Bordi del Vino

I have a soft spot for Slavic wines.  My surname is Bohemian (which most people think is just a term for hippies and artists that lived in Paris circa 1900.)  No, actually they are considered “West” Slavs and have been around for centuries.  The Bohemian Kingdom began in 1189, under the umbrella of the Holy Roman Empire, and has been part of most European political empires ever since.  But wine?  What kind of “cultura del vino” do the Slavs have and why should anyone care?

Well, it is really just simple geography and a lesson in the flexibility of our current and past geo-political borders.  You see, most of our current 2011 map used to look very different 15, 20, 40, 100, 125 years ago.  National borders like river banks always seem to change year to year.  The current border between the Czech Republic and Austria used to not exist, as is the case of the border between Italy and Austria or Italy and Slovenia.  These borders have shifted multiple times, sometimes even within generations.

So, what about the vines?  Well, they just stayed right there.  Vines are not political. They only care about soil composition, water, sunlight, and who is tending to them.  National borders?  To the vines this is meaningless.  Some of the most exciting wines these days are coming from former CSS, Soviet, Eastern Bloc, Communist (or whatever you wish to call them) states.  I’m talking about wines from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.  Yes, for centuries these areas have been making wines, and in recent years, places like Croatia, Georgia, and Slovenia have blasted on the wine scene with some stand out wines made from traditional grapes such as Crljenak Kaštelanski, Rkatsiteli, and Refosco grapes.

I visit the winebusiness.com wine news aggregate every day.  Reading and researching all of the current wine news that is out there.  I remember seeing an article by the Palate Press that was titled “Re-Unifying a Wine Region That Now Spans Three Countries.” I remember thinking that I should read this, as it must have something to do with these borderless wines.  Indeed it did.  It wasn’t until about a month later, while posting on the Terroirists wine blog, did I notice a comment by someone named Wayne Young.  Normally, there are only about 3 other people besides me that post on this blog (wine blogs have so far to go), so this name stuck out.  The name had a website attached to it, so I clicked on it and it brought me to the Bastianich blog.  Well, I knew that they were the winery that launched the “Adriatico” brand, so I posted a comment to Wayne’s comment asking what his thoughts were on the wines.  He was very excited that I heard of the new wines and emailed me privately.  Wine is a Conduit.

The “Adriatico” lineup of wines is the inventive and historically accurate creation of the Bastianich winery.  This new line up of white wines paid homage to indigenous grape varieties grown in Friuli (Italy), Goriška Brda (Slovenia), and the Istrian Peninsula (Croatia).  So, who in their right mind would create a wine brand around three obscure white grape varietals from a mystical place called “Adriatico?”  These are not household names.  So, what is it really about?  This brand is certainly about sharing amazing wines, but they aim bigger than just that. It’s more about breaking down misconceptions about whole wine regions, about varieties, about unknown winemakers.  Most importantly, they aim to create a ‘real’ place while simultaneously destroying invisible boundaries that limit our choices and pleasures. For the Bastianich family, it is about being proper stewards to the total wine region that unifies the commonalities of these three wine cultures and peoples.

Well, first, let me just say how much I respect this endeavor.  For me, the “Adriatico” line is such an important gift to the wine world, and we have the Bastianich family to thank for this.  Here we have in one brand the three most important white wine varieties of the three most important wine regions along the Adriatic Sea:

Tocai Friuliano (Italy), Ribolla (Slovenia), and Malvasia (Croatia)…all under one brand, united as they were centuries ago.

I received these samples right before Christmas (thanks Santa Wayne) and I’ve let them rest in my wine cellar undisturbed.  Knowing that the wines had arrived in the USA in November then shipped across the country in December, I had a feeling that they would be a bit travel shocked.  So, after enough rest, I just had to open these Christmas presents and try them out.  I knew that I needed to pay my own homage to the Bastianich family and Wayne for these wines, so I invited a few close friends of mine over for dinner.  To accomplish this feat, I had to make a dish that would compliment all the wines and feed 4 hungry people.  To go with the Bastianich wines, we must have a Bastianich recipe!  It was my first attempt at making Lidia Bastianich’s Vermicelli with Clam Sauce and it went over very well and complimented the wines beautifully.  My friend Jesse brought over some fatty and briny Hama Hama Oysters (delicious) to pair with as well.

