Delicious Wine from Alsace

Every once in a while, I taste a wine that has such an immediate impact on me that I have to tell other people about it. This happened this week with the 2004 Rolly Gassmann Gewurtztraminer from Rorschwihr in Alsace. The Gassmann family has been producing wine from 21 separate vineyard sites in the area since 1676, and the name of the wine comes from the marriage of the Rolly family and the Gassmann family in 1967. All of the wines from this estate have been produced Biodynamically since 1997.

Enough about the technical stuff- how did it taste? As soon as I opened the bottle, the kitchen was instantly filled with aromas of pineapple, mango, ginger, and perfectly ripe pear. These notes continued right through the palate, along with flavors of Juicy Fruit gum, cinnamon, flint, and petrol. This isn't a watery wine by any stretch of the imagination, but rather viscous and full bodied. I tried the wine 2 days later, and it still hadn't lost a bit of its fruit. The word to describe this particular wine is "wow". Once again, we have living proof that white wines, especially those from Alsace, can age.

I highly recommend you get some of this wine, and check it out!

Cheers!

Trip to Denver, other goings-ons

I didn't post on Thursday because I got up early to fly to Denver in order to meet with a potential supplier of mine, and on Friday because I was coming back home. A lot has happened since my last post, so bear with me a bit.

Thursday in Denver was a great trip. I will likely be doing business with a wonderful importer there that took me out to lunch and dinner, and showed 14 wines or so. The dinner at Barolo Grill was absolutely stunning- the courses were a Salmon Carpaccio; Mushroom Consome with mini raviolis; Black Rice with Quail Egg and Foie Gras Sauce; Guinea Hen with peas and fava beans; and finally a rhubarb soup with yogurt ice cream. It was a bit of a heavy course-load for summer, but it was a delicious endeavor nonetheless. I will post more about the wines we decided on as they become official. While in Denver, I also checked out their version of Atomic Cowboy. Ours is much better here in the Lou. I don't think there's any relationship between the two.

I came home from Denver to find shipments from three separate suppliers that want me to taste through their wines. It's a tough job trying to taste through 40 wines or so, but I'm willing to give it a shot. Again, as these become official, I will post about them on here. (**Hint- I may have accidentally leaked a few of them on my twitter feed for the company @epiphanywines).

So, now I'm back in the office, paying bills, blogging, writing my price book, writing an employee manual, and recovering from the massive amounts of grilled and smoked pork product I ate over the weekend. It's glamorous, I know.

Cheers!

100 point wine, Sanctuaria

Yesterday afternoon and leading into last night were really a lot of fun. at about 5:30, I dropped by Sanctuaria for my first time there. This is one of those restaurants that I sort of made fun of when it opened- I thought the logo was goofy, and that the whole tapas thing had really jumped the shark. Certainly, there was no way they could make it in the Grove. Then I started hearing all the local cocktail geeks talk about how good the drinks were there. In the name of honest investigative reporting, I dropped by. The food was great, and the cocktails were even better. Dare I say- I really like this place, and will be taking Mrs Sippinstl there sometime soon! Go check it out!

I then moved on to the "main event". Our wine group got together for the final leg of the "Tony and Janet Farewell Tour" that has been happening all week- we all took over 33 wine bar, along with about a dozen tortas from La Vallesana, and 4 amazing bottles of wine- included in which were 05, 06, and 07 Deus Ex Machina from Clos St. Jean in Chateauneuf Du Pape. The 05 was literally in the top 5 wines I have ever tasted in my life. It had so many layers of ripe red fruits, leather, tobacco, soy, meat, and about a dozen other flavors. The finish on that bad boy literally lasted over a minute! This, my friends, is what a 100 point wine is supposed to taste like!

So, we look forward to seeing our friends in the future in Houston when we visit the in-laws. For now, I need to get back to "Words With Friends", where my wife is stomping me.

Cheers!

Saucy Soiree

Last night, Mrs Sippinstl and I headed down to the Four Seasons for the annual "Saucy Soiree" held by Sauce Magazine. This is the event where they give a pre-release view of their "reader's choice" issue. Many of the local restaurants and breweries/wineries had tables set up where you could sample to your heart's desire. Then, everyone moved to the roof deck patio/pool area of Cielo to listen to music, and drink free beer. It was a fun event- lots of old industry friends and some new acquaintances were there. In all honesty, I was going to leak the "list", but I grabbed the wrong issue of Sauce when I headed out the door to my Global Headquarters.

As far as things are progressing at Epiphany, we're simply waiting to get labels registered. As soon as I can place orders, I will get wine into your hot little hands.

Until then, enjoy this summer weather reprieve, and drink something delicious.

Cheers!

Delicious, but doesn't age well

Last night, some of us wine geeks got together to go through a vertical of Elderton Command Shiraz from Australia. We opened 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005. I must say that I love these wines, and have enjoyed all of these vintages in the past. However, the general consensus last night was that they simply don't hold up over time. The 2000, which was a Spectator 97-point wine was either slightly flawed, or way past its prime. The best of the lot was the 2001, and the 2005 was drinking pretty nicely. However, I would be reluctant to buy anything older than 05 based on the tasting.

Other wines that we opened were the 04 Mitolo GAM (didn't show well), the 06 GAM (pretty nice little wine) some Two Hands Sophie's Syrah (really nice!), and a really interesting wine- Rudi Schultz Syrah from South Africa- Definitely the most surprising-in-a-positive-way wine.

In all, it was a fantastic evening with the guys- lots of good wine, grilled meat, and no veggies.

Saying goodbye to a friend, first news release

Last night, some of "the guys" got together to toast our dear friend Tony, who is leaving town. Tony is a doctor, and he found a great job opportunity in Houston, so he and his wonderful bride are leaving next week. He will truly be missed, as he is instrumental in keeping our "Saint Louis Wine Therapy" group going. We toasted him with cocktails at Taste, then some nice wines at 33- '07 Papillon, '08 Beau Freres Pinot, Elderton Ashmead Cab. So, Tony, this is for you:

Ah, takes me right back to Sophomore year.

In other (literal) news, check out the press release published on STLToday.com:

http://interact.stltoday.com/pr/dining-restaurants/PR06231003074025

That's all for today. Have a great weekend!

Cheers

A new grape

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do something that I rarely get to do- Try a wine made from a varietal that is completely new to me. The wine that was tried was the 2009 Zestos Blanco, from Madrid, Spain. It is made from the varietal Malvar. Maybe I'm behind the times and all the kids are clamoring for Malvar, but I don't think so. I looked it up in Wine Lover's Companion and Sotheby's- nothing. The Oxford Companion to Wine had two sentences about it. There's not even a Wiki page about it. I mean, there's a Wiki page about EVERYTHING, but alas- no Malvar.

So, that being said, check this wine out when it comes into the market in the next month or so. Tasting it, I would compare it in weight to an unoaked chardonnay, and in aromatics to viognier. It was slightly crisp, had some acidity without being searing, but also had some nice viscosity to it. I would drink it with most spring and summer-types salads and white fish. It would also be interesting to try it with avocados.

That's all for now, off to pay bills and try some more interesting stuff to bring into Missouri to ensure that your glass is never empty!

Cheers!