Tag: Varietal Deep Dive

Season 2, Episode 27: “Fünf der Mai Riesling Extravaganza”

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Natural Wines, Pacific Northwest, Skin-Contact White Wines, Southwest, Varietal Deep Dives, Vinifera Wines, White Wine, wine conceptsLeave a comment

In the American Southwest, celebrations around the Fifth of May are a big thing. Known as Cinco de Mayo, American pop culture seems to hold that this date is the independence day for Mexico, but this is actually a misnomer. May 5th actually celebrates the Battle of Puebla, where a Mexican army defeated a French army that was trying to install a puppet regime there. The day is not even celebrated in Mexico, often passing by unremarked. But this podcast isn’t about cultural movements and deep cultural reasons why one day is celebrated my immigrants and their white neighbors, while natives in the homeland ignore the same day (and there is a lot to deep dive on the subject, this just isn’t the place). This podcast is about wine.

And, as it turns out, Mexican food is a great pairing for wines made from Riesling. Not only that, as it turns out, Mexican food and German food form really delicious fusion cuisine. So I invited some friends over and took blatant advantage of the day to make some sauerkraut and pork tacos with Pico de Gallo brought by Nikki… and we had a lot of Riesling. Bottles came from Arizona, Italy, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Germany, from a wide variety of styles. Grab a taco and dig in while you take a listen. You’ll be glad you did.

Some of the fantastic Riesling vintages we drank while recording this episode…

Season 2, Episode 22: “Petit Manseng Deep Dive with Greg Gonnerman”

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn French varietals, Podcasts, Podcasts with Winery guest stars, South Atlantic, Southwest, Varietal Deep Dives, Vinifera Wines, White WineLeave a comment

Petit Manseng is a grape that is not on the radar of average wine-drinkers. But, perhaps it should be. Coming originally from the Jurançon of France, Petit Manseng has begun to obtain a dedicated cult of followers scattered worldwide. Indeed, some writers such as Jancis Robinson suspect that this obscure little grape may be poised to become the next big white wine to break onto the sales market. No less a writer than the French poet Colette herself wrote of this varietal: “I was a girl when I met this prince; aroused, imperious, treacherous, as all great seducers are,” and with that quote in mind, it is perhaps no wonder that such wines, most of which are dessert wines, were advertised in their homeland with posters that read “Manseng means Jurançon, which means Sex.”

Today, Petit Manseng has now found homes as far afield from its homeland as Virginia, Arizona, Ohio, California, and Uruguay. As mentioned in the podcast, it is also on the shortlist of varietals to begin a wine industry in the Kingdom of Bhutan, also. The reason? The small, widely-spaced clusters make this grape more resistant to rot in humid, wet climates. Indeed, this is the same reason why Greg Gonnerman, our guest in this episode, loves this grape in his vineyard, located in the Willcox AVA. In season 2, Episode 22, Greg and I dive deep into Petit Manseng, drinking two vintages of the Greg’s from Callaghan Vineyards (made from grapes he grows), as well as a bottle from Granite Heights Winery, located in Warrenton, VA. We were tragically unable to find any French vintages to compare our stateside examples to, but since we recorded this episode near the start of Lent, that’s probably a good thing…

Drinking some Petit Manseng in a winter storm is a nice way to dream of summertime.

Season 2, Episode 20: “The Full Monte(pulciano)”

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn Italian varietals, Podcasts, Red Wines, Southwest, Varietal Deep Dives, Vinifera Wines, wine conceptsLeave a comment

Someday, I will again be on top of upload schedules! It is not this day, however. But, this day I have another varietal deep dive for you! This day, we drink Montepulciano! More specifically, Elizabeth Krecker, who you may remember from several previous episodes, and I drink three bottles of this particularly fascinating grape. Two of the bottles are from local vineyards in Arizona, while the third bottle is from Abruzzo, Italy.

For those who are not familiar, Montepulciano is a red varietal from the region of Abruzzo, Italy, as well as nearby regions such as Molise, Marche, Lazio, and Puglia. It is completely different from, and should not be confused with, the very different wine from Northern Italy, called Vino Nobile di Montepulciano; that wine is made from a clone of Sangiovese. But, this association with Sangiovese is not necessarily unwarranted, as genetic evidence indicates there is a genetic relationship between the two grape varietals.

While Montepulciano is the second most planted grape in Italy after Sangiovese, here in the United States it is rather uncommon. Plantings in the US exist are focused around the American Southwest, being found in Texas, California, New Mexico, and Arizona. Indeed, a 2012 Montepulciano from Black Mesa Winery in New Mexico won the prestigious Jefferson Cup. However, I have been unable to find any information on how much acreage of Montepulciano has been planted in the United States. As for the two Arizona bottles in this episode, they come from two different AVAs in Arizona: the Sonoita AVA and the Willcox AVA. Enjoy!

Montepulciano
Welcome to the Montepulciano Party!

Season 2, Episode 12: “Tom Bombadil: Saperavi Deep Dive”

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn Georgian Varietals, Mid-Atlantic, Podcasts, Red Wines, Unusual wines, Varietal Deep DivesLeave a comment

In the same early episode where I mentioned that Rkatsiteli was the viticultural equivalent of Goldberry, Co-host Gary had asked what grape would be the equivalent of Tom Bombadil. “Why, that would be Saperavi, of course,” I replied.

