to be a fleeting moment in a lifelong history of making and drinking wine. There have been other stellar vintages before 2005. Take for example the recent 2003 vintage- considered excellent until you know who came along.

The prices for the 2005 vintage will catch your attention if nothing else will. The dollar isn’t buying what it used to from the euro causing some sticker shock, but presumably you will get what you pay for in the 2005 vintage. If you have ever been the least bit curious about a Bordeaux now is the time to jump in and have glass in hand!

Pomerol, St. Julien, St.Estephe, St. Emillion, Pessac Leognan, Haut Medoc and Maugaux-these are only some of the wine producing areas to explore.

I had the rare oppertunity to taste a 1961 Chateau Petrus. The bottle came to work in a backpack on a bicycle. The wine was living in a basement, once owned by a  woman who is a grandma now. The bottle looked old, weary and magical at the same time. Just to have it in our company was exhilarating. We opened the bottle and the magic began to unfold. She was shy at first,  but the  and beauty of the majestic wine was still there. I can still taste the velvety cherry and chocolate  on my tongue. THAT was a good day at work.

Bordeaux comes and Bordeaux goes.  Try to get a move on and be one of the ones who catches them!

                                         Cheers, Sharon

April has been declared “Michigan Wine Month” by that state’s governor, Jennifer M. Granholm. And small wonder: Michigan wine-makers know their stuff! “Michigan’s 56 wineries won 800 medals in 2007 from regional, national, and international wine competitions,” says Drinks Media Wire. 

To highlight Michigan wines and Wine Month, an industry council has recently launched a redesigned Web site at www.michiganwines.com.  The user-friendly site is a great resource for consumers and features winery information, related events, stories and more. The 2008 Michigan Wine Country magazine has also been released and is an indispensable guide to the wines and wineries of Michigan with maps and touring information.

You can make use of these resources soon! Several wine events are slated for late April and May, including Blossom Days, May 17-18, at the wineries of Old Mission Peninsula. So make plans now to welcome Spring with your favorite beverage!

Great prices, people, and products! That’s our slogan.  Here is a little info on someone who Really loves his job.

Chris Ringland studied under a man named Robert O’Callahan at Rockford Wines in Barossa , Australia. The rest is slowly becoming history. Rockford was big on keeping the old world style of wine making in Australia alive. You may have heard of Penfolds or Yalumba. Both were founded in the mid 1800’s. This is the type of “taste transparency” style profile that O’Callahan passed along to Ringland. Almost oak free allowing the true essence of the Barossa Shiraz to be explored.

Ringland started his own vineyard that was originally planted in 1910. It was called Three Rivers.  He didn’t make a lot of wine here, 60 or so cases a year for only a few years. The wine has now reached  cult status.

2002 partnered Ringland with importer Dan Phillips and Jorge Ordonez to create  the  Spanish El Nido, a super Cabernet and Monestrell blend that, once again is achiving an underground cult following along with the little brother Clio, which is mostly Monestrell. Alto Moncayo, Aquilon and Veraton are wines that Ringland also” consulted” on.

When he has nothing else to do, Chris Ringland is very involved in the consulting and making of wines for the Grateful Palate. Together with Dan Phillips R Wines was created. Ringland makes most of their wines with the help of a wine making team. The team has included Lisa Wetherell, Andrew Hercock and John Hughes. He makes some fun, affordable wines like 3 Rings, R Wines Boarding Pass,r Cabernet, and Bon Bon Rose. Check them out if you can. We have some of them at Mo’s.

Life must be good when everybody wants you. People value your opinion and you always have something to do. You always have some place to be. I wonder what kind of music he keeps on his ipod.

Chris Ringland had to change the name of his Three Rivers Shiraz. He renamed it after himself. In 2001 he raised the price to $300.00 a bottle saying “Hey it’s still $100 bucks less than Lafite” He raised the price after seeing the wine prices go sky high at wine auctions. Today his bottles go for anywhere from 500.00 to 1500.00. It has been touted to be “the best Shiraz in the world.” It will be of great interest to see where the wines and the man go from here. I’ll keep my glass handy in case Chris reads my blog and wants me to drink his Shiraz with him.

