Montauk Club Wine Class Dips Into the Red

But that’s not a bad thing. Our May 15 wine class dove into the four most popular red grape varieties with relish, in fact. This was a fine review of what we’ve learned in the past year about red wines to prepare us for our upcoming tours of France. Here’s how it went:

First, we tried a 2005 Kendall-Jackson Pinot Noir from California (13.5% alcohol). Its smooth and silky texture and light cranberry color were just what you’d expect from pinot noir, the lightest bodied of the four popular reds. The aromas and tastes centered around cool climate fruits like strawberry, rhubarb and cranberry with a tart and acidic, but juicy overtones. Then we moved on to a 2004 Frei Brothers Reserve Merlot from Dry Creek Valley in Northern Sonoma, California (13.8% alcohol). Here we found a garnet color reminiscent of a medium-bodied wine compared to the pinot noir. It was quite a bit drier and not as fruit-forward as we might expect from a New World wine, but note the pretty high alcohol content. Like the pinot noir, some found this merlot to be quite tart, tasting of dry cherries and spicy chile pepper. Many thought the aromas promised more than the taste delivered, but this may be owing to the winery’s attempts to follow more Old World traditions. The second medium-bodied wine that we tried was a 2003 Simi Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley, California (13.5% alcohol). In terms of color, it was much the same as the merlot, though perhaps a tad inkier. It had a more velvety texture, however, evidencing somewhat higher tannins, making us pucker up a bit. The flavor seemed to deliver more balance and terroir, tasting a little musky or even like quarry tile. I think we’re starting to get the difference between merlot and cabernet sauvignon, which will stand us in good stead when we get to France next month. Our final red was a 2004 Lengs & Cooter Shiraz called The Victor from South Australia (14.5% alcohol). As the fullest-bodied of the wines, this one was more opaque with big legs (not necessarily a bad thing with wine; indeed one of our number found them “elegant”). Of course we smelled and tasted the black pepper characteristic of the shiraz, but also picked up on chocolate, coffee, black plum and raspberry as well as some earth tones. In the end our favorites turned out to be the cabernet and the shiraz.

So now we’re off to France on June 19. And what better way to start than with champagne!! We’ll compare two different house styles in French champagnes and then we’ll pit France against California. So be sure to study pages 139 through 150 of Andrea Immer Robinson’s book Great Wines Made Simple.

Hope to see you all on June 19!

Suzy Marquard