Steve’s day job is as a vineyard consultant so he tends his own vines in his spare time on Sunday’s (another “S”). Matthiasson works with clients using both organic and biodynamic methods so I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Rudolf Steiner (yet another “S”), the father of biodynamic farming. Matthiasson’s total production is only a few hundred cases and his entire family is involved in the operation. This hands-on, natural approach and attention to detail really shows in the glass with this stunning white blend (my last “S”).

Tasting Notes:

Matthiasson, White Wine, Napa Valley 2006 ($35/sample) - Straw in color with very aromatic pineapple, lychee, fig, almond and spice on the nose. Fresh green apple, citrus and mineral flavors finishing quite long with bracing acidity. A delicious and unique wine that pairs well with food but makes a statement on it’s own.

13.6% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 92
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

So I have seven “S” connections in this post and will now send a shout-out to Erin and Michelle for their great theme. Stay tuned for more Wine Blogging Wednesday news and links to the round-up when it’s posted.

Photo by the Corkdork

But it probably wasn’t just this early exposure to the grape that compelled me to drink more Riesling; it was the complexity and potential for aging of the wines that make this my favorite white variety.

Like my second favorite white Roussanne, Riesling shows well in youth but takes on more complexity with age. I’ve tasted dry Rieslings almost 30 years old that still have youthful bouquet and flavors despite their tawny color. The wines seem to go through some sort of metamorphosis of fruit and floral to fruit, mineral and gasoline, noted by most wine lovers as “petrol.” In the best Rieslings, the wine is supported by a backbone of acidity that can make even a 9% alcohol wine hold up for decades.

Riesling travels but not as well as other noble whites such as Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. While those varieties can grow and produce good wines almost anywhere, Riesling is fickle and only shows it’s magic in specific microclimates.

That’s why I chose the Old World of Northern Europe as the place for this Wine Blogging Wednesday devoted to Riesling. It just seems that Rieslings of every price point are so much better there. I know that the variety can be great in Australia, Washington State, and parts of California, but to truly enjoy the essence of the grape you have to go to Europe.

My two selections tonight are from the Mosel region of Germany. I thought it would be interesting to compare what age does to the variety so each wine is similar in style but 5 years different in age.

Tasting Notes:

Max Ferdinand Richter, Riesling, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 2006 ($14) - Pale straw-green in color with aromas of green apple, wet stone and lime. In the mouth, green apple and citrus flavors give way to a nice mineral note and good acidity. Although dry, the finish gives the impression of slight sweetness due to the vibrant fruit. A nicely done young Mosel Riesling that should improve with some bottle age.

10% ABV
Stelvin closure
Score: 89
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine at domaine 547

Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch, Bernkasteler Badstube, Riesling, Kabinett, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer 2001 ($25) - Light straw color with a bouquet of baked apples, stone and petrol. Bright and fresh with green apple and mineral flavors finishing with bracing acidity. A solid aged Riesling with years ahead of it. Good thing I still have some more bottles in the cellar to taste down the road.

9% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 89
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

So a draw in the scoring but two really nice Rieslings that demonstrate why I love this variety so much. As I post this, nearly 50 other bloggers have responded to my call and have posted some great wines. Once all the entries have been blogged I will write a summary that will hopefully document all the many faces of Riesling. Stay tuned.

It’s almost time for the next round of the Wine Book Club which I am also hosting. Even if you haven’t started reading my pick, William Echikson’s Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution, you can start this weekend and probably have it read by Monday. Or you could read it the next weekend.

Just pick it up soon, read and post your review by April 29th.

The previous two times I’ve hosted, red wines were featured: first lite in alcohol, then full-tilt in the other direction. So this time out, I’ll pick my favorite white variety, Riesling. But not Riesling grown just anywhere, but where the grape first achieved noble status in the Old World: Germany, Austria and France’s Alsace region. In this terroir, the variety produces some of the most interesting and long-lived white wines from bone-dry to lusciously sweet.

Pick any style you like, at any price point, and join me as we explore Old World Riesling on Wednesday, May 7.

