SIP N' TASTE WINE
Costume Contest & Prizes
By: Todd Wohlert
SHIRAZ VIOGNIER:
Reds and Whites. Together. Who would have thought? Most of my friends will tell you that I am about two hairs away from being a mad scientist/Bond villain. Not because I am evil, but because I really like crazy ideas and insane experiments. Blending wine is not an old or unusual idea. It has worked for thousands of years and we still enjoy it today. Putting blends together is an art form in the Bordeaux region. There is a dark side to this, though. In America, it is legal to have only 75 percent of the grape (let’s say Cab here) in the bottle and still label it as one varietal or grape. In other countries, the minimum is 80 percent or
Saturday, October 29th
NEW Beer Release -
Beer
Todd Wohlert works for Purple Feet Wines, a member of the Winebow Group. He is the most requested wine advisor in the Coulee Region, making weekly appearances and spreading the gospel of good wine. All the wines he discusses can be found around the Seven Rivers Region.
Now 2 locations, Open 7 days a week! Do w nt o
w n!
118 S 3rd St. La Crosse, WI (608) 782-4227
10:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Lunch | Dinner 510 Commerce St. f West Salem, WI R ight of f o ! (608) 612-0387 Hw y. 16 6:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner
WWW.PEARLSTREETBREWERY.COM
www.bigboarsmokers.com
SEVEN | thesevenspot.com |
WINE Review
by Wohlert
more. Is this fraud? No. It is legal. Why do they do it? Sometimes to tame the primary grape varietal. Sometimes to hide flaws in the winemaking. Sometimes to make more wine, like adding another cup of water to the soup if unexpected company arrives for dinner. If you feel like you are getting what you pay for, no problem. If they start using Soylent Green to blend wine, we have problems. (Go watch the movie. No one chews scenery better than the late Charlton Heston.) Back to our glorious experiment! Normally you blend red grapes with red grapes and white grapes with white grapes because it naturally works out that way. But what about unnaturally... (Insert Dr. Evil laugh here while holding pinky at corner of mouth.) In the Rhone region of France, there is an appellation called Cote Rotie where they only grow the red grape Syrah and the white grape Viognier. I’m not sure if this was divine providence or a drunken mistake, but they co-fermented a small bit of Viognier with the Syrah. It was just enough to change the bouquet and palate in the most amazing way. Cote Rotie wines are amazing and expensive as hell. Thank the god of wine that the Australians like that style, too, and make their own version that the rest of us can afford to drink on a regular basis. The wine for this month is Yalumba Y Series Shiraz Viognier. The wine is a deep crimson red with an exotic mixture of aromas of Turkish delight, blood plums, violet, blueberry, and white pepper. How does it taste? Frickin’ awesome! Medium-bodied with flavors of dark cherry and spiced fruitcake and the finish is plush and round showing the synergy of blending these two varieties. This wine is also vegan and vegetarian friendly. If this wine knocks your socks off, try the reserve version called Yalumba The Guardian.
41