Wine Tasting:
Tualatin Müller Thurgau
Winery: Tualatin
Brand/Type: Müller Thurgau
Vintage: 1996
Country: USA
Region: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Alcohol content: 11%
Closure: Natural Cork
Appearance: Pale blonde
Aroma/Bouquet: Rotten cork, strong alcohol odor
This is more of a non-review than a review. Why? Well like most things in life, bottled wine has risks and rewards. This is about risk.
All bottles of wine need some form of a closure. Cork is the defacto standard with thousands of years experience. Synthetic corks and screw caps are relatively new options. Cork being an organic material has its risks. It can be flawed and allow air to seep into the wine or worse yet, allow the wine to seep out. Sometimes it can unintentionally add a flavor to the wine. Often this is due to a fungus that is carried by the cork.
A “corked” wine is not a pleasant thing. I had the misfortuane of acquiring an entire case of French Beaujolais that was corked. Both my money, and the wine, went down the drain.
Once again this misfortune has struck again. At least it’s not an entire case this time. The first bad omen should have been the price. I found this in the clearance aisle marked down to $7.99; more than half off.
The next omen was subtle; it’s age – a ten year old wine. More obvious was while uncorking the bottle, the cork broke in half. Worse was that the remainder was damp and smelled of wine. It was rotting. After finally extracting the rotten cork, we sampled the wine. It was bad. Not horribly corked, but it was indeed tainted. Upon examining the cork you could see that the cork had a flaw in it. It looked to have some small grain type defect that likely allowed the wine to infiltrate the cork and between age and handling the cork rotted.
Frankly corks should be a thing of the past. Screw caps work better. Synthetic corks are a compromise. While this won’t stop us from buying wine with natural corks, we will be a bit more cautious on buying older bottles.
Wine Tasting:
2001 Schloss Schönborn Kabinett Riesling
Winery: Schloss Schönborn
Brand/Type: Kabinett Riesling
Vintage: 2001
Country: Germany
Region: Rheingau Hattenheimer Pfaffenberg
Alcohol content: 9.5%
Closure: Natural Cork
Appearance: Light blonde
Aroma/Bouquet: Peach, pear, hint of vanilla
Coming from a very old and respected winery, we had high expectations of this wine. We were not disapointed!
It’s a very crisp Kabinett that is wonderfully complex and balanced. It’s a dry Riesling (as you would expect from a Kabinett) and is indeed one Riesling that can stand on its own or be paired with a multitude of fine foods. Fish and fowl and even pork go well with this wine. It is also a wonderful wine to drink by itself on a warm summer night.
As expected of Kabinetts, it is a dry Riesling with just a tiny hint of sweetness. While it has a mostly pear and peach taste it also has a tangerine/citrus element that adds a degree of tartness and balance. While it has these delicate fruit tastes it still maintains itself as dry wine.
Schloss Schönborn is one of Germany’s oldest producers of wine and their experience is proven in this offering.
Coffee?
Almost every wine drinker I know seems to also be a big coffee fan too. I personally recommend Community Coffee! It’s very affordable, but more importantly – very good!
Wine Review:
2004 Leonard Kreusch Riesling
Winery: Leonard Kreusch
Brand/Type: Riesling
Vintage: 2004
Country: Germany
Region: Mosel – Saar – Ruwer
Alcohol content: 9.5%
Closure: Synthetic Cork
Appearance: Light blonde
Aroma/Bouquet: Peach, orange, and apricot
This a middle of the road Riesling that seems geared toward neither impressing nor offending your palate or pocketbook. No classification is declared on the stereotypical blue bottle so we assume it is a blended wine using whatever combination picking that the vineyard(s?) offered at the time. If pressed, an Auslese would be my classification of this bottle. It’s a semi-sweet wine with the usual fruity Riesling attributes, somewhat mineral, orange, and apricot.
Wine Review:
2004 Wilhelm Bergmann Riesling Kabinett
Winery: Wilhelm Bergmann
Brand/Type: Bernakasteler Kurfürstlay Riesling Kabinett
Vintage: 2004
Country: Germany
Region: Mosel Saar Ruwer
Alcohol content: 9.5%
Closure: Natural Cork
Appearance: Pale blonde
Aroma/Bouquet: Light floral, citrus and pear
This is a classic German Kabinett that starts off lightly sweet and transforms to a rewarding complex finish that is full of fruity flavors. Has a slightly tart (citrus) element that fends off any undue sweetness. This wine has an Auslese like initial taste with a solid and genuine Kabinett body.
Wine Review:
Good Harbor Pinot Grigio
Winery: Good Harbor
Brand/Type: Pinot Grigio
Vintage: 2005
Country: USA
Region: Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan
Alcohol content: 12%
Closure: Natural Cork
Appearance: Light blonde
Aroma/Bouquet: Light, lemony-citrus and pear, hint of melon
This is another one of Good harbors delightful offerings. It is a crisp and light Pinot Grigio that you could drink alone but goes oh so well with fish. This wine pairs very well with grilled salmon, swordfish, or tuna. Probably too delicate for any fried fish. It is also well suited for robust salads.
For a Pinot Grigio, this has a very light citrus-pear bouquet with just a faint hint of melon. Not as complex to the palate as Good Harbor’s Trillium but very nice and it makes a great wine for hot summer evenings. If you prefer a Pinot Grigio with less bite, but not watered down, this wine is for you.
Wine Review:
Mon Ami American Riesling
Winery: Mon Ami
Brand/Type: “American” Riesling
Vintage: 2004
Country: USA
Region: Catawba Island, Ohio
Alcohol content: 11.5%
Closure: Synthetic Cork
Appearance: Pale straw
Aroma/Bouquet: Pleasant, mild fruity bouquet
Semi-sweet. Similar to a German Auslese but not as complex. This wine tends to grow better as it has a chance to warm or settle in to your glass. The initial taste is sweet which yields to a tart apricot and melon flavor with a hint of tangerine. Having sampled this on three separate occasions, the sweetness seems to vary from bottle to bottle.
Mon Ami is a staple of the Catawba region of Ohio. The winery dates back to 1870 and has an interesting winery including a very fine restaurant on premise. Wine tasting is available on site as well.
This is a nice low price wine that won’t disappoint those whose palates run on the sweeter preference.
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