Meet Moscato - The Life of the Party

A party ain't a party until he shows up. He’s the catalyst; something about his vibe just brings fun into any room just like the character Magnitude from Community whose name is a combination of the words Magnetic Attitude. That’s Moscato. Who cares if he doesn’t always get his work done? When the clock strikes five and its time to loosen your tie or kick off your pumps, that’s when it’s most important to have a guy like him in your mix!

Moscato is the Italian name for the Muscat grape, one of the only few wine grape varieties (of the vitis vinifera species) that actually tastes grapey when made into wine. This is not to be confused with Muscadet from the Loire (made from a grape called Melon), the Muscadelle grape from Bordeaux, or the American Scuppernong grape Muscadine (which is a different species all together – no relation). Moscato is also the name of a wine style from the northwestern Italian village of Asti in the Piemonte region. What became popular in the 80’s and 90’s as Asti Spumanti – spumanti is Italian for sparkling – is now simply known as Asti. It’s the same sparkling, low alcohol, sweet Muscat wine. Moscato d’Asti is even lower still in alcohol and less effervescent. It’s usually sold in bottles that have a regular cork or screw top, unlike Asti and other fully sparkling wines that come with a mushroom shaped cork held down with a little wire cage. Pop Pop!

Muscat also makes a fabulous dessert wine, sometimes fortified to around 15% alcohol like the southern Rhône treat Muscat de Beaumes de Venise. These wines are often built to last long years and evolve into joyously mature bliss later in life. Meanwhile, in the south Australian region of Rutherglen, Muscat (known locally as Brown Muscat because it gives a high proportion of dark grapes) is a mainstay that is made into decadent mahogany colored stickies that could put the best Swiss dark chocolate to shame.

Flavor Profile
When your palate craves natural sodas and homemade sweets like tablet (a coconut treat from the French and Kweyol speaking Caribbean) or Greek Kataïfi, that is a palate that would appreciate well made Asti, Moscato and Muscat dessert wines. There is such a thing as dry Muscat, very popular on the Greek wine scene. It’s a bizarre bird indeed – you recognize the Muscat aroma, but then you get it in your mouth and it’s not at all what you expected. When your mind is on a cumin and fennel vibe, that’s a good time to reach for a dry Muscat.

Food Pairings
For a wine that is so simple, it can be a most difficult thing to pair with food. Truth is most Moscato/Muscat wines can stand alone. Have sparkling Moscato drastic as an aperitif to start your evening – at only around 5% alcohol; it’s a great way to ease into a lovely night. Finish a meal with a fortified Muscat from the south of France. As I dig deeper into my food and wine memory, I recall enjoying blue vein cheese with a good funk on it in the company of a non-fortified Muscat dessert wine. I can imagine one of those dark Rutherglen Muscats from Australia making a great connect. With a dry Muscat I like Mediterranean flavors like oil cured black olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes – think tapenade, humus, pita and grape leaves. It’s a party, and Moscato is on the scene!

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try a Moscato d'Asti, a dessert Muscat wine and, if you can find one, a dry Greek Muscat. There’s a world of Muscat wines you can get into. This trio is a good cross section – the sweet, the dry and the bubbly. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_, #MoscatoHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall.

Meet Viognier - The Supermodel

The thing about that supermodel is that she’s not just tall, skinny and pretty. She’s super because she’s in very high demand and did not need to “get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day”. Viognier is that “it” girl. As a child, she was taller than even some boys – she was a tom boy who slouched a lot and was great at sports but not so great at make-up, hair, clothing and shoes. As she came of age she realized what she was working with and inevitably ended up in the fashion world, where her height was now an asset and her additional assets set her apart from the rest.

Who is she anyway?
Viognier is one of the “white wine trying to be a red wine” grape varieties, so much so that it ended up in blends with Syrah (the CEO, see previous post). This seemingly odd blending tradition started because they dwell in the same vineyards in parts of the Northern Rhône, and ended up getting picked and pressed together – field blend. French law sanctions up to 20% of Viognier in a Côte Rôtie wine, but this fickle, difficult-to-grow, low yielding vine makes it less than possible to eek out more than around 5%, and nowadays she doesn’t even show up for work (today’s Côte-Rôtie wines are 100% Syrah). The Aussies carried on the tradition in wineries that pay true homage to the heritage of Shiraz, blending Viognier in and even saying so on the label. These blends also only contain around 5% Viognier. Nonetheless, her presence in a blend is felt.

As a soloist, Viognier’s sensual, heady perfume and full body on the palate makes for a highly sought after varietal wine. The benchmark is Condrieu (pronounced kon-dree-YOU) in the Northern Rhône, one of France’s most exotic and captivating white wines. Her other happy home is in California, under the auspicies of The Rhône Rangers, the wiley wine renegades who wanted more than just Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay for a muse. Viognier has a few things in common with Gewürztraminer (the Diva, see previous post), including an difficult-to-pronounce name – say “vee-OH-nee-YAY”. And don’t mess it up or you might get slapped!

Flavor Profile and Food Pairing
For flavor profile, lovers of great classic perfume would love Viognier. If your mother wore Channel No. 5 when you were growing up and you enjoyed the summer’s ripest peaches or you enjoy exciting things that the mainstream consider luxurious such as artisan cheeses, truffles, smoked salmon, caviar – you’re a Viognier person for sure. If you really must pair Viognier with a meal *sigh* I see filet mignon with fingerling potatoes and perhaps some wilted spinach as a nice meal. But understand that you will have to tailor the meal to the wine (that’s generally true but it is especially true for the supermodel). You will find that she is worth it indeed!

