Beer blahs? Bring bubbly to the beach

Tasting Notes
Headed to the shore?  Packing for a hike?  Here are six new picks that should survive the trip.

Nicolas Feuillatte NV Brut “1/4” ($12 per 187 ml bottle, Pasternak Wine Imports): Feuillatte offers both its traditional dry Brut (in electric blue) and Brut rosé (in fuschia), with those handy wrist straps a final selling point. The twist-off cap feels a bit cheap, and the dry wine is a bit on the sugary side, but the regular brut is full of ripe, sweet apple and honey scents. The rosé is more floral and the flavors more front-loaded, with a fresh, yeasty note and a pleasant dry character. The bubbles in both seem less pronounced than in the regular bottles, but it’s a small price to pay for portable Champagne.

French Rabbit 2004 cabernet sauvignon vin de pays d’Oc ($10, Boisset America): A bit leathery, both as in saddle leather and fruit leather. Scents of dried branches amid the usual oak. Surprisingly subtle and mouthfilling, with a medium-light weight and a clean finish. Way above average for the category.

French Rabbit 2004 pinot noir vin de pays d’Oc ($10, Boisset America): It’s hard to find pinot in a box, probably because it’s such a persnickety (and expensive) grape. And yet this one works, once you push past a slight burnt smell in the fruit. Surprisingly tart and fresh, dominated by strawberry jam and cola. Paper-cup pinot.

Johannes Ohling 2004 riesling trocken Rheingau “Nikki” ($12, Miskeit Wines): Ohlig's tall, slender bottles and Belle Epoque labels are charming enough, and with a Vino-Lok stopper, they have the added bonus of serving as great water bottles when you're done with the wine. Fully dry and crisp, even sweet-wine skeptics will like the opulent Rheingau aromatics in this bargain of a riesling.

Little Penguin 2004 shiraz South Eastern Australia ($7 for 4 187ml bottles, PWG Vintners): Big fruit-punch flavors in a tiny bottle. The sweetness is up front, with a basic Aussie-style appeal, but it’s tailored to make shiraz lovers happy, with a happy dash of spice at the end. Just ignore the name Foster’s (which makes Little Penguin) slapped on these four-bottle totes: Chix Pax. The wine does not, mercifully, taste like chicken.

Fish Eye shiraz California ($7 for 4 187 ml bottles): Boldly peppery, with dry-leaf notes and a bright, easygoing disposition. Nicely aromatic, with a juicy berry finish. Vintage not marked on the mini bottles, but an $18 3-liter box was from the 2004 harvest.

Hail a Cab? No thanks
My June 13 column on old-school Napa Cabs revived some old issues for a lot of readers.  Napa certainly has its defenders, like Bruce Coulthard of St. Helena, Calif., who stuck up for his hometown wines: “I drink and buy the ‘Old Guard’ any opportunity that I get. The wines you have listed are very much the true flavors that have distinguished what the Napa wines are all about.”

But many of you were even less charitable than me about Napa’s biggest problem: not enough value for money. Wrote Thomas J. Rice, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.: “Lately, I have enjoyed Silverado's offerings as they are still comparatively reasonable. Some of these bottles just aren't worth it any longer. Bottles of Mondavi reserve that once were a splurge are now out of sight for ordinary humans. I contend that you can find better values elsewhere.”

Jacob V. Lulack, Plains, Mont.: “I don't need to pay some CEO for the buzz I get after the wine hits my stomach.”

Yet longtime Napa lover Max Hauser crunched the numbers and determined that many of these wines haven't witnessed the price spikes common to so-called “cult” Napa Cabs. Hauser says that, 25 years ago, he paid $8 for Stag's Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V. and $12 for Clos du Val. Factoring in a “nominal inflation factor (CPI) of 2.23 since 1981,” he wrote, those prices would be $18 and $27. “Obviously some old-school Cabernets have risen more, but not always much.”

Among the wines we mentioned, Silver Oak in particular seemed to take a drubbing. Judi in Carbondale, Colo., offered a typical opinion: “I was a Silver Oak fan from many years ago, faithfully buying my one case every year. The last three years have not been worth the price and I doubt I'll even buy one bottle this year. For a lower price there are much better quality Cabs.”

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