Cinsault

It's Nouveau Beaujolais season but that's not what we're writing about right now.  Instead we're looking at a kindred spirit, Cinsault (SAHN-so), which has a similarly light and lively character and like Beaujolais, you may even chill the wine and serve it in white wine glasses.  This is obviously not your over the top, big tannic red.  It's more like a less is more, pleasant, easy-drinking sipper.

Cinsault is a Cotes du Rhone variety that, when blended with Grenache and Carignan, collectively will soften a more formidable grape like Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon.  It also adds floral and cherry-berry type aromas and flavors along with minerality and freshness.  It aromatically lifts a blend of more structured varieties.

An ancient variety that may have originated in the Herault region of southern France, Cinsault may actually go back to wherever the Phoenicians were sourcing their fruit in Eurasia.  But that's ancient history and on balance, it's the future that should interest Cinsault aficionados more.  It is heat tolerant with a natural benefit from dry environs so climate warming may work for this one.

Why this post subject now?  Because we just got in a case of Lubanzi Cinsault which proved to be a huge hit at a recent tasting.  Lubanzi is from South Africa and Cinsault it HUGE down there.  It's as prolific as Zinfandel in California  and provides half of the parentage of the signature wine of that country, Pinotage.

We're a little late for Thanksgiving dinner wine but do yourself a favor and find some time this season for some tasty Cinsault.  

Alsatian White Wines

Ninety percent of the wines of Alsace are whites.  That should tell us something.  You may figure either reds don't do well there or the whites of Alsace are so good, why bother with the reds.  For what it's worth, Pinot Noir makes up the bulk of the ten percent non-white grape composition and it's pretty ordinary.   

There are six notable white wine grapes allowed in Alsace.  By vineyard plantings they are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Auxerrois, Sylvaner and Muscat (which is actually a couple of related varieties under that heading.)  By sales, Riesling ranks first followed by Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Blanc.  By critical acclaim, it's Gewurztraminer first, then Riesling followed by Pinot Gris.  What's my point here?  Actually, I don't know, since we've already said everything white from Alsace is great.

All varietally labelled wines in Alsace must be 100% of that variety.  The only blending allowed happens in Edelzwicker and Gentil, which are clearly second class citizens in Alsace.  All of the varietals are AOC recognized by French wine law.  The blends, as a rule, are vin de table.  But like we have said, by world standards, the blends are exceptional also.

The obvious question for this admittedly polemical post is, What makes Alsatian whites so good, and perhaps relatedly, Why are they labelled varietally when no other French appellation does that?  In short, that's because they are so true to type.  They are models for the rest of the world to imitate.  Their charm starts with their very aromatic character which the rest of the world has noticed.  Alsatian wines are ascendent in popularity while other French regions are in decline.

Alsatian Rieslings are always very dry.  The very popular Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer are a little less so.  Auxerrois is genetically the same as Chardonnay, coming from the same parentage, and since oak barrel aging is rare in Alsace, it tastes more pinot-like than what we think of in Chardonnay.  Unfortunately, as the neighboring German wines have gotten drier, in general, Alsatians seem to be getting less so.  

Want to really know why Alsatian whites are so good?  History.  And viticulture.  Alsace displays a diversity in soils, elevations, microclimates and so on and winemakers there have planted the different types accordingly.  They have taken advantage of the natural barrier to oceanic influence in the Vosge mountains to the west and of course, they have utilized the temperature moderating Rhine River influence to the east.  They have high trellising to maximize sun exposure and protect the vines from frost and since viticulture has been here since the entry of the Romans in the first century, the lengthy viticultural learning curve has panned out quite nicely.  In short: Alsatian winemakers just know how to make great white wine.   

Uruguayan Albarino

Uruguayan wines are flying under the radar right now but don't expect that to last.  Their flagship Tannat red has already been recognized for its world class status and now we want everyone to know about their Albarino (alba REEN yo) white.

