Showing posts with label berries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label berries. Show all posts

Monday, March 30, 2020

Wine Country Alaska

When I tell people that wine is made in every US state, the number one response I get is, "Oh, yeah? What about Alaska?"  Yes, Virginia, wine is made in Alaska.

The Now And Zin Wine Country series is creeping ever closer to the goal of tasting wine from all 50 U.S. states.  Wine from Alaska arrived recently to brighten my self-isolated existence.  That makes 46 states now sampled, with only Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming remaining elusive.  I understand that OK is on the way.  Fingers crossed.

Alaska's wine production is so limited, the state doesn't even get its own line on the list.  It is lumped in with eight other states as "others" which collectively produce some 0.039% of the wine made in America.

The website says Glacier Bear Winery was founded in 2015 as a companion to the already existing Bear Creek Winery.  Glacier Bear makes wine only from Alaska-grown fruit, like red raspberries, yellow raspberries, blueberries, black currants, strawberries, gooseberries, apples, low bush cranberries, and rhubarb.  They do use Chardonnay grapes in a blend with Rhubarb.  Winemaker Louis Maurer named some of his berry wines after the grapes he set out to emulate - Blu Zin and Mirlo.

The wineries are located in Homer, Alaska, overlooking Kachemak Bay.  It's a 40 mile long arm of Cook Inlet, on the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula southwest of Anchorage.  Lodging is available on-site, overlooking the bay.  Maurer tells me he knows of only one other winery in Alaska, so I feel incredibly lucky to have received the wines. 

Glacier Bear Winery Black Currant Wine 2016

This medium-hued berry wine brings natural fruit to the table.  It smells of black currant but gets a little more complex with a smokey overlay on the nose.  The palate is basically cassis, only not so dense and sweet, and with less alcohol - only 12.5% abv.  I am thinking of this as the Pinot Noir of berry wines, owing to its light mouthfeel and hint of tartness.  It's fruity, fun and tasty for sure, but many wine drinkers may find $27 a bit steep for those qualities.  I would love to pair this with pork, or even with glazed wild salmon.

Glacier Bear Winery Blueberry Wine 2018 

I had wine made from Florida blueberries once, and it smelled and tasted like full-on blueberry juice, the kind you would have for breakfast.  This one, made from Alaska blueberries, is definitely wine.  It's dry, like the Black Currant, and features a nose that is deep and dark enough, earthy and herbal enough to make a wine lover take notice.  The palate shows fruit, stems and all, not suitable for serving with Eggos in the morning.  I'm thinking this would pair well with game, despite its medium-light weight.  Alcohol tips only 11.5% abv and the wine retails for $25.

Bear Creek Alaskan Port 

This Port-style wine is made from 100% Muscadine grapes, but Maurer says they were not Alaska-grown.  The wholesaler which provided the juice to him could not pinpoint where they were grown.  The Muscadine grape is fairly popular in the humid southeastern states.  This wine hits an alcohol level of 17% abv and sells for $27.


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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Chateau de Fountgraves Pic Saint Loup Coteaux du Languedoc Rosé 2007


Here is one of those wines that sat in the rack a long time for no good reason.  I seem to remember my wife picked it out, no doubt based on the way it looked or the romantic nature of the French name. 

I must admit I've been swayed by marketing aspects before.  I bought a wine called "Pinot Evil" once.  "Purple Haze," "Red Zeppelin" and "7 Deadly Zins" appealed to me for non-wine related reasons.  I try not to fall prey to the marketer's tricks, but I'm only human.  Often, the wine is good enough to stand on its own, anyway.

At a very fancy wine bar in Half Moon Bay, a sommelier asked Denise what kind of rosés she liked.  "Pretty ones" was her reply.  The sommelier was amused, but he understood the logic.  Who wants to drink an ugly wine?

Anyway, the Chateau de Fountgraves Pic Saint Loup rosé is very pretty.  Its rich, salmon pink color looks wonderful in the glass.  Some very fine bubbles cling to the glass, too.

The label promises that this rosé is made from grapes taken from very old vines grown on shale soil in the south of France.  It's amazing - not that the grapes were taken from old vines - but that a French wine label would bother to tell you such a thing.  The label also tosses around words like rich, full, fruity, dry and aromatic.

The nose is rich with a smell that reminds of mayhaw berries we used to pick when I was a kid, or more precisely the smell of said berries being cooked as my mom made mayhaw jelly from them.  The somewhat offbeat berries begin to show a fruity brightness in mid-sniff.

A blend of Mourvedre, Grenache and Syrah, it's the Mourvedre which speaks to me on the palate.  The chalky limestone is typical of Coteaux du Languedoc.  The terrior of this region really hits home with me.  The flinty edge which shrouds the gentle fruit in this wine is a real treat for anyone who wants to not only know where a wine is from, but taste where it's from, too.

The alcohol clocks in at 13.5% abv, and I think it cost about $10, but it has been in the rack a while and my memory is a little hazy.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Monte Antico Toscana 2006


My favorite Italian restaurant in Los Angeles is Il Buco.  It's actually in Beverly Hills, but it's on Robertson, which feels more like L.A. than B.H. to me.  I think an Italian restaurant should always have a good wine list, and Il Buco's menu has plenty of nice choices from Italy as well as California.