To participate, just pick up a wine made from Riesling grown in Germany, Austria or Alsace (OK, Northern Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are also fine) and blog about it. If you don’t have a blog, sign-up and post at the WBW Community Blog. Once you have posted, send me an email at winecast (at) gmail (dot) com with “WBW 45″ in your subject line. Sometime after May 7th, I’ll post an event round-up here.

I hope you enjoy this theme as much as me and pick up a bottle from somewhere you have not tried yet. I think you will be very pleased with the resulting value.

I’ve written about Gary Vaynerchuk here recently and I think his hosting this month will bring a lot more people into the WBW fold. And I think his theme of French Cabernet Franc is a great choice since it’s one that a lot of us wine geeks overlook in favor of more obscure varieties. Most people know of Cab Franc as one of the 6 grapes allowed in Bordeaux red blends but in the Loire, this grape comes into it’s own.

Normally I would head over to Solo Vino in St. Paul and ask Chuck for a recommendation but I found an easier solution this time. Via Twitter, Jill from Domaine547.com picked up the suggestion of a WBW pack of three selections for this month, next month and June. So I clicked a few buttons and purchased 25% of my WBW needs for this year.

The wine in the pack for this month is from Chateau de Hureau in the Saumur-Champigny appellation of the Loire Valley. It is 100% Cabernet Franc and made by Philippe Vatan who tends to 42 acres of vineyard plots scattered around various appellations in the Loire. The common denominator is they all are planted to Cab Franc. If this wine is any indication, I’ll be searching out more from this producer.

Tasting Note:

Chateau de Hureau, Cabernet Franc, Saumur-Champigny 2005 ($17) - Dark purple-ruby in color with aromas of black raspberry, blackberry, menthol and spices. Black currant and dark cherry fruit with white pepper and bell pepper flavors finishing with moderate, but well integrated, tannins. Very full in flavor and palate weight but also has nice green aromas and flavors. I think I’d lay this one down and see what develops in a year or two.

13.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 89
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine online

Thanks to Gary from Wine Library TV for hosting this month and bringing the THUNDER with his post today. I’m looking forward to seeing the round-up of interesting Cabernet Franc to try after my experience here. I also think that Gary’s main point is to get out and try new wines; great advice for any wine lover no matter how geeky they may be…

Next month I’m hosting for the third time and keeping us in the Old World… yes, my favorite white variety is queued up so next time will be special. Hope you join us.

Note: aggregator readers may need to click back to the blog to view this video.

Most people are aware that Cabernet Franc is one of the 6 grapes allowed in red Bordeaux blends but the grape is made on it’s own in other French wine regions. In the Loire valley, red wines are made from mostly Cabernet Franc with the most notable wines coming from Bourgueil, Chinon, Saumur-Champigny and Anjou. Cab Franc is also grown in southwest France. Although this theme might be a bit tougher than the past couple months, most well stocked wine stores should have a few selections to choose from. And you could always buy online.

Join us on April 2nd by posting your tasting notes to your blog or create an account over at our community blog and post there.

Now the ball is in the court of the most famous wine podcaster in the world right now — Gary from Wine Library TV — to announce the theme for next month’s virtual tasting. Knowing him, it will most likely be in video form.

It must have been late 1981 or early 1982 when I stumbled across a small winery named Lytton Springs in my search for the best Zinfandel. This variety had already become my favorite most likely due to the forward fruit in most bottlings that was noticeably different from the Bordeaux and Napa Cabs I was mostly drinking at the time. Since I didn’t yet read any wine publications, I must have chosen Lytton Springs Zinfandel from the recommendation of a wine merchant or, more likely, just at random. From my first experience with the aromas of dark fruit offset by spices and cedar, I was hooked. The layers of flavor and impeccable balance also didn’t hurt either and this became my “benchmark” Zinfandel that all others were judged against.

The Lytton Springs Winery was founded in 1970 after Richard Sherwin purchased the old vine vineyard near downtown Healdsburg, California. The vineyard had been planted around the turn of the 20th Century on lands owned by a Captain Litton who many years before built a hotel catering to Bay Area visitors to the local hot springs. By the time of the vineyard planting, the spelling of his family name had evolved to Lytton.

