The BevFluence #1299Challenge: Wegmans

Last month BevFluence invited a community of wine enthusiasts to select a supermarket or large beverage retail chain and purchase six wines under $12.99 to review. We chose Wegmans since a new store just opened in Tysons Corner. Here are our selections. 

Fox Run Vineyards 2018 Simmons Vineyard Traminette ($11.99)
Special thanks to the New York Wine & Grape Foundation and their wine seminar “New York's Heritage & Hybrid Wines with Carlo DeVito” for introducing us to this wine (although they featured the 2019, I found the 2018).  Whereas Fox Run is located on the west side of Seneca Lake, Simmons Vineyard is located on Keuka Lake - specifically the east bank of the west fork. For this Traminette, expect a tropical and melon aroma, complexity on the palate, lychee, stoney, viscosity, and acids almost catching the sugar (1.8%).

Emilia Natura 2018 Carmenere ($9.49)
The grapes are farmed organically in the Colchagua Valley, Chile with 20% of the wine aged 6 months in French oak barrels. The wine expresses blue fruits like plums and blueberries, is concentrated, and provides decent acidity. Wish there was more tannic structure - but at under $10 -  that may be expecting too much. The Natura brand is imported into the U.S. by Banfi Vintners.  

Koenig Pinot Blanc ($10.99)
The Koenig winery became the first Kosher wine cellar in France when it opened in Alsace in 1960.  Specifically, the vineyards are located in Dambach-la-Ville on the eastern slopes of the Vosges mountains. The wines are certified kosher and made under the supervision of the Beth-Din of Strasbourg, a kosher regulatory council, and today, Koenig is part of the Royal Wine Corp family.  This Pinot Blanc starts with limes and stone fruits then giving way to green apples and some weight with appropriate acidity.  It's long gone before you realize it.

Hugl Gruner Veltliner ($10.49)
Imagine biting into an Asian Pear where the flesh has been inoculated with small amounts of lemons and sea salt. That is the Hugl GV, dry, minerally, and freshly acidic. The winery is owned and operated by Sylvia and Martin Hugl who specialize in Grüner Veltliner and Zweigelt. In 2013, they combined their two estates, Martin's Hugl family estate and Sylvia's Wimmer family estate, to form Weingut HuglWimmer. 

Fontana Candid Frascati 2019  ($8.49)
The Malvasia Bianca di Candia (60%), Trebbiano Toscano (30%), and Malvasia del Lazio (10%) grapes are grown in volcanic soils in the Frascati DOC in the province of Lazio. Specifically, in the communes of Frascati, Monteporzio Catone, Grottaferrata, Montecompatri, and Rome. Starts with wildflowers, then think textured lemons sprinkled with a few almonds. The biggest surprise yet. 

Vinos de Arganza Lagar de Robla Mencia Premium 2016 ($9.99)
This is "wine from the land of Castilla y Leon", more precisely the D.O. Bierzo and close to the region's borders with Galicia (to the west). That means an Atlantic influence and thus cooler and milder conditions and furthermore, the region is protected from extreme weather events by the Cordillera Cantábrica mountains.  These conditions ensure that "the local Mencia grapes achieve optimum ripeness to produce lively, fruity and often intense red wines".  The Lagar de Robla Mencia Premium was aged in eighteen months in American oak barrels that didn't overwhelm the fruit.  Instead, there's a cherry licorice aroma, chalky - then lively fruit (black cherries and blueberries), and chewy tannins. The downside is that the wine comes across as slightly disjointed and not integrated enough and the finish evaporates quickly. But for under $10, it is worthy. 

Dão Wines: The Hidden Gem of Portugal

This title was the byline for a brilliant tasting sponsored by Vinhos Dão Wines and Wines of Portugal and featuring numerous wines from this "hidden gem". The tasting started with Wines of Portugal US Ambassador Eugenio Jardim discussing Portugal and the Iberian Peninsula before transitioning to the Dão. Most pertinent is that Portugal has the largest number of microclimates per square kilometers in the world and hosts over 250 indigenous grape varieties. In fact, these grapes are from the species Vitis Silvestris which developed isolated from the world as the Iberian Peninsula remained glacier free during the Quaternary glaciations which froze North and Central Europe over the last 2.58 million years.

That being said, the modern indigenous grape varieties grown in Portugal are Vitis Vinifera and includes grapes such as Malvasia Fina, Encruzado, Jaen (Mencia), and Baga, as well as Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo). These grapes excel in the Dão viticultural region's granite soils and are favored with the microclimates within this northern Portuguese region. It is enclosed by four mountain ranges which act as natural barriers from the coastal rains that originate from the Atlantic and the strong continental winds emanating from Spain. Vineyards are generally planted between 1300 to 1600 feet with higher elevations reaching 2600 feet. According to Wine-Searcher.com, "This elevation raises the vines out of the valley's shadows and towards all-important sunshine, allowing them to maximize their photosynthesis time during the day. It also increases diurnal temperature variation, helping the grapes cool down at night, which they must do to retain the acids so desirable in wine".

