With the weather being so screwy lately, I've had a difficult time limiting myself to one season's type of wine. The blizzard definitely made me break out the heavier, darker wine in my collection, but the mild sunny weather that followed on its heels made me think of spring and wines that echo the fresh greenness that will appear sometime in April, if we're lucky. Below, an eclectic mix that suits the current climate:
Rebecca 2003 Sp?tburgunder Rotwein Sp?tlese
This red wine is probably one of the most expansive wines I've ever had the pleasure of drinking. It's what I imagine a well-aged burgundy would taste like should I ever gather enough money together to acquire one. The year 2003 was a highly uncharacteristic one for the south German area from which this wine comes, as temperatures were much higher than usual and there was a significant drop in precipitation as well. The wine emits a very strong scent of spiced red fruits; however, the taste is richer with a decidedly spicy wooded flavor. The wine needs to breathe for at least half an hour; it perfectly complemented the pork roast and sweet potato-carrot puree I made for my roommate's birthday. Unfortunately, this wine is not available locally, but any other Sp?tburgunder Rotwein should be almost as good.
Arigolas Costamolina 2004 Vermentino di Sardegna
I have never been to Sardinia, but this particular bottle of white has definitely put it on the must-go list. I must admit that by reviewing this wine I'm breaking a rule of mine not to review wines I've tried at tastings, but it's too good not to share. The flavor of this wine is everything I like about spring: the crisp breezes, the green grass, the muddy pathways of the commons. Obviously, the wine doesn't taste like mud, but it has a freshness I've never seen matched. It wasn't tangy in the mouth like a chardonnay and it was not at all sweet; it's a very subtle tasting wine on the whole and very pleasing at that. Of my two companions, one preferred another white at the tasting and the other expressed a preference for this. The uniqueness of the taste may not be for everyone, but I think it's a winner. $13.98 at the Black Sheep.
Fu-Ki Sake ($11.99 at Provisions)
As many of you know already, sake is a wine with a base of rice instead of grapes and comes from Japan. Like wine, sake comes in dozens of varieties and at varying levels of purity about which I know very little. I picked this particular sake because I liked the shape of the bottle. The sake itself did not disappoint. It was sweet with a clean kick. I drank the sake slightly chilled, but the label suggests that it can also be served warm making it an option regardless of the weather.