JUNE 2021 FEATURED PREMIUM WINES
WINE ONE: J.H. MEYER PALMEIT CHARDONNAY
About: Elgin is located east of Cape Town. Its high elevation, proximity to the coast, cloud-cover, and increased precipitation makes this one of South Africa’s coolest sub-regions. The organic grapes are harvested early in the morning to avoid the afternoon heat. Two-thirds of the grapes are whole-cluster pressed, while the other third is fermented on skins for about a week. Élevage is done in neutral oak barrels for ten months before bottling without fining nor filtration. Only 589 cases were produced.
Taste: This wine is medium gold in the glass. The nose is wise, shrewd, serene. It has aromas of pine nut, dried hay, white tea, yellow apple skins, beeswax, button mushroom, potting clay, and angelica. It is relentlessly complex, like an old tome with multiple endings. Minerals are at the forefront. The palate is rich but with spicy acidity and hints of tannin. It has a brothiness, umami, fatty, almost saline. The finish brings dried pear, heather, macadamia nut, white peony, chaga, ginseng, and myrrh.
Pairing: I’m a sucker for a good mushroom risotto. Here are my tips for adding an extra layer of umami. First, grill some mushrooms on high heat until they’re nearly charred on the outside but not dried out. Once they’ve cooled, run them through a food processor for a couple of seconds. To make the stock, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Once it’s bubbling hard, add the mushroom paste, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the stock come to room temperature. Pour it through a fine-mesh strainer and squeeze the liquid out of the mushroom paste. This will be the perfect base for a properly intense risotto.
WINE TWO: THE HERMIT RAM AMPHORA PINOTS
About: This wine is a blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris grown in the gravels of North Canterbury. The fruit was destemmed and co-fermented in tank. The wine is then pressed off into amphora for élevage. After racking, the wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Taste: This wine is rusty ruby in the glass. It is mischievous, conniving, a trickster in Loki’s ilk. You’ll find aromas of juniper, blood orange, honeyberry, damp rose, reindeer lichen, cool slate, and birch wood. The palate is equally impish with sneaky botanical tannins, a twang of acidity, and buoyant fruit. I admire its tension. It’s an ambush hunter. On the finish, you’ll find further flavours of oxalis, liquorice root, calla lily, wakame, lava stones, apple skins, and hōjicha.
Pairing: There’s an old axiom that ingredients that grow in the same place often taste best together. We’ve got plenty of established examples (Oysters and Muscadet, Lamb and Hermitage, Valençay and Sauvignon Blanc), but we’d like to extend that philosophy to the new world. As New Zealand is the traditional homeland of the Māori, we thought we’d highlight some pre-colonial ingredients we think would pair well with this wine.
Mānuka is not only the source of the delicious eponymous honey but also a source of wood for smoking both proteins (typically birds) and vegetables. Smoked Kūmara (sweet potato) would pair incredibly well with this wine. Pikopiko (fern shoots) happen to be in season right now, and although they don’t typically pair well with red wine, this cuvée is up to the challenge. In the same vein, I rarely suggest pairing seafood with red wine, but Kūtai (mussels), finished with a rich sauce infused with Korengo (seaweed), would be magical.
WINE THREE: FRANZ WENINGER KALKOFEN BLAUFRANKISCH
About: This incredibly unique site represents the westernmost point in central Burgenland. At 350m above sea level, it is their coldest parcel. Kalkofen was once used to produce quick lime thanks to its calcareous Eurendsina soils. Because of the sites ability to retain acidity and its relatively cool mesoclimate, the grapes can be harvested quite late. They were destemmed into open-top wooden vat and fermented on skins for two weeks. The wine was then pressed off into puncheon for nearly two years. Only 150 cases were produced.
Taste: This wine is medium ruby in the glass. The nose is confident, sure-footed, decisive, with aromas of blackberry, cedar, gunpowder, dried morels, blueberry, oyster shells, balsam, leather, and oolong tea. It is regal but feral, heady and perfumed. The palate is expansive with velvety tannins. The acidity balances richness - wrangling the juggernaut, barely. You’ll find saskatoon berry, violets, black liquorice, patchouli, plum skins, and crushed rock on this finish. It will linger if you’re willing to pay attention - haunting.
Pairing: Gailtaler Speck is a bacon-adjacent cured meat produced in the eponymous valley in Southern Austria. Pork bellies are typically brined, cured with garlic, pepper, juniper, and then cold smoked over beech or elder wood imparting a woodsy, herbal quality. Historically eaten on its own as a snack, it also works incredibly well in local dishes like stewed beans. Ultimately, smoky, fatty meats work incredibly well with this wine.
LINK TO PODCAST: MP3 | SPOTIFY (Featuring Brad Royale)