JUNE 2019
Event Report:
Rhone Ranger IV, An Evening of Châteauneuf-du-Pape
INSIDE
• Rare Discovery of 18th & 19th Century Madeiras at Liberty Hall • Robert Parker Announced His Retirement May 16, 2019 • Blast from the Past • Upcoming Omaha Branch Events
A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
President's Comments forgot to wear my Rhone Ranger cowboy hat! Since I had to move the Rhone Ranger IV event to April and the President’s Event, as well as it being a black tie dress up affair, it completely slipped my mind. So I am making up for it in my President’s photo below. But the lack of proper Rhone Ranger attire didn’t change how wonderful the Rhône varietal based wines were. We had some upper drawer labels. Château Beaucastel is definitely at the top of the heap, as well as Domaine Pegau. But so was neighboring St. Cosme Gigondas. Tensley All Blocks is a small but wonderful producer in Santa Barbara. Read an account of the event within. Serendipity is defined as making discoveries, by accident, of things that were not sought for. At historic Liberty Hall, in New Jersey, an inventory count of an old wine cellar yielded a trove of 18th and 19th century Madeiras, as well as whiskey and spirits... the stuff dreams are made of. This was in 2015. Three years later, at the end of 2018, an auction of the treasure was held at Christie’s New York. If you love Madeira, you must check this story out. The best thing was that this wine was still good. If you have not heard yet, Robert M. Parker Jr. has retired. Check out a summary of his accomplishments as the most influential wine critic ever. Two reminders that were previously sent are being sent again. Todd Lemke wanted me to pass this along. As you know, the Gazette comes to you now from issuu.com. This is the professional way to send a magazine. Todd urges members to join issuu.com. Not only will you then be able to print the Gazette if desired, but the functionality and usability is superior, especially on your mobile devices. The IWFS international web site has been upgraded, especially with smart phones in mind. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with it. If you can’t find much on the site, it probably means you have not logged in yet. You only get two tabs if you have not logged in. Don’t forget that you can go to the web site for event photos before the Gazette comes out. Also, if you forgot to print out the details of an event, and the registration period has closed, you can go to the web site to get event details. Finally, event photos show up on the web site before the gazette comes out, should you want to see them or download them.
Tom Murnan
Cover Photo: The Bridal Tree, a Paper Mache tree by Niki de St. Phalle, a mid-20th century French artist, displayed at Le Bouillon. A copy also exists in Paris. Photo by Tom Murnan.
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“To reform a man, you must begin with his grandmother.” —Victor Hugo From The Best of the Cockle Bur compiled and edited by Harry B Otis, 3rd President 1973-1974
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
EVENT REPORT:
Rhone Ranger IV, An Evening of Châteauneuf-du-Pape Photos by Tom Murnan
T
he Rhone Ranger series was a Couples Event in April this year. Everybody was asking why it got moved from March. Well, because, as your President, I am obliged to do the annual President’s Event in April. Le Bouillon always does a great job on the food, the wines were stellar, and because of the move to April, Les Zanotti, who purchases the Branch wines, was finally able to attend Rhone Rangers. Les and Ce Ann are snowbirds who flee the Nebraska winters for California. They didn’t miss anything here in Nebraska this year, I can tell you. The term Rhone Ranger was coined in the 1980’s, but the moniker really got a boost in 1989 with Randall Graham’s iconic photo, dressed like the Lone Ranger, on the cover April 15th, 1989 of the Wine Spectator. We had 48 attend including 7 guests and 2 no-shows. Our theme this year was Châteauneuf-duPape (CduP). Our table decorations were compliments of Denise Meyers who owns Arrange This N That. Quaffing found us with our usual high end club cellar wines, including three Bosquet des Papes CduP, the remains of a case. We enjoyed a delicious Pâté made of pork and chicken, Cervelle de Canut, a herb flecked goat cheese spread surrounded by olive focaccia bread slices, and Sausage in Biroche. The latter looked like a bread roll, and wasn’t moving very fast (who wants to get filled up with bread?) until they were
passed around and given an explanation that it wasn’t just a dinner roll, but rather a light roll with a savory center. Our Premier Course was Foie and Artichoke. Artichoke is notoriously a bad wine pairing...unless you have the right wine. The dish was wine friendly with a slight vinegar taste easily tamed by our two whites. Nicely presented, artichoke heart pieces were roasted and tossed with chopped marcona nuts and ramps and topped by a piece of seared foie gras. A Socca Chip made of chick pea flour and herbs was a tasty, crispy accent to the plate. Our 2017 Domaine de Beaurenard CduP Blanc and 2014 Bonny Doon Le Cigar Blanc, Beeswax Vineyard Arroyo Seco were crisp and dry and worked beautifully with the dish, not fighting the artichoke at all. What do the French call flying saucers? Le Cigar Volant (flying cigar). In the 1954, someone thought they saw a flying saucer over the village of CduP. The city council voted to make flying saucers flying over or landing in their village against the law after a worker encountered Martians who knocked him out with a green light (ray gun?). Bonny Dune captured the scene on their label. The Seconde Course was Fromage Blanc Raviolo with Crab and Tomato.