The vineyard is a classic “field blend” of inter-planted varieties with about 70% Zinfandel, 20% Petite Sirah and the remainder split between Grenache and Carignane. As early as 1972, Ridge Vineyards winemaker Paul Draper made wines from this vineyard but it wasn’t until Ridge purchased Lytton Springs Winery in 1991 that the entire 35-acre property was devoted to Ridge wines. There is a great interview with Richard Sherwin over at Gang of Pour if you are interested in more background on Lytton Springs Winery.

I can’t recall when I made the switch to Ridge Lytton Springs but it was most likely in the early 1990’s. The grace and even elegance of this wine made it stand out to me over another favorite Sonoma vineyard, the famous Ridge Geyserville most recently tasted on my birthday last year. So I was looking forward to getting back to Lytton Springs 2004, a wine I last tasted about 14 months ago but failed to blog here for some unknown reason.

Ridge Vineyards, Zinfandel, Lytton Springs, Dry Creek Valley 2004 ($34) - This wine still displays a youthful purple-ruby color. The aroma profile is classic Lytton Springs: black raspberries & blackberry with fennel and cedar. The flavors are also a mixture of dark fruits with the addition of some blueberry, black pepper and minerality that finishes long with great balance and moderate tannins. Although this wine weighs in at 14.5% ABV, there is no hint of heat on the palate or in the aromas. This is clearly still one of the best Zinfandel’s produced today and is in wide distribution due to production of over 10,000 cases each vintage.

14.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 92
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine online

When I taste this wine today, it takes me back to my earliest memories of noteable wines. In fact, Lytton Springs Winery Zinfandel was the best wine I had ever tasted until it was upstaged by a glass of 1974 Heitz Cellars “Martha’s Vineyard” Cab that I had in 1986. But I still have a warm place in my heart for Lytton Springs Zin that will never be changed.

Kudos go to Joel from Wine Life Today for a great theme and congratulations on the birth of his second child just a few days ago. I’m hoping he can find some time to recount all the stories this month in between his fatherly duties.

Next month some guy from New Jersey named Gary is hosting. Should be fun to see what he’s got in mind.

Instead of choosing a wine region, varietal or constraining the number of words in our reviews, Joel has asked us to choose a wine that we like to unwind with and write about it. In sub-zero Minnesota, that will likely be a hearty Cali Syrah or my sentimental favorite, Zinfandel. Check back on March 5th to see which was chosen.

Next month will not be as challenging but still a bit of a test as Joel is looking for our comfort wines. Here in sub-zero Minnesota, an uber-Syrah sounds about right… or perhaps some Zin; decisions, decisions…

So I ventured to my favorite wine store, Solo Vino, to challenge the staff with an Italian wine from a region I was not familiar with to feature. After a few bottles were suggested, I settled on Tenuta Delle Terre Nere, Rosso 2006 ($17). It’s made from old-vine Nerello grown on the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily.

As soon as the first taste was swirled and sniffed, I knew I was in trouble as the pronounced aromas were difficult to describe in 14 words. How could I describe what was going on with this wine in just seven words? I jotted down my normal review of 25 words or so, then attempted to cut the prose down to a skeletal seven. Nothing seemed to make sense so I settled on the following:

Cherries, earth, raspberries on a dusty highway

14% ABV
Natural cork closure
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine online

This got me wondering if a more straightforward wine would be easier to encapsulate in the meager amount of words allotted. So I picked up the widely available A Mano, Primitivo 2005 ($10) from Puglia. Longtime listeners of my podcast will remember this wine from a couple of years back and I reconsidered another bottle sometime later. But I had not picked up this wine for quite a while so I thought it would be easy to review in just a few words. A twist of the screw-cap closure and taste later, I jotted down the following:

Raspberries, cranberries, tar and spices on horseback

13.5% ABV
Stelvin closure
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine online

Although the A Mano was more fruit driven than the Tenuta Delle Terre Nere, there was still quite a bit going on here. I liked each wine roughly about the same with a slight nod to the Tenuta Delle Terre Nere, Rosso (89 vs. 88 on the 100-point scale). But this experience got me thinking more about wine reviews in general and how I approach them in particular. In the back of my mind, I kept hearing Ryan’s call for wine writing on the internet to be different than the established print model. And for the first time, I confronted a vastly different review structure to work with.

