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Frescobali Remole Toscana Rosso 2020

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Frescobaldi Remole Toscana Rosso 2020

This Toscana is produced in Tuscany, Italy. It is a blend of 85% Sangiovese and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a lighter wine than many of the more complex and pricey Toscana bottlings from Tuscany.

Frescobali Rèmole Toscana Rosso 2020 is a balanced wine with its “middle of the road” approach when it comes to body, acidity, and flavor profile. With an approachable 12.5% ABV and bewitching scarlet red color in the glass, the faint aroma of berries leads you into the muted flavors of cherry and raspberry on your palate. It pairs well with lean red meat and pasta dishes with red sauce. Priced at less than $10 it is an excellent choice for a “weekday wine”

IL Burchino Toscana 2015

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Tenuta di Burchino IL Burchino Toscana 2015 is a red blend of 85% Sangiovese 10% Cabernet Sauvignon & 5% Merlot from the hills of Pisa in Tuscany, Italy. 

James Suckling gave it 92 points saying it was “Perfumed with dark fruits, orange blossoms, and cherries following through to a medium body. Integrated tannins and just a hint of vanilla. Long and linear.” 

Quoted initially at $40 it is now available at P.L.C.B. stores in Pennsylvania as a “Chairman’s Selection” for $12.99. This is a bargain price for a wine of this quality. IL Burchino Toscana 2015 pairs perfectly with grilled red meat and pasta in a red sauce.

Days of Wine and Cheeses: Finale

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Parmigiano-Reggiano is called by some “The finest cheese in the world.” Parmigiano-Reggiano is made in Italy from raw cow milk under strict adherence to a prescribed procedure. To harden the young cheese’s rind, it is left in brine for three weeks or more before being allowed to age from twelve months to three years. A wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano weighs eighty-five pounds and goes from an ivory paste color when young to an amber gold when mature. Don’t cut this cheese, use a blunt knife that will break it into chunks thus preserving its signature texture. You will need a medium to full-bodied red to pair with this cheese. Brunello di Montalcino, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Zinfandel would be a great pairing.

Original Blue is a raw cow milk aged blue cheese made by the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company and is the only blue cheese made in California. The morning milk is taken directly from the milking parlor to the cheesemaker where it is cultured, coagulated with rennet, and inoculated with Penicillium roqueforti. As the cheese ages, it develops the characteristic blue-gray veins that give blue cheese its name and distinctive taste. Pair a French Pinot Gris or dry Riesling from the Finger Lakes of New York. I have also found Champagne is an excellent pairing because it cleanses your palate. 

Manchego is Spain’s most famous cheese. It is made from raw or pasteurized sheep milk but most of Manchego today is made on an industrial scale using pasteurized sheep milk. You can find year-old Manchego at cheese shops in the U.S.  This aged version of Manchego has a firm dry interior that is ivory to light yellow in color. It is best served with something sweet to contrast its tangy salty bite. Quince paste is usually served as the sweet accompaniment. Manchego pairs well with a Rioja from its homeland of Spain. Think tapas on a beautiful evening in Barcelona when selecting a wine.   

I hope you enjoyed my posts on pairing wine and cheese as much as I enjoyed writing them. Cheers!

Photo Credit: Gourmetfoodstore.com, PointReyesCheese.com, and almagourmet.com

Days of Wine And Cheeses Part 2

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Miles and Lillian Cahn bought an abandoned dairy farm north of New York City in the early 1980’s. Two years later they sold Coach Leatherware and became full-time goat farmers. A curious turn of events for the Cahans but a blessing for the cheese world. Coach Farm makes several kinds of goat cheese, both fresh and aged but is best known for its Green Peppercorn Cone. Green Peppercorn Cone is a bloomy rind pasteurized goat milk cheese with a soft interior that is impregnated with fresh green peppercorns. Bloomy rind cheeses ripen from the outside in as the cheese develops. Coach Farm Green Peppercorn Cone is soft, off-white, and creamy with flavors of pepper and lemon curd. 

