I’ve been taking a summer vacation from the blog for a few weeks, and as I’m reemerging this week, I think it’s only appropriate to toast with a bottle of bubbly. 

Today we’re going way, way, way Down Under. We’re picking up our exploration of Australian wine, and we’re going about as far south in the country as you can go to Tasmania. Australia’s Island State is known for its Devils, gorgeous scenery, and incredibly clean air. It’s also a pretty ideal place to make sparkling wine – so let’s go ahead and pop a bottle!

Cheers!

An Intro to Tassie Wine

Map borrowed from WineFolly.com

Tassie wines are still somewhat undiscovered gems. They represent less than 1% of Australia’s wine production, but they’re known for their quality, and as a result, this is one Australian winemaking region where demand outpaces supply. 

Despite the production numbers being small, winemaking history goes back to the early days of Australia’s European settlement. Its first vineyards were planted in 1823 – which gives it a potential claim over the Hunter Valley, which is generally cited as Australia’s oldest region. The issue is that after its early start, winemaking on the island pretty much dried up for about a century starting in the second half of the 1800s and then reemerged in the 1950s, so it hasn’t been continuous. 

Tasmania is way down south – located between the southern parallels of  40° and 44° latitude, about 150 miles (240 km) off the coast of Victoria. As you can probably imagine, things get can get chilly around these parts, so the grapes they focus on as pretty different from much of the rest of mainland Australia. Rather than Shiraz, Grenache, and Cabernet Sauvignon which like the heat, we see grapes that like the cool maritime climate take center stage here. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay take the top spots for plantings, and those are followed by Sauv Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Riesling. (We saw this in the Yarra Valley* in Victoria, and now we’re even farther south.) 

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay also happen to be the grapes most traditionally used for traditional method sparkling wines, and much like Champagne, cooler climates tend to be perfect for making bubbly as the grapes retain lots of crisp acidity. Lo and behold, Tasmania has developed a reputation for making some of the country’s best sparkling wines. Moreover, Australia’s first sparkling wine was made in Tasmania in 1826.

Tasmania’s landscape is dominated by dolerite-capped mountains which give the island its complex geography with many varying terroirs and micro-climates. Most notably, the mountains on the western side create a rain shadow that blocks the majority of rain from hitting the island’s seven major growing areas: North West, Tamar Valley, Pipers River, East Coast, Coal River Valley, Derwent Valley, Huon Valley / d'Entrecasteaux Channel. 

Thanks to the shifting and colliding of continents, plus volcanoes, and the movements of bodies of water, Tasmania’s soils are incredibly diverse. If you have a few minutes to geek out, check out this video for a mind-bending look at their geology.

The Wine: Jansz Premium Cuvée Brut Tasmania 

Alcohol: 12%  | Price: $19.99 (Purchased at K&L) 

Jansz Tasmania has been solely focused on sparkling winemaking since 1986. Champagne house Louis Roederer saw similarities between the climate in the Pipers River region, where the original vineyards are located, and that of Champagne, and they decided to partner with the owners of Heemskerk Wines to create Tasmania’s first premium, traditional method sparkling wine house. The Hill-Smith family purchased the property in 1998 and they’ve established it as one of the most highly regarded family-owned sparkling wine houses in Australia. 

The winery’s name pays homage to Tasmania’s namesake, the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman who first sighted the island in 1642. When the vineyards were first established in 1975, they were named after Tasman’s ship, the Heemskerk. 

Image borrowed from Jansz's website.

The Pipers River region has a maritime climate but also gets a lot of sunshine hours, making it excellent for grape-growing. Cool winds from the Bass-Strait also helps to moderate temperatures in the vineyards from becoming too extreme both in the summer and winter, resulting in a long, cool, sunny growing season that allows the grapes to ripen slowly and develop their flavors.  The Janz vineyards here sit on a bed of free-draining red basalt soils, which also adds to the minerality of the wines. 

The wines are made in traditional method and they've put a little spin on the "Méthode Champenoise" and call their take "Méthode Tasmanoise":

Méthode Tasmanoise is the embodiment of every aspect of our unique place. It goes beyond terroir, beyond winemaking. Méthode Tasmanoise encapsulates our Tasmanian way of life and our respect for our environment, the natural wilderness, our clean air, fertile soils, pristine waters, the untamed oceans. It celebrates our unique crafts and the synergy between our wares and our surrounds. Most of all, Méthode Tasmanoise embraces the people that call our island state their home

The Hill-Smith family owns several wineries around Australia and they are all run sustainably. They lay out quite a few of the details of their practices here. The particular bottling we’re talking about today is certified sustainable and vegan friendly.

