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Re-Post: Best Hidden Secrets Of The Wine World: French Sparkling Wines
During 2011, I wrote a number of posts for the project called The Art Of Life Magazine – of course talking about my favorite subject, wine. The project closed and even the web site is down, but I still like those posts, so I decided to re-post them in this blog. Also, in that project, posts were grouped into mini-series, such as “Best Hidden Secrets” you see here – I will continue re-posting them from time to time.
Also note that the series was written for a slightly different audience – I hope none of my readers will take offense in the fact that sometimes I’m stating the obvious…
So far we talked about a number of “secrets” of the wine world: Rioja, Second Labels, Amarone, wines of Georgia. Let’s continue our journey of discovery. This time we are going to talk about French Sparkling Wines.
Everybody knows about Champagne, a special wine for celebrations. If we think that occasion is special enough, the first thought is: we need a bottle of Champagne to celebrate. Of course producers of Champagne also know that, and respond with ever increasing prices – it is practically impossible to find the bottle of Champagne for less than $35 – and as with any other wine, there is no limit on top.
What is Champagne anyway? First of all Champagne is a place, a region in northern France – the only place in the world which can produce bottles of the sparkling beverage with the Champagne name on it. Second of all, Champagne is a sparkling wine, made in accordance with very specific winemaking rules and techniques, which are typically referred to as “Méthode Champenoise”. In that method (which legend has, was discovered by accident), the wine is fermented twice, and second fermentation takes place in the closed bottle, which leads to the wine becoming carbonated (hence the generic name “sparkling wine”). One quick note on the grapes – traditional champagne is produced from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, in various combinations as decided by the producer. If you want to read more, as usual Wikipedia offers great wealth of information (you can read it here).
Today sparkling wines are made all over the world, and of course none of them can be called Champagne, as the word “Champagne” on the label is protected by law. I’m sure you heard many of the names and tried many of the wines, but to give you a brief summary, Spain produces sparkling wine under the name Cava, Italy typically makes Prosecco (there are some other lightly sparkled wines, like Moscato D’Asti, but we will leave it aside for this post). Sekt is made in Germany, and most of the other countries simply use the term “Sparkling wine”, sometimes also identifying the grape, such as Sparkling Shiraz from Australia or Sparkling Malbec from Argentina.
With such a diversity and widely available offerings, why French sparkling wines are such a secret? While being the closest to the original (Champagne), they offer probably the best QPR (Quality Price Ratio), beating often California Sparkling wines and even Cava – and they taste really authentic.
There is a substantial variety of Sparkling wines coming from France alone. Almost each and every wine producing region (Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace, Loire, Jura, …) produces its own versions of the sparkling wines, in most of the cases called Cremant: Cremant de Bordeaux, Cremant de Bourgogne, Cremant de Jura, Cremant de Loire and others. You can find additional information on the sparkling wines here. All of these Cremant wines are made using the same “méthode champenoise”, however, typical regional grapes can be used to make the wine.
So as usual, I wanted to prove to you that the knowledge I’m sharing is worthy of a “secret” designation, which can be of course done by forcing you, me readers, to buy the wine and taste it (and then telling me that I was right). However, as this is not an easy undertaking, I took this function upon myself, and here are the results of tasting of 3 inexpensive French Sparkling wines. I got 3 French Sparkling wines – Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux Brut ($10.99), Cave de L’Aurance Cremant de Buourgogne Brut ($11.99) and Lucien Albrecht Cremant de Alsace Rose Brut ($14.99). Before we talk about tasting notes, I want to mention that the Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux claims to be the first sparkling wine ever, produced by Benedictine Monks in Saint-Hilaire abbey in 15th century ( beating Champagne by at least a hundred years) – but I guess they never put much effort into marketing, while Champagne did, so the result is obvious (however, it is better for us, consumers).
Anyway, here are the notes:
2008 Saint-Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux Brut: closest to the classic champagne. Nose of yeast and hint of fresh bread, very refreshing, good acidity, citrus notes, dry, medium to full body. Best of tasting.
Cave de L’Aurance Cremant de Bourgogne Brut: quite limited expression on the nose, but very elegant on the palate. Offers golden delicious apple and ripe white grapefruit notes, medium body.
Lucien Albrecht Cremant de Alsace Brut Rose: very complex on the nose, with some onion peel and white truffle. On the palate offers strawberries, pink grapefruit, medium body.
