Tag sauvignon blanc

Entries 8 Total

White Grape Varieties of Colli Orientali del Friuli: Regional Varietal Characteristics Cards

May 2, 12 6:26 PM

Colli Orientali del Friuli celebrates a blending of a Mediterranean with an Alpine climate–the mild temperatures brought by the sea, coupled with the drying winds from air rushing water to mountain. The calcium rich ponca (marl) of the Eonician sea bed that covers the appellation guarantees distinct minerality in the wines as well. As a result, the area is brilliant for white wines, and creates world class examples from a range of grapes.

Indigenous Grapes

As mentioned here previously, the wine makers of Colli Orientali carry a deep commitment to grapes indigenous to their hills and valleys. As a result, the region hosts wines truly unique to their soils.

Friulano

click on comic to enlarge

Considered the signature white of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Friulano boasts a combination of rich texture, full body, and delicate flavors. Tending towards moderate to lower acid, wines from this grape readily carry a rounded, almost fatty mouth feel. However, many wine makers of Colli Orientali play with such texture by beginning to test for acid levels on the grapes early, striving for that perfect balance of rich texture and still bright acidity.

Malvasia Istriana

click on comic to enlarge

One of several grapes known as part of the Malvasia family, Malvasia Istriana is a strain native to the Istria peninsula, and readily grown in Colli Orientali, as well as Collio of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. This strain of Malvasia grows throughout the border region of Friuli, found in the hillsides of its nearest neighbors as well–Croatia and Slovenia.

Claiming the grape is indigenous to Friuli is lightly slippery as the grape is believed to originate from cuttings brought by merchants from Greece and then planted in the Friulian hillsides. Today, the grape grows almost exclusively in the Friuli region. However, some small plantings are also to be found in Emilia, to the southwest of Friuli, where it is used to produce a sparkling white wine.

Picolit

click on comic to enlarge

An unusual grape that celebrates a firm foothold throughout Colli Orientali, Picolit is used primarily in the region for making a sweet, dessert style wine. However, some wine makers also use small quantities of the grape in white blends to bring a fuller body and lightly sweet notes to their wine.

Picolit has been found to be an incredibly old variety with information showing it reaching back all the way to the Roman empire. In its history, Picolit has celebrated distinction at the tables of emperors and popes, as well as leaders from countries throughout Europe. It has also nearly faced extinction only to be saved again through its offering as a gift to kings through Europe.

Today many wine growers in Colli Orientali have at least some small portion of Picolit planted. It is considered a wine to share with friends, or give as a gift, and is often celebrated at the end of a meal as a token of “sweets for the last.”

Picolit also boasts its own DOCG as it is considered a unique grape and associated style with excellent quality.

Ribolla Gialla

click on comic to enlarge

Because of its documented history back to the 14th century, Ribolla Gialla is believed to be even older to the region. The grape showcases a brilliantly clean neutrality that allows it to really show the unique minerality of the region’s soils. The varieties naturally high acidity keeps its wines crisp and light serving as a wonderful palate cleanser. Historically, the wine was also used to make sweet wines, but today is generally produced clean and dry.

Verduzzo friulano

click on comic to enlarge

Grown throughout Friuli, Verduzzo friulano is commonly associated with the DOCG designated wine Ramandolo, of the hills of the village Ramandolo. There the grape is treated to a unique sweet wine process that keeps good acidity alongside mouth gripping tannins.

The wine Ramandolo has a documented history back to the 15th century where it is known to have been served to popes and distinguished nobles. However, the grape’s history in the region of Friuli is believed to reach back to ancient times.

The grape Verduzzo friulano is unique in that it is a white variety that carries very high tannin levels. Its nearest genetic relatives have been shown to be entirely made up of red grapes, and so it is believed that Verduzzo originates as a genetic mutation from a red grape.

Though the grape is most commonly used to make the sweet wine Ramandolo, it is also used by some wine makers as a blending grape bringing textural qualities and weight to their white wines.

International Varieties

Though Colli Orientali has a special focus on its indigenous grapes the region also celebrates a host of high quality white wines from International varieties.

Chardonnay

click on comic to enlarge

Colli Orientali showcases a host of wonderfully crisp, good aging, good quality Chardonnays with many wine makers choosing to produce varietals of this grape without oak influence. Other wine makers in the area choose to generate a richer bodied, still mineral driven rendition by allowing malo-lactic fermentation and oak influence.

Chardonnay is considered one of the most important international white varieties in the region, though originally it was planted under the belief that the clones were Pinot Bianco. Today the confusion has been cleared up and the region readily grows quality chardonnay vines.

Pinot Bianco

click on comic to enlarge

A uniquely flavored and scented variety, Pinot Bianco (aka. Pinot Blanc) originates in France as a mutation of Pinot Nero (aka Pinot Noir). Though the grape is now less commonly grown in Colli Orientali than the international varieties Chardonnay or Sauvignon, there are some distinct, good quality Pinot Biancos celebrated in the region. Its good acidity and warming alcohol levels make it a nice pairing for richer starter dishes like lightly creamy soups, or egg dishes.

Pinot Grigio

click on comic to enlarge

Though the grape Pinot Grigio is commonly associated with a crisp, clean, light flavored style wine, the variety originally tended to have a much fuller body and richer flavor in the Colli Orientali region.

Prior to the 1960s, the more common production style for this wine was to ferment it on skins allowing the pink or gray color of the grape to tint the juice, and the tannin and flavor of the grape body to impact the wine as well. The practice known as Pinot Grigio Ramato is still made in the region ranging from only a couple of days on skins with filtering following–leading to a richly textured, more fully flavored but still light bodied wine–to a full month on skins–creating a brightly colored, highly textured ‘white’ wine. Though they can be found, these extended skin-contact wines are not commonly sold on the market.

