Crying Out Loud!! Weepy Italian Grapes! Luciano Landi Lacrima di Morro d'Alba 2007

Have you ever taken one of those tests that try to determine what grape you would be based on your personality?  If you are moody and reclusive then you'd be a Pinot Noir.  If you are sassy and dynamic maybe you'd be Syrah.  Well if you are Italian, fruity and floral with a tendancy to cry; you'd be Lacrima di Morro d'Alba.      What's that you say?? You've never heard of that grape?  Lacrima di Morro d'Alba. Quite a mouthful!  I've provided a map here for you so you can see that it's the commune of Morro d'Alba located in the province of Ancona... Le Marche!! Yes, blog followers - you know this Central Italian region!!  It's home to Verdicchio.    It's also casa dolce casa for some pretty interesting and oft overlooked red wines.  Lacrima di Morro d'Alba is just one of them.  Some of you have heard Alba in relation to Piedmont like Barbera D'Alba.  This is a different Alba all together.  This is a different Alba.

Lacrima means tear (boo-hoo not riiiiip) it Italian.  No one is sure if this alludes to the tear shaped bunch that the grapes form, (I have a picture up there, what do you think?)  or the driblets of juice that run out of the ripe grapes could resembles tears as well. That is the thought behind another tearful, cry-baby, Italian varietal in the south called Lacryma Christi.  Whatever the folklore, it makes for one tasty vino. 

Once you have smelled Lacrima di Morro d'Alba (from now on LDMDA) you will always remember it.  LDMDA is distinct and difficult to pin down. It is a fresh and fruit driven wine with very aromatic qualitites.  As I have been reading I see a lot of people compare it to Gewurtztraminer. I see where they are going with it.  There is a rose-petal quality in the wine.  It is also reminiscent of Gamay with it's fruity/floral dynamic in its youth.  I love the saturated purple color of it and the intriguing nose.  Oh, it's also pretty lip-smackingly delicious in an uncomplicated and perfectly satisfying way.  It was awarded DOC status in 1985.

One website says that it should be paired with stuffed pigeon, tripe with beans, and tortino di ciccioli but alas I was on a buiness trip and only had Panera's black bean soup.  It wasn't a difficult feat to outshine that sludgy soup.  It certianly brightened up my dinner even senza the tripe accommpaniment. 

This is really a fantastic grape to experience.  If you see it in the store, snatch it up!  I grabbed mine off the shelf for a mere $16.99.  Well worth it.  Since I have been out there in the northeast peeking into various wine stores, there is definetly a shortage of Italian wines from Le Marche and Umbria.  I know i am senstive because I was just there, but these wine store owners only think people want to buy wine from Piedmont and Tuscany.   We have to show them that we want some variety!! Si si si!!

color - grape juice purple

nose - rose petals, orange peel, blueberry pie filling, cinnamon, grape soda
palate - raspberry, blueberry, boysenberry

Pinot Blanc - Always the Bridesmaid - Never the Bride. Albert Mann Pinot Blanc 2008 - Tifenbrunner Pinot Bianco 2008

I am always on the hunt for aromatic white wines.  When I worked in the store, so many people were just looking for a Chardonnay or a Sauvignon Blanc.  Not that these grapes don't make amazing wines... but come on!! Step out of your comfort zone.  I would always feel as if I had scored a point for the underdog grapes everytime some Westchesterer came in looking for a California Chardonnay and left with a Torrontes, a Pinot Bianco, or a Gruner Veltliner in his or her shopping bag.  Yay!

If you come across a Pinot Blanc in your wine store adventures, pick one up.  You are most likely to find them in the Alsace area, department, aisle, shelf, or nook.  I suppose it depends on your store.   You may also see one if your store is progressive enough to have an Austrian section -  it may be listed as Weissburgunder on the label.  Don't be afraid of that Teutonic name - say it how it's spelled AND look at you  -- now you know how to say Pinot Blanc in German!  Actually it is White Burgundy (no not Chardonnay - smartie pants).  There are some outstanding Pinot Blancs from Alto Adige and the Veneto too - they will be labeled as Pinot Bianco.  Ah ha!  Now you speak Italian!

Let me give you a little Pinot Blanc history!  As the name suggests Pinot Blanc was born in France and as its German name suggests, from Bourgogne.  It is a mutation of Pinot Gris which is also a mutation of Pinot Noir.  Now there is very very very very very little Pinot Blanc grown in Burgundy, the majority really is in Alsace and Alto Adige.  That is why I have two examples here from those two regions. 

In general, Pinot Blanc is always a secondary grape - of secondary importance...never the star.  I think that is such a terrible fate. Even my WSET book says that it is a white grape of not great importance.  So I'm thinking UNDERSTUDY!  BRIDESMAID!!  sort of the Jennifer Anniston of grapes.  No I've gone too far there, I really do like Pinot Blanc.  It is so aromatic - and it can range from quince and pineapple to white peach and washed pebbles (nice one, eh!).   It is usually stainless steel fermented and that really lets the fruit and minerality shine along with a beautiful acidity.  There are Pinot Blancs that are very ageworthy.  Hofstatter from Alto Adige does a single vineyard old vines Pinot - it's amazing. 

These two are great to taste side by side because we can really see the regional differences.  Alsace is sunny and shielded by large amounts of rainfall from the Vosges mountains.  There is usally a richesse of flavor in these wines that contributes to their unique Alsatian quality. They may also be higher in alcohol.  Alto Adige on the other hand is ALTO indeed.  Sometimes called Sudtirol - this region is situated near the Italian Alps in Northeastern Italy.  Most of the better vineyards are on south facing slopes, but it is generally a bit chillier up there so you will see a crisper, more aromatic style.