No, I’m not going to review wines here with seven words but I expect my reviews to be less about the actual aromas and flavors of the wine but how they evoke something related to the world around me. Some context about how I came to try the wine in question and how it connects with my life at the time of the tasting. So, ironically, this will lead to more descriptive and less clinical reviews here.

Cheers to Andrew for such a thought provoking and, yes, fun theme. I’m looking forward to getting back into my comfort zone next month with a seasonal theme (at least here in the snowy Twin Cities) from Joel at Vivi’s Wine Journal.

Jack posted a great summary of WBW 41 over at Fork & Bottle. Many excellent whites from Italy’s Friuli-Venezia Giulia region are featured along with some from just across the border in Slovenia (like mine). I’m looking forward to trying many of these selections once the weather becomes more favorable for such vino here in sub-zero Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, my friend Andrew from Henley-on-Thames, announced the theme for Wine Blogging Wednesday 42 as Just Seven Words. Looking more closely, that’s an Italian red wine review in just 7 words. In a word, challenging. But I think I’ve cracked the code after a tough start and might actually try my hand at the more complex wine I started with in my short post tomorrow. As always, you can post your review on our WBW community blog if you don’t have a blog of your own.

And finally, WBW founder Lenn Thompson has announced a contest to create a new logo for Wine Blogging Wednesday. Aspiring creative types have until March 31, 2008 to submit their entries and the finalists will be put to a vote in April. Lots of great wine prizes are to be won along with the glory of being the designer of the WBW logo for the next couple of years.

Hosts Jack and Joanne of Fork & Bottle have chosen white wines made in Italy’s Friuli-Venezia Giulia region as this month’s theme. This region is in the northeastern corner of the country that touches Slovenia. As I found out when I started looking for wines from this area, some Friuli actually comes from Slovenia. Although most well known for their signature Tocai Friulano grape, most wines available from this region here are made from Pinot Grigio. A number of other native Italian white varietals are also produced along with German grapes such as Riesling and Müller-Thurgau.

After finding few choices, I selected the only Tocai Friulano I could find in town, from Movia, their “Gredic” Tokaj Friulano (Slovenian for Tocai Friulano). The winery is located right on the border of Italy with a portion of their vineyard on the Italian side. Since the the winery is in Slovenia, they are not technically in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, but I’m sure Jack and Joanne will not mind. Purchased by the Kristancic family in 1820, this was the only wine estate not nationalized during the country’s communist period. Today, Ales Kristancic carries on his family tradition of producing compelling, biodynamic wine.

Movia “Gredic” Tokaj Friulano (Tocai Friulano) 2004 ($28) - Golden-yellow in color with aromas of ripe pineapple, baked apple, honeysuckle and almond. Rich and thick mouthfeel, with pear, pineapple and mango fruit flavors finishing with tart acidity, a creamy texture and nice minerality. A very unique and full-bodied white that will not appeal to everyone but I think it’s delicious. An outstanding value.

12.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 90
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Thanks once again to Jack and Joanne for a unique theme this time and I’m looking forward to next month when I’ll attempt to review an Italian wine in seven words as suggested by Andrew from Spittoon.

Join us on January 16th by either posting a review to your blog or register and post at our WBW Community website.

Meanwhile, Andrew, the unofficial photographer of WBW, has started a new Flickr pool to share our photos taken for the event. If you want to contribute, just visit the group page and join us.

Watch for the announcement of WBW 41 coming soon…

I think I’ve always loved Petite Sirah because of it’s connection with Zinfandel. In the century old vines of Sonoma, Petite Sirah is often found inter-planted with Zin to make the field blends I love, such as Ridge Lytton Springs. It’s tannins backbone and soft fruit help to bolster Zinfandel and transform the result into something more complex. Another reason I like this variety so much is the best examples are pure fruit bombs.

