In Australian slang, a "stickybeak" is like a "nosy parker" or a "busybody" or maybe a "Jerry Berger"–a person whose nose is usually in someone else's business. It is not necessarily a name to put on a wine label, but Australian slang has a style all its own, and while Old Bridge Cellars is an Aussie firm, these are California wines.
Two fine reds, each $20, and two just-okay whites, each $17, are all from 2009, relatively inexpensive, satisfactory with food. The Chardonnay, from the Russian River Valley, has good crispness and nice citrus balance, but is still a Chardonnay. The other white, a Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc blend from Sonoma County, showed too much of the former, a grape not to my taste becase it adds what I consider flabbiness to the wine.
The reds, on the other hand, were delicious, though they could use more age. The Pinot Noir, from the Petaluma area of the Sonoma Coast, was first-rate. The wine is lean, with fine, taut structure and lots of flavor. Aussies long have done exceptional things with Syrah, like this one, with splendid color and rich, deep flavor. The grapes are from Napa County, some from the Atlas Peak area and some from the Edna Valley. Dark berries, long finish, delightful wine with dinner.
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MOSCATO FOR BREAKFAST? Another Old Bridge entry, Innocent Bystander Moscato, comes this one from two different Aussie grapes and is recommended for "brekky," as the meal is slangily described. A blend of 65 percent Muscat Gordo Blanco (Muscat of Hamburg) and 35 percent Black Muscat (Muscat of Alexandria), the wine is a mere 5.5 percent alcohol (like many beers), it arrives with the same crown cap familiar to most beer and drinkers. A lovely pale rose color with a slight fizz and a bit of sweetness, it is ideal for toasting or a pre-meal aperitif ($35).
There are hints of watermelon in the aroma, moving toward strawberries on the palate, and displaying a slight tingle of effervescence on the tongue. Unusual and charming, the Innocent Bystander comes from the Yarra Valley in the southeastern province of Victoria.
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A LOCAL BUBBLY IS A WINNER: The Adam Puchta Winnery, a few miles southwest of Hermann on Highway 100, in the Frene Creek Valley, is the oldest continually operated, family-owned winery in the state, and one of the oldest in the nation. Begun in 1855 by Adam, an immigrant from Germany, the farm and winery has been operated by five generations of Puchtas. Adam, a real Forty-Niner who took cattle west to California in 1853, returned two years later with enough gold to increase the original family land holding. He was followed by Henry, Everett, Randolph and Tim. Coincidentally, I knew Randy quite well. In the late 1940s, he was in law school while I was pre-journalism, and we worked many nights at the soda fountain in Read Hall, then the Mizzou student union.
During Prohibition, the Puchtas increased agriculture and decreased grapes, though the Puchtas continued to make some wine for family use. When the Missouri wine industry was revived in the 1960s, Randy was a judge, Tim a respiratory therapist. But family traditions die hard, and the father-son team reopened the winery and started making wine in 1989. As a wine writer visiting Hermann, I saw Randy and Tim, spent some time with them. Randy died five years ago, but Tim's wines keep getting better.
He makes the same wines as many other Missouri vintners; they're clean and well-made, with some outstanding Nortons and a couple of very good examples of Port, a big, handsome one called Anniversary, aged in oak and showing 19 percent alcohol. Lighter and with more finesse is his Signature, aged in stainless steel. Both are delicious, especially when sipped in front of a winter fire while a snowstorm rages outside.
Oh, yes, the bubbly. . . . It's called APW, its label in flowery script (for Adam Puchta Winery), and it's sharp and dry, with lots of bubble. Plenty of fruit and excellent balance, wit Puchta blending four grapes — Starks Star, a Missouri hybrid red grape developed and grown around Louisiana in the 19th century; Vignoles, a versatile French hybrid that gives the wine a hint of Frenchness; Vivant, another French hybrid grown and used in Missouri for many years as a blending grape to add body; and Catawba, a native American grape (like Concord and Norton) that adds an unnatural note where my palate is concerned. I've had other Missouri wines with the Catawba unpleasantness blended out, but this one is the best I've had.
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RECENT TASTIINGS: Bogle Vineyards, the northern California estate that produces exceptional wines in its price range, has another delightful example in a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. Crisp and citrusy, light and flavorful and a good bargain at $9, this is an ideal aperitif or a pleasant companion to the splendid oysters that come from Tomales Bay and other West Coast locations.
Casa Silva, a Chilean producer from the Colchagua Valley, has a rich and hearty reserve Carmenere ($12) that works beautifully with steaks on the grill or fat, juicy hamburgers. Carmenere is a grape with lots of history, some of which may be true. reportedly it came from the Bordeaux region of France to use as a blending grape in red wines. A taste of this, with deep plum and blackberry overtones, speaks to a relationship with beef, and smiles as it speaks.
Waterstone, a Napa Valley vineyard, offers a well-aged (2006) Cabernet Sauvignon ($26) that has matured enugh to be drinkable tonight. Its aging, 22 months in French oak, shows in a well-rounded, complete wine with dark fruit flavors, a rich aroma and a long, smooth finish. A delight.
—Joe