Moscato Rosa

            A member of the Muscat family that is a specialty of Trentino-Alto Adige. Some call it a color variant of Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains, but it is listed as a separate variety in VIVC.

            It is usually vinified as a sweet wine, which Jancis Robinson notes has “assumed almost cult status.” Franz Haas, who produces this example, says that the low-yielding vines must be planted in a windy area to avoid botrytis. Very high sugar levels allow production of a dessert wine from grapes that are neither harvested late nor dried. Haas leaves the wine on the skins for only a few days to avoid astringency, then interrupts the fermentation by refrigeration and transfers the wine to stainless steel for six months before bottling.

            Production is limited, and the wine is quite expensive (I paid $49 for my half-bottle). But it certainly provides a wonderful experience for your money. The aroma of candied fruit is quite enticing, with very many sniffers reporting the scent of roses – to me a somewhat fanciful perception suggested by the name. The color, too -- a clear, deep cherry-red -- is quite attractive. And these sensory promises are more than fulfilled by the flavor itself. The winemaker’s promotional material describes “a fascinating interplay between acidity, sweetness and tannin,” and for once this is not just hype. There is a great deal of depth and complexity to the flavor. Cherry stood out to me, as well as some unidentifiable savory note, and others report tasting orange peel, cinnamon, cloves and, of course, roses. It’s a wine that can truly be called interesting.

            Food pairing: Haas recommends chocolate, others suggest blue cheese. I agree with those who consider it a “meditation wine” that is best appreciated without food.

Molinara

            This pale red grape of the Veneto is usually encountered as part of a Valpolicello blend with Corvino Veronese and Rondinella.

            AziendaAgricola Ca'Rugate uses Molinara to produce this rosé spumante. It gets a couple of days of skin contact that imparts a salmon or coral color and is fermented in stainless steel. The following spring, the still wine is bottled with additional yeast for a second fermentation and ages for two years before the spent yeast is disgorged. The result is a foamy wine with a character that is more yeasty than grapy, and I think just about anyone tasting it with closed eyes would think it is a soft crémant-style wine from white grapes.

            Food pairing: Merchant Astor Wines says its “ripe black cherry” flavor complements grilled or smoked fish. We had it with grilled tuna and a sauce of roasted green peppers and garlic, but the expected red-fruit flavors were not prominent and it was a bit overpowered. With its festive bubbliness, it would be good with seafood or vegetable hors d’ouevres.

Courbu Petit

            A grape of the Madiran region of southwestern France whose name “little curved [one]” is thought to refer to the shape of the small berries or the vine itself. It is grown on both sides of the Pyrenees and supposedly is blended into the Txakoli wines of the Basque region, though on its own, dry or sweet, it produces wine nothing like those nervy whites.

            This bottle from well-known grower Alain Brumont is built for power and has a character as exotic as its AOC name, Pacherenc du Vic Bilh. Fermented and raised in oak, it was still going strong four years after the vintage, no doubt partly because of its 14 percent ABV. Almost greasy in texture and deep yellow in color, it has a flavor profile to match: citrus in quantities to overcome the oak and a note that more than one taster has referred to as toast.

            Food pairing: Chicken is often recommended, so I made Martha Stewart’s chicken burritos with goat cheese, raw spinach and a cooked mixture of corn, onion and jalapeno. Didn’t faze this wine. Despite its inland origins, I’d have to think smoked salmon would pair well, particularly if served on toast.

Melon

            This grape is also known as Melon de Bourgogne, due to its origins in Burgundy. According to the Loire Valley Wine Bureau, it was eradicated there as early as the 16^th century as growers found success with other varieties (good move). The Dutch planted it as a distilling grape around the Atlantic trading port of Nantes, and it was one of the few varieties to survive the winter of 1708-9, the coldest in Europe in the past 500 years. It now produces the region’s signature wine, Muscadet, to the extent that the grape itself often goes by that name.

            This bottle from Sauvion, one of the area’s major producers, is typical. The wine’s predominant characteristic is brininess, befitting its seaside origins, and it is dry, somewhat high in acid and a bit prickly as well, adding to the overall impression of freshness. Keeping the wine on its lees (sur lie) over the winter, brings out more fruit, usually described as apple, pear and citrus.

            Food pairing: Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book recommends mussels, and that’s what we drank it with: mussels steamed over onions, shallots, garlic, tomatoes and parsley. Quite satisfactory. Another classic recommendation is oysters.

