Spier 2008 Sauvignon Blanc

While I'm reminiscing about my trip to Namibia, I'll add another note about some South African wines that I tried. Namibia was run by the South African government as a protectorate after World War I when Germany ceded control of its former colony. Lots of politics and bad history there, but even after Namibia gained independence in 1990, South Africa has remained as strong presence. Namibia gets most of its tourists, fresh produce, infrastructure, and wine from South Africa. Pretty much from the moment I stepped on the Air Namibia flight where they were serving a South African pinotage to the flight home, I was drinking South African wines. Fortunately, South Africa makes some pretty good wine, so it was all good! The first night in Namibia, my brother wanted to treat me to a traditional brai. Normally that word is simply translated as BBQ, but brai is not just a noun or verb, it's almost a way of life. It brings to mind visions of the early Afrikaaner settlers building a bed of charcoal in the middle of the veld and roasting hunks of fresh meat (beef or wild game). Real man stuff here--the hunt, meat, fire, beers, you get the idea... I missed my brother's big game hunt, so off we went to the grocery store to get some garlic wurst, toasties, and kebabs. To wash down our bounty, we bought some Windhoek and Tafel lagers (some of the best beer on Earth!) and a nice bottle of South African sauvignon blanc. The store did not have the greatest wine selection, but I rooted around until I found a bottle from the Stellenbosch region, one of South African's rising stars.

Spier Sauvignon Blanc 2008
Country of origin: South Africa
Appellation: Western Cape WO
Varietal: Sauvignon blanc
Stats: 12.5% ABV
Cost: Nam$49.40 or ~US$6.50

Appearance: Light straw yellow, crystal clear
Aroma: Tropical fruits, pineapple, melon, apricot, floral notes, and a light coconut finish
Taste: Crisp citrus and floral notes. Well balanced acid.

For you wine techies, here's a link to the Spier website with the winemaker's detailed notes. Overall a very nice welcome to Namibia and South African wines. Don't know how readily available this or other Spier wines are here in the States, but get out of the France & CA aisles and go explore the small South African section. You're likely to find a number of inexpensive, good wines.

Cheers,
a Wine Student.

Oysters & Champagne---In the Desert

A couple of posts ago, I alluded to trying oysters for the first time--in the middle of the Kalahari Desert along the coast of Namibia. Sounds too fantastical to be true? Well, guess again, it happened.

In October, I took a wonderful extended vacation and went to visit my brother and his family in Namibia. After a photo safari to the Etosha Pan National Park and getting far closer to lions and elephants than I would like, we headed for the Skeleton Coast and Walvis Bay/Swakupmond. One day we headed out for a boat tour of Walvis Bay and then a dune buggy ride through the sand dunes south of Walvis Bay in the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The boat tour is an interesting blend of the mechanical (Walvis Bay is the only deep-water port along the Skeleton Coast) and the natural (home to many sea lion colonies, bird sanctuaries, and Bengali dolphins that ride the bow waves of your boat). You also get an up close introduction to the burgeoning oyster fishery in the bay. It's still a small experiment, but one with great potential. They've found that the cold waters of the Bengali current that sweep north along the Skeleton Coast are so cold and nutrient rich that oysters grow to full size in 6-9 months compared to 3 years elsewhere. That's some fast growing!

The boat dropped us off on an abandoned pier along the tip of the bay where our dune buggy drivers were waiting for us. I swear these guys were transplanted stock car drivers! We went careening off up and down dunes that were 400-500 ft tall. After doing his best to get us to lose our lunches, Nick stopped for lunch. Here we are in the middle of the desert and this guy is breaking out the dining tables, chairs, champagne, and a bountiful buffet including none other than Namibian oysters. This was the first time that I had ever tried a raw oyster and I will admit to being rather trepidatious. The briny oyster juice was a little much, but the meat was one of the most tender & succulent things I have ever sucked down. And big! These oysters were almost handwidth in size.

They were paired with a very nice South African sparkling wine. I have no idea of the winery that produced it, but it was brut dry, crisp, toasty, and lightly citrusy. Delicious after a morning on the water and in the sand. We shared this feast with a few other folks from France, who didn't seem to enjoy the wine as much as I did. So I did my best to make up for them! Here's a picture of us enjoying the feast.


I'm the rosy cheeked guy with his glass at the ready! Who would have believed that I'd have a glass of sparking wine in the middle of the desert, let alone a feast of local oysters fit for a king!