It is usual, however, to find the more commonly expected ultra light, often steely, apertif style wine from Pinot Grigio. Today Pinot Grigio from Colli Orientali will be sold either as a white, or as a lightly copper colored wine from skin contact occurring for 48 hours or less.

Riesling

click on comic to enlarge

One of the less cultivated international varieties in the region, Riesling was imported to the region from Germany and is used in Colli Orientali to produce a dry style, crisp white wine with good acidity and bright, fresh fragrance.

Some of the wine makers we met referred to it as their project for fun.

Sauvignon

click on comic to enlarge

Named by Bobby Stuckey, of Frasca in Boulder, as Colli Orientali’s “secret weapon,” Sauvignon (Blanc) has garnered special attention in and for the appellation. The consortium of wine makers for Colli Orientali del Friuli invested in a six-year research project specifically focused on the grape as a means of both determining what made the variety distinctive in its region, and to compare it against the famous Sauvigon Blancs of both France and New Zealand. The result of the study was to move forward an already world class quality wine.

The minerality of the soil produces a crisp herbal and tomato leaf nose to the wine coupled with good structure and a full body. The bright acidity makes it well suited to food, or as a pleasing apertif.

Traminer aromatico

click on comic to enlarge

Known elsewhere as Gewurtztraminer, Traminer aromatico carries an unknown origin with some placing its start in Germany, and others in the Alsace region of France. Its movement into Italy is also uncertain, but today it is most commonly grown in Trentino, and in Friuli. That said, it is a beloved grape to the region, and yet also less focused on than the international whites of Chardonnay and Sauvignon.

The grape is known for its highly aromatic qualities, and in Colli Orientali its overall crispness is boosted by the growing conditions of the region.

***

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Comments (2)

Well Aged Whites: Tasting at Livio Felluga, The Terre Alte

Apr 23, 12 2:40 AM

One of the insights of our visit to Colli Orientali del Friuli was how readily the region produces white wines that age well. A number of our winery visits included older white wines with their wine makers showcasing these bottles in order to share with us first hand the treasure developed in the appellation.

At Specogna it was a 1998 Chardonnay with incredible vibrancy. Conte d’ Attimis-Maniago let us select a 1997 Friulano that even having originally been made to drink young still carried fresh and lively aromatics. Ronchi di Cialla finished our lunch with a 1983 Verduzzo that brought together a mouth gripping texture with concentrated fruit and nut flavors. Livio Felluga offered a side by side tasting of their Terre Alte blend–1997, 1999, and then, for comparison, 2009. In each case, with differing white grape types, the wines were ready to drink, and enjoy.

Livio Felluga

A Missoni Rendition of the Livio Felluga Label

Planting his wine passion in 1956, Livio Felluga helped develop the wine industry of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Beginning his vineyard projects immediately after the region became part of the country of Italy, Felluga faced the challenges of a post-war countryside. The region had suffered particular economic hardships during the World Wars, and though historical vineyards still stood through the hillsides of the border area most were abandoned or severely damaged as a result of the mid-century difficulties. Additionally, many indigenous grapes were no longer being produced as international varieties had been planted through the region during the post-phylloxera revitalization. Felluga focused his efforts on identifying vineyards still healthy enough to be restored, and on planting new vines in suitable soil through the Colli Orientali and Collio appellations.

Today, the winery of Livio Felluga is managed by his four sons and daughter, but as his daughter told us, Livio still visits the vines regularly, taking time to walk through his vineyards and check their overall health.

Inspired by the history of his region, Felluga chose a portion from a historical map of the area as his original label. Considered unique, the label has been celebrated by artists and writers from around the world as an expression of Felluga’s joy for the region he helped root a vibrant wine industry within.

Livio Felluga Terre Alte

click on comic to enlarge

One of the signature white blends of the Livio Felluga winery, the Terre Alte celebrates a blend of Friulano, Sauvignon, and Pinot Bianco. As they explain, there is no formula for the blend. Instead, the character of the vintage determines what will best balance the quality of the three grapes within the bottle.

The Felluga family selected two older vintages of the Terre Alte for us to taste specifically so we could experience directly how well Colli Orientali del Friuli does in producing long lived white wines. They then also set a more recent vintage of the same blend alongside as comparison.

The 1997 and 1999 both showed vibrant and bright in the glass, very much ready to drink and enjoy now. As Jeremy described, the 1997 drank as a wine stretching its muscles–focused on fitness–while the 1999 carried itself more comfortably “like it was wearing a suit and ready to go out to dinner”–focused on style. To put it another way, the 1999 was more comfortable in the glass. Both showed impressive structure, and freshness both, while the 1999 felt rounder and the 1997 leaner on the palate. Each, admittedly, also showed as very slightly oxidized, though the 1999 was more so.

The newer vintage, the 2009, offered a more candied character while also a more precise expression, and crisper overall mouth feel.

Thank you very much to the Felluga family and winery for hosting us at the tasting room, and afterwards for lunch. We were able to eat at their Agriturismo across the street from the tasting room. The food and company carried a wonderful balance of rich flavor and lightness that led me to tell Whitney that the lunch was deepening my capacity for joy. The whole day really did. As mentioned in a previous post, Chris and I spent much of the meal nodding across the table at each other in appreciation of the food. He took some wonderful pictures of it as well. What a treat!

