Feb 23' Newsletter in March

Fun stuff from the past year, tough mornings, and more

Thank you to all who replied to my last newsletter, I hope I answered some questions for you. If there’s something you want me to cover or have a question about, please let me know, more often than not, folks have the same questions you do.

I wanted to talk briefly about adverse reactions to wine, why they may occur and perhaps some ways to avoid them. There’s lots of reasons not to drink wine, please don’t feel pressured to read on or drink wine if it is not for you - more for me. But there’s data to suggest that some of the adverse reactions you may be having to wine, particularly red wine is due to histamines present in the wine, which are higher in red wine than in white, by a magnitude of 30x. Those reactions tend to include headaches as a common problem, among other things. If that sounds like you, but you enjoy the experience of drinking wine, consider some lighter reds (less maceration, less tannin, lower histamine levels), or white wine instead.

As for a hangover, can’t help ya there. But, lower alcohol in your wine means you’ll consume less alcohol. If you’re looking to keep a long night or meal going strong, look for wines that come in below 14% ABV perhaps. Not a hard and fast rule, but it tends to be a decent rule of thumb. Additives, and what actually is in that bottle of wine on your table is a whole can of worms I’d rather not wade into today.

I had a many wines this year that might fit into both categories (lighter in color, and lighter on alcohol) that I enjoyed immensely. Here are two that stood out:

• Edaphos (by Ernest) Ossum Epiphanea Field Blend Mendocino 2021 - a recommendation from my friend Chad Walsh of T Edward Wines. I saw this wine and thought, why did he think I’d like this? It was cloudy, vaguely pink and had a name I couldn’t pronounce. That said, it remains one of the most surprisingly delightful wines I drank all year. Amazing freshness, acidity and vibrancy. Chad is the kind of guy who, on a casual drive in California, knows why things smell a certain way, or vineyards are on that hill over there. All whilst being totally cool and casual about things.

  • It comes from the famed Alder Springs Vineyard in Northern Mendocino. That place has a special place in my heart, as my brother and I worked on a nearby farm after I graduated college, and he high school. Mendocino is incredibly special place, full of redwoods and wilderness.

  • From the winery - Blend of (also called Cepages in french) Marsanne 25% Grenache 22% Picpoul 17% Mourvèdre 16% Cinsault 7% Syrah 6%. Counoise 4% Roussanne 3% - this is a co-fermentation of red and white grapes. Something you’ll see in many regions, most notably perhaps in the Northern Rhone - where Viognier and Syrah are often blended, albeit in differing proportions to this wine- Cote Rotie doesn’t look pink(ish) - I digress. The resulting product has complexity well beyond what I’ve found in lesser, similarly styled or intentioned wines. It also has me yearning to try some other stuff from this producer. I believe they make some more conventional styled wines under their Ernest label.

• Samuel Louis Smith Pinot Noir Montanita De Oro Monterey County 2021 - maybe I am becoming predictable, but the freshness and vibrancy again really spoke to me, balanced with great spice and depth. This wine was on my table a lot this year. It was a winery I’d never heard of, until a trusted friend from their NY Distributor (and my former employer, Massanois Imports) told me these might be wines to watch.

  • On first taste I knew what we was talking about - it had a grace that few wines at this price point carry on a regular basis. It was also light enough to enjoy throughout a meal without tiring. 12.7% ABV. This was from California’s Central Coast more broadly, another great place that I had the pleasure of visiting in College with my friend Jesse Kornbluth, it remains one of the great trips of my life. It was likely a turning point for me to want to spend more time in California, and lit a curiosity about wine for me.

We’ll leave it there for today. Stay tuned for some of my favorite NY restaurant wine lists, how to order wine more pleasurably at a restaurant, and some reader Qs.

Cheers,

Alan