A note from the author:

2 August 2012: I've signed on to author a blog for wine retailer Winenabber.com. Check it out at nabberjabber.wordpress.com




Closing in on one year blogging with you, and things are astir. I must begin by graciously thanking each of you for allowing my thoughts and reflections on wine to be a small part of your lives. I truly consider your willingness to value and trust my own impressions a humbling privilege.


For those new to my writing (and I'm enormously excited by the sheer quantity of new readers!), I would like to state simply the foundational belief that informs every facet of my professional career: If you choose to approach wine with an open mind it will provide you unique and genuinely rare beauty and enrich your life.


My hope with this blog is that I nudge you further into a life with wine and that the wines I recommend provide you ongoing pleasure. I believe strongly that living with wine is much better than living without it. With that said, when I began my professional career several years ago it was incredible how much I valued what other wine writers had to say about the wines I drank. I couldn't have imagined how quickly I would grow to so deeply cherish and nurture and passionately express my own feelings.


If you've read this far and feel worried that you can't know anything, that your palate lacks sophistication and precision, or that you should have known by now if you had a passion for the juice, let me say this: forget that forever. Trust your palate and your own impressions. Seriously. Lose the "know-nothing" doctrine and suddenly, instantly, new and astonishingly authentic pleasures will appear before you. This is True. Wine has enriched the life of literally every person I know who hasn't arbitrarily pushed back at it.


How can anyone change directions so quickly? My advice is to habitualize clear mindedness and be attentive. I call this "productive concentration." "Productive" because one is intellectually rewarded for patience and focused reflection. If we trust our own impressions and are willing to remain honest with ourselves, and if new experiences force us to rethink or even abandon our previous positions , and if our views and beliefs remain fluid and syncretic and difficult to neatly articulate, then I say all the better. Not to mention how much more interesting.


In a sense, experiencing and enjoying great wine is much easier than this approach may initially appear. After all, drinking wine is simple. Wine enters our glass, our nostrils, our mouth, our belly. And, hopefully, this sequence is remarkably enjoyable and merits much repeating. But inside of each of us is a certain place, some deepest part of our being, a part which no other animal that has ever lived on this planet has possessed, an indescribably deep and meaningful well where our most ineffably beautiful humanity finds repose. And wine goes there, too.


A dear friend posed the question recently, "Can you put into words the experience of tasting great wine?" I thought about the question for a minute, and thought about how my favorite wines have made me feel. I responded, "Experiencing great wine is like scratching some gargantuan itch you never knew you had." Wine expands our consciousness, and, often, dramatically alters our perception of what was already there. Wine asks us to spend time with ourselves, know ourselves, makes us feel a certain way, and gives us something beautiful to reflect on.


I am certain that the best approach to both life and one's craft is to talk to people, listen intently, then reflect and figure out how to open new and better avenues of meaningful communication. There is no objective guide to wine writing. Regardless, one finds one's way. And, I think, better is the way that most often leads oneself and others toward distinctive deliciousness, authentic and meaningful experiences, and a heightened awareness of beauty in our world.


In the end, there are only two questions one needs to entertain in evaluating a particular wine. (The third is actually unessential but, I find, meaningful):


1) Is this wine beautiful?

2) How does this wine make me feel?

3) What is being said and how is it being said?


Our world is crowded and moves quickly. Wine begs for another approach. Wine is inherently needy: it admittedly asks much of us. To appreciate wine, we must choose participation over spectation. The wine lover's life is a journey that slowly and unexpectedly reveals an ever greater awareness of what really speaks to us as a human being. That something is one's own sense of and search for the beautiful that, I sincerely hope, increasingly quenches its thirst through this astonishingly splendid miracle of liquidity.


A special mention of thanks to family, friends and guests for their support and continued interest in the world of wine.

May your exploration of wine be pleasurable and your glass remain (at least) half full,


Jason Jacobeit


Scores - Scores are my subjective analysis of the inherent qualities of a wine with considerations made for vintage-specific typicity, overall balance, and, where applicable, ageability.


As for the numerical scores themselves, use this adumbrated guide as a suitable stand-in for objective precision:

Below 80 Wines are flawed in some respect. Ultimately, these efforts will not merit recommendation.

80-84 A wine without overt technical flaws, but lacking distinctive or exciting aromas and flavors. Modern winemaking allows for an ocean of bulk wine production the results of which often fall within this range.

85-89 Solidly constructed, varietally accurate and most importantly, delicious wine. These are usually terrific table wines and often define the sweet spot for value.

90-94 Engaging and complex, wines in this range are exceptionally balanced. Knockout juice.

