Peter Mondavi, an appreciation

Peter-Mondavi-SrThe last time I saw Peter Mondavi he had just turned 100 and was getting over a physical setback that had him walking with a cane. I couldn’t help noticing that it was rather a festive affair — a pretty pink with a riotous floral pattern.

It didn’t seem quite in keeping with the pioneering winemaker’s classic style and when the interview was over and it was just me and Mondavi’s son, Peter Jr., I couldn’t resist cracking, “Nice cane!”

“Oh, that was Mom’s,” Peter Jr. said with a smile. Why buy a new one, his dad figured, when there was a perfectly good cane sitting at home.

It was a minor detail but an illuminating one. The Napa Valley he helped create might grow ever more glitzy, but Mondavi hung on to his old-school values and down-to-earth approach to life.

News that Mondavi had died at his home in St. Helena, Calif., on Feb. 20, got me thinking about the handful of times I met the Napa Valley legend, and what a deep impact those few meetings had. Continue reading “Peter Mondavi, an appreciation”

Duck Dynasty Wine

vcsPRAsset_521319_81228_4e1911a6-bad8-481c-9795-fabcac3e3733_0The Trinchero Family Estates – Duck Dynasty wine collaboration has ruffled some feathers.

Shanken News Daily is reporting that Duckhorn Wine Company is suing over the name, claiming trademark infringement. A Trinchero spokeswoman declined comment on the suit, saying the company does not talk about pending litigation as a matter of policy.

Earlier, Willie Robertson of the family behind the popular A&E reality show “Duck Dynasty,” was disinvited as a speaker at a church event because of the family’s association with wine.

Meanwhile, what of Duck Commander patriarch Phil Robertson’s controversial comments about gay rights and race relations to GQ Magazine? That earned him a suspension from the show, which triggered backlash from supporters, which was followed by A&E announcing it would resume filming this spring with the whole family.

Trinchero did not comment on that either, but referred us to the family statement on the issue and noted that Duck Commander wines has a no-discrimination policy.

The partnership between the Trincheros and the Robertson family was launched with a celebratory dinner in mid-November.

“There are some natural synergies between the Trinchero family and Robertson family businesses.  Both companies were built on family values with a mission to provide consumers with quality products.  This has helped us both establish customer loyalty which continues on from one generation to the next,” Roger Trinchero, principal, vice chairman and CEO of Trinchero Family Estates, said in a statement at the time. 

Duck Commander CEO Willie Robertson said his family “decided to create Duck Commander Robertson Family wines because we know that many of our customers and our viewers choose to celebrate family moments with wine.  We knew we needed to find a family company in the heart of wine country that could produce authentic, quality wines. The Trinchero family is the right fit, and the wines are delicious.”

The first vintage included Triple Threat 2011 Red BlendWood Duck 2012 Chardonnay, and Miss Priss 2012 Pink Moscato, all produced from California vineyards.

 

MacMurray Ranch: Hollywood Meets Vine

You know Fred MacMurray as a distinguished and gentlemanly actor. But did you also know he was a serious farmer and rancher in Sonoma wine country?

MacMurray and his wife, actress June Haver, raised Angus beef, not grapes,but these days the ranch, now owned by the Gallo family, is part of the wine scene with 425 acres producing grapes that go into the very good value MacMurray Ranch wines.

Most of the time the ranch is closed to the public, but over the Labor Day weekend it’s open as part of Taste of Sonoma, a terrific event held each year. (I just checked; this is sold out but there are a few tickets left to other events.)

When they bought the ranch in the 1990s, the Gallos asked Fred’s daughter, Kate, to stay on as brand ambassador and that turned out to be one smart decision. Kate is one of the warmest, nicest, most down-to-earth people you will ever meet, and I say that as someone who usually gets tongue-tied and self-conscious around the rich and famous.

I interviewed Kate earlier this year for a story on wines with celebrity connections and the visit ranks as one of my highlights of 2013. The ranch has been beautifully restored by the Gallos — they even hired a painter to touch up the vintage wallpaper — and is just as it was when the MacMurray family lived there, right down to the rocking chair with the wide, flat arms just right for holding the actor’s drink as he sat reading the paper in the evening.

The MacMurrays bought the property in 1941 from the Porter family who established the farmstead in the 1850s – their old wagon still stands in front of the house – and used it first for diversified farming in World War II and then for cattle. A display of panoramic photos in the old barn paints a detailed picture of the evolution of the area.

“It has a rich agricultural history and it’s very specific to Northern California,” MacMurray pointed out. ” If you held a mirror up to our ranch what would reflect back is the whole history of agriculture in Northern Califronia. It’s quite remarkable.”