Cheers, Sharon

Oh boy, Somebody is in some kind of trouble now. This is even worse than having drank a bottle of wine  you were told under no set of  circumstances never to drink. And drank it down you did. Big, big trouble.

The Italian government is very strict with all of their rules about the” Can and Cannots” of wine making in Italy. There is more to it than tradition and superstition.  They expect all of their winemakers to abide by the rules and regulations set up by the government.  The wine laws also help insure that when you, the consumer see the DOC or the DOCG on the label that you can rest assured you are getting what you pay for.

April started off with a bang in Italy. Allegedly there are some producers of the 2003 Brunello di Montalcino vintage who produced more wine than they could have. Photographs were consulted to calculate the acreage of the grapes grown against actual production. OOPS. Too much wine had been produced.

Brunello (the dark one) is the pride and joy of Tuscany. The vineyards are full of limestone, clay, volcanic soil, and a lime rich mud called galestro. Slopes of vineyards are planted facing south and southwest. There is even a mountain range to help with the hail and torrential rain.  At 1800 feet above sea level farming is a difficult task. Then the wine  is aged for 4 years, five for the riservas before release. Anyone who has had the pleasure of drinking a great Brunello knows it is worth every darn penny!

The Italian government has been doing a thorough investigation on the report that grape varietals other than 100% Brunello Sangiovese is contained in the bottles of Brunello. Varietals such as Cabernet and Merlot have been reported to be found mixed in. The government is testing all vintages up to 2007, looking at harvest reports,winemaker notes and bottling records. In other words they are they are pretty PO’ed.

Not all producers were accused in this drama. I have my personal favorites and will be crushed if they are named when new evidence starts to surface. It can’t be easy following the strict rules of the Italian government to make wine. Then again, it’s lonely at the top.

                                                                   Cheers, Sharon

t’s time to think spring … springtime wine festivals, that is. Long before the 2008 harvest is ready, wine lovers can still enjoy the bounty of the grape across the United States! Most of these celebrations include seminars, tastings, live music and more.

On the east coast, a sure hit is the Greater New York Wine & Food Festival, April 4-6. This star-studded event features celebrity chefs, including Hung Huynh from season three of the Bravo network’s hit show, Top Chef. 

In Maryland, the St. Michaels Food and Wine Festival will also feature a line-up of recognized talent from the world of wine and cuisine. Plan to attend this event April 24-27. And a bit further south, it’s the Florida Wine Festival, slated for April 10-12, with a grape stomping competition on day three.

The Midwestern U.S. features at least two springtime wine fests. The Cincinnati Wine Festival, March 28-29, includes winery dinners and a charity auction. Following just a few short weeks later is the Michigan International Wine Expo, April 11-12.

Rounding out our festival line-up on the west coast are Portland Oregon’s Annual Spring Beer & Wine Fest – with a beverage for every taste — March 21 -22, and Central California’s Earth Day Food & Wine Festival, April 19.

It’s been a long winter, so even if you’ve never taken in a springtime festival before, this the year to celebrate spring with wine!

     Does your favorite wine give you a headache? Does the person you drink your favorite wine with give you a headache? I’ve been told I give headaches, maybe that’s why I choose to drink alone. Then I don’t have to share good wine.  On the serious side, at least once a week someone comes in the door and asks if we have wine that doesn’t give headaches. Usually they are asking for a loved one who still wants the pleasure of tipping back a glass or two. Or be it a social situation where everyone with wine glass in hand, is chatting about the latest movie they attended. Either way people still want to drink some wine.

     Once again I turned to my old friend the scientist. This time I decided to see what NASA and UC Berkley researcher Richard Mathies had to add to the subject.  Tyramines belong to the family of amino acids. They are found in chocolate, cheese, olives, cured meats, yogurt, eggplant AND red wine. Tyramine releases adrenalin and elevates the heart rate and raises your blood pressure which leads to a headache-the likes of a migraine. Gourmet palates seem to like to combine items on the above list. That is a recipe for a headache and then some.

     Red wine seems to be one of the determining headache factors but they (the scientist) are only beginning to find out why. Greater skin contact and longer fermentation time may be part of the answer. Malolactic fermentation and barrel aging both may be part of the puzzle. This by no means lets white wines off the hook.” Stop looking so smug over there Sauvignon Blanc!”

