How I spent my summer vacation … well, a week of it, anyway …

Attack of the summer reruns!
Like most people, I strive for a healthy mix of work and pleasure. But this summer, I have had more than my share of both … which explains the tardiness of Ten Dollar Tastings this time around. The pleasure included a week in Key West (photo above courtesy of my cell phone on July 4th). Also great fun were a weekend in Atlanta and a visit from Trina's daughter Lynn and grandson Erik.

And my work situation has been intense because, like most places these days, we're short staffed and overworked. My travels and travails have even seriously cut into my time spent tasting and buying at The Wine Merchant. Not even my enormous paycheck can wipe away the tears that has cost me.

So I was thinking about my wine column, and thinking of summer traditions, when it came to me: What could be more of a summer institution than TV reruns? So to honor that grand custom — and to save myself some work — many of the wines featured this time around will be "reruns" from past columns. However, there will still be quite a bit of original material here — for example, the next section …


Peachy-keen recipes for summer
The August 10th, 2007 entry in Karen MacNeil's Wine Lover's Calendar (courtesy of Workman Publishing … go to http://www.pageaday.com) is titled "Summer Sipping" and talks about the Bellini cocktail. According to the calendar, the Bellini was "created in the 1950s at Venice's famous Harry's Bar, a favorite hangout of Ernest Hemingway and other luminaries." It was named after the Italian painter Giovanni Bellini. What's in a Bellini? Most recipes I have consist of a mixture of champagne and peach puree. Karen MacNeil's calls for two parts of well-chilled Prosecco — a sparkling wine made from Prosecco grapes grown in Northern Italy — and one part of pureed and strained peaches. Here's another one is from The Food Network online:

• 4 tablespoons white peach puree
• 1 bottle Prosecco or champagne, chilled

Place one tablespoon white peach puree into the bottom of a Champagne flute. Fill the glass with Prosecco or champagne.

For a delicious and classy alternative to Mimosas, the Bellini cocktail is just the ticket. The Food Network also features interesting variant Bellini recipes:

Peach Ginger Bellini 
Pear Bellini
Roasted Pear Bellini
Orange Cardamom Bellini
Bordeaux Bellini

Here's another recipe from the Wine Lover's Calendar: Zinfandel-poached peaches with spiced yogurt. It's a great way to take advantage of fresh summer peaches, and, as Karen MacNeil points out, a smart use for some leftover zinfandel. Of course, use red Zinfandel rather than its pale cousin, white Zin:

Cut four peaches in half and remove the pits. Peel the skin and poach the peaches in barely simmering Zinfandel for about 15 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking. When the peaches are tender and infused with the color and flavor of the wine, allow them to cool to room temperature.

Now for the fun part: Mix one cup of low-fat vanilla yogurt with a pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg. Top each peach half with two to three tablespoons of yogurt sauce and serve. I want to have some now and it's only 10:30 in the morning!


A blast from the past — featured wines: Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc and Kumkani Viognier/Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc
A bit of wine wisdom that bears repeating from my March 2007 column: Cono Sur is a Chilean winery that is dedicated to producing fine wines, including Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Carmerere, Pinot Noir, Viognier and Syrah. They also offer premium versions of their wines that I have yet to taste. But the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir —both affordable at $9.99 a bottle — are among the best values I’ve ever had.

“No family trees. No dusty bottles. Just quality wines.” That’s what the Cono Sur Web site says, and based on the two wines I’ve tasted, I agree. While the winery offers more expensive lines, its basic Cono Sur varietals offer elegance at a decent price. The Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc, 2005 vintage is a lovely golden color and a taste and aroma that might have blown in from New Zealand. It has the classic New Zealand gooseberry and citrus combination and crisp acidity balanced by some surprising fruitiness. This is a perfect wine as an aperitif, but it almost begs for a summer salad sprinkled with herbs. A real taste treat for only $9.99.

And how about these gems from the May 2007 Ten Dollar Tastings: It's hard to beat the whites of Kumkani Winery from South Africa. The Southern Starz site run by Kumkani's exporters says, "Kumkani wines are produced from grapes grown in prime maritime vineyards on the edge of False Bay- the site of the world’s biggest concentrations of great white sharks. Great grapes and great whites thrive on the same thing — the outcome of the meeting of two great oceans, the Indian and Atlantic, and the resulting climatic conditions and biodiversity."

I have yet to encounter Kumkani's Sauvignon Blanc, Pinotage and other wines, but the two I've tasted are both delicious and worth double the $9.99 price tag:

Kumkani Viognier/Chardonnay, 2005, $9.99. Spice on the end of the tongue, pronounced peach and light butterscotch aromas and taste. The Viognier adds a nice breezy floral aroma. It finishes satisfyingly with a hint of melon. When we tried it with chicken, a touch of sweetness joined the mélange of flavors. Overall, an excellent wine for patio sipping or with food.

Kumkani Chenin Blanc, 2005, $9.99. Another stunner for the price. An aroma you might expect on a chardonnay, foreshadowing the foretaste of pineapple, violets and nice fruit. Good acidity in midrange, ripe on the mid-palate and tangy, lingering, straw-dry finish. This wine is as summery as sunshine and a bright breeze.

