The Spanish Quarter - Chardonnay, Albarino and the Human Tower

Mary and I had the opportunity to visit friends out in West Islip Long Island this past Sunday. The day was one of only a few sunny warm days in the past month. June in New York has been wet and soggy almost every day. To celebrate the occasion, we brought a bottle of The Spanish Quarter, 2006, an exciting blend of Chardonnay (60%) and Albarino (40%) grapes. Upon arriving at the Tully's very comfortable and inviting home, Rich Tully asked my preference for serving the wine. Since we had also brought Mary's home-made clam dip I decided that The Spanish Quarter would go perfectly with the seafood. Rich served it enthusiastically out on the deck with the dip for all the guests to enjoy. At first sip Marina Trentacoste uttered "This is very good." I knew immediately we had a winner.

The wine was an interesting straw color, very vibrant and inviting. The nose had hints of citrus, with upfront fruit in the modern manner, and an overlay of peach, and possibly apricot and apple; very aromatic. It was crisp and refreshing. The finish was long and enjoyable, no bitterness but with a sharpness that lingered. The blend of Chardonnay muted some of the Albarino's traditional cutting quality. The bottle was finished in a flash. It was superb with the clams. I'm sure it would go with all seafood dishes. We had not experienced a blend of Chardonnay and Albarino. The Albarino grape is one of the most popular white wines in Spain. According to Gail Wallis of Suite 101:

"The albarino grape originates in Galicia, misty land of the ancient Celts. Located in the lushly green and hilly northwest corner of Spain, Galicia is a land heavily reliant on the fishing industry. The climate here is greatly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, with wet and chilly winters, dry summers, and high humidity—perfect conditions for growing certain white grape varieties, such as Albarino. The grape also grows a bit farther south, in Portugal, where it is known as "alvarinho."

One of the added pluses to the enjoyment of the wine was the label. Mary explained to our friends that it is a hand painted rendition of an ancient Spanish tradition, the building of human pyramids. This takes place each year at the The Fiesta de La Virgen de La Salud (The Feast of the Virgin of Health) at the beginning of September in the town of Algemesi. Acrobats from all over Spain descend on the town and create human towers. The tradition started in late 18th century Catalonia and spread south. My wife tells me a part of this tradition was to have a small child be the very top of the pyramid. I could certainly see a nice bottle of The Spanish Quarter being enjoyed at such a spectacle. You can read about the pyramids in Graham Smith's article. I took the photo I posted here from that piece. It's truly amazing.

The Spanish Quarter also comes in a red variety which is a blend of Cabernet and Tempranillo.

Our visit to the Tully's reached it's crecendo with Idamarie's luscious pork dinner served with carrots, squash and other delicious morsels. Dinner was topped off with some amazing desserts compliments of our friends Sal and Marina Trentacoste and Kathy and Bill Carriero. It was an enjoyable day, with good friends and fine wine and food.

Claremont Vineyards: A Little Bit of Portugal in New York State

A few years ago my wife received a letter from an old friend, Louise Trigo. Louise and Mary stay in touch during holidays. Mary and Louise had known each other when they both participated in the shows sponsored by the Brooklyn Portuguese Club. To our surprise, Louise mentioned that she and her husband Tony had purchased some land upstate with the desire to start a vineyard. We thought, well, God bless them. With our interest in wine we hoped they would do well. Louise recently wrote and said they were harvesting and bottling. Ah, but the best was yet to come. Yesterday, we received an email linking us to Carlo Di Vito's wine blog: Hudson River Valley Wineries. Lo and behold it contained a very flattering and extensive post on the Trigo's winery in Claremont, New York. Kudos!

According to Carlo Di Vito, Tony Trigo is a very enthusiastic wine maker. His vineyard has produced excellent Seyval Blanc and Sangiovese. You can see Tony and Louise harvesting last fall on YouTube.

We wish the Trigos all the luck in the world with their fantastic adventure. I wonder if they have free delivery?

Bob

A Slovenian Riesling

When planning a trip to the Balkans last fall, I anticipated tasting some new wines and possibly purchasing one or two bottles not easily found in the US, perhaps a red wine from Croatia and a white from Slovenia. The Croatian red wines I tasted, particularly those from the islands along the Dalmatian coast were quite good. However, prices in shops in Dubrovnik, where we spent much of our time in Croatia, were fairly steep. The wine-growing area near the city of Mostar in Bosnia-Hercegovina also had a good reputation. This city is well worth a visit but the single wine I tasted though fragrant was quite light and unexceptional.

