It’s been a quieter few months on the Dragon Phoenix Wine Blog as Edward has put the finishing touches to a major study of the work of 20th Century American poet Wallace Stevens (1879-1955).

Wallace Stevens and the Aesthetics of Abstraction will be published by Cambridge University Press in August and is the culmination of almost a decade’s research based, in part, on an original Ph.D. dissertation and subsequent research trips to the US supported by the British Academy and British Association for American Studies in 2007.

Stevens is perhaps best known for poems such as ‘The Emperor of Ice-Cream’, ‘Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird’, his long doctrinal poem ‘Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction’ and his late lyrics, such as ‘Final Soliloquy of the Interior Paramour’. So what’s the connection with wine?

Stevens was something of a wine lover, especially of the wines of Burgundy and one of the book’s chapters is entitled ‘Food, Wine and the Idealist ‘I” (the ‘I’ is a special case of the first person speaker in several of Stevens’ 1940s poems).

The book proffers a long reading of perhaps Stevens’ most baffling gastronomic poem ‘Montrachet-Le-Jardin’, a text whose relationship with Burgundy and with Occupied France of 1942 is both ingenious and has previously remained tough for Stevens scholarship to decipher.

Part of the book’s argument is that Stevens’ embrace of an abstract aesthetic was not confined merely to poetic or artistic concerns, but involved his everyday imagination, interests and needs, including a love of the finer things in life, with wine being no exception (for initials reviews from Charles Altieri and J. Hillis Miller please click here).

This is, after all, the poet who wrote in ‘Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction’:

We drank Meursault, ate lobster Bombay with mango
Chutney. Then the Canon Aspirin declaimed
Of his sister, in what a sensible ecstasy

She lived in her house. She had two daughters, one
Of four, and one of seven, whom she dressed
The way a painter of pauvred color paints.

The study follows on from a joint project entitled Wallace Stevens across the Atlantic (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008), pictured above.

Watch this space for updates on our combined wine writing, most recently in Decanter and The World of Fine Wine Magazine. We also have highlights from the 2009 tasting season in Beijing, plus some special Featured Tastings and up-to-date coverage of what’s been happening in China’s capital and further a field.

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This month we recommend two Californian wines which we have especially enjoyed recently on the back of our recent Californian trip (look out for future posts!)

(Photo: Schramsberg, remuage with riddler of long-standing Ramon)

2004 Schramsberg Crémant, California (412RMB)
Available from Globus. Contact: Oliver Baenninger, Email: oliverbaenninger@globus-wine.com  (www.globus-wine.com)

Intrigued to try something from the producer who supplied the wine for the secret meeting between Zhou Enlai and Nixon? Schramsberg is California’s most famous sparkling wine producer, serving Presidents, Kings and Queens and other dignitaries. This wine is called ‘Crémant’ because, although it is made through the traditional Champagne method, it is slightly less sparkling than Champagne.

Made from an unusually aromatic grape called Flora, the wine is a lovely deep gold with a gentle sparkle. The nose has floral and honeyed fruit with some toasty aromas whilst the palate is medium-sweet with balancing acidity and good length. An ideal Chinese banquet wine! (importer Globus stocks most of Schramsberg’s other wines including their Napa Cabernet, called ‘J. Davies’, which is well worth trying too).

2005 Ridge Lytton Springs (Zinfandel Blend), Sonoma, California (699RMB)
Available from Summergate. Contact: Jim Yang, Email: jim.yang@summergate.com Telephone 86.10. 6562.1800 ext 16 (www.summergate.com)

Ridge, under the command of Paul Draper, has become one of California’s greatest producers, with wineries in Sonoma and also the Santa Cruz Mountains (where the legendary Monte Bello Chardonnay and Monte Bello red blend are made).

This wine, from the Lytton Springs winery, is medium purple-red in colour. The nose has attractive blackberry, black cherry and berry fruits with lovely oak; whilst the palate offers robust and ripe tannins, strong fruit, nice acidity, good oak and excellent length. Made from 77% Zinfandel, 17% Petite Syrah and 6% Carignan, this is an extremely good wine. Try with Cantonese roast meats or even Beijing roast duck!

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(Photo: Pacific and Bay-area fog draws in on Oakville, Napa Valley)

Approaching California (from China)

Over Chinese New Year, we had the chance to re-visit California, the USA’s most famous wine state (around 90% of American wine comes from California).

