A Part of Burgundy You May Not Know: The Côte Chalonnaise

You could spend a lifetime studying Burgundy and you still probably wouldn't know all the wine areas. Fortunately our goal is just to know enough to buy good wine and enjoy it, so we don't need to worry about studying up.

That said, it helps to know a few basic things so you can pick some delicious stuff from this esteemed area. As I wrote about in the Burgundy Primer, there are 5 areas of Burgundy: Chablis in the north; the Côte d'Or, which includes the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, the most famous wine regions of Burgundy; the Côte Chalonnaise; the Mâconnais, and Beaujolais. Of these 5 areas, the one people talk about the least is the Côte Chalonnaise...and that's exactly why I wanted to try a wine from there and report back on it.

I've heard great things about the Côte Chalonnaise, but frankly I've had a hard time finding wines from there. Since they are less sexy than the famous wines of Chablis and the Côte d'Or, and less well known than those of Macon (think Louis Jadot) they get lost in the shuffle. 

The Côte Chalonnaise is just south of the Côte de Beaune but it has different soils and a higher elevation, which means the wines taste different. The grapes are the same as the Côte d'Or so it often is termed "the poor man's" version, but I think it should be evaluated as a place all it's own -- it's not polite to compare siblings, right?

Here, there are 5 communes that make quality wine:

• Bouzeron (booze-RAUN), which sounds like a region for martini loving alcoholics (boozers) and specializes in the less known white Aligoté grape
• Rully (RULE-ee), which makes mainly high acid Chardonnay and some Pinot Noir
• Mercurey (Mare-CORE-ay), the largest area, which makes very highly regarded Pinot Noir
• Givry (JHEE-vree), which is the smallest commune and makes light style Pinot Noir, and 
• Montagny (mont-ahh-NEE) in the south, which is exclusively Chardonnay territory.

The Côte Chalonnaise follows the classification system of Burgundy but it got stiffed when they were handing out the top honors: There are no Grand Crus (the highest quality classification) here. The area did win lots of consolation prizes though -- it has a ton of the next level, Premier Cru vineyards (on the bottle you'll see 1er. This means "Premier" not "one-er" although I like to tell M.C. Ice, my husband, that's what it is for kicks). 

The commune with the most Premier Crus is Montagny, known for making quality Chardonnay that are full and rich styles with great acidity. As a testament to the quality, the fairly well-esteemed (yet widely available, which is a bonus) producer, Louis Latour owns a huge proportion of the vineyards in the Côte Chalonnaise, most from top quality Premier Cru vineyard sites. 

So when I saw Latour's Montagny 1er Cru, "La Grande Roche" in my favorite wine shop I was excited to buy and try...I served it to my other wine dork friend, an Advanced Sommelier, who came over for lunch, and here's what we assessed...

The Wine: Louis Latour, Montagny 1er Cru, "La Grande Roche"
The Grape: 100% Chardonnay

Where it's from: Montagny, Côte Chalonnaise, Burgundy, France

Alcohol: 13%
Vintage: 2005 (an awesome year for Burgundy, very important when shopping for a European wine, BTW)
Price: $17.99

Color: The wine was a rich golden color. It looked almost like lemon-lime Gatorade. I expected either rich, ripe fruit or lots of oak. Wine is usually this dark from age (this one wasn't quite old enough to darken that much), sugar/ripeness, or tannin/oak.

Smell: This smelled so refreshing. Typical of wine from Burgundy it was like water running over rocks -- like a waterfall. The wine had a light caramel aroma and was a little bit like a pencil (I know this because I chew on pencils and they get a certain smell to them -- terrible habit, but good for expanding your wine repertoire!). There was a little honeydew melon thing going on too. Yum.

Taste: It was MUCH lighter than I expected. My friend said it perfectly when she called it a lunch wine -- light with a little bit of acid, some of that mineral flavor with the oaky/caramel/pencil stuff I smelled. There wasn't any fruit flavor -- just light acid and oak.

