Rod Smith - All Comments

RE: So, Syrah?

Clément Cariot — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 23:49:40 GMT

I think Syrah was the biggest looser of what I like to call the Wine Dark Ages, that period between 1999 and 2005 when making wine meant making wine for Robert Parker's point system. The lack of style consistency made it very difficult for customers to follow, and was therefore abandoned by the majority of wine drinkers. Good thing we are still here, to push Cote-Rotie with Kobe short ribs braised in red wine. That will bring them back to La Syrah!

RE: List-O-Mania

Thomas Hogan — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 05:49:38 GMT

Interesting post.

The small list is very much in fashion here in Australia - however (and I speak with bias as a Head Somm managing a list of 1000 wines) , there's still a time and place for the encyclopedic list - what's important for me is to match the list to the style of the restaurant and its associated pressures - clientele, cuisine, budget constraints, economic climate, history - rather than blindly following fashion.

My goal is to show a distinct philosophy in my selections - admittedly, sometimes difficult to convey across such a broad offering - I think all should incorporate this idea in their wine list design - whether it be a 50 or a 3000 bin list...

RE: List-O-Mania

Rod Smith — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:54:56 GMT

Thanks, Catherine. Eric—focus is certainly key. But 95 percent Italian is still a fairly soft focus, given the incredible diversity and specificity within regions and even villages. Is it a general selection of good wines, or do you zoom in on exemplars of style or grape, mineral, fleshy, aromatic, austere, with a thesis in mind?

RE: List-O-Mania

Catherine Fallis — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:44:39 GMT

Brilliant, insightful, beautifully written as always. Kudos Rod and nice to be reading you again.

RE: List-O-Mania

Eric Lecours — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:26:25 GMT

I've constrained our restaurant wine list to one piece of paper since our opening, an 11X15 sheet of paper folded lengthwise resulting in four long, narrow pages. Of the ~120 wines on my list 95% are Italian with a decidedly northern slant. Our chef is Bergamasco. Most consumers appreciate focus. I know that I do. If you constrain yourself to a short list, the only way to provide any depth is to focus. The results can be a quality-packed easy to read short list where the guest can quickly make choose a great, interesting bottle that fits their budget. If they really want a Napa Cab (not recommended with our cuisine), they will bring it in themselves next time...

www.bonappetit.com/.../no-more-wine-lists.html

RE: THE SEVEN AGES OF WINE

Fred Dame — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:25:03 GMT

Hello Rod,

I completely agree. I will be tasting several of the Lots from the Louis Martini Special Reserve 1968 set today. Twelve separate lots and the Private Reserve from that great vintage. Every time I have one of these wines I am astounded at the quality and especially the price upon release. I wonder what some of our pioneers would be making today? Funny, it sounds like I'm describing Constitutional Law. What were the framers thinking?

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Rod Smith — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:28:46 GMT

You don’t need oak barrels to impart oak flavor, as demonstrated by any number of $8-10 wines that taste like a furniture showroom after a fire. No, I really feel there is a groundswell of demand for pinots, chards, and just about everything else—except maybe cab—made from excellent fruit picked at moderate ripeness and vinified in a straightforward way (including seasoned to near-neutral cooperage) that allows the fruit to shine. Although in general I think you’re right that it is cheaper overall to make wine like that, so it doesn’t have to be as expensive. From here, that looks like win-win for us classiciscts.

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:01:42 GMT

In my recent rounds, I have noticed several wineries now have a Burgundian style pinto noir and chardonnay. I don't miss the oak and I am enjoying the more restrained use. I just figured part of this is the cost of new oak and there is more reuse going on.

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Rod Smith — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:09:26 GMT

Me, too. It’s great to be able to drink wines like trousseau, dolcetto, pinot gris rose, not to mention juicy, racy pinot noirs that taste like Burgundian village wines at equivalent price point. Pinot for drinking w/dinner—what a concept!

Pressing the point, I just sense that a new wave of vintners has gotten the Old World idea of good, honest, local wines at reasonable prices. It seems to be spreading rapidly through the ranks of high-end, artisan producers. I’m encountering more and more of them who have stepped back from the notion that every pinot has to be Romanee-Conti, every cab Latour, or even that every wine has to be a pinot or a cab. For example, I love Beaujolais. I could drink it all day (and have, on more than one occasion) without getting tired of it or feeling drunk. On the other hand, after a few sips of overstuffed 15% pinot noir, I’m over it.

