Rosé Me Away

Oregon has been having unseasonably warm weather, in the 70's and 80's this week. The day are bright, the skies clear, and the heat begs for a refreshing glass (or three) of wine. Rosé, sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, auxerrois, and plenty of other varieties are just the thing to help manage the heat. Light, acid-driven whites and pinks won't weigh you down like a hearty syrah or zinfandel might. Save those big reds for the barbecues and drink the rosé while you wait!

I'll focus on two rosé wines in this blog, from Teutonic Wine Company and Arnot-Roberts. Both are fantastic, small production, refreshing wines that are worth your time to seek out. Both are from producers who are passionate about making the best wines possible using the least amount of intervention. Non-intervention is a risky prospect in winemaking, the results can be exceptional or the wines can turn into stinky garbage. With Teutonic and Arnot-Roberts, we have two producers that consistently excel at turning their winemaking philosophies into great wine.

Starting first with the Teutonic Wine Company and then with the Arnot-Roberts I'll showcase two exceptional wines that match the weather and fare that warm springs call for.

2012 Teutonic Wine Company Laurel Vineyard Rosé: Made from 100% pinot noir and aged in neutral oak barrels, this $18 wine hits it out of the park with bright aromas of orange rind, sour cherry, fresh-cut grass, and green apple. On the palate the acidity screams out for food. Flavors of dusty orange, strawberry, limes, and a savory, salty finish keep me coming back for glass after glass. Rosé of this quality at only $18 is hard to find sometimes, the fact that a passionate small producer can deliver this much bang for the buck is a testament to just how great the winemaking climate is here in Oregon. 11.3% abv. $18 srp. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED




*Note* The 2013 Teutonic Rosé was just released to some markets but the 2012 is still available in distribution

2012 Arnot Roberts Touriga Luchsinger Vineyard Rosé: This is made from 80% Touriga Nacional and 20% Tinta Cao, and is the harder of these two wines to find. The easiest way to get them is to visit the Arnot-Roberts website and sign up for their mailing list. I am on that mailing list and take almost every single bottle of their wines that I'm allocated with each release. Paler than the Teutonic wine, this wine opens with loads of sour strawberry, lemons, green herb, and sea-spray. I love it. On the palate there's a huge dollop of acidity that supports a melange of lemon, strawberry, cherry, and raspberry. As the wine warmed up I also tasted herbs and cut grass. The balance is terrific and I kept wanting to pair this with chips and dip or some carnitas street tacos. 12.5% abv. $22 retail. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED


Both of these wines are worth your time to find and drink, though I must admit that the 2013 vintage is out for both too. I sometimes like to have rosé with an extra year of age on it because if the wine has enough acidity, you don't really lose any freshness and the flavors have more time to integrate, forming a beautiful tapestry of pure deliciousness. How's that for flowery bloggerspeak?

Buy both wines, I did. As someone who (now) has a small label of his own, the importance of supporting small producers takes on new meaning. While it may be easy to buy a rosé or any wine made by some big, corporate owned winery, it's more satisfying and fun to seek out new producers. You'll be glad you did, I promise.

Beau Carufel

2010 Weingut Ackermann Riesling

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know a lot about riesling. The grape has always been somewhat of a mystery to me, as one of the many wines that I thoroughly enjoy, yet not showing up on my radar enough to warrant frequent purchases. In the case of German examples, all too often I (and many others) are confused by the myriad words on each label, all seemingly full of "eich", "ich", "zelt" and "wein". Wait, that last one is pretty easy to figure out..Let's move on!

I'm fortunate to have two good friends, Dan and Chas of Wine is Serious Business, who happen to love riesling. These two willingly take a riesling luddite and coax me into exploring the grape more often. Tonight, after filming a show about Port, Dan graciously offered to open the following wine, a 2010 Weingut Ackermann Zeltinger Himmelreigh Mosel riesling. The first two words are the producer, Weingut Ackermann.  They're small, and most people who know of them are the serious riesling-heads.

Luckily an importer called Teutonic Wine Company decided to bring in some of the Ackermann wines, benefiting people like Dan and by extension, me. If you're a riesling fanatic, or just a fan of unique, hard to find German wines, check out Teutonic Wine Co. and see what they do. Dan speaks highly of them and I have tons of respect for the little guys, bringing in the under-the-radar wines that frankly, we should all be seeking out.

Zeltinger Himmelreich is the name of the vineyard, and it's located in the Mosel region of Germany. Even with my limited knowledge, I recognize the Mosel as being one of the greatest places on the planet to grow riesling grapes. Clearly I have a lot of reading to do, but then again, what else is new? Quick aside: the more you learn about wine, the more you realize you don't know and might never learn. 

This Mosel riesling pours a pale greenish-straw color into my Riedel. It's very pale and clear, no little bits floating about within the glass. The green is less pronounced towards the edges, where it becomes absolutely colorless and crystal clear.

I was able to detect notes of pineapple, lime juice, green apple, and a pleasing dose of limestone minerality on the nose. Not necessarily complex, but the Weingut Ackermann is very pleasing and enjoyable just to sniff. I noticed that as the wine warmed up a bit, some subtle hints of apricot also emerged, further enhancing the bouquet.

If you thought riesling was sweet, this one will change your mind, as well as blow it. It's wonderfully acidic, curling your lips back into a "riesling smile" as the acid dances along the edges of your tongue. Sweet apricots galore, pineapple, a laser beam of wet rock, and even a dash of peach nectar are all jumping around my palate. This isn't the most complex white wine or riesling I've had, but it's absolutely a smile-inducing drink. I love the finish in particular, the way each flavor seems to fold in on itself until you're left with a nice crisp ending to the taste. It lingers too! Easily a 20 second tail on this Ackermann bottling.

What then should I pair this with? I'd suggest almost anything, as the high acid here creates a clean flavor profile that will cleanse your palate of any vestiges of the last bite you ate. Me, I'd love to pair this with a citrus-marinated chicken breast, spicy Asian cuisine, or teriyaki glazed shrimp fresh off the grill.

The cost, according to Dan, was about $15. To me, that's a QPR-beater, more of a QPR-destroyer. If I paid $25 for this I'd be happy. That acid I referred to creates a wonderfully textured wine, one that you can sip for hours. At 9% alcohol, it shows just what can be done with white wines. No need for 15% sauvignon blanc crap here, this has every ounce the flavor and intrigue, if not more. I cannot recommend trying this wine enough, it's a B+ and a STRONG BUY, perhaps one of the best values I have tasted this entire year. As I noted, the Teutonic Wine Company imports this gem, produced by Weingut Ackermann. I believe it's worth stocking up on three or six bottles, to drink over the next few months whenever you want a clean, pure white wine with no pretension whatsoever.

This wine was shared with me by my friend Dan, I did not pay for it.

Beau Carufel