Have you tried Rocher des Violettes?
https://www.skurnik.com/sku/touraine-cot-vieilles-vignes-le-rocher-des-violettes-2-2-2/
I would add Gabrio Bini’s Azienda Agricola Serragghia. If anyone finds themselves touring Sicily, a trip of 2+ days to Pantelleria is a nice diversion. Tasting with Gabrio and his family was a major wine study highlight.
To add to what Otto said, once treasured grapes fell out of favor for a number of reasons. Difficulty in the vineyard or cellar with no economic reward can lead to easier choices. There are all sorts of changes over time that have nothing to do with quality. We’ve seen many in our era. The patrons who bought up a certain wine fall out of favor. Preferences and fads. Disease. Urban development.
Some grapes only existed in a small area where they’re well suited. Some varieties are new. Some are being found only interplanted with several other varieties.
We’re in a new era of understanding and technology. That means we can address vineyard issues better. We can work to preserve aromatics and tame tannins, play around with fermentation and aging techniques and vessels and so forth. We’re in an era where people have been exploring obscure grapes and getting the best out of them by understanding them. (We’re similarly seeing vast improvements with grapes that never fell out of favor in their regions, but have now become export-worthy.) There are quite a few “obscure” grapes that have wonderful, unique expressions that are now being allowed to shine.
+1
I haven’t had a timarasso in a few years, but I’ve been very taken with the nascettas I’ve had (e.g., Cogno and Germano).
Arneis was another Piemontese white grape that was almost extinct a few decades ago. There are a lot of bland ones, but in the right hands (e.g., Giacosa and Vietti), it can yield very interesting wines.
Though I drink mostly old world, I’m going to throw in some California examples. John Enfield’s Cabernets are so different that he sometimes even bottles them in a burgundy shaped bottle. Also, Matthew Rorick’s Forlorn Hope wines are very geeky.
I agree with Sir Robert’s suggestions of Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie and Marc Plouzeau Chinon Franc de Pied
Cheers,
Warren
Hey, just thought of another geeky wine - pink Chardonnay! The Chardonnay Rosa clone has maybe 6 Ha planted around the world. I’m aware of 3 around the town of Chardonnay in the Macon, and 3 Ha in Germany. It appears to be a mutation localized to the town of Chardonnay. Tasty geeky.
And don’t overlook Romarantin. An obscure Loire white grape with it’s own appellation that can make interesting wines. Try Cazin’s Cour-Cheverny Cuvée Renaissance. Only made in the best vintages.
This is exactly what happened with Touriga Nacional (which seems very unusual today when you think about it). Another situation worth mentioning is that some varieties are excellent additions to blends without making particularly interesting wines by themselves. Arinto, for instance, is a lifesaver in the Alentejo for the way it brings acidity to whites that would otherwise be flabby and overripe (the Arinto and Antão Vaz blend is almost a cliché), but I am not enamored of its 100% varietal expression, if the good people in Bucelas will pardon me. Souzão, up in the Douro, is a standard in port and red wine blends, but its varietal wines are like an exercise in taming a very dangerous wild animal.
And yet…no one here has mentioned having a Marquette wine from the Alexandria Lakes AVA.
Yes, but Marquette is a hybrid grape of vitis vinifera and vitis riparia. Almost everything here (probably everything) is vinifera only. If we are talking hybrid grapes, I go with La Garagista’s wine out of Vermont, but I think that is probably a different thread.
It’s crazy to think varieties like Arneis (or even something as popular as Viognier) were almost extinct only a few decades ago - seeing how much is produced today.
Yet I think that even at its best, Arneis isn’t as great as the best Timorasso and Nascetta wines. Nevertheless, great Arneis wines can be still beautiful white wines with a lot of charm and personality. And Vietti’s Arneis was actually the wine that originally turned me to Piedmontese whites - before that, I was only familiar with the reds (and, of course, the fizzy Moscatos).
Lol I just mentioned it like 10 posts ago. ![[tease.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/c/c5b32b76bebaa359b0452ae247b61189ffe5fa7e.gif "tease"){kind=small}
I love Arinto myself, although I’ve had all too few varietal examples of the variety to have a full picture of it. Nevertheless, most of the Bucelas whites have been very lovely, not unlike Portuguese take on Muscadet or Txakoli. Tons of minerality and salinity.
Souzão is definitely a superb variety. Tons of acidity and quite ample tannins with ridiculously concentrated, inky color. The red wines from Minho often show a beautiful combination of fresh, crunchy fruit, surprisingly light and delicate body and a huge wall of tannins - and it all works! Your wild animal metaphor really is apt.
That reminds me… If it’s not in the application, it might not exist
https://winecentury.com/membership/
Where’s Robert Callaghan when you need him?
I could write a very long post, if I got into everything. I did have American hybrids in mind as part of the “new”, which is a relative term. I did a co-eyes-wide-open blind tasting of mostly obscure grapes for a group of ours, with the Terra Vox winemaker. Those are American hybrids, developed in reaction to phylloxera, then mostly abandoned. Very diverse and unique grapes. Fascinating floral and sometime perfumey aromatics on many. We arranged the wines into 5 flights, by weight along with a bunch of Harrington wines I selected, including grapes like Corvina, Trousseau, Alvarelhao. Lots of fun.
A “new” cross I found to play with is Black Muscat. I’d had some fortified versions. I went dry. The guy I buy it from said he sometime makes a sweet sparkling. Interesting that the grape is a dead ringer for Brachetto, which is traditionally used for sweet sparkling (like a red Muscato d’Asti), but now a few are going dry.
Back in those days chenin and Loire cab franc were considered winenerd wines. For that matter, so was Burgundy.
I think Ca’ Togni is Black Muscat. An interesting sweet red, but can’t me too nerdy if I’ve had it.
It is. Haven’t had it, but looking to try. Elysium by Quady is easy to find. The one I tried a few years ago caught the aromatics really well. My decades old recollection was those being heavier, darker, less aromatic. This one sort of danced.
Outside of the obvious wine nerd wines like some above or things like Radikon I’d add things like:
Duval-Leroy’s Petit Meslier One of the very very few champagnes with Petit Meslier and I think the only one that is 100%
Chateau Simon - both the white, rose and red. the White is Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Ugni Blanc, Bourboulenc, Muscat Blanc, Picpoul, Furmint and Sémillon. The Red and Rose is Grenache, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Syrah, Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Castet, Manosquin, Théoulier, Tibouren, Picpoul Noir and Muscat de Hambourg.
I assume you meant Château Simone? If you did, then I have both - red Simone and Duval-Leroy Petit Meslier - in my cellar. No surprises there, I suppose. ![[gen_fro.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/a/acc371fe8341f433d5c0ed34025c962acc33ad59.gif "fro"){kind=small}
Interesting - That’s one of the many many names for Black Muscat. I’ve seen that there’s some of it planted in many regions in many countries across Europe, where it seems to be useful as a minor field blend component. I’d like to track down and try some, so it’s nice to see one here. Would like to try good varietal examples of Castets and Picpoul Noir, too.