During our winery visits, we talked with Californian producers about the lack of recognition in China of US wines.

However, several mainland Chinese importers now carry important American wineries (click here to read more) with California leading the way, even if lack of awareness among consumers and the absence of a co-ordinated programme for the reception of US wines in China remain issues.

But what makes California distinctive? Most famous is California’s Napa Valley which more often than not boasts near-perfect growing conditions for high quality grapes.

Cabernet Sauvignon grows especially well in the warmer parts of Napa; although near the southern end of the valley lies Carneros which is cooler and more suitable for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The Carneros region is also shared with neighbouring Sonoma, a generally cooler part of the North Coast AVA (American Viticultural Area).

Typically, higher-quality wines come from California’s cooler regions, whether up-high in the Santa Cruz Mountains or along the North, Central and South Coast zones. Producers are free to plant grape varieties wherever they want, but certain areas are, of course, well-known for specific varietals:

Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, Carneros Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, Alexander Valley and Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (‘the Zin zone’), Paso Robles Syrah etc.

Beyond these special areas, the huge Central Valley produces the bulk of California’s cheapest wine. However, the Central Valley also has some special parts, like Lodi, which is also famous for Zinfandel.

The Zinfandel grape is certainly one of California’s oldest and more unusual varieties. Although it is the same, genetically speaking, as Italy’s Primitivo grape, Zinfandel is morphologically different with plump berries that easily raisin on the vine (the berries are so large initially that they even shade other grapes on the same bunches, which can lead to uneven ripening).

Raisining on the vine typically leads to a particular style of red wine, usually high in alcohol with lots of fruit and tannic structure (when red).

However, Zinfandel is also used to make an affordable rosé wine - sometimes confusingly called White Zinfandel, usually known as Blush Zinfandel - that has brought many American and some international consumers to wine and is a good thing to buy for first-time wine drinkers.

Our advice in buying Californian wines in China? Seek an importer with an interest in US wines specifically, if you want to try premium or mid-range wines (for more information on importer ranges click here).

Californian wines are generally quite expensive around the world and China is no exception (no less influenced by tax and some hefty distributor margins). But at least you will usually find the main grape variety on the label with the area of production also usually clearly marked (these are legal requirements, but rules on labelling are occasionally bended in the PRC!).

For those who like generally rich-textured and higher-alcohol wines, California remains attractive, but styles are changing and even something as generically coded as so-called ‘Napa Valley Cabernet’ comes in a whole host of producer-inflected expressions.

Thankfully, this range of styles and attention to quality winemaking means that US wines are typically adaptable  to many different types of cuisine. Our advice is to keep searching, tasting and bringing such wines to the banquet or indeed any table!

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(Photo: The Hill of Corton with crop-thinned Pinot Noir)

Aromatic Red Varieties: Pinot Noir

Although the Chinese autumn is short, the welcome change in temperature means that many wine lovers turn to red wines for comfort. But not everyone likes to drink big, full-bodied, high-alcohol reds. If you would like something often elegant, usually lighter-bodied and wonderfully perfumed, Pinot Noir is the answer.

Pinot Noir will typically have lovely red fruits, aromas of violets or other flowers – Pinot has its own distinctive perfume – combining with lighter tannins and the refreshing acidity that makes it such a good partner to many types of foods.

Pinot Noir is, however, difficult to grow and only comes from distinct regions. Its home is France’s Burgundy region, but the variable climate means that you should only choose red Burgundies from the best producers. New Zealand, especially in the Martinborough and Central Otago regions, produces excellent Pinot Noir. Australia too, in the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Geelong regions of Victoria, has some great Pinot Noirs.

Good-value Pinots can also be found from Chile; whilst the wines of Oregon and certain parts of California (Sonoma, Carneros), although often expensive, can be very high in quality (see this month’s Wine Picks for some good value Pinot Noirs available in China).

Amazingly, Pinot Noirs from warmer climates – especially Australia – can even go well with Sichuan cuisine.

If you don’t believe us, try any well-made New World Pinot Noir with kou shui ji (mouth-watering chicken). You may be surprised! Or go for a sparkling white wine rich in Pinot Noir. This works brilliantly too with chilli-hot and aromatic, spicy cuisines.

