Revisiting an old friend

In my early 20s, I first tasted Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. At the time I enjoyed it, and, at $17 a bottle back then, I thought it had to be good, particularly because everyone seemed to be all about Pinot Grigio.

The more wines I taste over the years, however, the less I want to drink Santa Margherita. In fact, over the past several years I’ve boycotted all Pinot Grigio in favor of White Burgundy, Sancerre, Vouray, Falanghina and Verdicchio. (OK, so basically anything else.)

Part of the problem I think is that when ordering a glass of the wine in a restaurant or bar, it’s often served too cold, masking the flavors and reducing the bright acidity to a flabby, uninteresting wine.

A few months ago, one of the wines that was used for our store tasting where I work was the Attems Pinot Grigio. Though skeptical, I tried it nonetheless. I couldn’t believe that a Pinot Grigio could have so much character. There was crisp acidity, fruit and floral notes, and a nice clean finish.  Also surprising was that the wine cost around $15  but hardly tasted cheap.

Still, I assumed the Attems was a one-off and I never pursued a quest to find a style that would silence the naysayers, present company included.

That’s where Jay McInerney comes in. His article, “Giving Pinot Grigio Another Go,” (The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 14/15) supported the widespread dislike for the grape, but proved that some perseverance could lead to pleasant iterations of an otherwise disregarded wine.

McInerney states, “…nobility is possible with this grape.” He goes on to list several producers that should be considered, and notes that the wine region of Friuli, Italy produces some noteworthy selections.

Among McInerney’s picks is Movia’s Pinot Grigio. Based in Slovenia on the border of Friuli, Ales Kristancic is known for his interesting, biodynamic portfolio. Movia’s Pinot Grigio is no exception, though it is so far from what’s expected from the standard varietal that it almost seems unfair to consider it alongside the others.

Nevertheless, McInerney points out that  there is some potential in the world of Pinot Grigio. It may not be returning to favor anytime soon, but it once was en vogue and it just may be worth taking a second glance.

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Passion in a glass

Passion. There are many forms. By definition, passion is intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction.

Many athletes express passion for their sport, training hours a day for months at a time. I have a friend passionate for riding his bicycle in the city, so much so that he thinks all cars should be banned from the streets. There are writers, so passionate for their work, so driven to be published, that they isolate and seclude themselves from the rest of the world, focusing only on words and writing.

Then there are wine enthusiasts who relish in the wonderment of the drink. It’s the concept of grapes grown, fermented, aged and released into a beverage that is the perfect accompaniment to a meal, a celebratory occasion, and a quiet night of relaxation. Friends of mine were so overwhelmed by my passion for wine that they recommended I keep a blog to express my emotions.

Yet, passion may also mean suffering. Perhaps wine makers suffer for their craft and livelihood. Many devote themselves to their crops and are prepared to harvest at any time that it is the ideal moment to remove the grapes from the vine, even if that means the middle of the night or in below-freezing temperatures. But when it comes down to it, they do so because of their devotion to viticulture and vinification, and ultimately to the end product.

I recently have met two winemakers who portrayed such enthusiasm, and both were very excited about sharing their practices and ultimately their wines. They don’t compromise integrity nor display any pretense that they are better than the next producer. It’s a sheer love of their product and they live their lives to deliver it to wine drinkers throughout the world.

Mark Vlossak of St. Innocent in Oregon abandoned his practice as a doctor to pursue a career in wine that was developed from a family tradition of drinking wine with meals. Ales Kristancic last night irreverently showed his wines to about 30 people at a special tasting held at Italian Wine Merchants. He followed his family’s long-rooted tradition of superior winemaking.

Each winemaker manifested his love for the profession. It didn’t seem like they worked a day in their lives, but rather cared for their crop, for the unadulterated production of what he wants to share with the world.

It would be wonderful if we all felt so passionate about our day-to-day jobs. But for those who don’t, unwind after a hard day of work with a glass of delicious vino.

