The Irresistible Issue
Me, sipping a delicious glass of Jacob's Creek Chardonnay at The Summit Lodge at The Broadview Hotel.
Dearest subscribers, try as I might to participate in dry January, I am a hedonist at heart who believes wine is one of the single greatest pleasures of the natural world.
With that, I give you a small sampling of some of my favourite wines from my not-so-dry Jan. I'm calling it The Irresistible Issue!
Rieslings from the Rheingau region of Germany are highly mineral, almost always dry, and further defined by their richness, round mouthfeel, and notes of apricots and honey. This 2017 Rhein Riesling from the Ress family is no exception.
The LCBO website lists this as a dry wine. I'd argue, owing to its alcohol content and its naturally-sweet flavours of ripe peach, citrus, and honey, that it's bordering off-dry.
At 11% alc./vol. you can be sure there is sugar yet unfermented in the grapes used to make this wine. This unfermented sugar is what's referred to as residual sugar content and it contributes, at least partially, to one's overall impression of sweetness in a wine. For this reason, as a very general rule, you can assume an inverse relationship between alcohol content and residual sugar.
For those of you who think you don't like off-dry Riesling, I implore you to serve this bottle with crispy vegetable spring rolls with spicy sweet and sour sauce for dipping.
Sidenote: the LCBO site also says this wine is from Rheinhessen - which it is not. This wine is from the Rheingau.
This Zuccardi 'Series A' Torrontés is from Salta, a wine region at the northern tip of Argentina distinguished by its mountainous terrain and high altitude vineyard plantings.
This wine is extra-dry and highly perfumed. Notes of lemon zest, orange, white peach, dandelion, and geranium leap from the glass and evolve on the palate.
For those who are unfamiliar with this grape variety, its flavour profile is often compared to Riesling and Muscato.
This is not a tame wine. With all its aroma and high alcohol, it's not an easy sipper on its own, rather, it's best served with food. I'd pair this one with spicy dishes like Indian curries or Thai dishes, particularly those with a peanut-based sauce.
This style of Loire Valley Chenin Blanc is one of my all-time favourite wines for casual sipping.
This 2016 Bel-Air Vouvray from Domaine de la Robinière is especially lovely for its rarity. You see, most Vouvray imported into Ontario is of an off-dry to medium-sweet style. Finding this dry Vouvray, therefore, is a once- maybe twice - a year pleasure. Lucky as I am, I found this one in my Christmas stocking!
This is a clean wine with fresh aromas and flavors, notably: pear, yellow apples, and white florals. Lean and mineral, this wine is everything I love in a preprandial sipper. Enjoy on its own or alongside an aperitif such as a classic French plate of crudités, essentially a raw vegetable platter with a vinaigrette for dipping) or a little goat cheese and crostini.
I featured this Greco di Tufo from Benito Ferrara last month in a wine tasting and candle making workshop called Chai, Bella! which I co-host with the lovely people at Yummi Candles. In this workshop instead of food, I pair wines with the aromas found in scented candles. For this one, I poured a selection of Southern Italian wines while participants made their very own Sorrento Lemon and Masala Chai scented candle.
This wine comes from the Southern Italian wine region of Campania and it is made from the Greco di Tufo grape. Greco di Tufo – simply to complicate things or make it easier, depending on how you look at it – is also the name of the sub-region or DOCG where this wine is made.
Rich, round, and complex, this is the kind of full-bodied white you can expect from the south when in the hands of a quality-minded winemaker. It’s a peerless frontrunner for the position of most highly regarded white grape variety from the south and as such, it’s generally on the more expensive side. It features mineral notes, great acid structure, and notes of citrus -dried lemon especially. These move through to headier aromas and flavours of orange blossom, charred pineapple, and mango.
This wine might continue to develop nicely in the bottle, but it’s really lovely to drink now. I'd serve this wine with Baja fish or shrimp tacos.
For those of you that read the Pacific Northwest Issue, you may recall that I am a serious advocate for single-varietal Merlot. Though the mass production of inferior quality California Merlots in the 90s saw it fall out of favour, I'm happy to herald, it's coming back with a bang!
Named after the red-tailed hawks that soar above the vineyards this 2017 Red Tail Merlot from Featherstone Winery is a superb example of the simple elegance of varietal Merlot. Plush, soft, and brimming with fruit - blackberry, blueberry, cherry.
The winemaker recommends serving with thin crust pizza. I think a simple margarita or pepperoni would do very nicely.
