WineLife365

Posts Tagged ‘White Wine’

I was just saying the other day that 2011 has been one incredible journey into the great unknown.  One particular grape that really caught my attention in 2011 was Austria’s signature white grape, Grüner Veltliner.  After tasting so many wonderful expressions of Grüner Veltliner this past year, I have to say that I’m totally perplexed as to why this white wine has yet to find a bigger place in the hearts of white wine lovers.   Is it just the victim of an unpronounceable name or is it possibly just a lack of public awareness…maybe it’s a little of both?  Whatever it is, this is a badass white wine that typically has big citrus, white pepper and mineral characteristics that’s perfect for sipping all by itself, yet pairs like a dream with Asian dishes and healthy stuff like fish and vegetables.

On the 22^nd day of this 25 Days of Christmas countdown, there wasn’t any Silent Night being played by the two Grüners that paid us an early Christmas visit:  the  2010 Pfaffl Grüner Veltliner Wienviertel DAC Haidviertel (Sample, MSRP:  $25 US) and the 2009 Laurenz V. Charming Grüner Veltliner (Sample, MSRP:  $25 US).

We fed our two Austrian guests a heap of buttery peas, an assortment of Asian dumplings and large succulent shrimp…and they absolutely LOVED it, I tell you!

Made from 100%, hand harvested Grüner Veltliner grapes; the 2010 Pfaffl Grüner Veltliner Wienviertel DAC Haidviertel has an acidity level that’s off the charts!  It just smacks your eyes into the back of your head!  Toss in a touch of herbs with a peppery finish, and you have one hell of a refreshing and lively wine.  It’ll perk you up so much that you’ll want to replace your morning cup of coffee with it!

Our other Grüner Vetliner was Charming.  Seriously, it was the 2009 Laurenz V. Charming Grüner Veltliner.  Charming seems to be a bit of an understatement:  It had our tongues pulsating and shivering with its big and rich juicy fruit flavors, and smacked us senseless with its intense, white pepper and ginger finish.

I used to think that only New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs could make me shiver and quiver in my furry, moccasin slippers, but Holy Feast of St. Nicholas, you need to check out some Austrian Grüner Veltliners!

Frohe Weihnachten!

Where has your WineLife taken you in 2011?  For me, it has been a journey into the great unknown – to places less travelled and off the beaten path.  One of those places was BULGARIA.

One of my special voyages led me all the way to the Bulgarian province of Targovishte, located in central/southeast Bulgaria.  It was here that I discovered two unique looking bottles of white wine from the country’s largest wine producer, Targovishte Winery:  the 2009 Targovishte Muscat Ottonel and the 2009 Targovishte Traminer.  I delighted in my discovery of this Bulgarian wildlife! 

Do the bottles remind you of anything?

Delicate like a little Goldcrest, the 2009 Targovishte Muscat Ottonel (Sample, MSRP: $8 US) is a very light white wine, spotted with flavors of pear and flowery notes of jasmine.

The ’09 Targovishte Traminer (Sample, MSRP: $10 US), on the other hand, is more like a wild boar charging.  It’s a strange one:  It’s full of dry, yet fruity, lemon flavors, and it has a smack of vermouth?!  Kind of makes you think someone spiked your glass of Sauvignon Blanc at the office Holiday party!

Čestita Koleda everyone!

Cookies.  I have a confession to make:  Ummm… well, you see, I’ve been eating lots of them ever since they came out of the oven…like 10 at a time to be exact.  But who’s counting…right?  One look at these mouthwatering beauties and you’ll see why I’ve lost complete self-control, and understand why there are no measures to curb or ration my daily intake.

We’ve got snickerdoodle cookies, gingerbread cookies, pumpkin with cranberries and walnuts cookies, and cookies called “Cranberry Gems” that have craisins and white chocolate chips in it.  We also have “Peanut Butter Blossoms” – they’re the ones with the Hershey Kiss on top, and the world’s greatest chocolate-chip cookie known to mankind.  Rounding out the bunch is the ever so dangerous, melt in your mouth, can’t stop with one, “Raspberry Jam Thumbprint.”