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Edward has recently posted in-depth articles on Catavino and Enobytes:

DBR Lafite, Bodegas Torres and The Future of Wine in China

‘Nava Valley’: The Fate of American Wines in China

The Enobytes piece was also aired on Wine Business.com (where Enobytes is a Featured Blog)

Look out also for Edward’s and Fongyee’s recent ‘Sinophile’ column in The World of Fine Wine Issue 24: ‘How Large is a Chinese Grand Cru?’

There’s also a fascinating article by Jamie Goode in the same issue entitled ‘Help or Hype? Fine Wine on the Internet’. Goode praises some aspects of Adegga, the on-line community and tasting note resource of which we at Dragon Phoenix are also big fans!

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22nd April 2009

In the opulent surroundings of Beijing’s China Club, Links China welcomed Michael Silacci, winemaker at Opus One, and Roger Asleson, Opus One’s Director of Public Relations, to host a lunch and tasting with a small group of local media and wine professionals.

The prestige of Opus One requires little introduction. But it is not often that wine lovers have the opportunity to separate the myth-making side of this famous venture from the actual quality of the wines.

We tasted a single bottle of 1992 Opus a few years ago (click here for full tasting note) which was very impressive indeed.

On the evidence of this tasting – where several bottles of different vintages were opened and some wines were also served from magnum – Opus One fully deserves the accolades and iconic status it has attained.

Here’s what we tasted (click on links for full tasting notes) with the menu to follow, plus some further notes on Silacci’s and Asleson’s personal insights:

Opus One, Oakville, Napa 2005

Opus One, Oakville, Napa 2001

Opus One, Oakville, Napa 1995

Opus One, Oakville, Napa 1986

These were served with the following menu, a mixture of Sichuan, Shanghai-ese and southern Chinese dishes:

Cold dishes:

Shredded cucumber, jellyfish and wood fungus

Crystal pork elbow

Bang bang ji (chicken in chilli sesame sauce with hua jiao - see below)

Marinated kao fu (gluten)

Followed by:

Crystal prawns

Fried fillet of grouper in black bean sauce

Braised bamboo pith roll with julienned vegetables

Tea-smoked duck

Fried crispy noodles with shredded beef and mushroom

Sweetened almond cream

Some of the thinking behind this menu probably came from an understandable concern that the Sichuan dishes for which The China Club is well-known would be too robust for the wines, especially, with that cuisine’s use of hua jiao (translated as ‘Sichuan peppercorns’, these numbing and fragrant pods actually come from the prickly ash tree).

But some of the dishes – especially the crystal prawns – were too light and had the wrong flavour profile and textures for the likes of Opus One (or any Cabernet-blend).

That said, as Roger Asleson pointed out, there were two very good food-and-wine matching combinations. One real hit was the tea-smoked duck, a Sichuan classic, with the 2005 Opus: where the 05’s bright fruit and pronounced tannic structure stood up very well to what is a strongly flavoured, relatively rich dish.

Another excellent match with the older vintages of Opus, especially the 1986, was the noodles with mushroom and shredded beef. China has an abundance of amazing mushrooms which may well suit older red wines in various styles or aromatic red grapes such as Pinot Noir or Nebbiolo.

In between courses, Michael Silacci explained how on his first vintage as winemaker (back in 2001) he insisted on harvesting at night – not initially a popular move, but now standard practice at Opus.

This not only ensures harvesting grapes at cool temperatures – where unwanted initial fermentation is unlikely to occur – but is designed to capture an optimal balance between water, sugar concentration and acidity (as the grapes expand again following their diurnal contraction under the sun).

Roger Asleson, meanwhile, spoke not only about the collaboration between Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild that made Opus One possible, but about the staying power of this wine during the global economic slowdown.

Various markets in Asia are holding strong – Japan especially – with the prospects for Hong Kong and mainland China still looking good. No less a wine could continue to command such a following.

All of the wines were characterized by finesse, impressive structure and obvious ageing capability. They are a far cry from the Napa Cabernets that elevate extraction over elegance (our recent trip to Napa in February was an education in how many different styles of Cabernet blends exist in the region).

Our thanks to Opus One and the Links China team for this fantastic tasting and lunch.

Watch this space for further posts on Napa wines.

Previous posts on Napa (and Sonoma) include visits at:

Robert Mondavi

Franciscan Estate

Grgich Hills Estate

Limerick Lane

Simi

Clos du Bois

For a full summary of our recent Californian tastings, please click here.

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11th April 2009

At China Agricultural University some 170 students gathered to hear Fongyee deliver a lecture and wine-tasting seminar focusing on the wines of Robert Mondavi (as donated by Constellation and organized through local wine importer Jebsen).