It’s about time we meet this grape. Like Rkatsiteli, Saperavi originates from the cradle of viticulture, the Republic of Georgia.  This is also a varietal I’ve wanted to explore on this podcast for a long time, as it is a personal favorite of mine.  Years ago, before I started this podcast, two members of the wine club at the winery I once worked for, Anita and Ken Colburn, told me they were going to visit the Finger Lakes, and asked if I wanted them to bring back anything.  I said that I had heard very good things about Saperavi from that region, and if they found one, I’d happily trade something from my cellar for a chance to taste. 

Lo and behold, they were kind enough to bring back with them the vintage which is the keystone of this podcast: the 2014 Standing Stone Vineyards Saperavi. It seems that currently, the Finger Lakes is the seat of Saperavi’s throne in the United States, though there are plantings in other parts of New York, and Kansas. I have also heard rumors that there are vineyards with this grape growing in Virginia and Maryland, but have been unable to substantiate these rumors.  

We compared the 2014 vintage from Standing Stone with the 2014 Saperavi from Merani Cellars in the Republic of Georgia sourced from Kakheti; the probable homeland of this ancient grape varietal.  Take a listen, and enjoy!

 

Saperavi
Saperavi is one of my favorite varietals, and I must admit that Standing Stone did a great job with this grape.

Season 2, Episode 11: “Rkatsiteli deep dive: Goldberry River-Daughter”

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn Mid-Atlantic, Podcasts, Sweet Wines, Unusual wines, Varietal Deep Dives, Vinifera Wines, White Wine, wine concepts1 Comment

Way back at the beginning of season one, I tangentially mentioned a fascinating grape in our first episode talking about wines in Massachusetts: Rkatsiteli. This was just one of the five grapes in that particular blend, the 2014 Cinco Cães from Westport Rivers Winery. If you remember, I casually compared Rkatsiteli to Goldberry, Tom Bombadil’s wife in the Lord of the Rings books.  I decided though, at some point, it would be fun to take a look at this varietal in-depth at a later time.

  But trying to find single varietal takes on this grape here in the United States is a hard thing to do. Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery does produce a single varietal version (and an amber version I would dearly love to get my hands on), but the fact of the matter is that Dr. Konstantin Frank himself did so much for the viticultural industry on the East Coast that I wanted to do a deep dive episode on him, specifically–tackling two deep dives in one episode might make the resulting podcast too long.

But then, VeniVidiDrinki went to New Jersey and found a bottle at Tomasello Winery during the same visit she picked up the Blaufränkisch we enjoyed back in season one.  Problem solved!  I picked up a version from the Republic of Georgia at my favorite Russian import market in Phoenix, and we sat around and drank the two side by side to produce this episode. It wasn’t the best comparison, as the two wines were produced in slightly different styles, but mayhem still ensued.  Enjoy!

rkatsiteli deep dive
“O reed by the living pool! Fair river-daughter!” is a fair description of a good vintage of Rkatsiteli. Enjoy our deep dive of this fascinatingly ancient varietal!

Season 2, Episode 8: “Everything’s gonna be Viognier.” (Viognier Deep Dive with Michelle Petree)

On By makeamericagrapeagainpodcastIn Mid-Atlantic, Podcasts, South Atlantic, Southwest, Vinifera Wines, White Wine, wine conceptsLeave a comment

First of all, let me apologize for the erratic upload schedule this January. There is a lot of stuff going on in my life right now; a struggle with depression, a struggle with finances, and my mother is on her deathbed. I beg pardon for not following my every 2-week schedule as I planned. Now, onto the blog. (If you want to help, please support the Patreon for this podcast!)

One of our very first episodes of season one focused on the supposed wonder of Virginia Viognier. As you may remember, neither Gary or I were impressed with the 2016 Horton Viognier and were deeply confused as to why Viognier was supposed to be the state grape of Virginia in the first place.  I told this to my friend Michelle Petree, who asked which one I had imbibed, and she proceeded to be horrified by my selection.  “Don’t worry,” she said, probably shaking her head sadly, “I’ll fix that for you. I know the good ones. The 2017 Viognier from King Family Vineyards is especially great.”

In return, I promised her my favorite bottle of Viognier from Arizona, the 2016 Rune Viognier, made by James Callahan. (He will be a guest in later episodes in season 2, so stay tuned!)  At some point, one of us (I can’t rightly remember who, lots of alcohol was involved…) decided we should drink these two wines side by side with a vintage from Viognier’s homeland, Condrieu… and settled on the 2017 De Poncins, from Francois Villard, as a comparison. And so this podcast was born.

Viognier, if you are unaware, has made a huge comeback in the last 60 years from near-extinction (in 1965, there were only 30 acres of this grape remaining) to a worldwide sensation, being grown across the world, from Arizona to New Zealand. Most of the Viognier acreage planted in the United States can be found in California, but it is also grown in 15 other states. One of the main reasons for Viognier’s fall from grace until the 1960s is due to the fact that this varietal is very difficult to grow, being prone to Powdery Mildew, as well as suffering unpredictable yields from one vintage to the next.

However, this grape is increasing in popularity as an attractive alternative to Chardonnay, so I feel we can only expect more Viognier to appear as time goes on. Watch this space!

viognier deep dive
So much Viognier to drink, so little time…