Baker's Dozen

I was originally going to post a list of my 5 favorite wines that were poured here at Stimmel's in 2007 (pared from about 600), but it became increasingly difficult to pick and choose. So, I decided to post my "lucky seven", then it became my "top ten", "top twelve", and now I've finally gone with the "baker's dozen", an ode to the OTHER part of Stimmel's Market that generates buzz, our scratch-baked donuts, pastries, cookies, etc.

All 13 bottles of wine are red (I'll post a top white wine/dessert wine list soon), and range in price from about $16 all the way up to $125. Keep in mind that there are several, if not dozens, of excellent wines that fell just short of making the list, and the wines on the list are reflective of a combination of my personal palate, as well as the general reaction of customers who enjoyed them at the tastings. Here they are, with some of my notes:

13. Chateau Fontenil 2003 (France Bordeaux, $39.99) - From the hot '03 vintage, this Bordeaux was showing quite well when poured back in February. Complex, with notes of ripe fruit and chocolate, yet tannic with a touch of vanilla from the oak in the finish. Delicious, and a wine that will age gracefully for years.

12. Sea Smoke Southing 2005 (California Pinot Noir, $54.99) - Easily one of the two best Pinots that I tasted this year, it was a wine that was full-bodied, somewhat tannic, with fresh berry flavors and a touch of spice. Just an absolute pleasure to drink.

11. Shirvington Shiraz 2004 (Australia, $69.99) - Sure, I've tasted several big, ripe, Aussie fruit bombs in the last year, some of which were real head-turners (like anything from Mollydooker), but this Shirvington made a real impression on me when I poured it way back in January. Lots of fruit as expected, but an amazing silky, velvety mouthfeel and a finish that went on forever.

10. Altos de Luzon 2004 (Spain Jumilla Blend, $16.99) - This might not be in the same league as the other reds on this list, but the fact that it's an amazing value (and my pick for best red wine under $20) gives this Spanish gem an invite. Ripe fruit with a touch of acidity and a wonderful mouthfeel make this an all-time QPR - and kudos to Lance for discovering it.

9. Orin Swift The Prisoner 2005 (California Blend, $36.99) - Zinfandel is the lead grape in this blend, and the fruit is there, but what made this wine so great to me was the balance and the smoothness. It's more than just a pretty face, and along with The Impostor from JC Cellars, re-defined what I thought a California Zinfandel blend could be.

8. Clos Mogador 1998 (Spain Priorat, $59.99) - The first of two great Priorat wines on the list, we actually poured this wine three times in 2007; twice on Thursday nights, and at the Monday night cheese tasting in September. I actually tasted this wine for the first time over a year ago, and it was really my first foray into the wonderful world of Priorat, which became my favorite up-and-coming wine region this past year. The Mogador is powerful, yet nuanced, rich and fruit-driven, yet earthy and mineral-laden. A terrific wine.

7. Red Car Shake Rattle and Roll 2005 (California Syrah, $59.99) - In a year in which I fell in love with Syrah all over the world, the Red Car was the best from California. It's everything that I love about new-world wine: rich, plush, complex, drinkable now but able to cellar for a few years or more. This is a big wine.

6. Etude Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (California, $85.99) - I'd read some great wine press about this Cab before finally getting around to pouring it in March. I wasn't the least bit disappointed, and it was one of those rare times for me when the bottle of wine lived up to the hype. Incredibly silky, yet lively and spicy, it was the best California Cab I tried in 2007.

5. Miner Garys' Vineyard Pinot Noir 2005 (California, $65.99) - This was my favorite Pinot of the year (just edging the Sea Smoke). Too easy to like, it was unbelievably smooth, velvety and creamy, with just the right amount of dark berry fruit and a touch of earthiness.

4. Guigal Cote-Rotie Brune et Blonde 2001 (France, Rhone $74.99) - A slightly oxidized version of this wine is still quite good, as we found out at the Syrah tasting back in August. The first bottle we opened had an issue with the cork, and despite Sara's warning, I foolishly poured it anyway. I thought the fruit was generally missing, but it otherwise was still well-structured and enjoyable. Well, when I finally decided to pop the second bottle and try it, I was blown away by the difference. The "good" bottle was unreal in its complexity, and the bright fruit flavors made this a serious candidate for the top spot.

