Grape of the Day

Let's go to the west coast of the US today to the Willammette Valley in Oregon. We stop in the Eola-Amity Hills American Viticultural Area (AVA) about 40 miles south by southwest from Portland. Today, we are drinking some of the most expressive Riesling in the world, but why would it ever grow here. Let's go back and see where the area came from. Way back when, between when dinosaurs roamed the earth (I think I read that line in a book about 55 years ago) and when man first appeared, the western part of Oregon actually sat underneath the floor of what we now call the Pacific Ocean. Later, it was on that floor and collected millions of years of marine sediment. When a collision of tectonic plates forced what we now know as western Oregon out of the ocean, it created the Willammette Valley sitting conveniently between the Cascades, a volcanic range to its east and the Coast Range to its west. The addition of the volcanic soil from the Cascades appears to have created a perfect ...

The Finger Lakes region in upstate New York is not easy to get to. I experienced it myself a couple of years ago when I got to choose among several small airports (more on that below). However, the wine in the region is very underrated and often quite good. In particular, we can find a lot of good Riesling there. Before moving on to the wines though, my word of warning is do not cut your arrival at the local airports too tight for your flight. Upon arriving at the TSA security checkpoint to leave the area, we encountered a lowered gate with a sign saying "Agent on Break -- Will Return by [some time]." That time was nearly 30 minutes in the future. They had one agent. The Finger Lakes region is really beautiful. Sitting roughly between Rochester and Syracuse, it is composed of a number of lakes, not surprisingly looking like fingers, winding roads, some farmland, and some industry. Winters are cold -- yes cold, not cool -- and summers are not exactly hot although the occas...

Today, we are in Clare Valley, about 90 miles north of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. Here, the winters are cool, but not cold, the summers warm but not hot. The winds blow often. Clare Valley is rich in copper, although not like it was during the rush of the middle of the 19th century when it became what Americans would have thought of as a boom town in the wild west. It's what the small area around the town of Clare grew up on. It's also rich in Riesling, both bone dry and naturally sweet, depending on the winemaker's preferences. Today, we'll focus on the dry Rieslings of Clare Valley. We asked an area sommelier to set up a tasting for us. Not knowing what to expect, we thought that we might see some of the well-known names in Aussie wine. But, there is none of that here. The large wine corporations have stayed away from Clare Valley. It leaves us in a quaint setting -- a throwback to days gone by. We note that each of the wines has its own signature...

Why are we starting our Riesling journey in South Africa? Why not? Of all the Riesling growers on our list, South Africa is not known for its Riesling. And, likely the reason is that grape growers in South Africa didn't think they could effectively grow the grape. So, what's the story. Riesling does not like good conditions. The minerally, acidicm and frankly ancient soils of the Stellenbosch and Cape regions favor it. It hates water during the growing season and naturally does not tend to get any in those regions. And, while Riesling like much cooler weather than is characteristic in South Africa, what it does get are cool night, especially in the southward facing vineyard and high winds that have a similar effect to cooler weather. What we get from this are wines that once the industry in South Africa is able to work things out may be quite ageworthy and produce a more earthy version of Riesling that what the world has become used to. In the best South African expressio...

Perhaps emanating from the palates of American wine drinkers, Riesling is probably the least understood wine grape in the world. Yet, when you combine its magnificent flavors, potential complexity, food friendliness, ageability, it may be the ultimate white grape for winemakers and oenophiles the world over. On this Riesling journey, we'll drink Riesling in various corners of the world, but that starts tomorrow. As we travel, we'll start in South Africa, take the long flight to Clare Valley in Australia, travel to upstate New York (Finger Lakes), head west to Willammette Valley in Oregon (with apologies to western Washington), and then we're off to Europe first the Alsace region of France, making a quick jaunt into Austria, and then finishing in Germany where we'll explore the various classifications of Riesling. But, today, what exactly is Riesling? It's an aromatic, white grape that is pronounced with a long e followed by the sound you get from the s in word...

