Tag Archives: terroir

Riesling: Not Just for Schnitzel & Giggles

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… although my favourite white grape sure does often make me smile, like it did tonight!

I’m fairly self-aware that I am probably preaching to the choir of Riesling lovers everywhere, and possibly regurgitating the same ol’ rhetoric used by said fans – but at the same time, I also know that it’s precisely because of the somewhat inspirational effect that superior quality Riesling has on those who love a fine wine that I love the king of white grapes.

I can’t help waxing poetic about a great Riesling – the experience just begs to be shared!

Riesling holds a tenuous reputation within the spectrum of wine consumers. It is both the grape attributed to many an undrinkable bottle of watery mainstream plonk as well as the main ingredient of a small collection of the world’s most supreme, complex and transcendent examples of white wine.

High in natural acidity, unmatchable in its range of aromatics and very engaging with the land it is planted to, quality Riesling is one of the best grapes through which to fully experience that loaded, often misused wine term: terroir.

This chameleonic, characterful grape is capable of evoking everything – from the austere to the exotic, from bone dry to molasses sweet, from stony to steely to green to orchard to floral to tropical to oily to gassy to mushrooms – you name it, Riesling’s got it all in spades.

Tonight at my WSET Advanced class I tasted a couple of very worthy wines that instantly lifted my mood and got me grinning so wide I had to blog about them.

I hope these pique your interest in Riesling as much as they excited my tastebuds!

Tasting Notes

Bischölfliches Riesling Spätlese Ayler Kupp Mosel Prädikatswein 2008

I’ll spare you the German lesson… Here’s the Cole’s Notes version of the wine’s name:

  • Bischölfliches = producer
  • Riesling Spätlese = Riesling picked at the Spätlese sugar level (4th highest in a range of six; typically indicates late harvest)
  • Ayler = belonging to the township of Ayl
  • Kupp = the single vineyard site or Einzellage of Kupp
  • Mosel Prädikatswein = made in the superior quality region of Mosel (formerly known as Mosel-Saar-Ruwer; Ayler Kupp is actually located in the Saar part of this riverside region)

Pale lemon green in colour, with fairly intense, youthful aromas of wet rocks, chalk, white flowers, citrus peel, grapefruit juice and limes. Medium-sweet on the palate with a strong backbone of acidity and fairly light in body, the wine showed fragrant aromas of juicy citrus, apple, pear, rose petals, minerals, more lime and a hint of petrol. The finish is long and delicious. Quite low in alcohol at 9% a.b.v.

All in all, a superb wine that is amazing for the price and can be cellared for the medium term, where it will improve and gain even more complexity over time. I’m told the 2007 (same price) is even tastier! $30

For a food pairing, I’d recommend a fresh, coconutty Thai curry sauce, served over fresh spot prawns and fragrant Basmati rice. Also, you could never go wrong with a platter of fresh fruit, cheeses and quince paste.

Schloss Schönborn Riesling Spätlese Erbacher Marcobrunn Rheingau Prädikatswein 2008

Cole’s Notes:

  • Schloss Schönborn = the estate of Schönborn
  • Riesling Spätlese = see above
  • Erbacher = from the township of Erbach
  • Marcobrunn = the single vineyard or Einzellage of Marcobrunn
  • Rheingau Prädikatswein = made in the superior quality region of Rheingau

Light yellow in colour, a fantastic, intense bouquet of citrus, orchard fruits, tropical fruits, musky honey, apricot and soft spice aromas greets the nose. The medium-bodied palate is medium-sweet with a clean, refreshing undertone of acidity, meanwhile dazzling the tongue with a complex range of flavours including ripe, juicy apple, pear, peach, apricot, honey, some citrus and hints of baking spices. The taste lingers on forever on the incredible finish.

Outstanding already and will continue to get better with up to 10 years of further bottle aging. 9.5% a.b.v. What a treat it was to taste this. $50

Food pairing: Try chicken or fish korma, a mildly spiced, sweetish Indian curry that contains raisins and coconut cream; or perhaps a baked Dungeness (or Alaskan King) crab dish, very lightly seasoned if at all.

[Ed.: I typically write brief personal remarks in the margins of my WSET notebook during the tasting portion, apart from my formal notes. The Bischölfliches Spätlese above I had labelled as "YUM"... My footnote on the following Schloss Schönborn wine was "YUM!!!"]

Racking

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No, I’m not transferring anything to a clean vessel. I’m referring to the tasty wines I acquired for the ol’ wine rack during this year’s Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival (April 19 – 25)!

My wineglass soon runneth over.

Humberto Canale Estate Malbec 2008, Patagonia, Argentina

Easily one of the deals of the festival at $18. Ripe bunches of black fruit on the nose reverberate on the palate with lush tannins and rich flavours of cocoa and espresso with a long, satisfying finish. Let your tastebuds do the tango with some steak a la plancha. Sweet tooths, on the other hand, will enjoy this with a nibble of the darkest chocolate.

Better yet, enjoy this puppy solo. A sensuous acquaintance, who does not wish to be quoted, suggests this wine would be “best enjoyed… In the nude.”

I got myself a few bottles of this to test its “lay-down” potential.

Tomero Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Mendoza, Argentina

From the same makers as Vistalba wines in the town of Lujan de Cuyo comes the Tomero label. The thing that stuck out to me the most when I tasted this wine was its spicy oak character, the sweet, woody piquancy tickling my palate from start to finish. (This wine is 80% aged in stainless steel, 20% in French oak for eight months.) I think this badass wine deserves an equally braggadocio spicy sausage or chorizo pizza. $20

Le sigh: I also wanted to purchase some of the Tomero Malbec Rosé, a bold and dense wine, packed with sun-ripened strawberries and bramble, yet with an almost effervescent mouthfeel and finish. Sadly, it was sold out before I could get my hands on any.