Pairing: Because this wine is so light, it's hard to pair with anything except mild-tasting cheese with mild-tasting crackers. We paired panini with mozzerella, avocado, and tomato with it and this refreshing and light sandwich almost overtook the wine.

Drink or Sink: I bought this wine, in part, because 2005 was supposed to be an amazing vintage in Burgundy, and that, combined with the fact that wines from the Côte Chalonnaise are a great value, made me think I'd discovered an amazing find. The truth is, the wine was totally forgettable. It was a snoozer and not really worth seeking out. I'm not sure whether I drank it too late, or too early but either way, I can't say I'll be buying it again!

Please let me know what you think! Write a comment below!

German Gewürztraminer: Good, But A Contrast From Wine Across the Border

Look, I’m not saying a wine that smells like a box of Indian spices and teas and a bunch of lychees (more on those later) is for everyone, but damn skippy it’s for me. 

I’m talking about Gewurztraminer (Gah-VURTZ-trah-mean-ah, with an umlaut over the u if from Germany, none if from France), one of the most underestimated white wines on the market. Translated to “spiced traminer ” (traminer is a grape variety) when it’s made well this wine is a knockout. Full of aroma and oily in texture, it certainly has an opinion– no neutral, shrinking violet here.  

Gewurz, as it’s affectionately called, almost always tastes and smells like a bunch of Indian stuff – think Chai tea, corriander, and sandalwood. It also has the smell/taste of lychee, with which it shares some chemical smell compounds. If you don’t know what this fruit is – it resembles a brain in a jar, is just as slimy, and goes great in a martini. I used to drink lychee martinis like they were going out of style and while eating the lychee say, aloud, “Brains!” like in a mad scientist movie. They’re pretty widely available, so seek a lychee out so you know what it’s like – it’s part of building your wine vocab!

(As an aside, recently I was shopping in a wine shop I know and someone asked the guy working there, with whom I was speaking, about Gewurz v. Riesling. I couldn’t help myself and I chimed in on the differences. I mentioned lychee. After the customer left, the guy told me that he thought describing the wine as “lychee” was over the customer’s head. I found this slightly irritating – this is part of learning more about wine. It’s not about dumbing down things and having you miss something, it’s about introducing you to new things to expand your experiences and wine vocabulary! Sorry for the sound off, but Urgh).

Gewurztraminer is at its pinnacle when grown in Alsace, France. There it has crazy spice, fairly high alcohol levels, and a silky, melt-in-your-mouth texture. It’s a decadent wine and one that can overwhelm you with aroma and flavor. If you’re not a fan of rich, full whites keep away from these babies. But if you’re open to a delicious, exotic flavor experience get to a store and pick up a tall, skinny bottle, chill it down and drink up.

Most of the Gewurztraminer you see on the market is either from Alsace, or in the US, from Northern California, New York, Oregon, and Washington State, with a small amount from Germany. I’ve already discussed the perfection that is Alsace Gewurztraminer (I’m kind of shocked at myself that I haven’t yet reviewed the Trimbach Gewurztraminer, from Alsace, one of my favorite whites ever. I’ll get on it). When it’s from the US, it’s made in an off-dry, or slightly sweet style and I find, can sometimes be a little cloying. The German versions tend to be less spicy, a little more like citrus than overt spice, and be off-dry too. Given that it’s colder in Germany than Alsace, the wine also has less overt fruitiness and lower alcohol.

Valckenberg, an amazing German wine importer, recently sent me a case of their top brands that included a Gewürztraminer. The wines are high quality and I feel lucky to be taking this virtual tour of Germany.

Valckenberg’s wine is from the Pfalz region, an area that has a lot in common with Alsace – it’s warmer than most German regions, has similar soils, and grows a good amount of Gewurztraminer. That said, this wine was not like an Alsace wine. It had a profile all its own…

The Wine: Valckenberg
The Grape: 100% Gewürztraminer

Where it's from: Pfalz, Germany
Alcohol: 10%
Vintage: 2010
Price: $9.99

Color: The wine looked like a pair of khaki pants – kind of golden and ecru in color. It had a little bit of spritz to it, which is typical of German wines and was super reflective and glycerin-shiny.

