by Lorri | Oct 6, 2010 | UnCorked
California’s Presqu’ile Winery is a family affair with deep Arkansas roots. I had a chance to talk with Matt Murphy, president of Presqu’ile, about the new venture.
The Murphy family, long associated with oil, is now channeling a lifelong passion into a truly family-run winery, with Matt’s wife, Amanda, parents Madison and Suzanne and siblings Jonathan and Anna all sharing in the fervor.
The winery is named after a family home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Presqu’ile (pronounced press–KEEL) means “almost an island” in Creole, and Matt Murphy remembers spending almost every summer there while he was growing up. It is a place he connects with fond family memories. Sadly, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the property and most of the surrounding community in 2005. They continued the legacy in naming the winery in honor of the family estate.
The 200-acre winery is on California’s central coast, an ideal location for growing pinot noir, a wine the family shares a passion for. At the time of purchase, there were already 10 acres planted, and the family has continued to expand with 75 acres planted to date. When I asked about the state-of-the-art winery, Murphy’s witty response was, “we are making wine in a barn” — at least until the new winery is completed over the next couple of years. A tasting room is also under construction.
For any new winery, setting itself apart is the key to success. Murphy believes “producing world-class wines at a world-class value” is what wine consumers are searching for. By starting with some 2,000 cases produced, the emphasis is on handcrafted wines. Part of the winery’s distinction is that the wines are competing in quality with countless wineries selling wines for double the price.
THE VALUE
- 2008 Presqu’ile Winery Sauvignon Blanc, California (about $22 retail)
THE SPLURGES
- 2008 Presqu’ile Winery Pinot Noir, California (about $45 retail)
- 2008 Presqu’ile Winery Chardonnay, California (about $35 retail)
by Lorri | Sep 29, 2010 | UnCorked
by Carlo Bavagnoli
It’s the time of year when wine enthusiasts have opportunities to expand their horizons without leaving the state by attending various wine-tasting events. Which makes it an ideal time to review wine-tasting navigation — that is, how to deal with an overwhelming maze of wines.
Don’t forget to take a pen. Take notes to help you remember wines that you found interesting or a good value. There is no need for elaborate details; one can scribble notes on the list of wines printed in the program. And since you’re likely the only one who will look back on your notes, a smiley face, dollar sign or simple check mark works fine.
Spit like you mean it. If you take any words of advice on exploring hundreds of wines at one event, it would be to spit, and spit often. Your goal is to taste, not drink every wine. Spitting is part of the tasting process and not a social faux pas, so no need to be intimidated as you push your way to the spit bucket.
Don’t forget tasting basics. Smell the wine for certain aromas by holding the glass by the stem and placing your nose deep into the bowl of the glass. Swirl the wine around in your mouth to look for light versus heavy body, acid, sweetness and the tastes you notice.
Stay organized. Walking into an event and seeing numerous wines lining the tables can be intimidating. Organize by countries, wine producing regions or grape varieties. This allows you to taste and compare wines with similar characteristics.
If you are looking to add wine-tasting events to your calendar, here are some tastings scheduled in Arkansas:
- Corks and Forks: Eating Well, Doing Good, Thursday; benefits Potluck Food Rescue; for details or tickets call (501) 371-0303.
- The Festival of Wines, 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 7; benefits the American Heart Association; for details or tickets call (501) 379-1198.
- 47th annual Wiederkehr Village Weinfest, Oct. 9; for details call (479) 468-9463.
- Uncorked — Mad Scientist Mash at the Museum of Discovery, Oct. 21; for details or tickets call (501) 396-7050.
by Lorri | Sep 22, 2010 | UnCorked
Rarely in our home, but on occasion, I am faced with the dilemma of what to do with leftover wine. My choices are to drink, save, use Martha Stewart’s recommendation of turning it into ice cubes or, with great pain, pour it down the kitchen sink.
No matter what the choice, wine, unlike many beverages, has a specific life span. If you have ever tasted a soda after it has been open for several days or watched a cut apple turn brown from exposure to oxygen, then the life span of wine will be an easy study.
The moment a cork is pulled, a wine begins to deteriorate. However, wine has a powerful protective factor that most beverages lack — alcohol. That is why port and sherry, with high alcohol content, can be left open for weeks without oxidizing, while light-bodied, low-alcohol white wine will not last as long.
Keeping wines from being overexposed to air helps in preventing a wine from spoiling. There are many methods and products to keep your wines tasting fresh.
THE VALUES
- The refrigerator (free) Obviously, the least expensive method of preservation is to re-cork the bottle and place it in the refrigerator. It will deter oxygen from the wine and delay oxidation for a few days.
- VacuVin Wine Saver Stoppers (about $15 retail) VacuVin uses a resealing method consisting of a rubber stopper containing a one-way valve and an extraction pump to create a partial vacuum within the bottle, reducing the oxidation in wine. It will be good for about a week.