3. Fratelli Revello Barolo 2001 (Italy, $69.99) - I first poured this at a tasting back in late 2006, and had I compiled a "best of '06" list, it might have won. Well, I also poured it again early in '07, and it's still in the mix . The best Italian wine (and I've been fortunate to try many) I've had this year, the fruit sings and the texture takes "silky" to a whole new dimension.

2. Mas Igneus 2001 (Spain Priorat, $74.99) - Spain is such an exciting place these days for wine lovers, and there are so many growing areas in different parts of the country that are enjoying massive upgrades in overall quality. I easily could have included a couple of different wines from Ribera del Duero, Rioja or Toro on the list (as it is, I've got 3 Spanish wines already), but I can't deny my affinity for great Priorat efforts like this one. A stunning wine, nary a day has gone by the last 10 months without me thinking of the Mas Igneus. Simply a masterpiece.

1. Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 1998 (France Rhone, $125.99) - The '98 La Chapelle fueled more strong reactions than any other wine that we poured in '07. Several people claimed it was "the best wine that they ever had". Some likened it to "dishwater"; ah, the fervor, the passion. While I certainly enjoyed wines that were more of a hedonistic pleasure, and other wines that showed better fruit, more earth, and better balance, no wine taxed my brain like this one did. Too many aromas and flavors to identify, it was both playful and beguiling, and triggered my year-long obsession with Rhone's great wines.

Vin Mousseux...

...translated as "sparkling wine", takes center stage this time of year as we all have plenty to celebrate. New Year's is just around the corner, so stock up on bubblies for the festivities. Here at Stimmel's Market, we offer dozens of great sparklers, and always have something for every taste and budget. Here are a few ideas:

Champagne:
We have the classics, such as Dom Perignon and Perrier-Jouet, and also feature other heavy hitters, like Moet and Chandon White Star, Henriot, Pol Roger, Delamotte and Duval-Leroy.

California:
Look for outstanding bottles from top producers like Mumm Napa, Schramsberg, Roederer Estate and Piper Sonoma.

Values:
Easy on the wallet, nice bubblies from Tosti, Korbel, Cook's and Domaine St. Michelle are all crowd-pleasers.

Cheers!

New Beers of the Year

Sometime around 1991, maybe '92, while listening to Achtung Baby for the gazillionth time and watching re-runs of Get a Life, I remember thinking to myself that there had to be more to beer than just Natural Light, Busch Light, and their associated ilk. Rolling Rock represented the most dramatic departure from the same "flavors" that I'd experienced in all of those mass-produced light beers, and it only had a faint dryness that set it apart. I bought my first six-pack of Sam Adams Boston Lager a few days later, and was off and running into the world of craft beer.

My, how things have changed. I've personally tried over 3,000 beers in the last 15 years or so, including a couple hundred new ones this year. I've compiled a list of what I think to be the 10 best new American beers from 2007 - check them out below and let me know what you think!

10. Chicken Killer Barleywine (Santa Fe Brewing Co., Santa Fe, NM) - Great name, but an even better beer. Unlike many domestic barleywines that want to "kill" you with hops, this one is a malt lover's dream. Huge, malty, grainy sweetness with a touch of hoppiness for balance, it's one of the best barleywines I've ever had the pleasure to drink.

9. Backwoods Bastard (Founders Brewing Co., Grand Rapids, MI) - Another malty gem, this is a barrel-aged version of their Scotch Ale. Incredibly smooth, almost velvety, it's a real treat.

8. Prohibition Pilsner (Great Lakes Brewing Co., Cleveland, OH) - A dead ringer for Pilsner Urquell, this brew reaffirmed my belief that Great Lakes truly has the midas touch.

7. BORIS The Crusher Imperial Oatmeal Stout (Hoppin' Frog Brewing Co., Akron, OH) - Incredible effort from a new brewery here in the buckeye state. The BORIS is a roasted, full-bodied, powerful dark ale that somehow manages to melt in your mouth. It's easily the best stout I drank this year.