Cheers,
a Wine Student

Sokol Blosser Evolution

I was wondering through Gordon's Wines & Liquor shop a couple of weeks ago in search of some viognier-based wines for a wine tasting that I was hosting, and came across this bottle in their "Other Varietals" section. Earlier this year, I read "At Home in the Vineyard", which was written by Susan Sokol Blosser and tells the history of the Sokol Blosser Winery. I enjoyed the book quite a bit because it talks about the struggles & triumphs of building a winery from scratch (I fundamentally disagree with Susan's seemingly cavalier attitude towards divorce as it spoke a little too close to home for me, but that's a side story). The final chapters of the book discuss the development and legal issues of the wine that became Evolution, so when I saw a bottle, I had to buy and taste it. Quite frankly--I was pleased that I had the opportunity to try this wine!

Sokol Blosser Evolution, Lucky Edition
Country of origin: United States
Appellation: Oregon
Varietal: blend of 9 varietals (riesling is definitely involved)
Stats: 12% ABV
Cost: $18 at Gordon's Wines & Liquor, Waltham, MA

Appearance: Light straw yellow, crystal clear
Aroma: Flowers! Pineapple, guava, & maybe some lichee fruit, with a final touch of apricots
Taste: The nose definitely repeats in this wine. Clean & crisp. Medium bodied white that leaves a pleasantly clean fruity taste on your tongue. Slightly sweet finish, although that is probably just perceived sweetness.

Glenora Wine Cellars 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon

I needed to make some room in my cellar this month, so I started rummaging amongst the bottles to find some wines that I wanted to taste soon. Came across this gem that I've been looking forward to for some time.

Glenora Wine Cellars 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
Country of origin: United States
Appellation: New York Finger Lakes
Varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon
Stats: 12.5% ABV
Cost: not sure on original price, but somewhere around $20 at the winery

Appearance: Big legs! Dark garnet color with slight bricking around the edge
Aroma: Black cherries, cocoa, & vanilla, with hints of leather
Taste: Muted flavors of cherries and strawberries with chocolate, leather, and a slight green pepper in the finish. Full bodied wine that lingers on the tongue.

This is an impressive red wine for a Finger Lakes red. I came across this during a visit to the Finger Lakes region a few years ago. While I was most impressed with the region's white wines, I was surprised to find a few reds that could stand on their own two feet. Being in the east, the area is vintage-challenged, meaning that each year can be very different from the previous year due to the weather. Some years are poor years for grapes, in other years, the stars align, the grapes ripen, and a great wine is born. 2002 was obviously a good year, and a full bodied, complex wine that cellared very well was born!.

Glenora Wine Cellars is one of the regions larger & fancier wineries, but they do make some good wine. They also have an inn & spa with a beautiful view of Seneca Lake just north of Watkins Glenn. I would strongly encourage everyone to make a wine tasting trip to the Finger Lakes area and enjoy the beautiful scenery and some very nice wines.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Oyster & Wine--a "Shucking" Experience!

Yesterday I went to an Oyster & Wine "Shuck Fest" at Gordon's Wine & Liquor in Waltham. They had Island Creek Oysters shucking local oysters from Duxbury, MA and paired them with 23 different wines. I do have to admit that oysters are a recent like. I tried them for the very first time in the middle of the Kalihari Desert during a trip to Namibia. Wow! So, when I saw the notice for the Oyster & Wine tasting, I jumped at the chance to go.

It was a walk-around tasting event so I had to balance a plate of oysters, a glass of wine, and my tasting notes all at the same time. The oysters were delicious, but the line for the shuckers was so long that I gave up after a couple and focused on trying the wines. We were supposed to vote for which wine paired best with the oysters, but I had to abstain from judgement! I tried to focus on specific varietals at a time so I could make good cross comparisons.

First up was the champagnes & sparkling wines. I tasted three excellent French champagnes side by side:

Moet et Chandon Brut Imperial (mostly Pinot mineur) $45
Ruinart Blanc de Blanc (100% Chardonnay) $65
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (mostly Pinot noir) $40

My overall favorite was the Moet. Crisp, slightly sweet, nice creamy nose and mouthfeel. Tasting all three in a row allowed me to really pick out the differences in the nose and taste. The Ruinart had more toast notes from aging on the lees, while the Veuve had an interesting smokiness to the nose. But let's face it, I'm getting picky with three very good French Champagnes!

The second round was the sauvignon blancs:
Chateau de Sancerre (France--Bourdeaux), $26: restrained minerality, less fruitiness
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand), $31: Classic NZ sauvignon blanc, big citrus & lemongrass aromas. Two thumbs up!!!
Sauvion Muscadet Haute Culture (France--Loire Valley), $15: Nice & fruity
2007 Goisot St. Bris (France--Burgundy), $18: Limp & tasteless
Croney Estates Three Ton Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand), $15: Excellent, crisp, big citrus nose.