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A small piping of creamy white cheese & chèvre and crab was piped into the center of a piece of pasta, then folded into the form of a raviolo, cooked al dente, and topped with stewed yellow tomato, tarragon and pea shoots, and sauced with tomato sauce. The tomato was a tad bit chewy and sharp with acidity, which gave the dish a lively presence. The fromage blanc made it rich. The whole dish was slightly salty. Our pairing wines were from Santa Barbara, CA and Gigondas, the neighbor to CduP 15 miles away. The 2017 Tensley “All Blocks Estate Blend” was just released. A very limited production of 350 cases, the wine is composed of Grenache, Syrah and Mouvèdre. Ripe tannins tasting of raspberry and garrigue (underbrush) it was a bit more forceful than the 2016 St. Cosme [pronounced Saint Comb] Gigondas, which was more elegant, sporting smooth tannins and young, earthy flavors. Both wines did well but could benefit with additional aging. The Troisième Course found us with Pheasant Crepinette on our plates. Crepinette means to hold together a piece of stuffed meat with caul, a thin layer of fat that encases the stomach of a cow or pig. In our case, a piece of lamb and pork sausage was inserted into the center of two pheasant breasts, which had been brined before baking, wrapped in caul to keep it together, then sliced into pieces when done cooking. >
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A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
EVENT REPORT < Puffed farro and sauerkraut was the side. Brown sauce finished the dish. The meats were quite nice, with the sausage adding a savory note, but I thought the sauerkraut a bit incongruous and somewhat distracting. Both of our CduP wines did well: the Domaine Villeneuve 2010, and the Domaine Pegau Cuvée Reserve 2011. Robert Parker Jr. is a big fan of Pegau. Course Quatrième consisted of Carré of Iberico Pork, Paillason Lyonnaise with Bayonne & Apple. Three pieces of boneless pork chop were sautéed and topped with perhaps a Béchamel sauce. Paillasson Lyonnaise is translated Lyonnaise Doormat and is a staple of cooking in Lyon, the gastronomic capitol of France. Essentially hash brown potatoes, our grated potatoes were sautéed with apple, ham, onion and acorn bits. I found the pork just a bit tough and salty, with the potatoes almost but not quite burnt on top. Our pièce de rèsistance wines were both from Château de Beaucastel, one of the best wineries in CduP. They are one of about only four establishments that use all 13 of the permitted grape varieties, but the house style uses Mouvédre prominently. Now days, CduP allows 18 varieties of grapes. We were trying wines one year apart: 2006 and 2007. Which one was better? That was completely up to everyone’s individual palate. I found that the 2006 had the tiniest edge over
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2007. It was elegant, balanced well integrated and wonderful, while the 2007 had a slightly better nose and was wonderfully complex. The two years were really very close in quality. Our Doux was Biroche Perdu Aux Chocolat with Apricot & Orange Ice Cream. A biroche sat at one of the plate, and the ice cream sat on a smear of apricot purée. The ice cream was intensely orange flavored and the apricot was like a jam. The biroche had a bit of chocolate tucked inside. Getting a sweet wine from CduP is difficult, so we tried a 2016 Yves Cuilleron Rousillière Doux. I was very pleased and would order it again. It is a mixture of Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne in surmaturité (late harvest) and allowed to ferment in small barrels all winter. The result is a low alcohol wine of 11% but with 120 grams of residual sugar. Only 3,600 500 ml bottles are typically made. I was unaware of the Cuilleron family who is based in Chavanay. They have vineyards in Côte Rôtie, St Joseph, Condrieu and Saint Pérey. Many thanks to Executive Chef and Owner Paul Kulik, Chef Sam Zaccone, Manager Tammy Hunter, Alex Nelson of Howard Street Wines who sourced the non-Branch wines, and the rest of the Le Bouillon staff.
