Montauk Club Wine Class Goes Above and Beyond

Beyond the big six reds, that is. We decided to explore some red varietals that we often run across on restaurant menus but know very little about. So our August 19 travels took us to the Finger Lakes right here in New York to try a Hermann J. Weimer 2007 Cabernet Franc (12.5% alcohol). Then we headed off to the Left Coast for a Rosenblum 2006 Zinfandel from Paso Robles, California (14.9% alcohol) and finally a David Bruce 2005 Central Coast Petite Sirah (13.8% alcohol). Once again, there weren't many of us at the class, but we had quite a bit to say. Perhaps because bottle #1 in our blind taste test turned out to be the mighty zinfandel. Here's what we thought going from lightest to fullest bodied.

Some of us thought we recognized the cabernet franc right away because of its more translucent color compared to the other two wines. Also, it seemed not to have a leg to stand on. The blend of fruit and cranberry aromas gave it a lighter, subtler smell. True to its more northern location on the flavor map, it had a brighter, more acidic taste with winter fruits and vegetables like cranberries and rhubarb showing through. The mouth feel was so silky that the wine literally slid across the tongue.

The petite syrah actually turned out to be lighter bodied than the zinfandel, although that's not what we expected from reading Andrea's description. Its legs did not quite have the viscosity of the zinfandel's, but they did have plenty of color. We would describe the mouth feel as satin. Unlike the other two wines which were quite fruity, the petite syrah had a bit of floral scents and bittersweet chocolate mixed in with the aromas of blueberry and bubble gum. This combination even reminded one among us of tuna fish! In the taste department, we picked up again on the bitterness and earthy tones in the pronounced finish.

The big power house turned out to be the zinfandel. The strong grape jelly smell together with the high alcohol content really grabbed us, and since this turned out to be the first wine in our blind tasting, it was a wonder we could pick up on any scents with the other two. The same held true for the flavor which was concentrated like dried figs and molasses accented by tobacco and tar. Needless to say, it felt like velvet coating our tongues. Even though we expected the petite syrah to be fuller bodied, we recognized this as the zinfandel from Andrea's description of "decadent fig".

And our favorite? Well, we were evenly split between the petite syrah and the zinfandel. (No namby pamby cabernet franc for us!)

At our next class on September 17, instead of venturing into the great unknown, we're going to review some of our basic concepts. To make up for August's big red foray, we'll be having an all whites class while we compare dry and sweet rieslings and crisp and not-so-crisp sauvignon blancs. In case you want to do a little hands on homework, the specific wines we'll be tasting are a Flying Fish 2007 Washington State Riesling (12% alcohol), a 2006 Geil Rheinhessen Riesling Spätlese (8% alcohol), a 2007 Domaine de la Perrière Sancerre (12.5% alcohol) and a 2007 Robert Mondavi Fumé Blanc (14.5% alcohol). Otherwise, you can just review pages 25 through 32 and 44 through 45 of Andrea Immer Robinson’s book Great Wines Made Simple.

So I'll see you all for our next class on September 17 around sevenish!! And don’t forget to look up past tasting notes on montaukwineclub.blogspot.com and on the Club’s revamped website.

Suzy Marquard