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Comments (2)

For the Friends: Wonderful Wines with Specogna and Toblar

Apr 12, 12 2:42 PM

We were lucky enough to share dinner with the Specogna family. They were so generous as to pull two different wines right from the barrel for us–a Picolit we closed dinner with (something sweet for last), and a Pinot Grigio Ramato that had been on skins for a month (it is a wine “For Friends”, as Christian told us. How lucky to have such friends! I count myself truly blessed.).

With the meal we tasted through a good portion of the Specogna portfolio, including the father’s 1998 Chardonnay that showed incredible life and richness–flavors of almond, lime zest and light pepper. A real treat.

An interesting surprise was tasting how well the Ramato paired with the family’s Rovata–a bean soup made with fermented turnip that stole my heart. The Ramato had the pleasing tannin effect and overall almost crunchy texture of the long skin contact style with nutty, light date, lime zest and maple notes alongside the salt mineral notes common to the region, all shown through a vibrant strawberry-copper color.

Check out Whitney’s picture of the gorgeous wine–

I really am so grateful.

Specogna

click on comic to enlarge

Specogna wines carry a style much like their spokesman, Cristian–passionate, enlivened and enlivening, fresh, and richly expressive. I was impressed by the work he and his brother Michele are doing, and by their presence as well.

Toblar

Michele Specogna has also ventured into a second wine making project with Paolo Duri. Together they are producing a portfolio of wonderful wines under the label Toblar. We were able to taste their Schioppettino during dinner with the Specogna family, and then to taste three more of their portfolio later during our visit in Colli Orientali del Friuli.

click on comic to enlarge

The Schioppettino was one of the most elegant presentations of the varietal we tasted during the trip. The Refosco carried a great balance of Refosco’s signature strength in a more integrated and drinkable presentation. It was one of the most approachable, and at the same time distinctly Refosco varietals we tasted.

Thank you so much, again, to the Specogna family and Violetta Babina for your generosity, and warmth of spirit.

***

Keep an eye out! Specogna and Toblar wines are being imported to the UK, and are soon to be imported into the United States as well. I honestly can’t wait to have more wines from both labels!

***

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Comments (3)

Colli Orientali del Friuli Sauvignon: Considering the Variety’s Local Typicity

Apr 4, 12 8:16 PM

Colli Orientali del Friuli Sauvignon Characteristics Card

click on comic to enlarge

One of the projects of the Colli Orientali del Friuli is to recognize and celebrate the unique typicity of not only its indigenous grapes, but also the long established international varieties. Because of the diversely mixed political history of the region, the area has celebrated the introduction of grapes known more famously in other grape parts of the world. Unfortunately, in many cases the introduction of new grape types has also accompanied the loss of indigenous ones. Friuli has a deep commitment to cultivating the grapes peculiar to the area–Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia, Schioppettino, Refosco, to name a few–but also has a dedication to developing and understanding those international varieties with their own long standing local tradition, and the continued potential for strong relationship with the local terroir.

With such a commitment in mind, the Consortium of Wine Makers in Colli Orientali del Friuli has sought to understand the uniqueness of Sauvignon in the region–the grape elsewhere known by its longer name, Sauvignon Blanc. Having now tasted tens of varietals, as well as Sauvignon-based blends from this DOC, it is clear the grape produces a distinctive profile here.

Part of the influence on the grape’s style in this region finds its roots in the unique soil itself–a distinct marl of clay and lime formed as the result of the Eocenic seabed that once filled these valleys and covered these hills. Other influences grow out of the unique climate developed by the wind influence of air lifting from the Adriatic towards the Alps. Further, the commitment of the people themselves establishes the flavor and structural profile of the grape here.

The characteristics shown in the Sauvignon card are those named for the Colli Orientali in their description of the DOC’s typicity for the variety. They are consistent with a common expression shown alongside producer variations for the Sauvignon’s we have tasted on this trip.

***

To read more about our tour through the Colli Orientali check out our group’s conglomerate blog here: http://cof2012.com/

Thank you again to the Colli Orientali del Friuli for organizing a spectacular range of visits throughout their beautiful region! Thank you too, again, to Jeremy for including me!

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Comments (4)

Understanding Orange Wines 4: Abe Schoener’s Scholium Project: The Prince in His Caves 2010, San Floriano Normale 2006

Feb 25, 12 12:39 AM

Abe Schoener, Scholium Project winemaker, as Thor

click on comic to enlarge

Considering the Meaning of the Germanic-Norse God Thor

From the 8th to 12th centuries a campaign to Christianize Scandinavia ensued with missionaries first venturing into Denmark and over time slowly establishing a network of churches through Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and later Finland. During this time period, many people in the regions became nominally Christian but simultaneously showed resistance in other ways. One way in which this is seen is that the god Thor stood as a popular symbol of working against the demands of the missionaries to instead maintain ones own commitments, even while the larger system of Christianity stayed in place. People were seen wearing symbols of Thor to express such interest. In this way, the symbolic history of the god Thor includes working against the larger social system in place without necessarily undoing it.

Thor now is often recognized as a kind of storm god, because of his pictorial associations with lightning, and other cloud formations. However, scholars have found that Thor’s deeper associations actually included family, community and fruitful health of the fields. The god does bring lightning with him as he travels when needed. He is also connected with the growth of oak trees, fertility, and healing. Further, it has been found that Thor has carried a presence across centuries of tradition, reaching from Ancient times all the way into contemporary interest. Over time he has been seen with many nicknames, even while the symbols surrounding him are consistent. (I promise talk of Thor will be relevant in a moment.)

