Chinese coin wine bottle
October 31, 2018

Wine Diary: Dragon’s Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2005

I was browsing through the Artisan Cellar one day when I discovered a glitch in the matrix in the form of a 13 year old bottle of unoaked Chinese Chardonnay. It was just sitting there in the discount bin, the same bin I had combed over countless times before. How had I missed this?

I’ve been on the hunt for good Chinese wine ever since I read Thirsty Dragon, but it seems most wine shops won’t touch it. The few people I know who have encountered it tell me the quality isn’t there. Of course, they say the same thing about those Eastern European wines I’ve come to love so much, so I figured it’s worth checking out. Unfortunately, Chinese grape wine is nearly impossible to find.

I had some minor success in Chicago’s Chinatown Square, where I was able to find Chinese wine for sale, but both bottles I purchased were oxidized. It was a dire omen for my hopes of finding a good Chinese wine. Then this happened.

Dragon's Hollow Chinese unoaked Chardonnay label wine bottle

The bottle was one big red flag. Chardonnay is capable of aging, but my limited knowledge on the subject told me it needed oak. As I understood it, this wine would have been best within 1-2 years, maybe up 5. Some of the best Chardonnay in the world can age a decade or more, but that’s something we associate with high dollar Burgundy, not bargain bin Chinese wine. Bottom line, it was a risky bottle. So what do you do? On one hand this may be that good Chinese wine I’ve been searching for, but on the other everything about the situation screamed, “Walk away!”

It was a difficult decision, so I reached into the furthest depths of my arcane wine knowledge and asked the clerk what he thought. “Do you stand by this wine?” Was my question.

“Would you?” He asked. “Look, that bottle has been knocking around the shelves for years. If you want it, I’ll sell it to you for half price just to get rid of it. It’s something my predecessor bought. If it’s no good, let me know and I’ll make it up to you.”

At this point, the bottle was now essentially risk free. Obviously, I bought it.

Chinese wine Dragon's Hollow unoaked Chardonnay label glass

I strongly suspect the wine was past its prime, but not unpleasantly so. It had great complexity, flavors of cantaloupe and pear with herbal notes, the acidity was well balanced, and overall I found it to be a smooth and pleasant experience. I would absolutely buy another bottle from this producer.

I don’t have much knowledge of Chinese wine. In my two WSET certifications, it wasn’t even mentioned. The instructor went out of his way to ridicule South African Pinotage, he didn’t seem like the kind of guy to ask about wine off the beaten path.

According to the bottle, Dragon’s Hollow is produced in the Helan Mountain Appellation. This mountain range is in northwest China, right against a desert region that separates China from Mongolia. It’s part of the Ningxia region, which has developed a some positive attention for their wines.

I was able to find the producer’s website, though it appears they haven’t updated their site or social media accounts in about seven years, with the exception of posts on Twitter about the Voice and Friskies cat fishing scores. According to the bottle, the wine was imported by Broadbent Selections, but the label is not currently listed on their site. However, the Dragon’s Hollow website lists MHW as their importer, though they also do not appear to list the wine on their site.

To make a long story short (too late), I do not know if they are still producing wine. While it would be a shame to lose the only good wine producer I’ve found just as I discover them, the experience has encouraged me to continue looking for new wines and new wine regions.

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Pinot Blanc Alsace white wine bottle
October 29, 2018

Wine Diary: Chateau d’Orschwihr Pinot Blanc 2015

Similar to Nemean wine, there’s something about Alsatian wines that just makes me want to put the rest of the world on hold. So, when I stumbled across this Pinot Blanc at Gene’s Sausage Shop, I knew it was time to clear my calendar.

According to their website, Chateau d’Orschwihr dates back to 1049 and is known to have been producing wine since the seventeenth century. The vineyard has been family owned since the 1950’s and have made a strong effort to produce wine sustainably, they touch on everything from fertilizer use to additives and even their recycling program.

Bollenberg, referenced on the label, is a hill that sits between the communes of Orschwihr, Rouffach, and Westhalten. It is home to a small church that dates back to the 6th century. It also, according to some sources I found, held significance for local Celts in the pre-Roman era. Some myths claim is was once a meeting place for witches, in fact, the church is sometimes referred to as the Chapel of Witches. Every August locals gather for a festival to burn an effigy of a witch.

Cat Wine Bottle Alsace France Pinot Blanc Chateau d'Orschwihr

As for the wine, this may be the first time I wasn’t absolutely blown away by a wine from Alsace. There was nothing technically off about it, I just wasn’t enjoying it as much usually do. It seemed to have this harsh grapefruit finish that I couldn’t get passed. I finished one glass and put it back in the fridge disappointed. The next night I tried it again and it seemed much more enjoyable. I don’t know if it needed time to mellow or if my palate was just off on the first day, in either case I developed a much more favorable opinion after the second tasting. If I find another bottle I may pick it up, just to see if I have a similar experience.