So Harry, are you going to steal some red wines from your old columns?
You betcha! Try these on for size, from way back in December 2006:

Periquita, 1999 vintage. Jose Maria da Fonseca, Portugal, $8.99. From the land of vintage port comes this tasty quaff made from the little-known Castelão grape. It’s smoky and sultry, with tobacco and berry aromas and tastes and a long, smooth finish. As the vintage indicates, it ages well, and your guests will think it’s at least twice the price. Note: Since writing this last year, I have gotten one bad bottle of this, so it may be getting to the age where it's a little risky.

Langhorne Crossing Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Malbec blend, 2003, Australia, $8.99. As with many well-crafted blends, this is an easy drinking wine with one varietal rounding out the rough edges of the others and providing depth. Surprisingly complex at this price, aged in French and American Oak and full of Shiraz spice and light fruity flavors.

Crane Lake Petite Sirah, 2003, California, $5.99. That’s right — under six bucks, and I’m told you can find it cheaper. Great blackberry and cherry aromas, and a full-bodied and jammy taste. Its purple robe lends visual appeal. It’s a little weak on structure and the finish is not the longest I’ve seen, but for this price, what a great example of the Petite Sirah grape.


Pick for Charlie
Let's go for a mixture of the old and the new … this time around, Charlie, we're doubling your fun. First, from June: if you are adamant about spending under ten dollars for a bottle of Rioja, have I got a wine for you. It’s the Mi Villa 2004 Rioja ($8.99), an unoaked wine with lots of fruit — cherries, blackberry, raspberry and that peppery spice that Tempranillo is noted for. Comparing it to its older Reserva and Gran Reserva brothers is like comparing a playful puppy with a wise old dog, but there’s enough life and fun here, not to mention complexity for a wine at this price, to delight anyone.

And here's a new one: Also for only $8.99, 2005 Castaño Monastrell from Spain's Yecla region. "Monastrell" is what the Spanish call Mourvedre. This one is a beauty, with plummy aromas and fresh fruit abounding. The February 2007 issue of The Wine Advocate calls it "an insane value" It's almost as rich as Cline Ancient Vines Mourvedre and more complex and intriguing, and at a much lower price. Great tannins and spice on the finish. As usual, it's available at The Wine Merchant and other good wine stores.


Digging deeper
In this episode — formerly aired in May — Harry encounters a booming fruit bomb and fails to shield his wallet from some excellent Spanish treasures:

Here are a few of my all-time favorites in wines over ten dollars. A staple in my wine rack is Campus Oaks Old Vine Zinfandel, probably my all-time favorite everyday wine at any price. It's a big-bodied wine with smooth tannins, an incredible nose with vanilla, cherries and berries and good spice. Long finish and incredible mouthfeel, and for around 12 dollars a bottle you just can't beat it.

If you're stepping up in class a little for that special meal or that special someone, spring for the Spanish spectaculars from Vina Olagosa. Vina Olagosa Rioja Gran Reserva, 1995 offers an incredible complexity, with aromas and tastes of spice, tobacco and light oak. Let it breathe for at least three hours before serving. When people talk of an elegant wine, they are talking about this one. It has great structure and fruit and a long, complex finish. You'll be thinking about this one for along time after tasting. Incredible with marinated, grilled London broil. Be careful, though — the local distributor of this wine tells me that it is reaching the end of its drinkability.


Surf in for more Tastings next time …
Thanks for coming along for the ride. Hope that the reruns weren't too offensive. A few final (and non-rerun) tidbits:

While in Key West, Trina and I tasted wine at the Key West Winery. Hmm, a winery on an island with a thin layer of soil over a coral base? How do they grow the grapes? Well, as their Web site states: "Our wines are non-traditional because we do not use any grapes to produce them." In fact, if ever there was a reason to put "wine" in quotes, it's the Key West Winery. The stuff is drinkable, but it's a little difficult to cultivate a taste for wines made from "fruits, berries and citrus" that include unlikely flavors such as orange wine aged with roasted coffee beans, orange wine fermented with chocolate and the ever-popular tomato and Jalapeño wine. Not keen on shelling out 25 bucks for a mouth-searing weak Bloody Mary in a wine bottle? Where's your sense of adventure? One of the winery's employees warned me against tasting too many offerings because it would "spoil my palate." Too late.

But I recovered it, fortunately, in time to enjoy a wonderful "Wind and Wine" cruise sponsored by Danger Charters on the Fourth of July — where among other wines I sampled the excellent Montevina Terra D'oro Amador County Zinfandel (2003), a rich, brambly fruit cup with lovely hints of vanilla and spice and well-developed fruit. At about 15 bucks a bottle, it definitely is worth the extra few bucks.

Finally, a warm welcome to the Ten Dollar Tastings mailing list goes out to Phil Appleby, whom I believe is our first subscriber from the other side of the pond! From his home in the U.K, Phil prefers to order his wine online from the Sunday Times Wine Club, and after checking it out I can see why. Good to have you aboard, Phil!

Anyway, I'll try to remember that variety is the spice (not in our marriage, honey, don't worry) and enjoy whatever "wine" and life throw my way. Hope you do the same until the next column in September.

Until then, in vino veritas … and que syrah, syrah!

Thanks as always to The Wine Merchant for providing excellent wines, wine education and support. Prices are based on the author’s experience and may vary.

Want me to add you to the Ten Dollar Tastings mailing list so that you can stay informed of new columns? Just send your request to HarryC13@aol.com and I will put your e-mail address on my list. Likewise, let me know if you want to change your e-mail address or have me remove it.