MacMurray, star of such classics as “Double Indemnity” and “The Apartment,” and later the popular TV series “My Three Sons,” spent his free time at the ranch and was deeply involved in the local agricultural scene. The photo displays include fun pictures of Fred, June and their prize cattle looking very spiffy for competition days.

MacMurray Ranch pinot noir has been my go-to Thanksgiving wine for some years. It’s usually to be found for under $20, sometimes under $15 and it’s rich and silky and does a nice job of smoothing out the turkey-cranberry-stuffing trinity. I also tried the reserve pinot on this visit and, while it is a bit more. with a suggested retail of $35, it is worth the splurge.

Here are my notes:

MacMurray Ranch 2010 Ranch Russian River Reserve Pinot Noir: Dark garnet color, nice aroma of red fruit followed by more cherry and raspberry in the mouth. Finishes rich and smooth. ABV 15.2 percent.

And speaking of smooth, I was my usual urbane, suave self while interviewing Kate. Here is a picture of me striking a sophisticated pose.

Cheers, poisedly.

 

My dinner with Yao Ming

Yao-Ming41It’s a warm summer evening in the Napa Valley and the clink of glasses echoes along the restaurant-rich main drag of tiny Yountville as two weddings, a college reunion and the usual Friday night dinner crowd get ready for some serious wining and dining.

Suddenly, heads turn and eyes widen as a tall man, a VERY tall man, walks into Michael Chiarello’s Bottega restaurant. Is it? It looks like … yes, it is Yao Ming, the retired Houston Rockets star who last year started a second career with his Napa-based Yao Family Wines.

No doubt about it, at 7-foot-six, the first thing that strikes you about Yao is his size. But it doesn’t take long before you’re impressed by other things, like his gravity, intelligence and complete lack of diva-tude.

How serious is Yao about his new line of work? Well, I’d hoped to meet him at this year’s Napa Valley wine auction, where Yao Family Wines had a lot in the live auction. Turns out he couldn’t make it because he had finals. It’s true. A guy who is more than set for life financially is polishing up his business acumen by studying for an economics degree in his hometown of Shanghai and plans to get an MBA after that.

Yao was hosting the dinner to give a sneak preview of a new wine to be released soon, the 2010 Napa Crest which will retail at $48 a bottle. That’s quite a bit less than the winery’s two other releases, a Napa cabernet sauvignon priced at $150 and a Yao Ming Family Wines Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, produced in very small quantities, that goes for $625. The wines are primarily cabernet sauvignon with other Bordeaux varieties such as merlot and petit verdot blended in and are delicious.

Obviously, a $625 or even $150 price tag is not for every budget, including mine, but I asked Thomas Hinde, president and director of winemaking at Yao Family Wines, about that $150 price tag and he said it came from benchmarking the wine with quality Napa cabs and 3rd- and 4th-growth Bordeaux and setting the price accordingly.

(Funny story. I took my resident expert in all things basketball and Chinese, Mr. Ho, to the dinner. As I’ve mentioned a time or twenty, he’s a little on the frugal side and I asked him what he thought about a wine priced at six-twenty-five. “It’s good,” he said. “I’d buy this.” I was stunned. Could this be Two Buck Chuck’s No. 1 fan talking? And then I figured it out. “Honey,” I said, “it’s six hundred and twenty five dollars, not $6.25.” “Oh,” he said.)

Yao is interested in being part of China’s booming wine market and his wines were first released in his home country. He told me that he was introduced to wine by his dad (both Yao’s parents were basketball players in China) and continued his education as an NBA player through going out to dinners with the other players and enjoying a glass of wine. “At that time, I don’t know what is good or what is bad, I just want to enjoy the moment,” he said.

Yao, who retired two years ago, has since developed his palate and gives input on the style of Yao Family Wines. He sees wine as something like “a time machine that can bring you to a special moment when you can just relax.”

Ultimately, selling wine is a business, “but it’s a very lovely business,” he said. “You not only sell this to make a profit. I believe it changed my life. I believe that it will change others, too.”

 

Vintage Downton Abbey

 

DowntonAbbey1OK, now here’s a celebrity wine I may not be able to resist.

Wines that Rock, a company that makes wine under the names of rock groups including the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, is coming out with blends inspired by the ultra-fabulous Downton Abbey TV series. According to a story in The Drinks Business, the wine is being made with the French company Dulong Grand Vins de Bordeaux.

“Dulong has been in the same family for five generations and has over 130 years of experience, so these are wines the Crawley family would have been proud to serve at Downton,” Bill Zysblat, co-owner of Wines That Rock, told DB.

