Elbling Weiss

            An ancient grape that’s not very well known, which should give you a clue about its general quality: good enough to survive the centuries, but not good enough to conquer the wine world. Elbling has been grown in the upper Mosel Valley since before the Middle Ages, according to Jancis Robinson, largely because it produces bountifully on soil that won’t support Riesling or other more flavorful local varieties. Once used mainly for sparkling sekt, it’s now often sold as a varietal, especially in Luxembourg.

            Robinson notes its “searing acidity,” and elsewhere calls it “almost unimaginably tart,” but happily this example from Weingut Matthias Dostert has bright fruit to provide balance. I tasted citrus; others have mentioned peaches and a floral character similar to that of Viognier. Perhaps Alva – the name by which this grape is known in Portugal – is meant to indicate this riper style.

            This bottle made a winter trip overland from California’s K&L Wines to Maryland and arrived none the worse for it. A solid value at K&L’s current price of $9.

            Food pairing: This was a good choice for a recent family bouillabaisse dinner. The acidity let it rise above the richness of the dish, and the flavor was quite compatible.

Airen

            As late as 2004, Airen was the world’s most-grown grape in terms of acreage, according to Wikipedia. But it is losing the favor it long enjoyed across vast expanses of central Spain because of its resistance to drought and disease. Most of the crop traditionally went into brandy; some, tinted with other juice, produced the pale red of Valdepenas.

            A relatively small percentage was used for sharp whites like this example from Vinos Ambiz. These grapes are grown by two partners as a sideline from their day jobs and used to make “natural, organic, healthful and sustainable wine,” sold unfiltered in recycled bottles. The winemakers say cleanliness is paramount in the wine-making process and that as a rule nothing is added to the juice, not even sulfites.

            The result is an honest, straightforward wine that reflects the character of the Airen grape, unfortunately. Cloudy in the glass, it has an almost glowingly green tint. Fruity it’s not, but you would call it refreshing. And clean.

            Food pairing: We tried this with a bouillabaisse, which likes a neutral dry white, but it wasn’t a successful match. The wine was just too austere. If I come across it again I’d like to taste it with a Caesar salad – with organic romaine, of course.

Rougeon

            As long as we’re in Missouri …. Along with the Cynthiana from St. James Winery came this Rougeon dessert wine. This black grape is a French-American hybrid, one of many developed by Alfred Seibel in France.

            Winemakers Direct lists a handful of producers – a couple in New York, one in Missouri and one in Wisconsin. Apparently part of Rougeon’s attraction is its versatility, as the wine styles run the gamut from dry to sparkling to port.

            This example is dark, thick and sweet, with a hint of roasted character. Perhaps a bit pricey at $20 for the half-bottle, but some might find it a memorable treat. Food pairing: It stands alone as a sipper quite well, but could accompany a range of rich desserts, including dark chocolate.

Cynthiana

           A wine dear to the few who celebrate America’s native grapes, this was an early and highly successful attempt to create a good-tasting variety that could resist the New World’s climate and pests. As recounted in Todd Kliman’s “The Wild Vine” and elsewhere, Dr. Daniel Norton created the variety in the early1820s at his farm near Richmond. As he tried to cross the V. labrusca grape Bland with Pinot Meunier, the Bland was accidentally fertilized by wild V. aestivalis pollen. The offspring, which became known as Norton’s Virginia Seedling, produced a full-flavored wine with native character but without labrusca’s disagreeable foxiness.

            The grape quickly won commercial favor in the East and later in the Midwest, where Missouri’s growing conditions proved especially welcoming. Famously, a bottle of Missouri Norton was honored as among the world’s best wines at Vienna’s Universal Exposition in 1873.

            Along the way, Cynthiana became recognized as a separate variety. Many believed it to be a mutation of Norton with distinctly different flavor and ripening characteristics. Whatever the case, DNA analysis has shown that today’s Norton and Cynthiana are one and the same, and the latter name now predominates in reference books (if not in Virginia).

            This particular bottle comes from St. James Winery, one of many smaller U.S. wineries listed on the Winemakers Direct site, which is searchable by variety. Another notable example is the Chrysalis Vineyards Estate Bottled Norton, grown near Middleburg, Va.

            Cynthiana/Norton is a wine you needn’t be ashamed of serving to your European friends – preferably at a cookout where the main course is grilled beef. It has good fruit and grip, and somehow does taste American.

Lambrusco Salamino

   The Vitis catalog lists almost a dozen varieties of Lambrusco – lots of chances to explore this food-friendly wine. This organic product from Azienda Agricola Luciano Saetti near Modena is grape soda with a bitter cherry finish.

   Cost is mid-teens from Chambers Street Wines in NYC; also available right now from De-Vino Boutique there.

   Dry, light-bodied and effervescent, this was a good match for one of the Family Reunion Pizza Night choices – cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, with a layer of fresh arugula added as soon as the pie came out of the oven.

