Who: Manuel Otero Candeira
What: 100% Albarino
Where: Rias Baixas (Ree-ass Bye-shass), Spain
Tastes Like: Medium-minus, floral, tree fruit (apples and pears), with a dry finish.
Pairs With: Very versatile; white pizzas, light pastas.
Rias Baixas:
The Rias Baixas DO was founded in 1988. Though there are 12 permitted varietals, Albarino dominates, making up 90% of the region’s production. The climate is Atlantic, with wet winters and sea fog. In general rainfall is high and the temperatures mild: maximum temperatures in summer rarely usually exceed 30 °C and only drop to 0 °C in December and January.
The coldest areas are Ribera do Ulla and Val do Salnés due to their proximity to the coast. The warmest is Condado do Tea where temperatures in summer sometimes approach 40 °C, but the winters are cold with frequent frosts and rainfall of over 2,000 mm a year. Granbazan is located in the Val do Salnés, located on the lower reaches of the river Umia and centred on the town of Cambados. The landscape is of low undulating hills and the vineyards are planted both on the slopes and on the flat valley floors. The soil is generally rocky and alluvial.
The Winery:
The Granbazán story starts in the 1960s when Manuel Otero y Otero bought a land parcel planted with eucalyptus wood and feed for cattle. An entrepreneur, Otero dreamed of expanding the family's business of fine foods to fine wines. In the 1980s, his son, Manuel Otero Candeira, realized his dream with the construction of Granbazán, a chateau with a magnificent building surrounded by pergola trained vines. Granbazán’s attention to detail and high quality wine has been instrumental in the quality revolution in Galicia as well as in raising the reputation of Rias Baixas wines to their rightful place among the top white wines of the world.
The Granbazán winery is located in Vilanova de Arousa, very close to Cambados, the "World Albariño Capital." The soils here have a high granite content, grown 262.4 feet above sea level, with over 60 in. of annual rainfall. The maritime influence is very intense, providing a distinctive salty aftertaste, and a consistent ripening cycle. Harvest takes place the second half of September.The fruit is hand-picked, then gently de-stemmed and cooled for 8 hours at low temperatures in rotary macerators. Alcoholic fermentation takes place with native yeasts in stainless steel tanks.
Minimal invasive viticulture is a key practice to capture the elusive essence of the Albariño grape. The ranges of wines produced at Granbazán have a common soul with crisp citrus fruit, and in some wines peach and green apple flavors, bakery aromas and a light musk fragrance. The leading wines are Granbazán Ambar and the Granbazán Verde. Ambar is produced from the property's oldest vines with a gentle lees aging and 100% free-run juice, while the Granbazán Verde is very softly pressed, to produce a typical Salnes Valley Albariño style: dry, crisp and salty. It is aged on the lees for no less than four months before bottling.
2016 Vigna Roda Veneto Bianco
Who: Gianni Strazzacapa
What: 80% Garganega; 20% Moscato Giallo
Where: Colli Euganei, Veneto, Italy
Tastes like: Aromas of pineapples, green apple, and passion fruit carry through a medium-minus fruity and floral wine.
Pairs With: Patios. Seafood, marinated anchovies, white meats, white pizzas.
The Where:
Vigna Roda is rooted in the Colli Euganei (Euganean Hills) area of the Veneto, southwest of Padua. They were formed by volcanic activity, but due to their proximity to the sea, soils range from volcanic basalt or calcareous limestone (sea bed) pushed upward by the volcanic activity. Microclimates are everything! The Euganean Hills, just visible from Venice, have been celebrated for their picturesque beauty and their hot springs. At Arquà,, Petrarch found peace and harmony towards the end of his life. He discovered the village in 1369; there, he stated in his letter to posterity, "I have built me a house, small, but pleasant and decent, in the midst of slopes clothed with vines and olives,"—a house that may be seen there today. The Euganean hills, like an archipelago of steep-sided wooded islands rising from the perfectly flat agricultural plain, inspired the setting of Percy Bysshe Shelley's “Lines Written Among the Euganean Hills.”
The Wine:
All of the vineyards are on either west- or south-facing slopes on clay and peaty soils. The grapes are harvested by hand, then destemmed, crushed, and pressed. Fermentation takes place in climate-controlled steel tanks. The wine is then racked and allowed to age for 3 months on the lees before bottling.
2016 Maison Foucher “Les Jarriers”
Where: Touraine, France
Who: Jean Mounard
What: Sauvignon Blanc
Soil Type: Calcereous
Tastes like: Citrus peel and limestone, with white flowers in the nose.
