Second Leaf

If you’re willing, wine can be full of surprises. That is, just when you think you’ve got, say, a particular variety figured out, a wine comes along that blows away your preconceived notions. That was exactly the case for me with this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday assignment, Friuli-Venezia Guila Whites.

I have long had a thing for Italy’s red wines but honestly have done very little exploration of its whites. So when I learned that WBW 41 was focused on Italy’s most prolific white wine region, I was hopeful that I would find yet another reason to love Italian wine. However, on a trip to one of my go-to Italian wine merchants, Fosco’s Italian Market, I was somewhat concerned when the recommendation was a Pinot Grigio over the expected local variety Tocai Friulano.

“Pinot Grigio?”, I asked dejectedly as I took a closer look at the bottle. I wanted something complex, something layered, something profound. When was the last time you had a profound Pinot Grigio?

“You won’t be disappointed”, I was reassured.

I bought the wine.

Lis Neris is a 4th generation family run winery located in the village of San Lorenzo, between the Slovenian border and the Isonzo River. The estate’s nearly 100 acres of vines are planted on a plateau of calcareous gravel that was washed down over centuries by melting ice and snow from the nearby Eastern Alps.

The current patriarch of Lis Neris, Alvaro Pecorari, took over control of the winery in the 1990’s and introduced modern viticulture and winemaking practices, significantly improving quality and consistency.

The 2004 Lis Neris “Gris” ($28 USD) is 100% Pinot Grigio. Harvested by hand and fermented in large French oak barrels, the wine was aged in barrels, on lees, for 10 months.

Tasting Note

Once I poured a glass of the “Gris” I knew right away that this was not going to be an ordinary Pinot Grigio. Instead of the typical colorless and watery-thin New World PG’s, this wine was golden straw in color and just had the look of something with a lot to offer. It was all that time in French oak, I surmised.

The nose exuded layers of flowers, green apples, lemon zest, and a touch of marjoram yet still had a cloak of steely minerality. The mouthfeel was full and velvet-soft but still managed a tinge of acidity. An absolutely delicious wine that brings a lot to the table.

We paired this wine with a Frico Friulano (potato & cheese tart with grilled balsamic onions and peperoncini on a bed of arugula) and a Florentine Pork Roast (herb-crusted roasted pork studded with garlic and rosemary). The acidity in the wine matched beautifully with the cheese in the tart and the tanginess of the balsamic onions and peppers. Although the pork roast was pleasant, both the wine and frico muscled the delicate flavors of the roast off of center stage.

Contemplating the Lis Neris Gris was truly a revelation for me. How could a variety such as Pinot Grigio that is seemingly locked into a reputation as a light-fare quaffer exhibit such fullness and complexity? Certainly the New World is not doing this noble grape justice. For me this wine represents the realization that with any variety, in the right location, grown under the right conditions, and in the right hands… greatness is possible.

The monthly online ritual that is Wine Blogging Wednesday is turning 40 today. Although I haven’t been a consistent player in WBW events, I couldn’t pass up on this month’s theme: Petite Sirah.

Petite Sirah has always been one of my favorite varieties. In fact, I am eagerly awaiting the first harvest from the six Petite Sirah plants in my own micro-vineyard. Historically Petite Sirah has been used mostly as a blending grape in other wines. The stout tannins, deep color, and bold blackberry and spice flavors of this grape contribute structure and ageability to their blending partners.

Fortunately bottlings of Petite Sirah have become much more common lately. I was attracted to the wine I chose this month by the name given to a previous vintage by a local wine merchant. In one of his regular email newsletters, Eric Stumpf at The Wine Consultant, described the 2004 Mount Aukum Petite Sirah as follows.

If it’s all about bigger is better! If size matters? This is the Black Hummer of red wines! Think of plump juicy wild blackberries! Add a dose of minerality from decomposed granite. A hint of “Good & Plenty” licorice candy. Smooth riding but with full throttle, muscular tannins. I don’t care if you only drink Cabs (you’ll swoon over this one)!  Bring on the brontosaurus rack of ribs! Drink now for full guts, glory and because there’s a lot of wine in this bottle that needs to get out!  

A wine described as a “Black Hummer”!? Awesome! Who wouldn’t want to go for a ride with a wine like that? I actually tasted the 2005 model of the Black Hummer for this post but rest assured it still muscles its way to the line.

The color of this wine was an alluring deep, dark, inky, purple; the windows are definitely tinted! On the nose this monster is in your grill with waves of blackberries, blueberries, and a very distinctive black pepper aroma. The super-duty tannins in the interior of this wine keep you moving down the fastlane in style, riding high above the wimpy hybrid wines in your mirror. Show up to the next party with this beast and you’ll be sure to impress your friends.