We opened the Jansz Premium Cuvée Brut Tasmania NV and were greeted with notes of lemon cream and apple blossom on the nose. On the palate, the wine was crisp and bright with a mixture of crunchy green and gold apples, lemon juice and curd, white peach, a hint of berry, a touch of toast and brown sugar, and lots of salinity.

For the price, this is a lovely bottle of bubbly.

Geeky Details

The Pairing: Lobster Tartines with Leeks and Mushrooms

In looking up what foods are commonly grown and produced in Tasmania, I discovered that it is one of the world’s leading suppliers of lobster and abalone. Pairing this bubbly with buttery lobster seemed like a perfect way to go! 

Lobster need not be fancy. In this case, I decided to serve it on grilled bread as a tartine, or open-faced sandwich, topped with sautéed leeks and mushrooms that I thought would bring out the wine’s more earthy notes and tease out hints of herbal flavors. In the end, the dish I came up with to pair with this wine is more about assembly rather than any elaborate cooking.

I ran into one tiny snag when I went to the grocery store – no lobster. No abalone either. I found my solution in the freezer section via Luke’s Lobster pre-packaged knuckle and claw meat. It proved quite tasty and very convenient. (I was addicted to Luke’s Lobster rolls when we lived in New York.) I simply thawed the meat and tossed it all in warm, melted butter and heated it gently, then sprinkled it with a bit of included seasoning. 

The only thing on this dish that required real preparation was the leeks and mushrooms, and that only requires only a few ingredients and little attention. Despite this, the combo becomes really saucy and flavorful. I use the same mix in many different ways including to top all kinds of proteins, mixed into a grain bowl, on a sandwich, or in an omelet or quiche. If you add more stock or water it becomes a fabulous base for a soup, and if you stir in a touch of cream when it comes off the heat, it's fabulously completely decadent. 

In this case, as I mentioned, I layered the leeks and mushrooms on slices of buttery grilled bread, along with arugula, and the buttery lobster meat. The pairing was just lovely and worked even better than I’d hoped. The wine would show different facets with each bite. With the buttery sweet lobster meat the plumper, riper fruits note would come out. The char on the bread at times brought out the wine’s toastiness. At other times, earthier and more minerally notes came out to play. Mostly, it was simply delicious and refreshing with the tartines. 

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The rest of the World Wine Travel blogging group (#WorldWineTravel) is exploring the wines from Tasmania, as well as other Aussie Sparklers and Stickies this month. Check out the rest of their posts:

• Lori is tasting “Tasmanian Sparkling and Egg Rolls” at Exploring the Wine Glass
• Camilla is showcasing “Tasmania + Hawaii: Celebrating with an Island Wine and Island Eats” at Culinary Adventures with Camilla 
• Jeff shares how we can “Discover Rutherglen Stickies” at Food Wine Click!
• Robin is pairing “Sparkling Wine from Jansz Tasmania and a Tassie-inspired seafood curry pie” at Crushed Grape Chronicles
• Kat has a “Surprise! South Australia Pét-Nat is on the Rise” at The Corkscrew Concierge
• Susannah is featuring “Tasmanian Chardonnay” at Avvinare
• Deanna is popping an “Australian Sparkling Wine from Deviation Road” at Wineivore
• Linda is having “Sparkling Aussie Shiraz as summer draws to a close” at My Full Wine Glass

We met at a friend’s place way back at the start of 2020. She had a sparkling personality, but I didn’t get her name. Thankfully, I did get a picture and the social media hive mind helped me to figure it out. Still, when the world shut down a few weeks later, I figured it was unlikely we wouldn't see each other again anytime soon. 

I didn’t forget her though. She was a little sassy and stuck with me. But I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when she showed up at my place out of the blue much later. I was absolutely delighted to receive her . . .  as part of a set of sample bottles. I celebrated our reunion by making her some lobster risotto – to which I added a pinch of cayenne to match her sass.

Sometimes failing to get the name of a wine you really enjoyed can feel like a case of missed connections. I was particularly excited to receive this bottle because my mystery lady/bottle was a bit of an oddball. It’s an unusual style from an unexpected region of France. The Château Tour des Gendres Pétillant-Naturel is a blend of Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc from Bergerac, which you might know as the home of Cyrano, but isn’t as well known for its wines. Perhaps her eccentricities are a part of what makes this lady/bottle so beguiling. 

