Portuguese Wine: Vinho Verde

Vinho Verde is the region, not a grape or a style of wine. It's in the northwest corner of Portugal. It's as if you’re saying, "I think I’ll have a Burgundy," except you’re having a white wine made somewhere else,  from grapes you've probably never heard before. The grape varieties used in making white Vinho Verde are usually Loureiro, Arinto, Trajadura, Avesso, and Azal. They also make red and rose in the region, and all are youthful wines intended to be consumed soon after bottling. In fact, Vinho Verde means, "green wine." It’s not a color reference, but a suggestion that the wine is quite youthful.

Aveleda Vinho Verde 2015

Owned by the Guedes family, the Aveleda winery has been in business since the 1870s. The business is being run by fourth-generation winemakers now, with the 5th generation waiting in the wings for their turn at the helm.

We ceremoniously unscrewed the cap on this one during a picnic at the Hollywood Bowl. It was perfect for the occasion, crisp, light and refreshing. The wine sells online in the $10 range, sometimes well below that. There is a low alcohol content of 9.5% abv, typical in the style.

It features a great, lemony nose with a palate that is refreshing and citrus driven. Minerals lead the way right through the sip into the finish.


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Test Tube Wine

Albarino By Another Name, From Another Place

Here is a different stroke from the Vinho Verde appellation of Portugal. The estate, Quinta da Aveleda, has vineyards, of course, but the grounds also feature gardens, parks and art pieces. It is one of two winemaking centers the Guedes family operates in Portugal’s Vinho Verde region.

Aveleda Vinho Verde Alvarinho 2015

This wine is called  Vinho Branco - white wine - and has a higher-than-normal 12% abv number for alcohol.

The 2015 Aveleda Vinho Verde Alvarinho is richer than other Vinho Verde styles, owing to the use use here of Alvarinho, or Albarino, grapes. shows pale in the glass, and gives aromas of apples and citrus, with a hint of flowers and minerals. On the palate, the flavors run toward apples, peaches, orange peel and Meyer lemons with an acidity level that is refreshing, but doesn’t rip anyone’s taste buds off the tongue.

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Sicilian Wine: Grillo My Dreams

Sicily’s wines are, in a word, amazing. The grapes that seem placed on earth specifically for use on that island make delightful wines. It’s no wonder that every civilization through time has wanted a piece of Sicily. Sure, it stands guard over the Mediterranean Sea, but they were after the wine, no doubt.

Grillo is a white grape variety that grows primarily in Sicily, although some is said to be in Liguria. There, they call it something else. Of course they do. Why would a grape be called the same thing throughout Italy? Grillo was reportedly planted to replace the vines destroyed by phylloxera in the Marsala region

These particular grapes, in Firriato’s 2014 Altavilla Della Corte Grillo, are grown in the "countryside of Trapani," says their website, on the Borgo Guarini estate residing on the western coast of Sicilia. They heap a lot of praise on the estate, as can only be carried off unflinchingly in an Italian winery’s press blurb: "The wonderful, sun-drenched Guarini estate is a daily reminder of the magical powers of creation possessed by the universe, capable of transforming drops of rain and sweat into a dynamic wine recounting the most captivating tales of an insular terroir." Sign Me Up!

After harvest from the clay-based soil, the vinification process ends with three months of aging in stainless steel, in contact with the spent yeast cells, which are stirred daily. This imparts a fuller, rounder mouthfeel to the wine without sacrificing acidity. It hits 12.5% abv for alcohol content and it looks to sell online for around $15.

The 2014 Altavilla Della Corte Grillo Firriato is loaded with minerality. The lemon-lime and "wet rocks" notes really are appealing. There is also a sense of dried apricot that comes through. On the palate, the acidity is fresh and razor-sharp and the minerals make an even stronger push. I even pick up a note of the sea in there, but that happens every time I drink Sicily. It may be a trick of the vine. Pair this with shrimp scampi, sautéed calamari or escargot for a real treat.

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Celebrities In Wine

Turley Zinfandel? Sure, Which One?

Don’t you love it when you show up for drinks a friend’s home, nice bottle of wine in hand, and they say "I've got a shipment from Turley coming, so why don’t we kill off that last one in the rack?" Placing down my bottle behind a toaster, I say that I hate to hear of someone having trouble getting rid of their excess Turley. Stumbling toward the wine chiller, I blurt, "Where’s it at?"