Since this is a delicate cheese it calls for a light, crisp and clean wine that won’t dominate your palate. A couple of good choices are a dry Rosé like Chateau ď Esclan Whispering Angel Rosé 2020 or a dry Traminette from the Hudson Valley of New York, as they say, “What grows together goes together”. I asked Russell Moss, General Manager at Milea Family Wines Staatsburg, New York if he thought their 2021 Milea Estate Traminette would pair well with this cheese. Russ said, “The 2021 Traminette will pair excellently with the cheese. The spicy character of the wine will compliment the peppercorn well and the fat in the cheese will harmonize with the structure of the wine.” www.mileaestatevineyard.com 

When you talk about cheese from the American Heartland you must feature a cheese from Wisconsin and that cheese is Pleasant Ridge Reserve from the Uplands Cheese Company. http://www.uplandscheese.com

Pleasant Ridge Reserve is made in a style of French alpine cheese. It is a rarity among American cheese because it is made with unpasteurized milk from a single herd of cows only during pasture season. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is made to very exacting standards so if the pasture conditions produce milk that doesn’t meet the cheesemakers’ expectations no cheese is made and the milk is sold. Pleasant Ridge Reserve has a hard thin rind over a smooth firm golden body with savory nutty flavors and light saltiness that lingers on your tongue.

Pleasant Valley Reserve has enough character to pair well with a Gruner Veltliner or Chateau Niagara DuMonde 2021, a Chardonnay/Riesling blend from the Niagara Plain near Lake Ontario in New York. http://www.chateauniagarawinery.com If you are looking to try a red any Cune (CVNE) Gran Reserva is an intriguing option.

My next post will be on a pair of popular types of cheese and the wine I serve with them.

Days of Wine and Cheeses

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You may have surmised from the name of this blog and my social media handle (wpawinepirate) that I am a Jimmy Buffett fan, a Parrothead, if you will. I have been a member of the Phlock for a long time, making some good friends and beautiful memories along the way. Jimmy’s lyrics “Warm summer breezes and French wine and cheeses” from his song “He went to Paris” was the inspiration for a series of posts I will be writing about wine and cheese pairing

I will never forget the first time I tasted Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam. It was at their shop in the Ferry Building in San Francisco. Mt. Tam is a triple cream bloomy rind American recipe cheese made from pasteurized organic pasture-based cow milk that is produced by farm partners using sustainable farming practices. Mt. Tam is made in Marin County near San Francisco, as if you had any doubt it was a California product after that lead-in. Cowgirl Creamery describes their Mt. Tam as “At room temperature, features a dense fudgy core enveloped in an evolving pudgy creamline.” This cheese is both creamy and buttery but also displays earthy flavors. http://cowgirlcreamery.com Mt. Tam pairs well with sparklers like Prosecco and Cava or a California Chardonnay that will cleanse your palate. Freixenet Cordon Negro Cava Brut or Trefethen Family Vineyards 2018 Chardonnay Oak Hill District Napa Valley work nicely with Mt. Tam.

Staying on the coast of California, my next cheese is Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove Chevre in rural Humboldt County. Humboldt Fog is a unique soft-ripened goat cheese. It is made from high-quality goat milk sourced from local farms. This is a pasteurized goat milk cheese. The quality of the milk used in the making of Humboldt Fog is reflected in its clean and balanced flavors while muted acidity and salt levels prevent the potent goaty taste that turns some people off to goat cheese. http://cypressgrovecheese.com Enjoy Humboldt Fog with the iconic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Cloudy Bay, or Sokol Blosser Redland Cuvee Estate Willamette Valley 2018, a medium-bodied Pinot Noir from Oregon.           

I will be exploring cheeses from America’s Heartland and the East Coast in my next post.                                  

Review: Bogle Merlot 2018

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Are you looking for an “Everyday” Merlot that won’t break the bank? An “Everyday” wine is one that is dependable, has an excellent quality-to-price ratio, pairs well with your favorite foods, can be easily found, and most of all one you enjoy drinking. Bogle Merlot 2018 checks all of these boxes and is very popular because it does. 

Bogle Merlot 2018 is a California Merlot from the Clarksburg Region. It has flavors of black fruit, vanilla, and oak with balanced acidity and approachable tannins. Bogle ages all of its red wines in oak barrels for twelve months. This practice is a rarity for a producer of this scale. I purchased my bottle for $12.99 at a Pennsylvania P.L.C.B. store but you can find it for less from other sources. Its 13.5 A.B.V. gives this Red a little “Jump” so be careful it can fool you. Just sayin!

