Bored With White Wine? Give a New Grape a Try

It's easy to fall into a wine rut. I love Sauvignon Blanc, but there are times when I just want something different, something I don't drink every day. Same thing with Riesling. Love it to bits, but there are times when I'm not sure I can bring myself to open another bottle.

If you're looking for something new--something that is dry, but not the same old/same old, look for a bottle of the 2008 Schloß Mühlenhof Müller-Thurgau Trocken. ($13.50, domaineLA; available for $11-$14 elsewhere) This dry wine from Germany's Rheinhessen region is like a cross between a Sauvignon Blanc and a Riesling. The grape was created in the late 19th century from a cross of Riesling and a grape called Madeleine Royale (a seedling of the Swiss Chasselas variety). Though the wines made with this grape can be sweet, this is a dry example, and will please people who like their whites to have fruit flavors, but exercise a bit of restraint. It has white nectarine and green apple aromas and flavors, as well as a hint of dry pineapple (I know, but that's what it tastes like) in the aftertaste.

This simple, pleasant wine is very good QPR and a nice change of pace. So if you're bored with white wine, don't get stuck. Just get out there and find something new to tempt your tastebuds.

Muller Thurgau? How Unexpected.

Sometimes, you just don't know what to think of a wine.

When you think "southern Italian white" maybe you think Chardonnay from Sicily. Maybe you think of a more acidic white made to be sipped with seafood fresh from the Mediterranean.

Here's what you're probably not thinking: a blend of Muller Thurgau and Gewurztraminer.

From northern Italy--yes. From Basilicata? No.

Muller Thurgau is one of the "new" grape varieties that was created in the 19th century after phylloxera devastated European grape stocks. It's a cross between Riesling and Silvaner, and as a result it has some of the qualities associated with many wines from Germany and Alsace: good fruit, a flavor profile that can fit anywhere from dry to sweet, and nice acidity. Mix it with some spicy, aromatic Gewurztraminer, and you've got a wine that's big on fruit with a distinctive character.

The only analogy I can make to the 2005 Re Manfredi is that its not unlike a dry Sauternes. ($16.99, Biondivino; between $16 and $28 from other merchants) Made from grapes grown on Monte Vulture, Basilicata's famously extinct volcano, the vines are tucked in around more widely populated Aglianico vines that produce the region's distinctive red wines. The Muller Thurgau seems to like the volcanic soil, and the warm temperatures and marine influence help to shape a wine that smelled deliciously of cocounut, pineapple, and spice. When you sipped the wine, you were bowled over by tropical fruit flavors that had a lot of acidity (so think starfruit, pineapple, and slightly under-ripe papaya). There was a juicy, pineapple-inflected finish and notes of stone and iron. Unlike Sauternes, this wine is medium-bodied so it's not as mouth-coating, nor is it as sweet. If you serve it straight from the fridge the sweetness is actually emphasized, so I would recommend letting this wine come up a bit in temperature so that you can really enjoy the aromas and flavors.

As you can imagine, this wine is a honey with spicy food--and would be especially delicious with Indian food, since its medium body would stand up to dishes made with coconut milk (like South Indian curries). We enjoyed it with some homemade Kung Po Chicken that really went well with the tropical fruit flavors. And the spice in the dish was very nice with the spicy notes that the Gewurztraminer brings to the wine.

No matter how much you know about wine, there's always a surprise around the corner. And I love when a bottle of wine's flavors are unexpected--in a good way.