New Grape of the Month: Tressallier

Once again, a new grape has crossed my dinner table.

This time it's Tressallier, a grape described by Jancis Robinson in The Oxford Companion to Wine as "a white grape variety grown in the Allier.... It is certainly traditional there, but not unanimously acclaimed nowadays."

Oh dear. Talk about damning something with faint praise.

With some trepidation I pulled the cork on my 2006 Château Courtinat Tradition Blanc. I purchased it from Garagiste for $13.86, and like most Garagiste wines it's difficult to find, although I think this shop may have the 2007 vintage (I'd check to make sure it's not Ch. Courtinat's red bottling before I ordered it).

The wine is made from 70% Tressallier grapes and 30% Chardonnay, and it wowed me. It didn't wow me because it was over-the-top or because it was the best white wine I've ever had, but it did impress me with its pronounced aromas of ripe Bosc pear. The flavors were more tart, full of waxy lemon notes with a bitter aftertaste. The wine tasted fresh and clean and was a nice change of pace from the wash of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. It was lower in alcohol, too, at 12-12.5% alc./vol.

Because of the slightly bitter aftertaste, this wine will be much better with food than without and when you're picking something to pair with it I'd steer towards lemon-inflected poultry or seafood. We had it with a smashing shrimp and goat cheese risotto that included tiny amounts of lemon peel, ginger, and parmesan cheese and the wine was stunning with it.

I should warn you that I'm starting to get a serious crush on wines from the Auvergne like this one. Some are designated as wines from the Loire, and others as wines from the Midi. However they're labeled, I think they're fabulous, unpretentious, and delicious wines with great value. So look forward to seeing more reviews of them here.

Beating the Late Winter Blahs with Gamay

Think Gamay and you probably think Beaujolais. I hope you think real Beaujolais, but maybe you think Beaujolais Nouveau, the grapey brew that arrives just before Thanksgiving in time for your leftover turkey sandwiches. Gamay is one of the world's most food-friendly and affordable red wines. It's also the perfect wine for beating back winter blahs and blues. (image from Kobrand USA)

The next time you're in the wine store, I want you to keep your eyes peeled for Gamay. But don't just look for Beaujolais bottlings. Look for a Gamay from the Loire. The Loire also has a strong tradition of cultivating this old grape variety. Gamay is grown throughout the Loire, and it tastes a bit different from Beaujolais examples. This isn't surprising, but it confirmed my sense that the Gamay variety can have the same interesting variations from region to region as the finest Pinot Noir--at a far more affordable price.

I recently tried an excellent QPR Loire Gamay: the 2006 Chateau Courtinat Tradition. Made exclusively from old vine grapes grown in the Saint Pourcain VDQS, I bought this from Garagiste as a future for just under $12 ($11.84 to be exact) in the fall. It's no longer available through Garagiste, and I unfortunately can't find it elsewhere on the web. But I wanted to write about it anyway because it was so distinctive--and so good.

It had a beautiful deep ruby color, just like your favorite Pinot. There were lovely aromas of raspberry, cherry, earth, and mushroom with a pronounced whiff of iron. The flavors were perfectly balanced between fresh red fruits, earthiness, and mouth-watering acidity. I liked the silkiness of the wine, and the mineral taste, that reminded me of iron, that hung around in the mouth after you swallowed. The sense of depth in this wine belies its 12.5% alc/vol indication. This may not pack an alcoholic punch, but it certainly isn't a lightweight in the taste department.

At a time when many of us are struggling with the late winter blahs, Gamay is a perfect wine choice. It's not too light, it's not too heavy--it's just right. It will be just as good now with a bowl of soup as it will be in a month or so with ham (if that's what sits on your spring table) or even in June with some BBQ. Right now, you can give yourself a nice jolt of the summer eating to come by preparing a Greek pasta dish with olives, capers, tomatoes, feta cheese and lots of parsley. It will blow some of the cobwebs out of your winter diet, and the garlic and feta are just lovely with the smooth, cherried flavors of the wine.

It's time to bring some excitement back to your wine list, and your table. All the things that make Gamay a perfect fall-into-winter wine make it a perfect winter-into-spring wine as well. Drinking Gamay is kind of like putting your wine habits on daylight savings time--it's a sure sign of spring.