1 Wine Dude

#WBW75 “Singles Night”: Pinot From Alto, By Way Of Norse Mythology3 min read

Posted on by 1WineDude

in best of, wine blogging wednesday, wine review

Welcome to Wine Blogging Wednesday #75, people!

I’m thrilled to be hosting WBW this month, and I’m stoked to see what you all will be tasting throughout the day today, in keeping with our theme: “Singles Night!” For the background on the theme, check out the announcement post – the short story is that this month we are celebrating wines that are made from grapes grown on a single vineyard.

So get yourself some single vineyard wine, blog about it, comment here about it, or tweet about it (#WBW75)!

I’m kicking things off with a single vineyard wine that has been sitting in the bowels of the basement sample pool for some time, but that I’ve been excited about trying ever since I cracked the cardboard on its shipping box. It’s a familiar grape, and maybe even a familiar region, but not necessarily a grape/region combo that would be all that familiar for many of you…

The juice: 2009 Terlano Montigl Pinot Noir (a.k.a. Pinot Nero) Riserva (Alto Adige, around $30).

The wine hails from the extreme Northeast of Italy, where successive invasions from the Austro-Hungarians after the fall of the Roman empire eventually resulted in a bi-lingual, autonomous region where Italian and German are intermingled (the wines from the region often carry the designation “Südtirol” in addition to “Alto Adige”).

It’s also a study in another sort of extreme: the vineyard is around 1800 feet in elevation, relatively steep, and planted on sandy, porphyry-gravel soils that drain well and (not unimportantly) retain a good bit of heat.

The result is a wine unique combination of cooler-climate Pinot Noir in a lighter body, lighter tannins, and lighter booze (13.5% abv), with a warmer-climate (probably courtesy of the radiated heat from those soils) red berry purity and ripeness.

It’s far from the most complex Pinot I’ve ever sampled, but it’s for sure one of the most unique Pinots I’ve ever tasted.

The word Montigl kind of looks like it belongs more to a Norse god than a vineyard, and this wine basically is a Valkyrie: feminine, beautiful, even delicate, yet full of deadly, sexy ass-kickery at a moment’s notice.

The Montigl is light, almost delicate, but with a racy liveliness and great purity of raspberry and strawberry fruits. There’s a hint (but just a hint) of toasty spice and earthy mushroom, and (probably most interestingly for the wine geek crowd) a savory note to the palate that comes as bit of a surprise after taking in the lightness of the wine and its focused berry fruits.

None of those things are foreign to Pinot Noir, of course, but the combination of real delicacy with a traditionally riper/bigger style of pure red berry fruit – and the juxtaposition of the earthy/savory and mineral/stony palate – well, that is a bit unique, I think. And it screams of place and character, and might just get you pining for the rugged mountainside.

Or it might just get your very, very buzzed. Or both. Hey, I drank the hell out of this wine (you know you’re digging it when half the bottle is already empty before your SO has managed to find the time to pour herself her first glass).

Next week, I’ll be giving you another view of a single vineyard… a rather special (and ancient!) one in California… stay tuned!

Ok… now it’s your turn.

Wow us with your SV selections!

Cheers!

44 thoughts on “#WBW75 “Singles Night”: Pinot From Alto, By Way Of Norse Mythology3 min read”

  1. One of our favorite Finger Lakes wineries, Lamoreaux Landing, is also a leader in FLX single vineyard wines. We share our review of 2010 Lamoreaux Landing Yellow Dog Vineyard Riesling here: http://toledowinesandvines.blogspot.com/2012/03/l… on Toledo Wines and Vines.

    2010 is an outstanding vintage for Finger Lakes Riesling. Find out what the fuss is about. #WBW75

    1. I love the Lamoreaux Landing, too! Here is my review of the winery including the 3 SV Riesling there. Red Oak was our favorite. Really big flavor. Honeysuckle and pear, creamy, yet bright, and delicious. http://wp.me/p1MvvL-6r

    1. A great piece. I was astounded by the vast differences in the SV Rieslings I tried at Lamoreaux Landing. So close geographically, so different in taste profile. Yet another aspect of wine that makes me more enamoured all the time!