In the store at this time we have FAAA! Albarino.  Yeah, FAAA! is the sorry name for the wine.  We can't do anything about that but the wine is a great example of Albarino.  Just to recap: Historically, Albarino is seafood wine from Rias Baixas on the Atlantic coast of Spain.  Over there it shows stone fruit, zippy acidity and salinity from the ocean influence.  In Uruguay it is recognized as that country's great white wine with a similar profile but perhaps even more complex and intense than the Spanish version.

FAAA! is from Canelones, the best of fifteen wine producing departments in Uruguay.  The soil is granite and schist yielding minerality and a creamy texture to wines.  Of the same latitude as South Africa and Australia, Uruguay has a similarly temperate maritime climate.

Tannat came to Uruguay with the earliest Basque and Italian immigrants in the 1870's.  It wasn't until 1954 that Albarino made it there.  The 180 small family wineries that make up the Uruguayan wine industry are mostly owned by several generations of the same families that started them, which is refreshing when contrasted with the mass-marketers of California.

Uruguayan wines enjoyed a forty percent increase in international sales in 2024.  They are now fourth over all in South American wine sales.  Uruguay also ranks first in several South American quality of life surveys so they must be doing a lot right down there.

Trebbiano

What can you say about Trebbiano?  It's the most widely planted white wine grape in both Italy and France...but with a caveat.  In Italy the name Trebbiano refers to a family of similar grapes that got lumped together under that heading; while in France, Trebbiano is called Ugni Blanc and is almost always distilled into brandy; notably, Cognac and Amagnac.  And by the way, Trebbiano is also the base wine of Balsamic vinegar.

So why write about it now, especially now that red wine season is upon us?  We tasted one recently and it was a nice simple dry white wine and caused us to wonder why this type seems to get no respect in the marketplace.  To our tastes, Trebbiano is at least as enjoyable as most everyday Pinot Grigios yet those Pinots get more than their share of the business, no doubt, because of the pinot name.

Orvieto is the Italian white wine that currently shows the best of Trebbiano's potential.  Frascati is also Trebbiano-based and quite good.  And if you like Italian Soave, the Garganega grape is a close relative of Trebbiano.

Earlier we said Italian Trebbiano was a family of grapes.  Lugana used to be the best Trebbiano we knew of but it has now been spun off as Turbiana.  We suspect the genetics showed there was no real connection to Trebbiano.  So now we have to wonder about all of the other regional Italian Trebbianos and just how connected genetically to type they may be.

Trebbiano can show aromas of green fruit, lemon, stone fruit, apple and pear.  On the palate you may get nectarine, peach and a floral component.  The finish may show bitter almond.  When blended with other grapes it adds those aromas and flavors along with distinct minerality and crispness.

Trebbiano is a versatile summer wine suitable for simple lunches and seafood, salads and Italian cheeses.

And now, an anecdote: My friend was an importer of Italian wines.  His wife worked for the largest distributor in Atlanta.  They were attending a major industry banquet where Caymus Special Selection Napa Cabernet Sauvignon was on each table.  The Cab was a $150 bottle at the time.  After she tasted the red she asked for a glass of Tolo, my friend's bargain brand ($7.99) Italian white.  She said she preferred it to the Caymus...and instantly became my hero! 

Comte de Bernadotte

We just got in a couple cases of Comte de Bernadotte Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, probably the best buys in the store for those two types.  Wanting to learn more about them, we reached out first to our supplier which was no help; then to the importer, again, very little help and finally to the source, one Jean-Marc D'Anjoux.  

Why didn't we start there in the first place?  Because these wines are negotiant wines and there is a lot of secrecy in where they are sourced.  Another name for these kinds of wines in the trade is zipcode wines.  Zipcode wines always have a series of numbers on the back label that, if you have the industry map in front of you, you can pinpoint the location where the wine is sourced.  Bernadotte has two sets of numbers, one where the juice is sourced and one where it is bottled. 