Review: Ménage à Trois “Silk” Soft Red Blend 2020

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A few posts ago I wrote about mass-produced and widely distributed wines. To prove I just don’t “Talk the talk but walk the walk” I bought a bottle of Mènage à Trois “Silk” Soft Red Blend 2020 to review. This is one of the offerings from the immensely popular Ménage à Trois label of  Folie à Deux. Ménage à Trois is a St. Helena California winery. Mènage à Trois “Silk” Soft Red Blend 2020 is a blend of separately fermented Pinot Noir, Malbec, and Petite Sirah with a light oak flavor from the time it spent in French and American oak. “Silk” Soft Red Blend is a ruby red color in the glass with muted floral aromas followed by flavors of cherry and spice with both medium body and acidity. If you like a sweet light-bodied wine this wine is NOT for you. If you like a big California Cab this wine is NOT for you. If you want a red wine that is right down the middle in its body, fruit flavors, acidity, and economy priced then this wine is one you should take a close look at. I paired it with grilled steak and it was an acceptable match. I purchased it for $13.99 in Pennsylvania but it can usually be found for around $10-$15. http://menageatroiswines.com  

The Wine Writers’ Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley registration is now open

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Registration is open for The Wine Writers’ Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley.  It will be a virtual event from August 8-10, 2022. The theme for 2022 is “The Changing Landscape of Wine Media”. Registration will be open through July 31st and admission is free with registration. 

The symposium format will feature keynotes, panels, and roundtables. It will explore the subject of technical versus creative writing. Get expert advice on the practical skills of how to conduct an interview and accurately analyze data. The topics of monetization and ethics will be discussed to address the reality of a steady decline in full-time wine writing jobs.

This event will focus on individuals who have displayed a commitment to wine writing. They are encouraging anyone that has been published to register. This means if you have had an article, column, work of criticism, blog entry, book chapter or selection, or screenplay/script published they would like you to attend the symposium. Unlike past requirements, this year your submission will not be reviewed for quality but will be subject to having its authenticity verified.  

I attended the symposium last year and gained invaluable insight into what editors are looking for when they choose an article for publication. Their candid remarks and advice to writers helped me tailor my pitches to afford me the best opportunity to be considered for publication. The lineup of domestic and international speakers gave me an insider’s view of the ever-changing landscape of the wine writing community and improved my ability to successfully navigate and function in it. After the symposium ended I received links to the videos of each day so I could review attended sessions or watch any session I may have missed. Here’s a link to The Wine Writers’ Symposium at Meadowood Napa Valley registration page http://winewriterssymposium.org Photo Courtesy: winewriterssymposium.org

The Summer of Schiava Wine Tasting

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I recently participated in a digital tasting of four Alto Adige Schiava over Zoom. Presenting on location from their perspective wineries in the Alto Adige Region of Italy each speaker delivered a tempting description of their wine and an in-depth account of several aspects of how the wine was produced. The wines I tasted were a 2020 Rottensteiner Kalterer See Auslese Lago di Caldaro D.O.C., 2019 Markus Prackwieser Gump Hof Vernatsch (Vernatsch is German for Schiava) Alto Adige D.O.C., 2020 Cantina Kurtatsch Sonnntaler Vernatsch Alte Reben Südtirol D.O.C., 2018 Cantina Bolzano MOAR St. Magdalena Alto Adige D.O.C.. When you see the town’s name in the winery’s name, as in Cantina Balzano or Cantina Kurtatsch it indicates that the wine was made by a “Cooperative”.

Schiava is a very light red wine, even lighter than Pinot Noir. It is a radiant ruby red in color with aromas of crisp fresh cherries, violets, and raspberries. Vibrant flavors of cherries and burnt almonds are prominent on the palate complemented by mild acidity. These are delicate wines best served young but some do have aging potential. Schiava has the reputation of being approachable, very easy to drink, and pairs well with about any food. This makes it the perfect light wine for any outdoor summer gathering and for many it’s the preferred wine to drink with pizza. Schiava has a chameleon-like ability to adapt to any dining situation. 