    2. Great post Jason! I especially appreciate how you explained what makes a single vineyard unique! Cheers!

  3. "The word Montigl kind of looks like it belongs more to a Norse god than a vineyard, and this wine basically is a Valkyrie: feminine, beautiful, even delicate, yet full of deadly, sexy ass-kickery at a moment’s notice."
    I think I have a new favorite in the wine-description category! Cheers and thank you for hosting! Hope my palate gets in shape today as this cold fades so I can do a tasting of my own.

  4. My first wine wasn't my favorite, so I 'had' to open a another bottle: A Tale of Two Single Vineyard Cabernets from Neal Family Vineyards

    Thanks for hosting Wine Blogging Wednesday, Joe!

  5. I went Ole Skool for #WBW 75, and chose the 2001 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Crianza Viña Gravonia , an interesting white wine aged 10 years before release. R López de Heredia was doing SV wines long before it became fashionable as it is today. I blogged about it here: http://wp.me/p10gB3-24L

      1. Read your post about it. I bet it went well with those tapas! I like their Rose even better! It's a gran reserva. Current release is 2000! Look for it, if you haven't already had the pleasure!

  7. In choosing a single vineyard wine I did something out of character (and a little scary) for me. I let someone else choose the wine. I went to my regular wine shop. They know me well, know which areas of the shop I gravitate to. So, I told them of my single vineyard needs and asked them to choose something they knew I never would. They chose a 2008 Alfred Merkelbach Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett. I was disappointed in their choice but when you delegate authority you take what you get. I surprised myself though by actually enjoying the wine.

    This Riesling was a stereo-typically sweet one, a characteristic that usually turns me off. I paired it with homemade sweet potato gnocchi with a browned butter and sage sauce…and it worked. I would even say it worked well.

    The wine itself had a clean and pleasing floral nose. On the tip of the palate was a strong honeydew flavor but by mid palate all the wonderful mineral flavors hit. The brief finish had a gentle sampling of honey and citrus. It was light and acidic. Alcohol was 9%.

    The Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett is produced in the Mosel region. The slate soils and cooler temps have produced many amazing wines. I would not go so far as to call this one “amazing” but it was quite good and adequately represents the prestigious growing region.

    As a stand-alone, drink by itself wine..much too sweet and fruity for my personal taste. However, pair it with some fatty, savory food and it gets a “yes” from me. I may even seek out some other sweet Rieslings to experiment with.

  9. Thanks for a great theme, Joe. As you'd likely expect from us, we went with a VA wine – the Tranquility red blend from Three2One Cellars. This is the product of a collaborative wine making project undertaken by winemakers from 3 different wineries who all buy fruit from the Tranquility Vineyard. http://swirlsipsnark.com/?p=9683

  10. Great theme this month, Joe (although I don't know anyone would say otherwise even if they didn't like your theme ;). Like Va Wine Diva, I kept it local and went with a Virginia wine… in fact, the same wine that she picked. This may be classified as stalking. Here's my WBW75 post: Singles Night with Tranquility from Virginia — http://t.co/M5FOKFEg

    2. Nice post. I do love me some Viognier! The price is certainly right! I'll look for it!

  17. Tonight, my wine choice was something close to home: a 2010 Hinterbrook 'Franc Blanc' from the Niagara Lakeshore VQA in Ontario that I've saved in my cellar for almost a year. http://www.uncorkontario.com/2011/04/30/2010-hinterbrook... (not my website)
    It was quite tasty, and though it had a slight vegetal hint in the back of my nose, it had a lot of fruit, too, including white peach, apricot, pear and red delicious apple. The acidity was pleasant and refreshing. If It was perfect for a warm day like today.

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