WineLovers Discussion Group

2008 Trousseau "Le Ginglet" (Arbois Pupillin AOC, Jura, France)
Producer: Philippe Bornard
13% abv

I believe this is my first wine from the Jura. Trousseau is not included on the Wine Century Club's default list of grapes, so I added it and am now 23 percent complete.

An irritating wax capsule had to be carved off in small pieces to expose the cork. If you want to torture the sommelier, order this and watch the wrestling match at the table.

Sight: Unusual, cloudy, brick red or cranberry color, clear rim.

Nose: Tight, earthy, rustic, strawberry fruit is in the background, hint of burnt popcorn that blew off later.

Palate: Slightly pettilant, light body, very tart red fruit (strawberry, cranberry), long finish

Ref Jay's comment on the wax capsule: I injured myself once trying to get the wax capsule off a bottle of Belle Glos Pinot Noir. Put it back in the wine cooler and still haven't opened it.

Wanted to try my first "orange" wine:

2009 VIGNETO CARANTINA MONTEFORCHE, VENETO I.G.T. The label was wrinkled but it may have said (P)enda Agricola, Padova, Italy. 15% alcohol by volume. Uses white wine grapes with the juice left on the skins during some of the maceration process.
Between a peachskin color and a pale orange. Somewhat fizzy in the mouth. Feels almost like sipping a cocktail rather than wine. Hard to describe flavors but reminds me somewhat of Chardonnay with a suggestion of tangerine or orange. Not appealing to me. I had about half the bottle over two evenings and poured the rest down the drain to go on to something more attractive to my palate. This satisfies my curiosity about orange wines for now. I would try another as part of a tasting or if offered at a party, but will not purchase any more unless tasted first and liked.

It's nearing the end of the month and I'm not even close to running out of options for grapes I've barely ever heard of, never mind tried!

A new grape to me, Biancolella, is grown in Campania in southern Italy and often blended. This particular wine was made from grapes grown on the island of Ischia located in the bay of Naples. Sounds like a lovely visit and the volcanic soils undoubtedly add to the wine's character. The 2008 Pietratorcia Ischia Biancolella appears to have a greenish tint, smells sweet, herbaceous, minty, tastes milky, spicy, very green and vegetal and spicy. The herbal qualities were interesting and tangy on day one, but had lost all interest for me by day two (though, notably, not for my drinking companions who loved its layers). Initially an interesting wine with lots packed in there for flavor, especially minty spiciness, but faded in interest. Some claim almond notes can characterize wines made from this grape, and I guess I could see that. There certainly was a lot of tightly-packed flavor in there on day one. Interesting. I have to admit I am a sucker for trying wines grown on volcanic soils--it's great marketing!

Jay Mazzoni wrote:2008 Trousseau "Le Ginglet" (Arbois Pupillin AOC, Jura, France)
Producer: Philippe Bornard
13% abv

I believe this is my first wine from the Jura. Trousseau is not included on the Wine Century Club's default list of grapes, so I added it and am now 23 percent complete.

An irritating wax capsule had to be carved off in small pieces to expose the cork. If you want to torture the sommelier, order this and watch the wrestling match at the table.

Sight: Unusual, cloudy, brick red or cranberry color, clear rim.

Nose: Tight, earthy, rustic, strawberry fruit is in the background, hint of burnt popcorn that blew off later.

Palate: Slightly pettilant, light body, very tart red fruit (strawberry, cranberry), long finish

Hi Jay -

Welcome to this board!

Anyway, thank you for the interesting note. I sampled this wine at a tasting last year, and thought that it was very nice.

I completely agree with you on wax capsules as well - perhaps a nostalgic touch, but also a pain in the neck for me to deal with.

Little late jumping back into this conversation (been out of communications for a few weeks....) but I did the century club some time ago and it took a LONG time. So many wine names that are really the same grape, just different countries (or regions...) so I'm up to about 130+ different varietals now (you can make this easier on your self if you visit the likes fo Greece and Turkey for a few weeks )

Browsing around, I found this offbeat selection on Sarah Ahmeds website.....>

http://www.thewinedetective.co.uk/blog/ ... germanier/

Though I have had a couple of pink sparklers before that contained the Raboso grape, this is the first single-variety Raboso I've had. (Cross-posted from another thread).

2003 Cantina Liquorificio Gambrinus Raboso Piave DOC
This producer is best known for their liqueur Elixir Gambrinus. The bottle itself came in a cellophane wrapper, reminiscent of Cristal, albeit in a red-orange color.
Rather gamy nose. Medium-bodied, rustic, and high in acidity, with cranberry, plum, leather, and spice notes. Somewhat disjointed on the midpalate, with uneven fruit/mouthfeel. Could be better.

