One of the things I love best about working in wine is the people. I find that “wine people” (both professional and not) just tend to like to have a good time. You give them half a reason to celebrate and they’re the with bells on  . . . and probably more food and wine.

This was definitely the case when I invited a bunch of wine friends over for an Alsace-themed dinner last week. I had a bunch of samples that needed tasting and I figured it would be more fun with friends. I probably coulda-shoulda been more judicious and by picking a few to stash away, especially since the wines of Alsace tend to be able to age a reeeeeeaaaaaallllllllyyyyyy long time. But I didn’t. I decided to go for a blow-out night. I made a feast and grabbed even more bottles from “the cellar” to open. Then my friends brought more. We ended up opening a baker’s dozen: 1 Crémant, 2 Pinot Gris, 2 Gewurztraminers, and whole lot of Riesling. We didn’t actually finish all 13 in one night, but we definitely opened them and and tasted through. (Not all are pictured above.)

What can I say?  🤷🏻‍ I was excited!

Alsace is probably my FAVORITE region for white wines. Riesling is my desert island white grape. I have to actively keep Riesling from slipping tooooooo often on 8 & 20. There’s a Riesling to pair with just about anything. When I have a dish that’s tricky to match, the answer is probably Riesling. (. . . Ok, or bubbles.) A lot of the other nobles grapes of Alsace aren’t too far behind in terms of versatility.

If I haven’t shared my great love for Alsace and Riesling before on here, well . . . we’re about to take a deep dive. Since there are sooooo many wines to share, plus the food, I’m going to split this into 3 posts. It’s Alsace-a-palooza!

    •    Today I’ll start with the wines . . . and there's A LOT to cover!

    •    Then we’ll get into the appetizers, which included a cheese and charcuterie plate and Flammekueche (aka Tarte Flambée).

    •    Then onto the main course! Chicken in Riesling with Sous Vide Carrots and Braised Cabbage, and White Bean and Asparagus Salad


Before we jump into the pool of wines we have today, let's take a quick look at Alsace as a region. Here is a primer on the region. 

Grapes

    •    There are 4 Noble Grapes: Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, and Muscat. These wines tend to be very aromatic, each in their own way. Flowers, spices, smoke, stones, and fruit––it’s all there! Grand Cru wines must come from these grapes.
 As a quick reference, Riesling from Alsace tends to be richer, more robust, and drier when compared to German versions.
    •    You’ll also find Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chasselas among the white grapes. Chardonnay is also around, mostly for use in the bubblies. White wines make up 90% of the production. 


A little geeky tidbit: There’s a minor exception to the Grand Cru rule above. Sylvaner can produce Grand Cru wine if it comes from one special site–Zotzenberg Vineyard.

    •    Pinot Noir is your red option here.


Momentary Rant

I know a lot you looked at those white grapes and thought, “Not for me. I don’t like sweet wine.” Please know I mean this with all the love in the world, but I must take a moment to yell:


I admit that this is a pet peeve of mine, but I say it full of fierce love and kindness, because y’all are missing out! All of these grapes can and are often made completely dry. Particularly Riesling and particularly from Alsace can be minerally, crisp, scrape-your-freaking-tongue-off, BONE DRY! I dare you try the Trimbach Riesling below, for example, and tell me otherwise. Go on, I dare you!

Ok . . . calming down and moving on. 

Labeling

Alsace is the only French region that varietally labels their wine as matter of course. There are some blends which you might find under the names ‘Edelzwicker’ or  ‘Gentil,’ but the overwhelming majority is varietally labeled. 

Location

The region is located in the northeastern corner France, above Switzerland and  right up on the border with Germany. The region is protected by the Vosges mountains, which are super important because they block the rain and create a sun bowl. The result is that despite the fact that this is a continental region, it’s pretty mild. It’s actually one of the driest in France.

Map provided by Teuwen Communications. You can also find additional information here.

History

Alsace has a fascinating, but difficult history thanks to that border with Germany. Think back to your high school European history class and ALL of the wars these two countries were in over the centuries. Just about every time there was a war, poor Alsace got kicked back and forth between France and Germany like a soccer ball. The result is that Alsace's culture, food, and language all have aspects of both blended in. Also, despite everything, you’ll notice as you go through the wines that many of these producers have been here for a very long time.
 

The Hierarchy 

Like many parts of France there are additional classifications for the wines:
    •     AOC  Alsace  makes up 71%  of  the  production.  

    •    Crémant  d’Alsace, traditional method sparkling wines, make up 25%.

    •     AOC  Grands  Crus makes up 4%,  predominantly from  Riesling,  Gewurztraminer,  Pinot  Gris  and  Muscat  d’Alsace.  There is one big Grand Cru AOC, made up of 51 total vineyard sites. 

Geeky aside on the Grand Crus: Not everyone agreed on the system when it was established, so some producers opted out completely and choose not to label their eligible wines Grand Cru. Notable among these are benchmark producers Trimbach and Hugel, but more on that later.

 

Types of Wine

As per my little rant above, these grapes can make the full range of wines from dry, to sparkling, to sweet. You’ll find the full-on dessert wines under Vendanges  Tardives  (VT) and Sélection  de  Grains  Nobles  (SGN). These wines can be phenomenally complex and interesting!
    •    Vendanges  Tardives  (VT) are  late  harvest  wines  made  from  Gewurztraminer,  Riesling,  Pinot  Gris  or  Muscat  d’Alsace.  Grapes  must  be  hand-picked  and  are  often  botrytized.  