So I was really looking forward to tasting a few examples of this variety this month. As luck would have it, I received some samples from Foppiano Vineyards, a name like Concannon closely linked with Petite Sirah. My other selection was from a producer I’ve never heard of before but will seek out from my tasting this evening.

Tasting Notes:

Foppiano Vineyards, Petite Sirah, Russian River Valley 2004 ($23/sample) - Dark black-purple in color with aromas of blueberry, plum and licorice. Soft black currant and blackberry flavors with pepper and spices finishing with firm tannins. Textbook Petite Sirah but could use some time in the bottle to soften those tannins.

14.6% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 88
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine online

Peltier Station Winery, Petite Sirah, Lodi 2005 ($18) - Dark purple-black in color with aromas of boysenberry, black raspberry, bacon and fennel. Rich and massive blackberry and blueberry fruit with cracked black pepper, medium tannins and a bit of minerality & sweet caramel on the finish. A blockbuster Pet that I’ll be cellaring to see what happens.

14.8% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 90
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine online

Thanks again to Sonadora for an excellent theme this month. Join us next time when we’ll be exploring an underrated region of Italy.

Meanwhile, Sonadora at Wannabe Wino got the ball rolling on WBW 40 by posting the theme of Petite Sirah. What a great varietal to feature for the final virtual tasting of 2007.

Check back on December 12th to see what I come up with but I think another podcast focused on the grape is in order

Since I favor red wines this time of year, I selected a village wine from Mercurey made by the well known Faiveley family. Listen to the podcast for more details but here are my tasting notes:

J. Faiveley, Domaine de la Croix Jacquelet, Mercurey 2003 ($20) - Deep ruby color with aromas of dark cherry, fennel and sage. Rich black cherry and raspberry fruit with a touch of earth finishing with firm tannins and good acidity. The bold fruit balances the tannins so I expect this wine to improve with a year or two more in the cellar. Alternatively, you could give it a couple hours in the decanter to open up before enjoying. A very good value in Pinot Noir.

13% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 88
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

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Meanwhile across the pond in NYC, Neil from Brooklynguy’s Wine and Food Blog has announced the theme of next month’s virtual tasting as “Silver Burgundy.” Instead of wines made in Burgundy’s Côte d’Or (”slopes of gold”), he has suggested we focus a bit to the south in Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais. These appellations produce fine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir at prices that will not bust your budget. Join us November 14th to find out where the best values in Burgundy can be found.

With those guidelines in mind, I started to look for wines around town and frankly didn’t find a whole lot of choices until I ventured to one of the urban wine stores in Minneapolis. I selected two wines, a white and a red, made by producers I was unfamiliar with and regions I had never tasted before. One of the wines was even made from a grape variety I had not tried, Alfrocheiro Preto.

The white was made in DO Estremadura just northwest of Lisbon from 100% Alvarinho. This grape is mostly known here in the U.S. by it’s Spanish name Albariño and is one of my favorite white varietals. According to a fine piece over at Catavino, Estremadura is the second largest wine producing region in Portugal with 311,000 hectoliters produced annually. This wine is produced by DFJ Vinhos, which seems like a fairly large operation from their website, with a wide range of single varietal and blends, but there was not much else about their background from the sparse information there (in English, anyway).

DFJ Vinhos, “Grand’ Arte” Alvarinho (Albariño), Estremadura, Portugal 2005 ($9 on closeout)

Straw yellow in color with aromas of citrus and white peach. Refreshing grapefruit and mineral flavors finishing bone dry with good acidity. More in the lighter Pinot Grigio style than the ripe and generous Albariño I have come to appreciate more this summer. I think this wine is getting a bit past it’s prime but it’s still a nice example of Alvarinho that would pair nicely with a salad on a warm afternoon.