6. Copper Kettle Weiss (New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, WI.) - Think of smoked bananas. Yeah, it does sound weird, but trust me, I couldn't get enough of this beer. A rich, dark wheat brew that hits the spot anytime of year. Highly addictive.

5. Mad Elf (Troegs Brewing Co., Harrisburg, PA) - I've been wanting to try this beer for years, and thanks to my friend Glenn, I finally got the chance a few weeks ago. Wow, it is like chocolate covered cherries dipped in a heavy liquid malt. Delicious, and strong - a perfect sipper on a cold winter night.

4. Boss Cox Dark IPA (Barrelhouse Brewing Co., Cincinnati, OH) - A blast of caramel and toffee is followed by pleasant notes of spice and bitterness. An incredibly complex beer.

3. Dancing Man Wheat (New Glarus Brewing Co., New Glarus, WI.) - Quite possibly the best American wheat beer that I've ever tried. Hints of banana and clove, crisp and easy to drink, it is the ultimate summertime beer, and gives the best German Hefeweizens a run for their money.

2. Pumking (Southern Tier Brewing Co., Lakewood, NY) - I've tried dozens of pumpkin beers over the years, many of which have been underwhelming, some just plain awful. Pumking is easily the best of the bunch, and stands out for its natural pumpkin flavor and amazing creaminess. It tastes exactly like a slice of pumpkin pie with melted vanilla ice cream. Amazing stuff.

1. Christmas Ale (Kuhnenn Brewing Co., Warren, MI) - Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, vanilla, coffee, this one has it all. A hedonistic pleasure as well as a beer to tickle the mind. One of the few beers I've had in my life that had me thinking about it every day for months.

Cheers!

Blind Tasting Notes (Dec. 17): Aromas of Humble Pie

Last night was the last blind tasting of 2007, and let's just say I'm looking forward to the first one of 2008. My score of 1 out of 7 wines correctly identified was statistically no more accurate than if I had just shouted out the wines one at a time and let a trained chicken peck its way through the anonymous bottles. Still, the evening wasn't a total wash.

First, there's the fact that everybody present got to taste a bunch of very nice wines. (So how bad could it have been, really?)

Second, I can still rely on my old friends, the Rhones. Southern or northern--it doesn't seem to matter: for whatever reason, they're as easy for me to identify in a lineup as an olive in a box of chocolates. It's nice to have something one can count on, no?

Finally, as I look back at my notes, I see clues in my descriptions that, had I just not thought so much, might have led me to the right choice. That is--and I suspect that the same is true for most devoted amateur tasters--it seems not to have been my senses that failed me but, rather, my ability to use the information they provided to correctly identify the wine I was tasting. Indeed, that's a truly difficult thing to do, in part because most of us who taste wines at Stimmel's just don't have a deep well of experience to draw on (I've probably only tried two or three pinotages in my life, for example, and only a handful more malbecs). But it's also difficult because it's a big jump from being able to articulate a linearly-experienced series of sensory impressions to being able to synthesize those impressions into a coherent whole that allows one to say, with authority, "This wine comes from Priorat."

I'll leave the question of just how important the power of suggestion is in interpreting wines' qualities (and quality!) for another time, though the short answer has to be that it certainly comes into play for all but the most naturally gifted and independently-minded tasters (and maybe even still for them). For the rest of us, though, we'll have to accept the occasionally pronounced and concentrated aroma of humble pie in our wines.

Now, the notes, with my guess (with a line through it) followed by the correct answer (including winery, vintage, and price, which was only supplied with the answers; beforehand, all that was supplied was the kind of wine, either by varietal or region):

1. Shiraz Famiglia Bianchi Malbec 2005 ($18.99/bottle)
Oaky, jammy nose, with aromas of black and red berries and some spice. Dark red, this medium-full bodied wine offers flavors of tart blackberry, spice, and licorice.