    •    Sélection  de  Grains  Nobles  (SGN):  Same  varieties  but  with  multiple  rounds  of  selective,  hand-harvesting  and  all  botrytized  grapes. 


Soils

They’re super diverse here with 13 different types, giving it the most diverse terroir in France.

The logo for the #AlsaceRocks campaign illustrates the diversity of soils.

Farming

All that happy, dry, sunshiny weather lends this region well to green farming practices. As  of  2017,  15%+  of  all  vineyards  in  Alsace  were  organic  or  biodynamic,  making  the  region  one  of  the  greenest  in  France, according to info provided by Teuwen communications.

Image provided by Teuwen Communications.

If you want to take an even closer look at the region today, I recommend this hand-dany guide from WineFolly.com.


That’s a lot of info for now. Let’s get back to dinner. There were 10 us of at dinner and this mix included people working in diverse areas of the wine world including those who do or have worked in retail, restaurants, wine reps, and even a winemaker. I asked my friends to take notes on the wines for me to use as they tasted. Sadly, I wasn’t as organized as I should have been in gathering these notes. Also, predictably, as conversation and food took over, note-taking fell by the wayside. All the same, I did get a good number from my friends Heather and Kristie. (Aside, if you ever come across Kristie’s wines TRY THEM. They’re beautiful!)

I’ve included all three of our notes here, when possible. I think it’s interesting to see where we diverge, since we all do have our own palates and preferences; but more often, it's interesting to see how similar the notes are... And sometimes we're just having fun.

I organized the wines here first by style/grapes tasted. Within those categories, I organized them in descending order of vintage, with the exception of three Hugel Rieslings, since I find it interesting to see how different three bottlings from the same house can be. We have wines from all different price points represented here–from about $20 to $100.

I’ll also note that while many of these wines were provided as samples, all opinions are my own, or my friends’ where indicated. (No other compensation was provided.) I was also pretty familiar with a lot of these producers already and was excited to welcome these bottles in as old friends! Like I said, Alsace is probably my favorite region for white wines. I profoundly would love to go some day!

How beautiful is that?! Image provided by Teuwen Communications.

This is a lot to take in, but I’d say the other things to take away from this are the broad range of terroirs and styles of the wines.

Let’s dive in!

THE WINES

Meyer-Fonné Brut Extra Crémant d'Alsace NV

Taken from the Kermit Lynch and Meyer-Fonné sites, for this and their other wines to follow.
Blend: 60% Pinot Auxerrois, 20% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Blanc, 5% Pinot Noir
Soil Type: Granitic Colluvium, Alluvium
Farming: Organic. They use no synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides to treat the vines. Cover crops are planted in every other row in the vineyards. Some vineyards are plowed, but certain parcels can be plowed only once a year because any more would
erode the soils. Grapes are harvested by hand and gently
Loaded into the press.
Vine Age: Planted in 1972 and 2009
Vinification: The use of native yeasts during fermentation makes the process longer
and slower, creating a more lush texture. Vinified in the méthode champenoise.
Around mid-March, the first fermentation is finished and the wine is bottled for the second
fermentation, which lasts two to three months. It is left in bottle for at least twelve months before
disgorging, when a minimum of dosage is added.
Average Price: $19
Alcohol: 12%

About:  Félix Meyer is the third generation in his family to be making wine since his grandfather founded the domaine in the late 19th century. Félix took over in 1992 and set about modernizing equipment in the winery, developing export sales, and now expanding the family’s holdings in many of Alsace’s great vineyard sites, including several grand crus.

The winery and family home is in the village of Katzenthal, known for its distinctive granite soils. Meyer is a master at the art of blending, mixing the wine from various parcels into complex, balanced cuvées. He also believes in raising his wines on fine lees in large, older foudres, as was the tradition in Alsace.

Tasting Notes
Me: Fresh and crisp with gold apples, lemon, and toasty almond notes.
This was awesome with the Tart Flambée!Heather: Lively mousse, refreshing with apricots and marzipan.
Kristie: lime zest, yellow apples, biscuits, and sour cherry. 

Pinot Gris

Meyer-Fonné Pinot Gris Alsace Grand Cru Kaefferkopf 2015

Soil Type: Clay, Limestone, Sandstone
Farming: Organic. See above for more detail.
Vine Age: Planted in 1997
Vinification: The whole grapes are gently pressed in a pneumatic press for 4-10 hours, and then the must is left for 24-36 hours to allow the heavy lees to settle. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks or oak barrels over a period of 1-3 months. The wines are racked two weeks after the fermentation has completed, and the wines are kept on the fine lees until the September bottling.
Average Price: $33
Alcohol: 13.5%

Tasting Notes
Me: Off-dry. Very rich with steeped peaches and baked apples. Honeysuckle, but with a savory peppery finish.  On its own rather viscous, but work well with the fatty bacon in the tart.
Heather: White pepper, peach, white flowers.
Kristie: Apricots, wet wool, black pepper, flinty, blood orange. Full with a lot of viscosity,  and the acid on the low side.
Greg: Freshly cracked pepper! (Just one from Greg here.)

Trimbach Pinot Gris Réserve Alsace 2014 

Image borrowed from their site.