Château Tour des Gendres Pétillant-Naturel 

Château Tour des Gendres is a family affair. Vincenzo de Conti arrived from Italy and settled down in Bergerac with his wife and kids in 1925. The family farmed the land, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that they began making wine. Luc (Vincenzo’s grandson) settled on the property with his wife Martine. He inherited some old vines on the property and then added more plots later on. His cousin Francis joined them later on and brought 20 more hectares of vines in the Saint Julien d’Eymet and Grand Caillou areas, and took charge of the vines, which are now farmed organically.

The property, however, has a much older history. In the 12th century, the vineyards belonged to Bridoire Castle, owned by Marquis Foucault. His son-in-law (or gendre in French), Mr. Peyronny, was the owner of the ancient Gallo-Roman villa that is now  ‘Tour des Gendres.’  Most of the vineyards that originally belonged to the Castle were wiped out by phylloxera,  so they now only cover about a tenth of the original area.

The Château Tour des Gendres Pétillant-Naturel 2019 (average price $25) was very refreshing with notes of gold and green apples, lemons, white flowers, and saline minerality on the finish. It was bright and lively but also had a little texture as well, which is what made me think it would work well with the creaminess of a risotto incorporating seafood. It was indeed a delicious match as the bubbles and minerality of the wine refreshed the palate, while the wine texture matched that of the food nicely, as desired. 

Sadly, I couldn’t find much about this specific wine on their website, but luckily the bottle came with a card full of information that I will share with you here. 

Bergerac

Bergerac is in South West France, along the Dordogne River. It’s just to the east of Bordeaux, which is probably the main reason that the region isn’t really thought of in terms of wine, despite having produced it since Roman times. Unfortunately, it’s living in the shadow of a giant of a wine region that historically used its power as a port to block wines from other areas from getting out without being heavily taxed. The area also produces many different styles of wines – red, white, sweet, and as we see, sparkling. The grapes and styles are generally also similar to what you’d find in Bordeaux. You’ll find Merlot, Cab, Cab Franc, Malbec, Sauv Blanc and Semillon, just as you would in Bordeaux, and the sweet wines of Monbazillac are made in the same way as Sauternes, with grapes affected by botrytis.

Because Pét-Nats don’t fall within the specifications of the region, this particular wine is classified as a Vin de France (VdF). 

Map borrowed from Wine Folly.

Black Pool Matt’s Wine Club 

This wine came to me as a sample from Black Pool Matt’s Wine Club, a wine club by Matthew Gaughan of Matthew's World of Wine and Drink. It’s set up so that you can pick from several themes to suit your interest. This wine was included in the  “(You Make Me Feel Like)” club which focuses on producers who are practicing or certified organic, biodynamic, and/or use low-intervention, natural winemaking techniques. You can also buy directly from the website, although selections may vary depending on availability.

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The rest of the French Wineophiles Blogging Group (#Winophiles) are also exploring the wine of South West France this month. Be sure to check out their posts:

• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Garlic and Herb-Rubbed Standing Pork Rib Roast + Château Laulerie Bergerac Rosé 2020
• Robin at Crushed Grape Chronicles: Fish, cheese, and red wine. Exploring the Basque region of Irouléguy
• Jeff at Food Wine Click!: Deconstructed Tartine & Domaine de L’Astré Pèlroge
• Deanna at Wineivore: Organic Negrette & Manseng Wines from SW France Paired with Southwest Sliders
• Jane at Always Ravenous: Affordable Wines from Southwest France: Tasting & Pairings
• Cindy at Grape Experiences: A Taste of Southwest France: Nature Secrète Saint Mont 2018 and Sauteed Duck Breasts with Mushrooms
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator: Mauzac? SW France’s Domaine du Moulin Features This Unusual Grape in Methode Ancestrale Sparkler
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm: Visiting the Wines of Southwest France outside of Bordeaux
• Lynn at Savor the Harvest: Gascony Surprise: Meet Domaine de Joÿ in Southwest France
• Linda at My Full Wine Glass: Two Tannat-based wines from Southwest France

Given that California wine today is so known for varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay, it’s easy to forget that Italian grape varieties actually have a long history in the state. The Gold Rush brought immigrants from different countries, many from European countries with strong winemaking traditions. Those immigrants brought their grapes with them and the wine industry grew in the decades that followed and the grapes planted were as diverse as the people who brought them. There were quite a few Italians in the mix (both during the gold rush and afterward), a fact evidenced by the number of Italian names you still see on some of California’s oldest and most established wineries, names like Gallo and Mondavi.

