Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Arrowood Merlot (Sonoma County) 1996

A medium ruby starting to show some brick at the edges. A clean but modest nose of dark stone fruits and violets. The tannins are smooth and melting away. Blackberries and plums; rose petals. Lovely but starting to fade. Drink up. Grade: B

Sunset Cellars Twin Creeks Vineyard Barbera (Napa Valley) 2000*

This is a delicious, intensely fruity wine. Granted it doesn't taste very much like an Italian Barbera, but who cares? A clean nose of spices and dark fruits. On the palate, one picks up spicy, peppery, chocolate and cherries. The current release is 2001 - I'm going to buy some, but I'll also try to track down some more of the 2000. Grade: B+

Interstate wine shipments

A reader who heard my weekly gig on Hugh's show sent along a good question:

I could be wrong, but didn't the Supreme Court strike down the individual States' restrictions on shipping wine as a violation of the Commerce Clause about a year ago or so? I do recall reading something to that effect, and then I heard your comment today about those restrictions.

There have been a bunch of appeals court cases, which have been trending strongly towards striking down these antiquated special interest laws. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has not yet taken cert in one of these cases. The Wine Institute has a website that explains the legal issues and provides a state-by-state analysis of wine shipping laws.

Bonterra Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (North Coast) 2000

Inoffensive. Thin. Vegetal. Despite the big deal they make about this wine being organically grown, it is largely indistingushable from the mass of moderately-priced industrial-produced reds. Fine for the middle of the week, bu that's it. Grade: C

Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley) 1999

Yummy. A huge nose. Deep flavors. Chocolate. Pencil box. Dark fruits. Mint. Smooth, well-integrated tannins. Delicious now, but probably will improve for a decade or more. Grade: A

Reader wine questions

From Aaron of aaron's rantblog writes:

I don't know if you're familiar with kosher wines, but the impression is that they've been improving. Herzog, Yarden, Golan, etc. are some of the well-known brands. No longer cough-syrupy sweet.

I agree. I once had a sauvignon blanc from the Golan Heights that was especially good. Unfortunately, I can't remember the brand. But don't discount those old Concord grape-based kosher wines. Back when I was younger and had a stronger liver we used to put Manischewitz concord grape wine into those plastic freezer pop molds and zap them with some liquid nitrogen. Made great adults-only grape pops.

I've had the fantasy of being able to have a case of wine from the years of my children's births (1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1997 and 2002) to uncork at their weddings. Can you recommend a way for me to find suitable wines that might stand the test of time to be reasonably drinkable 21 years after their bottling?

Your best bet for aging that long is vintage port. Bordeaux from a great vintage, such as 1988 or 1990 would be a good bet. I've had 20+ year old california wines, and find it a very hit or miss experience -- mostly miss. The Wine Spectator's web site has vintage charts that will help you figure out which years are likely candidates, as well as reviews to help you pick specific wines. (Unfortunately, reviews older than one year are available only to subscribers.)

Newton Chardonnay Unfiltered (Napa Valley) 2000

A lovely pale gold wine. Strong, oaky nose. Yummy flavors of pear, pineapple, and spices. Long citric finish. Most California chardonnay does not age well, but I have a sneaking suspicion this wine would hold and even improve for several more years. Grade: B+

Ridge Nervo Late Picked Zinfandel (Sonoma County) 2000

It's been cold and wet here in LA today, so it was great to come home and find a beef stew cooking for dinner. I wanted a big wine, with lots of stuffing to stand up to the stew. Late picked and late harvest zins are not my thing, but I have to admit that the Nervo fit the bill quite nicely. A deep purple-black, with very strong legs. A huge wine with 15.7% alcohol and a trace of residual sugar. It's still pretty tannic, so your mouth definitely puckers in the finish. A somewhat jammy flavor of plums and blackberries, and a pretty strong element of chocolate-covered black cherries, but with a good bite of black pepper on the finish. Grade: B