Now you know one more secret. No, you don’t need to trust me. I would definitely encourage you to get a bottle of your favorite Champagne. Then you need to get a bottle of Blanquette de Limoux, and compare them in the blind tasting. I have done this with the group of friends, and you can find the surprising results here. I challenge you to do it – and then leave me a comment with the result – I will be waiting.
That’s all for now, folks. For the next secret of the wine world – stay tuned. More secrets are coming…
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Results of Book Giveaway and a Rant
Meritage Time!
Let’s start from the answer for the Wine Quiz #45, an Easy One. In that quiz, you were supposed to answer 3 easy questions, and then simply talk about your favorite wines and wineries. All of it with an ultimate goal of leaving the comment so you can get the new wine book called “Rock and Vine” to be shipped to you. Free. And you know what – before we get to the answer and the results, let me get the rant out.
I don’t get it. So the free book (5 copies) was offered, pretty much for anyone who would care to leave a comment in the blog. According to the stats from the WordPress, the post had total of 56 views – and only 4 people left comments. Are people not reading books anymore? Did the people who wanted the book were too shy to leave a comment? Was it something I said (or didn’t say)? I’m puzzled… Honestly, I was not looking for the book giveaway as a cheap publicity shot, to attract more followers or something – I simply don’t do it. So as I said already, I’m puzzled – and if anyone want to offer a theory or explanation or simply tell me that I’m too dumb to get it – be my guest. End of the rant.
Now, let’s get to the wine quiz answers and the winners. We have two winners of the wine quiz and 3 winners of Rock and Vine book giveaway – Jeff (The Drunken Cyclist) and Oliver (The Wine Getter) are the winners of the wine quiz ( they got 3 out of 3 questions right) and both of them plus Emily (@WineMuse) are the winners of the book giveaway!
Now, if you want details, here are the first 3 questions with the answers:
1. In the famous movie “Sideways”, where (in which region) the action took place, and what were two grapes which Miles was so adamant about (one positive, one negative)?
Answers are Santa Barbara, Pinot Noir and Merlot – you can read more here.
2. Which grape is referred to as “The Real American Grape”?
Norton. By the way, Oliver, this is not my designation : ) – this designation is actually trademarked – here is the link.
3. What Judgement of Paris was all about and when did it t took place (provide short description)?
Judgement of Paris took place in 1976 and it was a blind tasting event where French wine critics overwhelmingly preferred California wines over similar French wines, which put California on a world-wide wine map. Here is the link for additional reading.
And the last two questions were:
4. Name three US wineries which you visited, want to visit or at least drunk the wine from
5. Thinking about your favorite wines, name one of them ( any one of them). As a bonus, provide short description and may be explain why is it one of your favorite wines.
Let me just quote the answers:
Emily (@WineMuse):
4. Failla, Varner, Littorai most recently
5. Whatever is in my glass at the moment 
(but really, I do like all the wines mentioned above. They are extremely well-made and unique. I also really like & respect the people that make each of them)
TheWineGetter:
4. Chateau Grand Traverse, Brys Estate and Left Foot Charley – all Traverse City based wineries whose wines I have tried but never visited. This year is the year!
5. One of them would be the 2001 Poliziano Vino Nobile Asinone which I tried in their tasting room in the fall of 2005. The wine just hit me completely unexpectedly with its depth and earthiness and was so far above the regular vino nobile that Poliziano produces. It was just incredible. (I have to name a riesling, too! Sorry. One of the many was a 1990 Vereinigte Hospitien Erdener Prälat Auslese which we had at a birthday party for Nina. The wine was dark amber in color and I have never come across such a vanilla a yellow fruit bombs in a riesling again.)
TheDrunkenCyclist:
4. I have visited Clos Pepe, Littorai, and Freeman Wineries (among countless others).
5. One of my favorites wines is the Clos Pepe Pinot Noir. The wine is phenomenal, but above that, it is made by Wes Hagen, who is one of the true characters in the wine business today.
One last note – there are still 2 books I can give away. If you want them, leave a comment or otherwise send me a note over the next two days – first come, first serve…
That’s all I have for now, folks. Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #45 – an Easy One, and A Book Giveaway!
Here comes another first. No, of course not the quiz, otherwise why would it be called #45? Only few days ago I wrote my first wine magazine review, and now I’m doing my first giveaway!