Fiano Aromatico

            A different grape from the well-known Fiano associated with the area near Avellino in Campania. This one comes from Puglia and apparently is going into Italy’s national variety catalog as Minutolo, as it’s identified on this bottle.

            The grape does bear some resemblance to the “other” Fiano in its Muscat-like character. My bottle from Cantine Polvanera was vinified in stainless steel and was good summer drinking: fresh but not sharp, stony (or maybe that was steely), yet very entertaining to the palate. One blogger’s initial impression was “an explosive mix of Meyer lemon, lime zest, vanilla bean, quince and apricot jam.” Wish my taste buds worked like that. But I do agree there’s pear and lime to be tasted within a restrained but quite floral flavor that explains the “aromatico” name.

            Food pairing: My retailer said the wine was “ideal for anything with pesto,” and we had on hand Lorrie’s homemade pesto and some fresh scallops. Very enjoyable, though next time I think I would try a grilled fish with herbs that would allow the wine to shine through a bit more.

Raboso Veronese

            A grape that hails from the area around Treviso north of Venice. Researchers at the University of Padova report that DNA analysis shows the grape to be the offspring of Raboso Piave, a powerfully tannic red grape, and Marzemina Bianca.

            Raboso Veronese is often used to produce red wine, but the well-known Prosecco producer Zardetto uses it to make this sparkling rosé. Probably its most remarkable characteristic is its color, often described as raspberry but to my eye more like salmon. On the palate, you might remark the carbonation before the faintly cherryish or strawberryish flavor. It’s medium dry at 16 g/l residual sugar, with plenty of acidity for balance.

            Food pairing: Whatever you’re passing around before the barbecue. It’s mainly a pretty, bubbly wine to create a festive atmosphere.

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.

Feteasca Neagra

            Feteasca Neagra (“Black Maiden”) is an old variety cultivated traditionally in the south of Moldavia province in eastern Romania, according to a 2007 paper by the University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Bucharest. Recognition of its potential for quality red wine has led to its spread throughout the country, and dozens of versions are now produced, most of them dry. Importation to the U.S. is becoming more frequent, as evidenced by the appearance of this wine from the Recas Winery at my local Total Wine superstore.

            According to the university’s paper, wine from this grape resembles that made from major international varieties – so much so that one prominent Romanian taster confessed that he identifies it by a process of elimination (“that is, after dismissing the possibility of a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Pinot Noir”). That was my impression. Its flavor was pleasant but undistinguished, a generic red-wine taste with average intensity, acidity and astringency, and no particular fruit flavor standing out above the others. Tasters often mention currants and plums.

            Food pairing: Disregarding the bottle’s inevitable recommendation of roasted red meat and anticipating a middleweight wine, we drank it with chicken chili, and it was serviceable. Some recommend lean, mild meats such as pork and veal.

Carlos

            Carlos is a muscadine variety (V. rotundifolia) developed at the North Carolina Agricultural Extension station at Raleigh in 1970 by crossing varieties called Topsail and Tarheel. It has become the top “bronze” muscadine grape for juice and wine in the southeastern United States, according to the University of Florida.

            This product of Casa de Sue Winery in Clinton, La., has a deep yellow color and a powerful, pure muscadine flavor, which has been accurately described by one grower as "just like a grape but different."

            Food pairing: This dry wine’s assertive character stood up well to the strong flavors of a classic regional dish, shrimp creole spiced with black pepper, red pepper flakes, cayenne powder, hot paprika, allspice, a few shakes of Tabasco and worcestershire sauce – all in moderation, of course.

Edelweiss

            Edelweiss is a cold-hardy hybrid developed by Elmer Swenson, whose grape-breeding experiments dating back to the 1940s have left a lasting mark on the wine industry in the northern U.S. Edelweiss has a little V. vinifera in its pedigree, but a lot more V. labrusca – including Concord on both sides of its family tree – and some of the Minnesota V. riparia that’s often found in Swenson crossings.

            The notorious labrusca muskiness is said to be minimized by early harvesting of Edelweiss, and its precocious ripening – sometimes as early as August – makes it a natural choice for a Maine vineyard such as Prospect Hill Winery. Proprietor Richard Carle, a real Yankee craftsman, makes a wonderful dry, crisp and fruity version that might change some assumptions about Maine wine.

            Food pairing: We drank this bottle on the pier at Wellfleet, Mass., last summer with a bucket of takeout steamer clams, a green salad and some rolls. Absolutely perfect.

