Selected Wines:

This section will feature wines that are currently available in the Washington DC area

Andrew Murray 2006 Esperance (60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 15% Mourvédre) (Central Coast).  In the movie Sideways, there is a scene where Maya is looking through Stephanie’s wine collection while Stephanie and Jack are about to get it on, and Maya asks Stephanie if they can open anything, and Stephanie says, “Yeah, yeah, anything.  Except for the Richebourg.”  Maya thereupon decides that an Andrew Murray Syrah is more their speed.  As Miles and Maya try out the Syrah, just opening the bottle and drinking it, Miles thinks it’s very good at first, but Maya says, “I think they overdid it a little.  Too much alcohol overwhelms the fruit,” and Miles tries it again and agrees.  I was at the Andrew Murray tasting room last September, and when I mentioned that Sideways dissed their wine the pourer dismissed it with “Oh, they just had to say something.”  (Mind you, this was almost five years after the movie came out.  It’s still a big deal out in Santa Barbara County.)  I opened Andrew Murray’s Esperance last night, not thinking of that exchange.  But when I first smelled it, there was a hint of the alcoholic power.  Then, when I tasted it, there was a definite alcohol heat.  The wine has 15.4 percent alcohol, so it’s somewhat higher than the typical wine.  I will sip Cask Strength Macallan Single Malt Scotch (58.6% alcohol) straight, so an extra percentage point or two of alcohol in a wine is not going to faze me.  Still, remarkably, one does note the extra alcohol in the Andrew Murray.  The wine is fuller-bodied than average, but it is not over-tannic, with the Grenache being predominant.  It tasted of strawberries, and some raspberries or cherries, and was overall a nice meat-grilling wine.  Here’s the thing—after more than an hour of airing, the wine had mellowed out considerably, so that the alcohol heat went away, and instead there were nice complex spice flavors under the fruit.  I upped my initial 89 rating to an Excellent 91.  Maya and Miles should have decanted their wine and let it sit for a while.

I have not seen the Andrew Murray wines in the Washington, DC area, but they can be ordered from the winery online.  7/9/2010

Follow-up 7/15/2010.  In an email exchange with Andrew Murray, he gave some interesting background as to how his wine wound up being in the crucial scene in Sideways, and he noted that the wine in question actually had less than 14 percent alcohol.  Also, the actors were actually drinking grape juice during filming, but the whole crew drank copiously while not filming.  The Andrew Murray Roasted Slope Syrah was a film crew favorite.

 

 

Bisceglia 2006 Aglianico del Vulture “Gudarra” (Basilicata, Italy) ($19 at MacArthurs).  My favorite Southern Italian red wine grape is the Aglianico.  Aglianico can produce big, tannic wines with enough acidity to go very well with Italian food, but they are hard to find and there are too many less-than-wonderful ones out there.  That’s why I’m glad that Addy Bassin’s MacArthurs Beverage seems to get in Bisceglia’s Gudarra Aglianico every year.  It’s not a really huge wine, but it still has plenty of stuffing, with nice, not overwhelming tannins, and enough acidity to go very well with your pizza or spaghetti with meat balls.  I rate it an Excellent 90.  1/18/2011. 

Duca Carlo Guarini 2006 Piutri Negroamaro (Salento IGT, Italy) ($14 at MacArthurs).  A bargain red wine grape from Southern Italy is the Negroamaro (meaning “black, bitter’).  In the U.S., it is most commonly found in wines labeled Salice Salentino.  Duca Carlo Guarini’s Piutri is from a larger area, Salento, but it is a wonderful example, and at $14 on sale at Addy Bassin’s MacArthurs Beverage it is a great value.  This wine has soft red fruit, not too tannic, but with good acidity, and might go even better with pizza than the Aglianico above.  I rate it a Very Good 89.  1/18/2011.