Marglin on Taste

Wine, like Seinfeld, is a show about everything and nothing. To some (on some days, to me) wine is everything. Then again, it’s just a beverage. It’s liquid. You drink it, it becomes but a memory. And wine is a show — the list, ordering, presentation of the bottle, cutting the foil, uncorking, decanting, pouring a little to taste, swirling, sniffing, sipping, aerifying, swallowing, proclaiming, pouring, pronouncing, prognosticating, pontificating, (hopefully) ordering more.In America, the star of the show is Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon — Napa cab. (Wine folk love abbreviations.) Right now, Napa Valley cabs, especially the incredible ’94s, are hot. Lots of great wines are made in Napa Valley, from lots of different grape varieties, as the weather is almost always perfect for many grapes. But it’s cabernet that is the most celebrated.

Cabernet sauvignon (the grape) has its origins in Bordeaux, where it’s the primary variety used in most of the great red wines of that region. But red Bordeaux is always a blend, usually of the following five grapes: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec, and petit verdot, usually in respective percentages of around 80, 11, 5, 4, and 1 to 2. California’s innovation was to distinguish its wines by focusing on the grape variety: hence the 100-percent cab. These tend to be big, even overwhelming wines, which work best with some form of red meat or cheese. Me, I’ll drink straight cabs with pizza or fish, but the nuances and passion of these wines come through best when they’re paired with pungent flavors.

Napa cabs don’t come cheap. The starting price for really good bottles is $20. (I can recommend some decent Napa cabs under $20, which give a sense of the grape, but right at $20 the wines start to be worth twice that.) Why all the fuss? Napa cabs are bold, they are brash, they are peppery, but they can be elegant and demure too, in the sense that they hide their fruit. They exude complexity. The fruits are lush: currants, berries, some say cherries and plums. People talk of oak and cedar, tar and molasses, tobacco and tea. I have heard tell of maple syrup and mint flavors, vanilla and licorice, leather, cocoa and pecans, even cigar boxes.

Cabs bring out the most epic descriptions because they offer so many flavors and so many enticing nuances. Cabs are also power wines, for those who can afford it (or who are on an expense account). But caveat emptor, because a lot of people — indeed, a lot of enthusiastic wine people — don’t have the taste for cab. A lot of modern winemaking technique is going into making these Napa monsters more accessible, faster. Vintners are removing tannins and softening the taste, so that the wines will be more ready on release, less in need of aging. A lot of these youngsters still need big air, though, so get them open as early as possible before drinking.

As usual, these recommendations are subject to availability and some price fluctuations. Check with your local retailer.

**1995 Hess Select ($12, Wine and Cheese Cask, Somerville)

When you see Hess Select cab from a decent year, you’ll want to buy it, because it’s released mostly to restaurants. This is an unassuming little table wine, with loads of fruit, especially these elusive strawberry undertones. A soft nose.

**l994 St. Supery ($15, the Wine Press, Brookline; Wine and Cheese Cask)

A supple but somewhat nondescript little number, with easy floral flavors that are broad and inviting. A good cab to begin with, and a mellow finisher.

**1995 William Hill ($15, all over)

A round, blueberry flavor that starts out robust and then sort of descends into innocuousness. A decent cheese-and-crackers wine with a nice label.

***1993 Hess Collection ($20, Wine and Cheese Cask)

This is a wonderfully full wine, with smooth oak and vanilla, that open up new vistas of flavor in the mouth. Always a value, Hess Collection is worth the price. Trust me: you must find this and consume.

*** 1994 Oakville Franciscan ($21, Marty’s Liquors, Allston and Newton)

A mama ‘94, with loads of spice and fruit (overt strawberry: yum!). This wine has a solid structure, tons of tannin, and character to spare. A stunner to drink or hold.

***1994 Truchard ($27, Marty’s, Wine and Cheese Cask)

Gentle moss and earth give way to light tar and smoked oak. Some chocolate. This keeper drinks well now, but it’s such a huge, outdoorsy wine that I would put a bottle or two away for a rainy day, or a blizzardy night. It’s selling fast.

