Tasting Notes/Food Pairing Suggestions
A beautiful, deep, vibrant rosé color. Has a surprising amount of glycerin and body for a rosé wine, and beautiful aromas of fresh, ripe wild strawberries. On the palate, the flavors of strawberries and cherries come rushing in, accompanied by some spice notes and a clean, dry finish. This is the wine to serve with warm-weather meals when there is a mix of traditional white & red wine foods. Keep one in the fridge at all times and you’ll always have a delicious wine to enjoy with light snacks and cheeses. Best consumed in its youth.
About the Name/Label
Crios means "offspring" (as in children). Susana selected a word to express the notion that these are wines that haven’t quite "grown up" to the same level of quality and maturity as her more expensive Susana Balbo label wines, but they receive the same loving care and attention throughout the winemaking process. The label features a series of three connected and overlapping hands, an image inspired by a Mayan artifact. The three hands represent Susana and her two children.
Cheers - Ali
This was Jo Pithon's first visit to Texas. He flew into Austin on Sunday just in time to catch a Texas-size BBQ dinner out at the Salt Lick. Since it's BYOB I took a 1989 Domaine Viking Vouvray I had in my stash at home and a 2001 Luca Malbec - to my surprise, the white wine actually paired better due to all the brown sugar in the Salt Lick BBQ sauce. YUM.
The Sigel's customer tasting at the Greenville Ave. store was a wonderful success - over 50 folks came out in the rain (and a Stars Game night!) to taste Jo's chenin blanc and to meet the man in person. All of his wines tasted absolutely beautiful, now I totally understand why the greats of Burgundy look up to this man!
I'm in a rush so more details later - the 2006 Dallas Morning News Wine Competition announced the winners today...over 3300 wines entered worldwide, 17 bottles represented by TCWC received TOP HONORS!Here's the list of medal winners:
Bronze:
Stay tuned for more info! Cheers - Ali (photo credit: EVANS CAGLAGE / DMN)
Check out the following link to the Wine Spectator - it's a quick video featuring "Mendel Unus" from central Mendoza. 
Please stop by Sigel's on Greenville Ave. to meet Jo Pithon and taste his highly acclaimed wines next Tuesday from 5-7pm.Founded in 1978, Domaine Jo Pithon is situated on 12 hectares in the 
produced from 100% Chenin Blanc and have been barrel aged from 12-18 months. In order to achieve a sense of terroir in every wine the vineyards are farmed organically with minimum intervention. The dry wines complete maloactic fermentation, and the sweet wines are hand harvested in selective pickings "tries." Only native natural yeasts are utilized to start fermentation; the wines are never chaptalized and sulfer additions are kept to a bare minimum.
This event is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for any lover of wine! See you there, Ali
Wow - what a couple of hours I'm having right now, I just announced the arrival of Lange Winery to all the Texas wine buyers and a select few "Inner Circle Members". One of the first rules I created upon starting TexaCali Wine Co. "Only represent great families
who make quality wines", well, I haven't had the pleasure of personally meeting the Lange family, but a few people in Texas have met them and have been incredibly quick to tell me how they are such great folks! For this alone, I can't wait to help them sell more wine in Texas than ever before - I'm so proud to represent. A little tidbit…Don and Wendy Lange settled in the Dundee Hills of
Pinot Gris 2005
3000 cases produced
100% stainless steel and little to no RS makes for a great, dry pinot gri"gio" style gris. Lange was only the fourth winery in the USofA to produce a singe-varietal Pinot Gris.
Chardonnay 2005 "Reserve"
400 cases produced
50/50 stainless steel to oak with minimal malo results in a vibrant, tropical chard that shows off pear and melon instead of a tongue depressor dipped in Land-O-Lakes.
Pinot Noir 2005 "Three Hills Cuvee"
600 cases produced (6pk)
13 months in French oak, 40% new...13.5% alcohol...so far so good...sources from Lange Estate in Dundee Hills, Freedom Hill and Yamhill (Three Hills)...a little slice of the valley.
Pinot Noir 2005 "Dundee Hills"
400 cases produced (6pk)
same oak treatment; this is Lange Estate fruit from their holding in the Dundee Hills..
.possibly the best example of Oregon Pinot Noir that Lange has to offer. Tremendous.
Pinot Noir 2005 "Freedom Hill"
400 cases produced (6pk)
same oak treatment; while this is Lange's 11th vintage with Freedom Hill namesake bottling, they've been using fruit from this vineyard site since 1990. I have a feeling they know what they're doing with it. Enjoy.
PS - Big thanks to JI for helping with the wine tasting notes today!
