Maker's Table

Schooling

Scholium Project
Marcher sur la Lune
2008
15.0% ABV | Price: about $32

A bright gold wine made from verdelho grapes. It smells earthy, fishy, floral, savory, buttery, citrusy. I can't really decide, because it smells like almost everything except fruit.

It fills the mouth. In the middle, it's got apricot and citrus, and is somewhat like a big, plush Viognier, but there's the faintest hint of something odd, maybe money coins or sardines, too. It's hugely alcoholic for a white—15% by volume—and so leaves a hot vapor trail behind. It's more feeling than taste. This is a white that could stand up to steak.

Curious, odd, interesting, inimitable. We've been to school.

 

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Quincy

Domaine Lecomte
Quincy "Vielle Vignes"
2008
13.0% ABV | Price: about $20

Pale straw yellow and aromatic, with a salty, floral nose. On the palate it has brilliant acidity: citrusy, but with pear and basil, too. It tastes like jasmine in full bloom. It offers an herbaceous finish that's spicy but languorous. It takes its time.

Restrained and elegant, this wine poses an Old-world counterpoint to the explosively grassy, lemony Sauvignon Blancs found in the New.

"It's alive," says my husband. Yes, and I'm glad I am, too.

 

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Riesling, Dry

Hermann J. Wiemer
Dry Riesling
2008
12.0% ABV | Price: about $17.50

We purchased this bottle at the winery on a recent three-day trip to the Finger Lakes. We visited Wiemer last that weekend, after having tasted about a hundred other wines—mostly Riesling, but a little Gewürtz and Cab Franc and Merlot, and a few other varietals or blends the Finger Lakes winemakers cook up. Wiemer's wines were the best of our tastings, and we bought a few of these Dry Rieslings and their low-end Gewürtztraminer, plus a blend they call Frost Cuvée, all of which struck us as good values.

Upstate New York Rieslings are, in general, bone dry with searing acidity, and this wine's no exception. But it manages some nuance, with a little more fruit and body than its peers. It's a light gold color, with a nose that's citrusy, with green apple and jasmine. On the palate it spreads out, filling the mouth with clean, bright sour apple and lemon, and finishing long and dry. Cleansing, and a good ambassador for the region.

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Riesling Lessons

Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt
Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Kabinett
2005
9% ABV | Price: about $19

I'm trying to learn about Riesling, so I'm buying all I can find (and afford). My local merchant thrust this into my hands the other day. "It's delicious," he said, shaking his head lightly, the way one does when one recalls a memory with both disbelief and pleasure. 

I poured myself a glass as I began to strip fresh peas from their shells, shave young fennel into thin strips, and prep fresh herbs from the garden. The wine is deep gold, with a savory, floral aroma weighted by something a little oily, a little herbaceous. I had picked a lot of sage tonight, and as I washed it gently, its fragrance bloomed in my hands, marrying suddenly with the wine, the two blending high notes and low notes, dissolving into the middle distance, together.

It's a Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, off-dry, with blushing stone fruit and good acidity. I like learning about Riesling.

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Stony, Steely

Domaine de la Pepière
Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie
2009
12% ABV | Price: about $15

This wine is clear pale yellow, offering bright, lightly flowery, almost salty aromas. On the palate it's flinty, like a cold nickel in your mouth, with very faint citrus and stone fruits balanced by strong acidity. It tastes a bit like Brie, or Camembert (maybe from the lees?).

Cleansing, Old World, steely. Not loose; serious. Pure.

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Summer of Riesling

Prinz du Salm-Dalberg'sches Weingut
Schloss Wallhausen Riesling
2000
10% ABV | Price of current vintage: about $18–20

We don't know where we got this bottle, and we don't know when. We don't know how much we paid, and we couldn't find the price for this vintage or the current release. We only know that at some point we put a sticker on this bottle to "Open in 2010," and that it seemed like it might be just right for a hot night in New Hampshire.

These grapes were grown in the Nahe region on the oldest continuously owned family wine estate in Germany, dating to 1200 (terroir, baby). The land is now organically farmed—and likely was back then, too. Wines labeled "Schloss Wallhausen" are not from designated vineyards, so are not this producer's top quality, and this one is a simple Qualitätswein.

