For a few brief weeks in May this king of mushrooms, this fabulous fungus, the magnificent morel, is in season.

So each year as I hunt them down – in civilized markets, I hasten to add, not the wild and unpredictable countryside –  I ponder just how and with what I am going to prepare them. This weekend I opted for chicken breasts browned in a skillet then cooked over low heat. Meanwhile the morels were sautéed with shallots. Finally the chicken pan was deglazed, the morels added, and the resulting sauce, something to make any true foodie’s heart sing, was poured over the chicken.

With it I drank the best Merlot I have ever tasted, at least from outside Bordeaux’s right bank – the Duckhorn Merlot, Three Palms Vineyard 2002.

Duckhorn have been a star of Napa winemaking for almost 40 years but the secret of this wine, along with their meticulous winemaking, is the source of the grapes. Three Palms Vineyard is owned by the Upton brothers who make no wine of their own but grow some of the most prized Merlot grapes in California.

Here the result is a delicious, rich and polished wine. Its velvety texture has real structure behind it. Also it’s not over-extracted – wine-speak for the New World’s unfortunate propensity to make jammy, over ripe, over-oaked reds. Cherry and vanilla flavors predominate at first but after a while spicier, earthier notes begin to emerge tinged with hints of licorice and cedar. Such complexity of intermingled flavors is the sort of rare treat one seldom encounters in California Merlot.

Duckhorn is known for tannic wines and this version is only now coming into its own. It will be spectacular in ten years time.

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Wrong! This is errant nonsense.

These are people who have made a ton of money in other fields so presumably they have some business acumen, but here they seem to abandon all financial reason and become befuddled by the blandishments of a Napa lifestyle. Sure, why not put in a helipad?

This is, of course, business madness because in the long run it is the demand of market that determines what you can sell your wine for, not how much you spent on the swimming pool.

Bill Murphy of Clos LaChance Winery managed to avoid this trap. After a successful career at Hewlett-Packard he wanted to turn his grape-growing hobby into a full time business, but he didn’t completely loose his head in the process.

“It seems to me there’s a lot of muddled thinking in the wine industry” he told me, “and a lot of people are trying to justify the price of a bottle of wine based on the cost of the land, and I just think that’s ass backwards.”

Bill & Brenda Murphy

His first sensible decision was to avoid super-expensive Napa Valley and locate his winery in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Jose, where land is considerably cheaper.

“If you look at pricing from a price-plus standpoint you can amortize the price of the land, add in your farming costs and say ‘That means I have to charge $80 a bottle for my wine.”

“But another way is to say ‘Gee, how much is it worth? What is it worth to the consumer?’ and it seems to me that’s got to be the key to the pricing decision.”

This is of course a basic business fundamental – a product is only worth what a buyer is prepared to pay for it.

And it is this sensible thinking that has lead to his super Clos LaChance Chardonnay 2011 priced at an astounding $11 a bottle.

Santa Cruz is too warm for cool-climate Chardonnay so he sources his grapes from 20 year old vines in Monterey. Here the cool coastal nights, combined with minimal oak treatment result in a Chardonnay of unusual freshness.

“A lot of people say ‘gee, it doesn’t taste like a chardonnay’, but it actually does taste like a Chardonnay. “In a classic,” by this he means typical, “California Chardonnay you get a lot of oak. What we’re looking for is the Chardonnay fruit, and have that come through. And that’s what a Chardonnay grape tastes like.”

It’s more Burgundian than typically Californian in style, though it does have lovely ripe fruit. It reminds me of a 2009 Macon or St Veran, which is a comparison Murphy appreciates.

“I’d be okay if you wrote that. That’s the style we’re looking for, and we find that people like it. This is a new direction for California Chardonnay and we see very good acceptance for it, especially among younger drinkers.”

And that acceptance is in no way impeded by it costing only $11 a pop.

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These wines, so called because they are made in Tuscany from non-traditional varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, have a pretty spotty record, at least in my book.

Yes, one of the world’s great wines, Tignanello, is the Super T that kick off the whole show back in the 1970’s. But it is a swan amongst too many ugly ducklings. Well, perhaps not ugly ducklings – they are seldom undrinkable – but a raft of pretty boring, mediocre ducklings.

Enter the Widmer family, owners of a successful advertising business in Zurich. Enchanted, as many have been, by Tuscany, and looking for a holiday home, in 1981 they brought Cassa Brancaia that came with a disused winery. They planted vineyards. They made wine. It was a success, and in 1998 handed the reins over to their daughter, Barbara, who now oversees winemaking at three estates, two in Chianti Classico, and one in Maremma on the coast.

It was the latter that most impressed me when I tasted through a range of Casa Brancaia wines with Barbara over a recent dinner at A Voce in New York. What sets her Ilatraia 2009, $50, this week’s Five Star Nick’s Wine Of The Week, apart from many of its competitors is its unusual cuvée: 40% Petit Verdot and 20% Cabernet Franc, with the rest Cabernet Sauvignon.