Sample 
Info for Trimbach wines taken from their website and the Esprit du Vin site. 
Farming: Sourced from the Trimbach’s family’s own vineyards and from growers with whom the family has long-term relationships.
Vinification: The wine is fermented to complete dryness in temperature-controlled stainless steel and concrete vats. There is no secondary malolactic fermentation in order to maintain as much natural acidity as possible
Average Price: $20 – really good QPR.
Alcohol: 13.5%


About: Since 1626, the Trimbach family has been promoting the history, exceptional terroirs and fine wines of Alsace. Maison Trimbach is located in Ribeauvillé, where today three generations work closely together. Day-to-day operations are handled personally by brothers Pierre and Jean Trimbach, representing the 12th generation. Bernard and Hubert Trimbach, the 11th generation (father and uncle, respectively, to Pierre and Jean) remain integrally involved. Anne, the eldest of the 13th generation, has just joined the family business. 
  
Tasting Notes  
Just Me: Peachy with honey dust, white flowers, spice, hay, and chamomile. Lots of bright acidity and much leaner than the Meyer-Fonné.

I’ll note that I last tried this wine at the Wine Bloggers Conference in November during a seminar on Alsace Pinot Gris and my tasting notes were remarkably similar.

 

Riesling

Hugel

Info for the next three wines taken mostly from the Frederick Wildman and Hugel sites.

About: The Hugel family has been making wine in Alsace fro over 370 years and 13-generations. Located in the picture-postcard fortified village of Riquewihr, has earned a worldwide reputation for their Alsace wines. their wines are released only when the family agrees they’re ready; the focus is ultimate quality.


 
Hugel has pioneered much advancement in Alsace, including the early creation and classification of the Grand Cru vineyards. However, when the system fell short, they stepped away from the system altogether. As a bit of a compromise, they’re now labeling their Grand Cru Wines “Grossi Laüe” which translates to “Great Growth” from the Alsatian dialect, the equivalent of “Grand Cru” in Burgundy or “Grosses Gewächs” in Germany.

 

Hugel Classic Riesling Alsace 2015

Borrowed from their website.

Sample
Soil Type: Predominantly clay and limestone vineyards.
Farming: Sustainable practices. Hand harvested grapes from a dozen of the most favored localities in and around Riquewihr.
Vinification: Fermentation takes place in temperature controlled vats followed by natural clarification in neutral vessels over the winter. The wine is lightly fined and gently filtered prior to bottling in the spring.
Price: Currently $17.99 on K&L. Good QPR in my opinion.
Alcohol: 12.5%

Tasting Notes
Me: Petrol, lemon, savory, with stones galore.
Heather: Good acid, a little heavy, not my favorite.
Kristie: Petrol, lime zest, clay, nectarine.

Hugel Estate Riesling Alsace 2012

The "Estate" line is a new selection "parcellaire" of carefully chosen plots of the estate situated in the most prestigious crus of Riquewihr.

Sample

Soil: Clay and Limestone. Marl soils of Riquewihr, in and around the Schoenenbourg.
Farming: Most of the plots chosen for this new wine are being converted into organic viticulture.
Average vine age: 30+ years
Vinification: Grapes are taken in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention. After pressing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled barrels or vats (at 18 to 24°C). The wine is racked once, before natural clarification during the course of the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered just before bottling, and the bottles are then aged in the cellars until released for sale. The entire production of this wine is closed with DIAM the cork without the risk of cork taint.
SRP: $40
Alcohol: 12.5%

Tasting Notes
Me: Really bright and lively, almost spritzy, with a stony backbone. Petrol joins in on the finish. On the drier end of the spectrum of this evening’s wines. Lots of citrus.
Kristie: Petrol, almost fizzy texture.

Hugel Grossi Laüe Riesling Alsace 2011

Grossi Laüe signifies the finest vineyards in Alsace and represents an equivalent to the German Grosses Gewächs or the Burgundian Grand Cru. As noted above, these wines are basically their Grand Cru wines. If you’re already familiar with Hugel, this line takes the place of the Jubilee line.

Sample
Soil Type: Keuper, marl, dolomite and gypsum, rich in fertilising agents, overlaid with fine layers of quaternary siliceous gravel, Vosges sandstone and Muschelkalk, with at its eastern extremity outcrops of Lias marl limestones.
Farming: Organic practices
Vinification: Same as the Estate line above.
Price: $104
Alcohol: 14.5%
Additional recommendations: Will gain in complexity for 8 years or more.  Makes the ideal partner to fish or seafood dishes.

Tasting Notes:
Just me: Bright, rich but graceful, nectarines and citrus, stony, herby, honey crystals. ALL OF THE THINGS. Very complex with bit of creaminess to the texture. For me this was the drop-the-mic wine of the night. (Goes with the price tag I guess.)
Went well and became more peppery with the asparagus and white bean salad. 

Schoffit Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Rangen de Thann 2016

Sample
From their tech sheet and Weygandt-Metzler website.
Soil Type: Volcanic schist
Farming: Biodynamic
Vine Age: 41- 45 years old
SRP: $60
Alcohol: 13.7%

About: 25 years ago, Bernard Schoffit, then still very young, embarked on an ambitious program of buying land in Rangen, around the Clos St. Theobold. Totaling nearly 16 acres, a good part of it had been abandoned because it was too steep to work. Through sheer determination and ambition, he revitalized the entire vineyard. The slopes are incredibly steep and yields are extremely low.