Robert Parker Announced His Retirement May 16, 2019 [In their 5/22/19 online wine flyer, David Sokolin of the eponymous New York wine shop, ran this article to inform customers of the retirement of Robert Parker Jr. Sokolin has quite a number of Parker’s 100 point wines for sale. Parker has been in failing health, and had to cancel an appearance at the IWFS Baltimore Great Weekend in October 2017 due to a hip injury. This is a nice summary of his influence and career. In 1999 he was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French Nation, in 2002 Italy’s National Order of Merit, and the Gran Cruz de Orden Civil medal from Spain. Editor.]
R
obert Parker announced his retirement from The Wine Advocate last week, marking the end of a 40 year career. What does this mean for the fine wine business? Today, it’s easy to forget just how big Parker’s contributions to both the wine consumer and the wine industry really were, but let’s look back to 1978 when it all began. 1) Parker created the 100 point rating system, which was revolutionary, and with it, increased global interest in wine.
2) Parker was the first critic to expand upon Emile Peynaud’s The Taste of Wine: The Art and Science of Wine Appreciation in a way that gave depth, clarity and life to wine reviews in a way that increased overall interest and access to learning about wine for the general public. 3) He was the first to do a non-advertising based, unbiased subscription model that followed his Ralph Nader like zeal to out corruption and give the real deal, which he did.
4) He broke the old caste systems of “Famous Château” by rewarding quality over the name and pedigree of vineyards. In doing so, he forced old world, big name producers to upgrade their vineyards and winemaking practices and allowed relative newcomers to shine based solely on their merits over name and history. 5) Parker could have impact on the GDP of France just by declaring a good vintage! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE RARE WINE INDUSTRY?
The wine rare wine business has and most likely never will find a singular lead wine critic who had the power of Robert Parker again. Today, there have been approximately five different publications who have picked up the slack— even Parker’s own Wine Advocate has been purchased and filled with competent critics. Antonio Galloni, James Suckling, Allen Meadows and Jeb Dunnuck have all stepped in and have, as a group, done a great job filling the void that Parker’s retirement has left. The business will move on and perhaps a leader will emerge, or maybe each will find a niche that they excel at, in the same way that Parker thrived in the Bordeaux, Rhone and California markets. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR WINE INVESTMENT?
During his career, Parker handed out high scores to a limited number of wines in each region, even less so with the coveted 100 point score. These wines are extremely rare. In the past, Parker was often inclined to change scores with
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each tasting, but as of today that option is gone, and these scores are set in stone, historic records of a bygone era…“The Parker era.” I believe that the highest scoring wines of Robert Parker’s career are now going to become even more valuable with his retirement. They are, in essence, the definitive mark of quality that cannot be replicated today. Many of these wines have anticipated maturities well beyond both Parker’s and many of our lives, up to 100 years out in the future for some 2009 Bordeaux. Parker was the only one with the experience and authority to make such bold pronouncements. As a result, wines with big scores, especially 100 pointers will continue to rise in price. During his reign, Parker was considered to be the single most influential critic in any field. Think about it—movies, art, food, and Wall St. all had a variety of sources to choose from to gain insight into a market, but in wine, Robert Parker was THE market for several decades. His influence and power will live on in his reviews and the wines that he has championed. We all owe Bob a lot, and I am at the top of the list of appreciators. I’ve had the pleasure of dining with Bob and his wife and adore them. I truly thank Bob on behalf of Sokolin and the wine business for all he has added to it. I wish him the very best in retirement. Cheers!
Dave Sokolin
Pictured at a wine sampling luncheon is Edwin Vos, Head of Wine, Continental Europe, Christie’s.