Albert Mann Pinot Blanc 2008, Alsace, France
nose - quince, lime, orange water, white peach
palate - mineral, quince, lemon/lime

Tiefenbrunner Pinot Bianco 2008 Alto Adige, Itlay
nose - subdued pineapple, lime
palate - crisp, mineral, lime rind, Meyer lemon

Saucy Saucers! Le Cigare Volante Red 2004 - Bonny Doon Vineyard

I had a half bottle of the Bonny Doon Cigare Volant years ago – before I started thinking of myself as oh so knowledgeable. I loved it. I enjoyed it so much that I thought now that so many years have passed and my palate is oh so sophisticated, I will probably think it’s pedestrian. I didn’t. I liked it. I liked it a lot. I liked it so much, that when I saw the Rose version at Spec’s in Houston – I convinced my father to pick up a bottle. I think my mother and I drank most of it before he could get a sip.  The red is smooth and rich and luscious. It's big, but it's really balanced. It was great to sip by itself, but it was even better with the boeuf that we had for dinner.

The Cigare Volant is done in a Southern Rhone style. That means it’s a blend of several different grapes that are commonly grown in The southern Rhone Valley. We’ve looked at a cotes du rhone in this blog, but some of the other fancy pants wines from the area are the whopper Chateauneuf du Pape, Gignondas, Lirac, and Vacqueras. The wines from that area are full bodied spice houses with luscious fruit and earthiness. Some of the most common red grapes are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Carignan.

The breakdown of the Cigare Volant Red is:

38% grenache, 35% syrah, 12% mourvèdre, 8% carignane, 7% cinsault

The name? Well that’s a play on a law that was passed by the Village of Chateauneuf in 1954 that prohibits flyaing saucers (cigares volantes en francais!) from landing in the fields. It’s hilarious that they would even think to get such a law passed, apparently the folks at Bonny Doon thought it hysterical enough to take their parady and their respect of the wines one step further. So you see the lable is adorable – the top of the screw cap (yay screw cap!) has a little Alien on it. Sometimes a gimmicky wine DOES taste good!

Bonny Doon is located in Santa Cruz, California.  The man behind the beast is an irreverent jokster named Randall Grahm.  Apparently he is called many things.  The Rhone Ranger and God are just a few.  As you can tell, he has an amazing sense of humor and I think that is an invaluable quality to bring to the wine world. His wines look approachable, and they taste approachable without being unsubtle.   He moved out there to produce the best Pinot Noir imaginable and ended up realizing that the Southern Rhone varietals and Italian varietals were really what the region lent itself to. Sounds like a pretty awesome guy!

Here's what Bonny Doon says about their wine:

vibrant, fruity and floral notes contrasted against a denser, darker core rarely seen in preceding Cigares. The first wafting aromas suggest freshly warmed black raspberry conserve, rose petals, black licorice and garrigue. The grenache is hinted at by way of the bright puffs of raspberriocity and cherry liqueur, with the syrah and mourvèdre showing their tendency towards dominant density - laying down thick, recumbent panes of flavor vaguely suggesting spice, meatiness, and a strong expression of the minerality we have been working so hard to mine, as it were, in our high-flying flagship.

check them out on Facebook or their website:
http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/

Get on the Porch!! Swig's Southern Style Lemonade Liqueur!

I was in Houston recently and I could not resist a trip to Spec's. If you have been to Spec's you know what a great place it is. If you haven't - let me tell you - they have some of the best wine prices I've seen, but more than that is the selection they have - especially in spirits and especially at this particular Spec's in downtown H-town.

I am definitely like a kid in a candy store when I step in there... who am I kidding... I still love going to candy stores as an adult! It's exciting to stop in there - there are shelves of glassware and decanters, a gourmet food section filled with all sorts of cheeses and oils and goodies. The spirits section was particularly engaging this time. There was an apple pie liqueur,mint bitters (yes I purchased some), several different flavors of Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka (now in Mint, Lemon, and Peach) a rich Chocolate liqueur from Piedmont. I wanted to buy everything. Luckily, my father was there to somewhat keep me in line informing me that the cart was filling up quickly and asking me "do you have room in your suitcase for all of that?". Of course I didn't an a lot would inevitably end up in their liquor cabinet.

One bottle that made the cut was a Swig's Southern Style Lemonade Liqueur. It's in this great glass bottle with a rubber stopper. All in all, it makes a clean fresh-looking package. It looks very olde-tyme-ey - very country time-ey. Although it really smells like limoncello, it doesn't have that neon yellow look - it is really the color of lemonade. Also, it's not a thick or cloying taste. There is a nice balance of sweet and tart that is an attribute of any good lemonade.

The label suggests enjoying it on the rocks "on a hot summer day" or mixing it with Sweet Tea vodka for a sort of Arnold Palmer. Just the fact that this product references Sweet Tea Vodka sealed the deal for me. How many people outside of South Carolina and the South in general are up on Sweet Tea Vodka (besides you my readers, because I know you read my earlier post about it).

Okay so you're dying to know what it tastes like.
color: lemonade!!!
nose: lemon, cane sugar, alcohol
palate: sugared lemon, lemon peel

I took their advice and mixed it with some Sweet Tea Vodka, then I added some Lemon-Lime Seltzer, and some Strega for a Arnold Palmieri. I think that next I will experiment by adding some Maraschino Liqueur for a sort of Pink Lemonade. The possibilities are endless - let's hope the bottle will last me into the Fall.

Check it out at http://www.swigswig.com/