Water into Wino

Anthony Road Cabernet Franc-Lemberger

Cabernet Franc-Lemberger 2006
Finger Lakes, New York ($18)

Every once in a while I find a wine that seems like its been grown, made and marketed towards people like myself. On a recent trip to basically the only wine store I go to these days, I found a wine that simply made its purchase mandatory. No questions. No doubts. No checking of my finances before hand.

There are only a few grapes that could induce this kind of reaction. And if this isn't your first trip to my site, you probably know the that I'm talking about cabernet franc. But this bottle had even more going for it... 30% lemberger! And from the Finger Lakes to boot.

Anthony Road Winery is located on the west side of Seneca Lake. I've stopped in quickly on my way down to NYC in the past and was mildly impressed with the reds, which were really the only wines I tasted there. The fact is nothing really stood out compared to the other FL reds I tried that day. I had pretty much forgotten about them until last week when I found this bottle.

Why am I so thrilled about this wine? I just think these two grapes are suited for cool climate viticulture up here in the FL and Niagara USA Region. Rarely do you see them together and I'm not sure why that's the case. I know Fox Run Vineyards also bottled a blend of the two that won an award or two, but it wasn't available when I visited. So this bottle is my first introduction to the cab franc/lemberger wines of the FL.

Dark red color with aromas of raspberry and cherry. Lively mouth feel with decent weight to it for a cool climate red. Spicy tones of cherry and vanilla linger on the finish. I drank this with my meat ragu (and used it in sauce as well) the other night and loved every sip. I don't think it's big enough to just hang out with as it begs for food with its acidity. It also benefitted with decanting and/or a good rest over night. My grade: A-

Monarchia Cellars Noir 2003

Monarchia Cellars Noir 2003
Eger, Hungary ($9)

Every once in a while I get motivated. If you read the date of my last post on this site, you might think it's been a long time coming. I think the downside of geeking out on wine is that your taste may get more expensive with time. In my case, the desire to try New York State wines and boutique winery offerings has led to less wine consumed at a higher price point. Now I admit that this weblog was meant to find those best buy gems from anywhere, so tonight I'm going back to the roots of this blog because I found one of those intriguing under $10 wines.

Lately I've been seeking out cool climate wines that would do well in NYS. I know Cab Franc does well throughout the state of New York, and I've tasted a hell of a lot of it over the last two years. So now I'm tasting Lemberger, aka Blaufrankish, aka Kekfrankos, aka ect... I've tried some Washington State examples, some NYS, as well as some from its home in Austria. Most are in the $15- $20 range and they have been hit or miss. Well this time I found an under $10 bottle from Hungary at Premier Wines in Buffalo.

This is a 100% Kekfrankos (Lemberger) wine is bursting with blackberry aromas. I also get a pinch of bell pepper and smoke on the nose as well. Medium bodied with ample acidity, it stood up well to my hot sausage and peppers hoagie, and the next day it even complimented my meat ragu I've perfected thanks to Mr. Batali. This wine doesn't bring a lengthy finish, but I think it's as long as any Lemberger wines I've had from NY or Austria. For under $10 it's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned. If your into Cab Franc, Lemberger, Zweigelt, or even Gamay, this should impress for the cost. Not so much a sipping wine, but with dinner, it rocks with a style of its own. My grade: B

Revived by the New York Times and Austria

Zweigelt in the nude.

When I think of exciting grapes currently being experimented with in the Finger Lakes and Niagara Wine countries, there are three or four that get my blood flowing. The first is Syrah. Not those jammified Syrahs that you can find anywhere. I'm talking about cool climate ones that combine good acidity with pepper and light tannins.

The other two grapes are the Austrian grapes Gruner Veltliner, Blaufrankisch, and Zweigelt. Spelling them is tough enough let alone pronouncing them. I know Hermann Wiemer is growing Blaufrankisch and Gruner Veltliner, funny enough cause I picked up a couple of each last time I visited the winery. Currently I believe they are just blending grapes in his arsenal. I've tried Lemberger, our not much friendlier name for Blaufrankisch, from Fox Run Vineyards, Goosewatch, and Seneca Shore Vineyards in the Finger Lakes. The latter of the three was surprisingly my favorite. As for Zweigelt, a cross of St. Laurent and Blaufrankisch, I know Konzelmann Winery in Ontario makes it as well as a few others wineries in Canada.

All this wine geek banter takes me to my point and the reason I got excited enough to update my site while I run around in circles of sh*t to do in my new country home. The New York Times done did an article and an interactive feature on Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch the other day. Cheers to that. The reviews were obviously Austria intensive as they should have been, while fascinating at the same time. Too bad I'm not in NYC anymore cause I don't think I'll find these wines in my area. So if you can, try some of them for me.

A tasting and two bottles...

I managed to motivate myself to Astor Wines last Saturday for a 10 winemaker event representing the natural wines of Jenny and Francios. This store has thrown down some large tastings in the past and I was looking forward to this one. While I'm not one to complain or tell a store how they should run their business, but I thought that Astor just didn't take advantage of the colossal space they have. They put three winemakers at their new tasting bar and the other seven shoulder to shoulder at one not so long table. It wasn't a recipe for a personable wine tasting that invites questions and conversation. Anyway since I don't speak French I probably wouldn't have learned much anyway.

While I was there I had to pick up a couple bottles. In my search for cool climate grape based wines, I chose a Lemberger from Washington State vineyards that Dr. Vino has recommended in the past. My addiction to south american wines lured me into buying a cheap Syrah from Uraguay as well. It wasn't more than two days later I had gone through both and now I can't wait to get my hands on one of them again.

Shooting Star Blue Franc 2004
Yakima Valley, Washington ($15)

Jed Steele bottles his Yakima Valley Lemberger (aka Blaufrankisch) in California under his Shooting Star label. Finding the name to be lacking in marketability, he choose the Blue Franc title and included a French Franc note to grace the bottle. I've had a couple bottles of Lemberger recently, one from Austria and another from the Fox Run Winery in the Finger Lakes.

Ruby red color. Earthy aromas of red berries and spice. Juicy mouth feel with supple tannins. Very soft and round. This really reminded me of Cab Franc on the nose and Syrah in flavor with Carmenere like sweet tannins. Anyone who reads this blog should know this is the kind of wine I would get excited about. The finish is average, and I think the lack of oak limits the length, but the ripe fruit and spice make up for it. My grade: A-

Monte De Luz Syrah 2005
San Jose, Uruguay ($7)

Only my second wine from Uruguay, this bottle was only $7 and I figured it was worth a shot. The other wine I had from this country was a Tannat and Cab Franc based blend. It wasn't anything to write home about so my expectations for this one in the same price range weren't high.

Smoky dark fruit aroma and purple in color. The flavor was similar to an over ripe Merlot and extremely one dimensional. Slightly acidic with obvious heat on the finish. I didn't even come close to finishing this wine. My grade: C-