     Back to the scientist. They have a  machine that could tell us which wines could give us headaches. Bigger headaches, faster headaches? I have relatives I could call to do that-or I could pay some bills. I spend time with my wine to get away from all of that. No thank-you, NASA, I’ll roll the dice and keep my drinking pleasure even if it means love hurts once in awhile.

                                                            Cheers, Sharon  

How does one evaluate wines during a tasting? This is a question that has long intimidated those new to wine. What should one observe in the drink’s appearance?  What can one tell from the aroma?

In a short online video, David Singer of Gordon’s Fine Wine & Culinary Centre shows viewers how to taste wine. Casting pretentiousness aside, he shares what aspects of wine tasting are important (i.e., short sniffs) and irrelevant (evaluating the “legs” of wine). Best of all, Singer’s exercises allow viewers to understand why the activities associated with wine tasting (such as swirling the wine) are important.

View the three minute video clip here and for more helpful tips, visit this early Mo’s post on how to improve your wine life.

     Love them or not, many people will agree on this this subject.  When it comes to wine, nobody does it better than the crew over in France. History  speaks for itself. So do the many fans of  the Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhone and Champagne.
     I enjoy sparkling wines from various parts of the globe. When I have a special occasion or really want to tickle my taste buds, I open a bottle of the real deal from Champagne France.

     Champagne can only be made in the 370 villages in northeastern France, about 90 miles north of Paris. France has very strict laws governed by the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine ,or I.N.A.O. for short.

     Champagne is unique from all other sparkling wines. One reason is the location on which it is grown. The white chalky soil and ever changing climate make her grape growers utilize their unique growing skills to thwart mother nature when she yet again tries to sabotage their crops.

     Often copied, Champagne must be grown in Champagne, France to be called ”Champagne”. People from all over the world pay a premium for her wares. This is why we have a Champagne shortage! We need to have more Champagne produced to keep up up with the demand. 150 million bottles were exported last year from France. I’m sure my consumption helped contribute to the shortage.

     This March, the I.N.A.O. has decided, after a century, to expand the region of the Champagne vineyards, and allow in 40 more communities. This will ease the global Champagne shortage. Land in Europe is measured in hectares. Before  the expansion a hectare of land was worth about three thousand dollars. That same hectare if you are lucky enough to be part of the Champagne expansion is worth over one million dollars! 

     A toast to the Champagne expansion! No more nightmares about a Champagne shortage! Maybe the price will go down! There are just some things that certain people do well…and others do SO much better!

                                                                   Cheers, Sharon    

I looked around the Chianti section today.  Chianti Classico is the wine of choice, along with Chianti Classico Riserva.

There are other regions that produce Chianti. Some wines may even be less expensive and tasty, yet they do not have the pedigree or the romance that wines from the Classico region seem to have

August 05, 1996 Chianti Classico was recognized as an independent appellation.

Beginning with the 2006 vintage, no white grapes can be used to produce Chianti Classico. The ratio of Sangiovese went from 75% to 80% or the grape can be used  100 % alone. Other varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Canaiolo, or Colorino may be used, but no more than 20% in total. Minimum alcohol level is 12% for Classico and 12.5% for Riservas. These are just the highlights of many strict regulations. The Italian government takes winemaking very seriously. The Black Rooster is on the neck of the label for a reason, folks.

Anyone who enjoys Chianti Classico can easily recall some of the many nuances that belong to their favorite food wine. Perhaps the dried and or fresh cherry flavors, red berry flavors, tobacco ,earth and maybe a hint of leather.

Chianti Classico Riservas are only made in the best vintage years. Aged in wood for 2 years(usually new French oak) and 3 months in bottle. Grapes are picked from the  vineyards best sites. They are the cream of the Chianti crop. They can take the everyday Chianti drinker by surprise with their  depth and  intensity. Flavors of dried cherries, oranges, exotic spices, figs, cedar-wood, tobacco and more can be experienced.

Next time you’re in the mood  for something Italian, that bottle of red to go with it might  be a bottle of Chianti Classico!

                           Cheers, Sharon