Tag Archives: Port wine

In a rut? Try these new grapes!

CC BY-SA 3.0, on Wikimedia Commons

We all get into ruts sometimes, especially during the heart of the January-February “Winter Blues” season. But ruts can be the perfect time to shake things up!

So how about trading out and swapping some of your same ole, same ole for something new? Here are five recommendations of geeky new grape varieties that are worth trying.

Do you like Sauvignon blanc and unoaked Chardonnay?

Try Pecorino!

According to Ian d’Agata’s Native Wine Grapes of Italy, Pecorino likely originated in the Marche region of eastern Italy where it is the dominant white grape of the Offida DOCG. The name comes from the Italian pecora for ‘sheep.’ Anecdotal stories of sheepherders snacking on grapes as they tended to their flocks are supposedly behind the name. Other stores involve the sheep, themselves, breaking into vineyards to snack on the ripe grapes near harvest time.

Pecorino produces aromatic wines with citrus, apple and mineral notes that go fantastic with seafood (much like Sauvignon blanc and unoaked Chardonnay!). The wines are often light to medium body and can sometimes have delicate herbal notes (like the grassiness in a New Zealand Sauvignon blanc). Usually produced in stainless steel, some examples can see brief time in neutral oak that will add a little weight to the wine (like many Sauvignon blanc-based white Bordeaux).

Do you like Pinot gris and dry Gewürztraminers?

Try Grüner Veltliner!

Photo taken by self as Agne27, on Wikimedia Commons

An Oregon Gruner Veltliner from the Willamette Valley.

We can also add fans of aged white Burgundies to the list too.

According to the Oxford Companion to Wine, Grüner Veltliner is the most widely planted grape variety in Austria, representing more than a third of all vineyard plantings. Here is used to produce everything from light cafe wine, to weighty age-worthy whites to sparkling Sekt.

Grüner Veltliner produces wines that have a mix of citrus and tree fruit notes (like Pinot gris). But what sets it apart is a characteristic spicy note of white pepper (like Gewurz but a different spice). With age, these wines take on a remarkable transformation with more weight and texture that is not that dissimilar to great white Burgundies.

Outside of it Austrian homeland, American wine lovers can find domestic examples from the Willamette Valley of Oregon, Virginia and Maryland.

Do you like Merlot and Grenache?

Try Mencía!

You can also tally this one down if you are a fan of Pinot noir and Cabernet Franc or even Gamay. Mencía is a very versatile grape that produces different styles based on winemaking choices and where it is grown.

By SanchoPanzaXXI - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, on Wikimedia Commons

Mencía grapes growing in the Ribeira Sacra DO of Spain

According to Jancis Robinson’s Wine Grapes, this intensely aromatic and fruit-forward grape was once thought to be related to Grenache, Graciano and Cabernet Franc. However, DNA analysis has shown that there isn’t any relation.

But the similarities can be seen in Mencía wines that are fresh with ripe tannins and juicy fruit. Often, they carry a tinge of herbal notes (a la Cabernet Franc). Like Gamay, carbonic maceration is used to produce some of these fruity wines. However, when yields are kept low–and Mencía sees some time in oak–it can create dense, concentrated examples. The ripe dark fruit and chocolate notes hit many of the same chords as Merlot.

Admittedly it is hard to know what style of Mencía you are getting with a particular bottle. But the immense potential of deliciousness makes it worth exploring the whole spectrum!

Do you like Cabernet Sauvignon and spicy Zinfandels?

Try Touriga Nacional!

According to Karen MacNeil’s Wine Bible, while Touriga Nacional is most known for being the backbone of Portugal’s famous fortified Port wines, it also produces some of its best table wines that demonstrate great balance and aging ability.

As a dry red varietal Touriga Nacional crafts big full bodied tannic reds with intense color. Like Cabernet Sauvignon, it can mouth-filling and juicy dark fruits. Its high aromatics can also bring a variety of spice notes that carry through to the palate. Like spicy Zins, these flavors linger towards a long finish.

Uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Bauer Karl under CC-BY-3.0

Touriga Nacional from Wines of Portugal, i. V. Marie-Luise Bächle

Outside of Portugal, you can find domestic examples of Touriga Nacional from the Zinfandel hotbeds of Lodi, Amador County and the Sierra Foothills as well as in Napa Valley, Georgia and Virginia.

