It's been a few weeks since our editors and contributors submitted anything for WWD, but we're back this week with a vengeance. This is what we've been drinking:
Tom Mansell: Movia 2006 "Lunar" Ribolla Gialla
"Wine is sunlight held together by water," said Galileo, famously.
This wine, however, is marketed as being made by the moon.
Movia Lunar is made with minimal human intervention (aside from the manual harvesting and destemming). Ribolla Gialla grapes from vineyards straddling the Italian-Slovenian border are put into specially-designed Slovenian oak casks and allowed to undergo whole-berry fermentation. After several months of fermentation with native yeasts, the wine is bottled at the full moon without filtration and without sulfite addition.
The long fermentation with skin contact gives this wine a slight orange tint, while the lack of filtration leaves it quite cloudy. The leftover lees that lingers in the bottle imparts a distinct "fermentation bouquet" (the smell of still-fermenting wine, which to me comprises a handful of fruity esters including banana), and an overall yeastiness. A look at the slight residual spritz confirms that "still-fermenting" is not too far off.
Under all this, though, a nice orange peel aroma shines through, with potpourri spice. Tea-like aromas and slight astringency show up on the palate, which is not surprising due to the prolonged skin contact. There's a slight oxidative note on the finish, also not surprising given the lack of sulfur addition and months in oak. Apparently, the winemaker recommends decanting this wine, which we did not do. Perhaps this would alleviate the spritz and yeast-related issues.
Overall, this is a nice wine that is certainly interesting, but not the life-changing experience that some would make it out to be. There are other great orange wines out there, including the ones made by Long Island winemaker Chris Tracy at Channing Daughters. If you're familiar with wines made with this Friulian-Slovenian fermentation technique, then this wine may not be such a unique experience. I suppose the uniqueness comes from the completely non-interventionist approach and use of lunar cycles to optimize bottling efficiency, if you're jazzed about that sort of thing.
There is a lot of debate and discussion about natural and biodynamic winemaking in the wine writing world lately. Over the next few weeks, I'll be working on a series of posts that will address the scientific merits of some of these practices, trying to separate the legitimacy from the... er... lunacy.
Evan Dawson: Domaines Ott 2008 Cotes de Provence Rose Chateau de Selle
The remedy for the crush of summer heat always seems to be a refreshing rose, and the more I drink of Provencal rose, the more I feel it's the unchallenged leader in the field.The salmon-colored roses from southern France seem to bring a bit more complexity -- not that we're looking for too much when it comes to rose. But this wine is a fine example of what Provence does so well: Gorgeously floral rippled with a strange little mix of fruit. Melon! Raspberry! Cool stuff.The shallow side of my wine-loving self loves the packaging: a bottle shape unique to the producer, and a wickedly slick cork.
Packaging matters, if you're interested in selling what you make.
Julia Burke: Itsas Mendi 2005 Txakolina
I was in a spirit of celebration over a new job as I browsed the shelves of a local wine shop this weekend.
When I noticed a bottle of Txakolina, a hard-to-find white wine from the Basque region of northern Spain, I snatched it up and immediately began planning an arrangement of goat cheese and Spanish olives for a festive summer treat.
A rich golden hue with a tinge of green, this lovely and complex white shows notes of honeydew, toasty straw and lime, with a beautiful backbone of oceany minerality.
Acidic yet soothing on the palate, it's resiny and exotic with a continued vein of pebbly austerity. At $27 it's a white for a rather special occasion, but it's one of the most interesting and delicious Spanish white I've encountered. Though the wine was perfect with my planned meal of olives and cheese, I imagine it would be equally good with Portuguese sardines -- and best enjoyed by a lake or sea.
Lenn Thompson: Ithaca Beer Company Ground Break American-Style Saison
Last week, Nena and I spent a few days in Ithaca to celebrate our five-year anniversary -- because the Finger Lakes region is one of our favorite vacation spots and we'd never spent any real time in Ithaca.
We tasted plenty of wine on both sides of Cayuga Lake, but instead of singling out one of those bottles, I'd like to talk a bit about Ithaca Beer Company, located just south of town and just south of Buttermilk Falls.
I mention the falls because we hiked up and around them in the extreme, relentless heat and when we were done, I wanted refreshment. Sweat-soaked and overheated, we drove down the road to the brewer and found just that.
Tasting through the lineup, from the summery Partly Sunny wit to the deliciously hoppy Flower Power, we cooled off quickly (even if their AC was out). My favorite that day was the "American-Style Saison" called Ground Break. Tasting more like a Belgian Pale Ale to me, but regardless, it's what I went back to our B&B with. Lightly spicy with some grain-rye notes and a little citrus and nice hoppy character on the finish, it really hit the spot after battling the sun and heat.
The heat waves continues...and I hope I can find this one locally here on Long Island.
Interesting line up...and Tom, CAN'T WAIT for your posts on natural/biodynamic. Was wondering when you would tackle this!
Posted by: Sasha | July 13, 2010 at 09:14 PM
Tom, I've had Movia Ribolla and Merlot and found them both to be delicious and fascinating - but I dig some dirt in my wine. Will have to check out this one, and I also can't wait to read your thoughts on biodynamic wine.
Lenn, so glad you liked Ithaca! One of my favorite New York breweries and truly a staple here in Buffalo. Flower Power and Caskazilla are classics for the hop-heads and Ground Break is a terrific seasonal. Nice tasting room vibe, too - can't go camping in the FL without stopping by for a growler to enjoy by the campfire.
Posted by: Julia Burke | July 14, 2010 at 08:03 AM