12.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 86
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

My second selection was more in line with what popped into my brain when I first heard about this theme. A lot of very nice red wines from Portugal are appearing on wine store shelves and this is a nice example of what can be found for less than $15. It’s a blend of Touriga Nacional and Alfrocheiro Preto, two indigenous red varieties. Touriga Nacional is the best known as the lead grape used in Porto but it’s also getting quite popular in table wines. Alfrocheiro Preto is a bit more obscure but is an important grape in the Dão region where this wine was made by a cooperative. The Dão is south of the Douro Valley where their red wines must contain a minimum of 20% Touriga Nacional for some reason.

C.V.R. DAO, Quinta dos Grilos, Vinho Tinto, Dão, Portugal 2004 ($14)

Inky purple-black in color with aromas of strawberry, cherry liqueur, minerals and licorice. Rich in the mouth with juicy raspberry and cherry fruit, a touch of black pepper and plush tannins. A bit like a Petite Sirah in the color, body and tannin department but the flavor profile is more like a Syrah-Pinot Noir blend (think big Cali Pinot). A very satisfying wine that would pair well with roasted meats.

13% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 88
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

So another great Wine Blogging Wednesday comes to a close with two very nice wines to pick up and enjoy. Thanks once again to our hosts this month, Gabriella and Ryan from Catavino . I’m looking forward to next month where we’ll be searching for affordable Burgundy. Look for the announcement soon over at the Brooklynguy’s Wine and Food Blog.

Across the pond in suburban Barcelona, Spain, my ex-pat friends Gabriella and Ryan from Catavino took the cork out of WBW 38 with the theme of Portuguese Table Wines. They have several rules for this one but basically any non-fortified table wine from Portugal qualifies as long as it’s not from the popular Douro appellation, high production rose (think Lancers and Mateus) or Vinho Verde. Looks like I’ll be visiting the folks at Solo Vino for some bottles somewhat off the beaten path this time out.

Join us October 15th 10th to see what everyone has chosen.

I had high hopes to be able to feature some of the hybrid wine grapes developed to withstand the weather extremes here in Minnesota. So I searched out producers of Frontenac, Frontenac Gris, La Crescent, and Marquette. But I came up short on my afternoon of tasting at two local wineries and searching in local wine stores so these “indigenous varieties” will be written about another time.

So my backup plan was to write about my new obsession with Roussanne. As you know from my now daily posts, I’m making a wine from this grape at Crushpad along with many of you. Part of the research before crush is to nail down the style and other characteristics of Roussanne so I’ve been tasting quite a few of these wines of late. One of these wines hails from the Costières de Nimes in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France: Chateau L’Ermitage, “Cuvée Sainte Cécile.”

But before I review this wine, let me back up and talk about Roussanne and what makes this an “indigenous variety.” When Tyler introduced this theme, he asked us to find a wine made with grapes native to the region the wine is made. Unlike other Rhône grapes that are actually from Spain (Grenache being a good example) Roussanne can trace it’s heritage back to France’s Rhône Valley. Sticklers for detail might point out that Languedoc Roussillon is not the Rhône, but Costières de Nimes is just across the river from that famous region, so this wine is technically “indigenous.”

Roussanne gets it’s name from it’s russet color when ripe and is one of the more difficult grapes to grow. A late variety to ripen, Roussanne is very susceptible to rot and mildew. Therefore, it’s one of the most obscure white varieties with only a few hundred acres grown outside of it’s native Rhône. In the northern Rhône, Roussanne can only be blended with Marsanne. In the south, other varieties such as Grenache Blanc and Viognier are also permitted along with Marsanne.

Roussanne is known for it’s unique herbal aromatics and bracing acidity so blending with other grapes is most often what winemakers choose. In California and Australia some are bottling the variety on it’s own but the vast majority of the best examples are taken from the southern Rhône model and blended with Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Marsanne and sometimes Chardonnay.

One of Roussanne’s most interesting aspects is it is one of a few white wines that benefit from extended bottle age. Somewhat like Riesling, the wines are fresh and bold when young but take on very interesting bottle character with 10 or even 20 years of cellaring.

Chateau L’Ermitage is located in Costières de Nimes, literally across the river from the southern Rhône. Along with sea breezes from the Mediterranean, the vines benefits from soil mostly made up of fine pebbles which is typical of this terroir. Chateau L’Ermitage grow traditional Rhône varietals Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Viognier.

