Quality Wine Standouts

While attending the Quality Wine & Spirits Holiday Show last week, there were a few wines that stood out that I wanted to share.. I hope you enjoy them as I did:

Gruet Winery – A winery from New Mexico… yes, I said New Mexico, that makes some nice non-vintage and vintage sparkling wines.  My pal, Jason, and his wife were already fans of Gruet and after this trip I became one too.  The NV Rose was very nice as was the 2004 Gruet Chardonnay and the 2004 Grand Rose that was “salmon pink” though I thought was closer to a peach hue.  The rose’s are pink due to the limited time the Pinot Noir juice is in contact with the grape skins right after crush.  This also keeps the tannins and other phenolics low, which are generally not desired in these styles of wines.

Tandem/Torbreck - Both wineries are owned by Wine Creek Cellars, who also own Quivira in the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma.  Kim did a wonderful job sharing all the cool winemaker stories about Greg La Follette of Tandem and Dave Powell of Torbreck.  We tried the entire lineup they had to offer and there were many nice wines including a Viognier/Marsanne/Rousanne blend, Chardonnay from Russian River Valley, and some awesome GSM’s (Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre)  from Australia.  The big winner for me and Jason was the 2005 RunRig , made from Shiraz fermented with Viognier in the classic northern Rhone style.  The winemaker, Dave, is well-known for his love for the Rhone style of wine.

Lioco – The 2007 Indica is very interesting, pleasing full of fruit, mouthfeel and pow!  There’s just one funny thing about it:  it’s 78% Carignan? (10% Petite Sirah, 9% Mourvedre, 3% Grenache).  Carignan is more well-known in Italy and Spain but is not a very popular grape, especially since the 1960′s when it was being replaced by Merlot.  The grape is high in aciditiy, tannins, color and bitterness and is not easy to grow, being sensitive to both powdery and downy mildew.  It is also a late-ripening variety requiring generally hot climates.  Turns out Lioco sources its Carignan from some “old vines” planted in 1950′s in California that are still around.  This is a bold wine and was a lot of fun to drink.