What to pair with: Saucisson Lyonnaise, Rillette, delicate, gooey cheeses, Lecco pizza, Caesar
People:
Located 30 kilometers northeast of Sancerre in the village of Aligny-Cosne, Maison Foucher is a “Petit Négociant” with a mission to craft classic expressions of Loire Valley appellations at exceptional values. The estate was founded in 1921 by Paul Lebrun, a cooper by trade, who developed his company servicing a clientele made up of restaurants and cafés in the Loire Valley and Paris. During the 1950s, Paul's son-in-law Raymond Foucher took the reins and then in 1985 passed the baton to his son, Jacky Foucher.
In late 2009, with the aim of raising the company's image and developing overseas business, the Foucher family brought on Jean Mounard as a new partner to pave the road ahead. Jean spent many years at the helm of a fine and rare wine brokerage business in Paris, specializing in iconic estates such as DRC, Mouton-Rothchild and Leflaive. His first order of business was to pioneer the production of small batch wines from selected plots in Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Saumur-Champigny, some of which are now farmed organically. Given his deep experience tasting the great wines of the world as well as his many contacts among top producers in the Loire, Jean has been able to establish strong relationships with growers and significantly elevate the quality of the wines.
Place: Touraine, Loire Valley
Touraine is a wine district at the very heart of France's Loire Valley wine region. Its main commercial center, the city of Tours, sits precisely half-way between Sancerre and Nantes (the home of Muscadet). The district follows the Loire river for roughly 60 miles (100km), from Blois in the east to Chinon and Bourgueil in the west. Beyond this the river continues into the adjacent Anjou district.
Touraine has its own generic regional appellation (simply called Touraine) which covers the entire district, as well as several titles that are more specific in terms of both location and wine style. These range from the dry, fruity reds of Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil to the diverse whites of Vouvray and Montlouis.
The Touraine district is located a full 140 miles (226km) from the Atlantic Ocean, and the same from the northern Massif Central hills of central France. As a result, the climate here falls somewhere between maritime and continental. There is a noticeable difference, however, between the cold, drier winters in the district's eastern edge and those in the west, which tend to be slightly wetter and more temperate. In summer, the slow-moving waters of the Loire do little to cool the Touraine vineyards; this region is known for its hot, torpid summer days. Throughout the Touraine, the better vineyard sites are those blessed with free-draining soils rich in tuffeau. Tuffeau is the calcareous (limestone) rock for which this part of the Loire Valley is famous. It was used as the building material for most the valley's famous chateaux, and tuffeau caves proved perfect for long-term wine storage and ageing.
Grape: Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc probably originated in Bordeaux, but it is in the limestone soil of theCentre-Loire, that it shows its best, most characteristic qualities. Although widely planted the world over, and highly successful in such widely different climates as California, New Zealand and Chile, all Sauvignon Blanc aspires to standards set in the Centre-Loire. The climate here is too cold for later-ripening grapes (such as the Chenin Blanc) but Sauvignon Blanc buds late and ripens early, making it ideal for a region prone to severe frosts and harsh winds. Sauvignon Blanc is rarely blended with other grapes in the Loire Valley and it is responsible for the distinctive characters of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé, Reuilly, Menetou-Salon, Quincy and Touraine Blanc.
Much Sauvignon Blanc is made for early drinking. With their distinctive aroma, which reminds some people of gooseberries or grapefruit, and their lively acidity, these are ideal wines to drink with the famous goat cheeses of the Loire Valley (Crottin de Chavignol comes from the same village as Sancerre), cold shrimp or lobster, or a summer picnic. Nonetheless, the high acidity of Sauvignon Blanc means that the wines can be kept, and producers have experimented with aging exceptionally ripe vintages in oak. With time, they develop a remarkably fragrant complexity that makes them seem almost sweet, better paired with aged cheeses or foie gras.
2017 Ostatu Rioja Blanco
Who: Iñigo Saenz de Samaniego
What: 85% Viura, 15% Malvasia
W here:Rioja Alavesa, Rioja, Spain
Tastes like: Aromas of pear, sweet white flowers, and talc. Medium plus on the palate, with flavors running true to aromatics, but amplified. Long, lingering finish.