Tasting Notes:

Chateau L’Ermitage Blanc, “Cuvée Sainte Cécile”, Costières de Nimes 2006 ($20) - A blend of 70% Roussanne, 20% Grenache Blanc and 10% Viognier.

Very floral and fresh with ripe pineapple, white peach, orange peel and almond aromas. Rich in the mouth with ripe pineapple and pear flavors finishing bone dry with good acidity. A very nice introduction to Roussanne blends at a steal of a price.

13% ABV
Synthetic cork closure
Score: 92
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Thanks again to Dr Vino for a great theme this month. I’m looking forward to tasting some wine from Portugal when my friends Gabriella & Ryan host next time.

Many native grapes are made into interesting wines and Tyler has asked us to pass on the “Big 6″ from France and focus on more obscure wines. Italy would seem to be a good place to look for interesting indigenous grapes but I might stay closer to home and focus on hybrid grapes developed at the University of Minnesota.

Join us next month and pick a wine to blog yourself. All it takes is a couple of minutes to sign-up at the new Wine Blogging Wednesday blog and you can post there when you are ready.

Chardonnay is a delicate grape that is easily dominated by other varietals through blending or, more often, with the addition of French oak. Mostly identified with the great white wines from France’s Burgundy region, Chardonnay can be made in a number of styles depending upon the techniques used by the winemaker. If they are looking for a soft, buttery style, malolactic fermentation (a.k.a. “ML”) is used. For creaminess in the mid-palate and finish, lees aging is done. And to add toast, vanilla and a bit more complexity in the aromatics, barrel fermentation and/or oak aging is added. The default style in California Chardonnay is oaked — some say too heavily — but things are changing in this regard.

My personal preference in Chardonnay is a light touch of oak or no oak at all. My favorites come from France’s Chablis area when fruit, minerality and acidity are center stage and oak is most often in the background or not used at all. So I immediately thought of Chablis when Lenn announced this theme but didn’t have a chance to visit some of the Twin Cities’ urban wine stores to buy a bottle. The wine selected here was chosen from the very few in stock that seemed to be unoaked from their label description and I confirmed this by visiting the winery website where oak is not mentioned in any of the marketing materials. If you are using expensive oak barrels, or even chips, in your Chardonnay you will mention this in the winemaker notes. And the aroma and flavor profile here is consistent with a stainless-only approach.

Hess Collection, Chardonnay, Monterey 2005 ($11) - This 100% Chardonnay features grapes grown in the cooler Monterey AVA in California. The color is a very pale straw with with a tinge of green. Lean citrus and pear aromas with a hint of nuttiness. Simple pear and pineapple flavors finishing clean and soft. An easy drinking quaffer and good value.

13.5% ABV

Synthetic cork closure

Score: 85

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine online

Thanks once again to Lenn for three great years of Wine Blogging Wednesday. I’m sure we will see a lot of great values this time out and a good turnout given the availability of un-oaked Chardonnay these days. Let’s hope this style becomes a trend in the broader market.

First off, a great summary of WBW 35 was posted by Michelle and Kevin over at My Wine Education. About 100 wines were written about by over 40 bloggers. Another great turnout; great job, guys!

Founder Lenn Thompson has announced the theme for the third anniversary of WBW as “Let’s Get Naked.” No, we are not going to taste in the nude (but I guess that’s open to personal preference), but sample unoaked Chardonnay. Since my preference is for high acid, fruit-driven Chardonnay this is again perfect for my palate. Join us on August 8th to see what everyone has picked up to try.

And finally, Lenn has formally announced our new WBW community site. This came out of an IM discussion Lenn and I had several months back to make it easy to keep tabs on everything Wine Blogging Wednesday. I’m also pleased to be included in the charter group of advisors who will help manage the schedule and grow the event to a wider audience. One of the features of this new site is a community blog where anyone can sign up and post their tasting notes. So if you have ever wanted to participate, but don’t have a blog, now is your chance.

I’m looking forward to helping WBW grow over the next year. Thanks to Lenn for his original idea and leadership here.