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1943 Riesling, Rüdesheimer Eiseninger, Hessische Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach, Rheingau

Let’s start with the color and the first surprise. Deep, golden, honey-like hue? No! Not at all. Beautiful yellow tinted with green. Pretty pretty. Nose next. Not much to say about that but, with the wine having been locked up in a bottle for almost 70 years, this seems fairly evident. Classic notes of aged Riesling such as honey and mixed nuts, also a hint of wet wooden beams. No petrol at all (so obviously aged Riesling doesn’t always have to smell like a garage!). Aeration helped but soon did more harm than good. Palate. Hm, hard to describe. This wine was dry. Drier than dry, the style back then. lean citrus and apple fruit, very hard to distinguish anything in particular. Conclusion. The only really amazing thing about this wine was the fact that it had aged so perfectly well and showed absolutely flawless. Nothing more, nothing less. Considering it was auctioned off at 650 € or 860 USD a bottle earlier this year, quite an expensive flawlessness to buy…

1953 Riesling Auslese, Hattenheimer Engelmannsberg, Hessische Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach, Rheingau

If I hadn’t poured the sip myself I could have easily mistaken it for Sherry or Whisk(e)y, by looks that is. A wonderfully deep amber/caramel color gracefully sticking to the glass and creating the most beautiful legs gives a good idea of what’ s to come. A sniff, a second one, BOOM! Almost unreal notes of orange zest, tobacco, honey, hazelnuts and potpourri emerge from a dusty wooden cigar box. A swirl of liquid amber, then the sip. Vineyard peach macerated with vanilla, citrus and fleur-de-sel-caramel. Toasted nuts to top it off. The acidity provides the backbone to support the sugar and it does a great job at it! Amazing!

1953 is known as one of the best ever vintages for noble-rot influenced dessert wines in Germany. A hot summer guaranteed fully ripened fruit with healthy Botrytis. The few bottles floating around the interweb sell for around 180 € or 240 USD a pop.

1999 Spätburgunder Weißherbst Eiswein, Heppenheimer Centgericht, Hessische Staatsweingüter

Eiswein is often referred to as the highest art in winemaking. It certainly is very special and can’t be made every year but honestly, I don’t quite get the hype about it. No doubt, this wine was great but I didn’t get behind it.

As the name Weißherbst promised the wine was rosé colored, more of a very light raspberry hue. It’s the German designation for a Rosé produced from a single varietal, in this case Pinot Noir. The high sugar content results in a very viscous product clinging to your glass with all its might. A tiny sip is often enough to end a night of tasting simply because all the wines after it seem completely dry and way too acidic. The colour translated perfectly well to the nose, bright red berry fruits such as raspberry and wild strawberries went on a walk with ever so subtle pie cherries. The palate followed without shining too brightly. Not surprisingly the wine seemed like it didn’t contain any alcohol at all making it taste a little like grape juice during harvest. The high sugar content does make it very hard for yeasts to grow and do their thing due to its high osmotic pressure but following the German wine laws a product must contain at least 5 %vol. alcohol to be able to called and marketed as wine.

With good Eiswein becoming harder to make every year, winemakers and vintners are amongst the number one witnesses to climate change, you should take the chance to taste one if you can. This particular Eiswein sells for around 160 € or 210 USD online.

Occasionally, we will “blind” our friends on a wine. This is a process by which we bag a bottle, opened in a room away from the contestants, and pour them a splash. Not having seen the label or neck of the bottle, questions are asked of the drinkers to see if they can guess the wine. In most of these games, “New World or Old World” is the opening volley. Jesse incorrectly chose, “Old World” as her answer. In fact, in subsequent questioning, after New World was established, she chose Australia as the country and proclaimed that the pacific northwest was definitely not the place from whence this wine originated. Like many things in life, this game is hard.

While grown in multiple blocks throughout the region, the Garde Manger is definitely made in Oregon. It infers the best of Northern Rhone Syrah without the heartbreak of price. Ripe red plums, black pepper, quarry, cured venison and sun-dried tomato make for a gorgeous bouquet. The winemaker nurtured a dark cherry, bright acid and subtle tannin mouth from this Columbia Valley fruit masterfully.