Tasting Orange Wines: Italians Alongside California’s Scholium Project

Several weeks ago several of us tasted five orange wines–three Italian and two from Abe Schoener of the Scholium Project–alongside each other. (For more on the Italian orange wines, and a picture of the wines that shows their rich color and opacity side-by-side check out Thursday’s post. Incidentally, the name Thursday actually originates in honor of the god Thor. Honest.) In tasting the five wines together a family of style showed itself between the Italian wines on the one hand, and the Scholium wines on the other. There was a kind of textural quality common to each set that differed from that of the other. Orange wines vary so much from the kinds of wine most people are used to it can be challenging to describe the experience of tasting them. In seeing how the Italian wines diverged from the Californian it seemed metaphor best captured familial congruence. While the Italian wines drank as if they embodied themselves in the glass, the Scholium wines had a focused, sharp precision as if they were shooting light from the glass before you’d even finished pouring them.

Wine Maker Abe Schoener

Abe Schoener of Scholium Project has become a kind of mythical figure with a strong cult following. His wines deviate so consistently from the mainstream perception of California wine style they take on their own sort of cult of personality, associated with the perceived personality of their maker, but garnering a following of their own. On the wine geek-hipster side of things, much of the passion people hold for Schoener’s wines arises out of their departure from the nominal style of California. He does his own thing within the surrounding region without falling to expected styles of the area, and without changing the way the overall system works either. California is comfortable with what it does in wine.

Schoener also garners a following, however, from his own personal story, and the commitments he brings to his work. Originally a philosophy professor, in the late 1990s Schoener began to grow tired of academia and turned to deepening his knowledge of wine. While touring and learning in Napa Valley he eventually connected with wine maker John Kongsgaard and assisted with him for a year. As the story goes, at the end of the year, Kongsgaard sent Schoener off to begin making wine on his own believing he had gained the knowledge to step into his own production process. Taking a risk, Schoener gave up academic life all together and began funding his wine interests with credit cards and a couple of small financial supporters.

Schoener avoids the claim that he purposefully makes wines that taste different from his area’s surrounding wine makers. But he readily admits that he experiments with various production techniques and describes his wines as a project in which he’ll try something new and hopefully learn to emulate those he admires. Schoener also states that his goals are to let the wine manage itself, so to speak, while also producing a style that reflects the place, the harvest year, and the grapes themselves. However, Schoener’s wines often show such difference from how the involved varieties are usually expected to taste that he avoids naming the grapes on the label and instead offers the name of the vineyard from which the fruit was harvested, and a title he believes captures that particular wine’s personality (most often historical literature references).

Creating Scholium Project Review Comics

My wine comics generally include some visual reference to an element from the wine label being reviewed. However, the label of Scholium Project wines consistently carry an elegant presentation of the first proposition of Newton’s Principia. I’ve drawn a Scholium wine previously and as such wanted a different challenge of presentation for a comic of these wonderful wines. In reflecting on the original experience I had with Scholium orange wines alongside the Italians the reference to light shooting from the glass stood out. Between the similarity that description has with lightning, and the god Thor’s association with the health of fields, as well as oak, fertility and healing I realized two things. Thor is connected to a range of elements deeply entwined with the wine makers life, and, like Thor, Schoener would seem to have the ability to wield the power of lightning. To put it another way, Abe Schoener–a newly found nickname for the god Thor.

Scholium Project The Prince in His Caves 2010

click on comic to enlarge

100% Sauvignon Blanc

The Prince in His Caves is an orange wine produced entirely from Sauvignon Blanc. It has been an ongoing project of Schoener’s released now for a handful of years. Illustrative of Schoener’s commitment to developing his abilities, the Caves project has been produced with a similar basis of technique–foot stomping of grapes with extended skin contact, thus making it an orange wine–each vintage but with tweaking of the details of production to allow for recognition of that year’s grape qualities. As such, the Cave project is very vintage driven.

The 2010 rendition of The Prince in His Caves is a vibrant, enlivening, and at the same time elegant wine showing a surprising mix of characteristics, as must be expected from any orange wine. The alcohol here is fairly high at 14.02% and thus the wine is warming, but the effect turns out pleasing alongside the medium high acidity and smooth medium tannin. This is not a wine that burns. The flavors here show similarities to ginger-peach tea in a manner desirable from the wine glass. Those notes are expanded by a bouquet and flavor of honeysuckle, touches of white pepper, and a surprising, lovely bite of pickled lemon. For such a range of characteristics, the Prince still shows as well balanced. The finish here is impressively long leaving light in the mouth for at least two runs around the block.

Scholium Project San Floriano Normale 2006

click on comic to enlarge

100% Pinot Grigio

Schoener’s 2006 San Floriano Normale exemplifies his willingness to admit when an experiement didn’t really work out, as well as his interest in seeing what he can do to work with it. As he describes it, the acidity on the original version of this wine was so high it was verging on undrinkable. He reblended barrels and aged the wine in a mix of conditions (in the cellar, outside on the patio, back in the cellar, back outside, etc) for five years before bottling, thus turning a skin fermented pinot grigio into an incredibly textured chocolatey, rich fruit wine with tang, both richness and precision, and sherry or madeira like notes. It shows both the oxidative elements of sherry, and the rich flavors associated with maderization.

incredibly, the alcohol on this wine is high at 16.98%. It definitely carries the heat of such alcohol and yet the body of the wine makes it work. My fear in tasting the San Floriano Normale was that with the high alcohol-medium high acidity combination this wine would burn the mouth as it got warmer. Initially I was certain that it needed to be served partially chilled. In actuality the wine handled drinking warm quite well and remained pleasant, without burning as high alcohol and acid together will tend to do.