So here’s a quick list of tasting notes after a business dinner I hosted last week in my home. A total of 7 guests, 6 folks in the wine trade, 1 drummer and Henley my black lab (he hung out under the table hoping someone would drop a piece of beef tenderloin). Also, we tested the BevWizard, so I’ve included our thoughts and results. Here’s how things broke down – sans the food (oh but the food did turn out delicious!). 2004
2004 Handley Cellars Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc: this wine has always been a favorite white wine of mine, 
and was an eye opener for the group since this was the first time many tried this wine. Overall - very crisp, bold fruit – a tinge of mandarin orange, some minerality and a quick hint of lemon peel. The Handley Sauvignon Blanc would pair perfectly with sushi no doubt.
2004
2004 
and mouthwatering char
2002 Fort Ross Reserve Char
2004 Handley Cellars Pinot Noir: Oh yeah! This was drinking awesome! 
drank more like their Reserve Pinot - just gorgeous. I kept going back to this bottle all night.
2002
2002 Fort Ross Reserve Pinot Noir: now we are talking smooth, this bottle was opened at 7:00pm and tasted around 10:0pm and finished off by midnight. Another delightful reason we all choose to be in the wine business. It tasted lik
e our first sip ever of a sensual, sexy, classy pinot noir. Notes of wild savory spices with lush berry fruit were oh so well balanced.
2004 Duchamp Slaughterhouse Syrah: By this time, the group was discussing “who’s your favorite guitar player”…which complemented this Syrah from Dry Creek perfectly. This syrah is full bodied and supple. Robert Parker gave this 88pts last Fall, I bet it’d score over 90 now that it’s had more bottle aging time. Oh - Jeff Beck was and is by far everyone’s favorite guitar player – give or take a few votes for Dave Navarro and a few other’s not worthy of mentioning here.
2004 
popped in our mouth during the first sip! Many agreed this bottle was “Wine of the Night”. This Rusty Ridge Zin held up to it’s reputation, a he
Wines tested with the BevWiz:
2003 Château de Cugat
OK - we first tasted this bottle with the Bev Wizard, then a second pour withhout. First remark – from the drummer – “Yeah, absolutely smoother, not tart at all.”. This $11 a bottle 
nose and in the mouth and allowed the fruit to shine.
2003 Susana Balbo Malbec
This Malbec retails for about $45 and was pulled out of my winecave to compare with the Cugat on the fly. The group chose to taste this one opposite, first without the BevWiz. Ahh, Susana makes such lovely Malbec, right out of the bottle still a little too chilly even – the first sip was exhilarating - like taking your first flight on a private jet, everything you imagine a luxurious experience to be. So next, we placed the BevWizard on the bottle, once again, the wine became a bit smoother and more fragrant on the nose.
We also tested the BevWizard on a 2004 Chilean Carmenere, the group decided even after the BevWizard made some improvements to the wine that Carmenere just sucks. Our overall conclusion regarding the BevWizard, “it works, this is a great accessory to have in our arsenal of wine tools”. Cheers - Ali
Ahh, Put a Cork in it... is featuring the Fort Ross Symposium pinot noir in their tasting bar this weekend! Here's the scoop - what a great way to sample this GORGEOUS bottle of wine!
So you flip open your Wine Spectator this month to see a large chunk of content devoted to Sake - well, Texas - we've caught on in the Lone Star State - Sake sales are off the charts this year!By Mitch Frank
From Wine Spectator magazine, April 30, 2007 issue
Beau Timken calls it the "eye-opening moment." As the owner of True Sake, a San Francisco store that carries nothing but the Japanese beverage, Timken knows that an important part of his job is educating customers who have never tried premium sake before. "People are stunned, and they come back after the first bottle," says Timken, who carries 200 labels. "Their eyes are opened to how incredible this stuff is."
Sake is no longer just a novelty in America, the stuff in the exotic bottles behind the sushi bar, or even worse, that cheap, hot firewater in the wooden cups. Wine lovers are realizing that Japan's traditional rice beverage is as nuanced and subtle as wine, and foodies are waking up to how useful it is to have in their arsenal for pairing with cuisine. The common theme is that sake is nothing to be scared of—it's a drink to sip, savor and study. "People say sake is a fad," says Timken. "If so, it's a 1,000-year-old fad. It's been around, but we're just starting to grab onto it."