2. (I got this one right.) Domaine Saint Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2003 ($29.99/bottle)
The tasting sheet listed "France Southern Rhone" as an option, but I knew this was a CdP. Medium-red tinged with brown, the wine boldly and without shame puts out aromas of manure/barnyard layered with loads of pencil shavings (graphite and woody aromas) and a slight brininess. Very smooth, with drying tannins that could still soften with another year or two in the bottle, the wine offers flavors of blackberry, cedar, graphite, and barnyard.

3. Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Torres Salmos Priorat 2005 ($32.99/bottle)
Dark purple/garnet, with notes of plum, cassis, and vanilla on the nose. Sweet cherry fruit, lots of spice, and toasty oak on the palate.

4. Pinotage Zenato Ripassa 2004 ($26.99/bottle)
Inky purple, with aromas of big, bold, grapey fruit layered with mineral and some slightly green, woody notes. Flavors of superripe blackberry and black plum, oak, spice, and stewed meat. Of all the wines I got wrong, this is the one I just plain shouldn't have missed, stewed meat or not.

5. Priorat Liparita Enlace Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 ($18.99/bottle)
Dark maroon, with a nose of ripe currant, cassis, and vanilla. Dark berry fruit flavor is layered with sanguine notes and violets.

6. Malbec Fairview Primo Pinotage 2002 ($24.99/bottle)
A blast of smoke on the nose--this wine smells like a bbq (with plum-based sauce). Lots of smoke, plums, and cherry on the palate, with a faint note of dried flowers.

7. Ripassa Jim Barry Lodge Hill Shiraz 2005 ($17.99/bottle)
Very dark, opaque magenta, with aromas of candied spice, orange peel, and something like roasted chicken, and flavors of dark chocolate-covered orange peel, gran marnier, and clove. Very Christmassy wine (had it been a choice, and color notwithstanding, I would have said this was a Tuscan).

That's it. Here's to learning, and lemmee at 'em next time.

Tasting Notes: Napa Cabs (Dec. 13)

I thought about giving this post the subtitle, "a lesson in terroir," because that's what it was. "Terroir" is difficult to translate from the French, but it is generally used to indicate the combined effect of soil, climate, and topography on the flavor of a wine and is usually applied to wines that have a distinct regional character. And while it can be difficult to tell where terroir ends and winemaking techniques begin (it's been said that American winemakers manipulate their wines to the detriment of their natural terroirs), last night's lineup of Napa Cabernets had enough in common that I have to believe they were expressing, at least in part, the place from which they came. So here they are. Can you get a sense of the terroir from my notes? (All wines are Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignons except the Tokaji dessert wine at the end):

1. Ehlers Estate 2004 ($34.99/bottle)
With aromas of cassis, black currant, oak, and the slightest suggestion of smoke, this uncomplicated but very tasty medium-full bodied wine offers flavors of currant, tart plum, and oak, with a light herbal note on the finish. I want to drink this with a gourmet hamburger.

2. Robert Craig Affinity 2003 ($44.99/bottle)
Wonderful, enchanting aromas of dark berries, clove, cinnamon, and toasty oak gives way to flavors of tart raspberry fruit, oak, clove, and spice.

3. Whitehall Lane 2004 ($43.99/bottle)
Despite my comments about terroir above, this wine's nose stood out as different from the others, showing more cherry and adding a cedary layer to the more expected oak aromas (see also #5 below). It offers flavors of blackberry, oak, and a hint of cocoa, with firm tannins emerging on the finish, suggesting a need for longer aging. It's good now, but it will be better in two or three years.

4.Schweiger 2003 ($49.99/bottle)
Cassis, oak, and red licorice aromas lay the groundwork for flavors of blackberry, black currant, black pepper, and coffee, all rounded out by toasty oak. Full-bodied, this wine's plush mouthfeel mitigates the drying tannins on the finish.

5. Ghost Block 2004 ($59.99/bottle)
With ripe jammy fruit, green pepper, and a touch of smoke on the nose, this wine smells as much like an Argentinian carmenère as a Napa cab and, so, is one of two wines whose aromas don't fit this lineup's standard profile (see also #3, above). But with flavors of concentrated dark berry fruit, coca-cola, cinnamon, and fig, who cares? This is a big, rich, new-world wine, and I like it.

