January High End White
A new year brings a new varietal - this month, we travel to Valdorreas, in Galicia, Northwestern Spain, home of the fragrant Godello grape, the amazing Sil Valley (click here for some pictures of the incredibly steep vineyards), and this month's selection, As Sortes Godello.
 Valdeorras is located just east of Ribeira Sacra, with 3,700 acres of DO vineyards along the Sil valley, and is showing excellent potential for fine godello-based whites. Valdeorras, which could very well be Spain’s Burgundy, and is attracting more serious winemakers, such as Telmo Rodríguez and Rafael Palacios (brother of Priorat-La Rioja-Bierzo winemaking star, Álvaro Palacios). They have come here to make rich, fruity, but well-balanced wines laced with mineral finishes from old vine godello vineyards terraced on well-drained slopes; the results are reminiscent of the best white wines of France.
After making wines for several years in his family's Palacios Remondo winery in La Rioja Baja, including the very well-regarded Placet, one of the best 100% viura wines ever made in La Rioja, Rafael Palacios burst onto the Galician white wine scene in 2005 with As Sortes Godello white, which was in instant sensation. After a rumored family rift and, perhaps a desire to make his own mark free of the shadow of his superstar brother, Álvaro, Rafael moved to Valdeorras (Palacio's cousins are also making wine there and in neighboring Bierzo) and procured some high altitude, terraced old vines godello from which he crafts his signature.
Rafael Palacios began his wine project in Valdeorras in 2004, purchasing mature vineyards of the indigenous Godello variety from older local growers. His previous experience in the area as a consultant had motivated him to try and recuperate the unique sub-zone of the Bibei Valley in the Municipality of O Bolo.
The extreme topography and the low productivity of the soil had led to the almost complete abandonment of grape production in this tiny but historic county, cultivated traditionally on terraces. The predominance of small plots is the result of inheritances drawn by lot, often out of a hat, called “Sorte” in the Galician language and the inspiration for the name As Sortes.
As Sortes is cask fermented in foudres and the wine is left on the lees for several months in the cask. The resulting wine is Burgundy weight, richly fruity, mineral-laced, leesy and without marked oak characteristics, but early on it exhibits a slightly cloudy, too-deep green-gold color. One hopes that Palacios will master his superb godello raw material, because tastings of his first efforts show the potential to make one of the great white wines of Europe.
92 points from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: "Pale yellow. Spicy citrus, orange and melon aromas are brightened by zesty minerals; smells like Puligny-Montrachet. Suave white peach and pear flavors lead to firm lemon zest, spice and chalky minerality on the back end. Impressively elegant and clean wine with the balance to age for a couple of years."
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Dec. '09 White Wine
 This month, we present a choice of two bottlings from Kistler: 2006 Hudson Vineyards Carneros Chardonnay or the 2007 "Les Noisetiers" Sonoma Coast Chardonnay. Both are great examples of world-class cool climate California Chardonnay.
"The '06 Hudson garnered 93-95 points from Parker, who raved: "An exotic effort, the 2006 Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard exhibits a light straw/green hue as well as boisterous, exuberant notes of buttery tropical fruit and smoky nuts. It is the most flamboyant and showy of these Chardonnays. Enjoy it over the next 4-6 years.
Another impressive of Chardonnay from Steve Kistler, whose 2006s are unmistakably Burgundian in their aromatics, textures, and flavor profiles. Kistler has given up on the highly fashionable Dijon clones, relying on old California clones, primarily old Wente selections. "
Les Noisetiers is a special blend of wines from great Sonoma Coast vineyards, 100% whole cluster pressed, 100% malolactic fermentation in 50% new French oak.
Rich, complex smoky aroma of perfect ripe fruit with a delicious noisette (hazelnut) note, in a pleasing, Meursault-like style. In the mouth the wine is very delicious, displaying intense, fruit flavors underpinned with toasty oak and smoky flavors. The crisp acidity in the wine highlights the delicious fruit and makes it an excellent accompaniment to a wide range of foods. It is richly textured with a long, lingering finish.
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White Wine Club November '09
This Month, we present a Chardonnay that will complement your holiday table - Ch de Puligny Montrachet St. Aubin, premier cru, En Remilly. This is one of my favorite wines - from a great village in the Cote d'Or section of Burgundy.
For those with detailed vineyard maps, it's an open secret that Saint-Aubin's En Remilly vineyard is just up the hill from the famed Le Montrachet. This partly explains the top quality wines from producers like de Montille, Lamy, Amiot Guy, and Puligny-Montrachet. Until the 1980s it was difficult to plant vines in the vineyard due to the large stones and even boulders spread across the fields. Since then the arrival of mobile stone smashing machinery has facilitated vineyard plantings.
This bottling has a nice thread of minerality running through it, and is drinking very nicely. The wood is extremely subtle, with pretty white flower and pear suffused nose serving as the perfect introduction to round, pleasant and energetic flavors that possess moderate depth on the solidly long and notably dry finish. Reminiscent of a Chassagne Montrachet, at a fraction of the cost.
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October White Wine Club
 Welcome to the White Wine Club, where we'll explore great white wines from California and abroad. Our inaugural wine is one of my favorite California Chardonnays - 2007 Hirsch Vineyards Chardonnay, a chardonnay made by a unique method: Barrel Fermentation in Glass, Oak, and Stainless Barrels.
The barrel fermentation allows for extended lees contact, bringing richness to the wine, and the glass and stainless vessels allowing the wine to retain a crisp acidity and bright fruit.
According to David Hirsch
In 2005 we made a minuscule amount of chardonnay in glass containers. The result was startling: a chardonnay that put acids and a mineral mouth feel forward on the palate, with the varietal notes toward the back. Then we decided to make our chardonnay by four methods of fermentation and aging: glass, oak, and stainless steel fermentation and aging; plus aging on oak some of the wine fermented in stainless. We reserved fourteen gallons of each process prior to blending for bottling. The reserved wines were bottled by hand and are available in six packs that contain two bottles of the composite blend plus one bottle of each of the four methods. We found that blending of the four methods deepened the imprint of the site on the final wine."
"In 1994 we prepared 2.5 acres for planting on a rocky, 40% slope above my house. I was enamored with Barolo and had the crazy idea to put in nebbiolo. One night I met Burt Williams and Ed Selyem. On entering the restaurant, Burt yelled from the back, “Plant chardonnay! We will buy it.” The cuttings came from Joe Rochioli. Williams Selyem made the wine from 1997 to 2000; Kistler took the fruit through 2005. In 2006 we released the first estate chardonnay. It received 94 points and was named one of the best 100 wines of the year by Wine and Spirits magazine. In 2002 we planted an additional 1.4 acres of chard on a sandstone hill in field 12. It produced in 2005 a minuscule first crop of 200 pounds, which we fermented and aged in glass carboys. At first the wine was so undistinguished we almost flushed it. Then after some fourteen months it showed a wonderful acidity with intense minerality and great balance. This inspired us to experiment with various production methods.
The 2007 Hirsch Chardonnay is a product of four vinification processes: 1. Glass fermented and aged (138 gallons). 2. French oak fermented and aged (460 gallons). Total new oak comes to 15%. 3. Stainless steel fermented and aged (375 gallons). 4. Stainless steel fermented, aged in French oak (230 gallons)."
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This month, we travel back to California, and back to Chardonnay, for one of my favorite bottlings: Shafer Red Shoulder Chardonnay. A wine Robert Parker calls "one of the best non-malolactic, barrel-fermented Chardonnays in California”
