Week 5 Virtual Tasting Series for Charity - Hipster Wines for Mechanics GoFundMe - Dec 25 - Jan 3

Theme - Hipster Wines - Still or Sparkling, red, pink, white. Broad spectrum here of low alcohol non-mainstream varieties. Use your imagination.

Format - $5 per tasting note, another $5 if you post a pic or a story about how you came to find this wine. Through the wine boards, meeting the winemaker, helping at the winery, turned onto it by another winemaker etc… What’s your story?

Charity - Mechanics GoFundMe - Everyone here knows I sell tools for a living. People who repair cars and trucks for a living work long hard hours and are not properly compensated for the amount of training and tools the have to spend their own money on in order to stay current in the industry. A fellow toolman shares the story of an independent shop in Rural Wisconsin that suffered a devastating fire. All 7 technicians lost their entire tool inventory along with their jobs. A GoFundMe has been set up to help these fellows along while they rebuild their careers. Garage keepers insurance does not cover employees tools.

Funding has been weak. Hopefully we can help brighten their holiday. If you would like to donate without a note simply click the link. If you would like to match my donation in any denomination that would be great as well.

Let’s lift our glasses and open our wallets. Thank you!
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Thanks, Brian.

I’m going full hipster with a variety mentioned in another thread. It’ll be my Xmas closing wine.

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and peace on Earth.

Merry Christmas everyone…

^^ What he said! ^^

grouphug

If you can explain what a hipster wine is, I will see if we can polish off a few off today. If it means obscure, how about this:

2010 Khmer Angkor Vineyard Seyval Blanc Apsara. From the Finger Lakes. Made by Cambodian refugees. I own the only bottle in Cellartracker. I could walk down the street in Brooklyn with my nose in the air and my skinny jeans that came to four inches above my ankles and hold this wine in the air and even the hipsters would go WOW.

You may be speaking metaphorically, BUT your idea would be a kind of performance art, proclaiming to both hipster and non. "There is more than one kind of hip!'
I concur!

I want to come back with a smart ass response just because, but in the spirit of Christmas I’ll read the OP back to you:

“Hipster Wines - Still or Sparkling, red, pink, white. Broad spectrum here of low alcohol non-mainstream varieties. Use your imagination.”

Or how I explained it to Jim Stewart in the Compendium Thread:

“I moved from Cab when I saw Jay Hack go with Big Reds. By Hipster wines I’m referring to things like low alc, high acid, carbonic, off the beaten path varieties, drink me now sparklers, new generation young winemaker choices.
Examples: Dirty & Rowdy, Jolie-Laide, RYME, Cruse etc
Vermentino, Mourvèdre, Melon, Trousseau, Pinot Gris, Trousseau Gris, Valdiguie, Tempranillo

Not your Cab, Pinot, Zin, Syrah, Chard, Sauv Blanc regulars.

Hope this helps.”

Please, no skinny jeans.

I do not know about that Low Alc rule. I could go with a Scholium Project Wine, which is all of the above but usually north of 15% ABV. I think I will go with a Scholium Pinot Gris, which should be hipster enough but I think actually qualifies as post-hipster.

So far for tonight I have a 2012 Random Wine Co Columbia Valley Petit Verdot stood up. Need to look for mre stuff.

Ok Rat, so I here is my offering for Week 5. I’ll spare the photo this time, as I have posted enough of my grill this season. But to help double your payment to the charity, the reason for me opening this one is based on a few things. First, if people close to me 5-10 years ago thought I would be writing tasting notes today about Verzenay bubbly, they’d probably think I’d be nuts. But, I have fallen in love with Champagne and continue to explore more and more of it. The other thing is that this wine is a solera, which like Krug, Mousse et Fils, Dethune and others who do solera, it does offer the winery additional raw material to round out the wine, and it’s my sense that the solera here is doing a fine job of creating a wonderful blend of vintages into the total mix. Here is the composition:

Solera with the “L’Atavique” since 2010
50% “L’Atavique” 2014 and 50% “L’Atavique” 2013/2012/2011/2010
60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay
100% vinified in oak barrels

5 years ago I didn’t know what a solera was in Champagne but the journey continues for me. Finally, I know that Mouzon-Leroux is perhaps not all that well known around here but their commitment to biodynamic farming is important to why I buy them. For me, it’s not hip to farm clean or use methods that take care of the ‘place’ that is used for wines like this. It’s just the right thing to do.

Thanks for doing Week 5, Rat. You’re a generous soul and I appreciate your support for Falltacular, too.