6. Fisher Coach Insignia 2003 ($71.99/bottle)
The berry and oak aromas of this wine are so concentrated and rich that they suggest a mixture of black cherry and cream sodas. The flavor reveals dark berry fruit that is very ripe without being sweet or cloying, followed by a hint of bitter herbs on the finish. The real strength of this wine, however, is its combination of plush mouthfeel--seamless red velvet--with surprising but well-balanced acidity. It simply screams for a rich slab of prime rib. Red velvet? Prime rib? Christmas, anyone?

7. Robert Mondavi Reserve 2004 ($125.99/bottle)
Very expressive nose of rich, concentrated cassis, vanilla, spice, and molasses cookie. Ripe cassis and berry fruit is well-balanced with candied spice and a hint of tar, all set against firm but integrated tannins. Oak is present but restrained. This wine is fantastic now; in five years it will be stunning. Don't forget the steak when you pop this knockout.

8. Tokaj Kereskedohaz Tokaji Aszu 2001 4 puttonyos (26.99/500 ml bottle)
This opulent dessert wine from Hungary will please both the palate and the intellect. It smells like smoked peach and apricot nectar mixed with just a splash of diesel fuel. (Somehow, it works.) Its flavor is even more intriguing, managing to be simultaneously very sweet and pleasantly bitter--apricot syrup infused with medicinal herbs and cigarette tobacco, which transsubstantiates into sweet pipe tobacco on the improbably long finish. This is Sauternes after reading Kafka.

A Good Year

As the book closes on 2007, I spent some time the last few days analyzing the wine tasting "lineup cards" that have been provided every Thursday night this year (except for Thanksgiving), and was surprised myself by just how many great wines have been poured. From a "value" tasting back on the 4th of January through last week's "best of" celebration, over 325 wines have been served on Thursday nights throughout the year, and another 250 or so have been offered on Mondays. That's nearly 600 wines!

The tastings this year fueled several trends at Stimmel's Market; Spanish wines were a big hit, and with over 40 solid wines poured this year, the selection of Spanish reds soared. Our French selection blossomed as well, notably dozens of additions in the areas of Rhone and Bordeaux. California Cabernets, as popular as they were at the beginning of the year, continued to be the ultimate crowd-pleasers (and by the way, don't miss TONIGHT'S great Napa Cab tasting), and good Pinot Noir from California and elsewhere was had by all. Great beers from around the world continued to flow, and we managed to fit in sake, mead, and other assorted goodies in the past 12 months. Next week I'll post my personal favorites of the year.

Stimmel's luckily added Sara Thieman to the wine and beer staff, and we somehow coerced Lance Massey to post his Thursday night tasting notes (which are simply great). As 2008 looms, look for more of the same, as we will continue to scour the world in search of great wines, great bargains, and fun themes for tastings. January will feature a HUGE Rhone tasting, a New World vs. Old World taste-off, more of the Top 100 wines of '07, another great cheese tasting, and the first Stimmel's Market field trip (details coming soon).

All of us here at Stimmel's look forward to seeing all of you in the coming weeks, and wish you the best this holiday season!

Cheers!
Bill Stimmel

Lance's Tasting Notes: The Best of '07

Stimmels' Thursday, December 6 tasting featured only wines from Wine Spectator's prestigious list of the top 100 wines of 2007. Does it get any better than that?

Still, there's one problem with tasting truly great, or even very good, wines: sometimes they're so seamless, so well-integrated, that it's hard to pick out specific flavors and aromas. When that happens, I turn to other facets of a wine--body, mouthfeel, balance, etc. So, while the descriptions below may contain some of the same taste and aroma descriptors (how, after all, can one say a wine smells like smoked salmon when one can barely discern smoke at all from among the superfine mesh of flavors that it comprises?), there will be noticeable differences in descriptions of these other facets. Maybe as my skills as a taster develop, I'll be able to consistently distinguish pine from resin, saddle leather from worn boot, or roasted game from charcuterie. But for now, I'll make do with the tools I've got. Here goes:

(Numbers in parentheses indicate the wine's rank on Wine Spectator's top 100 wines of 2007)

1. Chateau St. Jean Fume Blanc 2006 (California) $13.99/bottle (#35)
Nice, shimmery-silver color, with very pleasant aromas of citrus, herb, and something suggestive of richness I can't pin down. The simple flavor profile of lemon tart, herbs, and light cream is very well-integrated in this medium-bodied, very smooth and supply-textured wine.

