Highly dependent on food being served and the weather. There's a lot of decent dry Rose's around at the moment, which are a favourite right now.

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2024 8:15 am

RyanZ wrote:

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Wed Feb 07, 2024 2:25 pm I'm a big fan of Camillo Donati, who would be my go-to for lambrusco.

Is this one pretty dry? I love the dry offering from Cleto Chiarli. I see on the the Donati site that they make Malvasia too. I am intrigued. I harvested some this past harvest for my white blend at Copain and it turned out amazing.

Indeed, pretty dry.

Chiarli's entry-level bottle sounds cool. Supposedly made in an unusually subtle style. I don't believe I've tried it.

Donati's sparkling malvasia is terrific. Aromatic, a little like bitter ginger beer, at least some years ago. I find myself craving it at Xmas.

Wait, you're back in the winemaking game? Coongrats! Why did I think you had some kinda career shift some years ago?

I did shift- I put my label on ice and took over the winemaking/GM role for Copain Wines in late 2017

enframed wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:28 am Ryan, what else you got in your white blend?

the newly released 2023 Daybreak is a wild mix of
Malvasia Bianca
Riesling
Viognier
Gewurztraminer
Sauvignon Blanc
Chenin Blanc

As you can probably surmise, it's a highly aromatic wine that appears sweet on the nose, but it is dry and has pretty zippy acid. I am planting a little Vermentino and Picpoul this year that will eventually be part of the blend. The original intention was to make something super easy and delightful, but it turned out to be a pretty complex wine.

^ I could totally see myself geeking out on this stuff.

Any recommendations for books, videos, etc. for the novice wine drinker?

jfv wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 9:15 am ^ I could totally see myself geeking out on this stuff.

Any recommendations for books, videos, etc. for the novice wine drinker?

Depends on what you want to learn. If you want to learn "natural wine" I can point you to some books. If you want to learn traditional wines, I can point you to some other books.

The one book I recommend for beginners is by Kevin Zrally, called Windows on the World Wine Course. It's essentially the wine training he provided for his staff at Windows on the World, which was the restaurant atop the World Trade Center. Don't worry about getting the most recent edition, one from the early 2000s is fine, and can be found used for less than $10 easily.

I'll Drink to That is a great podcast series, I'm sure there are others.

RyanZ wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 8:14 am

enframed wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2024 9:28 am Ryan, what else you got in your white blend?

the newly released 2023 Daybreak is a wild mix of
Malvasia Bianca
Riesling
Viognier
Gewurztraminer
Sauvignon Blanc
Chenin Blanc

As you can probably surmise, it's a highly aromatic wine that appears sweet on the nose, but it is dry and has pretty zippy acid. I am planting a little Vermentino and Picpoul this year that will eventually be part of the blend. The original intention was to make something super easy and delightful, but it turned out to be a pretty complex wine.

Sounds wonderful! Is it available in LA? I see a lot of your reds, less so white.

jfv wrote: ^ I could totally see myself geeking out on this stuff.

Any recommendations for books, videos, etc. for the novice wine drinker?

Not exactly entry-level and more like an exhaustive reference encyclopedia, but Jancis Robinson and Julia Harding's Oxford Companion to Wine is priceless. Basically you can have a sip of almost anything, then look up whatever you're curious about that's related to it: grape, region, country...

I knew what I was doing by the time I got a promo copy in the mail and it might be a little out of date by now, but Mark Oldman's Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine is a pretty good cheatsheet, 101-type thing. Plus it's breezy and very, very simple. Not a serious read, but a fine place to start.

For me, the most valuable book is a little off-topic. Andrew Dornenburg and Karen A. Page's What to Drink with What You Eat. Bible for understanding pairings. I still bust this out every blue moon.

If you're at all curious about natural wine (apologies to Enframed), Alice Feiring's Natural Wine for the People is far and away the best intro to the subject. Much more approachable and practical than some of her other books. Plus she's got a unique writing voice and strong opinions. You'll love it or think it's nonsense, but you'll probably be able to surmise if it's for you or not.

My own personal opinion, though, is that you can't learn a ton from books or videos. (Although I hardly watch videos, so maybe I'm wrong there.) Granted, it's much harder to do this if you live in a rural or suburban area, but drinking, thinking, and asking questions is the best way to develop an aesthetic. Then dip into research via books and vids as you go along.

The best thing is to find a good wine shop or two. Buy shit. Inquire. If there's a knowledgeable staff, talk their ear off. If there are free tastings, by all means, attend as many as possible and ask lots of questions to the importer/distributor reps and/or winemakers who host these. Compare opinions w/other tasters. Do the same thing w/somms and beverage directors at bars and restaurants you trust. Sure, some of them are snobby assholes or others might know nothing, but many of them are really cool. (Hell, if you live in a big city, it's not unusual to find someone who once played in an oddball band.) Travel to wine-growing regions, if you can. Drink stuff from farmer's markets, go to restaurants, even visit some winemakers.

Really, good wine is so much more accessible than it may seem, especially nowadays.

^ Thanks for the recommendations.

I remember when I first started homebrewing beer ~ 2010, I barely knew the difference between a lager and an ale. Have to start somewhere.

jfv wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 9:15 am ^ I could totally see myself geeking out on this stuff.

Any recommendations for books, videos, etc. for the novice wine drinker?

Kermit Lynch Adventures on the Wine Route is a great adventure story on his early days of importing now classic wines into the US. Behind the scenes meeting legendary winemakers for the first time, touring great vineyards and the follies of the wine industry. It's a quick read, maybe a bit inside baseball, but a great little look into the early days of the US wine industry. It will trigger some curiosity.

enframed wrote: Fri Feb 09, 2024 10:41 am Sounds wonderful! Is it available in LA? I see a lot of your reds, less so white.

We have it by the glass at The Lobster in Santa Monica and at Vibrato right now.
We're pretty much sold out of the 2022. We just bottled the 2023 and waiting to ship it out and get placements again.