Tasting Notes
Me: Pear, flowers, lemon and peach. Fresh and floral with lots of flinty, dusty stones, and clean honey. It somehow manages to be both generous and austere. Nice clean fruit notes and light spice, but with stones and petrol at the core. A bit off-dry. Brought out the nutmeg notes in the chicken dish.
Kristie: Caramel apple, green apple, clean, honey. 

François Baur Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Brand Clos de la Treille 2015

Sample
Taken from their tech sheet and their website  .
Soil Type: Largely  granitic  with  a  topsoil  mix  of  sandstone,  granite  and  marlstone,  and  in  parts,  two  types  of  mica  which  contribute  to  the  wines’  complexity  and  finesse.
Farming: Biodynamic
Vinification: 100%  whole  cluster  pressing.  Fermented  with  indigenous  yeasts.  Aged  on  the  lees  in  150  year  old  French  oak  barrels  until  the  bottling  in  July.
SRP: $32  (Aside: In my experience these wines age quite well, particularly for the price!) 
Alcohol: 13%

About: Producing wines  in  Alsace  for  9  generations, Domaine  Baur  is  currently  run  by  Pierre  and  Thomas  Baur,  the  son  and  grandson  of  François,  respectively.  The  estate  comprises  27  acres  of  vines.  Half  of  these  are  within  the  Brand  Grand  Cru,  making  the  Baur  family  one  of  the  largest  landowners  in  Brand. The  Brand  Grand  Cru  is  known  for  its  steep  slopes  (853  -  1,181  feet),  south/southeast  exposure  and  ample  sunshine.

Tasting Notes
Me: Round, tangy peaches and apples, but with a stony background. Hints of spice with a bit of funky earthy note. 
Heather: Lovely acid, peach, floral, zing. I’d drink this on a Tuesday  . . .  and a Saturday!


Marc Kreydenweiss Riesling Alsace Grand Cru Kastelberg 2014

Sample
Info taken from their tech sheet and their website.
Soil Type: Schist.  Riesling  is  exclusively  grown  in  Kastelberg’s  blue  and  purple  soils.
Farming: Biodynamic. Steep  slopes  allow  for  maximum  sunshine,  but  ocean  winds  from  the  Champ  du  Feu  massif  and  north  winds  from  the  Crax  mountain  regulate  temperatures.
Vinification: Vinified and  aged  in  80  -  100  year  old  oak  barrels  for  10  months
SRP: $45
Alcohol: 13.5%

About: Marc  Kreydenweiss  was  born  in  Strasbourg  in  1948 and comes  from  a  long  line  of  winemakers  who  have  lived  in  Alsace  for  over  three  centuries  and  has  owned  and  operated  the  30-acre  Domaine  since  1971.  In  1984,  he  made  the  decision  to  exclusively  produce  extremely  high-quality  wine  with  the  focus  of  expressing  terroir.  The  winery  has  been  certified  biodynamic  since  1989.  Today,  Kreydenweiss  farms  a  little  less  than  30  acres  of  vineyards  in  Alsace,  which  include  portions  of  three  Grand  Cru  vineyards:  Kastelberg,  Moenchberg,  and Weibelsberg. 

Tasting Notes
Me: Lots of citrus with grapefruit and tangerine. Ginger and white plums, petrol, with light bitter herb notes in the background.
Heather: A little Volatile Acidity (VA) on the palate, beautiful acidity, meaty for a white, like a veggie burger.
Kristie: Some VA, notable phenolics on the palate, petrol, white pepper, lime zest, petrichor.

I’ll note that I’m not particularly sensitive to VA, so I’d definitely trust them on this one. Thankfully, VA blows off anyways.

 

Trimbach Riesling Alsace 2013

Trimbach is famous for their dry style. They make two of perhaps the most famous Rieslings of the region, and possibly anywhere–Clos Ste. Hune and Cuvée Frédéric Emile. If you ever get the chance to try these, DO! Like Hugel, next, they’ve opted out of the Grand Cru system.

I have a particular soft spot for this wine, as it was one of the first wines that made fall in love with Riesling for its complex mix of flavors, always really dry and robust. I can almost always find it for a reasonable price as well.

From the tech sheet.
Soil Types: The vineyards were planted on the Ribeauville’s fault line that fractured 50 million years ago between the Vosges Mountain range and the Black Forest offering a mosaic of terroirs including the complex calcareous limestone and bio-degraded seashell fossils called “Muschelkalk”.
Farming: The specific vineyard plots for Trimbach Riesling are selected each year by Pierre Trimbach.
Vinification: Fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel and concrete vats. There is no secondary malolactic fermentation in order to maintain as much natural acidity as possible.
SRP:  $24. I always find this wine to be a great value. 
Alcohol: 12.5%

Tasting Notes
Me: Petrol, peaches, lime and grapefruit skin. Lots of acidity and tons of stony minerality. On the more austere end of the spectrum. Classic.
Kristie: Wet stones, apricots, white flowers, high acid. 



