The Après Issue
Me, and my guy working up a thirst in Mont Tremblant.
Dearest Subscribers, I won't lie to you, I've been known to get more excited for the après than the ski.
After all, some of the most famous ski destinations in the world are also responsible for producing some of my favourtie wines. The same slopes that make for world-class skiing in Austria, France, Italy, and Canada are also prized for their ability to facilitate soil drainage and yield maximum sunlight exposure - features needed to produce top-quality grapes for winemaking.
Unbuckle your boots baby, it's time for a drink! This is the Alpine-inspired issue of SWP.
If I'm recommending a Pinot Grigio, you could bet your bottom dollar it'd be one from Trentino-Alto Adige. Trento is the capital of this Northern Italian Alpine region and it is here that they make wonderfully rich, crisp, aromatic, Pinot Grigio with sound structural acidity.
Fuller-bodied and oftentimes more complex than their counterparts in Veneto, PG from Trentino is what I want to be drinking after a day on the slopes. This unoaked PG from Cliffhanger Vineyards is ripe with notes of pear, white florals, and fresh peach. Its refreshing minerality makes it the perfect après sipper on its own or as an accompaniment to this delicious recipe for speck and brie flatbread with crispy sage.
Rather have a red from this region? Teroldego is produced to stunning effect here. You can sometimes find it at the LCBO. specifically, look for Foradori Morei. It's currently out of stock but should replenish. For those of you in the Toronto area, you can also find Teroldego on the wine list at Terroni.
Piedmont, or, in its English form, Piemonte, translates to, 'at the foot of the mountains'. What more perfect name could there be for this Alpine region of Northwest Italy?
Barolo is the most famous sub-region of Piemonte. It is here, in Barolo where the most powerful and structured examples of wine made from the Nebbiolo grape are made.
Full-bodied, tannic and with two years aging in Slovenian and French oak barrels, this Marchesi di Barolo is a heavy-hitting wine in need of a secondo piatto! The producer suggests traditional egg pasta from Langhe(Tajarin), ravioli with meat filing or dishes using sheep or goat's milk cheeses.
Prefer something a little more thirst-quenching? Chardonnay, Gavi, and Vermentino are also produced in Piedmonte.
Just one whiff of Grüner Veltliner and I am instantly transported to one of my favourite places on earth. The primary white wine grape of Austria is notorious for its pepper and spice.
This example, from Burgenland, is youthful, medium straw in colour with gorgeous green highlights. Saline, lemon zest, lime, and white pepper dominate on the nose, moving through to the palate with an added note of pineapple. Dry, medium-bodied, with vibrant acidity.
Serve with Käsespätzle, Austria's take on what we'd call Mac N' Cheese.
Prefer a red? Blaufränkisch is a rich and tannic, often oaked, red wine balanced with tons of ripe fruit. Try this organic and biodynamic one from Weingut Heinrich.
Twice this week I was asked what I would serve with Raclette. Twice this week Alsacian Gewürztraminer was my answer. Good examples will be full-bodied, highly perfumed and reliably generous in acidity and alcohol rendering these wines a perfect match for the nutty and also slightly acidic flavours found in Raclette.
This Jean-Baptiste Adam Les Natures Gewurztraminer is off-dry, verging on medium with a good deal of ripe fruit flavours and aromatics that enhance one's perception of sweetness on the palate. Notes of honey, elderflower, lychee, overripe peach, and rose water leap from the glass. This is a rich, almost unctuous wine produced via biodynamic viticulture to a solid 13% alc./vol. by 15th and 16th generation family winemakers.
Pinot Noir is the only red wine produced in Alsace. What little of it is made is unlikely to pop up in export markets. Luckily there is a wonderfully diverse range of quality white wines to try from this region.
If you're not planning a Raclette night anytime soon I would also suggest spicy pad thai, or Kung Pao chicken for this wine.
This 2016 estate grown Pinot Noir from Oak Bay Vineyards in British Columbia's North Okanagan Valley is dry, medium bodied with lots of fruit - sour cherry, ripe plum, and raspberry. Pleasant notes of turned earth and black tea round out the flavour profile. Youthful and easy drinking, this is an ideal post-slopes sipper for the red wine lover.
Pair with a pork-based charcuterie board including prosciutto and salami.
Mission Hill, with vineyards in each of the five sub-regions of the Okanagan Valley, make a full-bodied and oaky Chardonnay that you might like if you're more of a white wine person.