Both of the Scholium Project orange wines were liked by the group in our tasting, and a couple of the tasters went on to order some of the Prince in His Caves to have with dinner. They’re wines that are fascinating on their own, and also work alongside food.

***

Thanks again to Kim for requesting the orange wine focus. It’s been fun to delve so deeply into the phenomenon, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it, Kim. There are numerous other orange wines in the world. I have a few more in cellar that will appear here in the future.

If you’re interested in knowing about other orange wines, check out Dr. Vino’s nice long list that includes many of them.

http://www.drvino.com/2011/10/29/orange-wines-levi-dalton-decanting/

Thank you to Dan for encouraging me to go ahead with the Thor cartoon. I was nervous about doing it but am happy with how it turned out, and appreciate the push to take a risk. I hope Abe Schoener finds it funny as well.

***

Have a wine focus you’d like to see explored here through comics and write up? Please feel free to email me at lilyelainehawkwakawaka (at) gmail (dot) com . I enjoy the challenge, and hearing from you too!

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Comments (1)

Understanding Orange Wines 3: Italian Orange Wines: Gravner Breg, Vodopivec Classica, Bea Arboreus, Coenobium Rusticum

Feb 23, 12 7:11 AM

Gravner Breg; San Floriano Normale Scholium Project; The Prince in His Caves Scholium Project; Vodopivec Classica; Paolo Bea Arboreus

The photograph of five of the eight orange wines reviewed in this four part feature on orange wine gives you a sense of how rich the color and opacity of these wines can be. Remember too that each of those five wines shown above was made with what are otherwise thought of as white wine grapes.

Italian Orange Wines

In the orange wine phenomenon Italy stands among wine geeks generally as the most well-known, and desired center of production. Producers like Gravner in Friuli, and Bea in Umbria are famous and followed among wine geeks, seen as the originators of a new tradition of unusual wine.

Interestingly, as recently as the 1950s what we now call orange wines were being made by various producers in Italy simply as one possible way to make wine with white grapes. However, by the 1960s such practices were dwindling with the idea that more contemporary methods, including removing skin contact, was the more appropriate, technically correct way to make white wine.

As will be discussed further, in the 1990s Georgian Amber wine making tradition reintroduced the orange wine making process to Italian wine makers leading to the reintegration of extended skin contact (maceration) and the possibility of using earthenware fermentation vessels (called kvevri in Georgia, anfora in Italy). Though the use of clay is sometimes mistakenly taken as fundamental to orange wine production, in actuality it is not necessary to the process. Maceration with white grapes is definitive of orange wine, with the use of anfora being only one possible way to produce such wine.

Paolo Bea 2006 Arboreus

click on comic to enlarge

100% Trebbiano Spoletino

In the Umbria region of Italy, Paolo Bea‘s farm uses 80-100 year old, pre-phylloxera vines that exhibit a unique constitution. They’ve been trained to grow like trees with the canes on the vine pointing up allowing a great space underneath. The tradition of growing vines in the arboreus fashion reaches back to pre-tractor farming when crops were planted mixed together. By teaching the vines to grow up like trees farmers could better utilize the ground underneath to produce other crops. It was not until the introduction of motorized tractors that arboreus vines were commonly removed and differing crop types were regularly planted separately.

Bea is well known for his interesting and high quality, low production, artisan style wine. His Arboreus named wine is made with full skin contact entirely of one grape–Trebbiano Spoletino–and fermented with partially dried grapes mixed in as well to add richness of flavor. Once the wine has fermented it is aged in stainless steel tanks without temperature control for 4 years. The resulting wine is rich, clean, and lovely.

Bea’s style is known for being hugely vintage specific. Because of his low intervention style of wine making, and commitment to biodynamics, the ripeness of the grapes from year to year, as well as other factors like how wet the season has been, show strong impact on the resulting wine. Incredibly, the 2006 vintage included only 80 cases, further emphasizing the low production aspects of Bea’s wine making.

Bea’s 2006 Arboreus was both lightly flavored and full body-textured in the mouth. It carried a strong soft palate focus so that the flavors of the wine hit at the back and top of the mouth showcasing the fullness. The flavors included white peach and pear alongside light passionfruit, and white flowers, filled out by anise, maple, and distinct bergamot. The acidity here is medium high keeping your mouth watering over the medium tannins. This is a sexy wine with pleasing texture.

The Bea was the favorite of at least two of the ten people that participated in a private tasting of this and four other orange wines. Everyone present (that was willing to select favorites) included it in their top two.

Coenobium Rusticum 2009

click on comic to enlarge

45% Trebbiano, 35% Malvasia, 20% Verdicchio,

Just 30 miles north of Rome, the Coenobium wines are produced on site at Monastero Suore Cistercensi. There the nuns of Cistercensi tend the grapes and make the wine by hand. The nuns are invested in very low intervention practices allowing fermentation to occur based on only naturally occurring yeasts, and completely organic practices. Amazingly, the nuns draw on the talents of Giampiero Bea, son of Paolo Bea, maker of the Arboreus wine just mentioned to develop their wine making techniques.

The blend on this Coenobium Rusticum 2009 is pert and showy. It leaps from the glass ready to dance strong floral, woody, apple skin scents. The truth is this wine needs some age to really celebrate what it has to offer. Currently the youth shows as fume-y making the bouquet almost medicinal. However, the structure is there in this wine to support time in the bottle. Also, the Coenobium Rusticum has a respected recent vintage history that shows it tends to do well with some age, becoming more layered and grounded with time. That said, there are clear notes of yellow apple skin, and Macintosh apple along side vegetal characteristics and white tropical flowers here. The tannins are medium high, drying the mouth over the medium acidity.

