Wine

[Mike Buckley]

I've never had a Gelber Muskateller. Did you notice that it's one of the grapes listed in the back of Godforsaken Grapes?

 

[Palouse]

Mike, I loaned my copy of the book to my son. The wine came as a recommendation from a store in Boise, where they know of my interest in GFGs (Godforsaken grapes).

 

[Mike Buckley]

I just now got the best surprise! A very generous member of the Cafe sent me some wines made at a winery very close to his home, so there is also that personal touch that I like so much. One of the wines is a Pinot Noir. One is a Cabernet Cortis. The other wine is a rose made from Pinot Noir, Regent and Cabernet Cortis. Very little wine is made from Regent or Cabernet Cortis. I had never heard of them, so they will be my 228th and 229th wine grape species. I'm in heaven and I didn't even have to die to go there!

 

[dburanich]

Mike,
You better get busy.
This article says there are over 10,000 varieties of wine grapes.

https://www.winestyr.com/wine-guide/how-many-different-types-of-wine-grapes-are-there

 

[Palouse]

Congrats!
Reminds me of that old TV add: "Give it to Mikey, he'll eat anything!" . . . . . He likes it, he likes it!

 

[Mike Buckley]

Reminds me of that old TV add: "Give it to Mikey, he'll eat anything!" . . . . . He likes it, he likes it!

I absolutely hated that advertisement because my childhood friends started calling me Mikey. To this day, I tell people that they can call me anything including some choice four-letter words but they can't call me Mikey.

 

[Palouse]

I absolutely hated that advertisement because my childhood friends started calling me Mikey. To this day, I tell people that they can call me anything including some choice four-letter words but they can't call me Mikey.

Oops! I guess I'm cut out of the will for good

 

[Mike Buckley]

You better get busy.

Indeed! On the other hand, I remember the feeling that I would never get to 100 wine grape species. It's really amazing how many different species you can come across if you make a point of looking for them.

10,000 varieties of wine grapes.

I don't think I've ever heard of there being more than 4000. Francis Robinson's book discusses 1368 wine grape species and Madeline Pucket says that's more than any other book. Fewer than 100 wine grape species make up about 70% of the world's commercial vineyard acreage.

 

[Mike Buckley]

Oops! I guess I'm cut out of the will for good

Not for good; only until you stop calling me Mikey. (Not that you ever started.)

 

[GeorgeH]

aMaurice, a relatively new club out of Walla Walla. Very nice way to enjoy the hike down to my lower back yard. I’ll edit and rotate the image when I hike back up to the house.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[Mike Buckley]

I enjoyed my first Pinot Noir made in Europe but not in France, a German wine where they call the grape species Spätburgunder. Very light, so much so that I don't remember any Pinot Noir that light. Yet not like a Gamay; definitely with the expected characteristics of a Pinot Noir. We were enjoying it with supper on our deck on a warm summer evening. I've never thought of red wine as being refreshing, but in that situation it was definitely refreshing. Quite an enjoyable experience!

 

[Mike Buckley]

The most recent issue of Wine Magazine has an interesting article about the small Laguna wine region located near Italy's Lake Garda and it's primary white wine grape, Turbiana. That grape was officially one of the varieties of Trebbiano (one of the white wine grapes along with Malvasia that used to be used in Chianti) but the local wineries preferred the name Turbiana to distinguish their wine from others made with Trebbiano. Indeed, they apparently felt all along that Turbiana really wasn't Trebbiano and DNA testing proved that they were right. In the early 2000s, the name of the grape was officially changed to Turbiana. Yet another wine grape for me to look for!

 

[Pa]

Suggestions, please: which wine with grilled chicken?

A staple summer meal for us is boneless chicken breast cooked on the grill. I do this very simply with olive oil and lemon pepper. My go-to wine is California Pinot Noir, but I'm open to other suggestions. In particular, I recently acquired four bottles of Macon Villages that I'm anxious to try and I'm considering one of those for this evening.

Side dishes will include grilled zucchini slices, rice, and green beans fresh from the garden.

Thoughts?

 

[nuclearjock]

The Macon villages would be perfect IMO Jim. The chicken doesn't sound heavily spiced so I think chardonnay would go nicely. It's summer as well so any excuse to enjoy a refreshing white is perfect. Enjoy .

 

[Palouse]

I did a simple grilled chicken earlier this summer (olive oil, rosemary and black pepper) and it went very well with an inexpensive Macon. We also tried a Spanish Martínscancho (Verdejo grapes) that worked very well too (it can handle a bit more spice than chardonnay). A full bodied Viognier would work.

 

[Pa]

The Macon villages would be perfect IMO Jim. The chicken doesn't sound heavily spiced so I think chardonnay would go nicely. It's summer as well so any excuse to enjoy a refreshing white is perfect. Enjoy .

I did a simple grilled chicken earlier this summer (olive oil, rosemary and black pepper) and it went very well with an inexpensive Macon. We also tried a Spanish Martínscancho (Verdejo grapes) that worked very well too (it can handle a bit more spice than chardonnay). A full bodied Viognier would work.

Thanks, guys. The Macon is chilling.

 

[Pa]

This Macon has a very metallic taste. I think it may be corked.

 

[nuclearjock]

This Macon has a very metallic taste. I think it may be corked.

I've only had one corked bottle in my long career as a wine snob and believe it or not it was in a restaurant. The wine smelled like mildew. It was replaced and the meal continued and was wonderful. I didn't taste the wine Jim but I won't forget the off smell.

 

[Palouse]

Corked is an unpleasant, organic stench. At its worst it can be gut churning to some. 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) Wed dog, wet cardboard is a common label. Metallic is rare and is often associated with too much sulfur. Decanting it several times (aeration) may help.

 

[Pa]

I bought four bottles of this Macon and this is the first one I tried. I communicated with the merchant, and he offered to send me another bottle, but suggested I try one more to be sure they weren't all bad. I opened the second one a little while ago, and it is fine, even excellent. It makes the corked bottle taste even worse...it even smells bad.

The sad part is that my wife says she can't tell any difference.

Now you know why I am reluctant to spend much money on wine.