WEINBERG'S WINE NOTES: Starting out on a life of following the vines

By Ben Weinberg, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 3, 2008 at 3 p.m.
Updated June 3, 2008 at 7:13 p.m.

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Five years ago, the wine lifestyle seduced me into taking a 50 percent pay cut. Leaving the corporate world wasn't the easiest transition, but it led to a career of following my dreams without regret, and now I'm thrilled to have a column in which to share my thoughts and feelings about the fruit that inspires me.

Wine's fascination lies in its ability to herald many things: celebration, commemoration, even mourning. It can also just be something comfortable to relish with a simple dinner. This is the essence of the wine lifestyle, where wine lovers incorporate their passion for all things viniferous into all aspects of their lives.

Each oenophile has somewhat different interests. Mine revolve around enjoying wine and food with friends and family, collecting outstanding bottles to open during special events, and traveling the world to meet the farmers and other entrepreneurs who make the hand-crafted, soulful wines I most enjoy.

Each place I've visited has been unique, justly famous for its native grape varietals and viticultural techniques. But I most enjoy meeting those who have that passion for the wine lifestyle that makes us instant soul mates.

Last July, my wife and I visited 200-year-old Paitin, in rugged, picturesque Piedmont, Italy. While the current owner and winemaker, Giovanni Pesquero-Elia, tends to his vines, his lovely wife operates a rustic hotel in the heart of wine country, a refurbished farmhouse on a panoramic hillside just south of Alba. She's up early every day, catering to winery visitors, graciously phoning in reservations for guests at nearby restaurants that feature fine wine and food.

Paitin is justly famous for its brooding Barbarescos, but I'm particularly fond of a white, the pineapple-and-peach Langhe Arneis. The carmine-shaded, cherry-fruited Barbera d'Alba Campolive is another favorite.

I spent time in March with owner and winemaker Chester Osborne and his father, the legendary d'Arry, of d'Arenberg Winery, just south of Adelaide in McLaren Vale, Australia. On the eastern shore of the Great Australian Bight, bordering the Southern Ocean that reaches to Antarctica, Chester oversees the production of more than 30 different wines, each interesting in its own right.

But what struck me most was that while father and son can live anywhere they want, d'Arry occupies the ancestral home next to the winery, with Chester ensconced in a futuristic castle a few hundred yards away. Different styles, to be sure, but together they watch over the land that made their fortune.

Two of my favorite d'Arenberg wines are whites: the Viognier-Marsanne Hermit Crab, a charming mouthful of spicy pears, and the Money Spider, an appealing lime- and herb- tinged Roussanne. As for reds, try the Shiraz Footbolt, firm, earthy and tinged with cherry fruit, as well as the delicately spiced, blackberry-and-smoke-scented Laughing Magpie, a shiraz-viognier blend.

Finally, some friends and I spent early May in the lushness of Napa. We especially enjoyed our time at Trefethen Family Vineyards, where the motto is "One Family, One Estate, One Passion." In almost 40 years of winemaking, the Trefethens have never bought an outside grape for their brand, a distinction no other American winery can claim.

I especially enjoyed when Stanford-educated, third-generation son Loren filled my glass at the tasting bar while chatting about his memories of growing up on the property. Be sure to seek out the jasmine-and-citrus- perfumed dry riesling, as well as the estate merlot, soft and silky, full of blackberry pie and cedar.

If you also love wine, I suggest you make plans that revolve around your own passions, your own statements about the wine lifestyle.

A votre sante! To your health!

Recommended

WHITE

* Paitin Arneis Langhe Vigna Elisa 2005 (Piedmont, Italy) $19

* D'Arenberg Viognier-Marsanne The Hermit Crab 2006 (McLaren Vale, Australia) $14

* D'Arenberg Roussanne The Money Spider 2006 (McLaren Vale, Australia) $22

* Trefethen Dry Riesling 2007 (Napa Valley, U.S.) $20

RED

* Paitin Barbera D'Alba Campolive 2004 (Piedmont, Italy) $26

* D'Arenberg Shiraz The Footbolt 2004 (McLaren Vale, Australia) $18

* D'Arenberg Shiraz-Viognier The Laughing Magpie 2006 (McLaren Vale, Australia) $26

* Trefethen Estate Merlot 2004 (Napa Valley, U.S.) $30

Ben Weinberg is a certified sommelier. benweinberg@comcast.net

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