Empire Estate Dry Riesling 2016

Since getting into wine I've had several different jobs in the industry, some were definitely better than others, but even the terrible ones had their bright moments. Working for Whole Foods definitely falls under the category of terrible, honestly it might have been one of the worst companies I ever worked for, but those three years did have some good moments. Like how much freedom they gave their wine buyers to bring in pretty much whatever the hell we wanted. For a while the locations that Kye and I worked in San Antonio had a pretty amazing selection of both typical and eclectic wines and we were actually pretty damn decent at selling them. These days they definitely don't give the buyers as much freedom or support, but I'm still able to find some random gems on the shelves.

Empire Estate Dry Riesling 2016 is definitely one of those gems. I'm a girl who likes her Rieslings and this one I was most impressed with. It comes from the Finger Lakes region in New York and has a light gold color with notes of ginger, lemon zest and green apple on the nose. The citrus flavors carried over to the palate, joined by white peach, honeysuckle, limestone and powerful (but enjoyable) acidity. While this was a dry wine, the fruit notes balanced it out nicely making it one that even sweet wine lovers might enjoy.

Canadian wine

My parents recently returned from a trip to Canada. Before they left I'd made them watch a video produced by the Guild of Sommeliers about Canadian wine and made them promise to bring me back a couple of bottles since icewine is really all you can find down here. I also insisted that they branch out and drink Canadian wine rather than sticking with more familiar labels from California or other places. Despite this causing some issues with their traveling companions they mostly stuck to my orders and were very happy to have done so.

The Canadian wine industry suffered thanks to prohibition in the early 20th Century and it's taken them a bit longer to get back on their feet. It wasn't until almost the 1990s that it really started to flourish again. Ontario and British Columbia are the main wine-producing regions in the country and though Ontario is the larger producer, most of the wines my parents drank (and the two they brought back for me) were both from the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, which is one of the world's most northerly wine regions.

My parents wound up bringing me back a Riesling and a Cabernet Franc. The Gehringer Brothers Private Reserve Dry Riesling 2016 was the bigger hit with both Kye and me. It started out bursting with notes of green apple, golden pear, kiwi and white peach. As it opened up the acidity became much more prevalent along with a honeyed richness we both really enjoyed. I really love wines that change and open up with each glass and this riesling was definitely one of those. 

The Poplar Grove Cabernet Franc 2014 was also lovely, but definitely needed to be decanted (meaning I got to feel super fancy busting out our decanter). It spent 21 months in French oak barrels and was further aged in bottle for 18 months. It had notes of baked blackberry, raspberry and red currant accompanied by hints of cedar and baking spices. Firm tannins and medium acidity left a lingering finish after each sip.

Both the wines were wonderful and it made me hope that more Canadian wines will make their way into the Texas market soon. 

Weegmüller Von Gelben Fels Riesling Trocken 2012

So obviously some stuff happened recently that set me on a rather blah path. While it's never fun to feel terrible about things that are happening in your life, it also helps to know that you can get through them relatively unscathed, mostly thanks to the fact that you're fairly used to shit like that happening, but also because of awesome people in your life. My best friend/roommate was a rock during that time (because he is awesome and the best guy ever) and the night after things really went to hell he got me dinner from one of my favorite restaurants in town (Thai Dee) to try and cheer me up.

Since he was providing dinner that night, I figured the least I could do was treat us to a bottle of wine I’d been eyeing for a while: Weegmüller Von Gelben Fels Riesling Trocken 2012. I’d been off the day the distributor came by to taste us on it, but my coworker told me it was delicious and his favorite out of all the wines they'd brought. Since he’d taken my advice on several wine suggestions in the past I decided to trust his suggestion and was very glad I did. It was hands down one of the best Rieslings both Kye and I had drunk in a while (and it paired perfectly with our spicy Thai food).