A Zinfandel from Turley Wine Cellars is a special thing, always. I’ve never had one of their wines that left me without superlatives. I don’t think I ever will. And there are plenty to try. Turley shows more than two dozen Zinfandels currently for sale.

Lodi's Kirschenmann Vineyard is owned and dry-farmed by Turley winemaker Tegan Passalacqua. The vines grow on their own rootstock in the sandy soil of the Mokelumne River AVA, ungrafted, as they have since 1915. They are protected from the heat by the river's waters and the cooling delta breezes. I understand that Mondeuse and Carignane are in the vineyard as well, a field blend of "mixed blacks" commonly found in California's older vineyards. The Carignane, I get. But Mondeuse is a pretty rare grape from the French Alpine region of Savoie. I have never heard of that grape being included in those old-school California field blends.

The vineyard has drawn praise from the likes of winemaker Pax Mahle, who called Kirschenmann Zins "pure, linear, streamlined" a couple of years ago. Passalacqua calls his 2012 vintage, "a very feminine wine – the opposite of what many people think of Lodi." He adds that it really is a Lodi style of wine, "just not what most people expect out of Lodi." The wine hits a Lodi-like 15% or so abv, but you’d never know it. There's not a moment of heat in the sip.

Turley's 2014 Zinfandel Kirschenmann Vineyardis Zinfandel is lovely, with red fruit, lavender and pepper spice on the nose and a palate that is deep and rich with those qualities as well as a savory herbal mint note that runs deep. The tannins are silky smooth and the finish is long and languid. The fainting couch on which I sat was perfect, for I felt I might give way at any moment. It’s a $60 wine that earns its price tag.

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Adventurous Wine Drinkers

Black Wine Of Oregon: Troon Tannat

This Applegate Valley wine, the Troon Blue Label Estate Tannat 2013, is from the dirt of southern Oregon, estate-grown, and it puts Troon’s general manager, Craig Camp, in mind of the wines of Madiran. As well it should. It's as black as wine gets, like the wines of that French region. Also like Madiran, it's Tannat, and it comes with the expected tannic structure for which that grape is known. His Troon Malbec had the same sort of effect on him.

The Oregon terroir offers a racy acidity and a strong fruit presence, with alcohol at the bargain rate of 13,7% abv. It retails for $29.

This dark, indigo wine - actually, no light gets through it, so let's call it black - smells of the blackest blackberries and earthiness earth. There’s a smoky touch to the nose and a hint of black olives, too. On the palate, it's pretty explosive. First of all, the tannins couldn't hide if they wanted to, and they don't want to. Have a steak ready, heavily marbled. Flavors of brambly black and blue berries, plums and black raspberries come forward from their earthy home and carry a savory mineral streak with them.  Berries remain on the finish.

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Dark Malbec Of Oregon

The back label of the Troon 2013 Blue Label Malbec, Rogue Valley explains that Malbec "loves the granitic soils washed down from the Siskiyous in the highlands above the tributaries of the Rogue River." The grapes came from Troon's estate and the Varner-Traul Vineyard. The two were vinified and aged separately before blending. Alcohol ticks 13.7% abv and the wine retails for $29.

General manager Craig Camp likes to think of the wines of Cahors and Madiran. "Black wines" they used to call them. Nowadays, he says, dark color is the norm, not the exception. "Obviously we are not making Cahors and Madiran, in Oregon," he says, "we are making Applegate Valley" with echoes of those places in it. He credits the area's unique climate and distinctive granitic soils. "The naturally softer tannins of the Applegate Valley also help refine the more edgy side of these varieties."

Camp says the wine is a signpost to a new direction, a new style of winemaking at Troon, one that includes "natural yeast and malolactic fermentations and minimal use of new oak."

The Troon Rogue Valley Malbec is a deep, dark delight. Inky black, this wine offers a nose of black raspberry, blackberries and black olives. There is smoke at the top of the glass. The savory notes carry over to the palate, with a dusty, earthy side that barely tips the balance from the fruit. Earth lasts long on the finish. Good Oregon earth.

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Wine Theft

Summer Wine: Portugal's Vinho Verde

Vinho Verde is the region, not a grape or a style of wine. It's in the northwest corner of Portugal. It's as if you're saying, "I think I'll have a Burgundy," except you’re having a white wine made from grapes you’ve probably never heard before. The grape varieties used in making white Vinho Verde are usually Loureiro, Arinto, Trajadura, Avesso, and Azal. They also make red and rose, and all are youthful wines intended to be consumed soon after bottling. In fact, Vinho Verde means, "green wine." That is not a color reference, but a suggestion that the wine is quite youthful.

