Friday, October 30, 2009

#155 Schiava

Speaking of top 5 places I would like to visit the Südtirol makes the list. Not only is it the home of my favorite "discovery" Lagrein but it is located at the foothills of the Dolomites along the Austrian border. The views appear spectacular.

I guess I was expecting another Lagrein type of wine. One that was more burly and fruity and would be suitable for... well roasted boar in the middle of an alpine winter. Instead I found this one to be a much easier drinking wine. It is light bodied but rounded clean and well balanced. This would be suitable for many lighter dishes but would be overpowered by spicier fare. Excellent and enjoyable value at $16.

From K&L (via the distributor) "Made of Schiava (90%) (in German, Vernatsch) with a small amount of Lagrein(10%), this wine is fermented and aged in stainless steel. Notes: pale red color; aroma of strawberries and tomato leaf, very appetising; the palate is bigger and more assertive than the color would suggest but still very drinkable. A faint hint of apple-skin bitterness on the finish adds to its appeal with food. It is delicious paired with most any pork dish, especially ham. I've heard it can be drunk with grilled salmon as well. Very small quantities. This (Schiava) delicious berry-ish red is Italy's answer to Beaujolais, and a foil to his other red, Lagrein Dunkel, which is one of the great Italian red grapes and deserves to be much more well known. The best examples are deep purple in color, with aromas of blackberries and Assam tea."

#154 Poulsard

Poulsard (also Ploussard) is a red wine grape variety from the Jura wine region in France. The name Ploussard is used mainly around the town of Pupillin. Poulsard is also grown in Bugey.

This particular bottle may have been faulty but I will report as best as I can. It looks like a rose' although the appearance is a bit dusty, smells a bit like a rose with acidic overtones and has a powerful astringency on the palate. These wines are meant to be consumed well chilled by the summer following the vintage (in this case I am 3 months late).

Thursday, October 29, 2009

#153 Plavac Mali

An absolutely brilliant dry well-balanced $11 bottle of Plavac Mali from Croatia's Peljesac Peninsula.

I insist you look at this link... The Dalmatian Coast has just sprung up into my top 5 places I need to visit.

Now it is all starting to make sense. One of my first favorite wines was a Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon made by the famed native Croatian (and now Californian) winemaker Mike Grgich. This goes to show that even at varietal #153 great things can happen.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

#152 Teroldego

"Teroldego Rotaliano ovvero "Oro del Tirolo" da una probabile interpretazione del idioma "Tiroler Gold" I regnanti d’Austria, durante la loro reggenza in Trentino, considerarono infatti questo vino eccellente sia per il colore intenso e profondo, profumato di lampone e mora che per il sapore pieno rotondo giustamente acido e privo di tannini: appunto Oro del Tirolo."

I say "Plums and Prunes and edgy acidity."

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

#151 Frappato

Nose:
Blueberry Sauce

Taste:
Blackberry Jam

Finish:
Anise

I enjoyed this wine. It is the first time I have tasted a wine that had such distinct and recognizable flavor profiles. As with all the wines at this stage of the quest this one was not easy to find. If you come across it give it a try.

Monday, October 26, 2009

#150 Tinta Madeira


Ficklin "Old Vine" Tinta Port

In the production of the OV Tinta Port, which is not vintaged, winemaker Peter Ficklin uses wine from the winery's unique Solera system. Because of this, the blend for any particular bottling cannot be precisely measured. 60% to 80% of the blend is Tinta Madeira, 2% to 10% is Tinta Cao, and Touriga and Souzao each constitute 10% to 25% of the final blend. Unique and a super value!

I think the most observant of my millions of readers will notice that this is in fact an American made "Port" but that its primary grape is Tinta Madeira which is not a major player in the Portuguese version. What is Tinta Madeira? It seems to be its own varietal but is down to its last 50 acres or so.

While this bottle doesn't have all the lushness of a proper port it is certainly an enjoyable effort and for $15 you cant go wrong. This will make a nice aperitif for a cold fall evening or late night tipple to warm your insides and allow for a slow drift into a long winter slumber.