(above) A hidden room in a wine cellar at Liberty Hall Museum yielded a collection of historic Madeira wine and spirits.
and labels were still Hand-written tags s. on the antique bottle
Rare Discovery of 18 & 19 Century Madeiras at Liberty Hall th
by Tom Murnan Page 14 · 2019 ·
th
A publication of the Omaha Branch of the International Wine and Food Society
Large “demijohns,” or straw-covered bottles, contained some of the antique wine found at Liberty Hall Museum. Photos courtesy of Christie’s New York.
magine your excitement if you had inherited an old painting and an expert on Antiques Road Show told you it really was an unsigned Van Gough. Or you were a researcher in an obscure library who came up with a lost piece of music from Mozart. The stuff of fantasies and daydreams. But a real-life discovery happened in the world of wine when a hoard of very old Madeira was discovered at Liberty Hall in 2015. Wine so old that the United States was less than 20 years old when the wine was made: 18th century wine labeled 1796. Unlike paintings, books or music, wine is a unique, visceral taste experience of a specific moment in time. Liberty Hall in Elizabethtown (now Union), New Jersey started its existence as a 14 room Georgian mansion built in 1772. Over the years it has expanded to 50 rooms and has been the residence of, among others, Alexander Hamilton, William Livingston, New Jersey’s first governor, and the Kean political family, who purchased the house in 1811. In 1949, it
began to be transformed into a museum. It currently is on the campus of Kean University. In 2015, the museum realized it had never done an inventory of the wine cellar. While in the cellar, they noticed that a false wall had been constructed, likely during Prohibition around 1920. Upon tearing the wall out, they made a most serendipitous discovery. Covered in dust and soot, they discovered almost 36 bottles of Madeira from 1796, as well as some whiskey, gin and other liquor. Other cases of early 19th century Madeira bottles were also found. More exploration of the mansion discovered, buried under piles of straw, 40 demijohns of Madeira in the attic wine closet. No one would put wine in the attic today, it is simply too hot, but fortunately, Madeira is mostly immune to all the usual demons of wine: heat and oxidation. Because it is an oxidized style of wine made in a high alcohol environment, it is virtually “immortal.” Think most red wines being totally past their prime in 100 years. The best Madeiras are just getting started after a century! Demijohns are glass containers. The standard sizes ranges from 5 to 16 gallons. To protect the glass, Madeira demijohns were wrapped in wicker. They are
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finished with a cork. The 40 Liberty Hall demijohns were no more than 5 gallons, and date from the 1820’s. Remarkably, the Kean family still has the original receipts for most of the wine. They were imported by Robert Lenox, Esq. a banker and financier. He would buy the wine in demijohns, then split it into bottles in his home. In 1795, he began importing Newton, Gordon & Murdoch, the largest shipper of quality Madeira at the time. From research done by the museum, it was determined that the 1796 bottles were purchased by the Kean family to celebrate John Adam’s election. Mozart had only been dead 5 years. From our Baltimore Great Weekend, at the master class on Madeira presided over by Rare Wine Company owner Mannie Berk, we learned that it wasn’t until the 1850’s that Madeira was aged for extended periods of time in oak. That was because, after the oidium infestation, producers were so panicked they might not be able to make more wine that they would set barrels aside to weather the financial storm that would inevitably come. Before that, Madeira was shipped a year or two after the vintage. >
< Another clue that the wine had not seen much time in the barrel is the color, which is said to be golden. Extended wood aging would probably have turned the color brown. We also learned from Mannie Berk that in the earliest days, Madeira was not fortified. The first confirmation of fortification came from Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac where he wrote about Madeira coming to America having alcohol added. This was sometime in the 1740’s. A local brandy called Aguardiente was added and is one of the main reasons Madeira has such a long lifespan. Why was the Madeira left untouched for such a long time? The current President of Liberty Hall, John Keane Sr. just figured that the wine went bad many years ago, a pretty safe assumption for
most wines. Besides, Madeira had been out of fashion by 1850. He just wanted the old bottles as props for the museum. His original thought when the demijohns had been found in the attic was to give them to the staff to make lamps. He didn’t realize that Madeira is almost immortal, and it was still likely in great shape. The bottles were sealed with a cork and then dipped in sealing wax. As long as the cork is dry, and the sealing wax intact, the cork would protect the wine. The proper way to store Madeira for an extended time is to stand it up, not lay it down, where the high alcohol would attack and soften the cork. Keane called in experts from Christie’s, the London auctioneers. Madeira expert Edwin Vos and the winemaker from Blandy’s Madeira Wine Company, Page 16 · 2019 ·
Francisco Albuquerque, assessed the wine. Vos stated they were “flabbergasted by the quality of the wines.” “Very rich and concentrated” Francisco noted. “Exotic woods, even some passion fruit in there” Vos commented in a video Christie’s made. They recommended that the bottles be re-corked, which was done by APCOR, the Portuguese cork association, who measured the old containers, so they knew exactly what dimension they needed to make. APCOR, by the way, recommends re-corking every 20 to 30 years. Vos and Albuquerque compiled an inventory and prepared a portion of the wine for auction at Christie’s in New York on December 7, 2018. Most of the demijohns still had tags on them. For example, there was an 1846 demijohn that had been re-corked in 1871. There were 40 demijohns, 6 cases
Liberty Hall Museum, New Jersey
of Madeira, some going back to 1796, There was also 300 bottles of spirits and pre-Prohibition whiskey. Madeira is a wine that is closely related to American history. George Washington collected Madeira, for example, as did Chief Justice John Marshall. It was said to have been used to toast the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was a wine of the wealthy. It was easy to ship and was improved by heat. The United States imported about 95% of Madeira’s production in the 18th century. One unique thing about the discovery is the superb provenance of the bottles. The Kean family still has the original invoices, giving the prices and documenting that the shippers were among the best in the United States.