The wines showed beautifully, the Tocai had amazing acidity and a freshness that really held up to the extra pinch of red pepper flakes that I put in the pasta (it was a cold and rainy day).  The Ribolla has a generous mouth feel and great citrus zest combined with a briny minerality that really elevated the clams and the oysters on the half shell.  The Malvasia was probably my favorite, only because I could not stop smelling it.  Hands down, it had the most complex aromatics, very floral, very delicate.  I remember all of us commenting at one point or another about it during the evening, so I curiously looked up what day it was on the biodynamic calendar and sure enough it was a flower day.  Damn, Wine is a Conduit.  All in all, we were left fat and happy, my friends and I were honored to have had the opportunity to try the wines and expand our own palates.  Most importantly, it was the wines that brought us together, people with different backgrounds, and different histories, all united for one meal under one banner, “Adriatico”.

I strongly suggest that you go out and find these wines, buy all three, open them up together with friends and family and share in the exploration of this historically rich wine region. You too can become a citizen of “Adriatico.”

Shiro’s & the Cloudy Pyramid Valley

January 21st, 2011

This date will live on in wine and food infamy for me.  It was a day filled with memories and purpose. As I continue down this life/career path in wine, things happen that remind me of why I love what I do and why I wanted to start this blog.

The day began at 6am, cellphone alarm blaring, me scrabbling to get ready as I needed to be at Jesse’s by 7am. Neither of us could remember the last time we had to be up this early,

Thanks PKT Wines!

probably harvest last  year.  What the hell are we doing up this early?  Oh yeah, we’re following our passions.  I had the pleasure of tagging along with my friend Jesse Skiles of Fausse Piste fame on a day trip to Seattle.  Jesse had a business meeting with a potential distributor for his wines in Seattle.  Jesse poured six of his wines to a couple of wine industry veterans, who taste thousands of wines every year from around the world, not to mention the amount of the local wines that they get to taste.  So, they don’t BS with tasting wine.  They’ve been around the block.  It was great fun watching these guys really sit up and take notice of Jesse’s wines. It was his 2009 l’ortolan Roussanne (SOLD OUT) that absolutely hooked them, and this was BEFORE he got to his stunning reds.    After the tasting, they worked out a handshake deal with Jesse right there on the spot.  I can’t emphasize how rare that is, especially in these economic times.  Distributors are just not taking on new ‘unproven’ brands.  Clearly, they see what a jewel Jesse’s wines are.  Smart choice, gentlemen.

A celebration was in order.

We decided to check out some of Seattle’s better known wine shops to see where Jesse could send people when his wines are eventually available in Washington.  On our second stop, we came to be in the depths of Esquin Wine Merchants (visit here).  I had always wanted to visit to Esquin as I had heard of it through various wine channels.  Sometimes, in these massive wine shops, it is easy to be confused by all of the options.  Where to begin? What is it that I am actually looking for?  Did I even want to buy anything?  I should look for something obscure.  There was this crazy orange wine from Georgia (the country, not state) that I still have found memories of.  [Special thanks to Germain at the Amelia Wine Bar in San Francisco for introducing me to the "Phesants Tears" Unfiltered Rkatsiteli (the grape) wine.]  I wonder if they have it here?  No, they didn’t.  Damn.

OK, I must rewind the story a bit:

The drive from Portland to Seattle is about 3.5 hours depending on the weather and traffic.  It was raining cats and dogs, so this was going to be a slug of a drive.  It was a great time to catch up with Jesse.  Lots of talk about wine, food, travel, and always music.  Jesse had asked me if I had been up to Walla Walla lately and asked when the last time I had talked with Tom Glase (owner/winemaker at Balboa Winery) was.  I had mentioned that Tom and I talked in early fall just before harvest kicked in.  So, we had verbalized the words “Tom Glase”.  The universe would remind us of her eternal powers, by producing Tom Glase in the flesh at the end of our meeting with the distributor (Tom and Jesse now share a distributor in Seattle.)  I remember Jesse and I looking at each other with shocked expressions.  We talked about Tom, and then , BAM, Tom appears hours later.  Spooky.  Of all the people that could have shown up as we had literally just finished the tasting/meeting, it was Tom that walks into the conference room.  He looks at us all, grabs a glass, takes a big gulp of Jesse’s wines, and says “Wow, that’s good.”  Wine is a Conduit….this is all I could say to myself.