Joseph Cattin Riesling Sec Pur de Roche Alsace 2012 

Sample
Taken from the tech sheet, their website, and the T. Edwards site.
Soil Type: Marl and limestone. This Riesling is produced from a selected plot located in the southern part of Alsace, near the village of Voegtlinshoffen.The vines are located in the prestigious Upper Rhine and are planted on the mostly southeast facing slopes at the base of the Vosges.
Farming: Sustainable.
Vinification: After fermentation, the wine is aged in traditional old oak foudres, then
aged in bottle for several years.
Vine Age: Planted in 1990.
Average Price: $38
Alcohol: 12.5%

About: The Cattin family, of Swiss descent, can trace their arrival in Alsace to around the year 1720. The family settled in the village of Voegtlinshoffen.Being that the region had been famous for its wines since the Middle Ages they immediately planted vines and began the viticultural legacy that continues today. The estate is named for Joseph Cattin who was renowned for his pioneering work in grafting and is widely credited for saving some of Alsace’s best vineyards from phylloxera. Today the Estate is run by Jacques and Jean-Marie Cattin as well as the latest generation, represented by Jacques Jr.

Tasting Notes
Me: Very distinctive. Stony with almond paste. This wine has a little age on it, and there’s a slight whiff of an almost a sherry-like lightly oxidized quality, in a pleasant way. This goes away as the wine warms up, but keeps the almond. Tropical fruit notes of dried mango.
Some said it had a toasted coconut note and was the favorite of several.

 

Gewurztraminer

Meyer-Fonné Gewurztraminer Alsace Grand Cru Kaefferkopf 2015

Soil Type: Clay, Limestone, Sandstone
Farming: Organic. See above for more detail.
Vine Age: Planted in 1997
Vinification: See vinification for their Pinot Gris.
Average Price: $44
Alcohol: 13.5%

Tasting Notes
Me: Like their Pinot Gris, this is a big, rich, and robust. Honeyed Lychee, lots of ginger, white pepper. Unctuous. Semi-Sweet+ – Almost worked with the red velvet cake with had for dessert.
Heather: I like this.

Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Turckheim Alsace 2014

From the Zind-Humbrecht and Kobrand sites.
Soil Type: Gravely soil on valley floor.
Farming: Certified Organic and Biodynamic. The vineyards used to make this wine all originate from the Cru Village Turckheim.
Vine Age: 45 years average.
SRP: $26
Alcohol: 14%
Optimum drinking period: 2016-2024

About: Domaine Zind-Humbrecht has unbroken winemaking lineage in Alsace since 1620. The Domaine came by its current name in 1959 when Leonard Humbrecht married Genevieve Zind. In the 1960s and 1970s, Leonard was able to expand the winery’s collection of Grands Crus and other high quality vineyards.

Zind-Humbrecht is managed by Olivier Humbrecht, one of the world’s only winemakers to attain MW status.  His passion for Alsatian wines and Biodynamic farming translates into a portfolio of legendary wines recognizable for their purity, intensity and, above all, their faithful expression of each individual vineyard site.

Tasting Notes
Me: Flowers and lychee, lightly peppery with tangerine, ginger, white plum. A hint of savory herbs come in on the back end. A hint of off-dry, but with freshness and much lighter and more lithe than our other Gewurz.
Kristie: Honeysuckle, bee pollen, honey, dirty yellow nectarine.


Sample wines provided by Frederick Wildman and Teuwen Communications working with Wines of Alsace and the #AlsaceRocks Campaign. Thank you so much!

Here’s a quick shot of the lovely Cassidy Havens from Teuwen leading the Alsace seminar at the Wine Bloggers Conference. Happy to say I know Cassidy a bit–we’re in a tasting group together here in Oakland.


By some horrible trick of fate, the night I had this wine dinner with my friends happened to be the same day that the news of Anthony Bourdain’s death in Alsace broke. With the group made up largely of people in the food and wine industry, you can probably imagine that many us were profoundly affected by the news. He meant so much to so many of us. We toasted in his honor and shared our memories.

I will leave you with this link to resources for mental health and suicide prevention compiled by Chefs with Issues.

Here are my own thoughts on what he meant to me. 

This morning’s news really stung. I never had the chance to meet him, but its heartbreaking when one of your heroes dies. Every time I watched one of his shows or read something he wrote I was reminded again what it is I love about food (and wine). He better than just about anyone showed us that not only is it a means to enjoy and take pleasure in life, it’s a lens through which to explore it–high to low, good and bad. Beyond the pleasure of eating, behind every dish there are the stories of the people and the culture. It’s a means of understanding each other and bringing us together. . . . Here he is in a city close to my heart, Medellin, Colombia. . . . Thank you for the stories you told and the lessons you taught us. RIP 💔🖤💔

A post shared by Nicole Ruiz Hudson, DWS (@nibblinggypsy) on Jun 8, 2018 at 12:22pm PDT

 


Moving things back to a more positive note, let’s see how the rest of the French Winophiles have explored Alsace!

• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles shares “A Palette of Pinots – The Hues of Alsace”
• Martin at Enofylz Wine Blog shares “Pinot d’Alsace…Yes Please!”
• Rupal at Syrah Queen shares “Rockin Alsace With Pinots”
• Julia at Julia Coney shares “Alsace – Where Pinot Rocks!“
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm shares “Alsace Rocks the Summer Grilling Scene”
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! shares “Alsace Wines in the American Kitchen”
• Lauren at The Swirling Dervish shares “Alsatian Temptation: Wine from the Vosges Mountains in France“
• Jane at Always Ravenous shares “Tips and Recipes for Alsace Pairings”
• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares “Alsace Pairing Challenge? Accepted!”
• Olivier at In Taste Buds We Trust shares “Taking gewürztraminer to a higher level”
• Michelle at Rockin Red Blog shares “Getting Dirty with Alsace Riesling“
• Payal at Keep the Peas shares “Alsace: A Geologist’s Dream”
• Jill at L’Occasion shares “A Riesling Experience: Nuanced Terroirs of Alsace”
• Liz at What’s in that Bottle shares “All in for Alsace Riesling”
• David at Cooking Chat shares “Pork and Cabbage Skillet with Riesling from Alsace”
• Gwen at Wine Predator shares “Alsace Rocks 4 Riesling With Fondue!”

