Coming to a wine shop near you: Highlights of new wines

This week two big wine tastings came to town. The drill for any of these tastings for the trade and press is pretty much the same. Enter, give your name, get your badge and program, and pick up a wine glass on the way in.

The first was a tasting in celebration of the distinguished San Francisco importer and distributor Chambers & Chambers’ fortieth anniversary held at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Nah, we didn’t get to lean against vintage Jaguars and muscle cars while we sipped. But we tasted the equivalent in this generous tasting replete with older vintages.

I loved seeing the excitement of young sommeliers and wine buyers as they tasted the extraordinary Vosne-Romanée “Clos des Réas” premier cru from 6th-generation vintner Michel Gros, the Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé Bonne Mares grand cru, or Roche de Bellene Corton “Les Grandes Lolières,” also a grand cru. Few of us get to taste wines like these very often.

Balancing my glass as I tried to scribble notes, I made my way around the room, stopping at Billecart-Salmon for a taste of the latest brut rosé and at Dalla Terra‘s table to taste a range of exceptional Italian regional wines.

I tasted some swoon-inducing high-end Burgundies, but also a very pretty Bourgogne Hautes Côtes de Nuits Blanc priced under $20 wholesale. In fact, I found a number of reasonably priced wines that should be showing up in shops and on wine lists soon, including the 2012 Viognier (only 500 cases made) and Rhone reds from Terre Rouge in the Sierra Foothills. They also produce a nice little bistro wine called Téte-à-Téte with more Mourvèdre in the blend.

I chatted a bit with Ehren Jordan, as of this April the former winemaker for Turley Wine Cellars, now concentrating on his own wines, including a very pretty 2012 Failla Wines Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. Elegant and nuanced, his own wines are an abrupt departure from the Turley style.

Ernie Loosen of Dr. Loosen in Germany’s Mosel was pouring a terrific Riesling Kabinett from the famous Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard. Next to him the Crusius family of Dr. Crusius in Nahe showed an excellent Traiser Rotenfels Riesling Kabinett.

I appreciated the minerality in Sergio Mottura‘s Greccheto “Poggio della Costa,” a white from Umbria. Paolo de Marchi of Isole e Olena in Tuscany had the 100% Sangiovese 2009 Cepparello and his 2006 Syrah, still one of the best in Italy.

So many wines, so little time.

My last stop: Charles Neal Selections Calvados and Armagnacs (Neal has written a book on each), wishing I could have snuck off with some Domaine Boingnères Le Frêche Bas Armagnac to savor while I dipped into John Le Carré’s latest spy novel that night.

The next afternoon, it was the Skirball Cultural Center for the Maisons Marques & Domaines tasting. The company owned by Champagne Louis Roederer Group has some big names in its portfolio -- Dominus, Château de Pez, Pio Cesare, Querciabella, Marques de Murrieta -- and this tasting attracted a large industry crowd as well. But it somehow seemed much more formal with guys turned out in suits and ties and sporting sommelier pins roaming the room. Though the nibbles on offer -- crackers and cheese, raw vegetables and dips, were similar enough they could have come from the same caterer. What was different: the red carpet photographer set up with a background of the MMD logo ready to snap anybody willing. Bizarre.

Among the highlights, Domaines Ott 2012 Bandol rosé “Coeur de Grain” served from magnums in the same distinctive shape as the regular bottles. Festive. But I also liked the pale yellow Blanc de Blancs Côtes de Provence (70% Sémillon and 30% Vermentino). The historic Rioja estate Marqués de Murrieta offered some interesting whites -- an Albariño called La Comtesse from their estate Pazo de Barrantes aged in French oak, and a rich white Rioja reserve, the 2008 Capellanía. Those white Riojas age like crazy. And lastly, a taste of the Castilly Ygay 1983 Gran Reserva Especial Rioja, poured from magnum, and eight years in oak, leaves a lovely sensation of warmth and delicacy.

Further along, Pio Boffa of Pio Cesare in Piedmont, Italy, offered tastes of his entire lineup of wines. Standouts for me were the 2010 Barbera d’Alba “Fides” from vines in Serralunga, the 2008 Barbaresco “il Bricco” and the 2009 Barolo “Ornato.” Over at the Rhone estate Délas Frères table, I liked the racy freshness of the 2007 St. Joseph “Sainte-Epine” and wanted to walk away with the 2004 Hermitage “Les Bessands,” it had so much going on.

From there, after surrendering my glass, and headed for the hot blast of the 405.

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