THE SPLURGES
- Private Preserve Wine (about $25 retail) One of the best methods of preservation is to replace the oxygen in an opened bottle with an inert gas. The easiest way to do this is with a product such as Private Preserve Wine, available in most fine wine stores. A few quick sprays will place a blanket of inert gas over the wine, providing protection from oxidation for a couple of weeks.
- Preservino Wine Preservation Set (about $70 retail) The latest technology is the Preservino, which uses 100 percent argon technology to preserve open bottles. The nozzle is inserted into a custom stopper, and the argon gas is injected through the stopper into the bottle. Argon is as much as 80 percent more effective than other gas products on the market because it is neutral, does not react with wine and safely displaces oxygen from the wine. Other inert gas blends, made of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and argon, eventually dissolve into the wine and create an off flavor.
by Lorri | Sep 15, 2010 | UnCorked
Many people ask why one glass of champagne can make them feel tipsy and lightheaded — somehow the first glass goes straight to your head in a way wine never does. I set out to find proof or debunk the myth and found bubbles really do get you cheery more quickly.
Researchers at the University of Surrey in Guildford, England, invited volunteers to participate in the task of mingling at a drinks party. The first week, half were given fizzy champagne, while the others got a “defizzed” wine. The next week they rotated. Each volunteer drank two glasses of bubbly per session, with the amount adjusted so everyone drank the same amount of alcohol per body mass. Next they measured blood alcohol levels and found they were increased in the volunteers drinking the fizzy. Their blood alcohol levels were measured at five-minute intervals. Fizzy champagne produced significantly higher levels of alcohol in the blood during the first 20 minutes than the flat champagne.
According to the research, in the first five minutes, they hit 0.54 milligram of alcohol per milliliters of blood compared to just 0.39 in the flat volunteers. The study showed champagne does affect your body more quickly but they also wanted to investigate if it had different effects. They tested reaction times, divided attention, vigilance and memory. The results showed neither had an effect on memory but both impaired reaction time. It was the complex tasks showing the most astounding results. The fizzy drinkers were much slower to react to stimuli and found it harder to identify series of odd and even numbers in the task.
The larger mystery is why bubbles make such a difference. Fran Ridout, whose team in human psychopharmacology conducted the research, has a theory that the alcohol must be absorbed more quickly from the digestive system, perhaps because the carbon dioxide bubbles speed the flow of alcohol from the stomach to the intestine.
So, the best advice is to sip your bubbly slowly and enjoy. Champagne anyone?
THE VALUES
- NV Seaview, Australia (about $13 retail)
- NV Domaine Ste Michelle, Washington (about $18 retail)
THE SPLURGES
- NV Jean Laurent Blanc de Blanc Champagne, France (about $55 retail)
- NV Pommery Champagne, France (about $49 retail)
by Lorri | Sep 14, 2010 | Lorri's Wine Diary
Unbelievable! I have been in love with the story of Sherry for years only by reading about it in books or classes and lectures. Today, I went to Osborne’s bodega in Spain. Just the tiny corridors of the streets of Jerez and the secret compound of the Estate had me excited before I even made it to my appointment.
Walking into the barrel room surrounded by hundreds of Sherry casks laying quietly in the sacred Solera system mesmerized and confirmed why I have such a passion for wine. I know it sounds like a romance … but truly is why I love wines. 
Maria was so patient with a barrage of questions that may have been random to her but so real while I was standing in the solera room … angel share, yeast, 100-year-old wine … more later on my bumbling of questions. Can’t wait to share the tasting!
Lorri
by Lorri | Sep 8, 2010 | UnCorked
With the (unofficial) start of fall feeling much like the middle of summer, most of us are still looking for refreshing and light wines. Typically I take a respite from my heavy reds over the summer, and this time of year I find myself worn out with my routine white wines.
I’m not alone in this rut, knowing many readers are reaching out for new ideas. So, rather than rant and rave about the summer heat, and the longing for heavy red wine and hearty stews, I thought a buying list would be best. In the past few weeks I have found an array of refreshing wines to revitalize my late summer wine list.
THE VALUES
- 2009 Whitehall Lane Sauvignon Blanc, California (about $16 retail)
- 2009 Melini Orivieto, Italy (about $11 retail)
- 2009 Spanish Quarter Chardonnay-Albarino, Spain (about $10 retail)
- 2009 Chateau Bonnet Blanc, France (about $15 retail)
- 2009 Banfi Principessa Gavia, Italy (about $14 retail)
- 2009 Wente Vineyards Riesling, California (about $16 retail)
- 2009 Castello Banfi Le Rime Pinot Grigio, Italy (about $9 retail)
- 2009 Anne Amie Cuvee A Pinot Rose, Oregon (about $15 retail)
- 2009 Nobilissima Pinot Grigio, Italy (about $14 retail)
THE SPLURGES
- 2009 Hugel Pinot Gris, France (about $20 retail)
- 2009 Georges Duboeuf Pouilly Fuisse, France (about $38 retail)
- 2009 Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand (about $18 retail)
- 2009 Montinore Estate Gewurztraminer, Oregon (about $19 retail)
- 2009 Mt. Difficulty Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand (about $22 retail)