A new grape for me (persan) and, I think, a new wine for the list:

N. Gonin 2009 VdP des Balmes Dauphinoises - a 50-50 blend of mondeuse and persan, alc 12%. Not much to say about it because it tastes like straight-up mondeuse. But maybe I don't know what I'm looking for!

As I was in Italy last week, I had the possibility to taste some new grapes. Italy is really the country to go to if one desires to taste wines from unusual grape varieties. Each region in this country seems to have a couple of obscure varieties that someone preserves and keeps on growing. In Piemonte last week, I had the pleasure to taste three unusual varieties: Timorasso, Pelaverga and Ruché, of which I previously had only tasted Pelaverga.

2010 Verduno di Pelaverga, Burlotto. Pelaverga is almost exclusively grown in Verduno, the northernmost village in Barolo. <burlotto is one of the more well known producers here, and they also make very good Barolo. Naturally, the wine is very young, grapy, with light and elegant red fruit. There is also a interesting note of freshly crushed black pepper hovering above the wine. On the palate the wine is fresh and youthful with a peppery spiciness and moderate, rather dry tannins. A fresh and elegant wine with some interesting characters which is fun to return to during the evening.

For the wine and food lover there is a place to visit if one comes to Torino - Eataly, next to the now abandoned Fiat factory in the Lingotto area. A whole building filled with small shops selling all kinds of delicious Italian food. There is also an impressive wine department as well as a large beer shop. In this part of Eataly there are also several restaurants and in one of them we chose to have excellent Piedmontese hamburgers on a bed of spinach for lunch. A splendid reason to eat here is the fact that one can choose any bottle from the adjacent wine shop and have it for lunch at exactly the same price as in the shop! Isn't that great? In our quest for unusual grapes, we chose a bottle of wine made from Ruché, an unusual variety, mainly grown in the Monferrato region, west of Torino.

2009 Lacento Ruché, Montalbera. Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato DOC.
Medium to light red. A wonderfully fresh, floral nose meets you in the glass. Distinct notes of black pepper give a slightly green impression reminiscent of pine resin. Roses, raspberries and red currants plus a little bit of mint gives an overall impression of freshness.
The taste agrees well with what can be expected from the nose. Fresh and very spicy, almost herb like. Not too heavy, very fine grained tannins and a clean, slightly dry and green aftertaste. In fact not to unlike the Pelaverga we had yesterday and in fact both of them gave a certain association to lighter Syrah based wines.

Ever since Birger, our host in Torino, posted some enthusiastic notes of wines made from the rare grape Timorasso, we have been most curious to actually taste one of these wines ourselves and already on the terrace in the first evening on Torino, we are offered a bottle of
2008 derthona Timorasso, Vigneti Massa, Colli Tortonesi DOC. We let out a sigh of happiness and feel that this is a great start of our journey
The wine is deep yellow and has a deep, almost heavy nose of ripe, yellow fruits with creamy notes of melons and ripe yellow apples.
On the palate it is fresh with a decent acidity and a bitterness that gives a thick chewable mouthfeel. The taste is intense and with the help of the bitterness, the aftertaste gets rather thick and earthy and the wine's 14 % alcohol shines through a little. I think I would have preferred a slightly earlier harvest to get a bit more of freshness in the wine, but it is an interesting wine and great to experience a Timorasso.

Cheers,
Anders

Offbeat Italian grape, great value
The 30 Second Wine Advisor
June 24, 2011

Continuing our Wine Focus on offbeat grape varieties fit for the Wine Century Club this month, let's take a closer look at an immensely appealing and affordable white wine made from the Northwestern Italian grape Cortese.

Castelvero 2009 Piemonte Cortese comes from Araldica, a larger corporate producer by Piemontese standards, making more than 10 million bottles annually under a broad portfolio of labels. But there's no hint of Olive Garden style in this Cortese, which offers considerable bang for the buck in a $10 (or less) bottle.

Cortese is grown across much of Northern Italy, but its historic home for the past three centuries or more has been around the Alto Monferrato region in Piemonte. It is desired for its trait of retaining high acidity in the grape and wine, even in hot years, resulting in a crisp, snappy wine that goes well with fish but that may require a little winery magic (malolactic fermentation, for example, or even a little dash of concentrated sweet Muscat grape must) to hold it in balance.