The character of Schiava is terroir-driven due to the varied local topography and microclimates of the Alto Adige Region. Abrupt diurnal temperature changes add complexity while the winds that blow up the valleys of the region provide a drying effect that keeps the pergola trellis-grown vines free of fungus, molds, and disease. When you factor in the various soil structures ranging from volcanic to sedimentary it’s no surprise that Alto Adige produces a wide variety of wines each with its own unique personality.

If you haven’t tried Schiava I urge you to be adventurous and buy a bottle to enjoy with friends. You will be amazed by what this light red wine has to offer. 

Review: Saperica 1st Annual Saperavi Festival Finger Lakes

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On May 14, 2022, an event took place in the Finger Lakes Wine Region of New York that was a landmark moment in the history of Saperavi, not only for the future direction of Saperavi in the northeastern U.S. but for all of North America. While Saperavi has been on a steadily ascending arc for several years this gathering of Saperavi winemakers, growers, and enthusiasts will prove to be the catalyst that fuels Saperavi’s meteoric rise into the conscience of the American wine lovers.

Saperica http://saperica.org, the nonprofit founded by Lasha Tsatava and Erika Frey, held its inaugural Saperavi Festival at the iconic Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery overlooking Keuka Lake in Hammondsport, New York. The one-day event was a sellout with more than three hundred guests enjoying winetastings and delicious traditional Georgian cuisine prepared by Chama Mama, a Georgian-themed restaurant from New York City. The trade and media portion of the festival drew over fifty participants that were greeted with opening remarks from Fred Frank and Saperica co-founder Erika Frey. Keynote speaker Lado Uzunashvili delivered a live virtual presentation on the importance of Saperavi that was followed by guest speaker Darra Goldstein (Flavors of Georgia). Both presentations can be viewed on Saperica’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUb_6pPRupQ Closing remarks were presented by Saperica co-founder Lasha Tsatava with a special thank you to Meaghan Frank for her tireless efforts to make the Festival a resounding success.

I ask some of the contributors to share thoughts and impressions about the festivities and their vision for Saperavi in North America.

Lasha Tsatava, Director @ Boston Sommelier Society and co-founder of Saperica Inc.

When we first started to tell the story of Saperavi and its connection to Georgian culture and the history of wine, we saw how people’s eyes lit up and we wanted to grow that feeling in FLX and beyond. At the Saperavi Festival’s Trade & Media event, I made it clear in the closing remarks, that our organization’s goals are, as a minimum, to make Saperavi a premier red grape variety in the Finger Lakes region and the ultimate goal is to build a Georgian Cultural Center with Marani (Georgian traditional cellar with qvevris) in Finger Lakes, NY. The 1st annual Saperavi Festival has reconfirmed the sensibility of these goals.

Fred Frank, President, and CEO of Dr. Frank’s Vinifera Wine Cellars, grandson of wine legend Dr. Konstantin Frank & Meaghan Frank’s father

We were honored to host this first Saperavi Festival at our historic winery. I am sure Konstantin was looking down from the heavens with pride to see all the attention and acceptance that his beloved Saperavi was receiving from the hundreds in attendance. Konstantin was the first to plant Saperavi in the United States in the late 1950s in his vineyard above Keuka Lake. He was a big fan of this variety for its historic pedigree originating in Georgia and believed it would have a great future in the Eastern United States. Saperavi vines are cold hardy and the wines are of high quality with deep color. We look forward to the next Saperavi Festival and continued acceptance of this historic grape variety.  

Jim Baker, owner/winemaker of Chateau Niagara Winery, located on the Niagara Lake Plain, Newfane New York

My thoughts on the festival are quite positive. The media section contained two presentations featuring my good friend Lado Uzunashvili, and Darra Goldstein. Lado is an old friend and did a great overview of Saperavi in Georgia and the world, including history and all sorts of technical information on the grape in several world locations. He did a comparison of our winery and a Georgian location. Darra Goldstein presented a history of Georgian food and culture. Food was served up from Chamma Mama, a Georgian restaurant in NYC. It was truly a Georgian feast. We got to taste wines from a number of American and Georgian producers. It was surprising how well we held our own against some stunning Georgian producers. The afternoon consisted of more Georgian feasting and public tastings of wine. All in all a great celebration of Saperavi and Georgian culture.

Phil Plummer, Head winemaker at all three Martin Family Wineries in the Finger Lakes.

