About once a year I round up my orphans and give them room on this page. They’re the wines that my tasting pals and I have sampled and liked, but that don’t fit into any larger theme or subject that I might be writing on.
It’s a loss for you if I can’t recommend them for want of another context. So here they are.
Sometimes, good things come in waves. That’s what’s happened during the past few months’ tastings with wines made from the grape pinot blanc.
Pinot blanc
Most serious wine folk consider pinot blanc like a spare key at the bottom of the purse; it’s handy if you’re in a pinch and you remember it’s there. But it’s not the go-to.
Its siblings, pinot noir and pinot gris (pinot grigio), garner a lot more attention: Pinot noir because it deserves it — there is little more ethereal from the vine — and pinot grigio because it is the Roberto Benigni of wines, just fun both to pronounce and have around the house.
But wine from the pinot blanc grape is terrific, especially at table. It’s like gesso on a canvas, humble and quiet; it lies back and lets the flavors and textures of a meal play on top of it. And in the same way that gesso prevents the paint on a canvas from fading into the weave, pinot blanc makes the food it accompanies taste better than it would otherwise alone.
2013 Erath Pinot Blanc, Willamette Valley, Oregon: When I was a lad, my mom would pour cream in the core of a baked Roma apple; this pinot blanc amps up the grape’s creamy texture, wrapping it around ripe pear and apple flavors. $13-$15
2012 Alma Rosa Pinot Blanc La Encantada Vineyard, Sta. Rita Hills, California: Richard Sanford’s wines are exuberantly earthy, dusty and minerally; they smell of their place; tied tight by its acidity, with a soft, milky middle. $28
2012 Robert Sinskey Pinot Blanc, Los Carneros, California: Three organic and biodynamic vineyards contribute to the terrific complexity of this wine; pure and delicate on the palate but rich and lengthy in its aftertaste; citrus and jasmine blossom on the nose, with yellow fruit and litchi on the tongue. $20-$30 (for 375-ml bottle)
And here are a few pinot blancs from Alsace worth a go: 2010 F.E. Trimbach Pinot Blanc $15 (bone dry; super tart); 2012 Domaine Weinbach Pinot Blanc $26 (the scent!); 2012 Hugel et Fils Pinot Blanc “Cuvee Les Amours” $18.
Misconceptions
A gathering on “misconceptions in wine” turned up some gems. Four common myths or misunderstandings about wines, with four examples to dispel them.
MUSCADET FROM MUSCAT GRAPE. Many assume that the wine Muscadet, a dry white from the far western Loire in France, is named after and made from the muscat grape. Couldn’t be further from the truth. Muscadet is made from the grape melon de Bourgogne and turns out dry, lean, precise, even minerally, with hints of citrus and white fruits. Muscat grapes make other types of wines, most wildly different than Muscadet.
2012 Luneau-Papin Muscadet de Sevre et Maine “Terre de Pierre”, Loire, France: Taut acidity is like a rail carrying honed flavors of cashew, salt, white fruits and citrus, minerals hinting at the finish. $28
WHITE WINES DO NOT AGE. Or so it is commonly assumed. Well, they don’t age in the same way that red wines do, developing layers of aromas and flavors and softening out their tannins. But some white wines, especially those with marked acidity, last — 20, 30 years is not uncommon — showing little deterioration. If that’s not “aging,” tell that to any human with gray hair.
Vouvray, Savennieres, and rieslings from Germany, Alsace and Austria are fine examples of white wines that can age. And this:
2005 I Clivi Friulano “Galea” Collio, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy: Made of the grape friulano, it shows little diminution of its crisp, lemon-scented, green applelike fruit. $25
CALIFORNIA PRODUCES ONLY HIGH-ALCOHOL REDS. Because it’s thought that California’s overall warm and generous climate is good at turning out merely blockbuster, high-alcohol, ripe and tannic reds, people forget that cooler, often high-altitude pockets of the state’s growing regions excel at making lighter, less intense, exceedingly perfumed reds too. Just look at all the wonderful stuff coming from the coast of Sonoma County or the Santa Lucia Highlands. And there are dozens more possibilities.
2011 Edmunds St John Gamay “Bone-Jolly” El Dorado Sierra Foothills, California: All-gamay grape; effusively fruit, aromatic, juicy and sappy, just like gamay’s supposed to be. $20
AVOID POOR VINTAGES. Finally, the general counsel is to “stay away from poor vintages,” years during which the stars of weather and water did not align. Rubbish. So-called lesser vintages can be great value in wine. They’re cheaper, they’re more ready to drink at present, and they’re “Wednesday night wines,” rather than special occasion bottles.
More Top Picks Blinds Outdoors
2002 Lopez de Heredia Rioja “Vina Tondonia” Reserva, Rioja, Spain: This vintage fell in the shadow of the much-hyped 2001, but it is a lovely wine, whispering aromas of cherries, wood, game meat and leather in a full-throttle fleshy body. $43
If your wine store does not carry these wines, ask for one similar in style and price.
Bill St John has been writing and teaching about wine for more than 40 years.