As we start 1998, there are three major stories in the world of wine. The first of these I’ll cover only briefly: the incredible rising cost of high-end wine. Mainly I mean the great chateaux of Bordeaux and the premium red and white wines from Burgundy, whose prices have gone through the roof. For example, the “futures” prices of 1996 Bordeaux are triple (!) those of the superior 1995 vintage. (Futures are wines you buy while they’re still in the barrels, before bottling; it’s a bit like betting on how the Pats will do at the beginning of the season.) A case of 1982 Mouton-Rothschild — which could have been bought as a future in 1983 for $550 — now sells for more than $7000. And the futures price for a case of the far-less-exceptional 1996 Chateau Latour right now is an even $3000. Yikes!More examples of the exorbitant prices people are paying at auction for the best wines: a magnum (a double-sized bottle) of Chateau Pétrus 1970 can be had for $2000. Top burgundies from good years go for upwards of $100 a bottle. In short, the wine world has gone a little crazy; the wine writer Robert Parker attributes this phenomenon to increased demand from Russia and the Far East. The result is that at the top of the market, single bottles can cost more than hotel rooms or intercontinental plane fares. To paraphrase Marie Antoinette, I say: let those rich folk drink their cake.

Story number two is at the other end of the spectrum: the rise of inexpensive wines from around the world to compete with killer American wines. I’ve talked about some aspects of this trend in previous columns — the awesome revitalization of Spanish winemaking, the increasing dominance of mass-produced Australian wines — and over the coming months I will look at the wines of Chile and Argentina, South Africa (which finally relaxed its strict import laws enough to let in some decent vines, so that new grape varietals could be grown), and even Italy, which has discovered the benefits of seeking lower yields from its vines. (Lower yields mean less fruit, which means better fruit, which means better wine — and higher profits.)

The result of this global improvement is that much decent wine is being made for less than 10 bucks a bottle, and plenty of really good wine for less than $20, and lots of great wine, from all over the world, for less than $30. Our mission has been to bring some of these wines to your attention, so you can share our pleasure in them.

But the third story is the one I’ll be focusing on this week and over my next few columns: the fact that West Coast wines now set the standard for quality throughout the world. Once France had that honor, and California tried to compete on the strength of its top dogs. But since 1985 (some would go back to the Paris Wine Competition of 1976, which pitted California cabs and chards against their French counterparts, with the California wines basically surpassing the French), the best wines for the dollar have come from California and, more recently, from Oregon and Washington.

Over the next few weeks we will visit Napa, the land of the monster cabs and merlots, where the weather seems practically perfect, and we will drift over to Sonoma, where the rougher conditions and smaller wineries are starting to yield awesome pinot noirs and bodacious red zins. We’ll go south to Monterey, where some splendid chardonnays are made, and then to Santa Barbara, which is finally gaining the recognition it deserves for producing some of the finest wines anywhere. Then we will head north to Oregon — land of the dynamic pinot noirs — and Washington, where the merlots and cabs are starting to come into their own.

For now, here are some previews. Enjoy!

** 1995 Guenoc California Cabernet Sauvignon ($12.95, Merchants, Boston)

Young and fruity, with loads of cherry and spice. Air this blend out a little. I think it will improve with age. Mainly cabernet sauvignon, but with the traditional bits of merlot, cab franc, petit verdot, and malbec tossed in to make a true Bordeaux blend (what other wineries call a Meritage wine).

*** 1995 Tualatin Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon ($14.95, Merchants, Bauer, Wine Cellars of Silene)

For the money, you cannot get a more balanced pinot noir. Though not as fruity as many Oregon pinots, this one has gumption. Beware the sediment on top, and let this bad boy breathe for a while in your glass before drinking. Lovely violet bouquet.

*** 1994 Purple Mountain Chardonnay, Monterey ($14.99, Marty’s, Merchants)

A majestic chardonnay, with loads of ripe pear fruit, only slight oak, a lean taste, clean crisp flavor, and a gentle finish,. This is just gorgeous wine for the money. Buy.

*** 1994 Rabbit Ridge San Lorenzo Reserve Zinfandel ($21.99, the Wine Cask)

I know, you know, everybody knows zin is in. This fruity specimen attacks with blackberry and cassis up front, but the fruit has softened nicely with age. Made from 100-year-old vines, this wine epitomizes Sonoma.

*** 1996 Andrew Murray Vineyards Roussanne, Santa Barbara ($27.99, coming soon to Bauer and Merchants, and also available at Biba — look around for it)

Listen here: Roussanne, a Rhône varietal, makes for a truly awesome white wine. This baby is round and voluptuous, with a light sylvan quality, full-on peach flavor, and a delightful hint of nutmeg scent. Taste the peach. And serve cold.