A wine sampling luncheon was conducted before the auction, attended by wine writers and bidders. Prices from the December 7, 2018 sale ranged from $6,738.00 to $15,925.00 for a quart bottle of 1796 Lenox Madeira. Christies catalogue notes the wine was imported by Robert Lenox Esq. via Philadelphia in 1796 and bottled in the summer of 1798. It was Re-bottled in June of 1888. A bottle of 1820 Smoke, Madeira, realized $1593.00. 1808 Holmes, Madeira, yielded $3675.00. A 5-gallon demijohn of “Old Madeira” (no date given) sold for $18,375.00. Another 5-gallon demijohn of 1846 Old Sercial realized $39,200.00. Total receipts yielded $325,000.00. Many thanks to William Schroh, Jr., the Director of Museum Operations at the Liberty Hall Museum, for assistance on facts and photos for this story. The photos are from The John Kean Collection at the Liberty Hall Museum. After several long slumps where prices were in the doldrums, Madeira is making a comeback, but the supply of ancient Madeira is finite, and dropping by the day. Now is the time to buy a few bottles of very old Madeira. To the fortunate auction winners, they will be able to immerse themselves in the 18th or 19th century
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(if only for a few hours) for a unique visit where time has virtually stood still. What a fantastic and romantic notion, to taste virtually the entire history of the United States in a glass of 1796 Madeira. Sources: William Schroh wschroh@kean. edu; https://www.kean.edu/news/liberty-hallmuseums-200-year-old-wine-be-auctioned; https://www.christies.com/features/One-ofthe-largest-early-collections-of-Madeira-inthe-USA-9451-3.aspx; https://www.npr.org/ sections/thetwo-way/2017/07/14/537276241/ new-jersey-museum-holds-a-stash-221-yearold-madeira-wine; https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Liberty_Hall_(New_Jersey)
blast from
the past
(L to R) Pennie Davis, John Fischer, Les Zanotti, Herman Goldstein, circa 2000. Photo obtained from Les Zanotti.
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UPCOMING OMAHA BRANCH EVENTS
Mark Your Calendars!
JUNE
09
COUPLES
Au Courant Seasonal produce, All French wines Producer: Lowell Wilhite
JULY
STAG
AUG
COUPLES
18 18
Pitch Pizzeria Dundee Pinot vs. Burgundy, Cab vs. Bordeaux Producer: Mark Stokes
The Doctors Moore Farm Catered by Leo Fascinella of Pasta Amore Producer: Mike Wilke
HOSTING AN EVENT? Let us know when, where and a little bit about what’s going on! We would love to include YOUR event on the calendar! Email details to: murnantom@gmail.com
June 2019
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PR ESI DEN T: Tom Murnan............................................... murnantom@gmail.com V ICE PR ESI DEN T / SECR ETA RY: Mark Stokes.............. mark_stokes@aig.com T R E ASU R ER: Les Zanotti................................................ zanol@cox.net W I N E CELLA R M AST ER: Les Zanotti............................ zanol@cox.net M EM BERSH I P CH A I R M A N: Duke Matz........................ dmatz@darland.com
BOA R D O F D I R E C TO R S : Derek Burdeny
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Tad Singer
Lowell Wilhite
Steve Hipple
Duke Matz
Mark Stokes
Mike Wilke
Todd Lemke
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Dave Thrasher
Les Zanotti
KEEP IN TOUCH! Please notify Club President, Tom Murnan, 402.740.4802 or via email at murnantom@gmail.com to let him know if you are interested in hosting an IWFS event.
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