2. Amisfield Pinot Noir 2005 (New Zealand) $35.99/bottle (#22)
Pretty brick red color. Aromas of cherry, strawberry licorice, smoke, and damp earth unfold in the flavor as well (with a hint of spice thrown in) in this crisply acidic pinot. A great food wine.

3. Perrin & Fils Vacqueyras 2005 (France) $26.99/bottle (#97)
Dark magenta color. Aromas of sea, green olive, white pepper, and blackberry. Medium bodied, with nice flavors of blackberry, intense peppery spice, brine, and pencil lead. This red from the southern Rhone would be a perfect match with just about any dishes (esp. mediterranean) made with olives or rosemary.

4. Chateau Pontet-Canet 2004 (France) $49.99/bottle (#34)
Dark red with a lightly brownish tint, this medium-full Bordeaux shows lots of leather, earth, and red ripe berries on the nose. Behind the firm, still-young tannins, one can sense ripe currant and loads of leather and minerality wanting to burst through. In time. Very smooth mouthfeel.

5. Owen Roe Ex Umbris 2005 (Washinton) $29.99/bottle (#69)
This syrah didn't show me much on the nose, with faint spice, ripe blueberry, and something like tree bark (or another term for a mix of earthy and woody). But the taste was a different story: bold, lush, and kinetic, flavors of superripe blue and purple berries, intense peppery spice, and hints of graphite and licorice zipped around in my mouth. This full-bodied wine is like a fine suede: deeply textured and tactile but fairly elegant at the same time.

6. JC Cellars The Impostor 2005 (California) $37.99/bottle (#52)
This full-bodied blend of zinfandel, mourvedre, petit syrah, and syrah is dark purple, with aromas of blackberry liquer and wild brambles dominating. The wine is so ripe and concentrated it's almost syrupy, with extracted flavors of sweet berry liqueur and superripe berries, zippy spice, and a lightly salty, sanguine note. When I hear people say they don't drink fine wine because they couldn't appreciate it, I know they've never had a wine like this one. It's hard not to love something with this much sheer flavor and texture.

7. Mollydooker Carnival of Love 2005 (Australia) $79.99/bottle (#8)
Did I say "The Impostor" was thick and concentrated? Geeeez. This very full-bodied, inky, purple-black wine smells like blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream, and in the mouth it is absolutely decadent--oozingly ripe, spicy, thick, syrupy, chewy, luscious almost to a fault. Parker gave it a 99. I wouldn't go that far (it's almost too much), but this is a wine you need to try before you die.

Lance's Tasting Notes

Hi everybody. Lance here. I've been a regular at Stimmels' tastings since August of 2006, and Bill recently tapped me to post my notes on the wine side of Thursday's wine/beer tastings. I'm thrilled to be a part of Stimmels' effort to bring great craft beers and fine domestic and imported wines to BG and the surrounding area. So, without further ado, here are my notes on "Around the World," the tasting for Thursday, November 29.

1. Faively Bourgogne 2005. (France/Burgundy; 100% Chardonnay) $21.99/bottle
The first thing I noticed about this very interesting (and good) white Burgundy was that it smells like movie popcorn, with a combination of toast and butter aromas. On the palate the wine is buttery, with sour apple fruit and just a hint of smoke and minerality. Good acidity for pairing with food.

2. Chateau Gigognan Clos du Roi Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2003 (France/Rhone). $49.99/bottle
This red is very different for a CdP, but if you give it a chance I think you'll like it. Rich and full-bodied, with flavors of black olive and brine followed by pronounced black licorice on the long finish.

3. Justin Orphan 2005 (California/Paso Robles; blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petite verdot, and petite syrah) $24.99/bottle
Simple but good, with bright, ripe cherry fruit and lots of vanilla. A bit on the oaky side for my taste, but lots of people will love this easy-to-drink red.

