Truffles & Pinot Gris

Had a really tasty New Years Eve Day brunch today, egg whites omelette with havarti cheese and arugula and a sprinkle of white truffle oil paired with a glass of Oregon Firesteed Pinot Gris 2007.


The truffle oil provided the grounding effect to contrast nicely with the fresh citrus aromas of the Pinot Gris, while the savory edge of the truffles complemented the pear and honeydew melon and flavors of honeysuckle and spice.

Sabatino Tartufi White Truffle Infused Olive Oil is made in Italy, sample provided by Marxfoods.

Firesteed Oregon Pinot Gris 2006

From a blend of various vineyard sources and regions within the Willamette and Rogue Valleys in Oregon, this Pinot Gris varietal does well in this place. Very pale coloring, more like that of an Italian Pinot Grigio, with aromas of pear and honeydew melon and flavors of honeysuckle and spice. Fresh and clean with good acidity and weight, with lemon notes and easy drinkability, I paired it with a blue cheese, but it can easily work with a salmon dish.

Full disclosure: This bottle was a complimentary sample for Vigna Uva Vino from Firesteed Cellars.

Erath Pinot Gris 2008 Oregon

Made from the Pinot Gris grape in Oregon, pleasing fresh layers of kiwi, lychee, honeysuckle and ginger aromas unfold with tropical fruit flavors and ripe banana, lemon and floral notes. Showing a lively acidity and a very good structure and finish, Erath produced an appealing everyday white at the $14 range.

Full disclosure: This bottle was a complimentary sample for Vigna Uva Vino from Erath Winery.

Gustave Lorentz Pinot Gris Reserve 2007

I sampled this French white wine from the Alsace region at the Alsace & Rhone Wine Expo last week, poured by the importer, Michael Corso, and producer Pascal Schiele. Straw colored, this is a 100% Pinot Gris with a bit of honey on the nose, bright fresh flavors of citrus fruits, a slight minerality, pear, lemon and a crisp dry finish.

Amisfield Pinot Gris 2011

From Central Otago, New Zealand, this Pinot Gris shows clean pale straw colors in the glass with a mild freshness sweetened by scents of honeysuckle contrasting a bit of oak. Bright acidity displaying super fresh, rich mouthfuls of apple, pear and pineapple. Also hints of stone fruits with a touch of spice. Very good finish.

Holman Ranch Vineyards & Winery

The Wine Cave

You are immediately assaulted by beautiful aromas as soon as the massive wine cave doors swing open. Completed in 2012, not more than six wine caves can be found in all of Carmel Valley. Nick Elliot (Guest Services/Manager/Owner) and Hunter Lowder (Marketing Manager/Owner) are partners in this family business and when they're not giving the grand tour, both can be found knee deep in grapes (they recently bottled their whites). The winery is sustainable, recently certified organic, maintaining a low carbon footprint, and Hunter and Nick both expressed their dedication to the stewardship of the land. They're also investigating the possibility of using solar energy.

From the Barrel

The first tasting was the 2013 Hunter's Cuvee, a high end Burgundian clone (115) from Dijon region and influenced by the European flavor profile. A very good vintage, aged in half new and half neutral barrels, aromas of ripe berries and fruit forward but at the same time dry with hints of dried herbs and leather.

The second barrel sampled was an interesting experiment, the Late Harvest Pinot Noir Port (working title Sueno), which was a cross section of grapes from favorite vineyards that the partners each picked from, fortified with Cognac. Dark and syrupy, black fruits, caramelized dates, nuts and dark chocolate.

Production 

All pressing, aging, bottling, etc is done in the cave. Entire bunches of white grapes are pressed gently and fermented in stainless steel tanks to give the wines a more astringent "pop". The red Pinot Noir grapes are destemmed for softness, put into hoppers and pumped into open top stainless steel tanks for fermentation. The Pinot Noirs are generally more old world style, with less fresh fruits and more oak, earth, mushroom and barnyard.

Aging

All French oak from producer Francois Freres "Mercurey" is used for 2 years for maximum affect before being switched over to a neutral phase duty.

Three Bottles

Holman Ranch Vineyards Estate Grown Pinot Gris 2012
Fresh acidity, floral, green pepper, citrus and honey.

Holman Ranch Vineyards Estate Grown Chardonnay 2011

Dry, oaked, grass, floral blossom, melon and pear, more like a Sauvignon Blanc style.

Holman Ranch Vineyards Estate Grown Pinot Noir 2010
Hearty, savory, dry with medium acidity, earthy, mild strawberry, cherry, old world style.