2005 Mount Aukum Winery Petite Sirah
Appellation: Fair Play
Price: $29
ABV: 15%

Has it really been a month since I was last a Bunco Bachelor? The calendar says, “no”, but Mrs. Second Leaf says, “*%#&@! yes!”  Tough… well, really not even an option… to argue with that!

Seeing as how I surely committed some sort of wine blogging faux pas last month by mentioning one winery but actually opening a wine from another, I was determined to make amends this time around. So the question at hand building up to this month’s dad vs. kids throw-down was how to get my hands on some of that “*%#&@!” Twisted Oak wine? Sure, I could have ordered directly from the winery but how much fun is that? Since El Jefe, the Grand Poobah of TOW (or maybe it’s the Sgt. Hulka of TOW?), slyly pointed out that WineQ was now featuring wines from Twisted Oak, I knew right where to go to get my *%#&@! fix.

WineQ is a new web 2.0 company trying to do for wine what Netflix has done for DVD rentals.  Setting up my Q on WineQ was a breeze and, before I knew it, the UPS man was handing me a box with a green WineQ sticker on it. A box of three Twisted wines: the 2005 *%#&@! red Rhône blend I tasted tonight, the 2005 %@#$! white Rhône blend, and the 2005 Viognier.

Now that I had the wine nailed down, I needed a menu to go with it. And not just any menu… a menu that would match the wine and be something my 3 daughters would actually eat. Let me tell you, the Iron Chefs never had it this difficult. My younger 2 daughters, 8 and 5 years old, are easy enough to cajole into trying new things but my 11 year old is convinced that anything other than chicken fingers must be straight out of the kitchens of Fear Factor. I needed a slam dunk.

Read more…

I’m jumping back into the swing of things with Wine Blogging Wednesday this month. The theme for this edition, though, was more challenging than usual. Ryan and Gabriella  from Catavino were the hosts this month so you just knew the theme would center around Iberian wines. Sure enough, our charge was to taste a table wine from Portugal, steering clear of Madeira, Vinho Verde, ports, and wines from the more well-known Duoro region.

What makes this theme difficult is simply that it’s hard to find a wide selection of Portuguese tables wines in my area. My first thought was a trip to The Spanish Table, a purveyor of fine Iberian food and wine products located in Berkeley. However, since a trip to the Bay Area wasn’t in the cards this month, I was forced to hit a big box wine retailer for my selection.

The wine I tasted comes from one Portugal’s largest, if not the largest, producer. The 2001 Sogrape Duque de Viseu Tinto from the Dão DOC is a blend of Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz and set me back $10 USD.

The color of this wine was a beautiful blood orange at the edges with medium depth. The nose was quite earthy with scents of leather, tar, chocolate, and black cherries. On the palate there was stewed cherries, black olives, and dusty-fine tannins. The finish was dry and lingering.

All in all this wine really surprised me. For the price I was not expecting so many flavors and nuances. This is an old-world style wine that comes from the earth and a wine that begs to be shared with food.

It’s been a long week. I don’t ask for much. Well, on second thought, let’s not get into that. This isn’t about me. Er, well, maybe it is. But that’s beside the point. The point is… when a man returns home on a Friday afternoon after a hard week’s work, the absolute last thing he wants to hear is, “Honey, you remember I have bunco tonight, right?”

While my face was saying, “yes, dear”, my thoughts resembled one of those emphatic “*%#&@!” Twisted Oak wine labels.  I headed straight for the wine cellar. The kids were clamoring for grilled cheese and Dora the Explorer soup. I had to think fast.

Determined to make the most of my predicament, I thought, “why not grilled cheese and soup?” The kids were happy with their selection so I rummaged around in the fridge and pantry and found some crusty sourdough bread, extra sharp cheddar cheese, and some spicy lentil bean soup. The wine I chose to accompany my throw- together bachelor meal was a Napa Valley 2004 Miner Stagecoach Vineyard Merlot ($35).

This wine was dark ruby in color with fantastic aromas of raspberries and cherries with a hint of cedar. The flavors were more of the same with a terrifically round and soft mouthfeel but just enough tannins to sustain a long and rewarding finish. The wine paired perfectly with the cheese and thickness of the soup, cutting right through both. An outstanding Merlot.

In the end, not a bad way to spend an evening. The kids are happy, I’m happy, and… oh yeah, I’ve got to get the kitchen cleaned up before the wife gets home. Later!