Super Bowl Wines (show your support by drinking local)

With Super Bowl XLVIII only days away (interestingly, the NFL has made contingency plans to move the big game up or back a day depending on the weather), NFL fans can read the food, wine and beer suggestions that are popping up all over the Internet. For those of us in the Broncos' and Seahawks' home states, marijuana recommendations are also part of our reality now too! It just so happens that in addition to Cannabis, both Colorado and Washington have wine industries. For those NFL fans that also want to enjoy wine during the big game, this is a very good thing!

Five predictions for 2013

2012 has been an eventful year in the wine industry. There are more licensed American wineries than ever before (almost three times as many wineries as breweries...). California (and Colorado) had a bumper crop of high (not exceptional) quality. The Rudy Kurniawan story made headlines in the non-wine world after he was arrested for producing and selling millions of dollars of fraudulent wine. And in probably the biggest news that wasn't really wasn't that big (see yesterday's post), Robert Parker, Jr. announced that he was stepping down as editor-in-chief of the Wine Advocate, opening a second office in Singapore and sold a share of the ownership to three Asian investors (rumor is they aren't all Asian...). So what will 2013 bring in terms of worthy wine news?

Here are five prognostications:

Is Colorado wine really too expensive?

Last year, a Westword blogger posted about why Colorado wine still sucks. One of her statements was that Colorado wine is too expensive. Yet in her next statement about marketing issues (with which I agree), she picked the winery with the most expensive bottles as getting it. A few weeks ago, Wine Spectator posted a blog about Long Island wines being expensive relative to other wine regions. The attack on the price of regional wines seems to a common theme whenever someone is trying to rationalize why these wines aren't as popular as mass-produced wines. The one thing I don't get is how people can compare boutique wineries with industrial wine factories. Colorado wineries are not going to be able to produce hundreds of thousands of cases of $6 wine with cute animals on the label, but compared to Napa Valley and Walla Walla, Colorado produces some reasonably priced wine. I can count on one hand the number of bottles of Colorado wine that sell for over $50. Sure, across the board the quality may not be equivalent, but neither is the product when you compare Colorado to California's Central Valley or Australia's Riverina and Riverland regions. So, is Colorado wine really too expensive?

Why Colorado (might) have its sh*t together...(a response to 1WineDude)

In between the time that he is prepping his young daughter for a singing career launched by posting videos on his website (oh wait, isn't that someone else?) and cleaning up after his rhinoceran-sized dog (did you know rhinoceros have no knees?), Joe Roberts is traveling the globe spitingt some of the best (and worst) wines the world has to offer. Last week, he made a quick stop in Colorado (two weeks in Australia and only four days in Colorado, really Joe??) for the Drink Local Wine Conference. I think that the conference was a smashing success, but then again I helped organize it so why wouldn't it be great?

This morning, Joe posted a late dispatch about the conference. The theme of his piece was the topic of one of three seminars at the conference, "Why Do Local Wine and Local Food Hate Each Other?" Unfortunately, I did not get to witness this panel discussion as I was washing glasses for the subsequent Nomacorc Twitter Taste-off. According to Joe (and probably most other people in the room), the panel's discussion revolved around the question, "Why don’t more local restaurants stock local wines, when they almost always stock local produce without much hesitation?" He concludes that local restaurants could (and should) celebrate local juice when three conditions are met. The Dude abides and claims that Colorado seems to have its sh*t together when it comes to these conditions, but he offers no further explanation. Well, I'm going to offer an explanation for Joe...

The Key is Tasting (blind)

There are a lot about misconceptions of Colorado wine. First, and most egregious, is the quality factor. Sure, just as with any wine region, Colorado wineries produce some not-so-tasty juice. But consider Bordeaux. There are somewhere on the order of 10,000 producers just in the broad Bordeaux wine region. 10,000. That is more than all of the wineries in the United States! When most wine aficionados discuss Bordeaux, we are referring to less than 100 producers. The current evolution of the 1855 Bordeaux Classification includes 61 châteaus. A handful of right bank producers in and around the towns of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol are now as highly regarded as the classified châteaus of the Médoc. My point is, only about 1% of the wineries are Bordeaux are considered to produce high-quality wine. The rest is probably mediocre to less than mediocre (or at least by the standards of the wine tastemakers). The same concept can be applied to the wineries of California. There are more wineries in California producing plonk than meticulously crafting fine wine, and I bet you can name a few wineries in both camps. The good news is, if you know which wineries to seek out, you can find wine you like.

Colorado is no different. With over 100 wineries in the state, I'd be willing to bet (not $10,000) that the average wine consumer in the state could not name more than 5 wineries. If they were to taste wines from all 100, consumers might find wines that they consider to be at the same quality level as wines from California or even (gasp!) France. One of the best ways to get wine drinkers to try new wines is through restaurant wine lists. When I worked in the retail tier of the industry, I was surprised how often people came into the store and said they tried a wine at a restaurant and wanted to by a bottle. I was relieved when people actually new which wine it was and not just that it had a red label. Unfortunately, one of the problems with the idea of getting Colorado wine onto reputable restaurant wine lists is convincing the wine buyers!

Luckily for Colorado, there are more than a few chefs and sommeliers who are open to the idea of adding more local juice to their lists. With the help of Colorado Wino (Jacob Harkins) and Swirl Girl Denver (Kendra Anderson), we've put together the #DenverWineCru where we blind tasted Colorado Wine against the world. Our goal is to see how Colorado wines compare to wines from established wine regions.