  • NV Mouzon-Leroux & Fils Champagne Grand Cru l’Ascendant Extra Brut Réserve - France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru (12/25/2019)
    This bottle has a later disgorge date than the one I wrote about this past summer. This one is March 2018, zero dosage, and a mostly even split of PN and Chard, in part from a solera back to 2010. This strikes me as gentle and more subtle, certainly not indicating its dosage which I think speaks to the balance of the wine. Juicy white fruits, some shading of red with some citrusy grapefruit and lime. The finish then shows a cool mix of toasted wood (this is raised in it) and the saline that I would look for from Verzy. Sometimes the zero dosage style can be a bit jarring if not done well, and in this instance of l’Ascendant, it works.

Posted from CellarTracker

This is THE next big thing, furmint! Just ask GergT, not. And I agree, dry furmint is great especially when drinking local wines visiting eastern Europe. They are perfect.

But they are susceptible to oxidation and the grape is challenging to grow.

This is the less sweet version, only 3P, which makes a great wine to pair with dessert or on its own. If you love apricots then Tokaji is for you.

No handle bar mustache required.

Brian, we have a huge shop at work and I’ll talk with the owner, he’ll probably want to kick in directly, we’d just ship tools. It won’t show up here.

  • 2008 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 3 Puttonyos - Hungary, Tokaji (12/25/2019)
    Deep gold, brass colored. Honeysuckle , honeycomb and dried apricots on the nose. Heavy weight, slick. Bright dried apricots, concentrated fruity delicious flavors. Slightly less acidity than the 2007.

Posted from CellarTracker

Villa di Corlo Lambrusco 'Corleto’

Had with Xmas ham…lightly effervescent, with sour black cherry, plums and licorice on the palate. Goes great with our Oregon ham and the honey and mustard baste. Vastly underappreciated wine in the world of wine, versatile and delicious. 11% alc.

For you, Brian, of course. I used and stretched my imagination. Hope both qualify. Here goes:

Tisdale Moscato NV, California (low-alcohol)
Light greenish gold, fast legs. A few fast-disappearing bubbles; much more still than sparkling. Primary aromas are citrus: hint of melon and pineapple. Just a touch of orange blossom, too. On the palate, citrus fruit dominates with faint, occasional aftertaste that reminds me of artificial sweetener. Light-bodied, narrow texture, and short finish. Impression: very simple wine. Not flawed, just simple. Could serve as a summer quaffer or as an alternative for those guests of yours that prefer something light and towards the sweet end of the spectrum. A bit of online searching yielded 8% alcohol for the Moscato. Priced well below $10: party wine?

And for contrast, a much better wine. In my experience many casual drinkers haven’t experienced Grenache Blanc. So maybe rather obscure?

Kita Grenache Blanc, 2013, Camp 4 Vineyard, Santa Ynez Valley. Yellow gold, excellent clarity, rim variation consistent with age. Medium legs, a few bubbles. Aromas are white fruit and white flower dominant: apple, pear, apple blossom, peach blossom and orange blossom. Faint hints of mineral. On the palate, lemon and a hint of slate join as well. Medium body, bright and juicy texture, medium plus acidity, long finish. A bit reminiscent of Chenin Blanc, Pinot Blanc and Riesling. But there’s an extra dimension that adds complexity. Compelling and refreshing. Drink now or in 2020. Price paid about $20; I would buy again at or below that price point.

To the mechanics and their loved ones, a very Merry Christmas!

I missed the Loire TN’s for charity but I’ll be sure to get in for this one. Going for a more traditional red tonight but I’ll pop a vin de Jura later this week for your most excellent theme. Maybe a champer in Frank’s mould.

2015 Christian Tschida Himmel Auf Erden Red (Austria/Burgenland). A little hoobastank on the nose initially, which seems to go along with the NSFW art work on the label. Nose cleans up to some spicy fruit in time. A bit tart as expected, but light-medium bodied expression of cherry and strawberry fruit that got better with air. Nice acidity. Zweiglelt/Cabernet Sauvignon blend. 12% ABV, no sulfur added.

I’m too old to be a hipster, but this made me feel like one for a few moments.

Cheers!
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2005 Chateau Suduiraut, Sauternes, France

Tons of honey, nectarine, peach, guava and ripe pear. Lacking a lick of acid, as its richness outweighs its balance today. Stunning richness, botrytis and really a luxurious dip. From 375ml.

That is spectacular

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The theme is hipster, not British aristocrat.

2017 Le Grand-Clere (Francois Blanchard) Touraine La Presse - Very dark color - intensely grapey nose with a hint of tarragon and white pepper. Very sharp acidic palate with just a little hint of purple grape fruit. Not bad but not great either. Might be a little better with food. Would never in a million years have thought this was Cabernet Franc if tasted blind.

Franchere For Heavens Sake Don’t Move Here 2018.
Skin fermented Pinot Gris and Gruner. Picked up on a whim from an online retailer for about $20 because I’m always up for trying weird Oregon. It’s weird! Full of sediment, it has a “natural” cidery nose to it, but the actual wine pleasant, tasting like sour cherries with a mild tannic bite. I like this, but it’s for your adventurous friends only.