If someone were keeping count of the wine I select when I go to the cellar to pick one for the evening, they would find that most often I come back with a bottle where the predominant grape is Sangiovese. This Friday at Parker and Otis I’ll be pouring tastes of a Chianti I am particularly enjoying these days. I’ll tell you about the wine later, but first a couple of stories.

I saw a friend, Grant Tenille (an awesome wine sales person at 3Cups), not long ago and told him that I figured out the answer to steak. Grant’s specialty at 3Cups was pairing food and wines. Upon asking which wine I was thinking of I told him “Sangiovese!” He said “Hell, I think Sangiovese might be the answer to life!”

CHIANTI ACCORDING TO LEX

Chianti is a geographic area synonymous with Italian wine. A red wine that comes from Tuscany, it is made primarily from the quirky Sangiovese grape. Chianti became THE spaghetti red in the U.S… known to be the perfect wine to drink when eating anything Italian, or anything with a red sauce. As the popularity grew, the wine became more and more disappointing.

Traditionally Chianti was a blend of grapes, some of which were white. Chianti’s “recipe” – its blend of grapes – was developed in the 1800s by a man named Baron Ricasoli. His family had been making red wine in Tuscany since the 12th century. He felt that Chianti would become a more alive and vivacious wine with the addition of some white grapes. But after WW2, with Chianti’s popularity soaring in the US fueled by every town’s Lady and the Tramp – style Italian restaurant, two things happened… wineries began adding too much white, and Sangiovese vines were planted in less desirable vineyard sites to meet demand for production. The wine that folks were so fond of for its easy drinking and food friendly style became a thin, lightly colored disaster. The quality of Chianti collapsed and by the late 60’s – with Italian romance and the straw covered bottles, Chianti became a cliché.

Meanwhile, in 1963, the Italian government instituted regulations (DOC), patterned after the French system, to control how wines were made in many regions of the country. Tuscany had such regulations. You had to follow the rules in order to label your wine Chianti. Italians do not like rules and winemakers began to get restless. Even though the wine had to be labeled “Table Wine”, Vino di Tavola, if they didn’t follow the regulations, many independent wine makers decided to make the wine using their creativity and take the consequences. The new wines from Tuscany labeled Vino di Tavola were made from primarily Sangiovese, the way Chianti always had been, but used Cabernet and Merlot grapes in the blend. The wines were good and the media began calling them Super Tuscans. Wild success and expensive retail prices followed. The government has since changed the rules to allow many of the innovations pioneered by the Super Tuscan wines. Today the question to ponder is… if you were a wine maker in Tuscany would you rather make a traditional Chianti or a Super Tuscan?

Today, young, proud and hardworking Italian winemakers are making fantastic traditional Chiantis like the one I will be pouring Friday.

THE WINE

When I select the wines to pour on Fridays one big question I always ask myself is “does this wine taste more expensive than it is?” or “Does this wine deliver a lot in the glass for the price?” The answer when I tasted the Corzano e Paterno 2009 chianti was “WOW!”. The wine is delicate, complex, and has that beautiful cherry-like earthy flavor with the finishing acidity I love in a good Chianti. This wine, imported by friend and former colleague Jay Murrie of Piedmont Wine Imports, is a triumph in my book. I don’t think you’ll find a better wine for under $20 than this one.

Arianna Gelpke is the winemaker at Corzano e Paterno. She has been helping her uncle Aljoscha in the cellar for over 10 years. She was born on the farm, which her father bought it in the late 1960s from the Marchese Nicolini and the Machiavelli family. Arianna’s brother, Tilio, takes care of the 650 sheep on the farm and their abundant pastureland. The family has 4000 olive trees and makes excellent monovarietal certified organic olive oil and organically produces a variety of cheeses. This family farm is truly fascinating … to read more about their history and wines check out their website at http://www.corzanoepaterno.com/index.php#

I’ve always loved the big liter bottles from Austria, and today I will have two strangers to most American wine drinkers … a white (Gruener Veltliner) and a red (Zweigelt). Both wines come from the Berger estate in the northeastern Kremstal region of Austria. The grapes are farmed according to organic principle and the family uses natural winemaking techniques in the cellar. When I am ordering wine at a restaurant and I can’t find anything that I know I often ask if they have any Austrian wine, knowing they are generally family-estate wines made from native grapes. Austria is not favored by the agro-business and factory wine-producers because of the country’s climate, land and labor costs.