Jean-Marc's name isn't on the label anywhere.  Les Vins Aujus is on the label but it too was a dead end in our research.

Before we go any further down this rabbit hole, if you like pinot and/or chard, you should try these wines.  They are priced humanely and the wine is made in the less-austere style we Americans like.

It turns out home base for Jean-Marc and Les Vins Aujus is in southern Burgundy, France where their main business is making Beaujolais and Macon Chardonnay.  The finest chards and pinots in the world come from a little further north in the Cotes d'Or.  We have learned that Comte de Bernadotte is made right there in the Aujus winery.  The grapes are sourced from elsewhere.  One of the hats Jean-Marc wears is that of negotiant so his job is that of a middleman in the production of wines and getting them to market.  We have also learned he owns property in Herault in the Languedoc region where half the wines of France originate.  So Bernadotte may be sourced there in Herault, but without the zipcode map, it could be from elsewhere in the Languedoc.

The Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are both 100% varietal wines.  The Chardonnay shows citrus and floral flavors along with a little vanilla.  The Pinot goes through a cold maceration and fermentation to create a round fruity structure with some strawberry-ish flavors.  Since the winery is located in the Beaujolais region I'm betting we have the same carbonic maceration fermentation here as we've been writing about recently.

Alta Maria & Presqu'ile

One of our favorite suppliers sold us on Alta Maria Vineyards Pinot Noir and Presqu'ile (press-keel) Chardonnay.  We tasted the Chardonnay and it was magnificent and consequently sold very well.  We didn't get to taste the pinot but were assured it was also quite good.  Unfortunately that one has a problematic label and in this business, labels will either make or break a wine...so we decided to do our homework on the stuff.

Alta Maria is the project of the Ontiveros family of Santa Maria Valley where they have farmed for ten generations since 1855.  The winery was established in 2005.  But there's more...the Ontiveroses have traced their family tree back to Rioja, Spain in the 1500's!

Presqu'ile is the project of the Murphy family who farmed for four generations through the twentieth century in Louisiana.  The name Presqu'ile is creole for "almost an island."  They bought their Santa Maria property in 2007 and invested heavily in their vineyards and winery to the point where they have become a destination for both wine lovers and lovers of natural beauty.

The Ontiveroses have always collaborated with others in the Santa Maria Valley and have multiple partners at this time.  When the Murphys came along "just down the road" from them they seemed like a natural partner.  That partnership was formalized in 2012.  Now all Alta Maria wines are made at the modern Presqu'ile winery.

Santa Maria Valley is a cool weather haven in southern California courtesy of the transverse mountain range that funnels ocean breezes into the valley.  Pesqu'ile is located sixteen miles from the Pacific Ocean.  Both wineries do a lot of the whole grape cluster fermentation that we just wrote about.

Manchego

We've covered Manchego cheese here several times, yet somehow we still found a few new factoids for your files.

We knew Manchego was popular but did you know 60% of all Spanish DOC cheeses are Manchego?

Manchego was historically formed in grass baskets.  The zigzag pattern on the rind of all Manchegos is a reproduction of the weave embossing from the grass baskets.  

If the Manchego rind has a wax exterior, do not eat the rind.  (Duh)  Otherwise the rind is perfectly fine to eat.

Olive oil is brushed onto the rind of all Manchegos.

The only permitted additive in Manchego is rennet.

All Manchegos have a standardized size and shape.

Manchego cheese is not recommended for melting.

And finally, there are four types of Manchego depending on the age of the cheese but you will only see two.  The fresh Manchego (aged 2 weeks) doesn't travel well so it stays in Spain and the Viejo (aged 1-2 years) has not caught on with the international market.  So our choices are the Semi-curado (aged up to 4 months) and the Curado (aged up to six months.)

Most cheeses pair with red wine.  It is our considered opinion that Manchego will go with reds, whites, roses and bubbly.  So stop in and pick up some Manchego!