Who

Wines from Custoza may have been created to compete with those from Soave. Both blends use many of the same grapes, specifically Garganega. Soave maintains a requirement of 40% Garganega while Custoza leans more towards Trebbiana Toscano. However, Soave may also use Chardonnay, creating potential for a slightly fatter mouthfeel. The regions also share similar limestone content in the vineyard soils.

For the sake of this review, it seemed prudent to mention Soave because some of us may have had a wine from that region before. However, a better comparison of the wines from Custoza could be drawn by focusing the lens towards the wines from Orvieto. They also predominantly feature Trebbiano by way of a local clone called Procanico. In all cases, strong comparisons can & have been drawn to the ubiquitous Pinot Grigio.

So, what is Trebbiano? In France, it is known as Ugni Blanc and also a key ingredient in making Cognac. This high yielding, high acid, fruity grape is also used for Balsamic Vinegar production. Behind Airen, Trebbiano is the most widely planted wine grape in the world, so it is fitting that inexpensive wines would be made from it.

Now that you have a little background, expectations of this particular bottle shouldn’t be set very high.  It was an undistinguished wine that tasted inscrutably just like dry white wine. Scrawled at the top of our page of tasting notes was written, “generic white.” Little stood out from the bright acid and clean finish. We dug deep to write some circumspect notes of granny smith apple, river rock and malic acid on the nose, plus one very nondescript scribble of “rain.” Before you feel your eyebrow start to raise, we acknowledge that this wine was flawless in clarity and finish. Perhaps a bottle like this is not meant to compliment the menu with aromas and flavors, but simply as something refreshing to drink and cleanse the palate.

The Wrap: At this point it would be hard to interpret whether we enjoyed the Custoza from Cecilia Beretta. While we didn’t dislike the wine, it was a bit boring. However, we don’t always need a wine that wows us and gives us goose bumps. You could still happily pick up a bottle of Custoza, Soave or Orvieto and take it to a dinner party instead of taking Pinot Grigio. Who knows, people might take notice that you brought something different, around the same cost and in many ways, indecipherable.

Who:

What: Syrah, Carignage, Grenache, and Tempranillo

Where: Mendocino, California

When: 2011

Why: Red blends of all kinds are flooding the U.S. wine market.  They are increasing in popularity with sales growth second only to Moscato.  Like many mass-market wines, Flirt has a very eye-catching label targeting women – easily spotted at our local Ralphs grocery store.  That being said, the wine delivers and shouldn’t just be chalked up as another gimmick.

On first taste, Flirt certainly gives you almost everything you’d want in a $10 quaff.  Its nose is fairly subtle with hints of cranberry and a slight Robitussin scent. It has a balanced structure with decent acid and some black pepper on the back palate.  Boysenberry and plum can be found easily mixing in the mouth as cherry follows on the finish.  Flirt lives up to its name. Once the initial delight of flavor passes over your tongue, it fades away quickly.  Its taste is seductive but leaves you hanging, a perfect tease.

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If we had stayed in Europe, we’d most certainly be on a pruning crew in the Mosel. Here in the U.S., this task is usually designated just for permanent vineyard crews. Some winemakers even seemed surprised when Luke asked them if they could use an extra set of cellar boots on the ground for pruning. Fortunately, Barnaby and Olga Tuttle of Teutonic have many European sensibilities about them and were more than happy to have us two greenhorns tag along to prune their unique coastal Pinot Noir vineyard, Alsea. Located on Honey Grove Farm, the small Alsea block was planted in 2005. Due to the Tuttle’s stewardship mentality and low input farming, their assorted clones of Pinot Noir are thriving in this unconventional environment. They have reintroduced native species for ground cover and put in two Biodynamic beehives to spread the plant love.

During this time of year in the northern hemisphere, most casual cellar hands have migrated south for vintage in the southern hemisphere. With the northern hemisphere wines safely in barrel, tank or bottle, work leaves the cellar and begins in the vineyard. A few months after harvest, when winemakers are getting some much needed rest and winery dogs are sleeping by fires at home, vines also go into a state of dormancy. During this stage, viticulturists, vineyard crews and jack-of-all trades sorts like Barnaby and Olga Tuttle brave the cold outside for pruning. Pruning is necessary to ensure the grape vines will follow the viticulturalist’s chosen trellising system during the next fruiting season, allowing a grower to control yield & vigor. The first step is cutting away most of the dried canes that held leaves and fruit from the last season. Next, the healthiest of remaining canes are slowly wrapped around the lowest load-bearing wire.

