March 14, 2001, 7:43AM

Coturri pushes the envelope
By MICHAEL LONSFORD

(Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle )

I got a call last week from a reader asking about adverse reactions to wine. Are there, she asked, any wines I would recommend that wouldn't cause a reaction?

Well, the last time I looked, I didn't have an M.D., so I wasn't about to dispense any medical advice. But this question comes up frequently, and the answer from a layman's viewpoint usually falls in one of three categories.

If the reaction is to red wine only, it could be the person is having a reaction to the histamines in the wine. If the reaction is to any wine, it could be an allergy to alcohol. If the reaction is to some wines (doesn't matter whether red or white) but not others, it could be a sensitivity to sulfur.

Because sulfur is often used in winemaking to prevent oxidation. Some wineries use a soupçon, others use a lot. But some wineries don't use any. A major brand that farms organically, using no pesticides or chemicals -- such as sulfur -- is Bonterra Vineyards, an offshoot of Fetzer Vineyards in California's Mendocino County.

The Bonterra wines are very reasonably priced for the quality, and can be found in both retail outlets and restaurants.

Another brand, and one that really pioneered the philosophy of organic winegrowing and winemaking in California, is Coturri. Coturri is a small winery in the Sonoma Valley area of southern Sonoma County that's widely known for wines that are both organic and highly extracted. Just how highly extracted? More on that in a minute.

I hadn't tasted a Coturri wine in at least 15 years. In fact, I didn't even know Coturri was distributed in the Houston market. (They are now, through Ambiente; call Manny Llanes at 281-222-0509.) So a couple of weeks ago, when a friend invited me to lunch at Mark's with winemaker Tony Coturri, I quickly said yes. It would be a memorable lunch for several reasons: The camaraderie was infectious, the wines generally showed well, and some of the food-wine pairings by chef Mark Cox were re-mark-able.

The Coturri family -- father Red, sons Phil and Tony -- first planted grapes in Sonoma in 1967. All of two acres. In 1975, they added another five acres. They sold grapes and made a little wine. And Phil Coturri became a pioneer in organic viticulture. Some of his clients include Hanzell, Carmenet and Arrowood. And more than 300 acres with which he's involved have been given the official seal of approval by the CCOF -- California Certified Organic Farmers.

In 1979, the Coturris went commercial, making something like 300 cases. Today they're at the 5,000-6,000 case range, not exactly enough to challenge Gallo's No.1 ranking at an estimated 65 million cases annually.

From the start, they farmed organically, and while they planted what they call their estate vineyard (another four acres) in 1992 n the Mayacamas Mountains east of the town of Sonoma, they've also been farming and buying grapes from a number of ineyards for years. Tony Coturri said at present he's making 17 different wines, ranging from one barrel (25 cases) to 900 cases. Not all the Coturri wines will be available here.

The Coturri philosophy is simple: Everything's natural. No pesticides. No herbicides. No fungicides. No sulfur. Only wild yeast fermentations, and the "cap" of grape skins, etc., during fermentation is punched down -- the juice isn't pumped over. The estate vineyard is head-pruned and dry-farmed -- the old-fashioned way.

The result is that the Coturri wines are organically "pure." That's the good news. The flip side is that they are often so highly extracted that they won't appeal to everyone. These are in-your-face, take-no-prisoners wines -- either you'll love them or hate them.

And with their natural, immense concentration, some have a noticeable sweetness to them. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, two of the wines we tasted, with that sweet blackberry-raspberry fruit, went admirably well with a special venison chili from chef Cox.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
How we rate the wines:
***** = Outstanding
**** = Fine
*** = Good
** = Fair
* = Poor
(*) = indicates ageability
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Coturri is known for zinfandels and pinot noirs, although we tasted no pinots that day at Mark's, and the wine that may have garnered the most attention was a Schwarzeneggaresque syrah. The not-yet-released 1999 Syrah -- **** 1/2 -- could outpunch "Rocky" in a dark alley. "We only made 150 cases," Coturri said. Maybe some will get to Houston, maybe not. But even though it'll be in the $40 range, it'll be worth it. It's a brooding monster, with loads of blueberry, blackberry, plum and dried cherry flavors. And it went extremely well with medium-rare duck breast.

We also tried the 1999 Maclise Vineyard Merlot -- *** (*)-- with a deep, red-fruit flavor profile; this was no wimpy, thin-cherry-juice merlot. Even better was the 1998 Sangiovese -- **** -- although the wine's concentration was a bit over the top for a grape varietal that, like pinot noir, is at its best when showing some finesse rather than brute power.

Three zins side by side were eye-opening. Two were quite similar, with that bit of residual sweetness (remember the venison chili?), while the other was as extracted but perhaps a bit "leaner," even though all three had about 1 percent RS (residual sugar).

The 1999 Anderson Vineyard Zinfandel -- *** 1/2 -- was thick and almost syrupy, a perfect foil for game or spicy meats. Likewise the 1999 Phil Coturri Vineyard Zinfandel -- *** 1/2 -- was viscous and extracty, with deep blue and black fruit flavors. The 1999 Bruschera Vineyard Zinfandel -- **** -- didn't flaunt its sweetness and would be a better match with beef or lamb.
I asked Coturri what he liked to eat with these muscle-flexing zinfandels.

"Barbecue potato chips and bittersweet chocolate," he said. I could see that.

Later we would taste the 1999 Estate Zinfandel -- **** -- with a bittersweet chocolate torte, and it was a hit with just about everybody at the table. Also uncorked that cold, blustery day was the 1998 Red -- **** -- a blend of 75 percent cabernet sauvignon and 25 percent sangiovese, a leaner red wine that, like the Bruschera Zinfandel, might be more food-friendly with a wider range of dishes.

The Coturri wines sell in the mid-$20s to mid-$30s, although that '99 syrah should be more.

For fun, Coturri also brought along a bottle of his 1980 Cabernet Sauvignon, which was holding up pretty well -- possibly because of the 15.6 percent alcohol. I've tasted a lot of zins that concentrated, but never a cabernet.

And speaking of zins:
My friend has been a fan of the Coturri wines for many years, and it was at least 15 years ago that he gave me a bottle of Coturri zin from the very early '80s that had some enormous amount of natural alcohol -- I want to say it was more than 17 percent. That is almost in port range.

And on the bottle he wrote: "Happy 'porting!'"

I did -- and it was. Michael Lonsford's Wine of the Week appears Fridays in Dining Guide. If you
don't have a quill pen, you can send an e-mail to: michael.lonsford@chron.com.