So, with only a single day remaining on our vacation, we found ourselves on a city tour of Ljubljana with no wine in our luggage. During the tour I noticed a wine shop only a few minutes walk from Congress Square. When the tour was completed we dashed back to the shop. If the old Sherry-Lehmann (on Madison Avenue) were in Ljubljana instead of New York City, I imagine that it might look very much like this shop, Vinoteka Dvor. The sole salesman, who had a polite and precise manner that seemed typically "old world," asked me what I was seeking. Since I am a Riesling fancier who knows that Slovenia is reputed to make some fine wines from this varietal, it is easy to infer my response. The problem is that Slovenian wine includes two sorts of Riesling, Laski and Renski, of which only the latter is the grape that makes famous wines in Alsace, Germany, Austria, etc. Despite the large number of Slovenian wines and those from other countries in the shop, the salesman said that he only had two Renski Rieslings for sale, a dry wine from the Gaube winery and an off dry wine from Klet Bistrica. As my wife looked on, I said that I would take a bottle of each wine. Prices were so reasonable that I fear I would have brought back a bottle of every single Renski Riesling in the shop, no matter how many different wines were in stock.

A few days ago we invited four of our neighbors for dinner and served the 2007 Gaube wine with appetizers. Gaube is a fairly small producer who cultivates 20 acres in the town of Zgorna Kungota in northeastern Slovenia. First impressions of the wine were not auspicious. The bouquet seemed mute, lacking the various floral and fruit smells I associate with German or Alsatian Riesling. The acidity of the first sip or two was more noticeable than any flavor. But soon thereafter, the wine's fruit developed and it began to show a strong presence on the palate. It also had a lovely dry finish. The wine reminded me of some appealing Austrian Rieslings I've tasted. Although I had given our company warning that Slovenian wine was new territory for me and I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, everyone was pleased with the Gaube wine. Needless to say, the 2005 Klet Bistrica Riesling is likely to be consumed soon.

Eric

St. Supery 2007 Sauvignon Blanc: A Show Stopper

Sitting down to dinner the other night brought an exciting surprise. As a part of our nightly anitpasto we were indulging in an imported basil pesto and crackers. Imported from Italy, the pesto is intense, rich and succulent, just right after a long day of dehydrating work. As pleasant as the pesto was it was not the surprise. I opened a 2007 St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc as an accompaniment to our pesto. Mary and I have had St. Supery many times before and had some good experiences along with some fair to middling ones. This time was very different. Sauvignon Blancs usually have citrus, lime and herbal notes. Sometimes the grapfruit is very forward and intense. On this occassion, the grapefruit was there, indeed. What was surprising to us was the intense and totally forward pineapple flavors. It hit like a meteor strike. The pineapple exploded on the tongue and held on for what seemed like minutes. Pow! What excitement. Visions of pineapples from Central America danced in my head. After a time the grapefruit, lime, and green apple notes mixed in with a gentle acidity. The finish was long and zesty. I was reminded of the New Zealand SBs, especially as they were before growers started to dumb down the edginess that brought them to fame.

In reading reviews of the 2007 St. Supery I was struck by the minor role the pinapple flavors played. In fact, some reviewers did not mention pineapple at all. I suggest you give this wine and vintage a try. Let me know what you experience. It's worth the time and effort. You can pick up a bottle for about $20.00.

It's not every weekday night before dinner that such a zingy surprise occurs.

You can learn more about the superb wines produced at St. Supery by going to their equally superb website.

A Winter Dinner with Friends: Falanghina and Cabernet

One of the great joys of winter is sitting down with good friends in a warm and cozy house. Last week we had just such a day when our dearest friends Alden and Maureen came from Brooklyn to be with us. We hadn't seen them in some months so just the thought of seeing them again brought joy to us. Mary planned one of Alden's favorite foods: brisket of beef with some hearty vegetables. The brisket was so big we had to cut it in half and use two pots on top of the stove to prepare them. Mary used carrots, string beams, onions and potatoes to accompany the brisket.

