MARCH 2022 FEATURED PREMIUM WINES
WINE ONE: KOPPITSCH PERSPEKTIVE ROT
About: This wine was made to emphasize the characteristics of limestone. Grown in Neuberg just north of Neusiedl, this south-facing slope features limestone soils predominantly but with some schist. It is made from Sankt Laurent (30%) and Blaufrankisch (70%) from vines planted in the early 2000s. The grapes are mostly destemmed (90%) and crushed, spending ten days on skins before being pressed off into old barrel. After twenty-two months in barrel, the wine is bottled, unfined and unfiltered. No SO2 was added to this vintage. Two hundred cases were produced. 5.5 g/l TA
Taste: This wine is pale ruby in the glass. The nose is whimsical and spritely, immediately pulling me into an enchanted forest. You’ll find aromas of beets, sour cherries, lichen, geosmin, dried lavender, damp earth, and cherry tomato. It has a crunch and snap. You’ll find modest tannin, prickly acidity, and weightlessness on the palate. It’s got a real saline, crystal, glimmering quality - like finding a precious stone amongst the riverbed's rocks. You’ll find further flavours of violet, crunchy purple carrots, black tea, graphite, plum skins, and underripe blueberry. So much vigour!
Pairing: Since Koppitsch is located only a few kilometres from the Hungarian border, I feel like they’ll forgive me for suggesting a dish from their neighbours. Lecsó is a stew made from peppers (wax peppers, banana peppers, etc.) cooked in bacon fat with tomatoes and a generous helping of paprika. This rich vegetable dominant stew had precisely the right vegetal notes to complement this wine.
WINE TWO: PETER WETZER SPERN STEINER KEKFRANKOS
About: Steiner Vineyard has been called western Hungary’s grand-cru since the 15th Century. This east facing site features primary mica schist and gneiss. This site is warm and dry but low yielding due to extremely low levels of soil nutrients. This wine was fermented in open-top wood vats with a tiny amount of stem inclusion. After several weeks on the skins, the wine is pressed off into neutral barrel. It is released later than the rest of their red cuvées to allow the tannins time to settle. It’s been nearly three years since our last allocation.
Taste: This wine is deep ruby with purple highlights. It is sturdy, built from stone with a solid foundation, unshakable, impervious. On the nose, you’ll find commanding aromas of black plums, wild bay, warm dates, dynamite, cherrywood, dried rose, cinnamon sticks, capocollo, and black currant. The palate is structured with mouth-coating tannins, a base driven acidity that hums along behind this wine’s unctuous texture. The alcohol adds a warming spice and carries the wine long after you’ve swallowed. You’ll find further flavours of candied beet, clove, paprika, stewed strawberry, oud, and prairie sage. Tempestuous, brooding.
Pairing: This is a sausage wine. Fortunately, Hungary has a couple of local specialities I think would pair nicely. Májas Hurka is made with pork offal (lungs, kidneys, liver, tongue, heart) and rice. Its pungent savouriness makes it an ideal foil for this wine. Véres Hurka is their rendition of blood sausage, another personal favourite. There’s something about wines from hard rocky soils pairing well with these more rustic dishes; get adventurous, you’ll be blown away by the synergy.
WINE THREE: MALOOF SCRAMBLED STICKS
About: This cuvée comes from the famed Johan Vineyard. Since 2007 this cold site has been farmed biodynamically. Their location in the Van Duzer corridor, a depression in the coastal range that permits cool oceanic winds to enter the Willamette Valley, adds to the site's uniqueness. Soils here are marine sediment and granite. This wine is a blend of Ribolla Gialla (35%), Pinot Gris (30%), Tocai Friulano (20%), and Chardonnay (15%). Some of the Pinot Gris was fermented on skins for nine months in an amphora made by Andrew Beckham. Ribolla Gialla and Tocai Friulano were also direct pressed into an amphora for both fermentation and élevage. The rest of the wine combines direct press and skin-fermented wines aged in neutral barrel. Two hundred sixty-nine cases were produced this year.
Taste: This wine is pale sunset orange in the glass. It is immediately exuberant, eccentric, eclectic. You’ll find flavours of tangerine, passionfruit, peach fuzz, grapefruit, sea buckthorn, tiger lily, candy necklace, dill seed, and quinine. The palate is pricky and salty, and tangy. It jolts you awake and makes your hair stand on end. This wine rolls down grassy hills with abandon. On the palate, you’ll find papaya, cantaloup, prickly pear, tiger tail ice cream, young apricot, and flint—surrealist wine at its finest.
Pairing: Spam Musubi has been a favourite of mine for years. The combination of umami slices of fried canned ham, glazed with soy and mirin, on toothsome sushi rice, wrapped in nori, really sings to me. Gua Bao, the ubiquitous pork belly steam bun, would also work perfectly. Five-spice powder, peanuts, and pickled mustard greens will get along beautifully with this aromatic wine.