New Wine To Taste

Nigl, Grüner Veltliner, Kremser Freiheit, Kremstal, 2008

Austria is made up of 8 wine growing regions, only 4 are of real importance [Neiderosterreich, Burgenland, Wein and Styria]. Niederosterreich is located in the northern most part of Austria. It is where the best white wines come from and home to Gruner Veltliner and Riesling. Neiderosterreich can be further broken down into 8 sub regions, Kremstal being one of them.

Gruner Veltliner typically is a pale straw color and has crisp citrus, herbal notes. General non-fruit descriptors are white pepper, lentils and radish. 

Nigl has an herbaceous, mineral nose. It has definite presence of white pepper, lime zest and quartz with a long, steely finish. Gruner Veltliner’s bright acidity and appealing spicy quality make it a delicious food wine; particularly with spicy Asian foods. Gruners also go very well with seafood, bitter greens and salads. A bottle of 2008 Nigl Gruner Veltliner costs around $30.

New Wine By The Glass

I got to taste a new wine by the glass at Market Restaurant and Bar called Paco & Lola, Albariño, 2009. Albariño is a white wine grape from Spain.  It is grown in the northwest corner of Spain in the Rías Baixas region. It is also grown in Portugal, where it is called Alvarinho. It is known to be a very aromatic wine, smelling of orange zest, peaches and orange blossoms.

Paco & Lola has a fantastic nose! It smells of crisp floral notes and tastes clean and very bright with hints of green apples and orange citrus. The acidity makes it a great wine to pair with food and gives it freshness with an excellent mouth feel. Pairs well with shellfish, seafood, sushi and zesty salads. A bottle of the 2009 Paco & Lola Albariño costs around $20.

The Last Four Months

So here it begins…

I just started seriously learning about wine one year ago and four months ago, I passed my Certified Sommelier test in Las Vegas. I never planned on sitting for my Advanced because I’ve heard how difficult and stressful it can be and thought I might not be ready but I love a challenge!  So I’m currently studying for my Advanced Certification and tasting as many wines as I can get my hands on. I meet weekly with a tasting group to practice my blind tasting. The weekly tasting consists of 6 blind wines, half white and half red. And here is my first tasting…

First wine [Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio, Dolomiti, 2008]: I got lemon, golden apple and wet stone on both the nose and palate. I confused the lees contact for oak barrels and called the wine a village level white burgundy. It had a bitter finish which should have pushed me toward lees contact. And if I would have noticed the color of the wine was not golden but actually copper, I might have deduced the wine was a Pinot Grigio, not white burgundy. I also inaccurately called the acid medium plus; it should be medium. But I feel better that at least Pinot Grigio was in my initial conclusion.

Second wine [Cazar Chardonnay, Russian River Valley, 2008]: I got meyer lemon, apple, white flower and lots of new French oak treatment [vanilla, honey, caramel]. In my initial conclusion, I thought the wine was California Chardonnay or Viogner. Unfortunately, I guessed 2008 California Viogner in my final conclusion. If it were Viogner, I would have gotten more honeysuckle, floral notes and tropical fruits like mango.

Third wine [Weingut Kröber, Winninger Brückstück, QbA, 2007]: I got peach, green apple, white flower and wet stone. The thing that gave this wine away was petrol on the nose and it was off dry on the palate. I guessed 2008 Mosel Riesling for my final conclusion. I put Chenin Blanc in my initial conclusion just to play it safe because the wine was off dry but I never got wet wool or beeswax. Great wine for spice foods!

Fourth wine [Black Sears, Estate, Howell Mountain, 2008]: I got black cherry, molasses, black pepper and lots of barrel spice [vanilla, cinnamon, caramel]. I thought the wine was fruit driven and even jammy! I thought the wine was either Australian Shiraz or California Zinfandel. I called the 2008 Australian Shiraz in my final conclusion but I was wrong. This is a tough one for me because they both have American oak, similar fruits, sweet descriptors and black pepper. But Aussie Shiraz has eucalyptus and some say Zinfandel smells like peach yogurt.  Regardless, this wine is great for all you fruit forward wine drinkers out there.

Fifth wine [Hudelot-Noellat, Chambolle-Musigny AOC, 2006]: I got lots of red fruits [cranberry, strawberry, cherry], tobacco, turned soil and mushroom. Definitely a pinot noir but unfortunately, I called the alcohol higher than it actually was so I went new world. I called it the wine 2008 California Pinot Noir in my final conclusion…I was wrong…shame on me!

Sixth wine [Charmes de Kirwan, by Château Kirwan, Margaux AOC, 2003]: Just smelling this wine and I knew it was old world. I got blackberry, black cherry, cranberry, leather, tobacco and barnyard. I thought it could be French Cabernet, Merlot or Italian Sangiovese. For some reason, I thought I tasted more red fruits than black so I called the wine 2006 Chianti Classico. I should have recognized the non-fruit characteristics as classic Bordeaux. I would have gotten more floral and herbal notes if the wine was Chianti.

I only got one wine correct but at least I can learn from my mistakes. This is me being positive!