We're in Sonoma County in California today to drink Petite Sirah. And, to do it, we've sat down with a group of wine enthusiasts telling us all about the grape they love. We find ourselves in a bit of a kerfuffle. What exactly is Petite Sirah? Strangely enough, depending on where it's being grown and which grapes are labeled with the name, there is no one species known as Petite Sirah. In fact, vines that have been labeled that way have been discovered to be any of Syrah (the winery must be foolish because Syrah would fetch a higher price), Pinot Noir (it's hard to know how that happened because Pinot Noir has the distinctive character of Pinot Noir), Durif, and Peloursin. Wine drinkers tend to know about Syrah and Pinot Noir, although we may have pages about them one of these days and I know absolutely nothing about Peloursin and am currently too proud to Google it (I haven't used Google yet in this blog), so let's focus on the Petite Sirah that is likely...

It's the forgotten grape in Champagne. Almost none of the major, or even minor, champagneries tout their Pinot Meunier except for Krug. Well, that's a pretty mighty exception. There are three major grapes grown in Champagne -- Pinot Noir and Chardonnay being the ones everybody knows about and then there is Pinot Meunier, still perhaps the most planted of the three, but easily the least known. So, let's discover Pinot Meunier. But, first, where exactly is Champagne? It's in the northwestern part of France, nearly due south of London and mostly west and just slighly south of Paris. As most know, lots of sparkling wines are referred to as Champagne and I suppose that an estate can get away with that if they are not in France or one of the other European countries with tightly controlled naming rules. In the US, however, wine producers can pretty much call a wine whatever they like so long as they don't violate AVA rules and local, state, or federal law. The house...

Today, we are in the little village of Montefalco, in Perugia, part of Umbria in wine lingo, about 90 miles nearly due north of Rome. We're drinking Sagrantino, sometumes Sagrantino di Montefalco, one of the healthiest red wines there is due to its high polyphenol (antioxidant) content. You knew there was at least one really good reason to drink Sagrantino, didn't you? Sgrantino is an easy grape to grow. It's thick-skinned and disease-resistant, but it yields very small amounts of grapes from each vine. It also ripens extremely late in the season, long after both  Nebbiolo  or Cabernet Sauvignon, for example. It's also far more tannic than either of those other tannic grapes. And, it is absolutely bone dry. So, if you don't like to feel your mouth puckering when you drink wine, this may not be the grape for you. For those of you who are still with me, Sagrantino is very dark on the palate with black plum, black licorice, black pepper, black tea, and black olive....

Today we're drinking wine from a grape born and bred in the United States. Clearly a hybrid, nobody thus far has figured out what it's a hybrid of, but genetic tests have found it be partially vitis vinifera (the species most well-known wines are made from) and vitis aestivalis [sic]. It's a quite popular grape in places that, well, are just not known as popular grape-growing regions. Some of those regions, however, are producing some very interesting wines, including Norton, that are of high quality in their own right, but just don't taste the same or exhibit the same flavors as we would get from the Old World vineyards of Europe. In the 19th century, Norton and wines made from Norton were very popular in the eastern and midwestern states, particularly Missouri and Ohio. What happened? Prohibition happened. Not being able to produce wine for broad consumption, farmers pulled up their Norton vines and planted Concord grapes and you heard it here first, wine made from ...

We're back to Sapin today, this time Andalusia in the southern part of the country to taste the wines from an interesting grape known as Pedro Ximenes. People who like to speculate on the origin of grape names due lots of interesting speculation on where the name came from, but nobody is sure and there is not even vast agreement. Walking out into the vineyards, among first things we notice about this white grape are that the sizes of the fruit are quite varied -- some are frankly enormous while others look like mere babies, the grapes bunch very tightly on the vine, and the skins of the grape are remarkably thin. This has created a historical problem for growers of Pedro Ximenes as the grape is very susceptible to both botrytis bunch rot and to downy mildew. However, this problem is somewhat offset by the frequent huge yields that the vines produce. While Spanish producers historically tried to make dry white wines from Pedro Ximenes, the quantities of usable grapes that had no...