Do you like Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah?

Try Aglianico!

In their book, Vino Italiano, Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch describe young Aglianico wines as “… dark and feral, like the wolves that still roam the hills [in Basilicata].”

By Alexis Kreyder - L'Ampélographie (Viala et Vermorel), reproduced in

Aglianico from L’Ampélographie Viali i Vermorela

This grape produces big tannic wines with savory meatiness that can remind you of aged Cabernets and Rhone-style Syrahs. While it can develop even more layers of complexity with age, in its youth it still has charm. It is worth seeking out by any big red wine fan.

Outside of Italy, there are domestic examples of Aglianco being produced in Paso Robles, Napa Valley, the Sierra Foothills and Amador County as well as in Texas and Virginia.

So seek out some of these obscure varieties and try something new! Life is too short to be in a rut of drinking just the same ole, same ole.

Cheers!

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A Tasting of Taylor Fladgate Tawny

A flight of Taylor Fladgate Tawny

Russell’s in Bothell, Washington is always a great stop for wine lovers and foodies. The Northwest-focused menu updates regularly with fresh seasonal ingredients and the wine list is always top notch. On a recent visit there, I finished the evening with a flight of aged Tawnys from Taylor Fladgate–10, 20, 30 and 40 year. It was a very interesting and eye opening experience trying each one side by side.

The 10 year Tawny retails for around $23-28 for a standard 750ml bottle. As the “entry-level” aged tawny, it is very solid with a medium plus intensity nose that is a mix of dried tropical and red fruit, some chocolate and nuttiness. What’s most impressive is the balance in the mouthfeel between the concentrated richness of the vanilla nuttiness with the overall lightness of the fruit and easy drink-ability. As a fortified wine with 20% ABV, you really shouldn’t drink more than a small glass or two in a sitting but this tawny is just so darn yummy that I can see it being a dangerous friend.

The 20 year Tawny retails for around $42-50. This one had more spice on the nose but for most purposes was virtually interchangeable with the 10 year. Smooth, elegant mouthfeel with nuttiness and dried fruit. Maybe a smidge longer of a finish but, again, pretty minor jump in quality from the 10 year to this. If anything, tasting the 20 year next to the 10 encouraged me to be even more impressed with how solid the 10 year is.

Not old enough yet to run for President but would make a mighty fine Senator


The 30 year Tawny retails for around $120-150. This was the class of the flight and was utterly amazing with high intensity aromatics of dried red fruit, marzipan, orange blossoms, marinated cherry and black licorice spice. Every sniff brought out something different and I was struck by the myriad of layers and different types of aromas that was popping out. The palate more than held its own with an incredibly smooth, silky vanilla mouthfeel and a long finish of caramel cream brulee that you could still taste even two minutes after swallowing. Like with the other Taylors, I was most impressed with the balance of rich intensity with elegance and finesse.

The 40 year Tawny retails for around $170-200. This was enjoyable but as good as the 30 year was, it was hard for this one not to be overshadowed even though the freshness and richness of the deep red fruit was impressive for its age. The 40 year simply tasted like a much younger wine, which is both good and bad with Port. It had charm with how much life it had but when the overall complexity of aromas and length of the finish that you expect to be heighten in an older wine pales in comparison to the 30 year, it hard to justify the jump in cost. Simply put, you expect an older port to taste like it has had the benefit of more years aging than its younger comrades and this 40 year didn’t deliver that.

Tasting through the flight, the repeated theme of the younger Port out-delivering its older brother was apparent. While the 20 and 40 years weren’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, they were simply out shined by how much more bang for the buck that the 10 and 30 offered in comparison. It’s a solid lesson that is always worth being mindful of when shopping for wine. As we looked Behind the Curtain of wine pricing in a previous post, the pricing of wine is never a cut and dry subject.

The nature of Port wine production is very cost and time intensive that requires a premium for older wines. (Richard Mayson’s recent book on Port offers some great insight about the process) The expected trade off for that premium is presumed to be more complexity and more “wowness” but it might not be to an exponential degree of something like the 20 year being twice as good as 10 year and the 40 year being 4x as good as the 10, etc. There is still some charm in drinking a wine like the 40 year that is old enough to run for President of the United States (and maybe do a better job) but each consumer will have to decide if that charm and novelty is worth the cost.

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