Additional resources used for this post:
Wine-searcher.com 
The Oxford Companion via JancisRobinson.com 

Summer = Grill. Grilled meat ♥’s Shiraz. Ergo,  Summer + Grill + Shiraz = ♥♥♥

We very made good use of the grill at the Culinary Cabin while we were recently up at Lake Tahoe. It only seemed appropriate to fire it up as much as possible given that it was Memorial Day weekend and we there celebrating the unofficial start of summer. Foreseeing our likely grill usage, I brought a bottle of Shiraz along to complete the equation and the results were 100% delicious.

Me, grilling in the dark. Shot by Drew and his drone.

I realize that a lot of people are still down on Aussie wines after the over-play of critter wines a while back. They boomed; then as tends to happen with fads, they became passé. However, thanks to Yellow Tail and others, their rep was linked to Australia’s and they kind of took the whole country down with them. It’s been over a decade now since that critter wine boom and it is time to take another look at Aus. There are many high-quality producers out making beautiful wines. There are those that have been there all along, like Penfolds and Henschke, but then there’s a whole new generation of small producers doing cool and interesting things.

Shiraz particularly got caught-up in the critter wine vortex, which is really too bad since it is such a happy friend of the grill. Just in case you happen to be unfamiliar, Shiraz is Syrah. They are the same grape, but the different spellings tend to be used as indicators of style. ‘Syrah’ is a nod to the old-world French style, particularly associated with the Northern Rhône. It’s typically a little lighter and leaner, relatively speaking, and will tend to have more floral and peppery notes. On the other hand, ‘Shiraz’ will be riper, rounder, and more fruit-forward.

Now, fruit-forward doesn’t have to mean that the wine is a big bowl of blackberry jam. It doesn’t have to be cloying. There is a way a to do this well. Enter today’s wine: Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart Of The Barossa Shiraz 2015. It’s delivers everything a Shiraz is supposed to. It’s got plenty of delicious, luscious fruit, but it’s lost some of the weight. It’s a big wine to be sure, but not knock-you-on-your-ass-after-two-glasses big.

Dandelion Vineyards was started by Bulgarian-born Elena Brooks and her husband Zar. They grow their own grapes and also source old vine fruit from other family-owned vineyards in Barossa, McLaren Vale, and Eden Valley. The aim is to source fruit from exception sites to make minimal-intervention wines of terroir. Elena is the winemaker.

They named their winery after the dandelion because it’s one of the first things to sprout from the soil, but then it folds back into the earth to feed the vines.

 

THE PAIRING

The wine I chose to accompany our grilled meat was their Lionheart of Barossa Shiraz 2015. The grapes for this wine come from really old vines in the Barossa Valley, many of which are over a hundred years old. The Barossa Valley is perhaps Australia's most famous wine region. Located in South Australia, it has some Australia's oldest vineyards and it's known for producing big, bold wines, particularly Shiraz, from these low-yielding vines. Fun fact, this region has  never been affected by phylloxera.


Greg, our friend Drew, and I opened up the bottle early in the day to plan our dinner’s flavor profile. The wine had notes of blackberry sauce, raspberries, and spiced plums. There were notes of vanilla, chocolate, and bacon fat, but nothing was overpowering. It was rich, but also had a juicy quality that kept it lively. Light notes of pepper, violets, and savory soy hung out in background. The tannins were ripe and smooth.

We definitely wanted meat with some smoky char with this wine. I also thought it would be nice to play up the umami undercurrent in the wine. We headed out shopping with thoughts of miso, bacon, soy sauce, and perhaps a little chili on our minds. We found a little flavor gold mine in the form of Market 28.

Tahoe is beautiful, but shopping options are limited. There are a couple of solid supermarkets, but to be honest, it’s not the type of place I’d expect to find and an amazing specialty food store given that it’s a little remote. Leave it to Drew to find it. Market 28 is tiny, but it’s exactly the type of place that has a million and one delicious things to tempt me. It’s exactly the kind of place that it dangerous to my wallet. Here we found excellent quality steaks, as well as many seasonings. Kip, the proprietor, walked us through tastings of aged soy sauces. Boom. Exactly what we needed. We found a 4-year aged soy sauce with beautiful intensity and complex layered flavors we thoughts would be perfect for our streaks.

Soy sauce tasting at Market 28.

I’d also been playing with thoughts of yuzu as a seasoning. Kip did us one better—yuzu kosho. It’s a Japanese condiment made from yuzu zest and juice, plus fresh chiles fermented with salt. We decided to use this combined with miso to flavor veggies we’d char on the grill as well. If you can’t find yuzu kosho, add chili to yuzu paste, or ponzu sauce, which often has yuzu in it. I gilded the lily a little bit by adding bacon and green onions as topping for the veggies as well.

Seasoning line up.

Ingredients in Yuzu Kosho, in case you'd like to try to replicate.