Pairs With: Linguine and crab; Bergamo; medium cheeses
The Who:
Bodegas Ostatu is a family winery located in the heart of the Rioja Alavesa region in the town of Samaniego. The Saenz de Samaniego family has been in the area for many generations. The winery dates back over two hundred and fifty years. The vineyards, which are protected by the Sierra de Cantabria range, are composed of chalk and clay and the average age of the vines is 50 years. The estate is comprised of over forty hectares of vines located in and around the town of Samaniego. Sustainability and terrior drive the winemaking vision of the family.
The Where:
Rioja Alavesa is the smallest of the three wine-producing sub-regions in Rioja, Spain. It is situated to the north of the River Ebro, straddling the La Rioja region and the Alava province within the autonomous community of the Pais Vasco (Basque Country).
The name Alavesa is derived from the host province. Rioja Alavesa is the northernmost of the three sub-regions, bordering Rioja Alta to the southwest and Rioja Baja to the southeast. Rioja Alavesa is most similar to Rioja Alta in terms of climate, soil and style, and together they are considered to produce the best wines of the region. A space-age 'wine city' and ultra-modern wineries sit side by side with stately bodegas and more modest wineries. The ash-colored Cantabrian mountains dominate the landscape here, towering over the zone to the north. Rioja Alavesa is the closest of the three sub-zones to the Atlantic Ocean and thus the one most influenced by its cooling effects.
Two geographical features determine the quality of the wine produced in Rioja Alavesa: Firstly, its vineyards lie at high altitudes (1300–3930ft/400–1200m), resulting in cooler temperatures that help the grapes to acquire and retain moderate acid levels and good color. Secondly, the soil on the slopes and terraces where most of the vines are grown is rich in chalky clay and limestone, resulting in wines that are characterful and rich in extract. Annual rainfall is around 20 inches (500mm) on average, which forces the roots to burrow deep into the soil in search of water.
The Wine:
The grapes for the Rioja Blanco come from the highest parts of the oldest vineyards, in the districts of Samaniego, Laguardia, and Leza, at an altitude of 580 m above sea level. Poor calcareous/clay soil, on south facing slopes. The subsoil is made up of various layers of white rock. This area has mediterranean climate with some Atlantic influence, giving it an extreme variation in winter-summer temperatures.
The grapes are harvested by hand, and then destemmed and pressed mechanically. Some hours low temperature maceration. The grape must ferments on the lees in stainless steel vats for 27 days at a temperature of 15-16°C. Natural cold stabilisation, and filtered only for tartaric stabilisation process. The wine is then kept in the vats until it is bottled.
2015 Trimbach Gewurztraminer
Who: Pierre Trimbach
What: 100% Gewurztraminer
Where: Ribeauville, Alsace, France
Tastes Like: Honeyed nose, nectar, flowers, and tropical fruit. Lush and full-bodied, with a dry, almost savory finish.
Pairs With: Great with cheese boards. Anything spicy.
The Winery:
The Trimbach’s have a purist vision. For three centuries and across 13 generations, the family has produced wines that are structured, long-lived, fruity, elegant and balanced: the celebrated Trimbach style. The family personally looks after each operation, from planting to harvests and from vinification to bottling. The viticultural origin of the Trimbach family dates back to 1626, when Jean Trimbach, was recognized as a citizen of Riquewihr. From then on, the Trimbach’s were renowned for their wine-growing. Maison Trimbach’s vineyards are all situated around Ribeauville (Ribeauville, Hunawihr, Bergheim, Rorschwihr, Riquewihr and Mittlewihr). They benefit from the unique Alsatian microclimate, thanks to the Vosges Mountains protection, which preserves the plain from the rain. The vineyards were planted on the Ribeauville’s fault line that fractured 50 million years ago between the Vosges Mountain range and the Black Forest offering a mosaic of terroirs including the complex calcareous limestone and bio-degraded seashell fossils called “Muschelkalk”.
Sourced from the Trimbach’s family’s own vineyards and from growers with whom the family has long-term relationships. Gewurztraminer is one of Trimbach’s most unique wines. The wine is fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel and concrete vats. There is no secondary malolactic fermentation in order to maintain as much natural acidity as possible. The wines are released after two years of cellar ageing, when they have the perfect balance of fruit and acidity. The wines are released after two years of cellar ageing, when they have the perfect balance of fruit and acidity.
The Wine:
Bright pale gold with aromas of cinnamon, nutmeg, lychee and rose petals. Rich, intense, luscious and well balanced with a dry, spicy finish. Perfectly pairs with Asian and fusion cuisines as well as spicy entrees. Also an ideal wine to pair with strong cheeses. This wine is a passion project of mine and Deirdre's, and as such is offered at a very competitive price point.
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