The Casal Garcia winery was founded in 1939 by Roberto Guedes, the father and grandfather of those who run the business now. The roots of the region go back much, much further than that, of course. Romans like Seneca the Younger and Pliny both made references to vines between the Douro and Minho rivers, I am told. The first record of wine in the region comes from a year with only three digits in it, if that gives you some idea how far back we're talkin'.

The Casal Garcia Sweet Vinho Verde DOC Vino Branco is made from Trajadura, Loureiro, Arinto and Azal, all the above mentioned grapes, without the Avesso.

I don't know why I think of sweet wine as old fogey wine, but I do. And by sweet, I mean off-dry, which is what this wine really is. It just seems like it would be right at home at a bingo game. This Portuguese white wine hits 9.5% abv, as is typical in Vinho Verde, but sweet is not typical. However, it still has plenty of zip in the freshness department. The sweetness, by the way, comes as fruit, not sugar, much like an off-dry Riesling. There are tangerines on the nose and pears on the palate, but don't sniff or swish for much too complexity. Chill it and have it on the porch, while yelling at those kids to get off the lawn.


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Summer Wine: Chiaretto, Italian Rosé

Folly Indeed: Edmeades' Wacky Blend Works

Edmeades is a Mendocino County mainstay since the 1960s, with grapes grown in the region’s rugged coastal mountains. The Jackson Family bought the acreage in 1988 and brought current winemaker Ben Salazar into the fold in 2012.

Edmeades' Folly 2013 

When Dr. Edmeades planted his first vineyards in Mendocino County's Anderson Valley in 1963, he was met with so much derision the plot was known as "Edmeades' Folly." In true California winemaking fashion, he made a sign saying as much and hung it in the vineyard. This wine harkens back to those days, with much less naysaying now. It’s a playful blend of 47% Zinfandel, 23% Syrah, 15% Merlot and 15% Petite Sirah. Mostly neutral oak is use in aging and alcohol hits a ripe 15% abv. It retails for $26.

Folly, indeed. This brash blend has a campfire burning n the nose, with cigar, leather, a little funk and some hefty black pepper, clove and anise joining the olfactory party. On the palate, the medium-dark wine shows a brambly sage note and spills black and blue fruit flavors all over the table. The way Syrah, Merlot and PS played around in the aroma department, so does the Zinfandel on the flavor profile.

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Two Great Pennsylvania Beers

A recent visit to northeastern Pennsylvania resulted in not so many wine experiences as I would have liked, but a couple of really great beers came my way.

At each bar I visited, I first scanned for local wines, and finding none, asked about local brews. It was surprising to me just how many bartenders in the Wilkes-Barre area don't seem very well-versed in either. The wine I understand. It’s fairly hit-and-miss with Pennsylvania wines. But Wilkes-Barre, Scranton - those are beer towns. A little knowledge about the wealth of great craft brews in your area is not a lot to expect from a barkeep.

Nimble Hill Vineyard and Winery in Tunkhannock, PA makes beer as well as wine. Their beer is so good, I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to sample their wines. Their Hop Bottom IPA has a nice medium brown color and the one-finger head holds nicely and laces well. It has a great hoppy flavor with slightly bitter finish, right up my beer alley. I ordered this winner at Bar Louie in the Mohegan Sun Casino in Wilkes-Barre.

Susquehanna Brewing Company's Hopfive IPA was a staple each evening at the hotel where we stayed. It was at that tiny lobby bar where we discovered a stray relative of my wife who happened to be working there. That sort of thing never happens in my tiny family. Thanks for the SBCs, Barbara, and we'll see you next trip!

 

The Hopfive IPA is caramel colored and has a floral, citrusy nose and a refreshing palate. A rather low head shows only slight lace on the sides of the glass. It employs five different kinds of hops. For the true beer geeks, they are Bravo, Willamette, Mount Hood, English Progress, and as-harvested whole-cone Liberty Hops.

The brewery is in Pittston, PA. My wife and I have been to Pittston for a tomato festival, or some such exotic event. We were shocked when one of her friends who lives in the area told us that Pittston is now "fabulous" after some sort of gentrification makeover. If the beer is any indication of the town, "fabulous" is a pretty fair description.

