Parker on 2006 Bordeaux Futures

Pricing is starting to roll out for 2006 Bordeaux futures, and already prospective buyers are up in arms about prices that are not far below those from 2005, a far superior vintage. The usual venting has been on display on the Squires Board, and Robert Parker himself weighed in on this thread. As usual, Parker's market analysis is worth hearing:

I still believe the "futures" market in the USA will be largely a failure....we presumably purchased loads of expensive 05s, after taking a gigantic position on 2000s....moreover, the dollar is so weak that it just doesn't make much sense to pay up front two years in advance....what if 2007 is fabulous?.....too many negatives working against the USA buyer.

In his book on Bordeaux, Parker advises that there are only four valid reasons for purchasing Bordeaux futures (two years before the wines actually hit the shelves): superb wine from a great vintage; prices that will save you money 2-3 years down the line; securing a limited production wine; or buying in bottle sizes other than the standard 750 ml. Right now, it just does not look like the first two conditions are being met, despite wines that have surpassed the initially dismal expectations for the 2006 vintage. Of course, as Parker observes:

I definitely believe the finest 06s are superior and more complete wines than the 2004s, but the Bordelais also realize that and will price the 06s accordingly...will be interesting to see if the "new" emerging markets....eastern Europe, central and South America, and of course the Pacific rim countries, take important positions on 06s.

Parker acknowledges that his 2006 report gave the Bordelais license to price the '06s above the '04s, despite the hope of many consumers to see Bordeaux prices fall back to earth. Here's hoping that a failed 2006 en primeur campaign in the U.S., as Parker predicts, will help bring the market in that direction.

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Randy Savage as Grape Grower

Grape Radio has just put up the final segment of its Podcast on the 2006 Pinot Days convention in San Francisco, a two-day Pinot-fueled bender in celebration of the world's trendiest grape varietal. This third segment is rather dry, as it somewhat pointlessly tries to "broadcast" a series of blind wine tastings (how maddening not to be able to taste the juice!), but the Parts 1 and 2 feature a series of short interviews with growers and producers (some, of course, more interesting than others). The undeniable highlight of these segments -- worthy of anyone's attention -- is the interview with the exuberant -- and clearly toasted -- Gary Pisoni, who sounds uncannily like Randy "Macho Man" Savage from the old WWF.

Pisoni (pictured above), of Pisoni Vineyards, grows the fruit for some of the trendiest California pinot made in a fruit-driven, high-octane style, and the Grape Radio interview (which begins at 12:35 of Part 1) is a testosterone and alcohol-fueled rush of energy. Pisoni describes some of the early challenges of growing pinot noir in the United States and after some minimal prodding reveals the secret, and illicit, source of his success:

In the early '80s we could not grow good pinot noir in California ... I didn't know if it was the clones or the sites ... So anyway I went to a famous vineyard in Burgundy and went and got cuttings ... In my hand I got five hundred buds, wrapped them with gauze, stuck them down my pants ... I went through customs, and the customs lady says, "What's that?" And I go: "You want to check? I'm Italian." Scared her to death.

Pisoni is in many ways a throwback, a self-taught grower (he got a degree in psychology so he could "talk to the grapes") who never had the benefit (or handicap) of formal viticultural training: "I meet all these winemakers, get them drunk, and try to figure out their secrets." He is also an unabashed defender of the bigger, riper style of California pinot and boasts of California's superiority to the grape's traditional Burgundian home: "You can't beat California! We've got sunlight! Sometimes they have to put sugar in their wines, the poor dudes!" (Which is, in fact, true.)

A fantastically entertaining interview that begs to be heard -- check it out!

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In Defense of Wine Seriousness

A lot of people (including some I care about greatly) are turned off by what they view as pretentious wine writing. I think they see it as arrogant, exclusivist, and overly fastidious in a way that sucks all the fun and enjoyment out of wine. To a large extent, they have a point. Wine is something to be shared and appreciated with friends, and pointlessly formal talk that pushes people away is totally contrary to the reasons both Simon and I are into wine.

At the same time, I think that it’s possible to enjoy wine much more if you approach it as a subject of exploration. Sharing wine with your friends is enormously enhanced by the ability to talk about it together, to discuss it together, "trying however imperfectly to describe in words the sensations in the glass" and share that with others, as Simon says over gmail chat. That’s the way to really come to appreciate wine. There’s a happy middle ground here between a pompous and empty focus on detailed trivialities and a desire to appreciate and know about what you’re drinking. Every wine has a story--and finding the good stories is usually a damn good way to find good wine.

That’s what Simon and I are trying to do here. But if you just want to drink and appreciate a good bottle, we have no problem with that.

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Wine of the Week: 2005 Giacosa Dolcetto d'Alba Falletto

With all of the hyperbolic "vintage of the century" talk being lavished upon 2005 Burgundy, Bordeaux, and German Riesling, I think it imperative for the sane wine collector to take a step back from all the hype and examine some of the less discussed (and less dear) treasures from the world of wine. It is in this spirit that we feature Bruno Giacosa's 2005 Dolcetto d'Alba Falletto ($19) as this blog's inaugural "Wine of the Week." Dolcetto, from the Piedmont region of Italy, is a wine that usually retails for no more than $20 to $25 and, as Antonio Galloni has observed, has acquired the unfortunate reputation for being the "Beaujolais of Italy" -- an easy-drinking wine with soft, pleasing fruit, but by no means a serious effort. Yet Dolcetto is in fact the most common wine at the classic Piedmontese table, enjoyed throughout mealtime with a wide range of foods. At its best, Dolcetto offers refreshing notes of black and sour cherries, blueberries, and other dark fruits wrapped in a firm, but not overbearing structure of acid and tannin.

Bruno Giacosa (the granddaddy of traditional Piedmontese wine - pictured above) like most top winemakers in the region, produces a serious Dolcetto, and his Dolcetto d'Alba Falletto is made from fruit from his fabled vineyard in Serralunga. This wine offers dark, mesmerizing aromas of black cherry and a hint of spice with ripe, concentrated, and almost plush dark fruit flavors -- all balanced by a nervy acidity and soft tannins. It proved an excellent match for salami and risotto al Barolo, and even stood up remarkably well to Carbonada, the Piedmontese version of braised beef. (An attempted pairing with that other Italian speciality, grilled hamburger, was far less successful.) One would be hard-pressed to find a superior Dolcetto on the market today.

Returning to vintage talk for the moment, it must be said that 2005 was a superb vintage for Dolcetto, as the grapes were able to achieve an optimum level of ripeness and were picked before the onset of the September rains that forced an early Nebbiolo harvest in Piedmont. Even the wine we used for braising, a 2005 Dolcetto d'Alba from Salvano ($12), while far less bewitching than the Giacosa, was a well-balanced effort, offering pleasing (if less concentrated) dark fruits and decent structure. I'd certainly choose that over Beaujolais any day. Of course, the Dolcettos to look out for are the ones from the top producers and, in particular, their single-vineyard offerings. The 2005 Giacosa Dolcetto d'Alba Falletto is certainly worth a special search even if it is, in the grand scheme of things, as Michael Broadbent has written, "an important but minor red wine."

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