Riesling is something I am familiar enough with to make my favorite producers delicious but predictable. But they hold my interest year after year and with Riesling, Chenin, and Chardonnay, as much as I know them, I’m always up for trying a new vintage, vineyard, region, or producer. Or seeing how the wines in my cellar are evolving. There are lots of great unusual white wines. But most are interesting because they’re also unusual.
Rioja blanco might be another that is truly interesting (to me), and Musar, Vatan, Dagueneau, Vernay, Gravner (and others) are all exceptionally interesting producers who happen to make white varieties.
This thread is great, and informative, so I’m not trying to be negative. Just noting that as much as I enjoy the interesting unusual varieties, part of being extraordinarily good is being interesting. I don’t really drink much Napa Chardonnay anymore, mostly because it’s always good but rarely interesting (to me).
There seem to be a growing interest in using Palomino for dry none-fortified wines. Envinate’s Palo Blanco that I have mentioned is made from Listan Blanco which to my understanding is Palomino.
One other wine that hasn’t gotten any play here yet would be white Priorat wines.
Very little white wine is produced in the region, so the few that do it are generally good to great in quality. Clos Mogador’s Nelin is a wonderful example. It’s unlike any Grenache blanc you’ve ever had, with intense minerality from the unique mountainous licorella (slate-like) soils in the region.
There are usually a half dozen other grapes blended in with white Priorat, often chenin, xa-rello, macabeu, among some others. Very, very unique and delicious white wines, but not cheap (Nelin runs $70-80) given the difficult growing conditions in Priorat.
Not Mikko, but I’ve had that one as well. Here’s my take on the wine, directly from CT:
1984 Peter Lauer Saar Riesling Brut Reserve - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (27.1.2018)
A sparkling wine that was at some point bottled with liqueur d'expedition and then forgotten in a warehouse for a few decades. Rediscovered after a long period of bottle aging and finally disgorged in August 2017 - some 32 years after the bottling. As the wine is only 9,5% in alcohol, it is technically not Sekt (minimum alcohol 10%), but instead lower-tier "Schaumwein". Tasted blind.
Ridiculously deep, intense and concentrated color with a hue that is somewhere between neon lime green and honey yellow. The nose is very complex and somewhat weird with atypical, rather green-toned reductive thiol aromas of pea shoots, grass and brine pickled cucumber along with funkier notes of farmhouse and hay, some lambic, light appley character, a little bit of dusty earth and a hint of smoke. Overall the nose seems to evolve constantly and aromas you picked up a moment ago are already replaced by completely new notes. The wine is super-lively, zesty and bone-dry on the palate with quite sharp, characterful and green-toned flavors of grass and pea shoots along with nuances of wool socks, some funky gueuze character, a little bit of lemon juice, a hint of savory and spicy wildhoney and a touch of flint smoke. To say this wine tastes odd is no exaggeration of any sort. Overall the structure is very tightly-knit with bracing acidity and quite ample, frothy mousse. The finish is long, crisp and racy with quite pronounced saline minerality, some green-toned grassy thiol character, a little bit of tart green apples, a hint of dusty earthy character and a touch of smoke.
Well this is really an odd bird. Tasted blind, many people thought that this was a bone-dry cider from some cooler-climate region because of its funky, somewhat barnyardy character, very green-toned aromas and quite deep golden character - together combined, these were definitely nothing you'd first associate with a sparkling wine. However, as the wine seemed to evolve very much in the glass, people started to think about sparkling wine more, but still to guess that this was a Riesling would've been quite a feat. Overall the wine shows that aging with the lees is a reductive process and this wine seems to be suffering quite badly from it. The producer recommends letting the wine breathe for a day after opening, which would be explained by how the reductive qualities blow with air and the true aromas and flavors of the wine emerge. Most likely this wine will need some more aging in a cellar so that it will start to show its best - now it is just really weird and aggressively green-toned bubbly. Still, a real experience nevertheless and well worth its price of 45€ and more. (91 points)
Also not Mikko! And while not the '84 version, George Chadwick brought the '92 of this (disgorged 2020) to an offline last year. It was a polarizing wine - I liked it as a bizarre oddity, and others thought it was undrinkable.
My note:
1992 Peter Lauer Sekt Réserve Brut Nature - Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer (4/13/2023) Berserker Offline (Mezze and More): Whoa. Nose is classic aged riesling with light petrol and honeyed apricot. Intensely herbal in the mouth - almost like a white sparkling amaro. Virtually no fruit - I briefly wondered if corked but this is full of life and no hint of flatness. All mineral and herbs. A polarizing wine but I quite enjoyed it for the distinctive profile. (91 points)
It was late when I posted. It’s actually the Semillon Gris that I was meaning, not Pinot. The process it probably what makes it interesting, rather then the wine (which I like) but as we all have our own interests this will be up there for some.