It is not the wine giveaway, as some of you could’ve hope (this might be even illegal), but it is wine book giveaway. This brand new book is called Rock and Vine, and it is profiling a group of young “wine revolutionaries”, people who are [again] changing California wine industry. Here is the quote from the book’s press release:
“In Napa, fifth generation winemaker Joe Wagner creates the nation’s best selling Pinot Noir, while second generation wine brand director Christina Turley hooks a new generation on dry, high-end White Zinfandel. In Sonoma, Jordan Kivelstadt introduces America to premium wine-on-tap, while reality television star Ben Flajnik and his partners Mike Benziger and Danny Fay are mixing serious biodynamic wines with seriously good times.”
I think it should be an interesting book to read, and you even might be able get your own hard copy – and this is what this giveaway is all about.
I got 5 copies of the book to give away. In order to find 5 lucky people, I have a wine quiz which consists of 5 questions – very easy questions, I think, and some of them not even be real questions at all. The winners will be selected from the people who will leave the comments. If there will be only 5 people commenting, selecting the winners will be an easy job. If there will be more people commenting, 5 winners will be selected at random. There is one essential limitation I have to mention – this giveaway is open only to US residents – yes, I know that many of my readers come from the countries outside US, but this is not my limitation.
Here are the questions:
1. In the famous movie “Sideways”, where (in which region) the action took place, and what were two grapes which Miles was so adamant about (one positive, one negative)?
2. Which grape is referred to as “The Real American Grape”?
3. What Judgement of Paris was all about and when did it t took place (provide short description)?
4. Name three US wineries which you visited, want to visit or at least drunk the wine from
5. Thinking about your favorite wines, name one of them ( any one of them). As a bonus, provide short description and may be explain why is it one of your favorite wines.
You don’t need to win the quiz and answer all the questions in order to win the book. In essence, you don’t even need to answer any of the questions (I still hope you will answer at least some of them) – but you need to leave a comment in order to have a chance to win the book. When you will be leaving a comment, if you are not using WordPress, please make sure that your e-mail address in the appropriate field is correct. If you are a winner, I will need to contact you to get your mailing address for the publisher to send you the book.
Have fun and good luck! Open some great bottle over the weekend! Cheers!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for my own review. All opinions are my own.
Re-post: Best Hidden Secrets of The Wine World: Wines of South Africa
During 2011 I wrote a number of posts for the project called The Art Of Life Magazine – of course talking about my favorite subject, wine. The project closed, but I still like the posts I wrote, so I decided to re-post them in this blog. Also, in that project, posts were grouped into mini-series, such as “Best Hidden Secrets” you see here – I will continue re-posting them from time to time.
Also note that the series was written for a slightly different audience – I hope none of my readers will take offense in the fact that sometimes I’m stating the obvious…
Continuing the subject of “secrets” of the wine world (you might remember our past conversations about Rioja, Second Labels, Georgian Wines and more), let’s talk about wines of South Africa. If you are asking why South African wines should be considered a “hidden secrets”, please read below.
As one would rightfully expect, history of South African wines is tightly intertwined with history of South Africa as a country. Winemaking in South Africa started in 17th century, and for the long time, South Africa was making dessert wines, some of them still famous, like Constantia. Most of the wines were exported into United Kingdom. Similar to the most of the winemaking world, South Africa experienced Phylloxera epidemic in the 19th century, and lots of vines had to be replanted. The 20th century was marked by the political issues – as apartheid was a bad problem for the South Africa, the institute of wine regulations by KWV also became a limitation for the wine industry. Combination of the KWV restrictions with boycott of the South African goods, including wines, as a means to fight apartheid regime, lead to South African wines staying largely non-existent for the wine lovers around the world. With collapse of apartheid the situation changed, and then KWV monopoly was also broken, which lead to the great advances in the South African wine making. If you want to read more about the history of
A number of different grapes are used in winemaking in South Africa. First we need to mention Chenin Blanc, which is still one the major white grapes used in wine production (it is also known locally under the name of Steen). Similar to the Loire valley, where Chenin Blanc is shining, it makes whole range of wines in South Africa, starting from very dry and acidic, and going all the way up to the dessert wines. Next we need to mentioned Pinotage, which is unique grape, produced and cultivated only in South Africa. Pinotage is a cross between Cinsault and Pinot Noir grapes, and has a number of strange characteristics, such as being reminiscent of liquefied rusty nails in the glass. Then whole bunch of international varietals are also planted (amount of those plantings is increasing), and it includes Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and many others.