Smell: Unlike Gewürz from Alsace which I find to be spicy and exotic, this wine had much more discernable fruit and was a little lighter in aroma. Peach, ginger, jasmine tea, and lychee (see note above on this…) were there, but it was all very unassuming. The 2010 vintage was a little rough in the Pfalz, hence why the wine was a little wussier than usual, however as a rule the wines are lighter in constitution.

Taste: The wine is slightly sweet, or off-dry so be prepared for that. It was peachy with lots of orange or tangerine and tang like a zest of a lemon. It did taste like brains…I mean lychee…too. It had just a touch of bitterness and some stoney, minerality. I know this will sound strange coming from me, who always complains about alcohol levels being too high, but I felt like, at 10%, the alcohol in this wine was a little too low. Gewürztraminer tends to have higher alcohol because it’s high in sugar, and usually that adds a kick to the fruitiness that balances it out. Although this wine was a pleasant wine in its light fruitiness, it was almost more like fruit juice than wine.

Pairing: I’d normally recommend Gewurztraminer with Asian food, but unless the spice in the food is pretty subtle (which to me, indicates not so great Asian) then I’d suggest this as a sipper only. I think it may get lost in the food.

Drink or Sink: Drink. If you put a glass in front of me, I’m not going to turn it down, but I wish it had more going on. That said, it's solid for the price. So, even though I’d take a glass of Gewurztraminer from Alsace, France any day over this one, for $10 I'd sip this on the porch on a fine fall afternoon with no arm twisting.

Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 28 --5 Ways to Discover New Wines

I'm such a wine 'ho. I love trying new things and experimenting in the wine store but it can be a little daunting sometimes.

Well, if you're interested in discovering some new wines based on your taste preferences, and you're not afraid to break the habit of "going with what you know", then this week we have five easy ways for you to discover some new favorites.

Show Notes:

• Some shout-outs from our friends who left reviews on iTunes and comments on the Facebook page (thanks for making us smile and laugh!)
• Main Topic - How to experiment with new wines:
  1. Follow the grape (the "you might also like" method)
  2. Regional similarities and differences
  3. Discovering similar wines from different blends
  4. Using food & wine pairing suggestions from apps and web sites
  5. Your local wine shop (but beware of bad advice!!)
• Listener Question - Sayle Milne calls in with a question about "corkage" fees
• Grape of the Week - Muscat (and Moscato is one of the most popular wines this year!)

Call us and you will be on the show!!! Do you have a wine-related question for Elizabeth? Anything goes! Call 800-599-8478 (in the U.S.) or 1-415-226-9105 and dial extension 5 to leave your question for the Wine For Normal People Podcast, and we will answer it in an upcoming episode!

If you have something to say, I'd love to hear it! Post a comment below or on Facebook Page or on Twitter @normalwine.

Like the podcast? Please review us on iTunes and we'll give you a shout out!

Here's the link to download podcast from iTunes

Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 27 --7 Fun Wine Facts

Oh yeah...this week Rick and I get into some fun, random wine facts. 7 to be exact. Never passing up a chance to be a total nerd, I dork out on wine history and stump Rick on the Latin name for the Grape of the Week.

The show notes...

We start with a few shoutouts to awesome reviews on iTunes and comments on Facebook (thank you for making this so much fun by commenting!)

And we answer another listener question! We want you to Call us!!! Do you have a wine-related question? Call 800-599-8478 (in the U.S.) or 1-415-226-9105 and dial extension 5 to leave your question for the Wine For Normal People Podcast, and we will play it on the show!

