Real winenerd wines

[Dan_Kravitz]

Grk.

Dan Kravitz

[Rob_S1]

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.

Yes, Simone! All three of the white, red and rosé are unique and wonderful.

The Duval-Leroy I only had once and what still stays with me is the meaty mushroomness of the wine. Exceptionally unique and unexpected.

[Rodrigo_B]

+1 for Château Simone’s whites. Nerdy or not, they are awesome

[Warren_Taranow]

Grk.

Dan Kravitz

Da!!!

[Otto_Forsberg]

Grk.

Dan Kravitz

Oh yes, this. Probably the best white variety to come out of Croatia. Haven’t had a bad Grk.

Then again, I’ve had only a small handful of Grk, so the sample size is quite small.

[Jim_Stewart]

A still wine of 100% Pinot Meunier?

[Robert.A.Jr]

Grk.

Dan Kravitz

Oh yes, this. Probably the best white variety to come out of Croatia. Haven’t had a bad Grk.

Then again, I’ve had only a small handful of Grk, so the sample size is quite small.

So not sexy.

“Hello my dear, may I serve you a glass of ‘Grk’?”

I’m assuming “Grk” is pronounced in a very guttural manner.

[Julian_Marshall]

You could have fun with this one!

A sexy Croatian (male or female) - “Dahleenng, I just lerve a glass of grk”

James Bond - “My name is Bond, James Bond. I like grk, cold grk.”

An insult - “You’re a berk, you must like grk!”

[Marshall_Manning]

A still wine of 100% Pinot Meunier?

Handley in Mendocino used to make one years ago, and I think Eyrie here in OR (as well as a few others) still makes it.

[Otto_Forsberg]

A still wine of 100% Pinot Meunier?

Can’t think why this would be particularly geeky. Lots German varietal Meuniers out there, most are quite inexpensive and drink like simple Pinot Noirs. Best ones can be quite serious, though.

[Adam_Bitker]

How about Lagrein and Schiava from Alto Adige.

Can’t say there’s much geeky there.

They can be enjoyable little wines, but ultimately they are pretty foursquare local reds that aren’t particularly distinctive nor rare. Especially with Schiava it’s hard to find a bottle that would be particularly interesting.

Encruzado and Baga wines are often terrific, but in my books quite mainstream. Colares, on the other hand, is quite deep in the geek territory and Carcavelos a real Portuguese holy grail nowadays.

Mostly agree with your take on Schiava and Lagrein but Nusserhof makes some really beautiful and serious old vine examples that are worth trying.

[Adam_Bitker]

Some semi nerdy to nerdy wines I quite like off the top of my head:

-Domaine Belluard’s whole range - Beautiful wines from Savoie, mostly made from the little known local varietal Gringet. Also a terrific Mondeuse and some Altesse
-Vouette et Sorbee “Textures” - 100pct Pinot Blanc vinified in amphora from Champagne
-Il San Lorenzo Bianco - Verdicchio aged on its lees for 12 years in concrete
-Bodegas Cota 45 - A brilliant winemaker making unique and compelling unfortified wines in Jerez from Palomino and some near extinct indigenous varietals (Perruno, Uva Rey)
-Julien Meyer Sous Voile Silvaner and Riesling from Alsace - Tough to find in the states and not for everyone but certainly geeky. These spend a very long time in barrel…like 15-18years.

[Otto_Forsberg]

Mostly agree with your take on Schiava and Lagrein but Nusserhof makes some really beautiful and serious old vine examples that are worth trying.

Agree, Nusserhof makes some riveting wines. While Schiava and Lagren aren’t particularly geeky, Nusserhof as a producer definitely is.

Some semi nerdy to nerdy wines I quite like off the top of my head:

-Domaine Belluard’s whole range - Beautiful wines from Savoie, mostly made from the little known local varietal Gringet. Also a terrific Mondeuse and some Altesse
-Vouette et Sorbee “Textures” - 100pct Pinot Blanc vinified in amphora from Champagne
-Il San Lorenzo Bianco - Verdicchio aged on its lees for 12 years in concrete
-Bodegas Cota 45 - A brilliant winemaker making unique and compelling unfortified wines in Jerez from Palomino and some near extinct indigenous varietals (Perruno, Uva Rey)
-Julien Meyer Sous Voile Silvaner and Riesling from Alsace - Tough to find in the states and not for everyone but certainly geeky. These spend a very long time in barrel…like 15-18years.

I can attest to these as well. Textures is a superb Champagne. However, I’ve also had that Belluard Gringet and it was quite heavily mousy. Might be some bottle variation there, but I wasn’t impressed.

[Andrew_A_r_n_t_f_i_e_l_d]

A couple that came to mind:

Edi Kante Vitovska Selezione - from the Carso region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Not many producers working with Vitovska, and Edi Kante’s Selezione is fantastic.

Fiorano (Boncompagni Ludovisi) Malvasia di Candia Vino da Tavola - Asimov wrote about this wine back in 2004. It certainly qualifies as both geeky and weird. I’m not sure if any is still available on the secondary market, but I was able to find half a dozen bottles about five years ago. Here’s the Asimov article:

An Italian Prince and His Magic Cellar (Published 2004)

[Phil_T_r_o_t_t_e_r]

Some semi nerdy to nerdy wines I quite like off the top of my head:
<…>
-Julien Meyer Sous Voile Silvaner and Riesling from Alsace - Tough to find in the states and not for everyone but certainly geeky. These spend a very long time in barrel…like 15-18years.