You may know Cortese as the anonymous grape that makes up 100 percent of Gavi, a popular Piemontese white. Here, however, it stands on its own in a delicious citric wine, full of grapefruit and lime, with lightweight alcohol and a rather rich body that keeps that acidity under control. Serve it cool on warm summer evenings and enjoy.

Castelvero 2009 Piemonte Cortese ($9.99)

Clear straw color with a brassy hue. Good citric aromas, white grapefruit with a squeeze of lime. Clean acidity underscores the juicy citrus, and it's fully dry, but juicy citrus and medium-plus body mellow any tart edges under a blanket of fruit. Fresh and clean and likely to stay that way under its sturdy metal screw cap; modest 11.5% alcohol invites alfresco summer sipping. U.S. importer: Vias Imports Ltd., NYC. (June 23, 2011)

FOOD MATCH: Versatile at the table, should be good with fish, poultry, pork or lightly spicy vegetarian fare like our choice, a Southeast Asian-flavor slaw dressed with white miso, peanut butter, Sriracha sauce and lime juice.

VALUE: A very, very good buy for summertime sipping or table use at $10 or less. Watch for sales, as Wine-Searcher.com shows it widely available for less, occasionally as low as $7.

PRONUNCIATION:
Cortese = "Cor-TEH-zeh"

WEB LINK: Araldica Castelvero has a fact sheet on the Cortese at this link. http://www.araldicavini.com/contents/en ... rtese.html

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Compare prices and find vendors for Sauvion Vouvray on Wine-Searcher.com.
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Caste ... g_site=WLP

For additional assistance, this winery Web page offers an Email link for distributor information.
http://www.araldicavini.com/contents/eng/cont/dist.html

Anders Källberg wrote:As I was in Italy last week, I had the possibility to taste some new grapes. ...

Hi Anders - Thank you for the interesting notes. I tried the 2009 Vigneta Massi Timorosso Derthona last month or so, and also enjoyed it. The Burlotto Pelaverga is likewise a nice wine. Glad to see that you enjoyed both of these wines.

Hi Andy, They were indeed nice wines, although I would have liked the Timorasso to have been harvested a tad earlier. Did you come across these wines in the US or were you in Piemonte? Ever had a Ruché?
Cheers, Anders

Clos du Tue-Boeuf Touraine Le Brin de Chèvre,2007, made from the menu pineau grape by those crazy Puzelats. On the nose, fruitcake, walnuts, lime, super-ripe pear. In the mouth, quite acidic, sort of like a super-limeade for grownups. Menu pineau, I'm told, is a close relative of chenin blanc.

Dave Erickson wrote:quite acidic, sort of like a super-limeade for grownups.

I've gotten some strange almost electric notes from some of the Puzelat whites, but I wasn't entirely sure they were 'supposed' to be that way.

There is a winery here in New Hampshire called Labelle. Their focus is on producing blends. This fall they are coming out with one that is 50% Cab Franc and 50% Noiret. Will have to check it out and search down this thread!

Carl Eppig wrote:There is a winery here in New Hampshire called Labelle. Their focus is on producing blends. This fall they are coming out with one that is 50% Cab Franc and 50% Noiret. Will have to check it out and search down this thread!

I have some 2005 Noiret from Presque Isle (PA) that I believe has 10-15% CF blended into it. Noiret has a distinctive black pepper characteristic to it, not unlike Lemberger.

Rahsaan wrote:

Dave Erickson wrote:quite acidic, sort of like a super-limeade for grownups.

I've gotten some strange almost electric notes from some of the Puzelat whites, but I wasn't entirely sure they were 'supposed' to be that way.

I have no idea. We're dealing with a guy who "listens" to his wines. Maybe he's waiting for some Hendrix to come out of the barrel? That might explain the electricity.

Dave Erickson wrote:We're dealing with a guy who "listens" to his wines.

Don't all winemakers do that? It's like with cooking, you have to use all of your senses.

Anders Källberg wrote:Hi Andy, They were indeed nice wines, although I would have liked the Timorasso to have been harvested a tad earlier. Did you come across these wines in the US or were you in Piemonte? Ever had a Ruché?
Cheers, Anders

Anders -

Sorry for the late response - anyway, I have never been to Piemonte, and have had all of these wines in the US. The only Ruché that I have tried was one from Cantine Sant’Agata called Na Vota. It was a few years ago that I had it, but I remember liking it.

Well, my next step is to try the Rolet Arbois Rosé which I think is Poulsard with maybe some Trousseau blended in. I purchased a bottle last night after savouring a glass at a local wine bar. Plenty of red berried fruits, good acidity. Stay tuned forumites!