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World-class White Wines Enhance Food Pairings

World-class White Wines Enhance Food Pairings

by Susan Montgomery

Summertime is white wine weather—although since I love white wines, anytime is white wine weather for me. But I must admit to sometimes bristling when I am in a wine tasting room or at a restaurant with a group of red wine drinkers who seem to look at me aghast when I order a white wine, which many wine tasting aficionados consider to be red wine’s poor stepchild. I even once had someone (a former friend) say to me: “When is your palate going to grow up?”

Please think again. I have a very big girl palate and I will never apologize for ordering white wine. There are so many excellent white wines out there, especially if you are willing to explore some especially outstanding international wines, as six members of our Wine Review Council did a few weeks ago.  Another myth is that white wine is a woman's wine. We had a group of four men and two women reviewing wines. The men in our group ended up being just as enamored with the whites we tasted as I was.  Of course, the white wines we sampled were enhanced by some wonderful food pairings prepared by participants.

We started our tasting with three vintage 2012 Rieslings under the Dr. Loosen label from a fertile wine region along the Mosel River in Germany. Beginning with a 2008 vintage, Ernst Loosen is successfully reviving the classic, dry Riesling style established by his grandfather many years ago. All these wines had fermented in oak and been left "on the lees”* for at least 12 months with no “bätonnage.” ** (Definitions at end of article.) This process left the wines with very pleasant but not overwhelming toasty, creamy, yeasty tastes.

Ürziger Würzgarten Dry Riesling: This wine’s grapes are from very old vines (120+ years), called Urglück, located in the oldest part of the Würzgarten vineyard. The aroma is both earthy and tropical. The creamy taste is also earthy, with overtones of rich soil and crisp fruit with nice minerality. At $41, this wine is definitely worth the price. Complex, elegant, and food-friendly, this wine went well with several of our pairings, including a sweet, sticky, spicy chicken dish and a delicious crab and mango salad.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Dry Riesling:  Also high in minerality and with a slight effervescence, this dry wine is intensely floral on the nose and fruity on the palate. We detected flavors of banana, pineapple, and apricot. At $32, this is a nice buy. It went especially well with two uniquely flavored candies from Marich: coconut curry cashews and blueberry lemon shortcake. And all these Rieslings were a good match with the spicy chicken dish.

Erdener Treppchen Riesling: This was our favorite of the Rieslings and we learned that its grapes are from the oldest Treppchen vineyard.  Very nicely balanced and intensely flavorful with yeasty overtones, this wine is boldly fruit forward with strong tastes of grapefruit and stone fruit. At $45, this is an especially good wine for pairing with a wide variety of dishes.  It went well with just about everything but especially with the crab and mango salad, the smoked Gouda, and some spicy grilled lamb chops.

Our next four white wines from the South of France offered a range of styles, reflecting a variety of terroirs and microclimates. We were amazed at their very low price points for the quality of the wines, which were generally very refreshing and good for pairing.

Domaine Du Tariquet 2013 Classic/Cotes De Gascogne Blend:  This dry, floral, fruity wine with tastes of citrus, particularly grapefruit, had a pleasant tartness that contrasted well with the spicy lamb chops and was also enhanced by a charcuterie platter. For $8, you couldn’t find a better buy for a nice table wine to serve with dinner. It’s also pleasant to imagine its origins in the rolling green hills of the Armagnac region of France.

Domaine Chiroulet 2013 Terres Blanches/Cotes de Cascogne:  A participant in our Wine Review Council said he could imagine laying down and rolling around in freshly cut grass while drinking this herbaceous wine with so many flavors and aromas, including lemon, basil, lime and grapefruit. Again, it went well with the lamb and also the Gouda.  At $9, this is another wonderfully priced wine.

Domaine De Menard 2013 Cuvee Marine: This was our favorite French wine of the evening. With an aromatic nose hinting of honeysuckle, and crisp tastes of tropical fruit, pineapple and grapefruit, it was also the most elegant of the French wines. It went especially well with an equally elegant appetizer of roasted red potatoes topped with crème fraiche, caviar, and chives, and also complemented the lamb chops. The price:  an astounding $9 per bottle.

San de Guilhem 2013/Vin de Pays de Gasgogne: This light wine with hints of pear, lemon and grapefruit would be a good hot weather accompaniment for a cheese platter.  It also went well with the chocolate covered apricots and crab salad. And, again, the price is right at $9.

All the wines reviewed are available online or at some retail outlets across the country, particularly on the east coast.

Definitions to help those who are just learning about wine production:

*”On the lees” or sur lie in French means letting the wine sit on the residual yeast and sediment that settles in the bottom of a wine barrel or vat during fermentation, leading to a distinctive yeasty, toasty taste.

**“Bätonnage” means stirring the wine while “on the lees,” leading to more intensity of taste, but this did not happen with the Dr. Loosen wines so their flavors are more subtle.

Photos taken by Todd Montgomery.

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Posted by Susan Montgomery on May 08, 2015