Gruener Veltliner is a white grape native to Austria that produces bright, refreshing and satisfying wine. Because Berger’s Gruener is aged in stainless steel rather than oak there is no ‘oaky’ flavors to get in the way of the clarity of the natural flavor of the grape.

Zweigelt is a soft red that is low in tannins and slightly spicy yet light on the palate and perfect when you want a light red. Zweigelt is great for the warmer weather ahead as it is light and ideally served slightly chilled (58F).

With both of these wines at only 12,5% alcohol you are certain to want a second glass and when family and friends descend on the bottle wanting a second I am always relieved it is a big bottle so there is plenty to go around.

I hope you will stop by Parker and Otis between 4 and 6 this evening and take a stranger home for dinner. Both wines are $14.99 for a 1L bottle or grab one of each for $24.99.

Jean-Paul-Brun

When I have been away traveling and return home there are certain tastes that I am eager for. At the top of that list would be Annie’s roast chicken. The perfect wine to pair with this dish is a bottle of Jean-Paul Brun’s Beaujolais. The wine has depth and beautiful clarity of flavor and it has been fun to enjoy it in many vintages, always with satisfaction. It was one of the wines I was happy to see on the shelves at Parker and Otis, and at $18.99 it represents a great value.

Jean-Paul Brun is somewhat of a hero amongst natural wine advocates. Brun’s Beaujolais is labeled “L’Ancien” because the grape grows on his oldest vines with the greatest concentration of flavors and Brun follows traditional techniques in the way he makes the wine.

Authentic Beaujolais and the Gamay grape are underappreciated in America, where most people associate the word Beaujolais with Beaujolais Nouveau, the November extravaganza, which began innocently enough as a way to celebrate the fall harvest.  In past times when the population was more directly involved in agriculture, it was important to gather as a community and toast the end of the growing cycle.  For years and years casks of freshly made wine was sent on paddleboats from Beaujolais to the thirsty folks in Lyon for this harvest celebration.

Oz Clarke sums up what has happened with Beaujolais Nouveau when it exploded into an international phenomenon:

“Beaujolais Nouveau, what a stroke of genius. Beaujolais has been drunk as young as possible in Lyon since the vineyards were first planted. But first the Parisians caught on to the idea, in the 1950s, then the British joined them in the 1970s, then the Americans, then the Japanese – the world. By the 1980s Beaujolais Nouveau had been relentlessly sold and oversold as a concept of the first wine of the year’s harvest released on the third Thursday in November- gushing, purple-pink wine hardly old enough to have forgotten the flavor of the grape on the vine.”  Oz Clarke, Wine Atlas

Beaujolais Nouveau can be fun, but the other wines of Beaujolais are so much better.  Nouveau overshadows the other wines and represents one third of yearly sales.  And its commercial success has created mass produced Beaujolais that threatens the reputation of authentic Beaujolais.  Because of the over hyped Nouveau, and often innocuous bubble gum flavor of these new mass produced wines, most people disregard authentic Beaujolais, one of the most pleasurable and reasonably priced red wines.

Decades ago most of the Beaujolais was authentic, but many growers have taken short cuts to keep up with the demand for Nouveau.  Below is a comparison of authentic Beaujolais vs. mass produced Beaujolais.

Mass-produced…the wines are made from vineyards which have stretched yields to the maximum. The grapes are picked early before they have ripened to develop sufficient sugar. To make up for this shortcoming the wines are chaptalized, a quick fix that adds cane sugar during fermentation to boost sugar and therefore the alcohol in the end product. Industrial yeast, which speeds up the fermentation process, is used and makes many of the wines taste the same. Finally the wines are stripped of their flavor when they undergo severe filtration in preparation for shipping.

Authentic…the wines are made from vineyards with yields kept to 20 – 30% below what is regulated. The grapes are often organically grown and hand picked. The wines are made from indigenous yeast naturally present in the grapes. There is no chaptalization, and the wines are minimally filtered or not filtered at all.

