What Wine will you be drinking tonight?

Cafe Society
1

It’s summer, so I’ll start with a glass or two of Sauv Blanc. Probably a Kim Crawford (New Zealand) or an Oyster Bay (also New Zealand).

With dinner, I’m thinking a nice Pinot Noir, and my favorite value Pinot these days is Talbot Kail Hart– about $15 at Safeway. The grapes are from the Sleepy Hollow Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands, where some of the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir originates. I keep my Pinot in the basement, so it stays cool, but I still like to pop it in the fridge for about 20 - 30 minutes to get it just to the right temperature.

2

No wine tonight, but last night’s bottle was a Mandolina Sangiovese from the Los Alamos Valley. Went quite well with the meatball subs.

3

I’ve been a big fan of Grüner Veltliners for the summer months.

4

Same as always, Franzia Sunset Blush.
:slight_smile:

5

Don’t know about tonight, but I have mead chilling. It will be a first for me.

6

The answer for me usually is: “Whatever is in my wineshop’s discount bin.” Last night, with broiled snapper, it was 2006 “R” from Rieussec, Bordeaux Sec. Near as I can tell, it’s the same grapes as go into their Chateau Rieussec Sauternes (which is outstanding.), only these are fermented dry, and non-botrytisized (sp?). The blend IIRC, is about 70/30 Semillon/Sav. Blanc. It’s very heavy, non oaky, but quite tasty. Well balanced acidity. Flavors of lemons and something darker, muskier. Quince, maybe? Drink now.

This time of year, I like Rieslings (Kabinett or Qualitatswein) and especially Moscato d’Asti. Even with the ruinous foreign exchange rate with the Euro, you can still find good examples of both wines for less than $20.

7

I spent some time a few years ago getting acquainted with some good German Rieslings, but haven’t tried any in awhile. I’ve been hearing lots about the wines from the Finger Lakes region of NY state. Have you tried any of those?

8

Rombauer Zin that was opened last night.

9

I’ve only tried a few of them. Most, I guess, never make it out the area or the Northeast. As a whole, I remember them being quite nice, and of surprising quality. Decent quality/price ratio and I remember saying at the time that I’d buy some of them again. I desperately want to make it up to the Finger Lakes to go tasting, and also because it’s supposed to be really pretty. This site, looks like a pretty good resource for maps and contact info.

The Semi-Dry Riesling from Dr. Konstantin Frank, in particular, had some nice minerality with lime flavors, and medium weight (for Riesling.) I don’t remember the vintage. They don’t taste like Mosel-Saar-Ruwer Rieslings, but then again, neither does anyone else’s. I’d compare them to Alsatian Rieslings from a good producer, with a bit of residual sugar, so akin to some of Domaine Schleret’s stuff. I don’t mind RS, especially in Riesling, but YMMV. I’ve no idea what Frank’s vineyards are supposed to taste like, so I’ve no idea of their typicity. It was tasty enough to make me want to try more from the area.

Right now, our local gourmet supermarket is running a sale on Chateau Ste. Michelle’s “Eroica” Riesling at $15. Provided you like RS—it tastes quite sweet, despite the 1.6% RS, per its .pdf fact sheet here—it is a delicious wine. Not light bodied at all, rather it tastes like a good Spatlese/overripe Kabinett from a good Pfalz or Nahe producer, like maybe Kurt Darting. At $15, it is fantastic, and solves my ‘what to have with Thai food’ conundrums.

The RS amount and perception is really funny. From Eroica’s fact sheets, (which you can find here) the RS varies vintage to vintage from 1.6-2.1%. As I wrote above, it tastes to me noticeably sweet. Yet, from wiki’s description of RS and German wine grape ripeness classifications, that level of RS would normally have an indication of “halbtrocken” or “feinherb”. Non-halbtrocken Kabinett and Spatlese have RS’s between 3-6%, according to that chart. I’m not sure what the actual level of RS is in a typical Spatlese, say from Dr. Loosen’s Wehlener Sonnenuhr. But I’ve had halbtrockens—Selbach-Oster released a delicious one this year from Zeltinger Himmelreich—and they tasted less sweet to me than the Eroica. I just need to get them side-by-side and blind, I guess.

Would that winemaker’s provided as much info on their labels, as say Ridge Vineyards does.

(FWIW, most of the links in this post are .pdfs.)

10

What is minerality?

11

Tastes like licking a rock. (To be pedantic, it’s the smell of a tasted rock or wet rock, as we onlytaste 5 things: salt, sweet, bitter, sour, umami. I’ll use taste to refer to the smells I get after I taste a wine and swish it around my mouth, versus the aromas I get by just sticking my nose in the glass)

Sometimes, rock-licking is a good thing. (Lots of things sound awful by themselves, but a hint of them in wine isn’t so bad: “animal sweat”—often present in S. Rhone wines or anyone else with a brett issue, tar—present in some good Nebbiolos, like Barolo/Barbaresco, poop—famous in some red Burgundies. No, really, you want those flavors in the wine.) The rock can taste like talc, or limestone, or granite, or I’ll even throw in steel, like licking a butter knife. Some wines taste “mineral-y” and some don’t. Some Chablis can often taste “chalky”, in a way that other Chardonnays don’t. Pouilly-Fume famously can have a hint of “gun-flint” to it, like the smell when you crack flint together to try to start a fire (and then say screw it, and get the matches. BSA camp FTW.)

Returning to Riesling, one of the smells that tells me a Riesling might be from Wehlener or Zeltinger Sonnenuhr is the hint of talc that goes along with the apple blossom. I get it from Rieslings from those two vineyards, but not wines from say, Urziger Wurzgarten, which is literally down the street (the MoselWeinstrasse) from them. (That Urziger Wurzgarten is on completely different soil may have something to do with that.) Mineral flavors in wine can add interest over a wine that just tastes of different fruits or yeasty flavors. Other people don’t like very mineral-y whites, like Savenierres, a very mineral-tasting, often bone dry, Chenin Blanc from France. It’s all a matter of personal taste. Whether a wine tastes mineral-y or not has nothing to do with its quality. Unless, of course, the wine or vineyard is supposed to taste mineral-y and doesn’t.

Damn, all of this is making me thirsty.

12

Try a Marlborough Savignon Blanc from New Zealand. Like drinking flint (but in a very good way!)

13

I doubt that Firewater Liquor has it, but I’ll give it a try. :slight_smile:
Seriously, thanks.

14

Yes, that one I’ve had. Safeway always has a good price on it, and most of the wine reviewers that I’ve read rave about it. Great with spicy food, as you note.

Too bad Americans have this misperception that all Riesling is really sweet…

15

You might be surprised. Oyster Bay is pretty ubiquitous these days. I can pick it up at Stop & Shop.

And I do. Oh, I do. :slight_smile:

16

Maipe Reserve Cabernet from Argentina tonight, with steak. $12-16 price range.

17

Love the SA wines. Some really good values. And it’s good to explore beyond Malbec, too.

18

Barefoot Chardonnay, my favorite summertime wine

19

Sandbanks VQA Baco Noir. We’ve finished the bottle, actually. It wasn’t all that great with the leftover Indian food we had for dinner (don’t ask what we had, I don’t know, and besides a bunch of stuff got mixed together into one container to make all new food!) but went rather well with the chocolate and caramel brownies my mom made. Not a favourite wine, but pretty good on a Monday evening when the only other options were tea or water! We really need to do groceries…!

20

Clos du Bois merlot.