Wine has been a big part of the British series, from the dastardly (but I confess, I have a soft spot for him anyway) footman Thomas nicking wine from the cellar and then trying to blame it on Bates, to butler Mr. Carson’s painstaking stewardship of the wine service at dinner.

Here is Anna, the maid who recently became Mrs. Bates but only after a great deal of drama, giving pairing advice to a nervous Mr. Mosley when he has to serve as stand-in sommelier.

“Mr. Carson likes to serve two white wines, which you should open and decant just before they eat. A light one for the hors d’oeuvres, then a heavy one with the soup. Keep that going for the fish, and then change to the Claret, which you should really decant now. There’s a pudding wine, and after that whatever they want in the drawing room with their coffee.”

Four wines at dinner and a little something extra in the drawing room after? It’s no wonder the ruling class came a cropper. They must have spent half their time sloshed and the other half nursing right royal hangovers.

And speaking of things that can leave you feeling woozy in the morning, here is the funniest mashup ever, put together by The Colbert Report and featuring the Abbey boys in the world of the gritty TV series Breaking Bad. NSFW, at least not without headphones, because of foul language, albeit foul language delivered in a charmingly upper-crusty fashion. Skip to 1:45 if you don’t want to watch Colbert’s intro.

Cheers, classily.
 

Drew Barrymore, wine-starter

The wine-drinking world is made up of three kinds of people. Those who think the idea of a Drew Barrymore wine is just peachy; those who wouldn’t be caught dead, dead, drinking Drew Barrymore wine. And me,  whose first thought on getting a sample bottle (which came with a delightful little handwritten note) was, hmmm, can I get a blog post out of this?

Barrymore’s first wine is an Italian pinot grigio made by the Decordi Winery from grapes grown in the northeast corner of Italy. Pinot grigio is generally considered a rather bland varietal, but this wine defies that stereotype with a zippy, fresh profile.

Here’s my take.

Barrymore Pinot Grigio 2011: A charmer from the get-go, the bottle gleams palely green with a handsome label emblazoned with a B in the style of a family crest. Not much of an aroma, although some peaches/apricots if you sniff hard enough. Taste-wise it delivers a lemony, tart punch that could probably stand up to an ice cube or two on a hot afternoon, always a plus for a summer sipper. Alcohol is on the moderate side at 12 percent. Suggested price is $19.99, which is not outrageous, but a little bit out of the everyday range. A fun wine to take to a party or serve at a movie night dinner. Goes well with Italian food, especially dishes on the light and creamy side.

What movie to watch? Well Ms. Barrymore has quite the eclectic oeuvre, from E.T. to Grey Gardens. Or, if you want to broaden the choices to the family in general _ and feel like having your heart broken _ there’s her paternal grandfather, John Barrymore, as a tragically washed-up actor in Dinner at Eight  or as a light-fingered and ill-fated baron in Grand Hotel. A little popcorn, a little pinot gris, a lot of Kleenex … sounds like a plan to me.

Cheers, thespian-ly.

 

 

Rock band Train rolls into wine country

Do you know who is a cool blogger? I will spare you the suspense. I am a cool blogger.

Yes, that was me backstage at the Train concert in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, interviewing band members about their new venture, releasing a wine. Here’s the story I wrote about that. It was one of the more fun pieces I’ve done. Side benefit: I had to look up rock star behavior for the story and came across the tale of how The Who were banned from Holiday Inns for life. What rascals.

Catching up with Train was not quite that exciting, although my evening started out briskly when I had to walk down a slightly dodgy street and encountered a fellow who reeled out of an adult emporium with his clothes in some disarray. I must have looked a little dismayed because he assured me, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to take it out.” A few steps on and another gentleman wanted to know if I had plans for the evening. “Yes, and they include men with more than three teeth,” I said.

But not out loud.

Other highlights: Whisking by the line stretching down the block outside the Great American Music Hall. Listening to lead singer Pat Monahan talk about how it’s not so surprising the band ended up being involved with a wine since they started out getting paid in beer. Learning drummer Scott Underwood’s favorite varietal: “Vodka.”

I have since tried two of the wines, a chardonnay and a red, both priced at $9.99.

Calling All Angels 2010 Chardonnay: Light, fresh, a little bit of vanilla in there to keep things sweet, a nice wine that can be sipped alone or served along cheesy, creamy dishes.

Drops of Jupiter 2009 Petite Syrah: This was a surprise, I was expecting something more generic but got a red with a lot of personality. Started with a jolt of black berries and finished very smooth and mellow.

I posted a while back about a video the band made at Shafer Vineyards for their song, “Drive-By.” Here’s a behind-the-scenes short they released about the 15-hour day that went into the video.