4. Planeta Syrah 2004 (Italy/Sicily) 39.99/bottle
Very nice wine. Loads of black currant and dark berry fruit with well-integrated herb, black pepper, and salt/blood flavors. With efforts like this, it's no surprise that Sicily has recently begun to get international attention for its wines.

5. Numanthia Termes 2005 (Spain/Toro; Tinta de Toro) $39.99/bottle
Wow. Robert Parker gave the 2004 vintage of this wine 94 pts., and I think this one is right on 2004's heels. Deep, rich, lush, and powerfully tannic, this very young red is already elegant and smooth--hedonism in a bottle. Still, I'd wait five, even ten+ years to drink it. If you would ever consider spending $40 on a wine, make it this one (which easily drinks like a $100+ wine).

6. Tait Ballbuster 2006 (Australia/Barossa; 80% shiraz, 10% cabernet sauvignon, 10% merlot) $17.99/bottle
Very ripe, concentrated dark berry fruit, layered with earth, minerality, and a touch of oak. More complex, and more enjoyable, than the average Aussie "fruit bomb."

7. Churchill Vintage Porto 1997 (Portugal) 76.99/bottle
I don't usually fall in line with "expert" opinions, but the Wine Spectator's description of blackberry and lead pencil are right on. Richly-textured, dense, and lightly sweet, with still-discernable tannins.

Ommegang Gift Pack

We only have six of these gems: Ommegang gift packs, retailing for about $20 a box, containing a limited edition 10-year anniversary glass, a limited edition 750ml bottle of Chocolate Indulgence (a new holiday beer) and a 750ml bottle each of Three Philosophers and Hennepin.

Soft?

A couple of weeks back, one my distributors dropped off a sample of the latest IPA (which will remain anonymous) for me to sample. I tried it at home later that night, and it was a truly horrible beer. Terribly unbalanced, the brew was so ridiculously over-hopped that I had the distinct flavor of bile (which I hadn't tasted since my college days, but that's another story) in my mouth for hours after I had taken my last sip.

India Pale Ales (aka IPA) have been one of the hottest craft beer styles on the market the past several years, and many self-described "hop-heads" can't get enough of 'em. There are some outstanding ones available (right here at Stimmel's Market), like Great Lakes Commodore Perry, Dogfish Head 60 Minute, Goose Island, Harpoon, Bell's Two Hearted and many more. The best India Pale Ales tend to balance the extreme hoppiness with a healthy dose of malted barley, resulting in fresh, spicy, citrusy beers that are framed by a slightly sweet breadiness.

Well, these days many brewers are trying to push the envelope on hoppiness, and in the process are kissing the malt good-bye. It's almost as if a bunch of guys are sitting around the brewhouse saying "Dude, let's put TWICE as much hops in the brew, that'll be COOL!". While creativity and experimentation are what make the American craft beer industry great, I believe the focus of bottling a new beer should be simple: Is it a well-made, quality product? Sadly, many are not.

And that brings me to my conversation with the distributor last week (after I had tried the IPA). When I told him that I thought the beer was out of balance, too hoppy, and just not very good, his reply was "Eh, you're just getting soft." Soft, no. Critical, yes.

Winter Whites

I sat down with some friends earlier in the week to taste a handful of white wines. As it gets colder outside, most of us tend to think about big, chewy red wines, and begin a Winter-long white wine-drinking hiatus. Well, we defied that trend, and blind-tasted Sauvignon Blancs - specifically two bottles of Sancerre from the Loire valley in France, and two bottles of Sauvignon Blanc from the Marlborough region in New Zealand. All four were quite good, but I especially loved the two Kiwi whites.

Nobilo SB (retails for around $12), nearly reminded me of an Alsatian white, as it showed vibrant, zesty tart fruit balanced by a yeasty breadiness mid-palate. The Babich SB (retails for around $13), as one other taster described, was "an explosion of citrus fruit" on the palate. Unabashed, grapefruit and orange peel jump out of the glass, and the flavors remain persistent. If you're looking for good, thought-provoking, reasonably priced white wines to enjoy year-round, these New Zealand Sauv Blancs will do the trick.