• Listener Question - from Scott of MA (Rick's home state and Elizabeth's post-college home!)
• Main Topic - 7 Fun Facts About Wine
  
  1. Aroma v. Bouquet: What are they...really?
  2. Wine History: Paranoia about poisoning -- the origins of "drinking to your health" -- and, the potential origins of the word "toast"
  3. More Wine History: We take you back to 7th grade... Hammurabi's Code and a well-deserved penalty for wine fraud
  4. California's place in the world of wine: it's kind of a big deal...
  5. Wine Grapes: There's a lot of 'em
  6. Northern v. Southern Hemisphere: What that means about vintage
     
  7. For Dieters: We tell you about the calories in a standard glass of dry red or white wine and sweet wine...
     
• Grape of the Week - The Blood of Jupiter (Listen to figure out what it is) and why it's so unpredictable

If you have something to say, I'd love to hear it! Post a comment below or on Facebook Page or on Twitter @normalwine.

Like the podcast? Please review us on iTunes and we'll give you a shout out!

Here's the link to download podcast: Ep 027 Top 7 Fun Facts About Wine

An Awesome Red From...Germany? Lemberger Rocks!

Lemberger.

Is that a cheese that smells like dirty feet? Is it related to a hamburger? No and no. Lemberger (not Limberger, which is a cheese from the an area on the Belgian/German/Dutch border) is a red grape grown in the Württemberg area of Germany that is also called Blaufränkisch in Austria or Kékfrankos in Hungary.

Although I've had my share of German and Austrian wines, I have to admit that I've never had one that was 100% Lemberger/Blaufränkisch/Kékfrankos before. But when the nice folks at Valckenberg (a major German exporter) sent me this one as part of a big shipment that I'll be reviewing in the coming weeks (there's my disclosure, but I'll still be honest, as you already know), I was really excited to pop it open and see what it tasted like.

Most of us don't associate Germany with red wine, and for good reason. It's freaking cold in most parts of the country and red grapes need a little more sun to get pigment and flavor than whites. Stands to reason that red wouldn't be the grape of choice in most parts of this Central European nation.

That said, about a third of German vineyards are planted to red grapes like Spätburgunderr (said SHPATE-Burg-uhnduh) or Pinot Noir, Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier, as in the grape used in Champagne) and Central European grapes like Trollinger, Portugiesier, Dornfelder, and Lemberger. And in the Anbaugebiet (AHN-bow-guh-beet), or wine region, of Württemberg over 70% of the grapes are red.


This big region in Southern Germany is on the Neckar River and a lot of the vineyard land is on steep terraces that line the river and its tributaries. Most of the wine is made by co-op, with hundreds of growers who own about 2.5 acres all contributing.

As a personal note, I kind of like what I read about Württemberg... the region has the highest per capita wine drinking rate of any place in Germany. It seems like Stuttgart (the big city in this area) should go on the map for a place to have fun. Frankly you'd have to go there to see what they've got to offer -- to satisfy local demand, not a ton of the stuff is exported. I guess they conform well to the locavore movement!

My travel aspirations aside, I'll get back to the grape. Lemberger is a mixed bag. It's a dark skinned and can have good mouth-drying tannin and spice but it can also make light, wussy wine that's not that good. It's grown all over central Europe -- in the Burgenland region of Austria, where the wines are called Blaufränkisch and are pretty highly regarded, in the Czech Republic, in Slovenia, in Croatia, and in Hungary where it's a main component of the Egri Bikaver (aka, Bull's Blood, a blended wine that can be powerful or awful depending on the producer). In Germany, it was imported to Württemberg from Slovenia in the 19th century, from Lemberg (hence, the name).

Grafen Neipperg, owned by Valckenberg is one of a handful of wine estates in the region (since most of the wine comes from the big co-ops). The name translates to "Count of Neipperg," and rather than just a marketing gimmick, there is actually a Count and the dude is still involved in the business. He's from a long line -- the family has been growing vines for 750 years.

Grafen Neipperg producer bottles wines from one of three estates, and even uses a percentage of German oak (I know nothing about it, seems untested, but I'll go with it) from their own land. 60% of it is red. They are also a member of the prestigious VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikats, or the 200 member association of all the best German wine producers. They use an eagle symbol on the bottle, so look for that next time you're shopping German!).