#149 Loureiro

Here we have a truly unique Vinho Verde from Portugal for a mere $10 which reminds me of a diluted lemonade braced with a hint of seltzer. On the pour you will see a swirling of the tiniest bubbles. For those of you still with me that is called "pétillance" (pay-tee-YAWN). On the first taste I find a nice soft sweetness followed by the bracing lemon acidity and finishing in a balanced harmony of the wine's major elements.

This is a really fun wine that I am sure will amuse your guests as well as your palate. I recommend giving this one a try if you can find it.

And oh yes, Vinho Verde can be made from a variety of grapes. This one contains 50% Loureiro which I have been unable to find on its own so this will have to do.. for now anyway.

#148 Tocai Friulano

Tocai “Mari Me” ‘07

Here we have a Tocai Friulano. It is a nice clean white with hints of peach and a nice bright minerality. The winemaker says that this grape was the only one his mother would drink and so named this one "Mari Me" (My Mother). This was a Sam's wine purchase and I fear that I won't be able to find this one again any time soon but it would make a nice summer wine.

#147 Uva Rara

Uva Rara means "rare grape" and is almost never found as a star it is usually part of the supporting cast. At first taste I was about to relegate this one to the trash heap of "oh no not another one that tastes like all the other cheap ones" wines but now as I go back to take a second taste (and after the wine has been opened for more than a few days) I am finding it much more enjoyable.

At first sip I am thinking it is a fruitier Chianti but the mid-palate fades a bit quickly and the finish is a bit acidic. Nonetheless I am very happy to have had a chance to try this unique grape.

#146 Refosco

As I get closer to the end of the varietal list I am finding that it is as hard to acquire the wines as it is to find ones that really blow me away. So from here on in I will not try to find nice ways to say that a wine just wasn't that good but that it might be worth a try. For most people these days throwing $20 away on an uninspired bottle hurts twice, once in the pocket and once again on the palate. Sure, in the heady days of the dot.com mania or the subsequent property "boom" when..... But I digress.

In this case we have a smoky earthy red with a quick dry finish and an excess of heat. Most of our tasters last night felt that it was a decent wine but perhaps would be more suited to that $10-$12 price point.

Monday, October 19, 2009

The quest just got a whole lot harder

Our once great local wine shop Sam's Wines and Spirits has finally succumbed to horrible management and has been absorbed into the Binny's empire.

www.samswine.com

Sam's Wines and Spirits was once a grand store. For quite a while they were the largest single wine retail space on the planet. They had inventory that filled shelves reaching to the ceiling of their 3 story store/warehouse. They had sales people that could dizzy you with their passion for wine while simultaneously making sure they didn't lord their wine knowledge over you. When I shopped Sam's I felt like they were happy I dropped by. It didn't matter if it was for empty cardboard boxes or for a few cases of wine you were treated like a valued part of their business. They even had a rewards program that was automatic and generous. Sams was a classic family owned success story and a destination in and of itself.

Then along come the new owners with plans to turn Sam's into a monster of retail. They had plans to open 20 new stores in a year or so and to sell only "what people buy" which meant a sea of $8 bottles of animal emblazoned wine would soon replace the deep inventory. The inventory was decimated (why tie up all that $ in wine when you deploy it elsewhere) and the shelves that reached for the ceiling were soon taken down. With the diminished inventory the need for knowledgeable salespeople waned almost as quickly as the salespeople's interest in the shallow inventory faded. They moved on and the passion was gone. The rewards program was gutted and turned into a short expiration date coupon. The few new stores that had opened were shuttered. The online system crashed repeatedly and made placing an order a real test of ones willpower. Sam's sadly had become a place to avoid, an empty shell of a once great institution.

As for the quest, this turn of events will make things a bit more difficult To be honest it was rare that I would find anything new there anyway but still.... Oh well.... I wish everyone who remains the best of luck!