Mavrotragano

            Vines in the sandy, volcanic soil of the Greek island of Santorini were one of the few to resist phylloxera. But what the invading louse couldn’t destroy, commercialization nearly did. The sacrifice of vineyards to burgeoning tourism development and the rush to plant the excellent white Assyrtiko grape once reduced the indigenous Mavrotragano to less than 2 percent of the island’s production. Most of it was used for sweet passito-style wine for local consumption. The tide turned in the late 1990s after a couple of prominent growers began producing dry wines, and their quality is becoming more widely recognized.

            Estate Argyros is often mentioned as being among the top producers. While my bottle from a certain D.C. wine shop seemed ridiculously overpriced at $60, I would recommend it at half that. It comes to the table carrying a big club, thanks to its 14 percent abv and 18 months in small oak barrels. But it’s not really a brute-force wine. Garnet in color, its spicy cherry-berry flavors are carried on a middleweight body and with restrained tannins, so the oak doesn’t overpower.

            Food pairing: Lamb is a natural partner.

Forastera

            A specialty of the island of Ischia near Naples. Its name is said to mean “foreigner” in local dialect, and this may be appropriate, as some sources say it’s originally from the Canary Islands.

            Casa d’Ambra buys the grapes from local growers and vinifies them in stainless steel. The wine is dry and light in flavor, vaguely citrusy and supposedly with hints of apricot and almond, although you’d have to taste hard to discern them.

            This bottle was a good accompaniment to our Easter-dinner salad of arugula and fennel with green olives and toasted almonds. The recipe was from the “A16 – Food and Wine” cookbook, which recommends a pairing with Biancolella, Forastera’s frequent companion in Ischia Bianco wine. (The cookbook, from the San Francisco-based southern Italian restaurant, provides good details on many regional varietal wines and in general gives wine equal billing with the cuisine.) 

Frontenac Gris

            Frontenac Gris originated as a sport, or spontaneous mutation, when a cane with bronze-gray fruit sprouted from a vine of the Frontenac black grape at the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center. Subsequent propagation consistently yielded fruit with the same qualities.

“Due to … high levels of both sugar and acidity, Frontenac Gris wines often require leaving residual sugar in order to produce a well balanced wine in northern climates,” according to UM. That’s the case with this product of Grovedale Winery, a small family-run operation in northeastern Pennsylvania. It’s a very pleasant wine that has won several regional awards and always seems to be appreciated by our guests. It’s deep yellow thanks to the grape skins and has a peachy-citrusy flavor -- not overly sweet and with a refreshing tang -- and a creamy texture.

            Food pairing: It went well with the bowl of fresh mango and strawberries that was our Easter dinner dessert.

De Chaunac

            De Chaunac is a hybrid created by the French breeder Albert Seibel with an American-style diversity of origin. It is an interspecific crossing, and how! Tracing its lineage in the Vitis database turns up no fewer than five grape species -- labrusca, lincecumii, riparia, rupestris and vinifera -- within four generations. And that’s just on one parent’s side. How’s that for a melting pot?

            It’s most widely grown now in the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada, to which it was introduced as Seibel 9549 in the mid-20^th century by the Canadian enologist Adhemar de Chaunac. It was once quite popular, due to its ability to survive very cold winters and produce wine with complex fruit flavors that are enhanced by oak, according to Hudson Valley Wine Magazine.

            This offering from Altamont Vineyard and Winery near Albany, N.Y., is probably not the best ambassador for the grape. While certainly drinkable (we finished the bottle), it was somewhat thin and bitter. Hopefully this is not what Upstate New Yorkers consider to be passion.

            Food pairing: A rice casserole with spinach and cheese might work.

Listan Negro

            This is the black version of Palomino, an undistinguished white grape mostly used for sherry. Recently, reds from Listan Negro produced in the Canary Islands have been getting quite a bit of attention in the U.S., largely due to the efforts of importer Jose Pastor.

            One often in the spotlight is this Tajinaste Tenerife Valle de la Orotava, which uses a “braided cord” production in which ungrafted vines, some nearly a century old, lie low against the island’s volcanic soil. Part of the production gets several months of oak aging.

            The New York Times’ Eric Asimov described the 2010 Tajinaste as “juicy and perfumed.” We would have been better off waiting a year or two to taste our bottle from that vintage. It seemed closed in, with the oak dominating the fruit.

            Food pairing: Many tasters suggest slow-cooked pork, often with a rich or even spicy sauce.

Callet

            An indigenous grape of Mallorca that’s widely grown on the island, but until recent years wasn’t much associated with high-quality wine.

