New WTN project: Open Mike!

[Robin Garr]

isn't at all serious but it is pretty fun.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

The price just came down somewhat around here to about $17, plus it comes in 375's and 187's if you want to try it for relatively cheap.

I'll have to take another look at the Rosa. I would definitely say nicer things about it for under $20.

My wine? Sometime over the weekend I plan to try a Marenco 2004 "Pineto" Brachetto d'Acqui. If anyone has or can get this wine (it's from VIAS Imports of NYC), or any Brachetto, or for that matter any similar red (even a Lambrusco), I hope you'll join the fun and post.

Surprise. Russo's has two of these, a full sparkling and semi-sparkling. Which is the Marenco?

[Robin Garr]

Surprise. Russo's has two of these, a full sparkling and semi-sparkling. Which is the Marenco?

Erm ... it's the one that says "Marenco" on the bottom of the label, OW.

Marenco is the producer. I would guess this one is the semi-sparkling - it has a standard cork, no Champagne-style <i>muselage</i>. The label makes no distinction, though, and the retailer only had the one, so I'm clueless.

[Jenise]

Robin, the idea--finding someone with a bottle like yours, agreeing to taste it and discuss it on line--is really Otto's. Remember when he was looking for company to taste Cambon Pelouse with? All I did was suggest we make it a forum feature--and you came up with the name!

Me, I didn't have a plan per se but Walt reminds me that I saw a Tempier in town and thought, "Hmmm, used to be great. Had a few bad years, wonder how it is now." Normally that makes me buy it on the spot but I guess I had enough in my cart already, because I didn't. If it's still there, I'll be tasting with Walt.

[Robin Garr]

Robin, the idea--finding someone with a bottle like yours, agreeing to taste it and discuss it on line--is really Otto's. Remember when he was looking for company to taste Cambon Pelouse with? All I did was suggest we make it a forum feature--and you came up with the name!

Oh, right! Props to Otto, too!

I really like the idea but even though I consider myself somewhat of a wine geek I am with OW, never heard of your wine. What the heck they serving down in Kentucky?

I'm really surprised, Walt. I'd have thought St. Louis, with The Hill and all, would have all things Italian. Betcha you could find a Brachetto at Brown Derby and other places ... maybe you just haven't been looking for it? It's an offbeat wine for sure - Piemontese, sweet and soft and slightly fizzy, low-alcohol and RED. Not really a Piemontese version of Lambrusco, though; it might be better described as a red Moscato d'Asti, but it's not Muscat.

Robin,
I am alone this weekend so will go to the Hill and see what I can find. Like the WSJ article said this morning we should look forward to trying different wines. Regardless, with words like Lambrusco, sweet red and fizzy it sure doesn't fit my palate profile preferences. Also the Brown Derby used to be in St. Louis but closed last year. They are still open in Springfield. Their prices were about 15% higher than anyone else in the area and just folded.

I like this idea but still not sure how it works. Do I post a thread on Thursday with "Open Mike" as the prefix and state what wine I will be drinking. Do people then post to this thread on Sat thru Mon? I may be a little dense but not sure of the procedure and a little clarification may make it work better.
Walt

[Robin Garr]

I like this idea but still not sure how it works. Do I post a thread on Thursday with "Open Mike" as the prefix and state what wine I will be drinking. Do people then post to this thread on Sat thru Mon? I may be a little dense but not sure of the procedure and a little clarification may make it work better.

We're all still fuzzy, Walt, because we're still working it out. And trying to keep it simple and uncomplicated.

Basically, as I see it this minute, we'll start an Open Mike thread every week - maybe earlier in the week in following weeks. Or else we'll just keep this thread running. Somebody will grab the mike and say, "I'm tasting Yada Yada 2004 Yada daBing this week. Anybody else want to try it too? And then everybody who tastes that wine will post back to the same sub-thread.

Or maybe anyone who wants to set up a tasting can start a NEW thread with "Open Mike" in the title. We're still working this out, but the bottom line is, it's yet another shot at making wine tasting a community process, as well as educational, by making it really easy for several participants to taste the same wine at about the same time and compare notes.

