When I was a kid, there was nothing more amazing than putting some money in a vending machine and by cheer happenstance getting two items for the price of one. I”m obviously amplyfing it. Missing school was more amazing. But as an adult, going to a wine event and on the way out encountering a free tasting of fantastic wines is reminiscent of that infantile memory.
Last month I went to the Famille Perrin tasting at The House in Condado, PR. On the way out of the tasting room there was a tasting from Ambrosia Fine Wines. Five or six wines to try and I said “When in Rome…“. I went and greeted the owner of the company and great guy all around Guillermo who has a great knowledge of european wines. After our meet and greet I went head on to the wines and I started with some bubbles.
Champagne Aubry Premier Cru Brut. It had a delightful pale yellow color with a nice chain of bubbles occupying the middle space. On the nose it had green pears and apples, and spring flowers while on the palate it had a citric attitude with rounded acidity and a roundpunch to my palate. It was very refreshing and with nice fruit. The finish was very Goldilocks. The blend is predominantly Pinot Meunier with 45%, 25% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir but that makes for only 95%. What makes up the rest? Well the Aubry brothers use arbanne, petit meslier and fromenteau. Which on one hand is pretty cool for me. 3 more grapes to my list of 500 to try but on the other I was always under the impression that champagne was only made from the three already known grapes. I was not aware that one could blend anything else. Right there I loved it even more because it got me reading and learning some more. So I went online and found this really great article by Laura Maniec on the website GuildSomm that not only validated my newly educated experience but goes into great detail about the 7 grapes of Champagne. Worth the read. Also for anybody keeping scores, traditionally this wine gets over 90 points and it has such an accesible price it’s ridiculous. So of course I went home with a bottle. My w
ife didn’t mind one bit.
For the second wine, I stayed in France but moved south from Reims towards Nievre to try the Pouilly-Fume. It was a Domain A. Cailbourdin Les Cris 2015. As I write this and bypassing the obvious note about this being just a Sauvignon Blanc with a prettier name, I think it’s important to mention a few things about this wine like the vines are between 20-30 years old, the soil is primarily limestone, which is partially responsible for the minerality of the wine, it’s also alkaline so it’s used with varietals that tend to be high on acidity and that the vineyard has southwest exposure which, as I was recently made aware, is best because southern exposure ensures the grapes get the warmest part of the sunlight not just the light. The actual wine itself is the best expression of what a Sauvignon Blanc can give you. And while I’ve read enough about how difficult it is to differentiate Pouilly-Fume from Sancerre, there is little doubt that they make the best out of what some people call a very complicated grape that is not ‘site expressive‘. The one thing this wine has is structure. This is no ‘faible vin blanc‘. We are talking about citrus scents, pinneaple on palate but maintaining the minerality mentioned before. Definitely a goldilocks finish.
At this point we depart France and arrive at Austria to try a Hirsch Gruner Veltliner 2013. Quite a few years on it but still very much approachable. I didn’t get a lot on nose. Some floral notes but could very well have been the environment or that it was too cold but on palate it had structure, it had green pears and apples and I wonder if the label is a subliminal guidance towards that affirmation or if it’s sheer happenstance? This is one of those wines that the top magazines couldn’t make up their mind on and one gave it 89 the other 92. With this type of varietal it’s easy to pick a side and stick with it but sometimes that fails to give the grape an opportunity to be measured against itself and not against other flavors of other white grapes that we just happen to enjoy more often. This wine is from what’s called Lower Austria or Niederostereich in German and it’s located in the norteasternmost part of the country but particular within the Kamptal DOC. This wine is a refreshing alternative to your everyday beach wines and it has the structure to handle it.
We had some casual conversations with the server while he talked about the wines and the expectations from each one and that’s when
we switched lanes from whites to red but stayed in Austria. I tried the Sattler St. Laurent 2013.First of all how do you say no to a wine that on the label says Burger Land? Well ok, it doesn’t, it said Burgenland but it’s pretty damn close, is it not? That’s like me looking at a wine from DO Somontano and not getting reminded of my last name. I do not know how I jumped that far down the map but let’s continue on this wine. What makes this wine different is that it’s grape is not something we are accustomed to. St. Laurent is a grape mainly used in Austria, although other countries are beginning to experiment with it and it’s profile is quite interesting. Dark purple color, dark berries, spice and above all, well structured with 12.5% of alcohol. There is an interesting opportunity to later go into the who-what-where about the grape, but, another time maybe. The one thing noticeable about the Sattler is that it has a short finish. Some wines are marathonic others are sprinters. As long as you are the best at your capacity, there’s a public for everything.
Finally I returned to France to finish the night and in continuing with the coincidences of the evening, it was with a Cotes du Rhone, the same type of wine I was tasting earlier in the night at the Famille Perrin event. The wine was Les Garrigues Cotes du Rhone 2016. The name itself means ‘underbrush of wild herbs and spices‘. This blend is comprised of 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre, 5% Cinsault & Marselan, there is no no oak used and it’s aged in 50 cement/50 stainless). It’s a very easy to drink wine, medium body and as the name translation states, some hint of spices and no over the top tannins making it extremely approachable. 2016 was a great year for the Rhone Valley so even though this might not be a top of the line automobile, it does come with some of the same features as the top models by being approachable, affordable and above all, drinkable without having to wait.
This element of causality was quite a learning experience. I tasted some great wines all from the Old World, I got exposed to new grapes and in retrospect it was a great night that could have only been made better if instead of lingering in this area once I finished tasting the wines, I would have noticed that on the other side of the store there was a tasting of italian wines. Can’t win them all I guess. Oh well…C’est la vie!