We prepared our strip loin steaks sous vide and then finished them on the grill to get that delicious char. You can definitely cook the steaks through more conventional methods on the grill or on you stove top, but we had a big group to feed and cooking sous vide takes all the guesswork out of the process. Greg and Drew also made crispy smashed potatoes with a mix of Asian seasonings to complete our meal. They served these with a savory aioli spiked with fish sauce. 




We made quite the feast with for our friends and it all paired beautifully with the wine. The wine really brought out the char and the umami in the food, and vice versa. The wine also really worked with the lightly spicy notes from the yuzu kosho. Comments from the crowd included “mmmmmm” and all agreed that wine and the food were even better together. One of our friends added, “I can’t imagine the Aussies contemplated doing this with this wine, but it’s perfect!”

 

THE GEEKY DETAILS

From the winery’s tech sheet:

In the first week of March whole bunches of Shiraz were hand harvested, then gently crushed and naturally fermented in open fermenters for eight days, hand plunged twice a day, before careful basket pressing into predominantly older French Oak Barriques to finish fermentation. After 18 months maturation and a racking in the same oak, we bottled our Lionheart vineyard without filtration or fining. Dandelion Vineyards Lionheart is ready to drink and will reward cellaring and decanting.

Composition: 100% Shiraz
Alcohol: 14.5%
pH: 3.57

MONEY TALK

I bought this at Bay Grape for $23, and you can currently find it on Wine.com for the same. I think this is a tasty wine that delivers well for the price point. Definitely a Solid Value.

 

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

If you got some meat—burgers, ribs, steaks—grill it up and pair it. It should go.

The winery suggests that it is “Perfectly matched with all richly flavored foods, meats, stews, game or mature hard cheeses.”



It was a big group, so of course we had more than one bottle. The Paraduxx Napa Valley Red Blend 2014 also made a really good match. 

I am such a big fan of Soave Classico. I think it’s one of the most versatile white wines out there. It definitely works with seafood, and I find richer versions also pair well with chicken and light pork dishes. This is also one of those grapes that can please a wide range of palates.

With this in mind, I brought a bottle of Soave Classico to share with friends on a Memorial Day weekend away. Our friends Lucy and Drew are among our favorite people to eat and drink with. They share our love of going all-out in prepping a meal and pouring delicious things to pair with it. Strike that. Drew by far exceeds me in the decadent lengths he’ll go to in making a feast. It’s so fun when all get to cook together!  

The Culinary Cabin. Our fab friends Lucy and Drew made very early appearances on the blog here and I shared Drew’s decadent recipe for 4-Layer Caviar Dip. Previous adventures at the Culinary Cabin were also recorded on NibblingGypsy.com with recipes for: Chipotle-Coffee BBQ Ribs, Greg’s Cheddar and Green Onion Smashed Potatoes, and Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad to complete the menu. Also, be sure to check out Lucy’s website.

 
On occasion, these most-epicurean of friends invite a group of us to join them in Tahoe for a long weekend at what I’ve started to think of as the “Culinary Cabin.” What ensues are days of non-stop indulgence. We all take turns cooking and every meal is a fabulous feast. You can bet that wine flows freely.

I decided to plan one of our lunches around a bottle Soave Classico from Inama on our most recent trip. Soave, located in the Veneto in north-eastern Italy, is one of those wine regions that earned itself a bad wrap a while back and it’s still trying repair back its rep. However, there are quite a few quality conscious producers out there making excellent versions that won’t break the bank. Several of these producers have also cleaned up the game in recent decades, so if you’re familiar with old school Soave, it’s worth exploring it again.

I’ll admit, finding the good stuff can seem a little confusing. Dry Soave is broken down into four different appellations: Soave Classico DOC, Soave Colli Scaligeri DOC, Soave DOC, and Soave Superiore DOCG described above. There are also sparkling and dessert wines made.  

Wine Folly has put together an infographic that explains the distinctions:

I’ve read that there might be moves to streamline the rather confusing system, but this is how it stands for now.

Often when you see DOCG on Italian wines, it’s a helpful indicator of higher quality. There are exceptions, however, and this is one of them. The DOCG rules for Soave Superiore were made up in such a confusing way, with pretty lax permitted yields to boot, that some of the best producers like Inama (the producer of today’s wine) and Pieropan have opted out of using the designation altogether. Another well-known producer, Anselmi, skips the whole system and releases their wines under the IGT designation. Bottom line, without knowing anything else about a producer, I’d say you’re better off concentrating on the Classico zone.

Thanks to ilsoave.com via Wine Folly for this map.

The Classico region was delimited in 1927 and is generally considered to be the source of the best Soave wines. The area consist of mostly hillside vineyards around the communes of Soave and Monteforte d'Alpone. Closer to Soave there is a high percentage of limestone, which retains heat. When combined with sunny afternoons, the wines from this section tend to be fruitier and fuller. On the eastern side near Monteforte d'Alpone, on the other hand, there are more volcanic soils, which produce steelier, more mineral-driven wines.

I happened to find this video of Stefano Inama describing the Classico region.

The star grape of  Soave is Garganega, which must make up at least 70% of the wine. Nowadays, Trebbiano di Soave (Verdicchio) and/or Chardonnay can make up to 30% of the blend. Trebbiano di Soave is unrelated to other, often-mediocre, grapes that share the name of Trebbiano other than Trebbiano di Lugana, which is also Verdicchio.