Pruning is a slow but methodical process that is almost therapeutic. Your mind and body fall into a rhythm, vine after vine, row after row. You will feel the good day’s work. In our case, as dusk fell, Barnaby said that we were all in need of some “Vitamin R,” so we went to the local market and picked up some tall boys of Rainier. Being a 2 hour drive from Portland, we all stayed overnight in the small Alsea Valley Bed and Breakfast trading wine stories. Although our time pruning with the Tuttles was short, it was a confirmation that someday we would like our own vines, where we too can hire some greenhorns.

Wild Fermentation is now recognized as an authoritative book on fermented foods, however, it is not far removed from its roots as a zine. Audiences more accustomed to Better Homes and Gardens styles of cookbooks might be slightly alarmed by vague timeframes (“Days, then ongoing” from Japanese Nuka Bran Pickles) or optional ingredients (“half can be another leftover liquid: soup stock, beer, sour milk, kefir, whey, or pasta or potato cooking water” from Recycled Grain Bread). And, as a simple black & white pressing from a small publishing house in 2003, there are no shiny, manicured photos. Additionally, concepts such as recycling food, resisting the commodification of culture or prison hooch might be somewhat frightening to the uninitiated, if not at least, unfamiliar.

Cut to The Art of Fermentation. Approachable in a sedate burnt orange cover & roughly the width of The Joy of Cooking, it does command a presence on your cookbook shelf. However, it is a handbook of techniques, not, for lack of a better term, a cookbook. If you’re already comfortable with the topics covered in any of the chapters, then his coverage of different cultures’ equivalent products will inspire you. For example, if you look up Sauerkraut in the contents, you’ll find traditions, folklore, personal anecdotes from friends and even another prison hooch story, but you will not find a recipe. For this, you have to return to Wild Fermentation where both measurements & instruction are provided for raw sauerkraut, low sodium variations as well as wine, savory seed & seaweed recipes. As another example from The Art of Fermentation, regarding honey mead, Sandor does not provide a bullet point recipe, but after eight pages examining various methods, he devotes an entire page plate on the herbs used by mead enthusiasts during a gathering. This is the stuff of recipe innovation & inspiration.

Both of Sandor Katz’ books on fermentation display an incredible depth and breadth of knowledge, including lengthy lists of citations and further resources. For the beginning fermenter, Wild Fermentation is a great start with straightforward recipes and enough anecdotes to encourage casual reading of its brief 166 pages. The The Art of Fermentation expands on these topics in prose form including methods of troubleshooting, commercial expansion & sanitation. Reading one chapter contains enough foundational knowledge to leave the reader with a comfortable basis to strike out on their own recipe. In this way, The Art of Fermentation simply requires a little radical self reliance.

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Upon entering 55 Degree’s cellar-type tasting room, we were pleased to see the lineup – 8 bottles, not bad for a weeknight.  The tasting was lead by Steve Shaw Jr., who runs the marketing for his dad’s vineyard.  Steve educated us about the Finger Lakes region, the Shaws’ place in it and their hopes for this vintage while regaling us with some funny tales along the way.

Before we continue, we can guess what you’re thinking: sweet, sweeter, and sweetest wines, but that’s the opposite of the Shaws’ goal. They’re hoping to make their wines less sweet, more complex and capable of appealing to a larger audience. After enjoying our tasting, we believe Steve Shaw Sr. has accomplished just that, by using unique methods and handling his grapes with care. From the 2006 un-oaked Chardonnay that was left on lees for two years to the Cabernet Franc’s earthy, blackberry funk, there’s no doubt they’re doing something right. Not to mention their affordable price points ranging from $15 to $19 a bottle.

