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Umathum 2013 Rosé (Austria) Is A Refreshing Wine For A Summer Day

6/27/2015

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by Patrick Ogle

Umathum
’s 2013 r
osé is a refreshing wine for a hot day. Nothing beats a rosé on a summer-like day but this wine? You don’t need the heat to enjoy it. Feel free to break this out in fall, winter or spring.

I wasn't in the mood to have a glass of wine at all but what better way to find out precisely how good a wine is than to have it when you do not want it? This Austrian wine has a tiny bit of effervescence, barely perceptible, when first opened.  It has tartness and even a little bit of a bitter finish. There might be a hint of cherry here but do not let that make you think sweet. It isn't sweet at all. This is a lovely, crisp, dry rosé.

When I say bitter do not take that as a slight. The word "bitter" has negative connotations but many foods you probably love have bitterness (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, dill, kale, sesame seeds). Not using the word "bitter" leads to using obscure terms to try to disguise the term. Let us revolt! Bitter isn't bad--especially in the context of a well-balanced wine such as Umathum's rosé.

This wine is a blend of varietals that may not be familiar to many in the USA: blaufrankisch, zweigelt and st. laurent. I've written a little about blaufrankisch (and plan to more). Likewise there will shortly be more on these other two varietals. It is fitting that zweigelt winds up in a blend with blaufrankisch and st. laurent since those two grapes are the parents of the zweigelt varietal. Often grapes that are related complement each other in blends; cabernet franc is frequently blended with cabernet sauvignon.

All three of the grapes in this blend produce lovely varietal wines; they are often red but all three also produce varietal rosés. You may even find dessert wines from these varietals (in truth you can get dessert wines from many varietals). This blend should make you curious about these varietals.

If it is hot out it you might want to grab this wine from Austria. Umathum’s wines are, in general, excellent and their rosé is particularly good.

$22-26



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Chateau Nomad Trousseau Gris, An Usual Grape Grown In Russian River Valley, Is A Great Summer Choice

6/11/2015

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by Patrick Ogle

If you haven’t had a glass of trousseau gris you are not alone. If you haven’t heard of trousseau gris you are also not alone. Trousseau gris is a grape that probably originates in Alsace (France). It was once fairly widely grown in France and in California but over time the grape has fallen out of favor.


This is a shame.

This offering from Chateau Nomad , the Alemanni, is a crisp, fresh tasting white wine. It might superficially remind you of a few other wine varieties—pinot gris, gewürztraminer, pinot blanc and perhaps riesling. It has characteristics of these perhaps but isn’t really related to any of these grapes (aside from the fact that most wine grapes are distantly related). It also doesn’t really have the same taste as any of these; it isn’t as acidic as a riesling, it is fruitier than pinot gris and is wildly different from most versions of gewürztraminer.

This wine is a crisp, fresh tasting white and it is a great summer wine. While it has fruit flavors (think maybe peaches with a slight hint of some spice) it isn’t super fruity or sweet and has a nose that made me think of honey. Don’t let this make you think it is sweet, this is a dry wine. There is some complexity to the wine and a nice balance—a bit of fruit, a dash of spice, and a modicum of acidity etc. This is a wine that will please casual drinkers and wine snots. It is a nice wine to grab when you want something a bit out of the ordinary. Yet it isn’t anything strange or bizarre.

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This is an unusual grape that was once called grey riesling and was apparently widely grown in years past. It is a mutation of the red Trousseau grape (also called bastardo and used in making port). While most sources say this mutant comes from Alsace others suggest Lorraine and sometimes Jura. It probably originated in one of the first two but there are conflicting theories which really don’t matter to most people when they break out the corkscrew.

In California these days the Russian River Valley seems to be the only place where the grape is grown in any quantity. The grapes that made this wine are from there. Since this is a grape that can grow in cooler areas it would be interesting to see how it handles some of the cooler areas of the USA looking for signature grapes. It would be interesting to taste more trousseau gris.

