Layne’s Wine Gig Presents
GREAT WINES, GREAT MOMENTS
By Layne V. Witherell
“Great wine makes you feel like a genius.” -Matt Kramer
Sometimes you look for the great wines, and sometimes they simply find you.
I have some thoughts – as opposed to rules – on price, quality, and availability. Wine should deliver on a promise that you will be pleased after that check has been passed and the last sip taken. It is as much a cerebral experience as anything. And an adventure. Look to expand on what you know.
We rolled into Bread and Olive, 935 Congress Street, for a little evening, post-First Friday Art Walk bite when I noticed an $18 featured Nebbiolo by the glass on their specials board. This is a bit ambitious. After a taste, we immediately ordered a bottle.
PIANTAGROSSA 396 NEBBIOLO
From the tiny Valle D’Aosta region of Northern Italy, it was sensational. Named after an ancient chestnut tree in front of their family home. Nebbiolo as a red grape is usually tough, tannic, and can be unpredictable. Its most famous growing region is Barolo, where it is described as “tar and roses.” Tar and roses? That’s rough. Kind of like Guns N’ Roses as a grape.
This was “lifted, aromatic, and fresh” and was a velvet accompaniment to their house special of seared tuna. With a 500-case total production, it is a miracle to wind up as a feature in a tiny local wine bar in Portland, Maine. At $58.00 a bottle on a restaurant list, it should run locally around $40.00 a bottle retail. National Distributing handles it and Gwendoline Willis imports it. Let’s hear it for hardworking importers who search the countryside for gems like this. Our wine discovery of the year. Willis will be hosting a tasting at Bread and Olive on January 22nd at 6:00 p.m. complete with tapas.
DOMAINE DE PETIT COLEAU SPARKLING VOUVRAY, $20.00
We were at one of our favorite little places in this part of the world – SoPo Seafood, 171 Ocean Street, South Portland – when they featured a tasting by the wine negociant Mary Taylor. Mostly okay stuff with a Bordeaux Blanc yawner next to this. It has been forever since I have seen a Sparkling Vouvray, much less tasted one. Grown on the banks of the Loire Valley, France, it is 100% Chenin Blanc grapes (it’s the law).
Even though the method is the same as Champagne, the grapes and soil are different. There is an absolute burst of pear like Chenin Blanc grape flavor. Unlike Prosecco, there are real bubbles here. Unlike Spanish Cava, whose grapes taste like they were planted on the moon, there is identifiable fruit. And unlike Champagne, you didn’t have to call your banker before tasting the stuff. Look for sparkling Vouvray. It is a treat.
On to the food… Live raw scallops, a.k.a. “butter of the sea,” is a seasonal offering at SoPo Seafood. If you have the chance, do yourself a favor and try it. All their stuff is authentic. This is delirious with the sparkling Vouvray. The bubbles and the scallops were made for each other, as well as the hint of sweetness of both.
FLOWERS ROSE, SONOMA COAST, 2023, $35.00
Famous for their Camp Meeting Ridge Pinot Noir and Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, this was our wine of choice during the summer at the Portland Lobster Company, 180 Commercial Street, Portland, Maine.
When you look up “wines with lobster” in the books and websites they usually bombard you with Chardonnay dressed up as butter. You can do that, and it works. This is far from “riding the bandwagon” rose like we experience everywhere. It has texture, verve, and depth. The grapes are grown specifically to make rose, with subtle fruit and crisp acidity.
I am thrilled that Portland Lobster Co. features a small selection of great wines at not outrageous prices. This wine magically appeared on their list this season, and I hope it stays.
We were asked by a tourist (after spotting us by our local garb – Judy’s The End sweatshirt and my recently deceased Foulmouthed Brewery sweatshirt) why do we come to a tourist place? Why? Because we love it.
A few years back there was a rumor that it would be torn down for yet another cheesy condo or hotel. So, we go nearly every Sunday and support our locals. To hear Gina Alibrio sing Stevie Nicks, while savoring their divine lobster roll and sipping from a plastic cup (yeah, a plastic cup!) Flowers Pinot Noir Rose – this is our Sunday.
MICHAEL TERRIEN SONOMA CHARDONNAY, 2018, $18.00
While contemplating my next bite of Fore Street’s wood grilled marinated squid, our waitperson Sarah Bartlett – who in my opinion is the greatest waitperson on the planet, with 26 years at Fore Street, 288 Fore Street, Portland – recommended that I try a newly featured wine by the glass: Michael Terrien Sonoma Chardonnay, 2018, $18.00.
There are Ahhh moments, and then there are Ahhhhhhh moments. And this was one. Sure, I like chardonnay and have waded through oceans of it from the god awful to the sublime. This was different. The au currant style of today’s chardonnay features the flavor of gobs of butter (mostly courtesy of CY3079, a test-tube created yeast that magnifies the flavor out of all recognition).
This was balanced, elegant, and sublime with a lingering farewell, known as the finish, that lasted for days. I had to find it and chase down some more.
SEAWEED WEEK
We love Portland Seaweed Week and celebrate it every year. We need to look at hanging garlands of seaweed from our front door every year to simply announce its arrival. And there it was again, Michael Terrien Chardonnay, Sonoma, $16/glass, $64/bottle, at Central Provisions, 414 Fore Street, Portland, Maine.
Bone Marrow toast, barbeque eel nigiri, seaweed salad, and Bluefin Tuna Crudo. And that was lunch. Michael Terrien would be so proud.
UNICORN WINE
Every other wine mentioned (and many of the dishes) should be available. This one – to the best of my knowledge – is not.
EDOUARDO VALENTINI TREBBIANO d’ ABRUZZO, 2012
I have been chasing a bottle of this wine for several decades. It is mentioned in Burton Anderson’s “Vino” and Matt Kramer’s “Making Sense of Italian Wines,” but never seems to appear. The Abruzzo region in Italy is hot stuff now, which doesn’t help us locate in the least bit a rare cult wine from the region.
Valentini was a self-proclaimed eccentric. Trained as a lawyer, he abandoned the law and settled on the family farm reading the works of the ancient Roman wine writer Columella. He set out to replicate his wine. This is as close to drinking the wines of the ancient Romans as you will get sans time travel. Their greatest wines were white – not red.
We tracked it down in R’Evolution Restaurant, 777 Bienville Street, New Orleans earlier this year.
Their list is massive with the rare Italian whites as an afterthought. Death by Gumbo (their signature dish) was delicious, but the wine stole the show. Yes, “great wine does make you feel like a genius,” and transports you back to ancient Rome. You get to spend an hour with a glass in a state of ecstasy.
LAYNE’S WINE GIGS
I will be adding private, group, or individual tastings to my schedule in 2025. Wine author, journalist, historian, fun guy. You pick the subject, time, and place, and I will provide the knowledge and entertainment. You can e-mail me at lvwitherell@gmail.com for thoughts and details.