I drank an 80’s Vintage of the Gouges Blanc ( think it was 86) back in the early noughties and it’s still in my head as 1 of my top 3 white burgs. Great wine and at the time of drinking, I thought it was a Chardonnay.
Lots of mention of Chenin, but Romorantin is maybe more interesting. Provinage is the famous one.
The one wine that really grabbed me over the last few years was a 71 Vernaccia de Orristano. Incredible complexity, if it’s still alive - a few other examples have been a bit too sherried.
Looking a bit further back, the wine that really held my attention the most was La Bota 49. One off release though, but the complexity was off the charts and it was small sips and a lot of sniffing.
Righty, that changes the thing entirely! After all, there are tons of pinkish Pinot Gris wines out there, many insipid ones (lots of good quality ones as well, mind you). However, Sémillon Gris is of much more curiosity value, because such versions don’t really come by. Don’t know how interesting the wine actually is in reality, but at least it is much more interesting on paper - compared to a similar Pinot Gris, that is.
That sounds pretty much like the 15-yo 1er Cru Aligoté made by Ponsot I had earlier. Very unique in the sense that there are no other producers making 1er Cru Aligoté. However, had I tasted the wine blind, I would’ve guessed it was a Chardonnay, too. The wine tasted like white Burgundy, not specifically of Aligoté. Still a superb wine!
100% agree. Chenin is a rather neutral variety by nature, although it can be made into stunning wines. Romorantin, on the other hand, is a variety brimming with character and potential. I wish it saw more recognition.
One thing one should keep in mind is that many Vernaccias de Oristanos were made (might be still made) into a style similar to oxidative Sherry. It is possible that these wines haven’t been “a bit too sherried” but actually made into that kind of style! Of course it’s impossible for me to know, because I haven’t tasted those wines of yours, but I myself have had some Vernaccias de Oristanos in blind tastings - and have been confused when some people have immediately proclaimed the wines are oxidized and completely shot, whereas I have thought they were pretty lovely and probably Oloroso or something along those lines, not old oxidized wines past their peaks.
And then many people have been suddenly “ohhh… this is a great wine, actually!” when the blinded bottles / labels have been revealed.
Anyone say VIN JAUNE yet? Although not a wine I’d want to drink all the time, it is DEFINITELY interesting and very unique!
2002 Jacques Puffeney Arbois Vin Jaune - France, Jura, Arbois (3/17/2011)
My first Vin Jaune…one word: FASCINATING! It is not a wine to drink all the time, in fact for me, sometimes hard to drink, as it reminds me of spirits(which I don’t drink). The first thing you notice is the nose…yep sherry! The nose is AMAZING…I could put it in a snifter, and smell it all night! It plays with your mind…you think it should be 80 proof…but it’s only 14%. Waves of nuts, caramel, almond butter, Marsala, Comte’ cheese rind, dried apples, citrus. Then you taste it, and for me, it kind of made me grimus. Really funky at first…yeasty, tart skin, band aid, comte’ cheese(which we did have with it)…but then it really gains on you. The nuts and caramel, maple syrup, dried apples, tart citrus acidity…really well balanced, and SO overly oxidized, but alive. Again, fascinating wine. The nose is 95pts alone…the palate is really hard for me to score. Not a wine I’d drink everyday, and not a refreshing kind of wine…it’s a contemplating, snifter type wine. And I can see why these things last forever. Would love to try one with age. One of the coolest wines I’ve ever had! (90 pts.)
I have a bottle of '03 I bought for a song when a store here went out of business long ago, and can never find the right time to open it. You are a fine ambassador for opening this!
If your first vin jaune was a 2003 Puffeney, you made an incredible choice to like this style of wine! Another thread stated that Labet vin jaune seems to be the reference but my heart belongs to Puffeney.
I agree with you there Otto. I’m sure someone on this board has a large collection of this style of wine with 50+ years of bottle age and it would be good to get their input. Even if they are too sherried, I still love them.
I have had old Australian Olorosso going back to the 50’s and they seem to need a week or 2 in the fridge to come back to life. Same might be true of these “funkier” Vernaccias. Either way, the best I have had was like drinking an old Vin Jaune. Wonderfully complex.