We were joined at the first by a group of eager winos and Jensen Cummings, Executive Chef at Row 14. We tasted a lineup of five different wine styles with wines from Colorado and elsewhere around the world in each flight. When things were all said and done, everyone left impressed with Colorado's quality. Colorado didn't "win" every flight, but even when it didn't there were many more home runs than strike outs (and there were a few...).

Here are my notes of the wines that I took as we tasted without know what was in each bottle:

‘Can’ Packaging from Beer World Work with Wine Too?

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but does an aluminum can always signal a low brow beverage? Less than ten years ago, canned beers were limited to low-flavor, mass-produced macrobrews. A small craft brewer decided to change that stigma. In November 2002, Oskar Blues Brewery in Lyons, Colorado launched its “Canned Beer Apocalypse.” Dale Katechis decided to can an assertive and flavorful Pale Ale, one can at a time. With an expanded lineup of bold and critically acclaimed canned brews, great canned beer is no longer an oxymoron. Now, over 130 craft breweries can beer, including Oskar Blues’ much larger neighbor to the south, New Belgium Brewery.

The company that helped Oskar Blues break the mold, Broomfield, CO-based Ball Corporation, thinks that they can (pun intended) do the same for the wine market that they did for craft beer. Dan Vorlage, Director of Business for Ball’s Beverage Packaging Division thinks, “canned wine offers an elegant way to deliver wine and ultimately allows consumers to have a ready-to-drink package that can go places where glass bottles can’t go.”

Continue reading at Palate Press: the online wine magazine.

Colorado Fall Harvest Dinner at Delizios: recap

This past Monday, I helped moderate a wine dinner at Delizios Cafe and Wine Bar that featured Colorado wines and fresh Colorado ingredients. The owner of Delizios, Bob Mickus, is a home winemaker and wanted to pay homage to the hard working farmers (and yes grape growers are farmers) of the state. I worked with Bob to select a pair of Front Range wineries and a pair of western slope wineries to complement a specially prepared locally themed menu. The 13 diners who attended were enthusiastic and eager to taste Colorado.

The first course paired Boulder Creek Winery's 2010 Dry Rosé with assorted Colorado cheeses and fresh fruit. The wine paired beautifully with both the cheeses and the fruits. I especially enjoyed the Haystack Chile Jack (goat cheese), with roasted mild green chilies. This wine was the crowd favorite as even after all four
courses guests were still asking me about it.

Next up was the black sheep of the night. Both the mixed green salad with roasted Colorado corn and red peppers and the Jack Rabbit Hill 2008 M & N were good on their own, but the raspberry vinaigrette clashed with the unique blend of pinot noir and pinot meunier. A handful of guests enjoyed the wine, but most said that they weren't a fan of the pairing.

The main course of brandied peach pork chops was served with the Garfield Estates Vineyard and Winery 2009 Cabernet Franc. I was afraid that the wine might over power the dish, but the smooth and supple new release paired well and was a hit with all diners. While no official poll was taken, I'd say that the cab franc was the second favorite of the night just behind the rosé and closely followed by the last wine. After seeing how well this young wine showed, I can't wait to break into my 2005 Garfield cab franc soon!

Finally, we finished the evening with Infinite Monkey Theorem's Black Muscat along with peach cobbler topped with Di Crema gelato from Boulder Ice Cream. Though this was the only wine I did not taste of for some reason, the guests were impressed with it. A few diners that said they often did not enjoy sweet wines, found the IMT muscat to be balanced and complemented the cobbler perfectly. Overall, the night was a success and I think the guests left with a new appreciation for Colorado wines. I am looking forward to hosting more wine dinners at Delizios and even exploring wine regions other than Colorado. I hope to see you at one of these events in the future.

Colorado Fall Harvest Dinner at Delizios

So many restaurants proclaim to cater to locavores. But far too often local wines are nowhere to be found on the wine list. Even worse, is when restaurants create Colorado-themed dinners only to pair wines from California or France with the local fare. Here in Denver, we are starting to see a few establishments getting it right by pairing local wine with fresh local ingredients. Jacob Harkins, founder of Coloradowino.com, has put together a few Colorado Wine dinners at Sputino in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver. The bounty of winemaker dinners in Grand Junction and Palisade this past weekend was at an apex with the 20th annual Colorado Mountain Winefest drawing visitors from around the country. Other than a few of these events sporadically popping up around the state, local wines rarely get top billing at themed dinners. Next week, I am throwing my hat into the wine dinner ring by moderating the "Colorado Fall Harvest" night of Delizios' Regional Wine Dinner Series. I invite you to join me by indulging in some of Colorado's finest wines and tastiest cuisine Monday, September 26th at Delizios in historic downtown Littleton. The evening will include informal wine education and discussion of Colorado's wine industry.

Colorado Fall Harvest

Monday, September 26th
Monday,

6:30pm

Delizios Café and Wine Bar
2299 W Main St., Littleton



$45 pp (plus tax and gratuity)

Seating is limited, so please call to RSVP (720-897-6550)

The menu for the evening will consist of:

1st Course:
Boulder Creek Winery 2010 Dry Rose
Paired with assorted Colorado cheeses and fruits

2nd Course:
Jack Rabbit Hill 2008 M+N (Meunier & Pinot Noir)
Paired with a mixed greens salad garnished with roasted Colorado corn and red peppers

3rd Course:
Canyon Wind Cellars 2009 Cabernet Franc
Paired with brandied-peach pork chops accompanied by fresh asparagus and roasted rosemary
potatoes

4th Course:
Infinite Monkey Theorem Sparkling Black Muscat
Paired with peach cobbler topped with Di Crema gelato from Boulder Ice Cream