I realized today that I haven’t written a word in my blog for at least a week. While I have been glued to gloomy news of the financial situation and what pundits think we should do about it, I have also been under siege as a result of a movie that is being made on my floor. Suffice it to say, I will not be watching Unorthodox by McGee Productions when it comes out. In the middle of these grim experiences, I did have the good fortune to go to two noteworthy portfolio tastings last week, that of Frederick Wildman and Winebow . Both have very impressive portfolios with an eye-popping amount of wines to try. I tried to be somewhat moderate and orderly in my tasting. At Wildman, I worked for MC Selections, an Austrian wine importer. Monika Caha is a fascinating woman with a rich and long history in the food and wine business. Her wines are outstanding. I was working with two of her product lines so I spent a significant amount of time pouring and tasting wines by Stadlmann and Johann Donabaum.

Two interesting Austrian grape varieties stood out, Zierfandler and Rotgipfler, both from the Thermenregion of Austria.

These indigenous grapes each produce white wines that are unique and perfect food wines.
Monika’s website is very complete so I invite you to check it out and read through the tasting notes for the wines. My favorite Stadlmann wines were the 2006 Mandel Hoeh, a single vineyard wine made from Zierfandler and the 2006 Rotgipfler Tagelstein as well as the 2004 Auslese made from Zierfandler.

The Johann Donabaum wines were big, important wines that the sommeliers seemed to really appreciate. The 2006 Loiben Reserve made from 100% Gruner Veltliner, the most famous indigenous grape from Austria, was rich, nutty and truly special with a note of residual sugar that was extremely pleasing and well integrated. Donabaum also had a number of fabulous rieslings as well. Monika is a wealth of information on Austrian wines. She has promised me an interview for my Women in Wine series on Fridays.

At Winebow, I spent a very long time with the wines from Cantine Arigolas, one of my favorite Sardinian wineries. More to come on those wines later this week. I also tried two interesting wines made from 100% Corvina, a first for me. La Poja IGT 2003 from Allegrini was quite complex and well rounded with aromas and flavors of cherry and blackberry, cedar, spice, tobacco and leather. It was what they call a Signore Vino otherwise known as a noteworthy wine. The second 100% Corvina was from Zenato and was named Cresasso IGT 2004 for the type of soil where the grapes grow. The grapes for this wine grow on a vineyard at 300 meters above sea level. The soil is filled with small stones (sassi), a natural home for the Corvina grape, according to the producer. The wine also had cherry and interesting cedar notes. This was a softer wine with a much lighter price tag as well. I finished the day with Acini Nobili, a dessert wine by Maculan, another favorite producer. This wine is made from dried Vespaiola, Tocai and Garganega grapes affected by botrytis cinerea or noble rot. The wine ferments in stainless steel and ages in French oak barriques from Nevers for two years. It is a perfect combination of honeyed, apricot and peach notes with a considerable amount of sweetness balanced out by bright acidity. I have been partial to this wine since 2000 when I took a class with Fausto Maculan at the Associazione Italiana Sommelier in Milan, Italy. Thank goodness for the tastings, a lovely part of city life.