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L.A. Wine Trips

Eclectic Wine From Oregon's Applegate Valley

The unusual name of this Oregon label is a literary nod to James Fenimore Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans," which does not refer to 2:00 a.m. in your favorite beach bar. That’s the last of the Mojitos, and it came along much later.

Cooper's hunter hero, Natty Bumppo, is also known as Hawkeye.  Further, he is also known as La Longue Carabine, or "the long rifle." He is from civilization, but prefers the wilds. He holds Indians as his closest companions, but has no Indian blood. He is eclectic, drawing from different cultures that which suits him best.

This wine also pulls disparate influences together in a fine blend. A whiff of Sicily disguises that southern Rhône feeling with the grape varieties showing the lawlessness of the frontier. The wild-eyed mix has roughly equal parts Vermentino, Viognier and Marsanne, with a swish of Roussanne thrown in.

from Michael Mann's "The Last of the Mohicans"

Troon general manager Craig Camp calls the cofermented wine "exotic," and says the grapes find "their distinctive highlights in the expansive aromatics and rich texture." And it’s all from Applegate Valley, Troon Vineyard and Oregon. It has only 12.5% abv and sells for $34 at their tasting rooms.

The 2014 Troon Blue Label Longue Carabine, Applegate Valley is an appealing, golden straw colored wine that offers a great white wine nose of honeyed apricot, Meyer lemon and stones in a stream. The minerality of southern Oregon comes through strongly on the palate, and the acidity is positively bracing. There is a hint of the seashore in this wine, unusual since it grew near the mountains, not the coast. The finish is crisp and juicy. The grapes perfectly display the civilization of their heritage against the wildness of their home.


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Hipster Happy Hour

Pennsylvania Wine: At The Casino

We put off the wine vacation in favor of seeing family. Sometimes, the family is taken better with a gulp or two of some emotional lubrication, but we didn't require too much on this trip. Anyway, I can make any vacation a wine vacation. There's always a way.

We had a vacation, the wife and I, and we spent it in lovely Pennsylvania. The mountains and forests in the northeastern part of the state - and other parts, too - are gorgeous, even if most of those living there don't know how good they have it. People, you can park in front of the business into which you need to go. Cherish that!

Crossing Vineyards has a tasting room in the Mohegan Sun Casino. If you think about it, it's a great place for good wine. You can't gamble all the time, although I know some people who would disagree with that. The Crossing Vineyards Wine and Cheese shop offers full tastings, which I have had before. this time I opted for a glass of something inviting.

The Chambourcin Reserve 2013 is billed as a "Zinfandel style red wine." It certainly features a savory nose full of spices and Pennsylvania dirt. The palate is dark and silky with a hint of cola and coffee. It reminds me more of a big California Pinot Noir than Zinfandel.

The Crossing Vineyards Cabernet Franc Rosě 2014 shows a deep red color and smells of sweet cherries with herbal hints. It's not as dry as advertised, but maybe for local tastes it is.

A young woman was at the bar with an entire entourage waiting on her to finish a glass of her beloved, sweet, peach wine. She was obviously "worth waiting for," even though no one else in her adoring group would join her in a glass of vino. She effused about her selection to me, and cheerily asked if I like sweet wine, too. "Tonight I do."


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Resonating Pinot Noir

Does wine resonate? If we mean does it "produce a deep, full reverberating sound," no. At least mine doesn't. But if we mean does it “evoke or suggest images, memories, and emotions, yes. If we mean does it "meet with someone's agreement," it sure does around here.

Résonance is French winemaker Louis Jadot's first foray outside of Burgundy. It's way outside of Burgundy. In fact, it's in Oregon's Yamhill-Carlton region. The Resonance vineyard is full of Pinot Noir vines that were stuck in the ground in 1981. This single-vineyard wine hails from Oregon, but has enough Burgundian influence to make you think it took French in high school. It evokes images of Burgundy.

The Résonance Pinot Noir is medium-dark and sweet smelling. The dark plum and raspberry aromas carry a lovely influence of oak barrels and black tea. The palate is full and features mainly plum with hints of coffee and tea. It's not particularly big, or muscular. There is more of a savory aspect that wants to shine through. On the second night the bottle was open, a sense of tar began to creep in but the tannic structure stayed firm. The wine has a reasonable 13% abv number and a zippy acidity.


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Restaurant Recession