Last night, as I was making myself a little (okay, it was more than a few…don’t judge!) plate of cookies for a late-night snack, I thought to myself, “I wonder what wine would go best with this cookie, or this cookie, or that cookie.”  I thought, what the heck, let’s do it!  So I grabbed six different wines to see if any would be a match made in confection heaven with these cookies.

Here’s a list of the wines that I pulled out:

• Domaine Du Margalleau Sparkling Vouvray NV (>$20) – This sparkler comes from France’s Loire Valley and is made with 100% Chenin Blanc grapes.  It’s like a dry brut, just with the delicious sweetness of Chenin floating around, with a slight flintiness to round out a very well balanced and exceptional wine.  Highly recommend.
• 2008 Rabbit Ridge Viognier from Paso Robles, CA.  (>$10) – Wow!  What a steal @ less than 10 dollars a bottle.  Not overpowering in the least.  Made with estate grown fruit, this California Viognier is bright, lush and extremely well-balanced for an $8 wine.
• 2010 Annabella Special Edition Chardonnay from Michael Pozzan Winery (>$15) – Total production on 100% Napa Valley Chard is only 8,900 cases.  It’s smokin’ hot with a balance of lemon, pineapple, fig and slight vanilla undertones.  Not at all an in-your-face vanilla/oak Chardonnay so commonly found in California:  maybe because it’s only 35% barrel fermented in 100% French oak.  Whatever it is, this is a delicious California Chardonnay and an outstanding value.
• 2009 Chad ‘Red Hills Lake County’ Cabernet Sauvignon (>$20) – I’ve tasted wines from Chad before that I thought were scorching values, but my first impression of this ’09 Cab had me thinking otherwise.  I found the cherry component in this Cali Cab to be way over the top which made it overly sweet; taking away from any other ingredients that might have been swimming around inside.  But hey, that doesn’t mean that it won’t pair nicely with my plate of cookies!
• 2008 Three Old Vines Zinfandel (>$20) – This is a steal at less than $20 a bottle.  Bursting with bright red berries and spices, with just a touch of earthiness – this red Zin goes down smooth and leaves you panting for more.
• 2006 Small Gully ‘The Formula’ Robert’s Shiraz (>$20) – This is one whopping, badass Aussie Shiraz, made from 40 year vines, that reveals dark black fruit and chocolate notes while not burning the rubber off the tires with its dizzying 15.9% alcohol content.   

I asked my wife if she’d care to assist in determining if any of these wines would pair well with her delicious homemade Christmas cookies.  She said, “The last thing my ass needs right now is another damn cookie, but…I will try the wine.”

“Fair enough,” I said.

As I tasted through this bounty of homemade cookies and wine, there was one wine that hit a grand slam with the cookie plate:  that wine was the Domaine Du Margalleau Sparkling Vouvray NV (>$20).  It danced and sang with all of them except the Peanut Butter Blossoms and the world’s greatest chocolate chip cookie of all time.  I would have thought going into this tasting that the red wines would’ve done particularly well – especially with the cookies having chocolate and/or peanut butter in them, but sadly it wasn’t a match made in heaven.  Only the Shiraz played nicely with the gingerbread cookies and the Cranberry Gems.  Oddly enough, the 2010 Annabella Special Edition Chardonnay was a good match for the chocolate chip cookies and the 2008 Rabbit Ridge Viognier was quite tasty with the Peanut Butter Blossoms.  Go figure.  The ’09 Chad Cab, unfortunately, didn’t pair well with anything…maybe it was because I wasn’t diggin’ on it in the first place.

In the end, I must declare the Domaine Du Margalleau Sparkling Vouvray NV the ultimate winner in the 1^st Annual(?) WineLIfe365 Cookies and Wine Event.  It sure was a lot of fun trying all of them and now I know which wine to put out for Santa on Christmas Eve!

Like it or not, as you’re making the party rounds, there’s a high probability that you’re going to see a bottle (possibly many!) of Italian Pinot Grigio sitting out for your imbibing pleasure.  After all, it is the most popular imported white wine in the United States.   Having said that, there’s a great divide between those that suck this stuff down as if it were water and those that would rather have water!  The latter crowd view Italian Pinot Grigio as being too simple, bland, or tasting like nothing more than expensive lemon spritzer.  While the former group simply love the fact that it’s easy-drinking and refreshing – perfect for unwinding at the end of a long day. 