Still, it's a delight. Gold in the glass, it has a full, white-flowered nose with a bit of lime and faint petrol. On the palate there's apricot and light citrus, with good acidity and a mineral aspect that together balance its moderate sugar. It finishes very long, the stone fruit trailing into the stony distance.

It's hard to say what age has wrought upon this wine, beyond buyer's remorse: I wish we'd laid down more.

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Frosty

Hermann Wiemer
Frost Cuvée
2008
Current price: about $12

In early May we visited the Finger Lakes of upstate New York, part of the group attending TasteCamp East. We tasted a lot of Rieslings over three days. Most were sharp and cleansing, with strong acid that gripped our teeth. There were a few Gewürztraminers, some unmemorable Chardonnays, some completely forgettable reds. We left each tasting empty handed.

The last stop of the weekend was Hermann Wiemer. We understood why. Winemaker Fred Merwarth tasted us through nine samples, in bottle and in tank. Here at last were Rieslings with depth and complexity. They were broad and floral, with jasmine and citrus. They were bright, they were clean; they cut, but softly. Their Riesling "Magdalena Vineyard" 2008 rolled my socks down.

This Frost Cuvée is their bagatelle. It's a floor-sweepings wine, made with leftover this and that: a little riesling, a little gewürz, some chardonnay, some pinot noir. It is meant to be taken lightly. So pale it's almost colorless, a clear light yellow. Fresh aromas of citrus blossom and passion fruit are grounded by something stony underneath. On the palate it's juicy and succulent, with more citrus and jasmine and tropical fruits. Almost off-dry, maybe off-off-dry, with a long, clean finish. Bright.

We bought some wine at last.

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Toasted

Windy Oaks Estate
One-Acre Estate Chardonnay
2007
Current price: about $38

We received two bottles of this about a year ago. We opened the first right away and found it quite odd. It had underpinnings of oaky, buttery, toasty, American-style Chardonnay, but the nose was skewed and the finish somewhat unpleasant. Not Californian and not Burgundian, and distinctly unintegrated. We laid the second down to try again in time.

This bottle is somewhat similar, though it speaks with a stronger Californian accent. The nose is a bit sulfurous, sharp and acrid, but it has a pleasing weight and a bright, citrusy acidity that balances the characteristic buttery oaky bits. It has a long finish that trails away quietly in a pleasant, varietally appropriate afterglow.

Still, it's a little gangly, like a teenager with tight jeans and a baggy shirt. We'll stick with their Pinot noir.

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Duly Noted

Gaia Estate
Notios White
2008
Current price: about $15

We opened this southern Greek white to honor of the arrival in the U.S. of a friend from Greece. This wine is from the Peloponisos region, a blend of 50% moshofilero grapes from the Arcadian plateau and 50% roditis from the Corinthian slopes.

It's a little skunky on the nose—not in a bad way, mind you, just in a way that says Earth. Southern earth, apparently; in Greek Notios means "The one that comes from the south." In the mouth it's a little bit floral, but mostly it's flinty, minerally, and citrusy, with lemon and musk and something a little dusty, too. Savory, almost. Nice.

 

 

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O Grinho

Bonny Doon Vineyard
Vinho Grinho
2009
Current price: about $20 (as club members we paid $17)

Made from 56% Portuguese loureiro grapes and 44% Spanish albariño, this wine bears an Iberian mien. Its name is a send-up of the region's vinho verde, but with a decidedly Californian slant, and the grapes are biodynamic, from the Ca' del Solo vineyard in Monterey.

Clear and pale gold, it's lavishly aromatic, with notes of spring flowers—daffodil, strawberry, and blackberry—plus orange blossom and thyme. On the palate it's bright and cleansing, with a citrusy edge and more green herbs. It's bracingly acidic, with a long slow finish.

It would be brilliant with seafood, though we enjoyed it with pork tenderloin seared with fresh thyme and rosemary, the wine's vivid freshness a delightful complement to the sweet rare meat and pungent herbs.

A mouthful of spring sunshine. Delicious.

  

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