This wine is also known for doing very well after opening. As Alder Yarrow explains on his blog Vinography, the extended maceration (skin contact) fundamental to orange wine production makes orange wines, and certainly the Coenobium Rusticum, more resistant to the negative effects of oxygen exposure. That is, while most wines will keep only a couple of days after being opened, according to Yarrow’s article on a previous vintage of the Coenobium, this orange wine can keep for several weeks after being opened when kept cool. He also recommends decanting the wine early in the day for drinking in the evening to allow the flavors to really open properly.

For those of you interested in purchasing some orange wines, the Coenobium Rusticum is available at a lesser price than the other Italian orange wines (though the Georgian orange wines reviewed Monday are of similar price, if you can locate them–they are harder to find) and so is a good value. The nuns produce the wine as part of their spiritual practices and also to support their facility but also purposefully keep their costs very low all around.

Vodopivec Classica 2005 Vitovska

click on comic to enlarge

100% Vitovska

Everything about this wine is sexy. The texture is rich, and the flavors are subtle and evocative. As ridiculous as it might sound, this wine carries the soft intensity of a woman whispering she wants you–the intimacy and sensuality of such a moment captures the feeling of giving yourself to this glass. The wine carries light oxidation offering subtle sherry-like qualities with very light fruit. The oxidation effect here pumps up the mineral-like elements and with the smaller fruit focus the glass has a lot of refreshing sea air and mineral to it. All of this is rounded out with spice notes of clove and licorice. What a lovely wine!

Paolo Vodopivec is an exciting man to study–video interviews of him online show his focused passion for the wine he makes and the land he cares for. This passion is further expressed through his commitment to a rather obscure grape indigenous to the Fruili-Slovenia border. Vodopivec’s wines are made with the Vitovska grape, which is so uncommon it appears in only one English language wine book. The grape originates from Slovenia but is now grown more over the mountain range in the Friuli region of Italy.

Though Vodopivec does make anfora wine, the Classica is made using Slovenian oak. Vitovska is kept on skin contact for two weeks in oak, then once fermentation is complete (using only indigenous yeast and no temperature control) the wine is aged for two years in Slovenian oak barrels.

This wine was one of my favorites in all the orange wines tasted–it is a lovely, approachable wine, that is also intriguing to drink, and effectively pushes all my love-for-grape-obscurity buttons.

Gravner Anfora Breg 2004

click on comic to enlarge

45% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Pinot Grigio, 15% Chardonnay

Josko Gravner is the most famous of the world’s orange wine makers. As the story goes, in 1996 a friend of Gravner traveled to Georgia and witnessed wine makers there making Georgian Amber wine in kvevri–earthenware vessels. The friend was certain Gravner would enjoy experimenting with making wine in the Georgian fashion and so purchased a kvevri and sent it to Gravner in the Friuli region of Italy. Gravner spent several years learning, and experimenting with the kvevri and orange wine making techniques.

By the second half of the 1990s Gravner was already considered one of the best white wine makers in all of Italy. His abilities were famous and as a result he had numerous wine makers from around the country that would travel to Friuli to study with him. At that time his celebrated abilities were focused primarily on making white wine in a contemporary fashion (no skin contact) with fermentation and aging occurring in oak barrels. However, after several years experimenting with wine making in clay, Gravner shifted his wine portfolio completely and released his first all anfora wine collection in 2001, made too with extended skin contact, thus making them anfora-based orange wines.

In the same sweep from oak to anfora, Gravner also moved deeply into biodynamic practices speaking of the poisons created by non-biodynamic wines on the one hand, and the spirit of the wine on the other. Gravner’s website explicitly states that he bottles on the waning moon, a practice integral to fully-vested biodynamic treatises. The initial public response to Gravner’s shift was that he was crazy. His wine sales dropped, and his wines were deemed atypical to the regional type, further impacting his marketing credibility. By 2006 though orange wine had become a major geek-wine fetish with Gravner as the mystical head shaman of this cult world.

Tasting Gravner’s Breg Anfora makes clear that his work with orange wines is not merely a matter of wine-geek paradise. Gravner is doing something special here. In the private tasting that included this wine, 10 of us all in or connected to the food and wine industries tasted five orange wines side-by-side. While there was strong interest in each of the five wines, the Gravner received the most all around appreciation for its balance and complexity.

The Gravner Breg has a rich, warming effect in the mouth. It shows beautiful complexity offering dried fruits with floral characteristics, alongside leather, and forest floor with spice. This is a savory wine that would do well with salty foods. The unusual nature of these orange wines meant the group was willing throughout the tasting to fall to metaphor and brief story elements to explain the experience of drinking these wines. The regular “tastes like apple” type notes simply wouldn’t suffice. With Gravner’s Breg the comment was that this wine is like drinking oysters next to a man that had just finished a pleasantly sweaty work day. The savory aspects of this wine are seafood and sweat delicate in the most wonderful way.

***

Friday we’ll complete the series focusing on orange wines by looking at a couple of orange wines from California.

***

Thank you to Garret at Italian Wine Merchants for his help in locating the Gravner, Bea, and Vodopivec wines mentioned here.

Thanks again to Kim for writing to ask if I’d do an orange wine feature! I hope you’re enjoying it!

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Comments (5)

Two Bordeaux Blanc Blends: Signorello 2008 Seta, Chateau Haut Bian 2010

Jan 13, 12 1:53 AM

Bordeaux Blanc Blends

A good Bordeaux blanc carries the herbal-woody nose of Semillon, with the crisp fruit of the Sauvignon Blanc; the weighty middle palate of the Semillon, with the fresh acidity of the Sauvignon Blanc. The blend of the two grape varieties offers a light candy bouquet.