Despite my initial negative reaction, I had a lot of fun with this bottle. After taking it home and setting up the camera to get some pics, my cat decided I wasn’t paying enough attention to him and jumped up on the table. No matter how many times I put him back on the floor, he kept jumping back up there. I eventually gave up and used it as an excuse to get some pics of him with the wine bottle. He never sits still long enough for me to get a good photo.

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Red wine bottle glass Prokupac Serbian wine Janko Podrum
October 19, 2018

Wine Diary: Janko Podrum Bas Prokupac 2015

I knew what was about to happen, Butcher Pete was going to come over and we were going to sit up until four in the morning talking about ridiculous things. It’s important to have friends like that. Generally, I join him in cracking cans of Old Style or PBR, but I’m a wine guy, dammit, and drinking the same thing over and over wasn’t furthering my understanding of that thing I love, so I decided to pick up a nice bottle of Serbian wine to drink.

Red wine bottle label Prokupac Serbian wine Janko Podrum

Gene’s Sausage Shop in Lincoln Square carries a pretty diverse selection of labels, far beyond that of some self-proclaimed wine shops I’ve visited. They have a dedicated section for Eastern European wine, which I appreciate, and they rotate their stock often, so it’s always worth going in to see what’s new. Beyond Gene’s, Lincoln Square has about five shops that carry curated wine lists, and more Eastern European wine than anywhere I’ve been in the city, it’s a good neighborhood for the wine explorer.

Red wine bottle glass cork Prokupac Serbian wine Janko Podrum

After looking through everything, I decided to pick up a bottle of Prokupac, an old Balkan grape I’ve had limited experience with in the past and wanted to learn more about. Gene’s had one label from Janko Podrum, from Smederevo on the Danube River in Serbia. The producer began work in 2006 and is part of what they are calling a, “Renaissance wave of Serbian wine production.” Indeed, there is some very nice wine coming out of Serbia these days and this was no exception.

The wine itself was fruity, with cranberry and raspberry flavors, dry, with had a nice cleansing acidity. It’s always difficult to know what to expect when you’re drinking something you’re unfamiliar with, and my one previous encounter with Prokupac wasn’t enough to give me a solid foundation to build assumptions on. Next time, I think I’ll have expectations and we’ll see how that goes.

I’ve certainly had wines that were more complex, but something like that can be distracting when you’re in the company of friends. As it was, I found it the perfect pairing for an evening of ridiculous conversation.

Wine Diary
September 13, 2018

Wine Diary: Skouras Saint George Nemea 2015

Sometimes we buy a bottle of wine to pair with a meal or an event, situations where the wine enhances the experience. Other times, the wine IS the experience. For me, finding a bottle of Nemean red wine means that whatever else I had planned is off the table, I don’t care if it’s dinner plans with friends or trying to survive the apocalypse, none of that matters now because I’m about to drink this wine.

So, there’s not a good wine shop in my neighborhood. It’s better than Roger’s Park, where I used to live, but most of what I find is mass produced or, honestly, just boring. To be fair, the one shop I do kinda like carries this same wine, but they only had the 2014 vintage and I’d already tried that. There’s a Binny’s a couple miles South of me and it was a nice day, so I decided to take a walk and see what they had. I’m glad I did. I cannot express how excited I was to discover the new vintage of Nemean reds had finally arrived, an excitement neither shared or understood by those standing near me.

Skouras St George Nemean red wine

I’ve always been a bit of a Greek geek, but I caught it bad in college. Plato, Aristophanes, Xenophon, Herodotus, I was reading anyone I could get my hands on. Once I started getting into wine, I had to see what the Greeks were doing. I was not disappointed.

Nemea is a wine region in Greece located in the Northeasten Peloponnese, it’s wines are made from 100% Aghiorghitiko wine. The best usually spend some time in oak. These wines can be elusive, even if you know what you’re looking for. Trust me, I’ve taken day trips into Chicago’s Greektown just to look for bottles I haven’t tried, they’re not easy to find.

Skouras is the producer I have encountered most frequently and they are a fantastic representation of what the region has to offer. Domaine Skouras was founded in 1986 after George Skouras returned to Greece from studying agriculture at the University of Dijon. Since that time they have shown exceptional growth. You can find several of their wines in the US, I’ve tried everything I’ve seen and I’ve never been disappointed.

Skouras St George Nemean red wine 2015 glass of wine steak dinner

This particular wine held up to my expectations, which were high. I savored the plum and clove flavors alone, too greedy to share the experience with anyone else, afraid they couldn’t possibly understand something so beautiful and unwilling to allow them to interrupt my mindgasm.

I can’t tell you that you’re going to have the same experience if you try it, I hope you do. Wine can be a subjective experience, but Nemean reds approach the summit of how great wine can be, at least in my mind.

