Passion

Think of all the hits I will get with that title.

Had dinner with one of the most passionate, good guy winemakers in the world the other night, Bruwer Raats of Raats Family Vineyards of South Africa. He makes what he likes and he makes them world class and keeps the price to quality ration extremely consumer friendly.

He loves Chenin Blanc for white wine. He loves Cabernet Franc for red wine. He makes two Chenin Blancs. An un-oaked version that retails for $14.99 has perfect balance between fruit and minerality. What does minerality taste like? Try his Chenin Blanc! This is the ideal wine for summer sipping on hot days with a variety of salads and finger foods. Take time to smell the glass when empty, the aroma of golden delicious apple in harmony with peach is amazing.

His slightly wood aged Chenin Blanc retails for $24.99. This has some additional aromas and flavors of earth and mushroom with the apple-peach minerality. It was served with a 4 different appetizer plate. Any wine that can handle rhubarb, chicken livers, Andouille sausage and spicey calamari can handle just about any dish. It fits nicely in between over the top Chardonnay and refreshingly light Sauvignon Blanc. It lets the chef get credit for his food, but the wine stands up on its own.

Raats Family Cabernet Franc is $34.99. You can drink this or, for $349.99, you can drink Cheval Blanc. At a recent "brown-bag" even, I couldn't tell them apart. So either I stink as a wine taster, or the Raats is wicked good. At the dinner, it was served with a pan seared Rib-eye steak. Awesome! The 2007 in the market now is a bit rougher around the edges. With food it was perfect. I have put a few bottles in my cellar waiting for time to smooth out the wine. The 2006 is already smooth.

Now if you do want to spend a lot of money, Raats makes a wine in partnership with his friend Mvemve, the first black winemaker college graduate. The have a wine called MR de Compostella. Rough translation, compostion of the stars. They take the 5 great grapes of Bordeaux, vinify them separately, and then create a blend based not on quantity that they bought, but on the QUALITY of each individual barrel. The final blend is never the same. Each vintage is unique. There are only 400 cases of this wine. It ages amazing. At the event we drank the 2004. It has won a bunch of awards around the world. If you can find any of them, buy them. I am sold out. I begged him for some more. Time will tell if grovelling works.

Rain Won

Three surface pumps running for 14 hours and the water refuses to keep pouring back in the basement. Thankfully, the wine cellar is just high enough to escape any damage. And look on the bright side, half the crap I would have thrown out when we retire is already trashed.

Just a quickie, I have to get back to the bucket brigade.

2009 Indaba Chenin Blanc is the white wine of the month, season and probably year. Wonderful peachy-minerally flavors and aromas. Pleases the wine expert and rookie equally. Great appetizer wine before a holiday meal, great cheese and cracker, great book club and all around great wine value.

Back to the buckets.

Alternatives to Chardonnay

and Pinot Grigio. The two most popular white wine grapes in the USA are Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay. When I started in the business 2 score ago Chenin Blanc was the most popular grape variety. I remember my first trip to California and visiting the tiny J. Lohr winery in a former fire station in San Jose, if my memory is not failing me, and being told they were discontinuing my most favorite wine, Chenin Blanc.

Today, the best bang for the buck white wine is Chenin Blanc. Lighter than Chardonnay, richer than Pinot Grigio, it can be made in a variety of styles to the whim of the winemaker and vineyard manager.

South Africa produces the best Chenin Blanc values in the world today. Our most popular white wine in the store for the last few years has been the Ken Forrester Petit Chenin Blanc at $9.99 a bottle. However, I just set up a display in the store of 3 different and delicious Chenin Blancs, each for $14.99 a bottle. You get to pick your favorite.

First, the "Unwooded" Chenin Blanc from Raats Family is a crisp refreshing minerally essence of peach dry white wine. Lovely bank of the Charles River cheese and cracker wine for a warm spring-summer day.

Second, the lightly wooded Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc. This touch of oak adds a component of vanilla to the wine. You could also take this to the Charles but the picnic basket with chicken and salads in addition to the cheese would be a better match.

Third, the moderately wooded Graham Beck Gamekeeper's Reserve Chenin Blanc is oaked more like a California Chardonnay. This richer wine is yummy with the rainy day picnic with the chicken right out of the oven.

Finally, if you want the outrageous Chenin Blanc, you are more than welcome to plunk down $59.99 a bottle for the FMC. Save this bottle for a great white meat meal for a very special occasion. First time I tried it, I thought it was over-oaked. But it passed the empty glass test. You know, when you try a variety of wines, the glass that keeps being emptied most often is the best wine.