So why are we placing South African wines into the “secrets” category? Once you will try [good] wines from South Africa, chances are you will be blown away. It is important to note that South African wines are new world wines masquerading as an old world – which makes blind tasting with South African wines very challenging.
As our tradition goes, let’s open a bottle or two, and let’s talk about the wines. First, 2008 Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir. This wine is simply amazing – very restrained and polished, with beautiful restrained fruit, lots of smokiness and earthiness on the palate. This wine shows off as a classic Burgundy, and only when you look at the label you experience almost a shock – this wine is from South Africa, last place one would expect to produce classy Burgundy (you can read about our blind tasting experience here).
Then comes 2007 Thelema Chardonnay, again, very reminiscent of beloved White Burgundy – restrained, with balanced fruit, hint of butter and vanilla on the palate and good tannins – very elegant.
Last I would like to mention 2003 Cirrus wine – a predominantly Shiraz ( 96%) with addition of small amount of Viognier (4%). On the palate, this wine mostly represents liquid smoke, but it really comes alive in a glass, with excellent tannins, toned down fruit and perfect acidity, well balanced.
I don’t know if I manage to convince you in the “secrets” status of South African wines. But if you will think about it, either way you have to find a bottle of South African wine – to either agree or disagree with me. Look for the one we talked about here – and judge it for yourself. Cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Orange Wine Bad or Good?, Kegs of Wine, New Wine Magazine and more
Meritage time!
Let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #44, What is in the numbers. In the quiz, you were supposed to identify what the numbers 100%, 75%, 85% and 95% mean all together and by themselves. As VinoinLove mentioned, it was a difficult quiz – I have to agree with him – but he cracked it nevertheless! So, yes, VinoinLove is a winner of the wine quiz #44, and here is the answer.
All the numbers are taken from the definition of American Viticultural Area (AVA):
100% – If California is specified on the label, 100% of the grapes should be from California (it is interesting to note that California is an exception – it is 75% for all other states).
75% – a grape source requirement for all other states
85% – a vintage designation requirement – if a vintage specified on the bottle, at least 85% of the grapes should be coming from that vintage. Interestingly enough, until 2006, the requirement was 95%
95% – has two meanings. When specific AVA is noted on the bottle (Napa Valley, for example), at least 95% of the grapes should belong to one and the same vintage. Also, when vineyard is specified on the label (for instance, To Kalon), at least 95% of the grapes should be sourced from that vineyard.
Care to learn more? Here is the link for you.
And now to the wine news. I found few of the interesting articles I want to bring to your attention. First, what do you think of orange wine? It’s being very much discussed subject for the past 2-3 years. You get orange wine when you ferment white grape in contact with the skin for a prolonged period of time. The resulting wine is typically quite distinguishable. With the popularity of course comes a controversy, a fad, chick and all other usual things. Here an article from SF Gate covering this subject of the orange wine. It is an interesting read, especially considering that the article starts with total bashing and ends with literally a praise for the orange wine. Do you have your own orange wine experience? If you do (or even if you don’t, but have an opinion), please share it in the comment section.
When you are in a bar or a restaurant, do you prefer beer on tap or in the bottle (well, of course assuming there is a decent selection of beer on tap)? My personal preference is beer on tap, as it is usually tastes fresher. Now, how about wine? On tap or in the bottle? What, never heard this question before? Coming to the bar near you – Wine on Tap. May be it is the time for you to get prepared? Here is the link for you with some good wine on tap suggestions. Let me know if you already experienced any of the wines on tap – I had not so far, but bused on the recommendations in the article, really would love to.
January 2013 was inaugural month not only for the US President, but also for the new wine magazine called By The Bottle. Magazine is available in electronic format only, currently for iPad with Android version coming soon. I just wrote the review about the first issue, which you can find here.
In the love of all the Top Ten lists and Statistics of all sorts, here is a list of Top Ten Wine Regions in the world, according to Wine Folly. Read, analyze, discuss, make conclusions – do whatever you usually do with numbers.
I think the glass is empty – will refill in a week. Cheers!