Xumek Reserve Blend 2006, Zonda Valley, Argentina

I enjoyed a bottle of Xumek Reserve Malbec over the last New Year’s Eve, so I was most delighted to see the Blend, a combination of Malbec and Syrah, available at this year’s wine festival. We snagged this bottle just as someone else in the festival store waffled and chose against buying it. Their loss! This was plush and balanced with incredible depth of flavour. I find this label’s wines very consistent, even at the basic level. I recommend picking up anything by Xumek next time you’re in the mood for Argentina. $30

Bodegas de Salentein Finca El Portillo Sauvignon Blanc 2009, Mendoza, Argentina

An enthusiastic festival-goer approached this booth a little bit after I had already sampled the wines on offer. The winemaker asked the guest what he could pour for him. The guest replied, “What are you the most proud of?” At a table full of Malbecs (never mind an entire section of Argentinean wines), the winemaker pulled out this little beauty of a Savi. That’s why they say, “Leave it to the experts,” folks!

Crisp, clean acidity provides huge refreshment, and a unique, dry fruitiness emerges which I can only guess may be the fingerprint of terroir. As for food, thank heavens it’s spot prawn season! $14

On a side note: I have to say, I had been in the mood to buy lots of definitive Kiwi Sauv Blanc this festival, given the 2010 theme countries of New Zealand and Argentina, but I found myself more attracted to New Zealand reds and Argentinean whites than the more typical opposite.

Domaine des Cèdres Rosé de Loire 2008, Loire Valley, France

This is one of those wines I can’t really explain buying other than for the fact that when I tasted it, I enjoyed it viscerally: The sweet garden aromas, the cool red berries and rhubarb notes, the mental escape to thoughts of a fantastic picnic with charcuterie and said bottle in hand. I had to have it.

Anyway, this wine is from Anjou and contains 80% Grolleau and 20% Cabernet Franc. I say it contains 100% fun. $18

Black Cloud 2006 Pinot Noir

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There is something I love but can’t put my finger on about Okanagan Pinot Noir. Because, when you really think about it, the Okanagan can be subdivided into several fairly different and diverse micro-climates: The shortchanged-on-daylight slopes of Summerland, sunny Naramata on the other side of the valley, and dry-as-British-humour Osoyoos down South, but to name a few.

So how is it that all Okanagan Pinot Noirs appeal to me in the same general way?

After all, if terroir has anything to do with the lovely Okanagan wines I’m drinking, they must all somehow each exude their own unique properties. Yet, puzzlingly, I seem to consistently taste more complexity in Pinot Noir wines from the Okanagan than I do of most other red varietals grown in this area – namely, the Cabernets and Merlots that seem to be chiselled into the woody badasses and warm fruit bombs, respectively, that I keep coming across.

Vive la différence, I say!

Maybe I simply haven’t tried enough Pinots, or perhaps it’s just that I don’t know enough about the varietal or local viticulture practices to justify my yen for yumminess. Of course, it could just be sheer kismet that Pinot Noir grows quite well in my beautiful province; frankly, I don’t know.

What I do know, however, is that I can definitely chalk up another victory to Okanagan Pinot Noir, thanks to this bottle of Black Cloud 2006 Pinot Noir I’m enjoying tonight!

(The grapes in this bottle were grown in Okanagan Falls, another interesting part of the Okanagan Valley. Did you know there are no actual waterfalls in this eponymous region?)

Look at the beautiful legs on this puppy.

Check out the beautiful legs on this puppy.

Here’s a tasty experiment for you: Have you ever smelled or eaten Morbier cheese? It’s a semi-soft, ashy AOC (controlled origin) cheese from France that smells a bit like, well, ash, as well as salt and umami. Morbier is easily recognized by its middle stripe, like someone decided to draw across its length with pencil. Anyway, go visit your local cheesemonger, smell a hunk of Morbier and remember that scent. Now pour yourself a glass of Black Cloud Pinot Noir, sniff it, and tell me that does not at all smell similar to Morbier. Ah, I knew you were a liar.

Tasty Experiment #2: Get yourself some of the aforementioned Morbier, some fatty, moist prosciutto and dried Morello cherries. Now wrap a small wedge of Morbier and a dried cherry with a slice of prosciutto. Pair with Black Cloud Pinot, duck breast, a date or your significant other and a sexy DVD. You won’t be disappointed.

Tasting Notes

Mostly mahogany in colour with flecks of deep crimson. The mature colour makes me think that this should peak either now or quite soon. As I ended up waxing poetically above, the nose begins in a rather earthy, savoury, ashy fashion – think Morbier and Reishi mushrooms (ganoderma lucidum) – followed by aromas of ripe cherries and strawberries. A slightly spicy, tamari sauce character permeates the cherry / berry palate with silky tannins, medium body and kind of bloody (but in a good way!) finish. Try the above appetizer as a food pairing, or venture into more exotic territory by serving this with Chinese five-spice beef shank (ng heung ngau yuk). It’s a cold cut normally served at the beginning of a Chinese banquet, in the same platter as the jellyfish and roast suckling pig. $25

Note: The 2006 vintage is Black Cloud Winery’s first bottling, and I certainly hope there are many more to come. Check out the links below for more reviews!

Links

Black Cloud Winery

Bradley Cooper – winemaker for Black Cloud and Township 7

Other Reviews

Full Bodied: Vancouver Food, Wine and Cleavage

Vinifico! The Original Vancouver Wine Blog

Wine Bard: Confessions of an Oenophile

Between the Vines