When Jesse and I arrived at the Distributor’s warehouse, we had to take the stairs to the offices upstairs.  There was a shelf of wine right next to it and I remember looking at this group of wines each time I was coming up or down.  It was as if the wine gods were sending me a “LOOK HERE” message.  I mentioned this to Jesse after the meeting and that this producer was one that I had been dying to try for many years, I just never came across it.  The wines are tough to find and I have never seen them anywhere here in Oregon.  Jesse hadn’t seem them before either and he only vaguely remembers hearing about them.  The name of the producer was now verbalized and sent out into the universe…………..Pyramid Valley.  Surely, the universe must have been satisfied by just producing Tom Glase for us, but apparently not, the joke was still on us.

OK.  Now back to Esquin Wine Merchants.

So we really weren’t there to buy anything, just look around and see what they had to offer, where Jesse’s wines might be placed.  I kept being attracted to the Chile, Argentina, New Zealand row of wines for some reason, and there at the end of the aisle, right near the entrance to the store, were those same Pyramid Valley wines I had seen at the Distributors  just hours before.  So, I had to pick one up, touch it, read it, get to know that bottle.  I mean, here it is Jeff, you’ve always wanted to try this, you’ve never even SEEN a bottle before.  Could a purchase be more obvious?  Jesse came over and we discussed the Pyramid Valley wines again, recalling our earlier conversation.  Thank you, Wine Gods.  Now which one to buy?  I was in a white wine mood (odd, since it was all grey and gloomy outside) so we were looking at the 2008 Riverbrook Riesling and the 2007 Kerner Estate Pinot Blanc they had. Neither of us had ever tried a Riesling or Pinot Blanc from New Zealand, so we really couldn’t loose. Besides, this was Pyramid Valley, does it really matter which wine you start with? At about this time, a very attractive redhead (who’s name I failed to get) asked us if we needed any help.  I said “No, I think we’ve decided on one.”  In hindsight, I should have said “Yes, we’re a couple of idiots, can you help us?” Stupid me.  I decided I wanted to try the Riesling, in part, because we had talked about Oregon Riesling in the car on the ride up.  I went to pay for the wine and thankfully, the attractive redhead was there at the check-out (double entendre) counter.  She made some glowing comments about the Riesling and the producer, but mentioned that she preferred the Pinot Blanc.  Touche!  I looked up and saw Jesse scramble over to grab the Pinot Blanc. Nice move, well played, my friend.  We left Esquin with two bottles of Pyramid Valley wines, both ga-ga for the redhead and wondering what the hell were we doing back there, not getting a name?  Now what? Well, we’re in Seattle, Jesse landed a distributor for Washington state, we’re armed with two Pyramid Valley wines, it is getting late, we are hungry, so let’s stay in town and grab dinner to celebrate.  The decision of what to have was easy.  I think we said “sushi” at the same time.  After deciding on sushi the “where to go” was even easier: Shiro’s.

For you sushi lovers out there, I defy you to tell me of any better sushi restaurant in the USA.

Sushi Heaven

So, we arrived at Shiro’s and we were trying to decide which wine to bring in, the Riesling or the Pinot Blanc?  I decided on the Riesling, as it was my way of contributing to the celebration, and because I had envisioned a spicy albacore tuna hand roll in my future.  As we walked in, there were only 4 customers in the entire restaurant and they were at the bar (which IS the best place to sit at Shiro’s.)  It was only 5:30pm, so we felt pretty lucky to grab two seats at the end of the sushi bar.  The menu’s arrived and after a quick glace Jesse had mentioned that we should just go for the “Chef’s Choice Sushi Platter”. This is one of the many things I appreciate about Jesse.  He has great instincts for food and wine.

