Uncommon White Wines

Zenato San Benedetto Trebbiano di Lugana (Turbiana) 2022 Lombardia, Northern Italy @ $17.99: Winemaker Notes: Pale lemon-green in color, San Benedetto Lugana offers appealing notes of peaches, citrus, bananas, and herbs, which are underscored by crisp acidity and supple body on the palate. Pair this wine with grilled skate, risi a bisi, carbonara dishes and roasted chicken.

Trimbach Gewurztraminer 2017 Alsace, France  @ $29.99: Winemaker Notes: [Gewurz is often an aromatic, sweet smelling wine like Muscat, Riesling and Torrontés. This bottle’s] dry personality makes it ideal as an aperitif and it pairs extremely well with specialty cuisine with pronounced flavors. Gewurztraminer is a fine accompaniment for fish or seasoned meats, spicy and exotic dishes [e.g. Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine], soft cheeses (such as the famous Munster), and a plethora of desserts. James Suckling: Attractively fused florals and white peaches with lychees and apricots. The palate has a very fleshy feel with rich and juicy texture and smooth peaches and apples. Lightly sweet, full-ish finish.

Wine.com: he best wines of Alsace can be described as aromatic and honeyed, even when completely dry. The region’s “noble” varieties, the only ones permitted within Alsace’s 51 Grands Crus vineyards, are Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, and Pinot Gris.

Riesling is Alsace’s main specialty. In its youth, Alsace Riesling is dry, fresh and floral, but develops complex mineral and flint character with age. Gewurztraminer is known for its signature spice and lychee aromatics, and is often utilized for late harvest wines. Pinot Gris is prized for its combination of crisp acidity and savory spice as well as ripe stone fruit flavors. Muscat, vinified dry, tastes of ripe green grapes and fresh rose petal. Other varieties grown here include Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chasselas, Sylvaner and Pinot Noir—the only red grape permitted in Alsace and mainly used for sparkling rosé known as Crémant d’Alsace. Most Alsace wines are single-varietal bottlings and unlike other French regions, are also labeled with the variety name.

Domaine Weinbach Pinot Blanc 2020 Alsace, France @ $31.99: Winemaker Notes: The vibrant Pinot Blanc launches with delicate aromas of orchard fruits and white blossoms. Well-structured, crisp, and perfectly balanced due to an interesting contrast between the freshness of the acidity and the ripeness of the fruit. Ending on a firm and persistent finish. James Suckling: Succulent, dry with tons of fresh-pineapple aroma, but also delicate garden-pea freshness. Good concentration on the medium body, the finish long and lively.

Barco del Corneta Verdejo 2020 Rueda, Spain @ $32.99: Classic Vins: Barco de la Corneta has established itself as one the greatest Verdejo in Spain in just a few years. Although not the usual fresh, aromatic Verdejo, Barco de la Corneta shows subtle fruit complexity, star anise and some soft spices from the oak aging. The texture is rich, but yet balanced and there is a gentle bitterness that offers it a great dimension.

Wine Folly: Verdejo wines can be made into two distinctive styles. Most often, you’ll encounter Verdejo as a ready to drink, light and crisp wine with herbaceous notes and fresh fruit flavors [high shoulder bottles]. However, when Verdejo sees more oxygen during fermentation (usually during oak-aging) [low shoulder bottles like ours], the resultant wine becomes much more full-bodied and somewhat nutty, with additional notes of almond and honey.  https://winefolly.com/tips/types-of-wine-bottles/ Verdejo produces subtle, refreshing whites wines with flavors of lime, grapefruit, grass, fennel, and almonds. Similar to Sauvignon Blanc, it has high acidity and some green flavors, but takes on a richer, nuttier feel when aged, either in bottle or barrel.

Valdespino Inocente Fino Dry Sherry (Palomino) Jerez, southern Spain @ $21.99: Wine & Spirits: Inocente is one of the only Fino Sherries (and perhaps the only one) that still follows the tradition of fermentation in wood. The slow exposure to oxygen as it ages in barrels increases the wine’s aromatic complexity, the notes fanning out beyond salt and citrus toward herbs and smoke. It feels tense and firm, driven by electric acidity, ready for tapas, like boquerones or fried baitfish.

Styles of Dry Sherry Wine - Jackson Rohrbaugh

·     FINO & MANZANILLA: These are the lightest styles of Sherry. These age, for as few as two or as many as ten years, under a layer of flor and when bottled are meant to be consumed right away. They are delicious with olives, Marcona almonds, and cured meats. With oysters, Fino and Manzanilla Sherry vie with Champagne as the greatest pairing on earth.
Try González-Byass’ classic Tío Pepe Fino for a light, crisp classic. For something more funky, try the single-vineyard Valdespino’s Fino Inocente or Hidalgo’s La Gitana Manzanilla En Rama, which is bottled straight from the cask without filtration. Serve Fino and Manzanilla cold for the best results.

·     AMONTILLADO: When a Fino’s layer of flor fades or the wine is intentionally fortified to a high strength, it begins to oxidize and change character. This is an Amontillado Sherry or, simply put, an aged Fino. These wines have some of the salty bite of a Fino but with a darker color and a nuttier, richer finish on the palate. Amontillado Sherry is also a versatile food wine, sidling comfortably up to prawns, seafood soup, roast chicken, or a cheese plate.
Try Lustau’s Los Arcos for a rich, stylish classic, or Williams & Humbert’s Jalifa 30 year-old VORS for something intense and unforgettable.

·     PALO CORTADO: This is a strange, beautiful and less common style of Sherry that occurs in certain circumstances when flor yeast dies unexpectedly and the wine begins to take on oxygen. A Palo Cortado has some salty character, but its body is richer and more intense. Palo Cortado can behave like an Amontillado on the palate but often shows a great balance of richness and delicacy.
Try Valdespino’s Palo Cortado Viejo for something delicious and complex, or Hidalgo’s Wellington 20-year for a showpiece.

·     OLOROSO: Oloroso never develops flor. Instead, all the flavor in these wines comes from the interaction of wine and air. Usually oxidized wine is considered faulty, but when left for five to twenty-five years, the wine in a Sherry solera will develop into a full-bodied, dark and expressive substance that begs to be enjoyed with braised beef, bitter chocolate, and bleu cheese. Oloroso Sherry is aromatic and spicy, and can drink like a finely aged bourbon.
Try González-Byass’ Alfonso for an archetypal Oloroso, or Fernando de Castilla’s Antique for something rareified and memorable.

There’s no other wine that offers the age and complexity of Sherry for the price.

The Fortified Wine in the Age of Exploration

When sailors roamed the oceans in the Golden Age of exploration, they always brought alcohol with them. Water was disease-ridden and unreliable, and wine or rum was added to water for its antiseptic properties.

Since casks of wine would spoil after weeks in the hot tropical sun, merchants added brandy to their barrels to “fortify” the wine and protect it. British began to prefer their wine this way and their merchants set up shop in Jerez de la Frontera, where they began to fortify the local wines for shipping.

It helped that Sir Francis Drake had raided the port of Cádiz near Jerez in 1587 and seized a few thousand barrels of Sherry. Upon his return to England, Drake’s stolen wine became all the rage and gave the wines of Jerez a devoted market.