You've never heard of Rkatsiteli? You don't know how to pronounce Rkatsiteli? You're not alone We're drinking white wine today in the small, former Soviet, Republic of Georgia. Rkatsiteli is one of the truly, ancient wine grapes. Archeologists in recent years have discovered clay fermenting tanks estimated to be 5,000 years old containing small amount of Rkatsiteli wines. This was once the single most popular wine grape in the former Soviet Union and remains popular in 14 of the 15 republics that once formed that massive counry (Turkmenistan is the exception where they do not grow this grape). What happpened? Mikhail Gorbachev, the final President of the Soviet Union believed that grape plantings were not good for the country, so he ordered a vine pull, largely focused on Rkatsiteli vines. Rkatsiteli is a particularly acidic grape. One way to combar the acidity is to harvest the grape as late as possible so that some of the acid converts to sugar (the chemists cou...

We're off to the Alentejo region of Portugal -- the southern part that remains north of the Algarve to taste the wines from a grape with an interesting history. Alicante Bouschet was developed by Henri Bouschet in the 1860s in a successful effort to breed a wine grape that was particularly resistant to disease and rot. Bouschet's father had developed an eponymous grape Peiti Bouschet that the younger Bouschet bred with  Grenache  to form an ultra thick-skinned, very deep red grape that he called Alicante Bouschet. Alicante Bouschet reached its ultimate popularity in the US during the 1920s and 1930s. Why? The Volstead Act -- you know, that lovely law that enforced Prohibition -- allowed for a limited amount of production of wine for home consumption. And, given that, even then, most grape production in the US was done in California, the west coast grape growers needed a grape that would easily and safely ship cross-country by train. What they did as often as not was to ship ...

We had to make a decision today -- where do we go? We decided to head back to the Mendoza region of Argentina, jusr east of the Andes and closer to Santiago, Chile than any other city we have heard of to drink wines made from Bonarda. The decision was complicated because we could have gone to Napa or Sonoma to drink Charbono, the Piemonte of Italy to drink Douce Noir (Noire) or the Savoie region of France to drink Corneau. One thing about all of those areas is that they are in the foothills of some mountains, mostly what I might describe as serious mountains. Since we're in Argentina, we go out into the vineyards to inspect our Bonarda grapes. The grapes are small and black and generally bud late although some growers do an early pruning right after the beginning of the year to accelerate bud break. In either case though, Bonarda may be the last grape in the vineyard to be harvested. Failure to harvest early gives the wine particularly green flavors reminiscent of a bad Cabernet ...

We're back in Rioja today in northern Spain to sample wines made from one of the truly important grapes of the region. Most great red wines coming out of Rioja have at least a touch of Graciano in them, but today we're drinking the single varietal versions. What is Graciano? It's a highly perfumed, bright black grape that seems to have a mind of its own. It buds late, harvests late and is highly susceptible to downy mildew. It needs a hot, dry growing season to survive, and even then, yields are low. So, why do wine estates grow this grape? This is a highly acidic, extremely tannic grape. That owes to its ability to aid in aging and character to some of the great wines of the region. Most gran reservas of Rioja (minimum of 2 years on oak and 3 years in bottle before release), while very predominantly Tempranillo, have more than just a splash of Graciano in them. The extra body and complexity lent by this difficult grape make it well worth it to many winemakers and co...

Today, we travel to Hermitage, just south of Lyon and west of Grenoble on the northern banks of the Rhone. While many of the world's most sought after Syrah-based blends are produced in this region, today, we are drinking white wine made predominantly of Roussanne. While Roussanne is often blended with Marsanne, the Marsanne being predominant, that's not our focus today. Roussanne is the far more sought after grape, but fussy and tempestuous. The vines are not at all hardy, yields will be extremely high one year and extremely low the next, and Roussanne is particularly susceptible to both powdery mildew and rot. So, why do we possibly care about this grape? It's one of two, along with Marsanne allowed in the whites of Hermitage, and one of the four in Chateauneuf du Pape. While Roussanne is used to produce white wine, the grapes are not particularly white or even green. Instead, they are usually a kind of reddish-brown color, perhaps russet, and possibly leading to th...

