May

29

Our interest was piqued in the Juris St. Laurent Selection 2004 when a staff member at K&L described the wine’s features as a cross between an earthy Pinot Noir and a meaty Syrah.  In case you’re curious, the varietal here is St. Laurent, which is widely produced in Austria.

Here’s what we found: aromas of leather and berries; a leathery palate but accompanied by the flavor of — and this is going to sound weird – warm blackberry sorbet; a mildly bitter finish reminiscent of the sensation you get from eating plum skin; and an interesting, lightly tannic, and full mouthfeel.

So was it truly a mix of Syrah and Pinot?  Certainly, the combination of berry scents, leatheriness, and a filling texture would support that notion.  But having now tried the wine, we’re more of the mind that what’s inside the bottle is so out-of-the-ordinary (at least by our standards) that it’s perhaps best appreciated in its own light.

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at K&L Wines in San Francisco.  They ship.  You can also find it using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or by visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.

Feb

12

So as to ensure that we’re not encouraging people out there to skimp on wine when it comes to preparing for Valentine’s Day this Thursday, we felt it appropriate to choose a slightly more expensive bottle for this week’s Weekday Wine.

Last weekend, I was in New York City for a wedding, where I found the bottle of Riesling for which this posting is named.  As I was chatting with a clerk in a neighborhoody wine shop on the Upper East Side, we were interrupted when he was asked by his colleague to quickly grab a bottle of Chateau Margaux from behind a locked case for another customer.  Unfortunately for me, that wine — one of the world’s finest and most expensive Bordeauxs — was not being sold at a deep, deep discount.  Regardless, I was extremely pleased with the bottle that I ended up purchasing: the Schloss Gobelsburg Gobelsburger Riesling 2006.

With Rieslings, I usually opt for dryer versions, and for a dryer-is-better kind of guy, the Gobelsburger was a perfect match.  This wine had an enticing golden color reminiscent of Champagne, and in it, I found aromas and flavors of minerally grapefruit and green apple that carried through to a lengthy finish.  My favorite quality of all: the distinct punch of acidity that remained tempered perfectly by the wine’s other components. 

Overall, this is a refreshing wine that’s easy to like.

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