The following two wines represent two different quality levels, and origins for Bordeaux blancs, both great for white seafood, shellfish, or as an apertif.

Chateau Haut Rian 2010 Bordeaux Blanc

click on comic to enlarge

The Chateau Haut Rian is a good value table wine with fresh, crisp citrus, tart green apple, and star fruit accompanied by dried grass and pleasing minerals. In the mouth there are also light notes of white pepper, and medium-plus acidity keeping the flavors distinctive and bright.

Signorello 2008 Seta Napa Valley

click on comic to enlarge

The Seta 2008 by Signorella offers clean, fresh, distinctive flavors showing the herbal woody qualities of semillon balanced by the acidity and fruit of the sauvignon blanc. The flinty minerals bring a lovely balance. This is a nice quality wine that is a pleasure to drink.

 

Copyright 2011 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Leave a Comment

Tasting Through Sauvignon Blanc: Wine Reviews, Regional Differences, and Varietal Characteristics (with a hello to Julie!)

Jan 6, 12 2:40 AM

Thanks to Julie for her interest in Sauvignon Blanc!

***

Sauvignon Blanc is yet another grape that carries uncertain origins. There are a number of potential parent plants, each placing its possible motherland in differing areas of the world. What we do know is that its more contemporary history roots the grape in Western France, both Bordeaux and the Loire Valley. From here the vine has traveled throughout the wine growing regions of the world.

The phylloxera outbreak of the late 1800′s deeply impacted the grapes production volume throughout Europe, resulting in vines now younger than the crisis in that region. However, the planet still showcases Sauvignon Blanc vines older than the phylloxera epidemic as cuttings were transported to Chile before the infestation of Europe. Chile remains the only country in the world never impacted by the phylloxera louse as its geography offers natural protection through the desert in the North, the mountains to the East, and the ocean on the West. As a result, some of the oldest vines in the world (of other grape types too) reside in the Chilean countryside.

Sauvignon Blanc Varietal Wine Reviews

Below the preferred wine from each region is reviewed through a wine review comic. However, a number of other Sauvignon Blanc varietals are also reviewed here through a text-only review. Each review is demarcated in this post with a bold title section. At the bottom of the post a brief note indicating which Sauvignon Blanc wines came out as favorites.

France

Sauvignon Blanc generates several world famous wines originating in Western France. In Bordeaux, the grape is one of several allowed as part of the dry white blend known as Bordeaux blanc–we’ll look at examples of such blends next week. It also plays a key role in the sweet wine blend, Sauternes (another we’ll look at next week). In the Loire Valley the wine is most well known for its production focus as Sancerre.

White Sancerre brings a mineral focus, and elegance to the grape, cultivating Sauvignon Blanc in either chalk or flint soil, both of which can be sensed in the final varietal when fermentation temperatures are kept high. While flint tends to offer leaner, long lived renditions, chalk instead generates a wine, by comparison, with a heftier body and mouth feel. Sancerre is generally placed in Stainless Steel vats for fermentation, thus abstaining from any oak influence on the flavors or aging potential of the wine.

By many, Sancerre is considered one of the most elegant, dry, and pleasing white wines in the world.

click on comic to enlarge

Wine Review: Daniel Chotard 2009 Sancerre Imported by Kermit Lynch

Sancerre is generally understood to be less grassy than other varietals from this grape. This Chotard is no exception. The fruits are distinct, and pleasant, carrying noticeable and refreshing flinty minerals. Subtle white flowers lift the citrus, and slight tropical scents and flavors profile. The acidity here is also pleasing, bringing a nice mouth watering crispness to the fruit.

More on France

Though Bordeaux and Loire Valley are the largest production areas for this variety, it is grown throughout the country with differing styles of wine resulting. Though it does not play a huge role there, Sauvignon Blanc is one of the many grapes grown in the Languedoc-Rouissillon region of the South.

Wine Review: JeanJean 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Languedoc

This wine from JeanJean offers a clean, fresh fruit focused varietal with medium complexity, and finish. The nose hosts Meyer lemon, lime, passion fruit, and scents of honey suckle. On the mouth, you find Meyer lemon, lime, and tropical fruits. Refreshing, approachable, and pleasing to drink.

Though I did not draw a wine comic for the JeanJean, if you are looking for a Sauvignon Blanc to drink, this wine is recommended. I appreciate the clean, citrus focused, mouth watering elements of this wine.

California

Introduced to California in the 1880′s, Sauvignon Blanc went through a long period of being out of favor in North America. This reputation was changed when Robert Mondavi coined a new name for it–Fume Blanc–and marketed it as an exciting new dry white alternative to chardonnay. The pitch worked.

The Fume Blanc name is unregulated through the state, thus allowing wine makers to choose if they’ll sell their wine under the varietal name, or the Mondavi nickname. Because of the lack of regulation the production style with either moniker can vary widely.

click on comic to enlarge

Wine Review: Hanna 2009 Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley

The grassy elements common to Sauvignon Blanc show lightly in the Hanna. They are well-balanced with fruit elements, and acidity that offers distinctive, recognizable fruit flavors. Fresh citrus, and light lychee notes dance in the nose, while citrus zing into balance with deepening melon flavors on the palate. The wine also showcases crisp pear as it warms. This wine is very refreshing both for its well-defined flavors, and fresh fruit focus, as well as the mouth watering acidity. Well-balanced, fresh, and crisp varietal here.