THE BASICS

1.  The place…In the east central part of France, just south of Macon and just north of Lyon, lies Beaujolais.  It is an area of low granite hills that stretches 35 miles north to south and is about 9 miles wide. It is located in the southernmost part of the Burgundy region.

“For French administrative purposes, Beaujolais is considered part of Burgundy even though, aside from proximity, the two regions have almost nothing in common. The climates are dissimilar, the grapes are different; the way the wines are made varies radically. Even the spirit of each place is singular. Beaujolais is as lighthearted as Burgundy is serious.”  Karen MacNeil, The Wine Bible

2. The history…Beaujolais is named after Beaujeu the 10^th century town in the western hills of the area. Because the area was on the trade route through the Rhone and Saone valleys in ancient Roman times, there have been vineyards on this land for a long, long time. In recent centuries the region has made a living providing everyday wine for Lyon, France’s second largest city.

3. The grape…98% of the region’s wine is red, and all the red wine is made from 100% Gamay. Gamay is king in Beaujolais.

4.  The appellations…French law defines three categories of Beaujolais. Nouveau can be made from any of the following categories. In ascending order of quality they are:

Beaujolais…the basic stuff from the southern lowlands

Beaujolais Villages…from the 24 villages in the midsection of the region

Beaujolais Cru …from 10 special villages on the steep granite hills. They are listed below from north to south. These wines often do not have the word Beaujolais on their label. Instead they list the name of the Cru and the producer.

St. Amour

Julienas

Chenas

Moulin-a-Vent

Fluerie

Chiroubles

Morgon

Regnie

Brouilly

Cote de Brouilly

5. How the wine is made…the tradition of carbonic maceration is in part responsible for the character of these wines. Here’s how it works: whole clusters of grapes are loaded into the tank without crushing, so the fermentation takes place inside each grape. In 4-7 days the grapes burst and the juice runs forth. Because the tannin from the skins does not get mixed into the juice, the process is really successful in expressing the character, the perfume, and the fruit extract of grape.

6. The flavor…the Gamay grape grown in this part of France has unmistakable flavor. The combination of Gamay being so low in tannin and the way carbonic maceration maximizes the clarity of the fruit flavors go together to make these wines supremely fruity. What I love is the fruit driven nature of the wine comes with a lightness and elegance that make them such a pleasure to drink.

7.  Negociants…most of the wine is sold by middle folks called negociants. They do not grow the grapes or make the wine. They select, blend, bottle and sell. The most prominent names in the Beaujolais are negociants like George Duboeuf and Louis Jadot.

8 More Things About Beaujolais

1. Chill it…this is a wine that the French drink chilled! Not 38 degrees but 55…Beaujolais in buckets of cold water under a big tree in the center of the village on Sundays is a tradition in the region.

2. Bistro beginnings…the popularity of Beaujolais in French Bistros is well known. There are two reasons for this; the first Bistros started in Lyon the gastronomic capital of France and close to Beaujolais. And the wine goes so well with the traditional dished of the French bistro; roast chicken, pork sausages, coq au vin, stews and other simple dishes.

3. George Duboeuf…is a wildly successful businessman. Beautiful labels and all the marketing materials you can imagine are hallmarks of his company. His wines sell well but wine purists find his wines over manipulated. Industrial yeasts used for fermentation often create over the top aromas and flavors which compromise the authenticity of the Beaujolais.

4. Moulin a Vent…is one of the Cru wines said to be the most serious, and along with Morgon and Fleurie the most long-lived. It is named for a 300-year-old windmill in the village.

5. January 1… much like the fashion police have a date when you are supposed to stop wearing linen clothing, the wine cops say that January 1 is the date to stop drinking Beaujolais Nouveau. Many believe the wine last through the winter but you might not want to order a bottle of Nouveau at a restaurant in April.

6. 2007… when all California wineries must stop using the word Beaujolais on their labels of the wines made from Gamay clones.

7. Red wine objectors… some say Beaujolais is the only white wine that happens to be red. Because of the low tannins and light and refreshing body many folks who say they do not drink red wine might enjoy Beaujolais.

8. Cru labels…the labels on bottles of Beaujolais Cru will have the name of the producer and the name of the Cru.

“If one single name stands for uncomplicated and satisfying red wine it is Beaujolais. “  Hugh Johnson, The World Atlas of Wine