Unusual wine varietals
Aug 24, 2009 | 3:48 pm
#31
Moderator, Argentina and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: MIA / EZE
Programs: Lord of Malbec & all Wines Argentine. AA EXP / Marriott Lifetime Gold / Hyatt Explorist / Hertz PC
Posts: 36,206
Mi Amigo,
You may appreciate these notes from Cellar Tracker on the 2002 vintage.
Tasted by jcash on 4/22/2008 & rated 95 points: We bought a bottle of this in Buenos Aires at a wine shop called "Terroir". We asked for something that was ready for immediate consumption. It was excellent! Could have benefitted from a little breathing ortime in bottle, but my wife and I both thought it was amazing -- complex, full-bodied, firm structure lingering luxururiously and almost endlessly on the palate -- uniquely Argentine in character to boot. (461 views)
Tasted by fredmartens on 3/8/2008 & rated 92 points: Very well made wine; Michel Rolland consulting. 30% CS, 50% CF, 15%M, 5% PV, all from Finca Libertad vineyard. After being somewhat disappointed by their "old vine" cab franc bottling, this was a nice surprise. Decanted 3 hours; dark purple in color, with complex fruit flavors to match and an appreciatively restrained use of oak...letting the grapes do the talking. Medium finish, unique mineral, earthy nose I couldn't deconstruct into specific scents; not reminiscent of other Mendoza wines to say the least. (513 views)
FYI, Fred is one of us.
You may appreciate these notes from Cellar Tracker on the 2002 vintage.
Tasted by jcash on 4/22/2008 & rated 95 points: We bought a bottle of this in Buenos Aires at a wine shop called "Terroir". We asked for something that was ready for immediate consumption. It was excellent! Could have benefitted from a little breathing ortime in bottle, but my wife and I both thought it was amazing -- complex, full-bodied, firm structure lingering luxururiously and almost endlessly on the palate -- uniquely Argentine in character to boot. (461 views)
Tasted by fredmartens on 3/8/2008 & rated 92 points: Very well made wine; Michel Rolland consulting. 30% CS, 50% CF, 15%M, 5% PV, all from Finca Libertad vineyard. After being somewhat disappointed by their "old vine" cab franc bottling, this was a nice surprise. Decanted 3 hours; dark purple in color, with complex fruit flavors to match and an appreciatively restrained use of oak...letting the grapes do the talking. Medium finish, unique mineral, earthy nose I couldn't deconstruct into specific scents; not reminiscent of other Mendoza wines to say the least. (513 views)
FYI, Fred is one of us.
Aug 24, 2009 | 4:37 pm
#32
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Portland
Programs: AS MVPG75K, Boardroom, HH Diamond, National Executive
Posts: 351
I remember a video out there in internet land showing the process. I am at work and can't get the videos (firewall, grr) so I'll see if I can find it. It's a great varietal IMHO.
Aug 26, 2009 | 8:58 pm
#33
Moderator, Argentina and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: MIA / EZE
Programs: Lord of Malbec & all Wines Argentine. AA EXP / Marriott Lifetime Gold / Hyatt Explorist / Hertz PC
Posts: 36,206
Wirelessly posted (Nokia N97 / Palm TX: Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.4; Series60/5.0 NokiaN97-3/10.2.012; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1; en-us) AppleWebKit/525 (KHTML, like Gecko) WicKed/7.1.12344)
on the subject of strange winee.... how about a sparkler made from CabSav...?
on the subject of strange winee.... how about a sparkler made from CabSav...?
Aug 26, 2009 | 9:58 pm
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2000
Programs: UA Million Miler (lite). NY Metro area.
Posts: 15,431
Aug 27, 2009 | 2:02 pm
#36
Moderator, Argentina and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: MIA / EZE
Programs: Lord of Malbec & all Wines Argentine. AA EXP / Marriott Lifetime Gold / Hyatt Explorist / Hertz PC
Posts: 36,206
Yes... some great Ozzie Shiraz bubbly is made.... the closest thing here in Argentina is a sparkling Bonarda !!! ^
I find the texture of fine bubbles with the tannic structure of a red wine is a very interesting combination that allows for some very creative food pairings....
