Interesting Wine Info - Wine Blog from The International Wine of the Month Club

The Varietal Connection: Who’s on First, What’s on Second

April 20, 2018 by Don Lahey

If we were playing the old Abbot and Costello routine, Chardonnay would be on first, Cabernet on second, and no one would know who’s on third. Why? So many grape varietals, so little time!

Grape varietals are the individual types of grapes that find their way into the world’s wines. There are upwards of four thousand distinct grape varieties in the world, though the vast majority of wines we consume emanate from less than three-dozen of the world’s varietals from the species Vitis vinifera. Some of the world’s varietal names are easily recognizable like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot, for example, while others are literally unknown to average consumers and serious tasters alike, names such as Bobal, Nosiola, Pais, Prieto Picudo, and thousands more.

In the New World, wines are often bottled under the name of their primary grape variety (a minimum of 75% of one grape variety must be present for varietal bottling in the United States, while most of the rest of the wine producing world requires 80% of a wine to be of a single varietal to be so labeled). Proprietary names are often used in the New World for blends that do not contain the minimum percentage of a single variety. In Europe, the finest wines are often blends of various grapes and are known primarily by geographic appellation rather than by their primary varietal (although this is changing; more and more French and Italian wines from less celebrated wine producing regions are being bottled with varietal names). As in the United States, other non-European wine countries like Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa bottle most wines under a varietal name, even sometimes by grape combinations such as Cabernet-Shiraz.

Whether a wine graces our table as a varietal or a generic offering (Bordeaux, Burgundy, Chianti, Rioja, etc. are generic wines, as they are known by their place of origin rather than any grape variety) it should offer enjoyment and reflect in some way its place of origin. As for me, I am still trying to taste all four thousand or more of the world’s grape varieties, and then there are the thousands of distinct generic offerings from which to choose. So many wines, so very little time!

Salud!
Don

Rioja: Home to Spain’s Best Red Wine Bargains

February 9, 2018 by Don Lahey

Rioja has been dubbed “a land of history, light and color, vines and wheat, and above all, people for whom friendship is the greatest possible treasure” by the Rioja Minister of Tourism. Rioja is all of this and more, a land etched by history and endowed by a special wine that shares the region’s name. Moreover, Rioja wine is as warm, friendly, and distinctive as the people who inhabit this unique land halfway between Spain’s capital and the towering Pyrenees Mountains. Rioja also enjoys a reputation as the most approachable and recognized name in great Spanish wine and the home of Spain’s best red wine bargains.

Vineyards have always influenced the history and character of the people in the Rioja. Long before France became a bastion of fine wine, the Romans had settled in Iberia and pushed inland from the Mediterranean to the headwaters of the Ebro River and its tiny tributary, Rio Oja, from which Rioja derives its name. In Rioja, the Romans found ideal conditions for the cultivation of Spain’s most important indigenous grape varietals, Tempranillo, Mazuelo, Graciano, and Garnacha (Grenache), which today constitute modern red Rioja. Given its long history for continuously producing fine red wines, Rioja not surprisingly received Spain’s first Denominaciones de Origen (D.O.) in 1933.

It is Rioja’s unique blend of red grapes, coupled with an often lavish hiatus in small oak barrels, which yields warm, truly dry, yet richly fruity red wines of great finesse and perfume, many of which can appear nearly immortal in great vintages. Although a few names in Rioja carry hefty price tags, the vast majority of red Rioja comes from 132,000 acres and three distinct zones (Rioja Alavesa, Rioja Alta, and Rioja Baja). These wines sell for far less than wines of comparable quality from elsewhere, making red Rioja one of the planet’s greatest red wine bargains.

Red Rioja comes in four basic styles: Joven, Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva. The amount of oak barrel aging, coupled with time in the bottle before release, determines the designation. These styles begin with Joven, which receives little or no time in oak barrels, and culminates with Gran Reserva, which matures in barrels for two or more years and cannot be sold before its fifth birthday.

The best bargains in Rioja are among the Joven, Crianza, and Reserva designations. Although many old Gran Reservas can be exceptional, others can appear dried out and lacking in fruit due to their extended stays in barrel. In America, Rioja Reservas reign supreme, having found the fine balance between freshness, complexity, and maturity with just the right patina of oak to please the American palate.

Salud!
Don

Saint-Émilion: Bordeaux at its Best

January 26, 2018 by Don Lahey

Chateau Saint Georges Winery in
Saint Georges-Saint-Emilion

Saint-Émilion is Bordeaux’s most important wine town and the region’s hottest attraction. This walled, medieval village, perched atop a series of hills and surrounded by vines, is unquestionably the most beautiful wine village in all Bordeaux. Indeed, it is arguably the most beautiful wine village in all France. Nearly everything about Saint-Émilion is centered on wine; even the church in Saint-Émilion is a cellar. And lest you think that Saint-Émilion has just recently succumbed to contemporary commercialism or sold itself to the modern mania for all that is Bacchanalian, rest assured that very little has changed in principle in this village since antiquity: Saint-Émilion was founded by the Romans, who used it as a viticultural bastion in the burgeoning area they named Burdigala.