It's great to find a restaurant you call your favorite, but it's even better when the personnel at the restaurant make you feel as if you are their favorite customer.  Even if my wife and I haven't been in to dine there in a couple of months, they always remember us and greet us warmly.  The food is delicious, too, so it's rare that we don't see them for longer than a few weeks at a time.

I usually dine fairly light there, so white wine is my usual choice.  This time, I was in the mood for a big rosso.

After a brief scan of the wine list, I settled on the Monte Antico Toscana.  Deeply hued and sporting a big cherry nose, the wine is best described as huge.  Mouth watering tannins - which probably could have settled down a bit more had I a little more time to linger with it - made me wish I had ordered a dish with a big meat sauce, but it paired well with the pizza we had decided upon.  Big berries and plums on the palate and enough acidity to pair it with whatever you'd like make it a great tasting and versatile dinner wine.

The big Tuscan is 75% Sangiovese, 15% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.  I understand the grapes come from 25-year-old vines.  2006 is said to be a superb Sangiovese year, and from this wine I'd believe it.  The cost was only $8 per glass.

Il Buco is located at 107 N Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Alamos Malbec 2006

I usually write tasting notes here about wines I drink at home.  I like giving a wine several different opportunities to show off its good qualities.  Tasting a wine at home over a three-day span gives me a chance to experience the wine in different settings and different points in its evolution once the bottle is open.  But I do like to have wine when Denise and I go out for dinner.  My note taking is not as detailed in those situations, and I'm only getting one little snapshot of what the wine is like.  Every now and then, though, I run into a "restaurant wine" that really strikes my fancy.

Alamos Malbec is on the list at Wood Ranch Barbecue and several other restaurants we frequent.  I usually like to try something different when I'm out, but I have found myself going back to this Malbec over and over.
 It's a dark purple color and has a very rich nose, full of fruit and some herbal traces.  There's leather, too.  The palate is a real treat, full of ripe fruit, dark berries, cherries, maybe some plums.  This is a very smooth and drinkable wine with almost no tannic edge, and it paired extremely well with a barbecued chicken salad full of tomatoes.  As if all that isn't enough, there's a lengthy and satisfying finish.  The Alamos Malbec is hard to beat, particularly at the price.  It runs about $8 a bottle, and I usually pay about $7 or $8 for a glass of it in a restaurant.  The wines on the list that cost nearly twice that should feel a little bit of competition.


Winemaker:  Alamos Ridge (Bodega Catena)
Variety:  Malbec
Appellation:  Argentina > Mendoza
Vintage:  2006
Price:  $8
Acquisition disclaimer:  Purchased by the author

Saturday, October 3, 2009

A Couple of Nero d'Avola Wines


I have been drinking quite a few Italian wines lately, not because they are necessarily my preference, but because my wife, Denise, really loves them. Don't get me wrong - I really love me some good ol' Italian varietals. I just prefer exploring the wines of California more than any other area.

I hate to drink alone, however, and if the wife has an Italian wine open, that's okay by me.

It's possible the reason she's so drawn to Italian wines is because it's in her blood. Her family tree has roots in Sicily. And she does seem more drawn to Sicilian wine than the other regions of Italy. Whatever the reason, when we can enjoy a glass of wine together, it's a good thing.

I can compare two wines made from Sicily's most important red wine grape, Nero d'Avola. From the southern town of Avola, this grape was long used primarily as a blending grape. Since the 1980s, though, it has stood very well on its own. The characteristics a Nero d'Avola shows are somewhat akin to those of a new world Syrah, so this would seem to be a nice varietal for a California wine guy like me.

First, a bottle from home, then a restaurant selection.

Ruggero di Tasso Archeo Nero d'Avola 2007 - True to its reputation, I found Syrah-like pepper on the nose and palate with ripe berries in the forefront. A vegetal note also came into play that I found intriguing. The texture is smooth, but the medium mouthfeel left me wanting something a little more substantial. There's a decent amount of acidity and it would probably fare well with a nice pasta dish or some Italian sausage. The finish is not too dramatic. It's serviceable enough, and I think it usually sells for under $10, so expectations shouldn't be too high.

The restaurant selection came at Il Buco on Robertson in Beverly Hills, a favorite of ours. The wine was Cataldo Nero d'Avola 2006. If the Tasso didn't quite satisfy my new world taste, the Cataldo certainly didn't. A big, fruity nose with blackberries, plum and pepper came off as perfumy - even my wife wrinkled her nose a bit. There was a vegetal note on the back end in this wine as well, but it served more as a curiosity than anything else.

The wine had good color, but unfortunately I found the taste not so much "medium" as "thin and watery." It was not my style, although its fruitiness and freshness would no doubt be attractive to some. It was a very lightweight entry.

Neither of these wines held too much interest for me. They were both drinkable - the Tasso more than the Cataldo - but ultimately I like a little more body in a wine.