Siegfriedrebe

            Siegfriedrebe has origins worthy of a romance novel. One parent is Riesling Weiss, considered by some the noblest grape of all. The other is Oberlin Noir, the exotic, dark-skinned offspring of Gamay Noir and the American climbing grape Riparia Millardet. Their interspecific breeding took place in Germany in 1936 (strangely enough), in an obvious attempt to impart some of riparia’s cold-hardiness and disease resistance to a new grape with Riesling’s exalted flavor profile.

            As is generally the case, the breeder’s highest hopes were unrealized. But Reisling’s royal genes are certainly discernible, at least in this bottle from Peace Valley Winery, a Pennsylvania producer that has been experimenting with European-American hybrids since 1968. The wine may not be thrilling or profound, but your German visitors should enjoy its clean, simple, sweet-and-sour fruit flavor. Try a glass on your next visit to Bar Sinister.

Food pairing: An excellent accompaniment to Cindy Saiah’s homemade apple pie.

Marzemino

            “Versa il vino! Eccellente Marzemino!” I’m not about to become the only person to write about this grape variety without mentioning its appearance at the last supper of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” So that’s out of the way: on to a discussion of yet another northern Italian grape that is a credit to its region.

            Jancis Robinson describes it as being of “tantalizingly average quality,” and other writers note that it’s high-yielding, late-ripening and susceptible to fungal diseases –not qualities likely to produce great wine in northern climes. In fact, it’s often made into sparkling wines or sweet ones with names like “Baci Dolci” (“Sweet Kisses”).

But as a dry wine, like this one from Cantina Turina in Garda, (available in the U.S. from Turina Italian Wines), it’s entirely worthy of a place at the dinner table.  Like the Turina Groppello mentioned in the previous post, it’s flavorful in the cherry-berry end of the red fruit spectrum, well-balanced and elegantly light-bodied. I wouldn’t bet the house on being able to distinguish the two in a blind tasting, but the producer describes its Marzemino as having an “herbal and undergrowth” character, which I assume is meant as a compliment.

The producer recommends serving it with barbecued or stewed meat or game (one retailer suggests elk). I think it would usually show off better with something lighter. It was delicious with our grilled pork chops, and I believe it would, like the Groppello, go well with tomato sauces.

Groppello Gentile

            A fairly obscure northern Italian variety. Its name, like that of many Italian grapes, seems to be derived from the shape of the tight cluster, which is thought to resemble a “groppo,” a lump or tangle. There appear to be only a few hundred acres grown, mostly in the Brescia region of Lombardy near the western shore of Lake Garda.

This bottle is produced by Cantine Turina in Garda and imported by Turina Italian Wines, run by a Maine chemical importer who branched into wine when he discovered the products made by his distant relatives. You can read a lot more about Paul Turina and his business on Fringe Wine. 

This is another of northern Italy’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of delightful unknown grapes. It has been made into just the kind of wine I enjoy most, with a full and interestingly complex cherry-raspberry flavor that is concentrated in a light body and supported with bracing acidity.

Producers tend to recommend it with cheese and meat dishes, but I’d say Fringe Wine’s Rob Tebeau has it pegged with his call to match this wine with tomato sauce. The flavor profile and acidity are just right for what can be a difficult pairing. I also have a bottle of Turina’s reserve Groppello, and maybe I’ll go a little heavier with that one, like meat with tomato sauce.