Move aside Hondarribi Zuri (of Txakolina fame), there’s a new grape in town.

We were in New York City last week for a wedding and the 2006 Stadlmann Rotgipfler was one of the wines flowing freely. The newlyweds are serious foodies so their choice of the latest, coolest and most obscure grape variety wasn’t too much of a surprise. It’s on all the coolest wine lists: Terrior, WD-50 and sold at the coolest shops: Crush and Harlem Vintage. Still, I had never tried it before and as the President of the Wine Century Club that is practically dereliction of duty.

So what is it like? OK, it was a wedding so I didn’t take notes but I remember it being very aromatic, minerally, grapefruit-citrus – almost like Gruner Veltliner – but more peachy and less peppery. In short, it was an excellent choice - well balanced, elegant but with lively enough acidity to make it food-friendly.

Rotgipfler is also a fairly rare grape variety, with only 292 acres grown in its home in the Thermenregion of Austria and most likely the entire world. Fortunately, the obscurity factor now translates into the value factor with the Stadlmann going for about 15 to 20 bucks.

http://www.stadlmann-wein.at

Although wine is an ancient drink, it’s surprising how very young our perception of it is. Just take a look at our “classic” wine references’ first publication date:
The World Atlas of Wine, Hugh Johnson, 1971
Hugh Johnson’s Wine Companion, 1983
Sotheby’s World Wine Encyclopedia, Tom Stevenson, 1988
The Oxford Companion to Wine, Jancis Robinson 1994
The major […]

Ten years ago. . .
Man walks in to a wine shop and asks for a wine to go with a certain dish.
The clerk replies: “German Riesling”.
Man walks out of wine shop.
Wait, where’s the punch line? The badum-bump? There’s none of that because it’s not a joke. Times were really that hard for […]

When Diesel - the ultra trendy purveyor of $300 (₤160) jeans - decided to get into the wine business this year with equally expensive wines, they got the grape varieties all wrong. Sorry but Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir simply aren’t the vinous equivalent of denim. That honor would go to […]

This article appearded in the June/July 2006 edition of Connections Magazine (Ireland)
Well priced, massively fruit-forward, quaffable Australian wines seem fairly ubiquitous these days, and why not? Who hasn’t picked up a bottle of Jacob’s Creek, Rosemount, Hardy’s, Banrock Station or [yellowtail] lately? They’re the cheap, cheerful, user friendly wines that rescued us all […]

Last month, faster than Boris Yeltsin could say tough shitzki y’all, the Russian government pulled the plug on Georgian wine, banning all imports. Since Georgia exports 89% of its wine to Russia, it’s been devastating to the Georgian wine industry.
The ban continues and has generated a good deal of press but they’re […]

If you’ve caught the wine bug hard, the need to purchase a Laguiole corkscrew may have set in. You may already own one. Simply put, they’re the most elegant (and expensive) way to open a bottle of wine. And now that the reality-based wine community is clamoring for the end of cork in […]

Last week I talked about why it’s a good idea to take wine notes. This week we’ll go through the tasting note for one wine together. To do this properly, you’ll need the following materials:

1 bottle 2003 M. Chapoutier Belleruche Rouge Côtes du Rhône. Its label, like all Chapoutier labels are in […]

If you’re interested in getting better treatment in a restaurant or tasting room, I know of one sure way: take notes. Faster than you can say “expert in the house,” the staff will be falling all over you, indulging your every whim. OK, I’m exaggerating. The real reason to take notes […]

Note: the bulk of this article is an accompanying chart that compares the major scoring systems now used, from 3 stars to 100 point scales (see it online here).
If you watched the movie Mondovino, you may have come away with the impression that the 100 point rating wine rating system is the root of all […]

Congratulations to Tyler Colman, AKA Dr. Vino who has just hit the 100 mark and is now a member of the Wine Century Club. For those of you not familiar with Dr. Colman, he’s a real PhD who teaches wine and politics at NYU and the University of Chicago. He’s also the author […]