I’ll be honest:  I haven’t spent a significant time in the Italian wine aisle of late; so I thought it might be fun to conduct an informal blind tasting with six popular, widely distributed Italian Pinot Grigios that can be found in just about any Wine & Spirits shop and/or grocery store across the country.

As our group of tasters went through each of the six brown-bagged Pinot Grigios, two wines stood out much more positively from the other four.  Conversely, two of the six Pinot Grigios received downright scathing comments, due to their nearly “un-drinkability.”

After everyone had a chance to taste through all six wines and made their comments, the Pinot Grigios locked inside Brown Bag #2 and Brown Bag #5 were chosen as the favorites within the bunch.  Meanwhile, the Pinot Grigio concealed inside Brown Bag #6 really took a beating as being the most disliked in the group, and Brown Bag #3 wasn’t too far behind in giving tasters belly aches and nothing to cheer about.

3^rd Place:

Our distant 3^rd place finisher in Brown Bag #4 was the 2010 Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio (Price paid $16.99).  Tasters didn’t have much to say about the 2010 Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio other than it was “nice,” “easy drinking,” and “smooth.”  “I’m ok with drinking this,” was the common theme.

2nd Place:

Our runner-up was Brown Bag #2.   Tasters called it, “good and juicy,” “bright with good acidity,” and “a juicy mouthful, refreshing – very nice.”  When we revealed its identify, this crowd-pleaser turned out to be the very inexpensive and popular Cavit Pinot Grigio 2010 (Price paid $7.99).   

*(Editorial Note: The number #2 was written on the bottle, after the reveal, to signify a 2^nd Place finish).

1^st Place:

We were all excited to see what was lurking behind our favorite, Brown bag #5.  Tasters called this Pinot Grigio:

“A refreshing mouthful of citrus flavors.”
“I really LOVE and want to drink this wine!”
“Has somewhat of a Riesling quality to me and I mean that in a good way.”
“It definitely has the most elegance and finesse of the six wines.”
“No tight edges from start to finish.  I like #2 a lot, but this Pinot Grigio just tastes more refined to me.”

Here’s the fun part:  Our 1^st Place finisher turned out to be the least expensive Pinot Grigio in the entire group.  The unanimous winner was the 2010 Monte Campo Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie IGT priced @ $6.99.

*(Editorial Note: The number #1 was written on the bottle, after the reveal, to signify a 1st Place finish).

Finally, we were all pretty eager to find out what Pinot Grigio was inside Brown Bag #6.  Why, you ask?   Unfortunately for this Pinot Grigio, it received scathing remarks such as, “Undrinkable,” “HORRID,” “Get that funk out of my glass,” “Moonshine,” and finally, “F&%k me awful!!  This is the worst ever!!”  

Ouch!! 

So what was the awfulness swirling around in Brown Bag #6?  It turned out to be the 2010 Banfi ‘Le Rime’ Pinot Grigio IGT (Price paid: $8.99).

Finally, there weren’t a whole lot of pleasantries either for our second least favorite wine, which was Brown Bag #3.  Brown Bag #3 may have been the biggest shock.  Words like “Awful,” “Dreadful,” “burnt wood,” “petrol,” “Makes me want to gag –but just not as much as #6” were used to describe the most expensive wine in our tasting.  Any guesses?  It was the 2010 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio (Price paid was $19.99 on sale from $27.99)!?  Needless to say, @ $20/bottle we were shocked and disappointed.

If you’re planning a holiday gathering, both the 2010 Monte Campo Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie IGT and the 2010 Cavit Pinot Grigio are affordable, reliable and should satisfy a wide spectrum of white wine lovers!

Final Results

1^st Place: 2010 Monte Campo Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie IGT ($6.99)
2^nd Place: 2010 Cavit Pinot Grigio ($7.99)
3^rd Place: 2010 Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio *(Not shown) ($16.99)
4^th Place: 2010 Bertani Velante Pinot Grigio IGT *(Not shown) ($12.99)
5^th Place: 2010 Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio ($19.99)
6^th Place: 2010 Banfi ‘Le Rime’ Pinot Grigio IGT ($8.99)