This winery has been in family hands for 11 generations, producing wine since 1685. It is also one of the few German wineries owned and run exclusively by women. According to the blurb on the importer’s webtsite Stefanie Weegmüller was the first female winemaker in Germany and that’s pretty damn cool. It's from Pfalz in Germany and reminded me of why I usually love the wines that come from that region. Dry and light-bodied with crisp minerality and just a bit of petrol. The fruit notes of white peach, golden pear and red apple on the palate balanced beautifully with the acidity. I know my tasting notes don’t do this wine the justice that it deserves, but trust me when I say this was one of the best white wines I’ve had in quite some time.*

*https://traubenhaus.com/producers/weegmueller

Peter Nicolay Erdener Treppchen Off-dry 2015

“I don’t think I like people period. I mean, you guys are okay... I’m just trying to be honest about being a misanthrope.” – Dazed and Confused (1993)

The first time I heard that quote, it rang so very true for me, of course I was a rather angst-y, antisocial teen at the time so that was understandable. It also gave me a new favorite way to describe myself (much to my mother’s chagrin):

mis·an·thrope. noun. A person who dislikes humankind and avoids human society.

So then, you might wonder, what the hell am I doing working in customer service? Simple… my love for wine is stronger than my distaste for humanity. I really do enjoy talking to people about wine and I love being able to convince them to try something simply based off my enthusiasm for it. Obviously not every person I talk to gives a damn about my opinion and there are days when I only deal utterly unpleasant people (who probably think I’m full of crap), but those just serve to make the good interactions that much better.  And sometimes it’s not just about finding someone a wine to suit their tastes, occasionally they also need a wine to suit their issues as well. It happens often enough that I’ve gotten rather good at wine and woes pairings (maybe even better than I am at wine and food pairings). It also tends to make them more willing to let me steer them towards something that might be outside of their comfort zone.  

Perhaps unsurprisingly, most of these “therapy” sessions involve relationship issues. Usually I run into someone desperately checking every bottle in our Moscato section, because even though that’s their drink of choice they’d never before realized how low the alcohol content was and really need something with a little more kick to properly drown their sorrows in… and that is all I need to introduce them to the awesomeness that is Riesling!*

Riesling is my go-to in those situations because the wines made from it vary in sweetness, but no matter if its dry, sweet or somewhere in-between the complexity of the grape still shines through. My favorite suggestion these days is Peter Nicolay Erdener Treppchen off-dry Riesling from the Mosel in Germany. Mosel is one of Germany’s thirteen quality wine regions, or anbaugebiete, and is one of Germany’s oldest winegrowing regions, known for its light, delicate Rieslings. The Peter Nicolay has bright acidity with crisp notes of white peach, green apple and a hint of honeysuckle. Even though it’s on the dryer side, there’s still enough sweetness that I’ve found it to be a good starter Riesling for Moscato junkies.

*For the record there is nothing wrong with drinking Moscato, (I started off my wine journey drinking Boone’s Farm and thinking Yellow Tail was the height of class) therefore I have no right to judge anyone on their preferences… but there’s still better stuff out there to explore!

Abbazia di Novacella Kerner 2012

I got to try some absolutely stellar wines from Alto Adige today that inspired me to pick up Abbazia di Novacella Kerner after work. The last time I bought this wine I loved it and left about half the bottle at my parents’ so they could try something new and fun. I realized my mistake when I found out later that they’d thrown it into a batch of sangria which is a sure sign that they didn’t like it. I still haven’t let them live that down. Now every time I leave good wine with them I make them promise not to mix it in with sangria. Luckily for me they tend to only make sangria around Easter so most of the hand-me-down wines I give them have escaped that fate.

Just to give you a little background: Kerner is a cross of Schiava (also known as Trollinger or Vernatsch) and Riesling. It was bred in Germany in 1969 and named after the German poet, Justinus Kerner, whose works included songs and poetry about wine. In the 1990s it was, for a time, the third most planted grape in Germany, but plantings since then have fallen. In fact the few Kerners I’ve seen in store were all from Alto Adige in Italy. Alto Adige was part of Austria-Hungary before it was ceded to Italy after World War I which can explain the distinct German and Austrian influences on the wine industry in that region.