Before dinner, however, we indulged in some antipasto. We offered an Italian blue cheese, a French brie with an accompanying shrimp cocktail. Mary made the cocktail sauce herself. It was mild but excellent. The horseradish was just right for my taste. For the pre-dinner selection I picked a well touted white Italian 2007 Terredora Dipaolo Falanghina. None of us had ever tasted a Falanghina. I'm glad we did. Falanghina is grown in the Campania region of Italy, just north or Naples. It is a savory, very well balanced wine. The color is an amazing yellow unlike most I have seen. The nose was fruity and refreshing. On first taste Mary and I sensed a minerality that was seductive and exciting. I thought it was hinting at green apples though Mary sensed pear. It was perfect with the shrimp and I would say the Falanghina would be wonderful with fish dishes in general.

Dinner was equally interesting. Alden brought a bottle of Cellar No. 8 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Asti Winery in Sonoma California. Alden mentioned that it was, I think, under $10.00 a bottle. Cellar No. 8 has a real history to it in the annals of Oliva/Brown wine tasting. Some years ago I found a bottle of Cellar No. 8 Zinfandel at the Stewart Spirits Wine Shop in Floral Park (now defunct). I was unsuccessful in finding another bottle until Alden came across it in Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn. For the price, it is a fine, well bred wine. The nose was a bit muted but the color was full and almost grape juice looking. The upfront flavor was not strong but it was full and well balanced with a strong spice to the finish. The wine possessed a plum or dark cherry flavor. I had hoped for a tad more strength and complexity but it was very pleasing and went perfectly with the brisket of beef. Which, by the way, was superb. Mary cooked it until it nearly melted at first taste.

The day was very successful. We enjoyed seeing our friends once again both human and varietal.

Bob

Eric Steinberg's Top Wines of 2008

1. 1985 Ch. L’Evangile (Pomerol)

2. 1985 Ch. Le Tertre Rotebouef (St. Emilion)

3. 1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Le Haut-Lieu Premiere Trie Moelleux

4. 1990 Weingut Meulenhof Erdener Treppchen Auslese #8

5. 1991 Weingut Immich-Batterieberg Enkircher Batterieberg Spatlese

6. 1994 Weingut J.J. Christoffel Ürziger Würzgarten Spatlese

7. 1997 Ridge Vineyards York Creek Zinfandel

8. 2004 Condado de Haza (Ribera del Duero)

9. 2005 Weingut Clemens Busch “Vom Roten Schiefen”

10. 2005 Sbragia Family Winery Andolsen Vineyard Dry Creek Cabernet Sauvignon

I’ve already posted some comments on Wine Tasters about wines #1, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9.

#2: Medium ruby color with some browning at edges, Big bouquet packed with fruit and a caramel overtone. After some initial bitterness the wine becomes smooth, with a very distinctive taste and good intensity. Superior Bordeaux, even if it lacks the elegance of #1.

#5. 1991, which was not a stellar vintage in the Mosel, was Georg Immich’s swan song, as he left the estate after the vintage. This is a wine I have admired since first tasting it in Germany in 1993. When I tasted it a couple months ago, it was deep gold, almost copper colored, with a rich fruity nose, a taste that reminded me of nuts and a dry finish. In sum, it was in the typical Immich style but perhaps atypical for Mosel Rieslings.

#8 and #10. These two wines were tasted on the same occasion and overshadowed a number of other good wines, including a very young and robust 2005 Cap de Faugeres. Condado de Haza is owned by Alejandro Fernandez, whose Pesquera was among the first Ribera del Duero wines to gain international acclaim. In the last 10 to 15 years I have had a number of Condado de Haza wines but I don’t remember a single one that was nearly as impressive as the 2004. It has a very rich, spicy taste but still with the elegance and complexity I associate with traditional Tempranillo wines. The Sbragia wine, from the winery of the long-time winemaker at Beringer, is one of the most attractive California Cabernets I have had in a long time. Because of its spicy and berry taste, as well as the influence of new wood, it’s a seductive wine. Yet, it has depth, structure and lasts in the mouth. Of the many wines tasted that evening, it was my favorite.

Coming Soon: The Year's Ten Best Wines

Eric and I will be posting our ten best wines for 2008. Come back soon and see if you agree.

Bob