^I find the texture of fine bubbles with the tannic structure of a red wine is a very interesting combination that allows for some very creative food pairings....
Aug 27, 2009 | 2:05 pm
#37
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Portland
Programs: HH Gold, Alaska MVP Gold
Posts: 4,074
Yes... some great Ozzie Shiraz bubbly is made.... the closest thing here in Argentina is a sparkling Bonarda !!! ^
I find the texture of fine bubbles with the tannic structure of a red wine is a very interesting combination that allows for some very creative food pairings....
^I find the texture of fine bubbles with the tannic structure of a red wine is a very interesting combination that allows for some very creative food pairings....
Aug 28, 2009 | 5:37 am
#38
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, Hertz PC, Marriott Lifetime Plat, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 44,340
From OGG...
Pineapple Wine
Very sweet
Pineapple Wine
Very sweet
Aug 28, 2009 | 4:03 pm
#39
Moderator, Argentina and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: MIA / EZE
Programs: Lord of Malbec & all Wines Argentine. AA EXP / Marriott Lifetime Gold / Hyatt Explorist / Hertz PC
Posts: 36,206
Aug 28, 2009 | 4:43 pm
#41
Moderator, Argentina and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: MIA / EZE
Programs: Lord of Malbec & all Wines Argentine. AA EXP / Marriott Lifetime Gold / Hyatt Explorist / Hertz PC
Posts: 36,206
Aug 28, 2009 | 7:52 pm
#42
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: On the road
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 1,051
Yep. Here in Wisconsin there are a number of wineries opening that do fruit wines. Blueberry wine, raspberry wine, strawberry wine, apricot wine, peach wine, blackberry wine, boysenberry wine. Along with Meads and some pretty darn good apple ciders.
It seems that a number of these people got into the fruit wines after they planted grape vines and realized they needed to make something till they had a producing vineyard...hence they utilized local fruit. A bit of trial and error and now they are making some pretty good fruit wines and some of them aren't even bothering with grapes anymore. Guess they found their niche!
Don't know about any websites, we just buy them locally.
As far as an unusual varietal, I'd have to say brachetto. Don't know how it flew under our radar for so long (had it for the first time this year) as we love Italian wines and have drunk our fair share of prosecco.
It seems that a number of these people got into the fruit wines after they planted grape vines and realized they needed to make something till they had a producing vineyard...hence they utilized local fruit. A bit of trial and error and now they are making some pretty good fruit wines and some of them aren't even bothering with grapes anymore. Guess they found their niche!
Don't know about any websites, we just buy them locally.
As far as an unusual varietal, I'd have to say brachetto. Don't know how it flew under our radar for so long (had it for the first time this year) as we love Italian wines and have drunk our fair share of prosecco.
Aug 28, 2009 | 8:43 pm
#44
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Sydney - Australia
Programs: BD, QF, QR/EY/GF & HH Gold/SPG, Hertz#1G
Posts: 11,079
Sparkling shiraz has a famous home at the beginning of the main Hunter Valley (NSW, Australia, near Sydney) wine trail:
Peterson's Champagne House
A different house from the House of Miles and obviously not a house of Petersen, but it's a landmark and a must-see for anyone going to the Hunter Valley and interested in sparkling - especially sparkling shiraz.
(don't ask about the French terroir-ists wanting Petersons to drop the C word!
)There are a ton of discussions in the Australia forum if anyone has questions or want to read about wine in Australia. In terms of drinking it, there are plenty of options for visitors and many Oz FTers are happy to help!
Aug 28, 2009 | 8:57 pm
#45
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,593
There are hundreds of non-grape wines made around the world -- and most are legally entitled to be labeled as wine (well, maybe not in France ...).
The most unusual that I have personally tasted (and it was good!) is chocolate wine (made on a whey base, to get the alcohol). Website http://www.shallon.com/
The most unusual that I have personally tasted (and it was good!) is chocolate wine (made on a whey base, to get the alcohol). Website http://www.shallon.com/