WINESCENE

2009 Salomon Undhof Kogl Riesling (Austria)

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Over the past few years and really over the last decade when it comes to Rieslings I've turned my attention away from Germany and towards other regions of the world that are producing world class versions of the noble grape that are far from sweet.

Of those regions that include Oregon, France's Alsace appelation and Austria, and from there it's been the wines that Terry Theise imports that alwasy seemed were the first to catch my palate, but over the past ten years other importers have begun to uncover some of the gems hidden in the storybook land of wines that benefit from the Alpine climate.

One of those producers is the Salomon and their 2009 Undhof Kogl Riesling is a stunning example of wine craftsmanship from Austria. The steely, crisp, minerally, and yes, fresh fruit flavored Riesling shows why the wines from the Austiran Kremstel region (near the town of Krems) have grown on me. The bright lemon and orange peel flavor, backed by a whiff of white pepper is the perfect wine for Asiatic cooking or lighly charred fresh fish.

While many think of Riesling as only sweet and cloying, this Salomon white proves that dry Rieslings are a charm and are worth seeking out. 

Related articles

• Riesling from the Outback (wannabewino.com)
• What to Know About 2010 Finger Lakes Rieslings (lenndevours.com)

2004 Mas de Can Blau-Montsant

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Talk about a big, thick and heavy---bottle. Well the wine is just as thick, rich and heavy, and yet at the same time, it is one of the most complex wines ever to come out of Spain's Montsant region comes a massive wine, the 2004 Celler Can Blau's Mas de Can Blau.

I remember my first glass of this dense and deeply colored red wine, in a tapas bar in Madrid in 2006 or 2007, and just going nuts over it. Realizing this was something special I found a local hotspot and went online with my laptop and ordered a case, shared a few bottles with friends and moved it to my offsite storage as this wine needs time.

Last night, with friends from Canada and Sardinia, as well as locals from the Bay Area I popped another cork. It's still young. It's still massive and it's even better.

The blend of Garnacha, Syrah and Cariñena is stunning. It's juicy, and in structure is built like an Australlian red, likely to the impact that the femal winemaker, Elizabeth Reed, has on the wine. It's got all the flavors you would expect, starting with carob, that gives it a richness, and yet, the black raspberry, blueberry and red cherry fruits are also there.

This is not a wine to just drink, as much as you want to, but one to savor and enjoy with food as we did.

2010 Ode to Lulu-Bedrock Wine Company

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Morgan Peterson is the son of Joel Peterson, the famed Ravenswood master of Zinfandel. Raised on his parents winery, Morgan clearly developed a passion for wine, and over the past two years I've been turned onto his style of winemaking and like other second generation winemakers like pal Ethan Lindquist, Morgan is not trying to be the spitting image of "dad" and is instead making other wines at the Bedrock Wine Company.

The 2010 Ode to Lulu is an hommage of sorts to Lulu, the matriarch of Bandol's Tempier and to Tempier in a nice way. It's made from 120 year old Mourvedre and each time I pop a bottle of this I think back to afternoons in the sun drenched region of Southern France. It's absolutley pale rose in color, very salmon like, and reminds me of Tempier at first whiff. On the palate it's bone dry, with the right fruit flavors and crispness that you just want to throw back and enjoy. While complex, it's also the kind of wine you don't want to sit there and study.

If Kermit Lynch, the master importer went back to selling wines from the USA this would be his kind of wine. Oh, that's right, Lynch brings in Tempier. Well with Tempier Rose selling in the thirty dollar range, this is a third less, locally produced and in my mind a better wine. Heck the vines are as old or older and the winemaker is younger and you get to say you "Buy American."

 

International Grenache Day 2011

Without going too deep into the particulars, this past Friday was International Grenache Day.

The global event attracted hundreds of events put on by wineries, restaurants, bloggers, friends and just about anyone who likes to explore wines. Started by Nicole Rolet, proprietress of Chene Blue in The Rhone Valley, I jumped head first into it, convinced master chef and restaurant owner Jeffrey Strauss of Solana Beach's famed Pamplemousse Grill to let me pull together people and a tasting and we went to town.

We poured 28 wines over the four hour plus dinner tasting and he cooked up some amazing food ranging from mini Kobe beef sliders to spoons of pasta, quail, lamb and decedent chocolates.

We opened Grenache bubbly, Gris, Blanc, red from the America--all from Santa Barbara, red from the Rhone, Spain, Australia, and some Grenache blends from all over France.

This was more than a gathering. It showed so many different nuances of Grenache, but most importantly gave the grape a platform for visibility and greatly demonstrated how great Grenache can be.