Thursday, March 8, 2012

What happened to me in February?  Not a word to the blog!  Well part of that is that we actually purchase less in January and February than in any other time of the year.  The other part is that we fortunately had a very busy February. 

New wines are rolling in now.  Here is a little about a few of them:

Yesterday Christof Höpler visited the Inn from Austria.  This handsome, young man is both the owner and winemaker for Höpler Winery.  We have a total of zero Austrian wines on our current list, but what did impress me is his description of his wine production area.  He showed me pictures of the temperature controlled stainless steel fermentation tanks that he uses for his wines.  I cannot express enough how important controlling fermentation temperature is to the creation of wines; particularly white wines. 

Longer, cooler fermentation allows the winemaker to make a more balanced wine since the sugars are not consumed as quickly as they would be at warmer temperatures.  This slower fermentation actually allow the winemaker a better chance at stopping the process when he wants to.  In fact, in most white wines, you would want a bit of residual sugar to remain to balance the high acidity of the grapes.  A balance wine is one where you want one sip after another.

As many of you might know, I have the privilege of judging wine competitions now and then.  It is a privilege because winemakers trust the judges with their livelihood and each and every judge takes this responsibility very seriously.  The issues that often flaw white wines go back to the lack of equipment to control fermentation temperatures. Seeing the impressive equipment at the Höpler Winery gave me great hope for some pretty spectacular new wines.

Höpler Guttenberg Grűner Veltliner 2006:  First of all, Grűner Veltliner is the national white grape of Austria.  Cold hearty, it carries many of the characteristics of Sauvignon Blanc and Gewurtztraminer; meaning crisp acidity and some floral characteristics on the nose make this a great wine as the weather warms. At $20 a bottle the wine is a departure and one to explore in the world of white wine.

Höpler Riesling 2008:  If you have ever had the chance to taste a true dry Riesling from Austria, you would expect, and probably find a minerality that is not matched anywhere in the world.  That’s what I was looking for in this wine, and although it is not as pronounced as some, you can sense the chalky soil in which these grapes are grown.  Riesling is one of my favorite wines because it so easily reflects the conditions under which it is grown and it is also such a food-friendly wine.  Also, the grape can make up wines from sweet to very dry.  Few grapes are so versatile.  This is truly a wine of the dry variety and it too is $20.

The third wine from Höpler Winery is Höpler Zweigelt 2007.  Everyone loves a good Zweigelt (actually who knows what a Zweigelt is?!?!?!)  Zweigelt is a hybrid grape variety that is a cross between two Austrian varietals.  Dr. Zweigelt is the creator of the hybrid.  So what’s it like?  It is a deep, dark red wine but it has some really grapy-fruitiness up front with a nice balance dry finish.  Zweigelt is now the most widely grown red grape in Austria and who am I to argue with the population of an entire country?  This wine is also $20 a bottle.

If you’re not a regular visitor to The Wooster Inn, you might not know that each week we have six wines that are special glass pours in addition to the six house wines that we have.  The idea is that this gives our guests the chance to try a wine that they might not have had before.  Certainly the Höpler wines fit that criterion.  Look for these soon or stop in any enjoy a new experience.