NWW III

It seems to be Wednesday more often than any other day in the week. It creeps up on me and then, out of nowhere, there it is again.

Anyway, this weeks NWW has another trio of diversity.

With the weather acting like we may be finished with the ice and snow, I tend to look towards crisp whites. A really nice bright and acidic white wine, full of minerality and with a nose of flowers and stone, just screams that spring is imminent. Last week we featured a "Terry Theise" riesling, this week rolls down the hill to Austria for a fantastic Gruner Veltliner. For those of you unfamiliar with "Gru-Vees" (as the tie die set tends to call them), these are some bright wines that have a wonderful mix of fruit, minerality, and spice. Green apple, slate, and white pepper are common descriptors of these wines. We just picked up the 2006 Nigl Kremser Freiheit Gruner, and is this a treat! This wine oozes apple, herbs, and melon. It has quite a bit of flavor for such a light and acidic wine. Try this with beets and goat cheese.

A few years ago I was in Chicago at the Vinexpo. Walking through the maze of wines, I stumbled upon the spanish section and decided that a thorough tasting was in order. While a good number of the wines left me with a renewed interest in Spain, it was the Kios Tempranillo. This intense medium bodied wine left me both overjoyed at the find, and saddened by the fact that as of then there was no American importer. Well things have changed since then, Eric Solomon and his European Cellars decided to pick up this tasty treat as did we. The 2004 Kios is 100% Tempranillo with 8-10 months in oak barrels. Pair with Pulled Pork or Antelope.

Finally a wine extremely close to my heart. Those who know me are aware of my love of the Rhone Valley and Syrah. Put those two things together during 2005 in Cote Rotie and you have magic. We have had this for a few months, but I can't help but feel joy over picking this up. The 2005 Bernard Burgaud Cote Rotie is a monster. This dark, rich, brooding syrah has all of the tell tale things that make them what they are. The dried fruit (dates and figs), smoke, seared meat, chocolate, and acidity roll around in every possible good way. Pair this with juicy tannins and we have a winner! This is a very small production wine, so if you like syrah and aren't familiar with Cote Rotie do yourself a favor and give one a try.

http://www.skurnickwines.com/

http://www.europeancellars.com/

www.mwines.com

Till next week