Just for Fun

OK, just for fun—for Vine and Grape readers—I had to post the great T-shirt that Greenville Wine Meetup members Mike & Marci Greci gave me.  Seemed like wearing it outside the White House (while in Washington for the Society of Wine Educators annual conference) was the best statement we could make!

Click on the photo, if you need to enlarge the text on the shirt.  Most of all, whatever your politics, we can hope there are several good glasses of beer and some gorgeous wines in The White House.  To our President and Congress, best wishes and cheers!

A Brief Break for Purple International Bistro

OK, have to take a quick break from postings about the Society of Wine Educators national conference to tell you about Chef Jack's Purple International Bistro in Greenville, SC.

Stopped at Purple for lunch one day, when rushed to get back to work.  Chef Jack was gracious, friendly, and quick.  "Sushi A" (my very unimaginative choice) was super, along with a glass of J. Moreau & Fils Blanc, in lovely stemware that is the same shape as Riedel's $100-per-stem Burgundy Grand Cru glass.

Went back later in the week with a friend and a bit more time.  Ordered "Chef's Choice."  Incredible! Chef Jack did an absolutely lovely presentation (see photo at right).  The assortment included hako (box) sushi, at top, as well as Chef's own housemade salmon caviar, nearest stem of wine glass.  The assortment also included a wonderful marinated cherry-blossom leaf, which wrapped one of the sushi.  Don't use excessive soy or wasabi, until you have tasted the subtleties of Chef's work.

Don't miss this experience!

SWE Evening #3: Terry Theise Riesling Tasting and More

Writing this post from a BBQ restaurant in Virginia, while drinking a Sierra Nevada pale ale, is not at all fair to Terry Theise. On the other hand, I actually think Food & Wine's "Importer of the Year" (2005) might applaud the audacity of someone writing about his gorgeous Rieslings, while having a beer and dreading the drive home from Washington, DC.  Buy Reading Between the Wines, and you get a taste of the man, who is as interesting and complex as the wines he offers. By the third night of the Society of Wine Educators Conference, I fell off the wagon in terms of posting a daily dispatch. I could blame that on two-ounce tastings of Terry's 20 gorgeous dry Rieslings, but that would be unfair. I just ran out of hours. Please don't miss Terry Theise's wines or his writing. A sample is here. There are so few people who are genuinely thoughtful about life and wine, we should cherish them when we find them, along with the wines they find significant.

• 2007 Goldloch "Grosses Gewächs," Schossgut Diel; Nahe, Germany.  Gorgeous! Subtle woodiness.  Refined texture and creaminess on the palate, without oily viscosity.  
• 2007 Heiligenstein "Lyra," Bründlmayer; Kamptal, Austria.  Great vineyard; complex soil, reflected in the wine.  Incredible texture and luxurious mouthfeel. Terry's description: "exotic, sexy."
• 2009 Forster Freundstuck Spätlese, Eugen Müller; Pfalz, Germany. Minerality, with bracing acidity!  Late harvest, yes (spät), but impression of total dryness. Lovely lavender overtones. In terms of price, this was the bargain of the day!
• 2008 "Tradition," Schoss Gobelsburg; Kamptal, Austria.  Breathtaking!  Gentle but complex; melting but solid.  From an old monastic estate, this is the old Riesling; the real Riesling; the product of making wine intuitively.
• 2008 Heerkretz Grosses Gewächs," Wagner-Stempel; Rheinhessen, Germany. Mozart-like in vitality! While cool, the wine was almost neon in the mouth; hyper-vivid.  Warmer, it became sensuous.  Don't miss.
• 1999 "Steinriesler," Nikolaihof; Wachua, Austria. Fermented in wood and left in the cask until April 2010 (without sulphur).  Extraordinary!  On the gross lees all that time.  Rich, textured, lightly honeyed; parchment-paper on the nose. Mature, balanced, incredible.