Garganega will often have notes of ripe citrus, almonds, as well as rounder notes of fleshier fruits like melon or peach that can approach a tropical or honeyed quality with hints of spice. One of the things I love about this grape is that it has both freshness and body. Oz Clarke describes it as having “both delicacy and structure, finesse and just enough weight.” Mineral-driven versions can also be quite steely. To me, Garganega’s  combination of acidity and weight that makes it so versatile when it comes to matching it with food.

 

THE PAIRING

I brought along the Inama Soave Classico Vin Soave 2015 on our weekend away in the Culinary Cabin. 



The Inama Family has been making wine for over 40 years and are now in their third generation. Giuseppe Inama founded the estate in the 60’s and acquired a total of 74 acres, largely by taking advantage of a economic downturn in the region to buy up excellent parcels . His son Stefano, assumed control of winemaking in 1992. Prior to this point, the estate predominantly sold the wines in bulk to other wineries that would use them in the bland Soave blends of the time. Stefano had the vision to take the wines to the high level of quality they’re now known for. The next generation–Matteo, Alessio, and Luca Inama–have also joined the company.

Their vineyard holdings are predominantly on the Monte Foscarino in the heart of the Classico zone. Their style is on the richer end of the Soave spectrum. They allow the grapes to ripen more than most producers, creating a rounder expression of Soave. At the same time they “try to preserve the character of the fruit by minimizing intervention,” as Stefano Inama mentioned in a 2015 article for Wine-Searcher.com. The grapes are also farmed organically, although they don’t specifically advertise it.

Greg, Drew, and I opened up the bottle a little before lunch one day. The Vin Soave is Inama’s entry level bottling and I think it has excellent QPR. We picked up notes of sweet, golden apples, lemon and stones with that trademark rounded mouthfeel. Greg called it “creamy lemon rocks”–sure, why not. There were also lots of herbs, light white flowers, and buttery notes. The acidity here is medium, which makes sense with the ripeness levels Inama tends to use, but it's holds up the round body well.

This would be a great option when you need to please both Chardonnay lovers and haters at the same time. It has the creamy texture of New World Chardonnay that has been through malo, but without oakiness and with herbs to add to interest. The

I was already familiar with this wine and was pretty sure it would match up well with shellfish, so we’d purchased crayfish in advance. We decided to go with simple buttery, crayfish rolls to match this, but I spiked it up with lemon juice and crispy sage and green onions to play to the herb notes in the wine. Greg came up with the idea of browning the butter a bit since it seemed like both the wine and crayfish could handle these toasty notes. Excellent idea. 

Shopping options are limited around Lake Tahoe, but we’d found a store selling a high-quality frozen crayfish that had been pre-cooked. While fresh seafood is always preferred, this was a really great alternative and the upshot was that our cooking time was super quick. Fresh crayfish might just require a little bit more time, or feel free to swap in shrimp, lobster, scallops, etc.

While I prepped the crayfish, Greg warmed sourdough buns on the grill until they were lightly toasted. Meanwhile, Drew made a simple salad with avocado, onions, tomatoes, and aged balsamic vinegar. We also had leftover grilled veggies from dinner the night before as a side as well. We used quite a bit of butter to poach the crayfish; trust me, you’ll want it! Serve the extra as sauce on the side to spoon over your rolls and to drizzle on any veggies. 


It was a delicious combo! The browned butter and the sweet shellfish were heavenly with this round Soave Classico. Crispy sage always takes things to the next level in my book, but here it also really brought out the herb notes in the wine, especially when combined with the green onions. We devoured these rolls with lots and lots of butter drizzled on top and enjoyed it all al fresco while sipping our wine with a beautiful view of the lake.

Stay tuned because next week we’ll have more tasty adventures from the Culinary Cabin!

 

THE GEEKY DETAILS

Taken from the tech sheet:

GRAPES: 100% Garganega
SITE: Monteforte d'Alpone and Soave
ALTITUDE: from 100 m to 200 m asl
EXPOSURE: South/ South-west/ South-east
SOIL CHARACTERISTICS: Basaltic lava
CANOPY SYSTEM: Pergola
DENSITY: 3000-3500 plants / hectare
AGE OF THE VINEYARD: > 30 years
HAND PICKED: Annual production: about 200,000 bottles/year
WINEMAKING: Destalked and crushed. Skin contact for 4 - 12 hours followed by pressing. Cold settling for 12 - 24 hours at cold temperature. Fermentation in stainless
steel vats, followed by malolactic fermentation. Racking and maturation in
stainless steel for about 8 months.
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 8 - 10°C/ 46-50°F

 

MONEY TALK

I bought this wine on Wine.com which currently has the 2016 for about $16.  At that price this is a House Wine and an Overachiever.

 

OTHER POSSIBILITIES

The producer recommends this wine with risotto, white fish, raw fish, and salads. I think it could also stand up to light chicken dishes and it recommends itself easily to creamy textures.

If you’re looking for other wines to match here, look for white wines that have both acidity and body. Herbal notes are definitely welcome additions as well. Chardonnay with light or no oak works here too. 


In fact, we also had a Duckhorn Chard with this and while the Soave worked better with the herbal components, it was a good match.  Bordeaux Blanc, rounder Albariños, and other Italian whites with body could all be really great matches. 

As always, please share your matches in the comments. I love to hear from you!