Barbara explains why she chose this composition. “Maremma is very warm and it’s the perfect climate for those two grapes to mature in a perfect way. For Petit Verdot especially, I have a very strong love. It makes the wine fuller, more complex without being a real blockbuster.”

Barbara Widmer & NP

Ah yes, the blockbuster phenomenon. Too many Super Tuscans fall into this trap, so appealingly baited by high profile critics, but it is a temptation Barbara has avoided.

The Ilatraia has a lovely balance, though the closed tannins will require several years aging. It also shows a Super Tuscan ripeness, but this is deepened by intriguing hints of Bordeaux-like sous bois complexity.

And it was magnificent with A Voce’s Funghi al Forno, a combination of roasted, meaty, royal trumpet mushrooms and fonduta cheese.

So one of the best Super Tuscan I have ever enjoyed is made, not by an Italian, but by a Swiss.

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I recently tasted the 2011, 2010 and 2009 with Pierre Lurton, President of d’Yquem and Sandrine Garbay, Maitre de Chai, during a lunch at 11 Madison Park to promote the sale of some of their wines at Sotheby’s, New York.

The 2011, still in barrels at the chateau was, not surprisingly, unformed. The two constituent varietals, Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, had not come together, and were bumping around in the glass like a couple of unruly adolescents.

However Garbay believes the wine has great potential, telling me that “the 2011 sémillon needs time to develop but I am sure in the next years sémillon will appear. With the acidity of this vintage the aging of this Y will be great, I am sure.”

Her take on the 2010 was that it’s a very classic vintage. I found it more developed than the 2011 but still a very long way from being a finished work.

Sandrine Garbay

The 2009 Y on the other hand, this week’s Five Star Nick’s Wine Of The Week, $190, was a luscious beauty. 2009 was a hot summer all over France, everyone made ripe, plush wines. The trick was to preserve freshness, and this Garbay has achieved. In addition, the wine is already showing hints of the beguiling complexity Y is known for.

“So the 2009 was a great vintage in Bordeaux with perfect conditions during the spring, during the summer, during the autumn. We had perfect ripeness of the grapes, and perfect conditions to pick the grapes.

“The 2009 has a lot of richness but at the same time we have elegance. It’s a great wine to have at the table, to have it with food.”

Indeed. As Sandrine observes, it made a brilliant pairing with 11 Madison Park’s black bass with black truffle and celery, the rich elegance of the wine perfectly complementing the rich delicacy of the fish and truffles.

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And oh boy, did we get it. It was a revelation, nectar in a glass.

Unfortunately, the wine has now been discovered, and these days retails for over $100 a bottle, so in restaurants is correspondingly unaffordable, even if you can find it. But there is a second option.

The Perrin family, Beaucastel’s owners, have been at the center of CdP’s recent ascendancy in the wine universe, and have taken advantage of their increased stature by expanding their portfolio beyond their core CdP cuvées.

One such effort is this week’s Nick’s Wine Of The Week, the Coudoulet de Beaucastel Blanc 2010 ($49). The wine comes from their Coudoulet vineyard situated just outside the appellation boundary, so is only entitled to the less prestigious Côtes-du-Rhône appellation.

Now, there are plenty of decent, and far less expansive, Côtes-du-Rhône whites but the Coudoulet is in a different league entirely. It has the intensity of flavor, that sense of finely focused purpose, you find in good CdP whites. The pale yellow appearance belies the round, mouth-filling palate of melons, peaches, apricots and honey along with a lively floral freshness.

This is, in fact, a Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc in all but name.

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Orsay

Pernand-Vergelesses is a small village tucked behind the famous hill of Corton in the Côte de Beaune, that until recently plodded along in justifiable obscurity.

But over the last few years its producers have watched the price of Burgundy rise and rise, and Mercedes replace Renaults on the twisting back lanes of the region. So they begun to think “Hey, we want some of this action too!” Consequently they upped the winemaking ante, and in generous vintages like the 2009 the wines can be an absolute delight, especially when they come from such excellent hands as Champy.

This Chardonnay shows what makes white Burgundy so special – the way, when they are good, they walk that fine line between elegance and finesse on the one hand, and opulent excess on the other with an assured nonchalance.

It filled my mouth with that seductive Chardonnay richness so evocative of ripe peaches, and well shows that, if one exercises a little effort, it is possible to drink decent white Burgundy without risking ones credit score.

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The pleasure was enhanced by the fact that it made a particularly successful pairing with the smoked salmon canapés I had dreamed up.

But first, the champagne. The Pol Roger is everything I look for in a bottle of non-vintage fizz. It’s light and fresh while still offering real substance. There are pretty floral elements, and it’s not so acidicly dry that it makes your mouth pucker, as do many NV champagnes.