            A winery that has done a lot to change that impression is Anima Negra (Black Soul), which goes to great lengths to coax the flavor out of this light-colored grape. The 2005 AN was judged by the Age newspaper as the best wine imported into Australia, where they know a little about powerful reds.

The label on the 2006 vintage says that yields from 50- to 80-year-old vines are kept low with pruning, and then “each berry is sorted to ensure only the highest quality grapes are used.” Fermentation is partly in cement and partly in large oak vats, and the wine is aged for 17 months in new oak barrels and an additional two months in cement.

Taking these pains really pays off. This is a noble wine, with the combination of delicacy and power found in top Pinot Noirs. The oak is of course quite prominent, but the main impression is of a long and complex mouthful of rich red fruit. It’s a bottle that I wasn’t ashamed to admit to Lorrie that I paid $55 for.

(And at that, it’s a second wine. In “exceptional years,” Anima Negra releases Son Negre, “a unique wine with a superior quality” and a label featuring a priapic devil.)

This bottle paired wonderfully with grilled lamb chops and a Mallorcan potato-and-vegetable dish called tombet.

Ives

            Ives is one of the oldest names in American grape lore, if not one of the most honored. Its origins are cloudy. It is commonly thought of as labrusca, but the Vitis variety catalog calls it an interspecific crossing, naming only one parent: Hartford, a labrusca cross with Isabella, which is itself a labrusca-vinifera hybrid. The trouble with this genealogy is that Vitis dates Ives from 1844, and Hartford from 1849. But it’s not totally off the mark, according to a 1928 paper by chemists at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, whose analysis led them to conclude that “the Ives grape is not a pure Vitis labrusca but probably contains some Vitis vinifera mixed with still another strain.”

            Well, anyway: If it quacks like a duck it is a duck, and you’d be advised to duck this grape unless you really enjoy that musky labrusca flavor. This wine comes from Bully Hill Vineyards, founded by a scion of the powerhouse Taylor family of Finger Lakes wine pioneers and one of the earliest champions of hybrid grapes in that region. They say it’s “bursting with native American fruit and floral essence;” I say it tastes like cough syrup. But it’s as sturdy as Madeira. My bottle hardly changed flavor in the several months it sat on the kitchen counter waiting for me to brave another taste.

Food pairing: Aspirin, the next time flu season comes around.

Meynieu 6

            This is a French grape with some new-country roots. It’s a cross between Semillon and Baco Blanc, the latter of which has as one of its parents the 19^th-century American grape Noah, a riparia-labrusca crossing.

            Slate Run Vineyards southeast of Columbus, Ohio, is the only place I’ve found selling a wine, called Premblanc Reserve, made entirely from this grape. A high-school pal helped me get a couple of bottles last year, and I was dismayed to see that it was the 2006 vintage. Sure enough, the first bottle we opened was quite brown. Yesterday I opened the other one, just to see if it could be used as cooking wine, and was surprised to discover that it was only slightly over the hill, and close enough to the summit to be enjoyable.

            The winery provides little information about this wine, other than to call it “white Bordeaux-styled” and (incorrectly) “a Sauvignon Blanc hybrid.” Other Slate Run wines see some oak, and this one evidently did as well. It was soft, and the flavors seemed rounded and mellowed with age, indeed rather Bordeaux-like with no hint of foxiness.

            We haven’t had this with a meal, but it should be fine with comfortable American-style preparations of white meats.

Vernaccia Nera

            This variety from the Italian Marche region is unrelated to the better-known Vernaccia di San Gimigiano of Tuscany or Vernaccia di Oristano of Sardinia. The name is thought to be related to the Latin vernaculus, meaning “of this place,” and to the English word “vernacular.” So, in the area around Serrapetrona, this is the local black grape.

            As such it has its own DOCG, at least when it is made in a dry spumante style. The Colli di Serrapetrona winery, however, specializes in still wines: rosés, reds from partially dried grapes fermented and aged in oak, and this product, fermented in stainless steel.

            It’s not complex, but tasty enough. Were it not for the firm tannins, this medium-bodied wine might remind you of a cru Beaujolais with its lip-smacking grapiness. At a mid-teens price point, I considered it a worthwhile new wine experience.

            Food pairing: I prepared pork with fennel because the maker suggested it as a match, and while the dish was suitable we didn’t consider it magically harmonious. A step closer to that ideal might be if that fennel were flavoring Italian sausages served over pasta.