I’ve always wanted Cal and Oz producers to get the idea that it all rests on good village-level wines, from which exceptional sites and cuvees naturally arise over time and general acclaim, becoming worthy of attention and higher prices. And it seems to me that current cultural, economic, and historical circumstances may fostering a reset to that basic village-level attitude.

The other day a RRV vintner said to me, “Call me crazy, but I think I can make a kickass Sonoma Coast pinot that’s better than a lot of $60 bottles, and sell it for $20. I think a lot of people are waiting for that.” Hear, hear!

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:32:28 GMT

There are certainly hints of that, but I think that the kind of California wine that you and I both like is still on the fringe, even if the buzzwords of wineries are moving in that direction. I would love to think that there is a new American way of looking at wine, but I think it is more likely customers responding to such a dramatic swing in one direction. Just like the economy, we will buy one or two less things, but we are still a consumer society and now we will only buy one snuggy instead of two.

I think that the first battle is educating customers that there is a continuum, and that their subjective preference in that continuum is valid and that the enjoyment of a wine cannot be objectified in a point rating. I'm just thankful that those of us who have a more classical sensibility have more than a few New World wines to choose from these days.

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Rod Smith — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:44:41 GMT

Of course, it’s a continuum. A Rutherford cab could be an Oakville cab, and visa versa (on a good day). But given that fine wine is not just a product of vineyards but also a commercial product in an economic democracy, every dollar spent is a vote cast. There are tipping points; is this point in history one of them? There will always be people partying at the extremes—let’s hear it for pluralism. But what’s going to be featured under the Big Top? Same as it ever was, or a new American way of looking at wine?

RE: Parallel Paradigms?

Admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:18:13 GMT

Hopefully we are moving more towards infinite universes than parallel universes. Not that I disagree with the gist of your article, but I find a bit of a spectrum developing. For example, someone like Radio Coteau; richer than anything I would drink at home, but I don't feel bad recommending it. A little bit of both universes.

RE: The Elephant in the Cellar

Rod Smith — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:49:44 GMT

Well, have visited Leroy and Jamet have a strong impression that both cellars are pretty transparent. So those are good examples. But again, don’t we want to know what’s going on behind the scenes? Weren’t we all redeemed by Toto when he pulled back the curtain to reveal the little man behind the Wizard?

Appropos Champagne, I feel that there is a strong transmission of terroir through many cuvees, partucularly from grower-producers (I would cite Pierre Peters, Selosse, and Milan among quite a few others). And Salon—magic stuff, indeed.

RE: THE SEVEN AGES OF WINE

Rod Smith — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 22:50:17 GMT

That’s a really interesting tasting, Fred. Those wines have real character, which I attribute to being made from perfectly ripe fruit in a straightforward manner (through the ’88, at least). No bogus hang time, no devious manipulations to reverse-engineer Spectator scores (which, of course, weren’t yet a factor). Would you agree? And do you see a shift toward “critic pleasing” in the early ‘90s?

And I have tasted some of those old-school Inglenooks. They’re amazing. I don’t have to tell you, of all people, that those classic Napa cabs were made from fruit picked (usually) shy of 24 brix, and they seldom added acid, or anything else for that matter—although we might debate whether they would have used enzymes, mega purple, etc. if such things had been available. But for whatever reason, it was honest wine production. I know you’ve also tasted some of those Inglenooks next to BV PR, which is also interesting given that they were making wine from virtually the same place, so it’s really a comparison of Duer vs. Tchellistchef. I don’t think the typical Napa cult cab, for all its immediate appeal, has nearly the character or complex evolution of those classic wines.

RE: THE SEVEN AGES OF WINE

Fred Dame — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:45:46 GMT

Hello Rod,

This is so interesting considering I have just finished doing a "Five Decades of Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon". Bob wisely put away a significant library and I have been pulling a wine from each decade, 60's up. Last week it was 69 Unfined, 76, 88, 96, 2005,6. It's amazing to see in perfect condition how the vintages have progressed, regressed and impressed. Also, if you have any access to the Inglenook Cask wines from the 40, 50 and 60's they are superb.