Overall favorite--Cloudy Bay was the hands down winner. But, the Croney Estates was excellent for the price. Greg Crone, the winemaker, was there pouring. The 3 ton thing refers to the grape yield restrictions that he places on the vines to concentrate the flavors. I was very impressed with his wines. I bought a bottle!

Third round was chardonnay:
Croney Estates Three Ton Chardonnay (New Zealand), $15: More like a sauvignon blanc than a chard. No oak. Big fruity flavors. Clean
2006 Billaud Simon Chablis (France--Burgundy), $30: Smooth, nice crisp, mineral finish.
2006 Billaud Simon Chablis Premier Cru (France--Burgundy), $50: Even better!

I liked the Premier Cru the best, but again, for the money, the Croney Estates was excellent. I bought another bottle.

I also tried a couple of random varietals. The 2007 Stafford Hill Riesling ($15) from Oregon was one tart wine! And the Bartenura Moscato ($16) was a nice sweet wine to finish the whites. Too sweet for me to want to drink a bottle, but would make an excellent date wine. And I finished the day on the Croney Estates Two Ton Pinot Noir ($20). A little austere & restrained, but still a very nice pinot noir.

As you can tell, even though I didn't get to have many oysters, the afternoon was a smashing success! It was a lot of fun to try the champagnes together and the two quality levels of Billaud Simon Chablis side by side.

I highly recommend the classes and events at Gordon's. A good time is always had by all!

Salute,
a Wine Student

A German Reisling Experience, Part I

Last month I took a MUCH needed vacation and went to visit my brother in Namibia. Where in the world is that, you ask? Well, it's on the western coast of Africa just to the north of South Africa--or about as far away from Massachusetts as I could get! My brother and his family have been living in Namibia since January, 2009 while he teaches wildlife ecology & conservation at the Polytechnic University of Namibia. For more details on his adventures, I'll refer you to his blog.

But getting from Boston to Namibia is half the fun of the trip. There are no direct flights from the US, so I had to hop a plane to Frankfurt, Germany and then switch to Air Namibia for the flight down south. Namibia used to be a German colony and it still serves as a big vacation spot for Germans and other Europeans. I was facing a 7.5 hr flight to Germany followed by a 10 hour flight to Namibia, so I decided to break it up and spend a few days in and around Frankfurt in between flights. Since Frankfurt is on the edge of several German wine regions, I wanted to try as many German wines as I could during my stay. The first evening in Frankfurt, I went for the beer experience with dinner and had a very nice local Pilsner and Dunkelbier at one of the touristy restaurants in the Aldstadt (Old City). The second evening, I found a wonderful fish market/restaurant called the Fisch Franke and had a wonderful broiled plate of salmon, tuna, and pike perch along with a Rheingau Reisling Kabinett. Don't ask me the winery because I didn't have my notepad with me during dinner, but it was a very nice wine with an acidic bite in the finish. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped into a local wine shop and found a very helpful salesman (who fortunately spoke English) who gave me a good recommendation for a bottle of premium riesling to sample back at the hotel.

Weingüter Wegeler Geiheimrat J Riesling 2006 QmP
Country of origin: Germany
Appellation: Rheigau
Varietal: 100% Riesling
Stats: 12.5% ABV, Spätlese Trocken
Cost: 16.80 Euros (~$24)

Appearance: Light straw yellow
Aroma: Light floral, pears, apricots, strawberries, and delicate citrus
Taste: The nose repeats on the pallate with a lightly crisp finish

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the bottle and the winery seems to be constructing their webpage, but here's a link to a German wine site with a LOT of information on the winery. I really enjoyed this wine. For those of you who don't know much about the German AOC system, QmP is the highest level of quality. There are additional quality designations that are based on the sugar content of the grapes at harvest. Kabinett is the lowest level of sugar allowed at harvest, while spätlese is a late harvest when the grapes are more fully ripe and have higher sugar levels. There are about 3 more levels beyond that, but they quickly soar into the dessert wine arena, while kabinett and spätlese wines are often finished dry (trocken). This wine still has a low level of residual sugars (1.5 g/L glucose and 5/4 g/L fructose) but well within the dry category.

The Rheingau region is probably considered Germany's highest quality wine region and lies exclusively along the banks of the Rhine River between Kelsterbach in the east and Bacharach in the west. The Rhine River cuts almost straight east-west between these towns and the vineyards are almost exclusively on the north bank of the river where the steep, steep hillsides catch the most sun. I took a train ride along the Rhine and these are steep hillsides! I blatantly stole this photo from the web, but it shows how steep these vineyards are. Amazing!





Salute,
a Wine Student