The young sushi chef was surprised that we had made such a quick decision, but he was ELATED that we wanted the chef’s choice.  His first words were: “Do you eat everything?”  Jesse let out an emfatic “Yes”, as if the sushi couldn’t come out fast enough.  I should mention, that Jesse is also a very accomplished chef in his own right.  I don’t think I have seen him so filled with anticipation over a meal.  We finally had a moment to look around and we could see two very large (softball size) fresh sea urchins on top of the sushi counter.  The chef (who’s name we didn’t get, apparently a theme of the day) placed a half of sea urchin shell (spikes and all) on our plate and arranged 6 of the fattiest, tastiest, most delicate slices of uni that I have ever had in my life, inside. Arranged around the rest of the plate were neatly cut and fanned cucumbers, lemon peel, pacific albacore, fresh salmon, red snapper, and yellow fin tuna sashimi  that was all fresh from the sea that day. Here is one of the best things about Seattle. Fresh seafood.

We opened up the Riesling and were imediately impressed.  The aromatics hit with wet stone and delicate flowers.  But which ones?  Now, part of the fun of drinking wine is finding the right descriptors (which are very individual in context) to the wine. Really, there are certain wines that I feel compelled/challenged to describe.  So, after we bounced some ideas off of each other, it hit me: cover crop.  If you have ever walked through a Bio/Organic vineyard in the summertime, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  This Riesling literally smelled like cover crop (Dandelion, Horsetail, Chamomile.)  Stunning.  On the palate, the wine enters clean, like fresh spring water, then you taste the flora, then there is a well integrated level of exotic citrus.  Exotic citrus?  Ok, I have never been to New Zeland, but I would venture to guess, that there is a specific type of citrus fruit that they have down there that this wine tastes like. I do not have the life experience (never been to NZ) to accurately describe what I am tasting here.  This is also one of the wonders of wine.  The new flavors from around the world. Wine unlike any other beverage really should taste like a ‘place’….a bottle of wine should transport you there.  There is something about the use of indigenious yeast that allows these flavors to reveal themselves.  For me, being able to smell (and sometimes taste) elements of the specific parcel of land is one of the beauties of wine.  This Riesling is continued proof that with proper agricultural and cellar practices, this can be achieved.  So can visiting a place without actually being there.

So, after about 15 pieces of the most lip smacking sushi I have ever eaten and one empty bottle of Pyramid Valley Riesling, we were in a conundrum.  What to do?  Well, we all were hitting our stride (chef included), so instictually, Jesse just grabbed his keys, stood up, and declared, “We need the Pinot Blanc now.”  YES!

Upon his return, the worrisome look on the chef’s face was replaced by beams of light.  I don’t think he heard our exchange, so he was puzzled as to why Jesse had gotten up and left the restaurant so fast.  To see Jesse walk back into the restaurant with another bottle of wine fired up our chef again. Clearly, at this point he realized that it was, GAME ON.  Here is where wine becomes the international language.  Our chef bounced into action, before Jesse even sat down.

This is where the meal and evening was elevated from amazing to sublime.

Pinot Blanc doesn’t get enough respect.  I won’t bore you with historical context as to ‘why’ it doesn’t, instead I want to offer you a wine as an example of what ‘can be’ great about Pinot Blanc.   The 2007 Pyramid Valley Kerner Estate Pinot Blanc.  Really, go out and find this wine.  It will challenge you on many levels.  First, being the color.  When you pour this wine into your glass it is cloudy, that’s because it is unfined and unfiltered.  DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THESE WINES.

We both impatiently swirled and sniffed, we knew what the cloudy wine meant.  It meant this was gonna be a show stopper of a wine.  We are about to travel to New Zealand. Immediately, you could smell this wine.  My nose is about 2 feet from the glass and I can already smell it.  WOW!  As I dove into the wine, I was picking up ruby red grapefruit, white peach, wild flowers, cover-crop (yahoo), minerality, and saline.   It was a wine that completely changed the next time I raised it to my nose.  I LOVE these “shape-shifter” wines.  So generous. They’re wardrobe changing supermodels.  This wine is killing it for us.  Holy Mackrel (Spanish “Aji” to be percise!)  We dove into about 10 more sushi combinations, most of which were roe inspired.  Roe (fish eggs) are pungent, potent, and can be difficult to drink delicate white wines with.  This Pinot Blanc had the balls to hold up to all of the different sushi combinations, but it also had the dexterity to compliment them. This was due to the unfined and unfiltered nature of the wine.

