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.

Send in the Clones

In the movie Multiplicity, Michael Keaton’s character is cloned to help him become more productive. To be even more productive, he clones his clone to add another hand. Finally, the cloned clone is cloned with diminished results! The final clone resembles the original, but is a poor substitute.

I sort of felt this way about the second wine I had at Thanksgiving, the Stone Hill Chardonel . That’s not Chardonnay, but Chardonel, a cross between Chardonnay and Seyval blanc.

Seyval blanc is a hybrid grape made from a cross of two strains of something called Seibel , a grape variety developed in France in the 1950’s.

The wine from this blend resembled Chardonnay slightly. But it left a lot to be desired in aroma and flavor. Sometimes the real thing can’t be made better!

2006 Stone Hill Chardonel Tasting Notes:

Color:
A faint yellow

Aroma:
Could be the Seyval blanc, but it smelled more like Viognier than Chardonnay. No pear or apple, but maybe some citrus could be detected.

Taste:
The wine tasted slightly like a Viognier, without the pleasant mouth feel. There was a good amount of oak. Definitely not the oaky Chardonnay I like to have with my white turkey meat.

Seyval Blanc from Missouri

I had two wines from Missouri on Thanksgiving. Both were white and both were made with the grape hybrid Seyval Blanc. Seyval Blanc is an ideal grape for Missouri as it withstands the cold much better than classic grapes like Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. This grape also buds early and early ripens early, making it even more suited to the region.

The two wines I had were from one of the oldest wineries in Missouri (almost the oldest in the US,) Stone Hill Winery. This winery began in 1847. By 1866 it was the second largest winery in the whole US and had won national and international recognition for its wines. During Prohibition, grapes still grew on the property, but they were used for jelly. The underground cellars were used to grow mushrooms! The winery began to come back to wine making prominence in 1965 and is today one of the successful wineries of Missouri.

The first wine I had containing Seyval Blanc was the 2006 Steinberg White .
This wine is a blend of Vidal Blanc, Seyval and Vignoles. The winery describes the wine as a “German-style white” and it did remind me of a Riesling. But the wine also strongly reminded me of Viognier. The wine didn’t have quite the viscous mouth feel of a Viognier, but the distinct flavor was there.

Tasting Notes:

Color:
Pale yellow

Aroma:
Viognier like, not floral but still like a viognier

Taste:
Slightly sweet, light citrus but definitely reminded me of Viognier.

This wine was enjoyable with the Thanksgiving turkey, similar to the way a Riesling is. I could sip this wine by itself and enjoy it.

Different Wines for Thanksgiving

Salubrious Missouri:

Guess which US state the following wine descriptions belong to:

• The second largest producer of wine in the United States
• Produced wines that earned medals in national and international competitions
• Its wines “stunned critics” in Paris and Vienna
• Was granted the first American Viticultural Area (AVA)

Would you believe Missouri? This area of the country had a thriving wine industry back in 1866, when it was ranked #2 in US wine production. Disease (like Phylloxera ), overproduction, local prohibition laws and finally national Prohibition did Missouri wineries in by 1888.

The state has made a come back starting in the ‘70s and ‘80s. Today, there are more than fifty wineries, some producing wines of outstanding quality. The harsh climates of Missouri have forced the growers to use non-classic grapes. Many unusual sounding hybrids like Seyval blanc, Vidal blanc and Vignoles thrive here. Wines made from these grapes aren’t rustic tasting off varietals, but interesting wines worthy of a taste.

I’ll be trying two of these wines today, Thanksgiving Day, at my sister's house. She went to a family reunion with her husband in Missouri this summer and brought back these wines. I’m looking forward to trying a blend of the previously mention three grapes that’s supposed to resemble a Riesling. There will also be a Chardonnay / Seyval cross called Chardonel. My tasting notes will follow in the next couple posts.

Have a great Thanksgiving Day! I hope you have some great wine.

An Early Young 2002 Wine

Temprano: Spanish for early
Crianza: The youngest; Spanish for something that is raised or nursed

My favorite Spanish region is Rioja because of the Tempranillo grape. Wines made from this grape are somewhat light, unlike a Zinfandel which is usually grown in hot climates like Spain. The alcohol levels are low to medium. Cherries are the common flavor associated with a young, or Crianza, Tempranillo wine. Such is the case with the 2002 Montecillo Crianza I had last night.

Bodegas Montecillo was founded by Celestino Navajas in 1874 in the town of Fuenmayor. Thanks to the expertise that his son Alejandro acquired in France, the bodega was one of the first to adapt Bordeaux winemaking techniques (like aging in oak) to Spanish grapes.

Tasting Notes: 2002 Montecillo Crianza ($9.99)

Color: Ruby red

Aroma: Syrah like smell

Taste: Slight cherry flavor, not sweet or sour, just a hint of the fruit. The tannins are light. No oak detected despite the wine being aged a year in oak barrels. The medium alcohol level of 13% is well balanced.

Finish: Light tannins and a finish that lingers. The wine went well with dinner, but when sipped afterwards, the taste stayed for several minutes after swallowing. A pleasant after taste that made me want to take another sip.

I liked this wine, but then I'm partial to Tempranillos. I had the wine with a sausage soup made from mild sausage, chicken broth and tomatoes. Though a mild Zinfandel may have gone better with the soup, the pairing was alright.

If you're looking to try a nice Tempranillo from Rioja, the Montecillo wouldn't be a bad start. However, my favorite is from one of the best producers of Rioja: Cune.