$25


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Crystallum Chardonnay (2010) May Make You Rethink Non Chenin-Blanc Whites From South Africa

6/8/2015

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by Patrick Ogle

Crystallum
Agnes chardonnay 2010 may be the wine that makes you rethink the notion of South Africa's white wine being chenin blanc. This wine comes from several different South African vineyards. The average wine drinker will probably not know the areas of the different vineyards (I didn't) but they all have different soil composition. Soil composition makes a great deal of difference in how a wine tastes. Combining grapes from different vineyards with different soil compositions will create a wine that uses all the different characteristics that comes from the different soil. Grapes from different vineyards, chosen with care can create a wine as excellent as a single vineyard wine (maybe).


The wine is aged in French oak barrels where it stayed 9 months. The result is a wine that is oaked but not overly oaked. It is a chardonnay that all chardonnay lovers can embrace. Some yammer about "no oak" or "oaky" or "no butteriness" or "very buttery."  This wine balances all of this in a way that can almost be described as perfect. If you cannot accept a chardonnay unless it is MASSIVELY oaky or you feel a wine must be so oaky if feels like you are drinking dissolved butter? You may not like this wine but then you probably don’t actually like wine.

It isn’t super fruity but maybe various citrus flavors are there in the mix.  It has something you could describe as floral but that is always a tricky flavor description with me. It sounds like people making things up because while there may be a whiff of that when you sniff? It isn’t so apparent when you actually drink the wine.

I was told the 2009 was even better than this one which is startling because 2010 is pretty solid.  The 2010 version is the second vintage of this chardonnay.  You could probably save this wine for a few years even now and be happy with it? But it isn’t going to be terribly easy to find. One question to ask yourself here is; is this worth the price tag? It is good but it is going to cost you around $50. Can you find a chardonnay to your taste for less, even significantly less? Possibly.

But as time goes on keep an eye on the winery.

$45-55

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CB Initiales Cabernet Sauvignon (2005), From Morocco's Thalvin Domaine Ouled Thaleb, Interesting Characteristics In A Cab From North Africa

6/8/2015

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by Patrick Ogle

CB Initiales cabernet sauvignon (2005), from Morocco's Thalvin Domaine Ouled Thaleb has a great deal to recommend it. This wine, right out of the bottle, is tannic and needs some air to open up. It also has a strange finish--no real way to put it otherwise but it seems almost like...plastic. Yet this weird finish likewise changes with some air. Is the odd plastic-y taste something to do with the tannins? I cannot say, nor can I say what it is exactly. I checked with others and asked what they thought? And their response was the same, there is a peculiar finish here but this does not ruin the wine.


It has some black fruit to it as well and nice acidity--not too overwhelming and it brings a certain balance to the wine. There is a hint of black pepper here too. After the air gets to it the wine it smooths out and it is a nice version of cab--it is arguable it is more interesting than many varietal cabs.

You might want to decant and I say this as a person who often says "I don't decant" because I want to taste the wine as it evolves with its contact with air. I recently had a conversation with a French gentleman who said all wine should be decanted and he then went on to offend virtually everyone he spoke with about how they were wrong and he was right about wine. Decant if it appeals to you and don’t if it doesn’t. You are the expert when it comes to how you drink your wine.

If you live in a hot place? This wine maybe benefits from a little time in the chiller. You don’t want it cold but you don’t want it at Miami room temperature either.

Despite the odd taste right out of the bottle this Moroccan cab is more interesting than varietal cab I’ve had from France recently (French blends with cab as a major component are another matter). I’ve wondered if the weird taste I described as “plastic” had something to do with something I’d eaten or just the fact it was late in the day. It doesn’t jibe with the rest of this wine’s qualities, especially since no herbicides or fungicides are used at the vineyard.

For the price you may be able to find cabs that are “better” (better being subjective of course) but this Moroccan wine is worth a taste.

$25-30

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    WINE!

    There are thousands of wine grapes and many places that grow great wines. Why not find out about some surprising wines from surprising places?

    NOTE-Until recently I did not capitalize the names of varietal grapes (as a matter of style) but for a variety of reasons as of February, 2018 we will capitalize but I am not going back and altering the previous style!!!


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