Whatever they're doing, they are doing right. This stuff was good. I love me a spicy wine and that's just what I got...


The Wine: Grafen Neipperg
The Grape: 100% Lemberger
Where it's from: Württemberg, Germany
Alcohol: 13%
Vintage: 2010
Price: $13.00

Color: This wine was so beautiful. It had a pink, rose color to it. Although it was pretty light, it had a real shine to it -- like it was smiling up at me. I lingered on the color for a while because it was so pretty (dorky, I know).

Smell: I LOVE the smell of this wine. It was like a spiced orange or apple cider drink. It reminded me of mulled wine with a spicy cinnamon stick in it (Renaissance Festival, anyone?). There was also a rose-like potpourri smell on the second whiff. Spice, flowers, and citrus -- homerun for my big schnoz.

Taste: My first impression: this wine is SASSY. It was like little electrodes on my tongue -- prickly and electric with spicy flavor. It was medium weight -- kind of filled up my mouth and coated my cheeks, but not too much. I liked the texture, and the flavors were good, albeit a little artificial-tasting. Manufactured candy came to mind -- like fake raspberry flavor or a candy apple Jolly Rancher. It had some great spiced cherry with black pepper and nutmeg notes to it too.

Pairing: I had this with Israeli couscous and vegetables with herbed goat cheese and it was great. Lighter pastas, appetizers that feature veggies (think spanikopita or mushroom tarts) would let the wine shine. I think it would be great with chicken, turkey, or pork with thyme or rosemary-based rubs would be ideal. Don't pair this with anything too heavy or you may overpower the spicy nuance, which is what makes this wine so delicious.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. What a fabulous medium-bodied wine. In a world where it's hard to come by something on the lighter side that still has umph, this is a real gem. Seek it out and remember that brand is important in looking for Lemberger, so look for this wine or another VDP producer to make sure you're not getting the German equivalent of Franzia boxed wine!

The Wine Window: Drink Before It Closes On What You're Saving

I've said it a bunch of times -- I'm not a collector of anything. I don't collect stamps or snowglobes or even shoes. I don't even collect wine. My "cellar" is limited to about 40 to 50 bottles of wine, all of which will be consumed at some point in the next few years and replaced with other stuff to enjoy. My philosophy: you can't take it with you, so you may as well enjoy it now. Plebian? Maybe. Gratifying? Oh, yes.

That said, the wine I have in my small selection I'm excited about. I'm saving the bottles to enjoy on a day that I feel like I want it...sometimes just because and sometimes for an occasion.

So when I turned 21 again for the (I'm not telling you the number) time, I thought it would be nice to pop open the bottle of 2004 Clarendon Hills Hickinbotham Grenache, a very well esteemed wine from a small, French-trained winemaker in Australia that in previous times I have nearly passed out from due to its ridiculous, over the top deliciousness. At about $65, it's not an everyday wine, but a good treat for a special day.

Let me try to explain my love for this wine, since my memories of it are vivid. After decanting it for hours, I remember it being full of lush raspberry and blackberry fruit, tobacco, and leather, with the texture of liquid velvet. It was one of the most unabashed, smooth, balanced yet massive (meaning lots of alcohol and flavor) wines I've ever had. I loved this wine. I dreamt about it. It was so far afield from the more subtle, earthy wines I usually love but it was so damn good. A guilty pleasure for me.

So I saved 2 bottles of the 2004. I kept thinking of opening them, but just never did. They were stored in good conditions, and I kept eyeing them but didn't go for it. Then, finally, the other night, we brought a bottle to the French restaurant, Atmosphere (great place with a great wine list if you're ever in Atlanta), where we were having dinner for the anniversary of my 21st birthday.

The waiter opened and decanted the wine as soon as we sat down. While waiting for this little flower to mix with oxygen and show its beauty to us, we ordered two excellent glasses of Piper-Heidsieck Brut Champagne (which tasted like olive ciabatta bread and was fabulous). MC Ice and I took sinful sniffs, so excited just for a whiff after about 2 years of abstaining from this treat.