This morning, we're off to the northeast corner of Hungary, near the border with Slovakia to see what we think of the white grape, Furmint. You've never heard of Furmint? You've probably also never heard of some of the towns where we can find it. We had a flight choice this morning and opted for Debrecen International Airport over the comparable choice in Kosice, Slovakia. For the uninformed, Debrecen is considered convenient because it sits near equally obscure places in Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. But, it's only about an hour ride to the northeast to the little area of Tokaj where we will taste wine thie afternoon and evening. In the afternoon, we will taste the dry version of Furmint and after dinner, we will move on to the more famous, sweeter versions. Before being presented with the wine, we are given a few ripe Furmint grapes. They are so naturally acidic that we can almost taste it before the grape crosses our lips. It comes apparently from the natural...

We're staying in the southern European islands, but today we've sailed to the Mediterranean to visit Sicily and a little seaside town called Avola where we find the local grape, Nero d'Avola, literally the black of Avola. It's a feisty, little grape, black as expected, that needs hot and dry climates. Often chocolatey and brimming with ripe plum, the tannins in Nero D'Avola and moderate acidity make many of its afficionados think of it as a baby Syrah. In fact, in its growing number of plantings in Australia, some have considered that it must somehow be genetically linked. Other flavors common in Nero d'Avola include black cherry, tobacco, licorice, and even hints of chile pepper. Nero d'Avola has some advantages over most other tannic red wines, at least in the US, in that an excellent bottle of single varietal Nero d'Avola with aging potential can be yours for less than $20. Try getting that in your favorite Napa Cabernet. Nero d'Avola has a ...

Today, we're off to the little Greek island of Santorini, about 200 miles southeast of Athens and just north of Cyprus. The weather is warm most of the year with summers that can be quite hot. Santorini is a volcanic island. When we combine that volcanic soil with the often extreme heat, we get growing conditions that can leave the grapes incredibly stressed. To combat that, we need a hearty grape. Enter Assyrtiko, one of the few grapes of Europe that never fell victim to the phylloxera blight. It's one of the most acidic of all white grapes despite harvesting quite late in the season. In Greece, Assyrtiko is used in both dry and sweet (dessert) wine production. In the dry single-varietal versions, expect a wine that is comfortable being served quite chilled to calm the acidity. On the nose, we find notes of bright citrus and tea leaves with strong minerality. While it is often blended with other grapes such as Sauvignon Blanc and  Semillon , whether in combination or by ...

It's not easy to fly from Barcelona to Adelaide in South Australia, but we arrived safe and sound. Wanting to sample some of the famous Grenache-based blends often referred to as GSM (Grenache Shiraz (Syrah elsewhere) Mataro (Mourvedre in most of the world and Monastrell in Spain)), we immediately faced a challenge: head south to McLaren Vale or north to Barossa Valley. We decided to head south first and north for the afternoon. To have to sample Grenache in Australia primarily in Rhone-style blends once would have been anathema as it was easily the most planted red grape in the country, but over time that changed as growers and winemakers found more profit to be made in Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, both bigger and more tannic. So, today, our adventures have Grenache as the plurality grape, but by no means like what we tasted just two days ago in  Chateauneuf du Pape . Before we get to the aroma and flavor profiles, let's first consider the differences that we note. In th...

We're headed back south today across the border into the Catalonian region of Spain. Just west of Barcelona sits the Denominacio d'Origen Qualificada (DOQ) of Priorat. Since the langauge has changed, they refer to the grape that their neighbors 300 kilometers to the north call Grenache as Garnacha or sometimes Garnaxta. The planting areas in Priorat are heavily regulated by DOQ rules, but virtually all of the grapes are planted on steeply sloped terraces in rocky, volcanic soil. This, combined with the dry, warm summer climate causes the roots of the grapevines to be water starved and to seek the ground surface in order to stay hydrated. The stress of doing that intensifies the flavors emanating from the Garnacha. Priorat wines are not 100% Garnacha, but the grapes that can be grown in the small geography of the DOQ are regulated. Many Priorat wines contain multiple other grapes, most often Carinena (Carignan), Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah, while some are single-varietal (...