A few of our favorites were the 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 Riesling and the 2007 Cabernet Franc as mentioned above.  True to form, the 2008 Riesling shined brightly. This bottle was deliciously effervescent, while still being well balanced with nice sugar. To top it off, this baby has a screw cap, is vegan and uses a lighter glass bottle. The Sauvignon Blanc shone in its own right with notes of peach & apricot complemented by a sweetness that accentuated its stone fruits instead of overpowering. They contrasted nicely to the dry woodsiness of the Chardonnay and the light minerality of the Gewürztraminer. There’s no doubt you’ll find this Sauvignon Blanc in the Hipster picnic basket on a future hot summer’s day and the Riesling chilling for later.

From their cool Tree of Life labels to the breadth of wine flavor profiles, it’s clear that Shaw Vineyards is doing something special. The 2007 Cabernet Franc was recently awarded an 89 point rating by Wine Enthusiast(Print, February 2012), along with their 2008 Riesling and 2008 Reserve Pinot Noir receiving 90 and 88 points, respectively.  If they keep this up, I don’t think Steve will have a hard time extending his brand and bringing more awareness to east coast wines.

W

After we were quite full of food, Rory came back with two wines for us to taste. They were two Ciro wines, one rosato (rose) and one Rosso (red). Both wines were made from the Gaglioppo grape, which we fell in love with during our first visit to Sotto. Gaglioppo is grown almost exclusively in southern Italy mostly near Calabria. The grape creates wines that are fuller than your average southern red, higher in alcohol, and depending on the winemaker, possess some crazy flavor profiles. These two wines were splendid, the rosato was lighter than our first rose but with much more fruit and floral notes in both the nose and the palate. It was like a pretty little pink fairy dancing on your tongue while yelling at you in Italian.

If you’re tired of drinking the same old red wine and have somewhat of an adventurous palate, try a Gaglioppo Rosso. These wines produce some of the more interesting flavors I’ve ever had in a red wine. Try these descriptors on for size: nutty bramble, cherry Sucrets and Band-Aid. Those were just the first few things that came to mind. The 2008 Ciro Rosso Classico Superiore is a bit young and needed some more time in the bottle, but the Ciro Rosso Riserva that we had tried on our first encounter was much more smoothed out. It had been approachable with great dark fruit and cola that complemented the other (somewhat crazier) notes.

The last wine that Rory brought for us to experience was something right up our alley, a Primitivo di Manduria. It’s a dessert wine made from the Primitivo grape (as you might recall the older brother to Zinfandel). It’s an unfortified dessert wine that’s naturally sweet due to the length of time the grapes are allowed to ripen and dry on the vines. Unlike other dessert wines in this category, this wine was not syrupy or heavy. Instead, it was delicate and light with a sensual mouthfeel of figs and blackberries. It’s that wine you might imagine pouring all over yourself in a fit of joy at some bacchanalian festival.

The conclusion to our three-part adventure with Sotto restaurant came when I took Rory up on his offer to taste some of Frank Cornelissen’s wines that he had just received. These wines are made, like all the wines at Sotto, in the natural way. There are no added sulfites, so the evolutionary nature of these wines is something to behold. We started with the Susucaru Rose containing Nerello, Mascalese, Sangiovese, and other red grapes. The native yeasts in this wine created a wonderfully dry and refreshing flavor. It’s got dirty funk on the nose, raspberry hints on the palate and even a little tannic structure. It developed by the minute, getting drier, morphing into all kinds of interesting textures and tastes. The Susucaru Rose was like no other rose I’ve ever tasted.

The second wine Rory poured was the Munjebel, which is made again from Nerello but is a dry white. If I thought the rose was dynamic, this thing took us to a whole other level. Firstly, it had been open for 3 days. Yeah. Not what you usually want to hear from the wine specialist. The Munjebel had such incredible nutty, baking spice flavors that it was easy to ignore the fact that it looked like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The wine also had a nice lemon flavor on the back end. If Long Island Iced Tea had a semi- slutty but still virginal cousin, this would be it. Again, this wine changed by the minute, turning to give us rusty sherry notes on the nose, but maintaining its balance of acid and fruit. There is definitely something to be said for this style of wine making and these wines. Sotto challenges our notion of what wine should be and gives us a better understanding of what we want wine to be. But don’t take our word for it, go try them for yourself.