The Airs of a Wine Crank

I confess. I’m a wine crank. And proud of it.

This means I am bothered by what other people might call “the little things in life.” Inadequate glassware. Poor wine service. And especially extraneous odors, which can ruin a wine’s aroma.

Sometimes life isn’t fair for a wine crank like me. You plan to serve a rare old wine, you invite special people, you prepare perfect food, and you open the windows to get some of that lovely fresh air in.

Then a truck rolls by and the aroma of diesel fumes wafting in your window eradicates any trace of the delicate aroma of the wine.

The same sort of thing can occur in a restaurant: a cigar smoker, his meal finished, lights up from the nearby bar just as you’re trying to get a whiff of your $100 Montrachet. Aargh!

OK, I don’t always drink $100 wines, but a strong cigar can ruin even a $5 young Beaujolais.

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And I’ve had plenty of ruined dinners. One was a double disaster: a friend brought a bottle of 1967 Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc and I a 1966 Chateau Latour to a restaurant that had just remodeled one of its rooms. It was lighted by what looked like candles in wall sconces.

But they weren’t candles; they were wicks fed by a petroleum-based lamp oil. Their aroma obliterated the subtleties in the white wine, so we moved to another area of the restaurant with no oil sconces, and felt safe from extraneous odors. We asked the waiter to pour the ’66 Latour.

Then came hazard No. 2. The next table had ordered steak Diane, a marvelous flaming dish made table-side. It makes for a great show, but the aroma of the dish--garlic, Worcestershire sauce, brandy--so filled the room that the Latour’s aroma was mute.

“Steak Diane?!” said Joe Cochran, chef at the Mission Inn in Riverside. “It’s the worst for wine. Any of that table-side cooking blows wines away.” That’s one of the reasons Cochran and many chefs have done away with table-side preparations.

Such aromatic intrusions into the lives of wine lovers aren’t fatal, but they are disconcerting and annoying, especially when you’ve gone to trouble and expense to line up a fine wine and then find its aroma belted upside the head.

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Wine cranks encounter other forms of air pollution when dining out. Not long ago, for example, I dined at Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur. Our waiter had splashed on an after-shave lotion so pungent that even the young, vibrant Cabernet Sauvignon we tried to enjoy smelled like lilacs.

One wine-tasting society became so upset about this a few years ago that it made a preemptive strike. On its invitation, was the plea: “No perfume or after-shave please.”

Cigarette smoke challenges the delicate nuances of fine wine. California has been among the leading states in banning smoking in restaurants, but there are times when the “smoking” and “nonsmoking” sections are separated only by an imaginary barrier.

At Chinois on Main, for example, smoking is permitted only at the bar, but the bar runs nearly the length of the restaurant, guaranteeing smoke drift.

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When preparing dinner for friends at home, a wine crank has more control: Smokers may be asked to step outside. However, the aromas of the meal being prepared may be hard to avoid, especially in apartments where there is no separate dining room.

I’m not sure which aromas are worse for the wine lover--smoke, perfume, burnt food or something else--but most are anathema for the person who has cellared a wine for a long time and wants to savor every sensual experience of it.

Some wine-tasting societies that meet at restaurants actually do test dinners with the organizers to evaluate the foods and, not incidentally, the air aromas. I have heard of two events that were switched to other locations when the food at a test dinner was fine, but the smells in the room were not.

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When confronted with a less-than-wine-friendly dining room, I try to order strongly flavored and scented wines to compete with the aromas in the air. Gewurztraminer, Viognier and Pinot Gris are good white wines; Beaujolais, Zinfandel and Rhone-type wines are good selections in reds.

Old, delicate red wines are not for such aroma chambers. To savor the glories of great old red wines, some collectors put them on center stage as accompaniments to savories, those cheese-based dishes that are served after a light meal.

The idea is to serve the main part of the meal, offering smaller portions than usual, and leaving until the end a cheese course. When possible, serve this course in a different room, to avoid the odors of dinner.

The cheeses or cheese creations I prefer are chosen specifically to work with, and not challenge, the wines. I prefer white Cheddar, farmhouse-style Goudas, goat cheeses, Havarti, Comte, Explorateur, Doux du Montagne, and Asiago, Dry Jack or Parmesan. I avoid blue cheeses and flavored cheeses that can add powerful aromas to the air and compete with the delicacy of old wine. Blue cheeses are better with Port.

Incidentally, the restaurant with the fancy petroleum-fueled wall sconces learned that the wicks would burn without emitting any aroma at all if denatured alcohol was the flame source. I guess enough wine cranks complained.

Wine of the Week

1991 Koonunga Hill (Penfolds) Shiraz-Cabernet ($9) --There may be no better example of the international style of red wine than this Australian import with a price tag that is so low compared to the quality of the wine, it’s laughable.

Made by Aussie wine giant Penfolds in good vintages such as 1991, Koonunga Hill is a miracle of richness and power combined with finesse. There are classic berry and herb notes from Cabernet and pepper and chocolate from Shiraz, plus a bit of oak that gives the wine a slight cedar-y note. I haven’t tasted an under-$10 red wine this good in a long time. Incidentally, Koonunga Hill wines age nicely. I tasted the 1982 and it was stunning, more like a mature Bordeaux. If this 1991 were $20, no wine snob would ignore it, but at this price, it may be too cheap for some people.

Final note: Penfolds’ 1990 Bin 389 ($15), made from roughly the same grape mix as the Koonunga Hill, is a tower of a wine with mint, pepper and chocolate, herbal berry notes and a huge, rich finish. A great wine, a good buy and worthy of anyone’s cellar.

* Ask Dan Berger: Talk Cabs and Zins with Times wine writer Dan Berger on the Wining & Dining bulletin board on TimesLink, The Times’ online service. For information on TimesLink, call (800) 792-LINK, ext. 274.