Me, I didn't have a plan per se but Walt reminds me that I saw a Tempier in town and thought, "Hmmm, used to be great. Had a few bad years, wonder how it is now." Normally that makes me buy it on the spot but I guess I had enough in my cart already, because I didn't. If it's still there, I'll be tasting with Walt.

Jenise,
Surprised about your comment on a few bad years. I do not buy Tempier very often because I have a good friend that is nuts about this wine and buys every vintage of most of the Tempier wines. I drink out of his cellar for my Bandol fix. The only one of their wines I have not liked is the '02 rose as it was fruitless and very light. Haven't had the rouge but expect the same as '02 was such a bad year for that part of France. Don't waste your money on the '02s

I am going to post a "Open Mike" thread and see how that works vs one big thread.

Walt

[Jenise]

Walt, I'm unclear on exactly which year was a bad year, but I think--no, I know--it was longer ago than 2002. That would have been released about the time I moved up here, and my recollections go back to earlier days in Huntington Beach. The wine was definitely lighter bodied and uninteresting, and it seemed to me there were a few back-to-back years like that in which my interest waned. Been a long time since I even saw a bottle to consider trying.

I agree about the separate post, btw. It's been my observation that the multiple-topic aspect of one-long-thread thing tends to inhibit extended conversation about any one topic.

[Robin Garr]

Walt, I'm unclear on exactly which year was a bad year, but I think--no, I know--it was longer ago than 2002.

Dunno about earlier, but 2002 was the flood year in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and very bad indeed in much of the Rhone and Provence. That was the year that Vieux-Telegraphe declined to release wine under its regular label and came out with the lightweight CdP with its label turned around to face the bottle in shame.

I agree about the separate post, btw. It's been my observation that the multiple-topic aspect of one-long-thread thing tends to inhibit extended conversation about any one topic.

Good point ... a lesson learned when we tried doing WT101 as one long thread.

I really like the idea but even though I consider myself somewhat of a wine geek I am with OW, never heard of your wine. What the heck they serving down in Kentucky?

I'm really surprised, Walt. I'd have thought St. Louis, with The Hill and all, would have all things Italian. Betcha you could find a Brachetto at Brown Derby and other places ... maybe you just haven't been looking for it? It's an offbeat wine for sure - Piemontese, sweet and soft and slightly fizzy, low-alcohol and RED. Not really a Piemontese version of Lambrusco, though; it might be better described as a red Moscato d'Asti, but it's not Muscat.

Robin,
Went to my wine store over lunch and found an '04 Brachetto d'Acqui for $21.99. I know the wine buyer very well and asked him about this wine and wanted to know if it tasted like a red Muscat. He said that was a good description but had this strange look on his face that said "why would you ever want to buy a bottle". He knows my preferences very well and said it is sold at Christmas and then just dribbles out during the rest of the year. I picked it up, looked it over, saw 6% alcohol, planned on taking it to the check out but just couldn't do it. What I read and the way you described it meant it probably had all the things I did not like, with possible exception of oak, and even for the sake of science I could not pull the trigger. Picked up a white Bordeaux instead and headed out of the store. For about the same $ think I will enjoy my Bandol rose better.
Conservative in St. Louis,
Walt

I was able to get two different releases (a Banfi and "a cheaper, much better one"), and will post on your Open Mike, Robin.

Questions:

Should my tasting note be preceded by WTN if I add the note to your Open Mike thread?

Are you going to run the Open Mike on WLC as well? (If not, I'll just post a dup of my tasting note over there.).

Thanks, Bob

[Robin Garr]

Went to my wine store over lunch and found an '04 Brachetto d'Acqui for $21.99. I know the wine buyer very well and asked him about this wine and wanted to know if it tasted like a red Muscat. He said that was a good description but had this strange look on his face that said "why would you ever want to buy a bottle". He knows my preferences very well and said it is sold at Christmas and then just dribbles out during the rest of the year. I picked it up, looked it over, saw 6% alcohol, planned on taking it to the check out but just couldn't do it.

It's okay, Walt. It's definitely a change-of-pace experience. I'm a little surprised at your wine guy identifying it as a Christmas wine, though. I think Bill B hit it pretty close as a fun, not-serious summer quaffer. Chilled at least a bit.