I attended the festival, but mostly on the technical/trade end of the schedule. I can’t speak to marketing impact and the like, but the viticultural and enological information shared in the trade sessions was really compelling. Saperavi is a very exciting grape variety for us in the Finger Lakes, but I think winemakers should be excited about this one on a global level, too. Saperavi exists at the intersection of past, present, and future winemaking. As one of the earliest-cultivated grape varieties, working with Saperavi gives winemakers an opportunity to connect to the past–walking in the footsteps of the countless generations of winemakers who came before us. At present, Saperavi’s unique versatility allows winemakers to experiment, making wines in a widening array of styles. Looking forward, Saperavi’s resilience and versatility position it as a grape variety to embrace in the wake of a changing climate. As a blending component or varietal, Saperavi rarely disappoints. From a culinary standpoint, its rich phenolic profile, bright acid, and unmistakable aromatics present exciting opportunities for wine and food pairing, particularly with the Georgian cuisine available at the festival.

Erika Frye, co-founder of Saperica Inc., CS, CWE & Diploma WSET

When I started discovering Saperavi in the Finger Lakes several years ago, I could feel that there was something special about this grape variety in this region.  There is a buzz that surrounds Saperavi which started off whisper-like but has now grown into a conversation that cannot be ignored.  The 1st annual Saperavi Festival came at just the right time to give this grape variety a clear voice to tell the story of its past, present, and future.  It comes at a time when Saperavi plantings are increasing in the Finger Lakes region.  We hope that these new producers will be able to use the Saperica organization and the Saperavi Festival as resources to find information about the Saperavi grape variety, learn about its Georgian heritage and connect with other Saperavi producers.

The most exciting thing about the festival for me was the ability to build connections.  We had a great partnership between the three festival hosts – Saperica, Dr. Konstantin Frank, and Chama Mama.  An impressive group of wine producers and wine importers were present from both the USA and Georgia.  Two experts in their fields shared their knowledge of Saperavi winemaking and Georgian cuisine.  Most importantly, there were about 250 festival attendees who were connecting with the wines, the food, the environment, and the people.  When I was able to stop for a moment and survey the amazing crowd of people who had come together to celebrate Saperavi, that is what made me feel truly proud – proud of the community that we are starting to build and what we will all be able to accomplish together in the future.

John McGregor, Vice President of McGregor Vineyard

The Saperavi Festival was a great introduction to Saperavi for many.  Its Georgian roots were presented wonderfully!  McGregor Vineyard was the sole producer of Saperavi in the United States for decades. Now the Finger Lakes is home to numerous Saperavi producers, and more are sure to come in the near future. This festival really felt like a validation of my late father, Bob McGregor’s steadfast belief that Saperavi was perfectly suited to grow in the Finger Lakes and could make some of the region’s finest and most respected wines.

Bryanna Cramer, Assistant Winemaker Standing Stone Vineyards

I felt like the event was a huge success for the region, seeing as it was the first annual and it sold out and had additional tickets added on. It felt like the overall vibe was excitement about the variety as well as a general curiosity about its potential here in the FLX. It was really beneficial to have vendors pouring various Saperavi from Georgia to have as a reference, as well as Georgians giving their genuine feedback on the wines being made here in the Finger Lakes. I think they were pleasantly surprised by the quality and authenticity that can be achieved. From the customer perspective, I think the majority are still discovering the variety, its characteristics, and its history but I see that as an opportunity to continue educating not only at events like this but also on-site at Standing Stone and the other wineries working with Saperavi. 

This event and those all involved proved that Saperavi has progressed from being viewed as a grape variety with the potential to make outstanding varietal wine here in North America to being acknowledged as a proven producer of high-quality wine in various styles. Saperavi will continue to evolve as new winemakers add their interpretations of how it can be made and the newly planted Saperavi vineyards come into production expressing the terroir of their increasingly diverse geographic locations.

Congratulations to everyone involved in Saperica’s Saperavi Festival in the Finger Lakes on its successful endeavor to gather Saperavi lovers and promote this ancient grape. A special thank you to Lasha, Erika, Fred, Phil, John, Bryanna, and Jim for taking the time to share their thoughts and insights about Saperavi.

Photos Courtesy: Saperica Inc.