by Patrick Ogle

Le Canon is a rose wine from the Rhone Valley. Unusually it is made from muscat of Hamburg. The gentleman at the wine shop said "It is a wine made by, Hirotake Ooka , a Japanese winemaker in the Northern Rhone." The gentleman then extrapolated on a number of details. I could have responded with "You had me with that first sentence." He also would have had me by saying "muscat of Hamburg."

It almost seems to bubble when you pour it and it smells like a ripe red grapefruit. It tastes like that too (although the grapefruit is more subdued in the taste). There is also a good deal of grapefruit pith here, especially on the finish.

I had a hard time chasing other aspects of this wine. There is something tropical in the background that isn't citrus. The wine has strong acidity too. The CO2 and the acidity make this a lively wine. If you want to pair this with something thing salads and mild cheeses. It almost calls to mind a French farmhouse ale in some ways.

When you look at this wine, and when you know the story and what it is you might expect it to be weirder, to be funkier. It is unusual to be sure but it is also quite accessible-different but accessible. If you expect a mild mannered Provence rose? You are going to be surprised. Yet, if you are expecting to taste dirt and grungy nastiness because it is cloudy? You would be dead wrong as well.

This wine sort of tastes like summer.

It also shows that totally natural wines--no sulfur is added, it is neither fined nor filtered--are not necessarily unapproachable for casual wine drinkers. This wine doesn't even use additions in the vineyard allowed in biodynamic wines. It is pretty close to zero intervention from the winemaker, beyond even biodynamic requirements. This wine is fascinating for those into esoteric wines but people who like wine in a broader sense will not be turned off by it (provided they have an open mind). There is something primal here. It makes you think of the sort of fermented beverage the first people fermenting beverages might have tasted.

With the emphasis on non-intervention it is somewhat ironic that the grape used, muscat of Hamburg, is possibly the result of human intervention.

by Patrick Ogle

Symphony, a wine grape created in California and grown in Arizona by Pillsbury Wine Company has two parents--grenache gris and muscat of Alexandria. It is one of a multitude of grapes bred by Dr. Harold Olmo of the University of California (Davis). The university may be the foremost school of viticulture in the USA.

By way of confession I lost my notes on this particular wine so the following is all from memory. Fortunately the wine is memorable.

The wine has certain similarities with gewurztraminer.  There is a spiciness you don't find in many white wines. It also has a plethora of fruits--citrus and orchard fruit like apricots. There are floral, aromatic flavors in the wine that hearken back to its muscat parent.  There is also a honeyed quality--with some hint of exotic fruit. It isn't a sweet wine but it has many of the qualities you might associate with a desert wine--it has a viscosity to it and an intensity. Pillsbury does make a sweeter version.

This is also a wine that may best to accompany rich, spicy foods or even just rich cheeses (Stilton, Gorgonzola, Limburger and the like). It isn't something you necessarily want to drink without food but this is more a suggestion than any hard declaration. Some folks taste may be ok with this wine solo.

This is also a white wine that improves with some air. It was calmer and more approachable on day 2 (and day 3). It didn't lose its fruit, its spice or it's charm but rather evened out and became more approachable. This leads me to think it might be a wine that could improve with some time in the bottle before opening.

If you are up for the unusual this might be a wine you would enjoy. Keep in mind the gewurtztraminer comparison is just a "close" wine analogy. It isn't exact.