Wine Review: Frog’s Leap 2010 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

I want to note that I appreciate the humor offered from the Frog’s Leap label that puts the words “open other end” near the bottom, as if anyone could open the bottom of a bottle without simply breaking it. In the midst of wine tasting I appreciated finding the subtle humor.

The Frog’s Leap Sauvignon Blanc (SB), however, was my least favorite of the many SB varietals I tasted. Sauvignon Blanc does best in climates where the temperature at any one part of the day does not reach too high–in more extreme conditions the grape tends to ripen quickly resulting in less distinct flavor components in the final wine. Here we find mushy flavors–they are not distinct or crisp, and instead traverse your palate as washed out fruit. The nose is very light with faint tropical fruits, and oak. The mouth shows a powdered candy taste alongside lime and passion fruit.

New Zealand

Though the grape was originally planted in New Zealand as an experiment to be mixed with other white varieties, here SB varietals are now famous. New Zealand established an internationally known wine industry for its strongly fruit focused, tropical notes rendition of the grape. Interestingly, production practices in the area have been strongly influenced by geography historically. Because there had only been proper production facilities on one island, while the grape was grown on both, grapes had to be transported by truck over long distances before they could be separated from their skins and pressed. As a result of the extended skin contact in transport, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc tended to offer fuller flavors and intensity in the wine.

The growing conditions here vary widely from vineyard to vineyard, thus creating very different flavor elements within the region. Still, due to the maritime climate of the long, narrow islands, the grape celebrates one of the longer growing seasons seen anywhere in the world. As a result, the New Zealand flavors tend to be ripe, rich, and full of fruit.

click on comic to enlarge

Wine Review: Nine Walks 2011 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

The Nine Walks Sauvignon Blanc has a light nose of candied lime, and tropical fruits. The palate carries forward the tropical fruit with fresh lime, meyer lemon, passion fruit, and hints of pleasing pepper and oak. The minerals here are very light. This varietal is subtle in its delivery, and crisp.

Wine Review: Long Boat 2009 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

The Long Boat offers both herbs, and minerals with sage and subtle flavors of river rocks. The focus on both the nose and the palate are youthful green apple, passionfruit, and meyer lemon, along with unripe pineapple. Accents of white flowers raise the profile. The grass, and green pepper elements common to the grape variety are also present here.

Wine Review: Nautilus 2010 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

This wine shows a clear tropical fruit and citrus focus. There is also green pepper, and light oak showing themselves here. Very fruit focused wine. Not a favorite.

Wine Review: Kim Crawford 2010 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

The grass tendencies of this grape show here on both the nose, and mouth. The Kim Crawford offers the classic full flavor rendition that New Zealand is famous for. The nose has tropical fruits, and passion fruit, while the mouth continues this blend, along with some peach notes, and obvious oak-bite and heat. There is quality here but it is not my style of wine.

Chile

Recent focus has developed quality Sauvignon Blanc in Chile. The well-aged vines of the region along with the more recent focus on quality wine production in the area have combined to produce crisp, flavorful varietals. Contrasting the wines of this region against others mentioned, the Chilean Sauvignon Blancs are generally considered closer in French style, rather than New Zealand. That is, the flavors are more often refined, and cleaner with more of a tendency towards citrus and minerals, and less towards tropical fruits.

click on comic to enlarge

Wine Review: Veramonte 2010 Casablanca Valley Sauvignon Blanc

Bright distinct fruit are found here in both the nose, and the mouth. Lime, meyer lemon, and passion fruit fill the nose, with them carrying forward in the mouth alongside juicy pear, and hints of tropical fruit. This wine is smooth, with a touch of spice.

Wine Review: Arenal 2009 Casablanca Valley Sauvignon Blanc

The flavors here are light, and less distinct. There are notes of candied lime in both the bouquet, and flavors, along with tart green apple, pineapple, grapefruit, light white flowers, and subtle tropical fruits. This wine offers mild heat. It is light, and smooth, showing citrus-candy flavors with a citrus bite. Not a favorite, though I’d recommend it above most of the New Zealand wines mentioned.

Varietal Characteristics: Sauvignon Blanc

Typical to this grape are fruit elements ranging from citrus and tropical fruit. Tropical fruit flavors tend to be more commonly found in New World wines, while citrus elements are generally common throughout. The grape is also known to have an herbaceous quality most commonly showing as grass, and bell pepper.

In less ripe growing seasons Sauvignon Blanc takes on an incredibly pungent (even often called aggressive) odor that people politely refer to as “cat box”, or more pointedly call “cat pee.” This characteristic is less commonly found in the varietal today as the link between this bouquet-flavor component and ripeness levels was recently discovered. Greater sun exposure in cooler climates is one solution to avoiding such flavor elements. In other words, cat box characteristics occur due to temperature, and sun exposure related growing conditions, and are not considered a flaw in the wine. For some, the quality is desirable.

Though the grape is most widely produced in Bordeaux, Loire Valley, California, New Zealand, and Chile, it is also found in small production numbers in South Africa, small portions of Australia, and in other areas of Europe.

click on comic to enlarge

***

Which SB Wines Win?

Along with the JeanJean, the four wine review comics indicate my favorites of those tasted. Of the styles addressed here, Sancerre is my preference, with the clean, mouth watering qualities of the JeanJean, and the Hanna being next.

***

Monday will consider a side-by-side wine tasting of two very different Semillons, one offered young from Barossa Valley, Australia, and the other an older release from California.

The rest of next week will explore the commonly side-by-side relationship of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon through a comparison of Bordeaux blanc blends (from Bordeaux, and from elsewhere), and then of late harvest wines in both blended and varietal versions of the two grapes.

Copyright 2011 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

Leave a Comment