By The Bottle – First Time For Everything
Few days ago, I found an e-mail in my inbox. “Would you be interested in reviewing our new wine magazine called By The Bottle”? Hmmm, I love reading – books, magazines, blogs – but review? Take something and shred it apart? Or write pointless sweet mambo jumbo, pretending I’m saying something of essence? Both scenarios sound equally unappealing. Ahh, yes – and the magazine is all-electronic, an iPad version. I already had an experience with an iPad wine book I didn’t care for. What should I do, what should I do… I read the e-mail again. It said “the good, the bad and the ugly – we can take it”. Okay, so let’s see how bad it can be.
Going along of “don’t judge the book by its cover”, I had to make an effort from the get go.
I didn’t like the cover. At all. The woman’s legs – okay, it is a cheap attention shot. The guy looks good, but what’s up with that cigarette? This is clearly not meant for the American audience – I would understand the cigar (kind of), but cigarette? Yes, may be I’m missing something, but I’m not aware of cigarettes becoming popular again in US. And I understand that the magazine hails from Europe (London, to be precise), but I didn’t read so far about smoking renaissance in UK. Thus to this point, one is clearly down, and I need to control my expectations for the rest.
Here is an important announcement: we reached the end of the bad news. From there on, it was actually interesting and entertaining.
The magazine’s promise is that it will have something for all different groups of wine lovers, from amateurs to the people “in the trade” – and it delivered.
Pictures, graphics, cars, bottles and people – all done at the level of an “eye candy”. Of course iPad’s graphics capabilities greatly help with it.
Navigation is simple and clear – you know where you are, the structure is linear and it is easy to go back and force. Definitely a plus.
And then the content.
I pretty much enjoyed all the features in the magazine. The interview with Maximilian Riedel, 11th generation glass-maker (well, actually he is a Head of US operations, but still) was quite interesting (I still don’t care for the “O” series of glasses, but it is just me).
Have you heard of #7wordwinereview? It is a whole movement around the world, against long but meaningless, not fun and repetitive wine reviews. It is taking place everywhere, and people are having fun with their wines (guess what we are doing at our next wine dinner).
I don’t want to take it away from you – there are many more fun things you can read and learn about – what car would be best if you are going on a wine buying spree in France (well, that would be best airline with best luggage policy for me), what is corked wine, mastering the wine speak and learning to look as a wine buff without knowing a thing (okay, my recommendation would be actually to learn about wines, but it was fun to read). A little bit about cigars, how to read a wine label, learning to play poker, useful wine accessories and lots more. Even an article proving that wine is the most romantic drink with some pretty graphic arguments as to why wine and not beer. All in all, there is a lot to read – with an added bonus that magazine is free, at least at the moment.
Let’s sum it up. There was the bad and the good, but ugly didn’t show up. I really like the format, the fact that magazine is concise and finite, a pleasure to flip through and easy to use. The content is good now, and potential is really unlimited (I have tons of ideas, but I’m sure people behind the magazine have one or two of their own). I’m looking forward to the next issue already.
Intrigued? Get your own copy (here is the link, or simply type the name “By The Bottle” in the search box in App store on your iPad), pour yourself a glass of wine and feel free to become a magazine critic. A least I did. Cheers!
Weekly Wine Quiz #44: What’s In The Numbers?
Saturday = Quiz Time, right? Well, of course not – there are thousands of more interesting things to do on Saturday than to solve the wine quiz, but in case you got a few free minutes, here is one for you.
Today’s quiz will be all about numbers. No, no, this is still a wine blog, no worries – so these numbers will be relevant to the wine world. Below you will find a group of numbers which have direct (and pretty strong) relationship with the wine world. While each number has individual meaning, the idea is that they are all related, together they define something. You will need to figure out where do they belong and what is the meaning of each number. Here we go:
A. 100%
B. 75%
C. 85%
D. 95%
Is there a controversy here? May be, but I’m not aware of it at this point, therefore, it is an official quiz.
Have fun and good luck! Cheers!
Of Scotch And Character
Quick trip to Scotland, anyone? Seriously, do you want to hear the wind and embrace the land? This is easy – turn the sound on and click here.
Do you want to make your experience even more realistic? Pour yourself a splash of Bruichladdich (may be even while sitting next to the fireplace), and you are there.
You probably figured by now that today we are once again going to talk about Scotch. If last week I was talking about the art of blending, as present by Compass Box, today I want to talk about pure character. Few days ago I tasted some new Scotches coming from Bruichladdich, a distillery located on island of Islay. Islay is one of the main areas in the Scotch production (the others are Highlands, Lowlands and Speyside), famous for their Scotches to be very peaty, smoky both on the nose and the palate.