Holman Ranch is truly beautiful, but there's so much more... a perfect place for a wedding, a retreat away from everyday life, an equestrian center, even corporate events. There's a pool, spa, wine tastings, archery, golf, skeet shooting, olive groves, BBQs... and more.

Hugel et Fils Gewurztraminer 2006

Minerals are prevalent on the nose, along with tones of lilac, springtime blossoms, roses and jasmine, under flavors of summer fruit, lychees and hints of pineapple. All combine to make this a seriously delicious Gewurztraminer. Made from 100% Gewurztraminer in the Alsace region of France.

Winemaker's notes:
Producer Background:

Hugel owns a 65-acre estate planted largely to Riesling and Gewürztraminer, with small plots of Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. These vines are placed on the grand cru slopes of Sporen and Schoenenbourg.

The golden rule at Hugel is "The wine is already in the grape". As soon as they arrive at the Hugel premises in the heart of Riquewihr, the grapes are classified according to precise and strict criteria of quality. The presses are filled by gravity, not by pumping. After slow crushing, only the first part of the juice is conserved to merit the famous yellow label. The individuality of each grape variety and of each level of quality is respected.

Vinification:

The harvest began on Sept. 27 in bright sunshine, but after many climatic ups and downs. A heat wave in July was followed by an August that seemed like November, until excellent weather in early September saved the crop. Two days of warm rain just one week before the vintage put everyone in their starting blocks and so set the tone for the harvest. This was a true vintners’ vintage, where rigorous and skillful vinification has been rewarded with success. 2006 has produced some very fine Gewurztraminers.

Generic “Hugel” wines are made exclusively from grapes purchased from growers under long-term contract located in a dozen of the best vineyard sites around Riquewihr. The grapes are transported in small tubs to the presses, which are filled by gravity, without any pumping or other mechanical intervention. After crushing, the must is decanted for a few hours, then fermented in temperature-controlled barrels or vats at 18 to 24°C. The wine is racked just once, before natural clarification that occurs slowly over the winter. The following spring, the wine is lightly filtered before bottling, whereupon the wines are aged in Hugel’s cellars until release.

French Kiss: A French wine tasting dinner

At a recent wine tasting dinner at the Claremont Hotel in Roslyn Long Island I got the chance to try a cross section of French wines that were very cleverly paired with delicious French dishes.

First up was an Alsatian sparkling white wine (not called Champagne because its grapes are not grown in Champagne region), made from Chardonnay grapes by Pierre Sparr Marquis. Appellation (a geographical based term to identify where the grapes are grown) is Cremant Alsace, Pierre de Perlade Blanc de Blancs Brut. Light golden color with fruity aromas of melon and slight grass undertones, very crisp with taste of apples, kiwis and berries. Perfect with hors deourves.

Then another from Pierre Sparr, but this time a 100% Pinot Gris. Pale gold color, nose: fruit & apples again, peaches and smoke. This was paired quite nicely with a lobster bisque served in an espresso cup.

Next course was an asparagus tart in puff pastry with triple cream brie which might have posed a problem. Asparagus is a food long thought of as difficult to pair with wine, but they managed a beautiful companion in choosing a Sauvignon Blanc. The grapes used in Andre Lurton's Chateau Menaut Blanc Graves are grown in gravelly soil, giving the wine a mineral note. Color is pale yellow, and palate is a mixed bag of apple, apricot, asparagus. As I drank and ate more, I noticed the minerality intensify to reveal hints of kerosene... but in a good way:)

For an entree I had Filet Mignon with Foie Gras and Madeira sauce which paired well with the Andre Lurton Chateau Couchery Rouge Pessac-Leognan. This is a red bordeaux from Couchery Rouge. The place has a bit of history/legend to it... allegedly Henry IV slept there to avoid a thunderstorm, and it ultimately became known as Coucheroy (the king slept here). Soil from the vineyards are gravel over clay and seated in the Martillac and Leognan communes in the South of Bordeaux. The Grapes are fermented in steel and aged in French oak for 1 year. This is a 50/50 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and is an easy drinking and velvety Bordeaux. Color: ruby red; Nose: ripe fruits, smokey earth; Palate: berries & spices; mellow tannins.

The dessert wine was Chateau Castelnau Suduiraut 80% Semillon and 20% Sauvignon Blanc. It reminded me of a really good Vinsanto or Muscato, and was floral, perfumed with golden color and citrus and honey. It was paired with a creme brule and worked for me.