Mauzac Rose

   A refined member of the straightforward Gaillac grape family. This off-dry example from Domaines Plageoles offers softer apple and pear flavors than the zesty green apple common in Mauzac Blanc sparklers. Methode rurale fermentation in the bottle yields a pleasant fine-grained carbonation.

   From Astor Wines in New York, about $25. Stock up when you’re in Gaillac.

   Food pairing: This helped us end Family Reunion Pizza Night on a light note, accompanying a tricolore salad of arugula, radicchio and endive with some fresh citrus. The wine’s mild acidity and gentle sweetness might also fit well with cheese, say brie on a cracker with a Granny Smith slice.

Encruzado

   The principal white grape of the Dao, more commonly blended. A good balance of crisp acidity with mild honey-rounded citrus flavors.

   A tasty example here from Astor Wines in NYC.

   Astor’s buyer’s note suggests “lighter seafood such as calamari, octopus and mussels. This bottle made a refreshing companion to a squid stir-fry with spinach, snow peas and bell pepper, flavored with ginger, garlic and scallions, dressed with a bit of soy sauce.

Croatina

   This wine, from southwestern Lombardy, reminded me of Sangiovese (others compare it to its nearer neighbor Dolcetto), but was a bit lighter in body and brighter in acidity. The bitterness this variety is sometimes said to display was not especially noticeable. A 2009, it gained noticeable depth and complexity a half-hour or so after being opened.

   You’ll notice the label says Bonarda. I had originally hoped that this was Bonarda Piemontese, but the friendly and knowledgeable manager of Potenza Wine Shop on 15^th Street Northwest in D.C. informed me that this is the name used for Croatina in the Oltrepo Pavese region. It’s also different than the South American red gaining popularity in the U.S., about which more later.

   Food pairing: I drank this with a (slightly underdone) Ricciuti’s pizza topped with caramelized onions, fresh garlic, red bell peppers, gorgonzola and mozzarella. It deserved finer fare. Maybe a cured ham risotto would pair well.

Brachetto

   Just in time for Valentine’s Day shopping, a note on a charming wine that’s ideal for the occasion. The Brachetto grape is associated with Italy’s Piedmont region, and this wine is sparkling and sweet, perhaps just like your own valentine. You may also find versions that are less sweet or made in a frizzante rather than spumante style. Brachetto from the Acqui district, which this bottle is not, is considered by many the best expression of the grape.

   Brachetto seems to be pretty widely available in cities with good wine shops, though DOCG Brachetto d’Acqui is a little harder to find, and a little more expensive. Expect to pay in the mid-teens for the good stuff and a bit less for the Piemonte version.

   Food pairing: This fun, frothy wine delivers not-overpowering but pleasant red-fruit flavors: strawberry, raspberry and cherry. Low in alcohol, it could accompany the fruit salad in a Valentine’s brunch _ or even better, chocolate-dipped strawberries at the end of a Valentine’s dinner.

Vuillermin

   This is a full-flavored, somewhat tannic red from the Valle d’Aosta. Fairly light-bodied, but rich and aromatic.

   Vuillermin is an ancient indigenous variety that has been revived by the Institut Agricole Régional in Aosta and certain growers in the valley, including Feudo San Maurizio, which produced this bottle. 

   According to the VinoRadio Blog, the owner of Enoteca Vino Nostro in San Francisco says that Vuillermin “is so rare that there is no vineyard of it. As the story goes, the grapes used to make this wine were collected by the producer from small plantings around the region.”

   My bottle also came from Enoteca Vino Nostro. A splurge at $51.

   Food pairing: We had this bottle with a pork tenderloin roasted with garlic, thyme, salt and pepper, with a few bacon strips on top to moisten it. A good match, but this wine might go even better with another of my wife’s recipes: beef slow-cooked with onions, a little bacon, red wine, and orange peel, and served over rice.

Introduction

   For several years now, I’ve been seeking out wines that express the personality of an individual grape variety. The ones I’ve tasted are listed on this Picasa page.

   A fundamental question: Which grapes are discrete varieties? I’m no ampelographer, so I rely on outside authorities to make that call. My basic reference is the Vitis International Variety Catalog maintained by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding in Germany. For some U.S. varieties, I also consult the National Grape Registry maintained by the University of California and USDA.

   How “pure” must a varietal wine be to make my cut? I differ with some other tasters on this point. For example, if I understand the ground rules of the Wine Century Club, members can count all the grape varieties in a blended wine. So if they drink Chateau Batailley, a fifth-growth Pauillac that includes 3 percent cabernet franc and 2 percent petit verdot, they can claim to have tasted those grapes. But have they really? Once the proportion of a wine’s main grape falls below 85 or 90 percent, I begin to doubt that its varietal character is coming through, and I usually don’t include it in my list.

   I’ll be writing about the wines I’ve tasted in hopes of promoting a discussion among people who share my interest. I especially invite input on two topics: Where are especially fine examples of these wines produced and sold, and with what foods do they pair well?

   Along the way, I plan to cite wineries and retailers I admire, fellow bloggers exploring this same topic, and other sources of information on grape varieties, both online and in print.