The embrace, while gradual, has been an enthusiastic one. The United States imported almost $26 million worth of sake from Japan last year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. That's 4.3 million liters, a 14 percent increase from 2005, and a 170 percent increase from a decade ago. Sake sections are sprouting up on restaurant wine lists and bar menus, and not all of those restaurants serve Asian cuisine. You can choose from multiple sakes at both of Thomas Keller's top spots, the French Laundry and Per Se. At New York's Chanterelle, sommelier Roger Dagorn regularly includes sake among the wines in the restaurant's tasting menus...(more)
Sorry - didn't have time to post anything last week thanks to running TexaCali Wine Co. full blast, catching SXSW shows each night and hosting out of town guests! Last week was superb, found out that I had many Gold and Silver Medal winners in the Dallas Morning News competition (to be officially announced in April), tasted almost every Sake in the Vine Connections portfolio with new restaurant friends at the HOTTEST new account in Texas, and I finally received my order of Davis Family Vineyards Rose in the mail!! OH YEAH!! (image by Jeremiah Garcia)
- Jo Pithon is producing some amazing eclectic wines from the Loire - his wines are mind blowing, and a total party in the mouth for those tasters who are into experiencing a new twist to old wine. porterdavis is as entertaining and mind-boggling to see live, old blues with 2007 style so tight that they should be the house band for Sak's 5th Ave. Spring Collection shows.
the sexiest bottle of red. She took center stage while surrounded by a dozen men - backup singers, groovers and members of her band. I'd play her music at ZAP - you know the big Zinfandel tasting - pull out a few of my own bottles - Davis Family Zinfandel from the Russian River Storrs world famous Rusty Ridge Zin, Teira Zinfandel from Dry Creek and Pellegrini Eight Cousins Zin 
that's grown just a few rows away from the legendary Olivet Lane Vineyard.
Times Square going on where the new W Hotel stands. I had the pleasure of dining at Craft with a group of wine folks too - probably the best meal I've had in Dallas in years. I'm very excited to go back soon! 
Thanks to Beau from www.truesake.com!
In early February I had a chance to take one of my favorite "sake guys" to dinner in SF. Yasutaka Daimon is the owner of Daimon Shuzu in Osaka - makers of the Junmai Ginjo called Mukune or "Root of Innocence." (I will put a Mukune review at the end of the interview.) Little did he know that I was going to spring a 3-page questionnaire interview on him, but the trade off was very tasty as we went to Chez Spencer the "pound for pound" most underrated French restaurant in the Bay Area. (Yasutaka wanted to go "French.")
As I am always on the sake prowl, whether it be drinking or "experimenting" with sake, I surprised my subject by bringing a bottle of Mukune to Chez Spencer to see if what I preach on a daily basis actually is close to reality. Yasutaka's eyes opened wide when I produced his brew in such a splendid environment and even he said, "Will this go with French food?" So for you foodies I will confirm the "what I consider to be the obvious" realization that sake does go with rich flavors and deep layers of French attitude. (By all means please replace French attitude with Italian, Peruvian, Russian etc when it comes to sake - it all works!)
I'll be brief but let it be known that we paired each of the following flavors with a very well known old vine Chardonnay and a very "crowd pleasing Australian Sauvignon Blanc." The first dish was a poached oyster, which overwhelmed the two grape beverages, but was really enhanced by the smoothness of Mukune. Then a course of Bouillabaisse was placed in front of this libation dissection, and Yasutaka thought for sure that it would blow away his Ginjo, but in reality the Chardonnay and S.B. turned far too acidic, while Mukune mellowed the entire play. It was a surprising yet highly effective pairing. Lastly, the ugly-duckling little Japanese Ginjo from Osaka was paired with a superb roasted duck dish and let it be known that the other two "contestants" went the way of too far acidic backlash, whilst Mukune pulled out the richness and smokiness of the duck.