Right now, Spanish wine (along with Chilean wine) is the next big thing. And if you’re like me, you’ve heard a lot about these bottles, but you haven’t tried many. Well, now I’m raving about Spanish wine, and though there’s a lot out there to steer clear of, there is also an abundance that is super-affordable and of exceptional quality.Wineries in Spain are known as bodegas, which means, roughly, a storehouse for wine, or a small shop that sells wine. Elsewhere, it’s common for wine producers to grow their own grapes; in Spain, more often than not, independent growers sell grapes to the bodegas, which make and sell the wine. In Rioja, Spain’s best-known winegrowing region, only a handful of bodegas claim to be self-sufficient in terms of both growing grapes and making wine; according to one estimate, bodegas own around 8 percent of the planted vines in the area.

When most people think of Spanish wine, they think of Rioja. The wine’s image has been that of a fairly heavy, oaky, wood-aged red; but nowadays many Riojas are fruitier and more approachable, and hence can be enjoyed with less aging. All the rage right now are crianzas, three-year-old Riojas made primarily with the tempranillo grape (Spain’s finest red grape), and aged for at least one year in oak barrels. They’re popular for good reason — their versatility means you can drink a crianza with pizza or chicken. And though they can be a tad tart, they pack plenty of juicy flavor, more than enough to cut through a lot of spicy foods and even tomato-based sauces. I’m particularly fond of Sierra Cantabria, a lush wine that smells of figs and drinks like pear juice, with an appealing, lively wood flavor that lingers pleasantly in the mouth. (Riojas aged longer are labeled as Riservas and Gran Riservas, and are accordingly more expensive.)

Rioja may be a good place to start, but there are many other Spanish wines worth drinking. And given how exceptionally good 1994 was (”the perfect year” for Spanish winemakers, said Bodega Breton’s winemaker, Miguel Angel de Gregorio Sanchez), it’s hard to go wrong with any wine from that year. Many 1994s will need more time in the bottle to mellow, but a number of the better wines were built for speed, ready to roll down your throat right now.

Besides Rioja, the hottest wines come from the next region over to the west, the Ribera del Duero, right now the most interesting Spanish region for red. These wines are stunning, less oaky and with more fruit up front. Good Ribera del Dueros include the renowned Tinto Pesquera and Balbas Tinto Reserva. Another Ribera del Duero wine, Teofilo Reyes from Bodegas Reyes, was mind-boggling in 1994, and young and untamed in 1995 — but alas, according to Lindy Campbell of M.R.R. Traders, which owns Merchants Wine and Spirits and imports a lot of Spanish wines, a whole shipment of the 1995 was lost at sea when a huge wave lopped off the front of the ship carrying it. So if you see any (and Bauer Wines on Newbury may have some left at $24.99 a bottle), just grab it. Then see Titanic and think about the power of the sea.

When it comes to white wines, I am rather underwhelmed by Rioja’s offerings, finding them too thick and musty, with lemony overtones and a cloying feel in the mouth. The Spanish white-wine grape to look for is albariño; Burgans may be the label most readily available ($10.99 at Merchants, Bauer, Brookline Liquor Mart, the Wine Cask — who isn’t selling this wine?). One of my friends, though he doesn’t usually like white wines all that much, commented, “How can you not like this? It’s most excellent!” So go get some, and serve it with a paella, oysters, or even a nice Bertucci’s pizza. This is a seafood wine, though, and it definitely belongs in Boston.

**1/2 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Crianza 1994 ($10.99, Bauer Wines, Boston; Merchants Wine and Spirits, Boston)

The best $11 bottle of wine I’ve had this year. Just superb. Lightly oaky, with plenty of blackberry flavors showing through its burnt-caramel façade.

*** Bodegas Reyes Ribera del Duero Teofilo Reyes 1995 ($24.99, Bauer)

Although the 1994 was significantly better, the ‘95 will come into its own. With huge tannins and tons of ripe fruit bursting out at the seams, this is a massive and concentrated red wine that shoots sparks of cherry.

*** Conde de Valdemar 1990 Rioja Gran Riserva ($19.99 , not yet released)

I bought a bottle of this in New York; though the 1989 is available at Merchants, I prefer the 1990, with its deep ruby-red color and flavors of fig and black currants, plus a ton of oak. Lively on the mouth, this wine will overwhelm anything that ain’t meat, so serve it alone or with some serious heavy sauces. A powerhouse. It rules.

** Bodegas de Vilarino-Cambados Burgans Albariño 1996 ($9.99, everywhere)

This wine has an almost banana-ish taste to it, with lot of zest and lemon. Don’t be put off by its pétillant (faintly sparkling) qualities, because that hint of CO₂ keeps the wine fresh.

*** Pazo De Barrentes Albariño 1996 ($17.99, Bauer)

A smooth and silky wine, with enticing vanilla and honey accents and a crisp finish. A hint of pétillance gives it good bite. A winner!