Unfortunately, California’s wine industry came to a screeching halt just as things were getting going thanks to Prohibition, and waves of disease like Pierce’s Disease and Phylloxera didn’t help either. When things finally got up and running again, people tended to plant what was fashionable, and for most of the 20th century that largely meant French grapes (Zinfandel is a bit of an exception). Nonetheless, pockets of Italian grapes remained all along, and always at least a few winemakers interested in working with them, but in recent years (from the 1980’s onwards) there has been renewed and increasing interest in these varieties.

I have to admit that whatever the first examples of Cal-Ital wines (as the category is often referred to) that I tasted were did not impress me. They kind of left thinking that maybe Italian grapes really should stay in Italy since they just didn’t seem to translate well in their California versions. Maybe I was trying the wrong producers. Maybe California winemakers were still working out how best to handle these grapes. Maybe it was my own expectations and inability to allow for the grapes to express themselves differently here. (I’m guessing it was a combo.) Whatever reason though, they just weren’t landing with me for a long time.

At the same time, it seemed to me that the grapes should work here – I mean, our climate is much more similar to parts of Italy like Tuscany than Bordeaux or Burgundy, where Cab and Pinot respectively come from. So I remained curious and kept trying – was also probably exposed to better examples, and slowly my perceptions have shifted and now it’s a category I get pretty excited by. Today, I’m going to share two examples of white wine blends that use Italian varieties that really grabbed my attention in the past year, both of which take their inspiration from Italy’s Friuli region, from winery's specializing in white wine, and both of which I found to be very fairly priced.

Massican Annia Napa Valley 2016

Average price: $36  

Massican’s Annia managed to grab both my and Greg’s attention separately. I think I tried it first while I was working at Bay Grape. It’s both friendly and interesting right away. It doesn’t hurt that I also find the price reasonable (usually mid- $30’s) and I have to admit that I tend to find it more beguiling than some of Massican’s pricier wines, which are nonetheless very good. Greg first tried it at a fundraiser gala some friends had invited us to. This particular party offered tastings from various wineries and restaurants, and in a room full of excellent options this wine brought a “hey, you gotta come try this” from Greg.

Dan Petroski is the man behind Massican. He left the magazine publishing world, having worked at Time Inc. for ten years, headed to business school at NYU, then shortly afterward changed course and made his way to California to pursue winemaking. He’s also the winemaker for Larkmead Vineyards, and a major voice in the wine industry addressing climate change. (You can read some of his op-eds for Sevenfifty Daily here.)

He chose to do something unusual with Massican, opting to create a white-wine-only label in Napa. They harvest six grape varieties in and around Napa Valley and Sonoma County – three northeastern Italian white varieties (Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, and Pinot Grigio), one southern Italian variety (Greco), and two international varieties (Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc). They make four different wines using these grapes.

The label itself is an homage to Petroski’s Italian heritage. The name Massican is taken from the Monte Massico mountain range in Campania in southern Italy. Both of his grandparents were born nearby. Annia was his mother and he named his flagship wine for her. (Annia also happens to be the name of a DOC in Friuli.) 

Arbe Garbe Sonoma Valley V. 2017

Average price: $36

In the Before Times, my all-women tasting group would have a holiday party every year, during which we always have a white elephant wine gift exchange – It’s always super fun with lots of screeching, cursing, and laughs. I scored this bottle of Arbe Garbe a couple of years ago. To be honest, I didn’t know much about it other than that I’d heard good things about the winery and that I really liked the label. (Let’s be honest.)

The winery’s story is as pretty as the label – and so is the wine for that matter. Husband and wife team, Letizia Pauletto and Enrico Maria Bertoz, were sweethearts in their native Friuli and eventually decided to move to California to pursue their dreams. I love this description of their journey together from their website:

Born and raised in this beautifully mystical scenario, we met at the waning of a torrid Friulian summer. Two philosophy students working harvest in the vineyards nearby to earn some money and follow their dreams. It was the late nineties and nothing seemed to make much sense with Kurt Cobain gone and a generational sense of vague displacement. Quickly our visions fused, our imagery fueled by the same fascination with Beat literature and old American folk and rock music. We packed up a guitar, a few books and little else and crossed the ocean. America was as big and wild as we had pictured it and so beautiful, we knew at once we were destined to stay.

