Friday, May 23, 2008

The Monkey gears up for Summer, another recommended white

After the success of John Downing of Hi-Times with the Benito Ferrara Greco I thought I would try another reasonably priced white that he was into. In my experience, Weissburgunder (aka pinot blanc) can produce wines of real creamy body and interest balanced upon an underlying structure, or they can become top-heavy shapeless mashes. It is a very fine line, I think. I wonder if it is a hard grape to know when to pick or whether there is actually more breathing space in terms of getting to the sweet spot. To date, my favorite expressions have always been from Austria.

2005 Ignaz Niedrist Weissburgunder Alto Adige - Südtirol

I consumed this wine over three days in the fridge and it didn’t seem to suffer at all over that period. It also seems to thrive at maybe 50-52° after being out of the fridge. This has that quality that David Schildknecht calls a “creamed corn”. It is a sort of sweet, but earthy yellow fruit quality, I think, married to a creaminess. I find it an apt descriptor for pinot blanc. I even enjoyed a glass of it by itself, which is unusual for me. Around $20 and worth owning a fair bit at that price. Not sure age will add anything to it, although it might uncoil it the wine a bit. I prefer it the way it is now.

No way Lyle Fass is recommending wines this good.

11 comments:

slaton said...

Niedrist's lagrein is pretty tasty, too.

David McDuff said...

As is his Sauvignon Blanc, which can be aromatically savage. A black licorice element sticks in my mind from a couple of vintages back.

Lyle Fass said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lyle Fass said...

Drink real Weissburgunder! Just got to get up north a bit fucko!

the vlm said...

They keep the Wiessburgunder locked in the basement because they want to be a family.

Lyle Fass said...

I must say to that last comment . . . ??????

the vlm said...

Don't you read the papers?

Don't you know they have special basement families in Austria? It's all the rage.

Louis/Dressner Selections said...

Can't you guys get along?

The Lyle/VLM feud is tearing apart the wine internet!

the vlm said...

I'm Tupac and he's Diddy (can't picture him as Biggie).

There is only one way that this can end.

winedisorder will stitch the community back together in the wake of the VLM/Fass throwdown...

Nancy Deprez said...

I thought Alto Adige was in Italy...

Lyle Fass said...

VLM,

I was talking about Germany. They can do what they like in Austria. Seems like they have. Free Fritzl!