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Natural satisfaction

The first time I drank a biodynamic wine was about five years ago at Pure Food and Wine in NY. I recall the wine was sealed with a screw cap and that made me skeptical to try the red vino. To my surprise, my dining companion and I really enjoyed it.

Over the last couple of years, it appears there’s a push towards biodynamic and organic vinification. Yet, as Eric Asimov points out in yesterday’s column of The Pour, not everyone approves of the movement.

“Most damning is the assertion that many wines regarded as natural are unclean, impure and downright bad,” Asimov says.

These adjectives used to describe biodynamic and unfiltered wines are borderline offensive. While I acknowledge that some producers practicing natural approaches to fermentation and viticulture are at risk of a higher occurrence of corked bottles, why would anyone be opposed to drinking something that is not laden with preservatives and chemicals, in addition to a higher level of sulfites? No one opposes organic produce, which also is free from pesticides.

Among biodynamic and natural produces is Movia, which is located in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, bordering Slovenia. Winemaker Ales Kristancic believes in a hands-off approach to his wimemaking, relying on the grapes to essentially produce their own wine. Whites and reds are aged in Slavonian oak casks. The white juice is left to mature on its lees for roughly two years without any manipulation. There is no racking involved, and fining and filtering rely up on the lunar cycle.

Movia’s approach may take the biodynamic efforts to a new level, but the wine speaks for itself. Even the 2002 Movia Veliko Rosso is a superb wine, yet came from one of the most challenging vintages within Italy in recent memory.

You may taste for yourself the fruits of Ales’s labor, but you may also like to attend a special winemaker dinner on June 21 at Italian Wine Merchants where Ales will present and discuss his production methods. There are roughly 10 wines to taste from the 1982 through 2007 vintages, and all are sure to please.

If nothing else, it will introduce to you the world of natural wine and prove the naysayers incorrect.

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Natural goodness

The concept of drinking biodynamic wine is often met by two differing views. On one side, there is a growing movement among those who believe the fewer synthetic chemicals consumed the better. The other side consists of those who believe the addition of fining agents, preservatives, and other enzymes in the vinification and fermentation processes will produce a more pure and perfect wine.

As our culture seeks sustainability, there’s more acceptance to allow the grapes to grow without human manipulation. Sure, winemakers have employed these tactics for years, such as Ales Kristancic of Movia in Slovenia. Still, more farmers are turning towards a natural approach in the vineyard, avoiding man-made chemicals and instead opting for naturally occurring compounds, as well as herbal remedies to treat ailing vines, or no treatment at all but to let nature take its course.

For wines to be considered natural, a few criteria include use of hand-picked, organically or biodynamically grown grapes from low yielding vines, no added sugars, foreign yeasts or sulfites, no fining or filtering, and no acidity adjustments.

Ultimately, it all comes down to taste. Yesterday, I attended the Natural Wine Event at the Astor Center. There were no clear indications on the palate that any of these wines were organic or unfiltered. On a subconscious level, it was nice to know that the wines I tasted were among the most pure I could consume. Yet, just like any other large tasting event, there were some more pleasing than others.

My favorite in the tasting was the 2005 Minervois “La Mere Grand” from Le Loup Blanc in the Languedoc-Roussillon, France. The wine is composed of 60% grenache and 40% syrah. A bottle retails for roughly $23.99.  Also from the winemaker, Alain Rochard, was a 2006 “Les Trois Petits C” Vin de Pays. This wine blended some Spanish varietals with the typical French grapes, and comprised tempranillo, grenache, carignan and alicante. It retails for around $21.99.

One other standout for the day was the 2007 Colombaia Rosso Toscano IGT from winemakers Dante and Helena Lomazzi. It is 100% sangiovese, aged in a steel tank, with no oak. It is a very easy drinking, well balanced wine, with good fruit and light tannins. The bottle goes for $22.99.

Each of the winemakers showcased were present and available to pour their wines and discuss their individual production methods. There were 25 wines to sample in all.

Biodynamic or not, after that much wine it was time to drink water and get something to eat. Of course, I never did ask whether my skirt steak was from grass-fed cow or if the arugula was pesticide-free.

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