Now onto the real sake thoughts of a sake pioneer:
| BT: How is the sake industry doing now compared to 5 years ago? YD: Depending on the specific brewer you will get many different answers. Some of them are doing well while others are not doing well at all. What is obvious is that futsu-shu is dying rapidly. (Futsu- shu is common or table sake, which is milled/polished to less than Junmai levels - roughly 20% removal.) Bottles that used to cost 1,400 yen are now selling for 500-600 yen, and there is no margin whatsoever. Lowering prices has killed the market. BT: What does this mean to the size of the industry? YD: It means that we are losing so many breweries a year to closure. There are 1,800 licensed breweries, but only 1,200 are brewing. Last year we lost 50 breweries, and we can expect to lose 300-400 in the next five years at this current market rate. BT: What is the silver lining in this destruction? YD: The good news is that the shochu boom is over. That bubble of popularity has burst, and the sake industry has to look forward to a far more compact era. Also, a lesson that has been learned the hard way is that small breweries - Jizake - have come to realize that there has to be far better relations between family and sake makers. (Meaning that the owners and their families must have far better relations with the hired sake makers.) The result of this difficult time will be better for the future of sake making, as families and brewers will have a more unified relationship. BT: How well do your retailers in Japan sell sake versus shochu, wine, and spirits? YD: Well, I wish there were many True Sake's in Japan. There is such a disconnect between retailers and brewers. They know nothing about sake today. If they knew as much about sake as True Sake we would be the dominant beverage in Japan. They don't care. They want the fast money. The easy sell. They don't care about sake, they care about money. BT: What about the costs associated with making sake? YD: (puts hand to head) The oil costs are so high. The energy to make sake is more expensive than ever. But we are seeing a reduction in the price of brewing rice, which accounts for the most expensive aspect of making sake. Overall the costs of making sake have remained roughly the same, but have been increasing a little each year. BT: In terms of the big picture, what is the greatest weakness with the Japanese Sake brewing industry? YD: Like you said the skill of the presentation of the greatness of sake. We have no idea how to convey the essence of sake to the consumer. The retailers don't. The wholesale system is dying. The message is lost. And the media does nothing at all to help. There is much room for improvement. BT: There is very little exposure to Osaka Prefecture sake in the US - tell me a little about the Osaka sake market: YD: There are 16 breweries in the guild, but only 11 are currently brewing. There is a vast perception in Japan that Osaka cannot make good sake because it is so industrial. They don't think that we have water, mountains, a freshness like other prefectures. This is not true. BT: How do you define Osaka sake? What is that certain quality? (I call it a layer of excitement.) YD: Very significant quality that reflects the amazing taste of the cuisine in the region. Kansai people know the subtlety of freshness -the umami - of flavors, the simplicity that is not too salty or overdone. We do not make overly dry sake or completely pristine sake. Don't expect us to be like other prefectures that make clean and dry sake. We appreciate a complex sweetness called Kamigata that is ours and ours alone. BT: Have brewing methods changed in Osaka and the rest of Japan in recent years? YD: The biggest change has come in the form that the original Toji system is going away. (Toji system brewing has historically been very driven by guilds and a sense of brewers being separate people from the owners of breweries - BT) Today the kuramoto (owner of the brewery) and the Toji (head brewer) must be on the same page - there is no room for feuds or run-ins. We are seeing the dawning of a new generation of a more integrated system between owners and makers. The families are having more of their children come up through the brewing side as opposed to the operating side. BT: In terms of drinking sake, what do you think of the palate of American drinkers? YD: Surprisingly it is not that different from the Japanese sake drinker's palate. This is really hard to believe. The Americans have shown a sophistication that many average Japanese consumers do not possess. It is so surprising that they are not so different. Perhaps this is because of all of your hard work? BT: What percent of your sales does the US and overseas market account for? YD: This last year the overseas market represented 35% of our total sales. And next year we expect that to be about 40%. BT: On a personal note what did your father say to you when he handed the family brewery over to you? YD: He said that he "didn't know what to do." The sake industry was so in flux, and so destined for trouble that he felt that we needed a change. He saw me as a needed change to the entire system. He felt and relayed to me that his years of experience didn't work any more that a new time had come and a new direction was needed. I was expected to provide a new direction. BT: What will you say to your son when the time comes? YD: Sake brewing is not so easy. It is so complex. I want him to know what a healthy kura feels like. I also want him to know that there is no separation between workers and owners - the generational obligation to kurabito (sake workers) - that we have an obligation to support them in their way of life. BT: Before we speak about you're amazing Ginjo called Mukune - if you didn't own a brewery what would you be doing in life right now? YD: I would be a wandering priest in India - crazy! (Laughing) Just joking! (In a serious expression) My black sheep days have benefited me as I am now so focused on making excellent sake. BT: Lastly what do you like about your Junmai Ginjo called Mukune? YD: The body and acidity. The harmony between the umami and the acidity. Not too light, not too heavy, just a certain contentment. BT: Thank you my sake brother and herewith is my review of Mukune that we sell for $18/300ml and $39/720ml: |
| • | Mukune "Root of Innocence" Osaka Prefecture. Junmai Ginjo. SMV: +2 Acidity: 1.8 Mukune is a mysterious sake made for those looking to explore big flavors and disappearing acidity acts. This thick and rich sake has an acidity that says goodbye before hello. With an amazing nose of ripe melon, raspberries, honey, balsa wood and flowers, it drinks like a dream. If you close your eyes you may very well find a vein of strawberry and anisette flavors too. A magical Ginjo that "explains" the concept of sake. Think "Biblical" and imbibe. WORD: Complex WINE: Full bodied reds/ White Burgundy BEER: Huge ales/Soft stouts FOODS: Salty and savory fare, shrimp dumplings, sautéed filet of sole with lemon, oily fried food. (And of course some serious French fare) |
TEIRA 2004 SONOMA COUNTY ZINFANDEL $15.99
