Luke checked in with us ahead of the impending North American harvest for 2011 in Oregon. While in Portland, he met up with some of our campmates from Burning Man 2011 who offered up a home-cooked meal of Madras curry & vegetarian samosas from scratch. These are the wines he paired with that meal.

WHITE WINE
WHO: Domaine Eugène Carrel
WHAT: 100% Jacquère
WHEN: 2010
WHERE: Jongieux in the Savoie/Savoy AOC of France
HOW: Stainless Steel Fermentation, No Malolactic Fermentation
WHY: Slight yellow straw color for this Savoy white. While it didn’t really fit what I was looking for, it ended up being a nice acidic white that paired well with the yoghurt-based dough of the samosas. Grapefruit rind was the main note for the nose with a bit of honey hanging out in the back. The palate showed light lemon, slight crème brûlée and sweet pea. For $12, it was just fine, but the food pairing might’ve benefited from a wine with more oxidative characters like those of the Jura..

RED WINE
WHO: Mas de Libian
WHAT: 75% Grenache 25% Syrah
WHEN: 2010
WHERE: VDP Coteaux de l’Ardèche in the Rhône Valley Wine Region of France
HOW: Grenache & Syrah are fermented together & undergo malolactic fermentation.
WHY: Did some digging and found out that this is a 100% biodynamic wine named after the game of petanque played in provence. If you’ve followed Hipster Enology for any length of time you know how enamored we are with bocce ball, a close relative of petanque. The Vin de Petanque had cherry and earth in the nose; expressing a lot of what one would expect from a Grenache/Syrah blend. Candied dust, ripe plum and green bean are the notes for the palate. This wine should be served chilled and was excellent with both the Madras curry and the Samosas. Given that the holidays are right around the corner, this will be a go-to wine for my holiday fare since I quite liked it. The only problem: finding it.

WHO: Vines on the Marycrest WHAT: 68% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, 9% Syrah, 8% Zinfandel WHEN: 2009 WHERE: Paso Robles, CA HOW: This is rosé three ways. Victor used the Saignée method by limiting the amount of time the juice stayed in contact with the skins. He also performed carbonic maceration by destemming the grapes and letting them ferment whole in an oxygen-free, carbon dioxide environment. Finally, he used the juice from under-ripe grapes that were picked early and used solely for this rosé.

WHY:In 2009, we toasted rosé to a real summer. Languishing on our coast, swimming in the ocean and playing bocce ball on our beaches; we sipped Provençal rosé from Nalgene bottles. Cut to the 2010 summer in Los Angeles: darkness, foreboding, rain. This was not the 73 degrees and sun summer that we pay 9.75% sales tax for. Cue Victor and his tax-free ray of light industry sample.

The Vines on the Marycrest Summertime seems to glow in the glass. In a test tube, it would make a great substitute for glow sticks. The fluorescent watermelon color of the wine is deceitful, as it leads most to believe the juice will be sweet. We apologize, White Zinfandel fans, you’re about to be disappointed. The nose is dusty, most likely attributed to the Mourvedré, contributing a funk similar to a rosé from Bandol. This dust is finished with mineral and floral spring water accents.

The front palate has the tiniest hint of candied apple fading elegantly into lingering acidity. The residual sugar is immediate then fades into a rosé, contributing body. The grenache and mourvèdre make way for the syrah and zinfandel. (Both are perfect accompaniments for the two more predominant grapes in the blend.) Vegetal, tomato vine and nettle in the mid-palate give way to creek bed, shale and more dust – reminiscent of another great rosé producing region, Tavel. The acidity of this dry rose hangs on for a lengthy finish, much like an Indian Summer.

The Wrap: Vines on the Marycrest’s Summertime is able to make summer feel perpetual with a body that can carry it through any season. That being said we will be looking towards Summertime for our pairings well into fall for lighter Thanksgiving fare. The 2010 vintage will prove to be another success: drinkable, affordable & easily paired. While Joni Mitchell and Herbie Hancock portray a city view of summertime in the song that provided its namesake, 2011 finds at least a couple of us chasing lightning bugs during a country summer. In either setting, Summertime still shines.

We hipsters usually shun bandwagons, but our desire to espouse our opinion was stronger. So, we grabbed our glasses, hopped on the good foot and summarized our favorite wine experiences of 2009. Not many wine blogs can lay claim to four palates, so we felt it best to let each tongue, er, voice speak. Here now, for your unedited enjoyment, is each member’s top 3 wines of 2009. Drum roll please…

WHO: Famille Quiot WHAT: 35% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 20% Cinsault, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Mourvèdre , and 5% other grape varieties from les Arnevels vineyard. WHEN: 2008 WHERE: Côtes de Provence, France HOW: The grapes are partly pressed and macerated with a short fermentation period of 12-24 hours for color. According to the bottle: “Special efforts are made to preserve freshness and fruit with the use of CO² gas to exclude oxygen during the harvest.” To this, we tilt our heads like curious kittens.