Wouldn’t you know, just when tornados were beginning to tear up the Midwest, the Montauk Wine Club on April 21 decided to travel to Missouri! Why? Well, it’s kind of a long story that the Thompsons may be persuaded to tell you, but in short, we heard tell there are some mighty good native American grapes grown there. So, undaunted or perhaps made foolish by the cunning nature of alcohol, we decided to check it out. We first compared a 2010 Stone Hill Winery Vignoles (13% alcohol) from Missouri (labeled by the vintner as the “jewel of Missouri”) with a 2007 Salmon Run New York Riesling (11.5% alcohol). Then we moved on to the famous red Norton grape (what you’ve never heard of it?), which is a cross between the typical European grape and a wholly indigenous American grape. Just to make sure we got a complete picture of the Norton, we tried two: a 2007 Cross J Norton (13% alcohol) also from the Stone Hill Winery in Herrmann, Missouri (possibly no relation to the former Club manager) and a 2004 Crown Valley Norton (12.5% alcohol) from the Ozark Highlands. We thought we ought to see how they both compared to something more traditional so we pulled out an old standby – a 2006 Franciscan Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. This is what we discovered.
The first white wine had a slightly deeper color but was considerably lighter on legs. Overall, it bore a nice fragrance, but a little straw and airplane glue snuck through. The taste was rather more fulfilling, starting with a basic green apple flavor laced with caraway seeds. This gave the wine an acidic, slightly sour, but not too dry effect. As it developed, a moldy, cheese flavor began to emerge, making it a great match with the cheese on the table.
The second white had a milder hue and short legs, and its smell was considerably more interesting than the first. It was exceedingly floral like smelling perfume, but at the same time had a sweet, peachy smell. The sweetness of the aroma was not so present in the taste, however. It lacked the cloying quality that one might have expected from the smell. It also had a thicker mouth feel than the first white. All in all, most of us found this wine to be surprisingly tasty, a pleasant wine to drink even if one were not held hostage to a tornado in Missouri. We unanimously and correctly picked this as the Vignoles, matching it to the vintner’s description as semi-sweet, with rich complexity and warmth. Of the two whites, we all favored this one.
When we turned to the reds, our experience turned quite bizarre. The first red wine had a rosier color, but that was not its stand-out quality. That first appeared in the smell – like someone had been smoking in the room and left the stale ash tray to ripen. Then notes of petroleum began to come out, giving the overall impression of burnt rubber. Surely, the cigarette butts flavor couldn’t carry over into the taste, or could it? Yep, it brought back memories of your grandfather smoking in his favorite chair. We ultimately concluded that this wine just needed to air out some, like for a couple of days.
Needless to say, the second red was much more pleasant. First of all, it had more of a brownish tint to it, but more importantly, it had fruity overtones, despite the tar smell lurking in the background. When it came to tasting, this wine was more astringent, dark and heavy, although it did have a slight fruit finish. This was a big wine that would stand up to a large juicy steak, for sure. There was something more reliable about it.
Moving on to the third red wine, we encountered some unusual qualities again. First there was the airplane glue in the smell, even though we detected some jammy fruit. The taste seemed to be a milder version of the first red (there’s a clue in there) with its hint of petroleum. Again, the taste had more fruit than the first red such as plums and prunes. On the other hand, it also had some citrus feel to it, like a sour lemon ball. Indeed, this was a very interesting taste. (What does it mean when someone says a food tastes “interesting”?)
The verdict? It was pretty clear that red #2 was the cabernet sauvignon. Red #1 turned out to be the Stone Hill Norton, while #3 was the Crown Valley. Interestingly, the Stone Hill retails for a higher price. One has to pay for the rare stale ash tray terroir, we supposed. The out-of-the-ordinary experience of this tasting was worth it because most of us actually preferred the Crown Valley to the other two reds.
The moral? You never know what excitement awaits you at the Montauk Club Wine Club.
So be sure to join us on Thursday, May 19, around 7:00 p.m. for more adventure. We’re going to review some basic style characteristics such as dryness, crispiness, oakiness and tannin and promise an evening of fun and delight.
See you all then!!
Suzy and Jim
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