This wine exhibits a clear and light gold color with aromas of lemon zest, honeysuckle and grassy notes on the nose. Medium-bodied and spicy with zesty flavors of key lime, orange peel, pineapple, beeswax, cream fraiche and fresh jalapeno. Hints of wet slate combine with medium acidity that creeps up on you slowly to lead to a longish finish.

As my parents proved it’s not a wine that appeals to everybody, but it is definitely worth it if you want to try a cool, rather unique varietal. 

Kurt Darting Dürkheimer Spielberg Scheurebe Spätlese 2010

My parents are amazing and I know that I am damn lucky to have them. My father is awesome, I got both my dry sense of humor and cynicism (though he’s not too thrilled about that) from him and I am beyond grateful for both those traits. My mother is the kindest, most wonderful woman, who always wants to see the best in everyone. They balance each other out so perfectly and also drive each other crazy at times. I have never doubted that they love each other and my sisters and I (and all the dogs I might have kinda guilted them into getting) very much. If it weren't for them I might have never discovered how utterly fascinating and beautiful wine is.

For my 21^st birthday they had gotten me a bottle of Now and Zen Wasabi White (mainly because my mother loved the label... another habit I picked up from her), but forgot to bring it with them when they drove up to Dallas to see me, so my mother insisted on visiting several different liquor/wine stores in an attempt to find another bottle of it. We didn't find it and I honestly couldn't tell you what they wound up getting me instead to make up for it, but I remember being really amazed by how much they knew about wine, since it was something they'd only started getting into after I left home. What really sealed the deal though was a weekend visit I made probably a few months after that. They’d recently gotten really into New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and one of the last nights I was there we thought it'd be fun to do a blind-tasting of sorts with three different bottles of that varietal. Basically we put all three in paper bags then tasted each one and scored them somehow (the details are a bit fuzzy), not perfect, but still a lot of fun. The wines were Kim Crawford, Drylands (which I'm pretty sure was the winner overall) and a third I can’t recall. The details aren't really all that important... the point is that after that weekend I started to fall madly in love with wine all thanks to my parents.

Since then I've become way more of a wine geek than either of them and I’m sure that my slightly ridiculous passion for wine perplexes them at times, but they have been nothing but supportive anyways. Of course it pays off for them as well since I've introduced them to some rather awesome wines. Of those one of their favorites so far was Kurt Darting Dürkheimer Spielberg Scheurebe Spätlese from Pfalz, Germany.

I have Kye (my friend and fellow wine buyer at Whole Foods), to thank for introducing me to this wine (and for the picture above) and he has Terry Theise to thank for introducing him to Scheurebe. I’m really glad that he stumbled upon this beautiful wine after reading Theise’s book “Reading Between the Vines” and I’m really lucky that he was awesome enough to share that experience with me. Just to give a brief background on this little known varietal: Scheurebe (or Sämling 88) is a crossing of Riesling and an unknown grape (originally thought to be Sylvaner, but DNA analysis ruled that out in the ‘90s). Primarily grown in Austria and Germany it is highly aromatic and, like Riesling, the wines made from it can range from very sweet to bone dry.

The Darting Scheurebe was beyond gorgeous, I still list in as one of the top ten white wines I've ever had. After that first bottle I kept gushing about it to my parents and wound up buying another bottle of it to drink with them so they could experience it as well ($19.99 at Twin Liquors, though I don't believe they carry it anymore). Normally I’d do my best to describe Scheurebe, and I could go into detail about the pink grapefruit, orange zest and honeysuckle flavors but I just feel like Terry Theise does such a better job of explaining this varietal than I could ever do, so I’ll just leave you with his words:

“I don’t drink Riesling all the time, though I’d hardly mind doing so. Still, there are occasions when something more pagan is called for, and that’s when I summon my guiltiest of wine pleasures: Scheurebe.

"Scheurebe (shoy-ray-beh), often shortened to ‘Scheu,’ is Riesling just after it read the Kama Sutra. Put another way, Scheu is what Riesling would be if Riesling were a transvestite. If Riesling expresses all that is Noble and Good, Scheu offers all that is Dirty and Fun. It is Riesling’s evil, horny twin.”

-Terry Theise, "Reading Between the Vines"