Bruichladdich distillery is about 130 years old, definitely not the oldest, but considering the number of new products and limited releases I would dare to say, one of the most innovative. The proof is in the pudding, right? Err, in the Scotch in our case. So in the tasting, I had 4 different Bruichladdich Scotches which I never tasted before.
Bruichladdich Rocks was the lightest from the group – nice touch of smoke on the nose, very floral and mellow on the palate, as light and refreshing as Scotch can be (distillery tasting notes can be found here). .
Bruchladdich The Laddie Ten, as the name says, is 10 years old single malt – touch of iodine on the nose (not anywhere as medicinal as Talisker, with only a whiff of iodine), excellent, soft, round, with good viscosity, very gentle for what it is (distillery tasting notes can be found here).
Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2006 – yes, it is a very young Scotch, which I’m not even sure has a specific definition in the world of Scotch. Not only this is single malt, but all the barley used in production of this scotch comes from one specific farm (a single farm single malt?). Really unusual (especially for Islay), pure caramel on the nose, round and delicious (while I really enjoyed it, it felt more like “ladies scotch”). Again, here are the distillery tasting notes.
Bruichladdich Port Charlotte – The Peat Project – ahh, pure classic. This was classic Islay. Perfectly peaty and perfectly restrained at the same time. Bacony smoke on the nose, round, smooth, elegantly peaty on the palate and delicately weaved. While you can read the distillery notes here, I can’t help it but to cite a line from the description: “bottled using Islay spring water from the Octomore field of farmer James Brown” – does it get any better than that?
Our tour of Islay is over, folks. Go grab a bottle of Bruichladdich and enjoy the spirit and the character of the land. Cheers!
Re-post: Best Hidden Secrets of The Wine World: Wines of Georgia
In 2011 I wrote a number of posts for the project called The Art Of Life Magazine – of course talking about my favorite subject, wine. The project closed, but I still like the posts I wrote, so I decided to re-post them on this blog. Also, in that project, posts were grouped into mini-series, such as “Best Hidden Secrets” you see here – I will continue re-posting them from time to time.
Also note that the series was written for a slightly different audience – I hope none of my readers will take offense to the fact that sometimes I’m stating the obvious…
We are continuing our “secrets” discovering journey, this time moving a few thousand miles mostly east of Veneto, Italy, which was our last stop. Now we are in the fertile mountainous region called the Caucasus. To be more precise, our destination is Georgia, a small country with a rich history (the subject of Georgian Wines was already discussed in this blog, but a recent encounter with Georgian Wines convinced the author that this subject is worth talking about again).
For the sake of this blog, we will of course focus on the part of Georgian history which relates to wine. For beginners, Georgia is widely considered a cradle of winemaking. According to Wikipedia, wine production started in Georgia more than 8,000 years ago. With all due respect to the so-called “old world” of wine, that beats France, Italy, and other European countries by about 7,000 years.
Of course, truth to be told, multiple thousand years of history don’t translate directly into today’s advantage. For instance, the majority of the countries which existed thousands of years ago are not even remembered today. If everything goes well, that long history can only translate into traditions – good or bad, but traditions are just what they are: “typical ways of conducting certain activity”, or “an inherited or established way of thinking, feeling, or doing”, according to the definition from Merriam-Webster.
Fast forward to the middle of the 20th century, and Georgian wine-making traditions came under attack by the Soviet regime, and the Georgian wine-making industry became literally non-existent. Fast forward once again, to the last decade of the 20th century, and traditions came back into play, helping to re-born the Georgian wine industry. Of course, once the former soviet union collapsed and Georgia became independent, freedom had a “drugging” effect. A tremendous amount of mediocre (at the best) wine was produced, all in an attempt to “get rich quick”. This situation backfired, and Georgian wines went into the “ignore” category without any chance to rise to prominence (disclaimer: these are observations from the US-centered wine market).
Luckily, traditions, based on real, rich history and pride came to the rescue. Fast and greedy mostly disappeared, and real winemakers and businessman took their place. Those thousands of years of history and traditions became a multiplying force for skills, craftsmanship, and ambitions, and now started bringing us world-class wines. It is still very difficult to buy good Georgian wines in the US, you have to really know where to get them, but hopefully, this situation will change. Hmmm, maybe we don’t need that to change? Let’s keep it secret, so those in the know can continue enjoying first-growth Bordeaux quality wines at one-hundredth of the price?