After moving to California, Bertoz worked at several wineries, and the couple ultimately decided to start Arbe Garbe as a way to connect to and pay homage to their roots. The name Arbe Garbe means  “bad weeds” in the Friulian dialect and is a reference to the plants that are often used as cover crops (these are also depicted on the labels, which also change from year to year.)

Every year the blend for their wine is a little bit different. The breakdown for the 2017 was 55% Malvasia Bianca, 30% Ribolla Gialla, and 15% Tocai Friulano. The Malvasia saw 24 hours of skin contact, while the Tocai and the Ribolla saw 12 hours of skin contact each, followed by light pressing and native fermentation. (You can find additional details here.)

This wine was also had beautiful aromatics, was rich, layered, and complex. It had lots of golden fruit notes – baked yellow apples, pineapple, tangerine, Meyer lemons, and peaches — along with dried flowers, beeswax, and hints of dried herbs on the finish. 

I opened this one to go with lobster rolls I made as part of a week-long celebration of Greg’s birthday last year. Well, by lobster rolls I mean that I cooked some lobster tails sous vide in lemon butter and put them on buns with a little mayo – so they were like lobsters on rolls. This was another delicious match in which the wine’s texture and flavors matched those of the food beautifully.

I have to say, I’ve made myself hungry while writing this post! I’d love to revisit both of these meals.

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If you're interested in more Cal-Ital wines, here are a few other wineries that make wines in this category that I've really liked (this is by no means an exhaustive list): 

• Ryme Cellars and their second line Uphold Wines.  I've previously featured wines from Uphold, which donates profits from the wines to charitable causes, here and here. 
• Lepiane Wines - This is a one woman show, very small production. We'll be taking a look at some of the wines later in the year, but Lepaine's Barbera is a particular fave!
• Matthiasson, as well as their second line Tendu .
• Unti Vineyards . You can find their rosé mentioned in this post.
  

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This month the rest of the Italian Food, Wine, Travel blogging group is taking a look at Italian grapes grown outside of Italy. Linda of My Full Wine Glass is hosting and you can read her invitation here. What a fun topic! If you see this early enough, feel free to join our chat on Twitter at 8 am PT/11 am ET on Saturday, March 6th  by following #ItalianFWT.

Be sure to check out the rest of the group's posts: 

• Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Cheesy Bites, a Colorful Board, and a Barbera...from California
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm: Italian Grapes Grown Outside of Italy and Served Out of a Box? Che Diamine!!!
• Andrea at The Quirky Cork: Tuscany Meets Turkey with Chateau Murou Montepulciano Sangiovese
• Jeff at FoodWineClick!: Italian Grapes from Unti Vineyards at the Winter Grill
• Martin at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog: A Splendid Cal-Ital: 2016 Giornata Nebbiolo Luna Matta Vineyard
• Jennifer at Vino Travels: Remy Wines: Italian Grapes in Oregon and a Winery After my Heart
• Terri at Our Good Life: Italian Grapes in Lodi Paired with Grilled Salmon Tacos
• Gwendolyn at Wine Predator: Italy in California: from Aglianico to Zinfandel and Italy in California: Nebbiolo from Humboldt's Terragena and Santa Barbara’s Silver
• Susannah at Avvinare: Vermentino, A Star In and Out of Italy
• Lynn at Savory the Harvest: Honoring An Italian American: Palmina Wines in Santa Barbara County
• Linda at My Full Wine Glass: Native Italian grapes find a home in the land of Pinot Noir

Additional reading and sources used for this post:

• Food & Wine: First Families 
• Wine Enthusiast: The Italian Grapes Making Their Mark in California
• Wine Enthusiast: The Rise of Italian Grapes in American Vineyards
• Wine Enthusiast: Italy, By Way of California 
• The Wine Cellar Insider: Complete Wine Valley California History from Early 1800s to Today
• WTSO: What is ‘Cal-Ital’ Wine? 
• Napa Wine Rroject: Massican 
• Grand Cru Selections: Massican 
• Winespeed.com: People to Know - Dan Petroski 
• SF Chronicle: Winemaker of the Year 2017 - Dan Petroski of Larkmead Vineyards and Massican Winery 
•  SFgate.com: Winemakers: Enrico Bertoz, Letizia Pauletto
• Wine-theory.com: Arbe Garbe 
• Decanter: Top Italian varieties from California
• WineTraveler.com:Italian Wineries & Grape Varieties in California – The Next Big Thing? 
  

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