TDG: Contrarian Wine

[Fat Guy]

How the cool people drink, by Mamster.

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[NeroW]

You rock.

[Jason Perlow]

Drinking Riesling and other Germanic wines is tres cool. That means I've been tres cool for at least 3 or 4 years.

[pixelchef]

Great article. My favourite wine has been Riesling for quite some time (German), and Moscato d'Asti is one of the most fun wines I've played with ever. It makes ya giggle.

[mamster]

Dang, and I thought you guys were going to tear me to shreds. Jason, are there any wines with hints of bacon?

[girl chow]

From Mamster's article: "I imagine this working something like Whack-a-Mole, with grape bunches popping up daily and overworked pickers rushing out to grab them and squeeze them into the auslese vats."

Matthew, that was about the freakin' funniest thing I've read in weeks. Thanks for that image. The whack-a-mole game at Chuck E. Cheese will never be the same for me again. I'll always picture myself smackin' the grapes.

Nice article.

[mamster]

I'll always picture myself smackin' the grapes.

I have absolutely no response to that.

[Jason Perlow]

Dang, and I thought you guys were going to tear me to shreds.  Jason, are there any wines with hints of bacon?

Yeah, Col Klink found some, actually. It really does taste like bacon.

[Craig Camp]

From Mamster's article: "I imagine this working something like Whack-a-Mole, with grape bunches popping up daily and overworked pickers rushing out to grab them and squeeze them into the auslese vats."

Matthew, that was about the freakin' funniest thing I've read in weeks. Thanks for that image. The whack-a-mole game at Chuck E. Cheese will never be the same for me again. I'll always picture myself smackin' the grapes.

Nice article.

OK - I have to ask. What is Whack-A-Mole?

[Wilfrid]

Oh, please don't lets have a link to that. My afternoon will be gone.

[mamster]

Explanation, no link, although now I'm curious whether Wilfrid has a really good web-based Whack-a-Mole game.

Whack-a-Mole is a game found at kids' pizza parlors, mostly. It consists of a horizontal surface with a grid of large holes in it. The idea is that you're a farmer trying to get rid of moles, and these mole puppets keep popping out of the holes and you have to hit them with a mallet before they go back down. I guess you'd put it in the same category as pinball (albeit requiring less skill): a game that's electric but not necessarily electronic.

It's a highly intellectual activity and is considered the basis for Modernism.

[nightscotsman]

Dang, and I thought you guys were going to tear me to shreds.  Jason, are there any wines with hints of bacon?

Yeah, Col Klink found some, actually. It really does taste like bacon.

Why, I happen to have a bottle of that stuff right here [reaches around to wine rack]. It's a Mendoza Malbec from Altos las Hormigas. Argentinian. Mine's from 1999.

[col klink]

It's a wine I never would've tried unless the review at the grocery store explicity used "bacon" to describe it. There's a smokiness in the first 15 to 20 minutes of opening that's reminiscent of bacon. No kidding!

[Elissa]

I had a 1989 St. Joseph the other day that tasted like chocolate bacon. Hence my new website: chocolatebacon.com

[mamster]

German wines are, of course, brilliant with bacon and most other smoked meats. I think a kabinett would be perfect with some of klink's smoked pork shoulder--slightly sweet wine, slightly sweet meat. I popped into a wine shop near work the other day and they had several 2001 kabinetts for around $13. The golden age is now.

[Ron Johnson]

Jason, are there any wines with hints of bacon?

That is one of the signatures of Cote Rotie. Violets and bacon. A winning combination in my opinion.

[Schielke]

Explanation, no link, although now I'm curious whether Wilfrid has a really good web-based Whack-a-Mole game.

Whack-a-Mole is a game found at kids' pizza parlors, mostly.  It consists of a horizontal surface with a grid of large holes in it.  The idea is that you're a farmer trying to get rid of moles, and these mole puppets keep popping out of the holes and you have to hit them with a mallet before they go back down.  I guess you'd put it in the same category as pinball (albeit requiring less skill):  a game that's electric but not necessarily electronic.

It's a highly intellectual activity and is considered the basis for Modernism.

Reisling rocks, I have always disliked the butteryness of chardonay.

Also, I freaking rock at whack-a-mole. If I were a farmer, I would be mole free.

Ben

[Schielke]

Heh, somebody had to do it. If you get a certain score, you get a discount on mole control products!!!!

Also, I have some Viogner in my fridge, does that make me cool at all?

Ben

[mamster]

Viognier makes you cool, but not as cool as me. (You knew I was going to say that, right?)

A lot of the butteriness associated with chardonnay comes from the oak, not the grape. Ever had a good Chablis?

[tommy]

i've been drinking gruner veltilner, thinking that it *has* to make me cool.

schiekle, listen to what your uncle mamsters says. don't discount chardonnay. hating new world chardonnays, however, is fine, and highly recommended.

edit: "new word"?

Edited March 28, 2003 by tommy (log)

[Adam Balic]

Will Rose d'Anjou ever be cool? What about some of the new English wines?

[Schielke]

i've been drinking gruner veltilner, thinking that it *has* to make me cool. 

schiekle, listen to what your uncle mamsters says.  don't discount chardonnay.  hating new word chardonnays, however, is fine, and highly recommended.

I am down with the Velt too, the weather is starting to get warmer too and I shal start drinking more of it.

I'll have to give some other Chardonay a go, any recs on a mid priced bottle? (10-20 bucks)

Ben

[Robert Nesta Marley]

Will Rose d'Anjou ever be cool? What about some of the new English wines?

rose d'anjou is cool again. montlouis major cool points. lambrusco in again as well if you talk to the right people. so is moscato d'asti. and don't get me started on moscato d'asti rosso. aah.

but, as always, it's all about the right producer, especially in overlooked and/or overcropped regions. as evidenced, of course, by the gambero rosso this week.......

and by the plethora of franciacortas at their tasting this week, seriously. wow.

[Fat Guy]

Am I the only person who thinks the Germanic varietals are made better in Alsace than in Germany?

[mamster]

I find the Alsatians reliably tasty and food-friendly, and a fair number of places pour them by the glass, which is nice. (I don't think I've ever seen a German riesling or gewurtz by the glass except in one of those everything-by-the-glass wine bars.)

But here's what Peter Schmidt says:

"Trocken, Halb-trocken (literally: dry, and half-dry) - an attempt to meet customer demand for dry wines. I have a personal bias against these wines because I think the glory and uniqueness of German riesling is that perfect balance of acidity with sweetness."

Okay, he's talking about Germans here, not Alsatians, and I like trockens and halbtrockens fine, but the off-dry German wines are the most likely to make my head jerk back with surprise and delight. Of course, I don't have genuine depth of experience with any of this stuff.

Also, I didn't mention this in the article, but Peter Schmidt is my friend Dan's dad. I ran the article by Dan and he said, "Hey, my dad has a web page about this stuff." It was bizarre.