But the sniff was our first clue. The rich berry notes, the dark mocha, the leather and the tobacco were gone. A very light raspberry with a strong burn from the 14.5% alcohol were the only discernible smells. With a wine like this, that I expect to be unabashed, this was a horrible sign. It was a shadow of the wine I remembered.

With a little bit of dread, I drank it. Oy. The taste was even more blah. This wine was so muted. All the bold beauty was gone. It was just hot alcohol with a little bit of fruit. We waited longer to see if anything would change. Nothing. It had passed its prime. The wine was finished. It was done. It just sucked. Thankfully the wine list at the restaurant was great, so we ordered a lovely Bordeaux from Pomerol that was tasty with MC Ice's hanger steak and my mushroom and eggplant dish.

Still, though I wondered -- was it just bottle variation or was this wine not so ageable? I decided to pop open the other bottle when we got home to see. It was equally blah. I even left it in a decanter overnight. Same deal. Nothing much had changed. A little more fruit but more like a $10 Cotes-du-Rhone.

This is a sad but a cautionary tale.

Even though this is small lot wine made from meticulously cared-for vines, the high alcohol, fruit-forward nature of this wine actually worked against it and killed its aging potential. I did a little poking around on the internet to see what others had said about it, and Cellar Tracker (a great site where people record their wine notes) had some great info. In 2010, the wine seemed to consistently rock, similar to how I remember it. In 2011, there was a lot of variation in people's experiences with it -- some said it was still great, some had the same experience I did. 

It's not a huge body of evidence, but my guess is that after 8 years, this wine is on the verge of falling apart and being over the hill. Some bottles are already dead, the rest is probably dying. It's fairly well documented (although some may argue) that high alcohol wines made with very ripe fruit tend to lose flavor and drinkability a lot sooner than those that have less fruit and more "backbone" -- or stuff like acid, tannin, and moderate alcohol, all of which are natural preservatives. Too much ripe fruit and not enough of the other stuff and you get a wine that's not built to last.

So what does all this mean? I'm writing as kind of a cautionary tale. If you have a great bottle that you're saving, think about drinking it, especially if what you liked about it was the rich fruit flavor. Wines are not stagnant. They change with time. If you buy the stuff to drink it and enjoy it, don't hold back. GO FOR IT! I'd hate to have what happened to me, happen to you. Not all wine gets better with age and if you miss the window for when it's great, you'll be disappointed. 

My new rule of thumb -- if I've got a fruity wine, I'm drinking within 5 years. I'll age the French, Italian and Spanish stuff, but the others I'm drinking and I'm not going to feel bad about it! Too much reward in drinking it and too much risk in saving it. 

What do you think? Leave a comment below or join the Facebook page, where there's sure to be a great discussion on the topic!

Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 26 Sparkling Wine -- More Than Just Champagne

No secret here...I'm a fan of the bubbles. I love a good sparkler with food and definitely don't think it's only for special occasions. So this week, we tackle it. We don't get too much into the winemaking aspects, more about what to drink and from where.

Here are the show notes...

This week, we explain why bringing on the Bub is always a good idea.

We start with a few shoutouts to awesome reviews on iTunes and fun comments on Facebook.

And we answer another listener question! We want you to Call us!!! Do you have a wine-related question for Elizabeth? Anything goes! Call 800-599-8478 (in the U.S.) or 1-415-226-9105 and dial extension 5 to leave your question for the Wine For Normal People Podcast, and we will play it on the show!

• Listener Question - from Saul (NY, USA)
• Main Topic - Sparkling Wine
  1. Quick Hit on How Sparkling Wine is Made (very brief)
  2. The Big One: Champagne
  3. Cremant (from Loire, Limoux, Alsace)
  4. Cava (Spanish Sparkler)
  5. Prosecco, Franciacorta
  6. Sparkling Wine from USA
  7. Rosé Champagne and Sweetness Levels

Please drop a comment below or on the Facebook Page.

Also, if you like the Podcast, please review us on iTunes and we'll give you a shout out!

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