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Bottle of wine red wine glass of wine hamburger
August 17, 2018

Wine Diary: Bovin Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

The grocery store near my home had a sale on what they call “pub burgers,” which are essentially half pound hamburger patties, pre-formed, and ready to be taken right out of the package and placed on the grill. Generally, I prefer to buy my ground beef in bulk and form my own burgers, but in this case it was cheaper to get them pre-made. Basically, it was like winning the lazy lottery. It had been a long work week and I had suffered through a couple of disappointing hamburger experiences from a large purveyor that was the only lunch option near work, I needed a win.

The trick I’ve found to making a great hamburgers at home is just to do all those little extra things that no one else is willing bother with. Toast the bun with a little butter, caramelize the onion, buy an actual block of good cheese and slice it yourself, just the act of performing these small efforts will make the final product better than anything you’ve had from a restaurant. The final step, the thing that will elevate it beyond your wildest expectations, is to find the right wine.

Macedonian red wine Cabernet Sauvignon Bovin

Wine and hamburgers may seem counter-intuitive to some of you, but I take some kind of perverse pleasure in pairing fine wine with simple workman’s fare. If you make a good hamburger, with a little aged cheddar, and maybe a splash of olive oil, then pair it with the right Cabernet Sauvignon, it can euphoric.

That’s what I was going for here, but it isn’t quite what happened. Like a lot of Americans, when I think about Cabernet Sauvignon, I’m really thinking about California Cabernet Sauvignon. So, when I bought a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Macedonia, it didn’t quite perform the same. In these moments, it’s easy to look for fault in the wine for not living up to our expectations, but I’d never encountered a bottle of Cab from Macedonia, was it really fair for me to think it would taste the same as a bottle of wine from California? I don’t think so.

Bovin Macedonian red wine Cabernet Sauvignon glass of wine hamburger

As it was, the Macedonian wine was great, but lighter and more fruity than what I expected from a Cab. The tannin was there, but didn’t slap me in the face and, therefore, wasn’t enough to cut through the fat of the hamburger and the cheddar as I had hoped. In short, I had a great wine and a great hamburger, they just didn’t pair as well as they could have. If I had made something with pork, maybe bbq or a braised dish with the right sauce, the combination would have been divine. Next time I’ll know.

According to Bovin Winery’s website, this Cabernet is part of the “Classic” collection, which is their third tier of wines. The grapes come from the Tikveš district of the Vardar River Valley wine region in central Macedonia. There are Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the upper two tiers made from selected grapes or vintages, and given time to age in oak. The grapes in this particular wine would be those not from exceptional vintages or the best of their particular harvest. All bottles labeled as Cabernet Sauvignon are 100% varietal wines.

It’s important to try new things. Even if I didn’t get the exact experience I wanted, it gave me two solid ideas for the future. 1) I want to revisit this same wine with a different dish to see how it performs and 2) I’m going to look for one of those premium Macedonian cabs that spent a little time in the barrel next time I want a good burger wine.

Hamburger Bovin Macedonian red wine cabernet savignon glass of wine corks
You have to spill something in the background if you’re posting the picture to Instagram. It’s like some kind of rule, man.
Wine Diary
August 4, 2018

Wine Diary: Vina Skaramuča Plavac Mali 2016

After more than two years of talking about it, I finally rolled up to sleeves and taught myself how to make baguettes. It’s been one of my long term cooking goals since moving to Chicago, but one that intimidated me. Baking, I mean real baking, is an investment of time and patience, things I’m not always good at managing. I’m happy to report that my first attempt was a success, so to celebrate I broke open a bottle of Plavac Mali and made a small charcuterie platter.

Vina Skaramuca Plavac Mali red wine Croatia Pelješac peninsula

If you’ve never heard of Plavac Mali, don’t worry, most Americans haven’t. Plavac is an old Croatian grape, not one of the “Noble” or “International” varieties you find on the shelves of every shop that sells wine. Generally speaking, it’s something you’re going to have to look for. In this case I picked it up from a European grocer here in Chicago, but I’ve also found it in several corner shops. The trick is to look for something locally owned, you’re not going to find this at CVS or 711. Once you get your hands on a bottle, you should be able to walk away with it for around $15.

Vina Skaramuca Plavac Mali red wine Croatia Pelješac peninsula cork glass

This particular bottle comes from Vina Skaramuča, a family vineyard in Croatia’s Pelješac peninsula, overlooking the Adriatic Sea. They are the largest vineyard in the Dingač wine region, so chances are good that you’ll be able to find the same label. The wine was medium-bodied and dry, with a strong black currant aroma, and fruit flavors of cranberry and strawberry. It’s refreshing acidity was a perfect compliment to my homemade baguette charcuterie board.

Vina Skaramuca Plavac Mali red wine Croatia Pelješac peninsula charcuterie

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