It was an easy drive mostly along the Mediterranean coast to get from Banyuls sur Mer to Chateauneuf du Pape, sometimes irreverently abbreviated as CDP. And, while we are still drinking wines that are primarily Grenache, what a difference a day makes. It's a storied Appelation d'origine Controllee (AOC) -- roughly 12 square miles mostly planted to grapes. And, while white wines are produced there, today we will focus on the more famous red wines of CDP. But, first, why the strange name? Back in the early 14th century, Pope Clement V who had been Archbishop of Bordeaux moved the papal structure from the Vatican to Avignon. So, the town was literally called the pope's new castle. Sometime during US Prohibition, the rules for the AOC were promulgated. Among other strange rules, they set minimum alcohol (12.5%, although you would be hard pressed in 2020 to find a CDP that is less than 14% alcohol by volume) levels and originally 10 permissible grapes. A few years later, ...

It's chocolate day today at Grape of the Day. Let me explain. Getting ready to take off from tiny Marseille Airport (MRS for airport junkies), the fog was far too heavy. So, we decided to stay in Languedoc-Rousillon to sample one of the great wines of the area known by its Appellation d'origine Controllee (AOC) as Banyuls. No, Banyuls is not a grape. In fact, it's a tiny little town on the Mediterranean not far from Andorra, Barcelona, or Monaco. So, this begins a multi-day exploration into wines that are Grenache-based. Grenache as we will explore is one of the truly great grapes of the world. In fact, some of the most sought after wines among connoisseurs are Grenache-based, but very few say Grenache on the label. Grenache Noir is, as the name implies, a very dark grape. It's naturally high in sugar content and has only a moderate tannin level. Among all grapes, it both ripens and harvests quite late, thus growing best in very hot areas. Once picked in the l...

We're leaving the altitude of the Andes today to fly to the southeastern French shores of the Mediterranean. We're headed to Languedoc to sample the white variety of the grape known as picpoul or piquepoul. Literally, the name of the grape means lip stinger and if you sample the juice before the wine has been fully fermented, you'll understand why. The juice of the picpoul grape is so acidic that is unimaginable that it can turn into a drinkable wine, but it does. While the wines we're sampling today do have appeal to consumers, winemakers are not traditionally thrilled with the grape. It mildews easily and does not produce large amounts of juice per hectare of grapes grown. In other words, it's not a high profit grape. But, due to what would seem to be the archaic viticultural laws in France, it's one of the grapes that can be used in Languedoc. Even after having gone through fermentation, traditionally in steel tanks, the wines produced, if from the AOC ...

The map said it was a short trip, but getting from Mendoza to the Colchagua Valley in Chile was grueling. Even the mountain passes in this part of the Andes are at high elevation. And, the roads are not exactly like the US interestate system. But, we wanted to taste Carmenere and that's where most of it is grown these days. Despite it being thought of as a Chilean grape, Carmenere actually has its roots in the Medoc part of Bordeaux. In fact, back in earlier days of wine, it was one of the six red Bordeaux grapes and was used as a blending grape much in the style of  Petit Verdot.  This all came to an end when phylloxera (a disease that killed off many grape varietals in Europe in 1867. really attacked Carmenere plantings. Carmenere was not discovered in Chile until the mid-1990s. Chilean viticulturists found grapes that were thought to have been Cabernet Franc, but found notable differences. Scientists identifed them as Carmenere and a new revolution in Chilean wine began...

We're flying back to South America today, this time to the Mendoza Appelation in Argentina. Mendoza is in the far western part of the country in the foothills of the Andes and is far closer to Santiago, Chile than any place that anyone but Argentines have ever heard of in Argentina. For those who are into climate conditions, Mendoza, depending on how you look at it, is either blessed or cursed with some of the driest weather on the planet. That combined with the rocky soil influenced by the particularly rough mountain range to its west as well as the high winds most of the year produce highly stressed grapes. Today, we taste Torrontes from that area. We have in front of us six pours of Torrontes from six local estates. While all were produced from grapes grown particularly close to each other, we notice that each of the wines has a very different level of acidity from the others. This has been one of the banes of the grape -- the inability of winemakers to effectively control t...