Courtesy of Vinhos Dão Wine

In 1908, the Dão became the second (following Porto) formal Portuguese wine region which defined the general conditions for the production and trade of Dão Wine. And more recently the C.V.R. Dão was established in 1987 right after Portugal formally joined the EU. This organization is responsible for "ensuring authenticity and quality by strictly controlling the production and marketing of the wines" and certifies and authenticates wines with Seals of Guarantee. The CVR also created four quality designations listed in the box.

Selected Harvest: With harvest year, with outstanding organoleptic characteristics and with more than 1% of the volume of the legal limit.
Reserve: With harvest year, with outstanding organoleptic characteristics and with more than 0.5% of the volume of the legal limit.
Garrafeira: With harvest year, with outstanding organoleptic characteristics;
> Red wines: 36 months, 12 months in bottle
> White wines: 12 months, 6 months in bottle
Dão Nobre: With the year of harvest, with very outstanding organoleptic characteristics. Only two to date (one white and one red) – Must score 90 points plus

Our tasting started with a flight of white wines dominated by the Encruzado grape. According to Wines of Portugal, Encruzado generally creates complex wines with aromatic mineral notes and tropical fruit and depth and vanilla when fermented in barrel. The Quinto do Mondego Mondeo Branco 2018 (60% Encruzado & 40% Gouveio) contains these mineral notes as well as a smokey, flinty profile. The grape's versatility was shown in the saline driven high acid Juliana Kelman Encruzado 2018 to the beeswax and spice in the Pedra Cancela Vinha da Fidalga Encruzado 2018 the cream and depth of the Quinta dos Roques Encruzado 2018.

For reds, our hosts provided one flight consisting of various blends and the second flight of 100% Touriga Nacional. Like most European regions, blends are the backbone of the Dão with most combinations not as complex as the Casa da Passarella "O Oenologo - Vinhas Velhas" Tinto 2015 - composed of Baga, Touriga Nacional, Alvarelhão, Tinta Pinheira, Jaen, Alfrocheiro, Tinta Carvalha, and more. And the Pedra Cancela Selecao do Enologo Tinto 2016 (Touriga Nacional, Alfrocheiro, Tinta Roriz) was the bargain of the tasting, priced under $10, with gripping tannins and solid fruit structure and just a little less leather and barnyard funk as the winery's more expensive Reserva.

The 100% Touriga Nacional wines, in general, provided more fruit than the blends particularly the Borges Touriga Nacional 2017. But expect a balanced profile with texture and solid tannins. The Julia Kemper Touriga Nacional 2012 was more tender due to the advanced aging and provided more approachable tannins. My favorite was the dustier Jaime de Almeida Barros "Quinta das Camelias" Touriga Nacional 2016 which seemed a perfect match with the Martin Farms Beef Short Rib -- the main entree during our lunch at Metier.

The final wine was the Qunita das Maias Tinto Jaen 2017, my first single varietal from this grape. It offers a rustic charm with dusty cherries and firm tannins.  This wine and the others will entice a more in-depth examination of the Dão region and Portuguese wines.

Felicidades to Vinhos Dão Wines, Wines of Portugal, and Metier for a fantastic tasting.

Bierzo D.O., Bodegas Godelia, Mencia, and Godello

Who's familiar with Bodegas Godelia? Or for that matter Spain's Bierzo D.O.? Well not me as of last week -- until I received the two wines below. The Bierzo D.O. is situated east of Galicia in Spain's northwest corner. The region shares Galicia's humidity and rainfall as well as the hot, dry climate of Castile - located slightly southeastern. The vineyards are relatively low lying (450-1,000 meters) along hillsides planted on a diverse set of quartz, slate, granite, and limestone soils. Viticulture was first documented during the Roman colonization but expanded during the Middle Ages through the growth of monasteries. After the phylloxera plague basically decimated the vineyards in the late 1800s, modern viticulture resuscitated the region and the Bierzo D.O. was established in 1989.

Bodegas Godelia consists of 86 acres of estate vineyard plus an additional 37 acres under contract. The estate resides outside the village of Cacabelos centrally located to the D.O. and with old vines (20-90 years) planted on hillsides at 500-600 meters.

Two prominent grapes in the Bierzo D.O. are the white Godello and the red Mencia. The former is known for producing complex, mineral-driven wines and the later concentrated, yet juicy acidic wines.

Godelia Godello-Dona Blanco 2015 ($17) is a blend of 80% Godello and 20% Dona Blanca that spent five months on lees. This technique is clearly evident as the wine possesses a creamy backbone that is surrounded by floral and spicy-minerally characters. Solid acids provide a fresh finish.

Godelia Mencia ($19) is comprised of 100% Mencia harvested from 50-90 year old vines. And after fermentation the wine spends 12 months in various oak casks. This is a tasty combination of dirt and fruit with the high tannins settling leaving juicy acidity. Another tremendous value wine.