A Cheap Experiment

I was killing some time this weekend while I was waiting to pick up my son. While he finished his Magic tournament, I was browsing the wine isle of a nearby grocery store. A bottle on the discount table caught my eye. First, the price was only $3.29 and second, one of the grapes in it was one I haven't had before: Müller-Thurgau (# 56 towards my Century count.) I didn't expect much from this purchase but thought it would be a cheap way to start learning about the grape. I'm afraid I'm more confused now!

It appears that Müller-Thurgau is not held in high regard. This grape is a cross of Riesling and Silvaner created by Dr. Hermann Müller in an effort to bring the quality of Riesling to the productivity of Silvaner. I read in several places that the grape is great for growing in colder regions of the world because of it is early ripening and very productive. However, comments like "Müller-Thurgau has never been known for quality and is almost single-handedly responsible for the decline of Germany as a world power in fine wine production" made me wonder about how wine made from this grape would taste.

The wine I bought off the discount table was a Ludwig Neuhaus Piesporter Michelsberg made from 70% Riesling and the remainder from Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner. The first taste was sweet, but it wasn't an overpowering sweetness like I've had with other off-dry Rieslings. The wine had a different flavor, that I can only describe as nut like, though that doesn't quite fit. The wine was more interesting than I expected. The sweetness was balanced by acidity and changed into the "nutty" flavor. The finish, though laking any tannins, left a sour apple flavor. I was surprised at how much I liked the wine.

The sweetness didn't quite allow it to go well with food, but maybe I just didn't have it with the right dish. We had spaghetti noodles with asparagus, zucchini and tomatoes that had been sauteed in garlic and olive oil. By itself, this was a great sipping wine. I think it would be great to serve before dinner.

My lingering confusion comes from enjoying the wine so much but paying so little (I may be falling into the high price = good wine trap.) Also comments like:

"Piesporter Michelsberg is a sub-region of the Mosel surrounding Piesport, not a vineyard. The wines under this declaration mostly come from flat mediocre vineyards at best, and is almost always of very, very, very poor quality."
How to select German fine wine

make me wonder if my palate just isn't experienced enough.

Have you tried a Riesling with Müller-Thurgau that was enjoyable? Especially let me know if you've tried the wines from Ludwig Neuhaus. If I find any bottles of this left when I go back to the grocery store I plan to pick them up. This would make a great wine for the coming hot Sacramento weather.

Related Note:
Last week, Mike Dunne from the Sacramento Bee had an article on Riesling. One of the things he mentioned was an idea to use color coded circles on bottles of Riesling to help consumers know what kind of a Riesling they are buying. Colors "ranging from green for a perceptibly dry Riesling to red for a dessert Riesling, the sweetest of the genre," were suggested. Read the article and let me know what you think.

Tasting Notes:

2005 Ludwig Neuhaus Piesporter Michelsberg Qualitatswein (9% alcohol, $3.29 on sale)

Color:  Light golden yellow

Aroma:  grass

Taste:  light sweetness, nutty flavor; both blend well with the acidity

Finish:  slight sour apple

Savings the Best for Leftovers

One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. Seriously. I can never get enough of my wife’s turkey, gravy and stuffing. Turkey sandwiches with stuffing make spectacular lunches. The day after Thanksgiving we all fix our own plate of leftovers for the evening meal.

This year, I tried some different wines with the Thanksgiving dinner, so I was ready for something more traditional with the leftovers: a Riesling. The wine was called Saint M, imported by Chateau Ste. Michelle from Germany. The attractive aqua bottle caught my eye and the $10 price tag sold me. I’m so glad I bought this wine.

I found the inexpensive ($9.99) wine at Cost Plus World Market when I was shopping for Beaujolais Nouveau several weeks ago. The wine is a made by the German winery estate Dr Loosen (pronounced loh-zen), a maker of fine German Rieslings for over 200 years. Ch. Ste. Michelle has been making Rieslings themselves from Washington grapes (anyone had one?) and has added to their line by importing the Dr. Loosen. I’m glad they did.

The 2005 Saint M Riesling comes entirely from the warm and sunny Pfalz region of Germany, directly North of Alsace. Summers in the Pfalz region are long and warm while rainfall is light, contributing to the region's "ripe fruit character."

The Saint M is a heavenly Riesling with just a touch of sweetness. I don’t like the styles of Riesling that have a lot of sweetness. Rieslings are more enjoyable when the minerality of the Riesling and the crispness of the acidity win out over a slight presence of sweetness. The bottle of Saint M is labeled on the back as “Qualitätswein,” a general term to describe wines made from late-harvest or overripe grapes. I’m not sure if the term is attributed to the level of sweetness in the wine.

The quality and price of this wine make it a winner.


Tasting Notes:

Color:
Pale straw yellow

Aroma:
My challenged nose could only detect something like melon.

Taste:
As mentioned already, there is a slight sweetness. I don’t know how to describe the other flavors, unless it is the minerality, but they are the flavor I find in Rieslings that makes Riesling a favorite white wine for me.

Finish:
The “minerality” lasts for a while after you’ve swallowed, a pleasant reminder of this enjoyable wine.