For about the same $ think I will enjoy my Bandol rose better.

I don't know that I'll find a Tempier Rosé this weekend, but I would love to.

[Robin Garr]

Should my tasting note be preceded by WTN if I add the note to your Open Mike thread?

Good question, Bob. Hadn't thought that far. I'd say so, though. Haven't we established that WTN <i>will</i> work to find a single post within a thread in this forum's search? Certainly we want all TNs to be searchable, so that makes the answer a clear yes.

Are you going to run the Open Mike on WLC as well? (If not, I'll just post a dup of my tasting note over there.)

Hadn't thought about that, either. I think we're increasingly moving in the direction of not duplicating the two forums but letting each seek its own audience ... hence the new division between WineFocus here and WOTM there. But certainly cross-posting individual messages and TNs is a nice thing to do, for those who are willing to do so.

Thanks, Robin.

I'll assume your question is rhetorical and will post with the WTN in my responses in the Open Mike threads. (I don't really know how the search engine works insofar as WTN within threads is concerned. I can see that Walt's Open Thread post proves that the WTN doesn't have to be in the subject line; the search engine returns his thread and WTN appears in the body of his Message. I haven't tested whether the thread will be found if there is no WTN in the first post, just in one or more of the following posts within a thread,.)

Might be wise to have a standard format for the first post: WTN Open Mike -- [Name of wine] -- but I'm not sure that's necessary.

I've been sporadic in cross posting to WLC, but have a pretty good system going now -- if I just keep WLC open all the time, I can avoid the nuisance of signing in every time. I'll cross post in WLDG and WLC more often in the future.

Regards, Bob

I too am cross-posting over there to whip up some enthusiasm!!
Robin, I made an effort to find the Branchetto here in town but drew a blank. Could not even find Sparkling Vixen!!!

[Robin Garr]

By happy coincidence, WineLoversPage.com correspondent Tom Hyland (who publishes an Italian Wine Guide newsletter) has just submitted a short piece on Brachetto d'Acqui, including a brief description of the wine and some comments on some of its better producers.

Interestingly, he mentions the Marenco "Pineto" as one of the two best, but indicates that it's made in small quantities and difficult to find. I wonder how it turned up at a small (but very good) wine shop in Louisville.

Here's a link to Tom's report:
Brachetto d'Acqui

Thanks for the link, Robin. I've already learned a great deal from the Open Mike program. I had this wine once in Italy, loved it, and forgot it. Thanks for reminding me.

I am having my first ever Brachetto d'Acqui tonight. It's a 2004 Braida originally marked 29.95 but marked down now to 9.99, probably because of its age.
Thanks, Robin, for the introduction. Very interesting and different. My daughter Karn thinks its raspberries and pomogranite. I think its strawberries and cherry. So, at least we think it is red fruit. Son in law Jeff thinks it has a bit of chocolate. I think it goes well with chocolate. Great, in fact. We all agree it is semi dry or semi sweet, lightly effervescent, appealing, but with little aftertaste. I think I'd buy it again for ten bucks, but not for thirty as originally marked. Not, to my way of thinking, the red equivalent of Moscato d'Asti because it is nowhere near as refreshing, perhaps lower in acid content? But it is interesting.
Ok. Passing on the open mike now.

[Robin Garr]

I am having my first ever Brachetto d'Acqui tonight. It's a 2004 Braida originally marked 29.95 but marked down now to 9.99, probably because of its age.

Thanks for joining in, OW! I'll report mine formally when I write up tomorrow's Wine Advisor (I'm going to do a little piece about Brachetto and Moscato d'Asti, noting that it's intriguing to find both these frothy little wines coming from the land of Barolo and Barbaresco), but here's an executive summary of the 2004 Marenco that I posted in Chat today:

<i>A little like Campari and soda, really. Lot of red berry/cranberry character, just barely sweet, and with a really interesting medicinal/herbal vibe going on.</i>

I liked it quite a bit and could probably make an argument for it at $20 when you're really in the mood for a change of pace. It had sufficient acidity and more than sufficient complexity, and was really more off-dry than sweet. But $30? No, I don't think so.