Towards the end of the meal, Jesse and I were feeling a bit guilty, we offered up the last glass to our hero chef.  All I could say was “Oishii” (おいしい)

He smiled victoriously and accepted the last remaining glass of wine.  After we left and were walking back to the car, it dawned on the both of us that one glass of wine didn’t really show enough appreciation.  Jesse had a few bottles of his wine in the truck of his car and wanted to give the chef a few bottles.  A gift from one culinary artist to another.  I couldn’t think of a more fitting tribute to our meal.  A gift for a gift.

I wish I knew enough Japanese to put into proper words what those 3 HOURS were like sitting there at the sushi bar eating and learning about all of the complexities of the artistry of sushi preparation, presentation, and of course gastronomic enjoyment.   It would be borderline gluttunous to describe in detail each piece of sushi, each flavor, each unique sensory experience.  I tried foods that I had never eaten or heard of before, never knew were even sushi options.  Like wine, sushi is a much bigger world, it’s not just about Salmon and Tuna.  But, to be in the company and mercy of a passionate sushi chef, was really an honor, and a education.  Like wine, sushi is about the art of sharing.  Our personal chef that night couldn’t have been more gracious. He gave us a very special evening, one that will go down in food and wine experience lore.  We agreed that it was the best sushi we had ever had and that the Pyramid Valley Pinot Blanc was the greatest Pinot Blanc that we had ever had.  We do not throw out the words ‘greatest’ too often.  But, the sushi and the Pinot Blanc were deserving of such accolades.

We finally got back to Portland around 11:30pm.

17 hours filled with reminders of why we came to be in this business.

Me, Lucy, and André Ostertag

Welcome to the inaugural post of the “Wine is a Conduit” website and wine blog!

This blog was created as a platform for wine professionals to share their stories about what was that wine or wine moment changed their lives.  We all have an “Ah-Ha!” moment. That moment in time where we KNEW we were hooked on fermented grape juice.   What wine was it that made us; quit our jobs, travel to foreign lands, research weather and soil data, read every wine publication or book, what made us spend great sums of money on collecting bottles, choosing to take wine courses in college, or keeping with family tradition.

“Wine is a Conduit”

Since this whole thing was my idea, it is only fair that I start things off.  I have always enjoyed hearing individual stories of how people came to love wine.  Maybe I was so interested because my own story was so undefined until recently.  I guess it was my way of trying to better understand how I got to be in the wine industry.   So, without further ado, here is my story:

Jeff Vejr, Your Host & Creator of the “Wine is a Conduit” website and blog. Jeff has been working in the wine business for the past 7 years and has been collecting wine for the past 14 years. In the wine industry he has imported, exported, owned retail stores, owned a wine bar, he’s worked harvest, worked a bottling line, and he is constantly consulting. He is a rabid fan of Syrah from around the world and is currently obsessed with Biodynamics® and the ‘natural’ wine movement. Is he a Wine Geek? Yes, I suppose sometimes he is, but he is respectful of each individual’s palate and their own personal wine journey. Stemware Freak? Absolutely, and unapologetically so. You will find Jeff roaming wine regions around the world with his Riedel’s, meeting people who share a similar calling and learning about their wine beginnings.

I was a poor 23 year old college student in need of a break from my job and that last year of school.  More importantly, I was following my heart and sense of adventure by heading to Lyon, France to meet an ex-girlfriend of mine.  She was just finishing up a year of studying abroad in Lyon and wanted to travel with me across Europe.  I was all set to be reunited and experience the classic “backpack through Europe” cliché.  I arrived in Lyon around 5pm, without luggage (it seemed to miss the connection in Amsterdam) and a spirit full of energy.  I remember seeing her again for the first time, my heart raced, I was so happy, so filled with excitement and the tension of the unknown.  I still see the automatic doors (that’s so 20^th century) opening after I had passed through customs and seeing her standing against a cement pillar.  That moment is still a barometer for how profound I’m feeling in matters of the heart.  I have had many ‘love’ moments since that have overtaken that moment in time, but it still is a guide.  The power of young love.

