IN THE PRESS

 

 

The Scene on Wine

 

During the financial pinch of 2009 there has been an increase in conversation about value driven wines.  Argentina, Chile and South Africa always prevail during these discussions for good reasons.  In the Southern hemisphere land and labor are cheap, the dollar benefits on the exchange rate, and these sun baked regions rarely if ever suffer a bad vintage.  Not to shun those great wine producing countries, but I would like to offer another option with two regions that offer not only value, but pedigree. 

 

Recently Greece and Portugal have made a grand re-entry into the modern wine world.  They have cleaned up their winemaking, focused more on the export market, and created large scale marketing campaigns to attract the attention of the American wine consumer.  However, these wine-centric cultures can hardly be described as newbie’s on the scene, it is more like the adage “what’s old is new again”.  After all the Greeks are credited with inventing wine, and the Douro region of Portugal was the world’s first wine region to be officially regulated and demarcated back in 1756.  These early regulations have given way to the wine laws we know today like the AOC in France, the DOCG in Italy, and the AVA’s of America.

Granted those early developed wine laws where created for the famous fortified wines of Portugal, but the value and pedigree can now be found in Portugal’s non-fortified table wines.  After all; the same experienced and knowledgeable families are working with the same indigenous grapes that they have been growing for centuries.  The difference is that rather than focusing on making aged, fortified Port Wine, they are concentrating on lively, balanced table wines.

 

Touriga Nacional is one of the main grapes grown in Portugal and has always been a part of the blend in Port Wine.  It makes well balanced powerful spicy reds that pair perfectly with charred steak off of the barbeque.  Some of the best examples come from the Dão region.  The white to look for is Vinho Verde from Northern Portugal which is a crisp wine that often shows a bit of effervescence, making it great for summertime.  Vinho Verde or “green wine” is a blend of white grapes based on the Alvarinho grape which has made itself famous north of the Minho River in Spain where it is called Albarino.

 

Many people believe that the wines of Greece will be hot, jammy and high in alcohol because of its beach resort image.  Nothing can be further from the truth, because most of Greece’s vineyards are planted either at high elevations in the mountains which gives them hot days, but cool nights or located on islands with great cooling influences coming off of the water that help the grapes maintain mouth watering acidity.  One example of the later is the white Assyrtiko (A seer tee ko) grape which is grown in volcanic soils on the Island of Santorini.  Assyrtiko is a very floral, lacy, feminine wine that is bone dry with loads of citrus flavors.  It pairs well with shellfish or and white flakey fish like Halibut and Sea bass.

The quintessential summertime red from Greece is Agiorgitiko (Ah yor yee ti ko) from Nemea.  The wine has Pinot Noir like finesse with soft tannins and bright acidity.  It has fruity aromatics that make it great for outdoors with grilled salmon.  I would suggest slightly chilling the wine if you are dining alfresco or eating it with Tuna, as this will tame the tannin and pronounce the fruit characteristics.

Whether you are planning a “staycation” in your own backyard or traveling to the East End; enjoy a little pedigree with your wine this summer.

 

Drink Exceptionally,

Jake Young
Sommelier
Rothmann’s Steakhouse