I was fascinated to read about the Open Mike program, and delighted to learn that I had actually had a Brachetto d'Acqui -- and had totally forgotten it. From my Wine Diary:

In May of 1999, Janet, Kathrine and I spent a couple of weeks in Italy. We visited Genoa for a day, then drove south east to Sestri Levante along the coast before giving up and getting on Autostrada. We stayed at Grand Hotel dei Castelli [ http://www.hoteldeicastelli.com/ ] - a modern castle with a great staff - lovely walks through the gardens and Sestri Levante itself. Dinner at the hotel featured a variety of Ligurina foods: vegetable antipasta, fried shrimp (Japanese style), risotto with vegetables and pasta with spinach, all suggested an excellent waiter. He recommended two wines for dinner, both winners:

1997 Andrea Chionettin Dolcetto di Dogliani San Luigi Piedmont Italy. "Not well known but very good red wine." 13.5%; 18,000 lire. Ruby red color; light hue; excellent fruit aroma and taste; very good astringency and light tannin, beautifully balanced; medium mouth feel; medium single fruit note finish. Very good with the Ligurian food. 4*.

1997 Luigi Coppo Canelli Brachetto d'Acqui Piedmont Italy. "This wine is made in a very different way. You can drink it at any part of the meal, but it will go beautifully with our handmade chocolates." 5.5% alcohol; winery founded in 1892; located near Alessandria. Light red color; light hue; intense strawberry aroma and taste, wild strawberries at first, then more domesticated over time and sweeter, ending almost jammy, but never too sweet; lovely bubbles; lots of fun to taste the changes over time. And, it went beautifully with their handmade chocolates. 4*.

2004 Brachetto D Acqui Rosa Regale Banfi Piedmont Italy. 7% alcohol. $21.00 at Beekman; http://www.beekmanwine.com Imported by Banfi Vintners, Old Brooksfield, NY. Decanter bottle: soft-shouldered Burgundian bottle, scalloped edging around the base and neck, black capsule and label, with red and gold embossed lettering, very heavy and hard to store. A rose symbolizes Banfi's La Rosa vineyard in Acqui.

Soft effervescence, persistent pink foam, a color Fredic Koeppel calls "deep, radiant, cranberry-magenta", deep hue, aroma of rose petals and raspberries and strawberrries, red fruit tastes, very sweet, medium mouth feel, bubbles but no sense of bubbles in the mouth, medium finish, medicinal and quite unpleasant after some time. The foam was very abundant -- gobs of it to coin a term -- reminded me of Kool Whip in size and persistence -- the glass was half full of the stuff. Would be fine at a summer picnic, and went well with grilled tuna, but awfully pricey for the joy. Janet liked it -- it reminded her of a fizzy Sangria without the citrus. With a real meal, 2*; as a special item at a picnic where it's cool enough to serve chocolates, 3*.

Regards, Bob

2005 Icardi Brachetto D'Acqui Surì Vigin Piedmont Italy. $17.00 Beekman. http://beekmanwine.com/ "Better, cheaper, and now much more popular here than the Banfi," according to Joel Mitchell. More formally: "A little less sparkling and a little less expensive than the delicious Banfi Brachetto, this is none-the-less a lovely dessert sparkler with a dark rosé color and lovely aromatics." 6.5% alcohol; imported by Vinefera Imports, Ronkonkoma, NY.

"Deep, radiant, cranberry-magenta" color, deep hue; lovely aroma of strawberries and a hint of spice; very good taste of strawberries, slight fizz, nothing like the heaps of foam in the Banfi tasted last night, slight acidity, medium mouth feel, sweet, but not at all cloying, medium finish with a pretty strawberry persistence. Excellent match with my daily one ounce of very dark chocolate. Lovely wine, good with roasted vegetables, and good at a picnic, I'm sure. A very pretty wine, although without the gobs of foam of the Banfi. 3*+

Regards, Bob

Some pretty good notes there on a wine I have never heard of before!! I did make some inquiries around town here but no-one had the foggiest idea of what I was looking for. "Thought you were tasting Viognier this month!". Looking forward to partaking in next weeks seance!