I was starving and pumped up to see her and experience France and Europe.  What better way to see this country than to start by eating, right?  It’s France!  So bagless, we took a bus to the center of town to find a meal and start to catch up.  She knew of a little bistro in this nondescript alley that she wanted to take me to.  At the bistro, my “ex” ordered a bottle of white wine and a selection of food items.  She is fluent in French, and knowing the peculiar nature of the French towards non-French speakers, she spoke for me that night and the entire trip.  The waitress brought two clunky glasses that seemed to have been washed with S.O.S. pads and that bottle of wine.  I can still see the elongated green bottle on the table to this day, but the label is turned away from me.  I would from time to time remember bits and pieces of that meal and the wine.  I was always struggling to define “what” that wine was.  The meal, conversation, and my “ex” have long left my memory and life.   I suppose that is because it wasn’t as interesting to me as the mystery behind what that wine was.   I knew it was a white, but what varietal was it?  Who was the producer?  What region was the wine from?  What vintage was it?  I had all of these questions and when you don’t have immediate answers, you dream, you create your own story in your mind.  You rightly or wrongly fill in the blanks with your own fantasy.  So, I had created my own story of what was my “ah-ha!” moment, but I never could fully buy into it.  My story still seemed unwritten and unresolved and the mystery would frequently creep into my mind while drinking a wine that really moved me.

It was only about fourteen years later, having uncovered my journal from that trip, in an old box of collectibles that I had stored at my folks house, that I knew what THAT ONE WINE was.  My “ah-ha!” moment.  The mystery was finally solved.

Sylvaner.

Really?  A simple little Sylvaner from Alsace got me into wine?   I remember reading “Sylvaner” in my beat up journal and feeling like all of my wine credentials had just been flushed down the toilet.  I felt dejected at first and embarrassed.  As if the wine KGB were going to find me and out me.  Why couldn’t it have been a Chardonnay from Burgundy?  A Viognier from the Rhone?  These would have been plausible examples given that I was in Lyon.  I had been hopeful that geography was on my side.  But it wasn’t.  What was on my side however, was a heavy dose of humility.  It was a lesson that I thought I knew about wine.  Reading those words recently reminded me of what is so important about wine.  The critical factor in accepting wine in your life.  It’s really about the moments, stupid.  It’s not the label, the score or even the contents within.  That may seem like a strange statement coming from a non-official wine geek, but you know, we all start somewhere, and you can never force that moment.  Some of the greatest wines that I have ever tasted where in the company of others.  This is true for many people.  It has been this way for millennia.

I suppose my connection to that wine could have been the excitement of being in France for the first time or being reunited with an “ex” after 11 months.  It could have been the first “authentic” wine that passed by my lips.  It could have been the wines combination with our food that night.  Could it have been the heartbreak I felt when I caught her kissing another man on the train platform as I waited inside?  Did wine become my defacto companion on that trip?  Whatever the reasons were, that wine memory is still burned into my psyche.  It was my beginning, and I am so thankful for it.

The most powerful and profound wines are always those wines that transport you for, wines that make you feel,  wines that embed a memory.  That little Sylvaner (probably €7 at the time) set my life on a whole new journey.  I was so hooked, so beautifully confused about wine that I spent the rest of my trip in France and then in Spain trying different wines with different foods and asking questions all along the way. Everything was new, each wine, each new town, each new country, and each new moment with my “ex”.  Every bottle seemed like that wardrobe in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.”

Lucy.  I understand the allure.

So, Sylvaner it is, my gateway wine, my introduction into the world of wine.

Beginning each year, I will buy a case of Domaine Ostertag ‘Les Vieilles Vignes de Sylvaner’ as a reminder of my wine beginnings.  It wasn’t André Ostertag’s wine that I had that night, but his is the greatest example of Sylvaner that I have ever tasted since that night 14 years ago.  I got a chance to meet André recently, but I didn’t get a chance to share this story with him.  Someday I will and I know that he will understand how we both came to be in this moment.

“Wine is a Conduit” and it is so fulfilling.