The end of 2010 is rapidly approaching so it’s always a good thing to reflect on and be thankful for the good things that happened over the course of the year. We wine people do the same thing with wines as we remember some of the wines that really surprised us and exceeded expectations. With decades of drinking experience, I usually know what to expect from a bottle of wine, but once in a while the color, aroma, taste or texture of a wine may cause your eyes to pop open as you exclaim “Wow, this is so much better than I expected”. In English we refer to this as the “wow factor” and it’s one of the most fun and enlightening of wine experiences.
Great wines with hefty price tags come with high expectations so they seldom surprise us. They are delicious enough when they realize their lofty reputations. It’s the more moderately priced wines that lull us into expectations of mediocrity that on rare occasions greatly exceed expectations and shock our senses with their beauty. Here are some of my wow wines tasted in 2010.
Whether I’m in Asia or in Italy, when I open a bottle of Orvieto white wine I’m usually expecting only a simple dry white wine with little distinction. This inexpensive wine from Umbria in central Italy is made of predominantly trebbiano grapes and is generally considered a good daily drinking wine but nothing more. In Taipei last spring, I was enjoying classic Taiwanese seafood dishes at a small family-owned restaurant that only local gourmets frequent. I brought a few bottles of Italian white wine that match well with the simply prepared, fresh seafood dishes. When one of the island’s most popular dishes, deep-fried oysters with mountain basil arrived at our table I cracked open a bottle of Ruffino Orvieto Classico DOC, 2008. As soon as the cork was released from the bottle unusually aromatic scents of citrus and white flowers enveloped our table. In the mouth, the wine had greater intensity than most Orvieto wines and more persistence. This was by no means a great wine; rather it was the perfect wine for the moment and the food we were eating. It also reminded me that Orvieto wines from top Italian producers are getting better and better.
On a hot summer evening in Shanghai at one of my favorite small French restaurants I prepared to drink a rose wine from the Southern Rhone. The air conditioning wasn’t working particularly well and the room was quite stuffy. My guests and I were enjoying a selection of appetizers including a delicious home-made country pate as we moved from a pleasant white wine to a bottle of Chateau Mourgues du Gres Les Galets Roses, 2009. This is a rose wine made from a selection of typical Southern Rhone varieties including grenache that contributes a fruity zesty quality to the wine. Because they are very sensitive to travel and don’t store very well, most rose wines in Asia lack the fruity liveliness and floral qualities that they offer in abundance when enjoyed close to where they are made. This bottle was an exception as it had all the wonderful fresh qualities that we crave in a good rose. Suddenly the room wasn’t so hot and as I savored the rose wine and closed my eyes I almost felt I was basking in the sunshine of Southern France.
Several years ago the good people of the Italian Trade Office in Taipei also known by the acronym ICE were kind enough to send me to and international wine conference held at a seacoast resort in Abruzzo. Over the course of the conference we had several opportunities to taste the region’s most famous wine, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. This is a red wine made from the montepulciano grape that for many years was considered a decent wine at best. Savoring these wines along the Adriatic Seashore made me realize that the quality of these once dull and fleshy wines had improved dramatically. Recently at a Shanghai restaurant that serves a lovely braised pork belly dish (外婆红烧肉) I opened two bottles of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from Farnese, a top producer. The first bottle was the basic Montepulciano from the 2007 vintage that met and even exceeded expectations. The gentle tannins of the wine beautifully offset the sweet fattiness of the pork. The second bottle was the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG 2004 made of grapes from the most premium region of Abruzzo. The wine so deliciously embellished the flavors of the pork that despite being almost full we ordered another dish and finished both the pork and the wonderfully deep, rich and velvety-textured wine. The wine by itself was excellent, but when paired with the pork dish it once again affirmed the beautiful synergy between many Italian wines and Chinese dishes.
Wine Notes:
Ruffino Orvieto Classico DOC, 2008
“well-made, delightfully lively Orvieto with light straw yellow color, abundant citrus and floral aromas and pleasant unripe yellow fruit flavors with excellent acidity and good purity”
Chateau Mourgues du Gres Les Galets Roses, 2009
“everything one expects in a quality rose, this wine features a pale strawberry-pink color, vibrant nose of red berries with floral hints and intriguing red fruit flavors with a touch of spice”
Farnese Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC, 2007
“offering a fine Italian red wine experience at a modest cost, this wine features a ruby red color, scents of prunes and vanilla and plenty of ripe dark fruit flavors and good persistence”
Farnese Montelpuciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane DOCG, 2004
“top montelpulciano wine with deep brooding ruby-garnet red color, ripe fruity nose with notes of spice and concentrated black and red fruit flavors with hints of spicy dark chocolate and a smooth tannic finish”
