I am organizing a dinner for Schätzel around Karakterre in NYC and also introducing their Master Class at Karakterre. I am looking for wines made under flor beyond the obvious Jura and Sherry wines. They are experimenting with Riesling under flor and utilizing the Solera system. I spent a day with them earlier this year and the results are both fascinating and stunning.
Would love any suggestions?
Also I might have a seat or two for the dinner in the private room at LEI Wine if anyone is interested. Jule and Kai will be bringing a full vertical of their Pettenthal to share with the small group. We are going to do the dinner as a wine salon where each guest brings a wine they are excited to share and discuss. Jule and Kai’s passion for exploration in wine is utterly infectious. This will be a fascinating night.
Thanks for the Bat Signal (yeast edition), Jay! This is in my wheelhouse…spanning deliberate winemaking choices to what Bob Ross would call “happy little accidents.”
A few that come to mind off the top of my head:
Solid, easy-to-find imported examples:
Tokaji Szamorodni Száraz: The 2012 Samuel Tinon Szamorodni Dry is a benchmark.
Vernaccia di Oristano: The 2021 ‘Flor’ from Contini is fantastic.
More unusual / fringe:
Gravner & regional skin-contacts: Some orange wines from that area allow a touch of flor to develop. Whether the yeast metabolites actually show through the sheer intensity of the skin-contact extraction is open to debate.
TerraVox (Missouri): Their “SherryVox” line makes sherried wines using non-vinifera American heritage grapes, which are… definitely interesting.
Transitional & oxidative styles: Wines where initial flor gives way to oxidative aging (such as Amontillado or Palo Cortado) that everyone knows, as well as the broader Rancio world (essentially the entire Sotolon Selections book, although some of these never see flor…in heavily concentrated oxidative styles, it can be tough to pinpoint where the real influence of flor is…)
If there’s an open seat, I’d love to bring a few oddities originally earmarked for a dinner that work ended up swallowing. Most days in November are open for me right now, except Thursdays…
In addition to Sherry, one shouldn’t forget the neighboring Montilla-Moriles (where wines are typically made from Pedro Ximénez, not Palomino). For example Bodegas Robles has a simple naming scheme that tells how long their wines are aged under flor: the 2/0 cuvée has been aged for 2 years under flor and 0 years oxidatively.
The dry (Száraz) style of Szamorodni mentioned above is definitely a must. Do note that the sweet (Édes) Szamorodni wines are not aged under flor.
I’ve seen mentions that Raúl Pérez’s Ultreia whites and the rosés of Clos Cibonne are aged under flor, but I’ve never noticed any obvious aldehydic character in them, so they might fit the bill, but compared to Sherries and Jura wines, come across as quite conventional wines.
Then there is some off-piste stuff like Thierre Hesnault’s Fosse Vineuse, Gedeelte Wines Barren Sands Palomino, Roc des Anges Cioran or Joaquin JQN 203 Piante a Lapio.
Another one I just remembered: The Weingut Schätzel Solera Riesling from Rheinhessen is aged under flor. This was a mindbending experience when I had it.
Edit: Just re-read and realized this was the whole inspiration
Agreed. Only the Rara Avis white that @Zachgoldstein mentioned comes across as clearly aged under flor, consistently vintage after vintage. It is very different from the Ultreia whites.
I haven’t actually seen it, but word from a winemaker friend who has visited multiple times, Rayas has flor in their barrels. Also, Lopez whites may have some. I know that Telmo bought used barrels from Lopez for his Remelluri Blanco in order to get flor. Not sure if he was succesful.
Domaine Finot in virginia made a tannat in an oxidative style called “When I Grow up I would like to be Jaune” (4 years in barrels) - there may be a few bottles floating around online still.