Ooooh… I’m not quite nerdy enough there! I had never heard of those. I have to check them out. I went on the prowl and found the agency that imports Julien Meyer over here. However, the only sous voile they have is the Pinot Gris (1998 Zellberg Sous-Voile Pinot Gris). Is it worth trying (case of 6, 100$ per bottle)?

I can attest to these as well. Textures is a superb Champagne. However, I’ve also had that Belluard Gringet and it was quite heavily mousy. Might be some bottle variation there, but I wasn’t impressed.

Same here. I’ve had flawed bottles from Belluard (Les Alpes, Pur Jus) and some poxed (Perles de Mont Blanc).

[Otto_Forsberg]

A couple that came to mind:

Edi Kante Vitovska Selezione - from the Carso region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Not many producers working with Vitovska, and Edi Kante’s Selezione is fantastic.

This is fun stuff. I have also one bottle of this stashed away in my cabinet.

Fiorano (Boncompagni Ludovisi) Malvasia di Candia Vino da Tavola - Asimov wrote about this wine back in 2004. It certainly qualifies as both geeky and weird. I’m not sure if any is still available on the secondary market, but I was able to find half a dozen bottles about five years ago. Here’s the Asimov article:

https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E2D81330F931A15751C1A9629C8B63&pagewanted=all

Well! This has been flying under my radar! Sounds very interesting. I can imagine it might be quite difficult to find any original bottles made by the prince, but at least some recent Fiorano vintages seem to be available.

[Andrew_A_r_n_t_f_i_e_l_d]

A couple that came to mind:

Edi Kante Vitovska Selezione - from the Carso region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Not many producers working with Vitovska, and Edi Kante’s Selezione is fantastic.

This is fun stuff. I have also one bottle of this stashed away in my cabinet.

Fiorano (Boncompagni Ludovisi) Malvasia di Candia Vino da Tavola - Asimov wrote about this wine back in 2004. It certainly qualifies as both geeky and weird. I’m not sure if any is still available on the secondary market, but I was able to find half a dozen bottles about five years ago. Here’s the Asimov article:

https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E2D81330F931A15751C1A9629C8B63&pagewanted=all

Well! This has been flying under my radar! Sounds very interesting. I can imagine it might be quite difficult to find any original bottles made by the prince, but at least some recent Fiorano vintages seem to be available.

I bought a bunch of the 1992, 93 and 94 back in 2015 from Saratoga Wine Exchange. I got 10 bottles of the Malvasía and 4 bottles of the Semillon. I had to dump a few bottles down the drain - completely oxidized - but most were quite drinkable although very unusual. Orange rind, lanolin, stone fruit, almond paste, graham cracker… plus a whole lot of particulate floating in each bottle.

I don’t imagine recent vintages are at all the same wine as those 90s bottles.

[Andrew_A_r_n_t_f_i_e_l_d]

A couple that came to mind:

Edi Kante Vitovska Selezione - from the Carso region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Not many producers working with Vitovska, and Edi Kante’s Selezione is fantastic.

This is fun stuff. I have also one bottle of this stashed away in my cabinet.

Fiorano (Boncompagni Ludovisi) Malvasia di Candia Vino da Tavola - Asimov wrote about this wine back in 2004. It certainly qualifies as both geeky and weird. I’m not sure if any is still available on the secondary market, but I was able to find half a dozen bottles about five years ago. Here’s the Asimov article:

https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E2D81330F931A15751C1A9629C8B63&pagewanted=all

Well! This has been flying under my radar! Sounds very interesting. I can imagine it might be quite difficult to find any original bottles made by the prince, but at least some recent Fiorano vintages seem to be available.

FYI, Chambers St currently has 10 bottles of the 1993 Semillon in stock.

[Rob_S1]

I bought some 2011 Quantum Sonntag Geschlossen Grüner Veltliner earlier this year, haven’t had one yet. One barrel roughly 2,400 liters in size that is well over 100 years old. The wine spent 2,555 days in this barrel (that’s over seven years), being regularly topped up and only lightly sulfured.

That’s geeky.

[Otto_Forsberg]

I bought some 2011 Quantum Sonntag Geschlossen Grüner Veltliner earlier this year, haven’t had one yet. One barrel roughly 2,400 liters in size that is well over 100 years old. The wine spent 2,555 days in this barrel (that’s over seven years), being regularly topped up and only lightly sulfured.

That’s geeky.

That sounds pretty much like the stuff Nikolaihof does; for example their Riesling Federspiel vom Stein 2006 was bottled in 2014, after having been aged for 8 years in decades-old barrels ranging from 7,000 to 12,000 liters. Or Steinriesler 1998 which was aged for 14 years.

So if that Grüner of yours is geeky, I guess Nikolaihof is double geeky.

And if old barrels ramp up nerd points, I must tell how Gavalas ages their Vinsanto for 7 years in weathered Russian oak barrels ranging that have been passed from one generation to another, their age ranging from 150 yo to 350 yo. The Gavalss family has been making wine for some four centuries and they used to sell Vinsanto to Russia and in return buy huge Russian oak barrels to have better-quality vessels for aging wine. I guess they haven’t heard of how old barrels should be regularly replaced if one wants to make quality wine. The barrels truly looked ancient when we visited the winery.