Time to talk about wines – after all, we need to put some substance behind the nice words. Let’s start with… Champagne? Err, Sparkling wine, of course, as Champagne can only come from Champagne. Enters Bagrationi 1882, which makes sparkling wines using traditional “Méthode Champenoise” for more than 100 years. Round, soft and creamy, with perfect acidity, bright and refreshing, this sparkling wine will successfully compete with any of the actual Champagnes and other sparkling wines. In the blind tasting (non-professional), 2007 Royal Cuvee was the best out of the 8 sparkling wines, including classic Champagnes (you can read about it here).
Moving along, let’s talk about some of the most unique wines I ever had a chance to taste. Pheasant’s Tears winery (as well as some others), produces wines using thousands-years old (talk about traditions) technology – the grapes are crushed and fermented for a prolonged period of time in the clay vessels called Qvevri. The resulting wines, made from different indigenous grapes, such as Kisi, Rkatsiteli, Tavkveri, Saperavi, and others, are very different from most of the other wines. Both whites and reds show very nice tannins which come from prolonged contact with skin and seeds (no oak aging whatsoever), as well as a great level of complexity somewhat similar to good Madeira. These wines should really be experienced, as words can’t do them enough justice.
Last for this post, but not least, I want to mention true world-class winemaker-made classic wines. You know, those wines which are happily associated with winemakers or lead producers, such as Michel Rolland, Christian Moeux, Helen Turley, Andy Erickson ( Screaming Eagle), and many others. These wines are made by David Maisuradze out of the classic Georgian red grape called Saperavi. Both Mukuzani and Saperavi are truly amazing wines, with perfect layered dark fruit on the palate, perfect structure, powerful tannins, and excellent balance. 2005 Mukuzani shows more tannins at this point (it was aged for 24 months in the oak), and while it can be definitely enjoyed right now, it needs another 10-15 years to truly shine. Get it, if you can!
Georgian wines came back to the wine lovers to take the place they really deserve, the product of love and obsession supported by deep roots and traditions. While not easy to find, they are definitely worth looking for. Make an effort, find the bottle, try it, and send me a “thank you” note later on, as I’m sure you will be inclined to do. To the wonderful wine discoveries!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Plonk in the Headlines, Gambero Rosso and more
Meritage Time!
Let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #43, Which One Doesn’t Belong. In the quiz, you were given a list of 6 well know Burgundy wines and you were supposed to identify the one which shouldn’t be on the list and explain why. Same as last time, we have exactly the same two winners – both vinoinlove and thedrunkencyclist were able to correctly identify that Clos de Lambrays shouldn’t be on the list of Grand Cru Monopoles. Monopole essentially is a single appellation in Burgundy which is owned by single family/winery. Clos du Tart, La Grand Rue, La Romanée, La Romanée Conti and La Tache are all Grand Cru Monopoles ( they all have their respective single owners), but tiny portion of Clos de Lambrays has its own separate owner, which makes it unqualified for the “Monopole” denomination. Congratulations to our winners, they are doing great winning the second quiz in the row – will see how long their winning streak will last, but for now they definitely got the unlimited bragging rights.
And now, let’s move on to the interesting stuff around the grapevines. First, the upcoming presidential inauguration created a lot of waves (rather a small tsunami) in the wine world, by selecting Korbel undrinkable plonk as a sparkling wine of choice, and also calling it a “Champagne”. Considering absolutely astonishing availability of great sparkling wines (authentic!!!) made in this country, from New Mexico to California to Virginia to New York, I can only raise both eyebrows (I would raise more if I would have it) at this selection. For a better coverage, you should read what Dr. Vino and Chris Kassel have to say about it. I truly hope that this selection is not indicative of what we should be expecting here in US of the next four years…
What do you think of a blind wine tasting? Do you think it is humbling? You bet. Do you think it is educational? I’m sure it is. But don’t take my word for it – here is an interesting article published by the Wine Spectator and talking about blind tasting experience – I think it will be well worth of your time.
Last but not least – Italian wine lovers, rejoice! Thanks to Stefano from Flora’s table, we now know that Gambero Rosso, one of the most respected and prestigious Italian wine guides, will run the wine tasting events around the US over the next few weeks. For more information about Gambero Rosso events, please visit Stefano’s blog.
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty – but refill is on its way. Until the next time – cheers!
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