Wine Review: Chateau de la Bigotiere 2012 Muscadet Sevre et Maine

It's the middle of the summer and it's friggin oyster-down-your-gullet season, right? So I'm gonna review a bottle of the ultimate oyster wine: Muscadet Sevre et Maine. Just don't get this wine mixed up with Moscato like many people do. This is not sweet and it's not mentioned in rap songs.

Muscadet is located in Loire Valley, France and is made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape. It's pretty rare that you find one in the USA that's isn't sur lie, which means "on the lees", which means it was aged with the dead yeasts that fermented it. This releases bready flavors through autolysis and adds complexity. If that freaks you out: don't be concerned. You've had this before in Champagne.

Chateau de la Bigotiere is in its third generation now and is run by two brothers, Christophe and Cedric Gobin. Their 2012 Muscadet won a Bronze Metal in the 2013 Concours General Agricole de Paris. Sooooo.... alright! That's enough precursor! I need to drink some wine. It's been a long day.

Read More

My Einzellagen In Your Grosslagen - The Reboot

Here's a reboot of the most popular Wine Stalker quote and graphic yet.

"I'm going to form a band called Trockenbeerenauslese.  Our first single will be 'My Einzellagen in your Grosslagen'. That'll be sweet. Chicks will dig it."

Get it? Sweet? I kill myself.

Read More

Wine Review: Terredora di Paolo 2011 Campania Aglianico

Somehow I find myself writing about Aglianico for the second time in two months on this blog. If you've never heard of the Aglianico grape or would like to know more (much more) then please help yourself to my blog post on the subject: The Adventures of Aglianico - A Complete History of an Ancient Wine.

Towards the end of that post I bring up Terredora di Paolo Taurasi. The wine I'm reviewing is the lower tier of that wine. This is Aglianico that either doesn't qualify to carry the Taurasi DOCG or is from anywhere within Campania, Italy. Terredora di Paolo Aglianico is going to run you about $16 while the Taurasi will hit you with $34.

First of all the label is just balls. I don't know if those two Greeks are doing the Safety Dance or if they're fighters in an ancient Mortal Kombat but I'm all about classy throwback labels. The color of the actual wine is a beautiful dark cherry red... but still there's not much density. You can see right through it without much effort at all.

Read More

The problem with Sauvignon Blanc.

Am I the only one that feels like I just brushed my teeth when tasting Sauvignon Blanc from, specifically, Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley lately? I don't like this trend. It makes me sad.

Read More

Mexico makes wine too, muchacho.

A VINEYARD IN MEXICO

"Hecho en Mexico" is something you expect to see on a bottle of Tequila but never on a bottle of wine. Well, guess what? Mexico makes wine too, muchacho. People have been making wine there longer than they've made it anywhere else in the western hemisphere. At first thought that's cray cray, right? I mean, grapes prefer cool climates and Mexico is friggin hotter than Lindsay Lohan in 2004. I thought so too but it turns out, given its history, that it makes perfect sense.

To take it from the top we have to start with the infamous, trailblazing Conquistadors. If you thought you'd get out of this without getting into some heavy history: Welcome to TheWineStalker.net, my name is Joey Casco.

After the discovery of the New World, the Spanish and Portuguese collected their toughest badasses, called them Conquistadors, and put them on boats headed to Central and South America. Their job was to claim land in any way they had to and send back valuable resources and luxuries. They found gold, chocolate, corn and tomatoes to name a few. But what did they bring with them besides death and disease? Viticulture and vines.

Read More

Madeira should be your Independence Day beverage

I know most people say you should drink Zinfandel on July 4th because it's uniquely American but that's simply untrue. Zinfandel is the son of the Croatian grape Crljenak Kaštelanski and also has a sister known as Primitivo in Italy. What you should do is get yourself a bottle of Madeira to celebrate this Independence Day.

Madeira is the wine that the forefathers drank more than any other. The price and the tax for the wines of France, Porto from Portugal and Sherry from Spain was sky high. Ever the cost-cutters, it was time to find some different options. There was this little island named Madeira, far out in the Atlantic, west of the Straight of Gibraltar and is today property of Portugal, that was more than willing to send them their fortified wine on the cheap. America gobbled it up.

Read More