The lecture was part of the popular series intiated by Prof. Ma Huiqin (of CAU) which opens its doors to several other Beijing universities.

This was the first occasion that a sizeable number of the audience had tasted wine and the wines chosen were designed to reflect varietal differences and consistency of style for entry-level Californian.

Thus, under Fongyee’s guidance, the students tasted their way through the following:

2007 Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Sauvignon Blanc

2007 Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Chardonnay

2006 Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Shiraz

2006 Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon

It was fascinating to hear the students’ first impressions of the wines. These were consistent with what we hear from many Chinese tasters.

For example, although the aromatic nose of the Sauvignon Blanc proved attractive, many struggled with the inherent acidity of the grape. Generally speaking, much of the audience preferred the mouthfeel and lower acidity of the Chardonnay; although not all warmed to oak flavour.

Of the reds, the distinctive fruitiness of Shiraz matched by ripe, chewy but not too high tannins proved popular.

By contrast, many of the students were surprised they didn’t like the Cabernet Sauvignon more – a grape variety extensively grown and recognized in China (in various forms). As for many Chinese tasters, however, the tannic structure of Cabernet – although blended here according to the 75% labelling rule in California – is not especially appealing.

Wineries interested in supporting the CAU programme should contact Fongyee on fongyee@longfengwines.com

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21st February 2009

After a month away from Beijing - taking in the UK, Canada and the US - we can promise a series of posts on all the wines we tasted in California including winery visits at:

Grgich Hills Estate, Clos du Bois, Simi, Limerick Lane, Franciscan Estate, Robert Mondavi, Heitz Cellars, Clos du Val, Silverado Vineyards, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Cakebread Cellars.

The first post can be found here: Grgich Hills Estate.

Click on each of the following links for write-ups of each respective winery: Clos du Bois, Simi, Limerick Lane, Franciscan Estate, Robert Mondavi, Heitz Cellars, Clos du Val, Silverado Vineyards, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Cakebread Cellars.

Admittedly, during this marathon tasting tour, Fongyee was mostly couped up in Yountville studying for the Master of Wine programme and Edward set a day aside to complete the Certified Specialist in Wine exam with the Society of Wine Educators in Napa City.

It was a jam-packed trip during which Edward blogged on US site Enobtyes (click here for his first post) and we drafted our first column for The World of Fine Magazine (see forthcoming Issue 23).

But given all the hype surrounding California, especially Napa, what was this cross-section of wines really like? Can they deliver a reasonable quality price ratio within the region and perhaps further a field?

Posts are archived according to time of winery visits (with full accompanying tasting notes on Adegga).

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12th February 2009

Following a superb tasting at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, we rolled up for our final visit of the tour at Cakebread. We were already fans of Cakebread’s Sauvignon Blanc, but were able on this occasion to taste a much fuller range (of which the Dancing Bear Cabernets from the Howell Mountain area were especially good):

Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, Napa 2007

Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay, Napa 2007

Cakebread Cellars Chardonnay Reserve, Carneros, Napa 2006

Cakebread Cellars Rubaiyat, North Coast 2006

Cakebread Cellars Zinfandel, Lake County 2005

Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa 2005

Cakebread Cellars ‘Dancing Bear’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain, Napa 2004

Cakebread Cellars ‘Dancing Bear’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain, Napa 2005

The wines are available in China through ASC.

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12th February 2009

Nearing the end of our time in Napa, we were highly fortunate to enjoy a tasting and tour at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars with exemplary guide Laura Weaver.

Among the ‘premium’ Cabernets, the Fay Vineyard has the brightest and most attractive fruit at an early stage, whilst the SLV and Cask 23 will need considerable ageing to show more favourably (brilliant though they are). Don’t overlook the Artemis Cabernet blend or excellent Chardonnays either.

Here’s what we tasted (click on links for full tasting notes):

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ‘Rancho Chimiles’ Sauvignon Blanc, Napa 2007

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ‘Arcadia Vineyard’ Estate Chardonnay, Napa 2006

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ‘Karia’ Chardonnay, Napa 2007

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Merlot, Napa 2006

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ‘Artemis’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa 2006

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ‘Fay Vineyard’ Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa 2005

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ‘SLV’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa 2005

Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ‘Cask 23’ Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa 2005

In China the majority of the wines are available from Summergate Fine Wines.

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