In fact, it is the perfect aperitif champagne, and worked especially well with the canapés of smoked salmon, sour cream and caviar. A great way to kick of a party!

The Canapés

For each person you will need:

2.5 oz of smoked salmon

2.5 squares of pumpernickel cocktail bread

2 Tbs sour cream

1/2 teaspoon lumpfish caviar

Cut bread squares in half diagonally.

Cut salmon into small portions, fold once and place on bread triangles.

With a teaspoon place a small dollop of sour cream on each salmon portion.

Using the tip of a knife top the sour cream with a small dab of caviar.

You can do the first two steps in advance, then place on the serving dish and cover with wrap. Keep cool in fridge and complete just before the guests arrive.

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Turkey is a rich meat, even slightly sweet, so avoid lean, super-dry wines like Sauvignon Blanc or Chablis. Rather you want a wine with a bit of  weight behind it, like a California Chardonnay or, if your feeling adventurous, go with something a bit more exotic like this week’s Five Star Nick’s Wine Of The Week, the Pierre Sparr Gewürztraminer 2011 ($17) from Alsace.

Don’t be put off by the pronunciation, it’s easy.  Ge  W(V)urtz Traminer, Gewürztraminer.. Once you’ve mastered this bit of diction, you are free to concentrate on the fact that this luscious varietal is all about pure, sensual pleasure. It’s a very sexy wine.

Another problem with a Gewurtz is the general reluctance of wine drinkers to go anywhere near Alsatian wines because the similarity of the bottles, and the names, to the all-too-often inferior German versions. But get over this prejudice – you will find the reward of these good-value wines well worth the effort.

Then there’s the issue of perceived sweetness. Yes, the wine is a little off dry, but this is a good thing when it is being drunk with turkey – see above. There’s the delicate balancing acidity to add a refreshing crispness to a juicy front palate brimming with honeysuckle and white summer fruit – melons, white peaches, yellow plums and nectarines, with pretty floral elements peaking out from behind all this succulent fruit.

With its mouth-filling richness it will be the perfect accompaniment for even the gamy flavors of dark turkey meat.

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But now comes the tricky part, exactly which red wine and which white wine?

This week and next I am going to endeavor to answer both these questions, in general terms and with specific recommendations.

First to red. Turkey is a versatile food, rich and full flavored, so it definitely works well with red wine but it has to be the right red wine. Turkey’s more delicate than say, braised beef or barbeque ribs, so avoid anything too assertive and heavy, like Syrah/Shiraz. I find the Bordeaux varietals, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, compliment turkey splendidly.

Some California versions of these wines can be flabby and dispiriting, nothing more than cocktail sippers, but not this week’s Five Star Nick’s Wine of the Week, the Merlot 2010, Buena Vista Winery, Sonoma ($15).

A definite cut above your typical California Merlot, this beauty shows real personality – backbone, fortitude, flash and vibrancy. A long, cool growing season in 2010 resulted in more hang time for the grapes so more concentrated flavor as well as helping to preserve acidity. Then a warm October harvest was perfectly timed to bring the grapes to full ripeness resulting in a nicely balanced wine packed with luscious black fruit and hints of a cedar-tinged spiciness. A real winner for the modest price and the perfect accompaniment for turkey.

These are red wines from Bordeaux varietals – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc – that are unappealing, even difficult, when young but wines that have the potential for great depth and complexity as they age. They are the antithesis of the opulent trophy wines that garner high ratings and sport three-figure price tags. They are serious, grown-up wines for the connoisseur.

Speaking of this week’s Five Star Nick’s Wine Of The Week, his Ciel du Cheval Vineyards Red Wine, Red Mountain 2009 ($50) he tells me “I am willing to make wine like that because I have faith in the grape, in the site. That’s the way I view wine. Make it and let it be whatever it is. If you don’t like these kind of wines, fine, I understand that.”

The conversation took place last August during a visit to his charming, idiosyncratic house next to the winery on bucolic Vashon Island in Puget Sound. As we sat at the dining room table with bottles from recent vintages arrayed before us he expounded on his philosophy of winemaking.

“I like a sense of darkness, almost mystery in the wine.

Chris Camarda

I like the person drinking them to be trying to access the qualities of the wine rather than the wine forcing itself on people with overtly flavored vanilla and other things from barrels. I prefer that the wines show themselves rather than me trying to do that through flavoring techniques.”

This approach shows brilliantly in the Ciel du Cheval – there are plenty of chocolate and smoky earth flavors but the wine’s closed and tannic at the moment, the ripe fruit buried under a mountain of acidity. But wait, wait ten years, and all will change. This a wonderful wine with enormous potential – given time the rigid, unyielding structure that makes it so inaccessible at the moment will mellow into entrancing depths of seductive complexity. An experience certainly worth waiting for.

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