Unfiltered, Unfined

In Europe, delineation of terroir has been a two-millennium exercise. Southern hemisphere commercial winemaking has only hit its stride in the past few decades, and obviously much work remains to be done. But the territories involved in the south are so vast and widely separated that significant regional differences have already evolved. Thus, some trends and generalizations are now evident.

…while I’m able to fit most of the bottles I like into various themes there are some that I’m unable to shoehorn into tidy cubbyholes. Some were tasted too soon after a column about similar wines. Others require a delay to allow importation into the U.S. of the current vintage. Some even occupy the niche of true oddball without compare. Regardless of reason, what follows are notes on some of my favorite sample bottles, not easily categorized, that I’ve tasted over the past several months.

I’m finally home for a bit, and I have to confess I’m pretty happy about that. Not only can I relax and recharge in familiar settings, but I can also tackle the mountain of wine samples that have accumulated in my absence. Thus, what follows are recommendations based on samples I’ve tasted in the past week or two. This time I’ll focus on whites and rosés, with other selections (including red wines) in upcoming weeks.

While big, red wines have their place in the wine lifestyle most bottles worth opening on a warm porch will probably be either white or pink. Whites and rosés are generally lighter than most reds. However, as we’ll see later, there are definitely red wines that deserve a vernal mention. And of course, in order to be properly poundable, prices must be reasonable.

Rosé, pink wine that is relatively dry, usually gets short shrift. This is probably because we’re accustomed to thinking of wine as either white or red. In fact, there’s a whole universe of blush out there, and many of them rival the quality of those boring old whites and reds at a fraction of the cost.

In a few weeks summer officially starts, and this change of seasons seems to alter other elements of life, as well. Meals tend to be quick and light and our beverages follow suit. Wine is no different, and an important part of vinous enjoyment is cracking open bottles that particularly complement warm weather, lighter food, and long, outdoor evenings.

While European grapes rule the wine world, they can also express themselves quite favorably when grown in climes other than home ground: those portions of the southern hemisphere that are, weather-wise, somewhat equivalent to Europe (roughly Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile and Argentina). These areas excel at producing those same varietals, albeit with unique expressions based on varying terroir and winemaking tradition.

A couple of months ago I did a column on Cabernet Sauvignon (see Cabernet Sauvignon for the People). About a month ago I penned one on non-California wines (see Wines From Places Other Than California). So, in the spirit of Pablo Picasso, who is reputed to have said that good artists borrow while great ones steal, I now give you Cabernet Sauvignon that is not from California.

To me, wine clubs are like any other business. There are good ones, and then there are others that cheapen the breed. There’s only one way to ensure that a club’s wines will fit within your personal profile: taste, taste, taste. If you can’t taste the wines then it’s a huge gamble.

For the record, I’ve always loved screw caps for wines not requiring additional age, and there’s no arguing with the fact that wines stoppered in this way retain tremendous freshness and suffer much less taint than those under cork. But I’ve not been convinced that these systems work for age-worthy wine, which admittedly is less than one percent of the world’s production.