95-100 Wines of impeccable harmony, precision and depth. The apotheosis of the art of winemaking, wines here are beautifully crafted, thrilling and emotional.

Pricing - prices provided in reviews are generally release prices unless dramatically altered. When the latter is the case, it will be specified.

Quality/Price Ratio (QPR) - The QPR index will be an excellent way to navigate a large number of reviews quickly and efficiently. That said, I strongly suggest that particular regions and, where further differention is possible, varietal wines and blends be evaluated separately and on their own terms.
For example, many Spanish regions produce remarkably concentrated grapes from old vines that are consistently vinified into tasty, value-priced wines. The QPR range for these wines will, therefore, be relatively high. Contrastingly, Nebbiolo-based wines from Piedmont are more difficult to consistently ripen and vinify, production is more stringently controlled and the wines, generally speaking, more internationally sought. It is therefore nearly impossible to find varietal Nebbiolo, whether Barolo, Barbaresco or declassified crop, that delivers outstanding quality at under $20. The Piedmontese QPR index will thus be lower relative to their previously sketched Spanish counterparts. In the end, initiated readers will make wise consumer choices based on a variety of factors, including an understanding of the broader contours of the wine market.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

A tasting of inexpensive Spanish and Portuguese Reds

I am constantly being asked what wines under $10 best and most consistently represent outstanding value.  In the search for inexpensive wines imbued with regional as well as varietal distinctiveness and ripe, concentrated fruit, blindly buying into Spanish reds will rarely prove disastrous.  Certainly there are other players in the value game, and while, for example, Argentina's Malbecs, Australia's Shiraz and wines from the Cotes du Rhone at this price level can be genuine and delicious, Spain's value-priced wines more often hail from old-vine parcels of indigenous varieties (a number of them found almost nowhere else in the world) that frequently translate to a more distinctively unique drinking experience and stratospheric quality/price ratio.  Nor do readers need to focus on only a few regions, as household appellation names like Rioja and Rias Baixas are equally reliable sources of underpriced wines as emerging regions like cool-climate Bierzo (where Mencia thrives), Jumilla (focus on Monastrell-based reds), and Ribera Sacra (another hotbed for the Mencia grape) to mention only a few.  In fact, only in the northeasterly region of Priorat will readers consistently find wines frequently carrying a retail price of $30 or more, and while these wines will not be the focus of this article, Priorat's old-vine Grenache and Carignan blends can be captivating, and, in a number of cases, revelatory.

Recently, I blindly purchased four close-out priced reds from Spain and Portugal, ignoring vintage, region, and grape variety.  While I don't suggest this as a buying strategy, the results of this tasting only serve to confirm my belief that regionally-reflective, distinctive (not to mention delicious) Spanish and Portuguese wines are both widely available and generally represent excellent value.  Don't be afraid of seldom-encountered appellation names, obscure varieties or bland, uninteresting labeling practices.  These marketing impediments embody the very reasons that prices remain so pitifully low.

Note: Wines are scored in a range to denote an unofficial score as they were shown alongside the following simply prepared but delicious meal: pan-seared filet mignon, sauteed carrots and zucchini, and roasted fingerling potatoes.  

2006 Castillo Real Bullas Monastrell (83-85 points) - This has an attractively spicy character, with firm, slightly austere tannins that open to reveal a core of fruit that dries out with air.  Better two years ago, still drinkable.  100% Monastrell. 

2007 Domaines Francois Lurton Duoro Barco (84-86 points) - Ripe and darkly fruited, there is a good deal to like here, from the soy-tinged aromatics to the generous, caressing finish.  A solid effort.  Better with soy-marinated pork or chicken.  Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz hailing from Portugal most renowned appellation, the Duoro.

2008 Casa Gualda Tempranillo (84-86 points) - This is exactly what I was hoping for when I purchased this lineup.  Astonishingly direct, vivid aromas of fennel bulb and fresh blueberries emenate from the glass, while the palate faithfully echoes the character of its bouquet.  Not the last word in complexity by any means, but at this price point the wine's sheer self-confidence and forward personality must be considered virtues.  Try it with a pan-roasted pork chop served alongside sauteed fennel and shiitakes.  100% Tempranillo.

2009 Vina Borgia Campo de Borja (82-85 points) - Sweet cherries and fresh herbs mark a soft, supple entry to a palate profile where bright cherries and an unadorned freshness hold sway.  Clipped finish. Chilled for 15 minutes, this would make nice foil for spicy Chicken Fajitas.  100% Grenache fermented and aged exclusively in tank.
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