The first thing that catches your eye about the Hans Wirsching Silvaner 2010 is the playful green bottle that holds the wine.
The flattened, flask-shaped bottle is known as a bocksbeutel, or “buck bag.” It is used in the central German wine region of Franken, as well as in a few villages in northern Baden, to house the best wines.
Fortunately this particular book lives up to its cover. The pale-gold liquid inside the tantalizing bottle is mouthwatering — its lovely acidity and juicy flavors invariably making the drinker utter gurgling-happy sounds.
The white grape in question, Silvaner, is grown mostly in Germany and central Europe. When the Silvaner vines set their roots in clayey-limestone soils, as they do in the best sites of Franken, they are capable of producing full-bodied, firm wines with great natural acidity, delicious minerality and pleasing flavors.
[read more…]
When I ask friends if they’ve ever tasted Fino sherry, a blank look spreads across their faces. Most have heard of sherry, of course, but images of English ladies of a certain age sipping the sweetish libation before dinner is what usually comes to mind. The blank look soon turns into a curled lip.
Even more disconcerting, most restaurants in the U.S. (even Spanish ones) don’t bother to include sherries on their wine list. I hope this will change in the near future – because in my book, sherry is one of the most downright delicious and intriguing wines there is.
[read more…]
Tucked in the hills of San Martin de Valdeiglesias, a region just southwest of Madrid, the Bernabeleva estate is blessed with a perfect climate and ideal soils for growing grapes – especially Grenache grapes.
The estate was acquired in 1923 by a Madrid doctor named Vincente Alvarez-Villamil, who dreamed of making wines of exceptional character in this idyllic setting.
It turned out that this land also had something of a mythical past. Indeed, the property is dotted with large, ancient Celtic carvings of bears. Vincente named his estate Bernabeleva, or “the bear’s forest,” and the image of the goddess of hunting riding a bear became the estate’s logo – as you can see on the label.
Unfortunately, the Spanish Civil War put an end to Vincente’s dream, and it would not be until 2006 that it would be resurrected, under the aegis of two of his grandsons.
[read more…]
One of the first things that European immigrants did when they settled in North America was to plant apple trees, just so that they could make cider. During colonial times, the beverage now known as “hard cider” (cider containing alcohol) was consumed with every meal.
Alas, cider production, like all alcoholic beverages in the U.S., would come to a screeching halt during Prohibition. And the journey back has been a long and arduous one.
Fortunately, the cider industry has seen a boisterous resurgence in the last decade. Pioneers like Farnum Hill Ciders have been joined by newcomers like Argus Ciders and Tandem Ciders, to name but two, gaining great acclaim from consumers and press alike.
These days even winemakers are getting into the act. Take Randall Grahm, from the illustrious Bonny Doon Vineyard. In 2010 Grahm decided to try his expert-hand at making a hard sparkling cider. Of course, being extraordinarily creative, Grahm didn’t want to make cider with apples alone – he threw pears and quince in the mix too.
[read more…]
With vineyards at 2,500 ft above sea level, a relatively short growing season, extremely varied soils – and the constant threat of spring frost – Ribera del Duero, in northwestern Spain, might not look like the easiest place to grow grapes. Yet this region turns out some beautifully concentrated, savory, intensely colored red wines.
The great temperature variation between hot summer days and cool nights and the high-altitude sunlight and dryness are in fact ideal conditions for growing grapes.
A handful of wineries, like the iconic Vega Sicilia, have been making stellar wines in Ribera del Duero for decades, but it wasn’t until the early 2000s that the region exploded with new vineyards, and became known as “the modern red wine miracle of northern Spain,” according to The World Atlas of Wine.
The grape that established the region’s fame is Tinto Fino (also called Tinta del Pais), a local variant of Rioja’s Tempranillo.
[read more…]
