LAYNE’S WINE GIG PRESENTS
Spring in Portland
By Layne V. Witherell
I think that our official opening date for spring in Portland should be moved up to the first of May. March the 20th (even though it is my birthday) is an event to be celebrated indoors. Unfortunately, most of April this year could have easily taken place indoors.
With all that in mind, you can now get your pasty-looking selves out to the nearest oyster bar and celebrate the open air, the sun, and at least fifty-degree weather. Here are my choices for great wines to help ease you through your spring fever.
Clos De La Geraudrie Muscadet Sevre Et Maine Sur Lie Granite, Loire Valley, France, 2024, $18.99 Retail
Muscadet is a light dry wine from the Loire Valley in northern France. They can be wimpy and flavorless, never sweet like a Moscato, as the only grape grown is the Melon de Bourgogne. It behaves from “venous mouthwash to great shellfish accompaniment,” says Jacqueline Frederick’s “Wine and Food Guide to The Loire”.
This Muscadet has that lingering flavor of salinity that works perfectly with all of God’s little bivalves of the sea. They don’t age all that well, so freshness of vintage is important. That 2024 on the label is a key to just enough age and freshness.
The words “Sur Lie” are both on the label and molded on the bottle. Very few producers age their wines in oak, but many let the yeast cells settle in the tank after fermentation. Sur lie imparts a creamy mouthfeel to add to the freshness of the wines.
A Note on Sancerre
From the same region, the grape is better (Sauvignon Blanc) and the soil is better (ancient flint vs. granite), but the price-to-quality relationship – even before Taylor Swift’s discovery – is awful. That this wine in moving from producer to importer to distributor to a $90.00 bottle in a restaurant is a total rip off.
Look for Pouilly Fume, their neighbor from across the river. It has been called “Cinderella waiting to be discovered.” Or a nice Petit Chablis. Complain loudly if they try to foist a Touraine on you and say, “Oh, but it is so close.” Sorry, it just isn’t.
inBianco Sangiovese, Toscano, Italy, 2024, $9.99 Retail
“Blood of Jupiter” is the Roman term for Italy’s most widely planted red grape. It is medium bodied, dry, tannic, flavorful, and depending on where it is grown in Italy can be a soft, delicious Chianti, or a Montepulciano capable of decades of cellar age. It has a revered status. Part of its revered status is that it doesn’t produce great wines anywhere else. Though many have tried, all have failed.
How did they do it? Grapes mutate naturally and a red grape can have white bunches on a vine. Pinot Noir is famous for doing this. But in this case, the company name is on their label, and it is all revealed on their website.
Barbanera is a global producer and importer of quality Italian wine. There it is on their website a white Sangiovese made from red grapes. Kind of like White Zinfandel, except it is dry not sweet. “Press the grapes immediately to avoid skin contact and you have a fresh, easy drinking savory wine.” Antipasti anyone?
The Ziagos Taverna
Portland, Maine
This was a lunch event with our dear friends Chris and Nicole. An afternoon immersion into the glories of Greek culture that included the music, the wine, and the food of Chris’ culture – as well as a commemorative takeaway menu. All in his welcoming West End home.
In the words of the late, great Anthony Bourdain, “the best food of a country is always in a person’s house.”
Meze: The opening appetizer of olives, feta and Mavromatiki Salata
The wine: Estate Argyros, Assyrtiko, Santorini, Greece, 2024. The Assyrtiko vines in this estate are up to 200 years old with deep roots in ancient volcanic soil. The word “minerality” comes up a lot in wine conversation. This wine is its very definition.
Kirios Piatos: Moussaka. So, I thought that I have had great versions of this classic Greek dish, but never like this. Nicole incorporated a generous amount of Stag’s Leap Artemis Cabernet Sauvignon to the recipe for the most ethereal of sauces.
The wine: Pavilou Estate Nemea, Agiorgitiko, Peloponnese, Greece, 2018. Vanilla, spice, red fruit with a lingering whiff of cherry and plum. A sensational combo.
Epidorpio: Greek orange pie. The humble name does not do justice to the sumptuous dessert that was presented to us. Sweet sunshine on a plate.
The wine: Samos Anthemis Sweet Muscat, Greece, 2006. The essence of peach, orange and lemon aged for 20 years in a half bottle. Not only does Muscat age well, but it also just gets better with age. Greek coffee with a splash of the Muscat to make a version of caffe corretto.
We can’t thank you both enough for a voyage to the Ziagos Taverna!
Layne’s Wine Gigs
For private events e-mail me at lvwitherell@gmail.com. My next Gig at BPM Portland is May 27th @ 6 p.m., “A Mendo Blendo Evolution of California Wines.”
