Saturday, February 20, 2010

Known White, Unknown White

A couple of whites over a couple of days.....the GV grape a regular of this blogger..the other grapes completely new to me.
Weingut Knoll Gruner Veltliner
Smaragd Ried Schütt 2004

Wachau, Austria
Lovely smell of ripe, slabby fruit...oops...I mean stone fruit...aromatic...and a lovely weight....and of course...the usual white pepper.
I love these Smaragd wines......and at € 23,-- great value.
Points 17.25

Filipa Pato Quinta de Sant'Ana
Nossa Blanco 2007
Bairrada, Portugal
Some wines are just so different to the norm that words fail....and this is definitely different...in the fact that the grapes are strange to us...well...to me anyway. The lady behind this property is Filipa Pato (daughter of the Bairrada winemaker Luís Pato) ...who...along with husband William Wauters has created this one...a mix 50%-50% of Encruzado (from Dão) and Bical (from Barraida). It spends time in oak...but you would hardly know it...and the 13% alcohol is also not evident....it reminds me of a white from Southern France....a slightly wild feel to it..vanilla and fruit ..and a changing taste...this 'lives' in the glass...intense citrus...then spices and minerals...very interesting...
Points 16.5

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Barry, thought you might be interested in this Swiss wine tasting note on UK forum.

Bob in Alberta

David McDuff said...

I'm a big fan of Knoll's Smaragd wines as well, Barry -- Gruner Veltliner and Riesling alike. Their prices vary wildly in the US, though. Still in the $30s in some parts of the country... but at generally $50+ on the East Coast, the value just isn't there any longer.