We're back to Austria again today, this time in Burgeland on the far eastern border with Hungary (actually, I'm writing about Zweigelt today because we had it with salmon last night). While the grape was developed from the marriage of two others,  Blaufrankisch  and Saint Laurent, and zwei  is German for two, there is no hidden meaning to the name of this varietal. You see, the mating of the two other grapes was done by a guy named Zweigelt and he named it after himself. What we got from this marriage is a grape that buds early and also harvests early, usually a few weeks before Pinot Noir. What we get from this black grape is a fairly acidic wine with moderate tannins and notes red fruit that has been spiced with cinnamon and black pepper. This combination means that it can comfortable carry some fairly hearty spices in food (last night's salmon was generously seasoned with Old Bay). When fermented on must with stems and skins, Zweigelt can be a bit temperamental, bu...

After a few days in Europe, we're heading back to the US to sample a grape born in France, but planted largely in the non-wine growing regions of the US. Unlike the other grapes we have tasted on this journey, Chambourcin is vitus vitaceae and not vitus vinifera . And, also unlike many of these other grapes, this is a new grape having been "invented" during my lifetime. Deep red on the vine, we pick a few and notice that unlike other red wine grapes, the juice that emanates is pinkish rather than the clear juice that we normally expect from grapes that produce red wines. This grape was bred successfully to be very disease and rot resistant and this attributes to its popularity among growers in non-traditional growing areas such as the mid-Atlantic region of the US. The wines that are produced from Chambourcin are red, not at all tannic (the skins are smooth to the touch indicating a lack of tannins and highly acidic). Expect lots of spice and lots of red -- red frui...

With some time to kill and wanting to see the countryside, but obviously not able to drive ourselves, we hailed an Uber to go from northern Italy to Wachau, Austria right on the Danube (little did I know that I would need an additional credit card for this trip). We're going to drink wine from the most widely planted grape in the country, Gruner Veltliner. As we arrive on the east bank of the river, we see a number of bottles set out for us. But, something is odd. None of them are the traditional 750 ml bottle that we are used to. No, the wine sometimes affectionately known as Gru-V is bottled in chubby, almost cylindrical with their short necks, 1 liter bottles with crown (you need a bottle opener, not a corkscrew) caps. In Wachau, most Gru-V wine is grown on steep, terraced slopes that have almost no ability to retain soil. Winemakers believe that the stress from lack of soil enhances the flavor profile of Gru-V. Our wines are white with a slight very pale green tinge to them...

The flight to Torino was rough, but Ryanair is apparently the only way to get to the Piemonte from Portugal and even then, we had to drive to Barcelona first. When I asked the gate agent what we had to do to get an upgrade, I was informed that all the seats have seat belts. Oh well, this trip will be worth it. We're headed about 30 miles and well up in elevation to Barolo. This little town which overshadows its sister DOCG Barbaresco produces some of the finest wines in the world. And, they are made from Nebbiolo. Nebbiolo is thought to be an ancient grape dating back to the days of Pliny the Elder. It's an interesting grape for grower as its bud break is usually the earliest of all grapes, yet it harvests last among those used for dry wines. This produces a highly tannic, incredibly robust wine that in its best vintages can easily go 30-40 years before hitting its peak. After harvest, the Nebbiolo produced in Barolo sees substantial oak, usually from France or eastern Eu...

In the northern part of Portugal, there runs a river called the Douro. And, in the area around the Douro River, the viticulturists grow Touriga Nacional. Why? It's a prized red grape, extremely tannic, and it is the backbone of the wine that Portugal is known for, Port. Touriga Nacional is a particularly hearty grape, but yield, often measured in tons per hectare is normally very low. The problem is that this grape is prone to very poor souaison  or fruit set, the natural process by which the grape turns from the flowering stage to the berry stage. Too much Touriga Nacional simply fails to yield berries. As a single varietal, expect a wine that even when aged in once-used oak will be big and bold with firm tannins although the tannins should calm rapidly after a year or less in bottle. One characteristic of Touriga Nacional is that it absorbs character from the oak easily and tends to give off notes of vanilla, nutmeg, hazelnut, and s'mores. Because this grape is primar...