Interestingly, there are two distinct districts of Saint-Émilion, each possessing a special terroir. Both districts produce compelling red wines, but of a different sort. Typically, the côtes or hills upon the escarpment yield the fullest, slowest to mature wines of Saint-Émilion. Here the soil is nearly all limestone and the resulting wine is more apt to act like a great Cabernet based wine of the Médoc. The other distinct district of Saint-Émilion lies on the plateau adjoining Pomerol, where the soil is comprised of sand and gravel. Here the wines tend to be fleshier and quicker to mature. Each style is authentic Saint-Émilion, which allows the savvy consumer double the pleasure.

Merlot is the predominant grape of Saint-Émilion. Here Cabernet Franc and to a lesser extent Cabernet Sauvignon play important supporting roles. However, Saint-Émilion can be produced from Merlot alone or from any combination or percentage of the six traditional red Bordeaux grape varieties (Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Carmenère). No commercial white wine is made in Saint-Émilion or is permitted to be sold as Saint-Émilion.

Many of the most illustrious Bordeaux wines hail from Saint-Émilion, including the legendary Château Cheval Blanc.

Salud!
Don

Bordeaux: The World’s Most Renowned Wine

December 22, 2017 by Don Lahey

Bordeaux is the world’s largest fine wine producing region, encompassing nearly 300,000 acres, 60 individual appellations, and more than 7,300 châteaux. Appellations such as Margaux, Pauillac, and St. Émilion are legendary as are the scores of collectible wines that flow from their vineyards. Indeed, the wine wares of Bordeaux (both the region and its wines are referred to as Bordeaux) are some of the finest and most expensive on Earth. Furthermore, this renowned viticultural region, which has become synonymous with full-bodied red wine, is also the traditional home of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, the three musketeers of almost all red Bordeaux and the basis for Meritage blends around the world. Malbec, Petit Verdot, and even Carmenère are other red Bordeaux varietals that figure into the cépage or blend of many Bordeaux châteaux. And what remains unknown to many consumers is that Bordeaux is also one of the planet’s largest and greatest sources of white wine, principally from Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

Bordeaux, meaning beside the waters, refers to the region’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and the broad estuary, the Gironde, for which the entire viticutural department (the equivalent of a county or state in the United States) is named. Bordeaux, the region as well as the department’s leading city, lies at the center of the confluence of the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers, which flow into the Gironde, which redoubles Bordeaux’s effort to live up to its name. Moreover, it is Bordeaux’s proximity to the sea that provides a stable, moderate climate, which is favorable to the production of fine wine. This marriage to the sea has also provided the historical highway by which Bordeaux wines have traveled the world, gaining esteem and recognition long before most other landlocked wine regions were able to safely transport their wines overland to eager markets.

Since the first century BCE, when the Romans established themselves in Bordeaux and referred to the area as Biturigiaca, this ancient viticultural paradise has been a constant source of fine wine. Known to the emperors of Rome, popes, and poets (most notably Pliny and Ausonius), Bordeaux has enjoyed the envy of the wine producing world longer than any other wine region on Earth. From Pliny to the most contemporary wine critics, including Robert Parker Jr., Bordeaux wines have never gone out of favor. Besides, what other wine region can claim three millennia of continuous production and millions of satisfied customers?

Salud!
Don

Stellenbosch: South Africa’s Rising Star

September 29, 2017 by Don Lahey

South Africa has had a thriving wine industry since the 17^th century, but there has never been a better time to discover South African wines than now. Quality and innovation push the envelope and values abound. And nowhere in South Africa is this truer than in the much heralded winelands of Stellenbosch.

Located on the Western Cape less than an hour north of Cape Town, the picture-postcard town of Stellenbosch and the surrounding mountains form a dramatic backdrop for what has justly been heralded as the most beautiful wine country in the world. Although some may try to refute that claim and promote the various picturesque merits of other world-renowned wine regions, what is not in question is the integral role Stellenbosch has played for more than three centuries in the formation of South African wine. Yes, the South African wine industry is that old; it dates back to the second half of the 17^th century. Not only is Stellenbosch South Africa’s oldest and most important wine producing region, it is the finest region for red and white wines on the African continent. It is South Africa’s Napa, Sonoma, and Santa Barbara counties, along with more than a few touches of France. It contains a myriad of microclimates, which allows for the cultivation of an enormous number of grape varieties. Consequently, Stellenbosch is responsible for high quality red and white wines from a host of varietals that include Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Viognier, and South Africa’s unique varietal, Pinotage, a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsault. From wineries in Stellenbosch old and new flow an enormous variety of wines that are world class and wholly unique in character. So don’t wait to discover the unique, incredibly flavorful wines of Stellenbosch – South Africa’s rising wine star and the world’s most beautiful wine land.

Salud!
Don

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