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 2 Viogniers. Ask your favorite retailer or browse your favorite wine website for a California Viognier as well as something from the Languedoc (south of France). New York State also produces some Viognier – Brooklyn Oenology makes one from North Fork of Long Island grapes which was a favorite at our store. Be prepared to spend $15.00 or more per bottle – because the vines yield low, its naturally an expensive wine to make. For extra credit, treat yourself a bottle of Condrieu. Top producers include Georges Vernay and E. Guigal). Not everyone will have these in stock but most will know what you’re talking about. Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #ViognierHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. That’s delicious!

Meet Syrah - The CEO

He was the senior class president, always impeccably dressed to stand out from the rest of the high school crowd. He’s into older women and they love him too. Never needing any ostentation to impress, he has instead a way of commanding your attention and respect with a deep, booming voice and eloquent, well-chosen statements. As CEO of a major corporation, he puts those skills to good use. It was either that or politics – he would have found success there too, no doubt. Shiraz for president!

As Syrah, this thick skinned grape lives a happy life in France’s Rhône Valley, situated toward the south, working solo in the Northern Rhône (sometimes blended with a bit of the Viognier that resides in the same vineyard). From Côtes Rotie in the north to Cornas in the south, he’s the main event. In the Sourthern Rhône Syrah’s in lots of great company with Grenache, Mouvedre, Cinsault, et al. The region’s signature wine, Châteauneuf du Pape, can legally contain up to 13 different listed red varieties, all together or in any combination. Syrah is almost always in the mix and is usually detectable in the blend, the head fruit in charge. Take the Rhône all the way down to the Mediterranean and you will find Syrah still reigns in many quarters – the people’s choice!

As Shiraz, Australia has built a reputation on his shoulders, from the very cheap, animal-adorned party juice to the very rare and collectible music-in-a-glass. Like the Rhône, Australia has lots of hot sunny climes for Shiraz to thrive under – thick skinned grapes can stand more heat to develop more sugar and offer greater pigment and tannin for the making of very full bodied wine.

It’s the perfect wine for the typical American palate: think grape Blow Pops, Bazooka Joe, Sour Power, Swedish Fish and all kinds of fast food. Did I forget to mention chocolate? This is where Syrah goes in a different direction in flavor profile – not for the Snickers bar set. If Syrah were chocolate, it would be 70% Dark and Swiss or Belgian. Nonetheless, Syrah is very approachable, just be ready for your mouth to be taken over for a little while by a commanding presence.

Because it is so high in tannin and relatively low in acidity, Syrah not the greatest food wine – a glass can be a meal in itself! Nonetheless, your city’s best burger with the works and a side of fries would be a great mate for a glass of Syrah. Along the same lines, a good steak and a baked potato would work well. In fact, I always recommend Syrah wines for Thanksgiving, because that’s the ultimate flavor frenzy and this wine can handle it all! (Caution: Syrah may also help your turkey to cause all around drowsiness and you may find the football game watching you, but you’ll give thanks nonetheless!)

Your Homework
Your homework for this week and weekend is to try 3 Syrahs. Ask your favorite retailer or browse your favorite wine website for something from the Northern Rhône – St Joseph wines are the most accessible in profile and in price, but feel free to splurge on anything from Cornas or Crozes Hermitage splurge big on the venerable Hermitage itself. You will easily find Australian Shiraz in any wine shop or liquor store you enter. Try a cheap one that you can get under $10.00, and then find one over $15.00, just so you can clearly see the quality difference. My favorite wine region in Australia for Shiraz is McLaren Vale for that over $15 bottle. For extra credit, find a Syrah from California. You will impress your wine retailer with your knowledge of the name Rhône Rangers. It may very well serve as your password to gain access to some goodies from Paso Robles winemakers dedicated to Rhône Valley grape varieties – this could be lots of fun! Do Tweet your notes to @wineLIFE_ #SyrahHW. Tell us which one was your favorite (please include the wine’s name, vintage and region), how much you paid for it and its best qualities. You can also post notes on the wineLIFE Facebook wall. That’s delicious!

Support your Nabe Retailer on Earth Day

There’s no doubt that doing what it takes to care for farm land in this way ensures a great future for the people who eat and drink from it - sparing their vines and soils from chemicals, letting nature take its course. The naturally farmed vineyard has been a wild and beautiful sight every time I’ve seen it around the world.

Some of my fave Biodynamic Organic Sustainable (BOS) wines:
Grove Mill Winery, Wairau Valley, Marlborough, NZ
Sokol Blosser, Willamette Valley, OR
Jean Luc Colombo, Cornas, (northern) Rhône Valley, France
Felton Road, Bannockburn, Central Otago NZ

My best advice: visit your good neighborhood wine retailer - an attractive store with knowledgeable staff who enjoy wine are indicators that they will a. Have a healthy selection of these wines to show you and b. Enjoy talking about the wines with you.

Shop small retailers on Earth Day www.awinelifestyle.com.

written on Thursday, April 22nd to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. Sorry for the delay!