Wine club to the rescue.

Thanks to The Winehound in Santa Barbara for actually getting me out of Santa Barbara wine for a minute. As much as I love the SBC, it's nice to refresh the palate with a little bit of the outside world. I joined their "Premier Cru" wine club which each month nets me two hand-selected $20 bottles of wine from around the world. To me it sounds like a great solution to those wine ruts that we all fall victim to from time to time.

My first May wine was a 2010 Farnese Casale Vecchio Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. This is a step up from Farnese's entry-level Montepulciano- from the Casale Vecchio terroir in the Chieti province in Abruzzo and aged in barrique for about 6 months. It is imported by Empson. It featured rich color with tons of blueberry & plum notes and hints of cracked pepper and mint. Forward bright fruit on the palate with plush tannin and a full juicy finish. Good value and perfect for what it is- a full juicy Italian red with forward fruit and just enough rusticity (Rating- I like!). A great pasta wine that can work with a heavier meat dish like a braised short rib.

The second May wine was a Napa white- 2010 Round Pond Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley. This comes from Round Pond's estate vineyards in Rutherford. There's no oak, malo or lees stirring on this wine. A very pale color with aromas of melon, grapefruit, wheat straw and river stone. Round on the palate with medium acid and a touch of leesy spice and a slight heat/astringency. The finish featured a lingering fruit tartness on the front palate. I liked this more as the days wore on- special kudos for it drinking so well on day 4 (rating- I like!). Better with seafood than spicy Asian fare.

Not a wine club wine, but a nice little 2005 Mosel Riesling I had laying around- the 2005 Bert Simon Serriger Herrenberg Riesling Auslese, Mosel Saar Ruwer. This comes from the monopole Serriger Herrenberg vineyard on severe slopes with red and blue slate soils. The importer is Rudi Wiest Selections. Bright and full gold in color, this has notes of nectarine, guava, orange and lime with subtle mineral and botanicals. Weighty on the palate with the sweet fruit coming across very bright and profound. A little short of perfect on acid, making the sweetness slightly aggressive, but one can really ponder on the profoundness of the fruit. Medium length finish (+/- $30) (rating- I like+!)

Wines of Germany tasting

Tonight was the Wines of Germany class at Atlanta Wine School. A great opportunity for exposure to more serious German Wines. I don't often drink German wines, although not due to lack of interest. It's more a case of lack of exposure to anything beyond the basic mass-imported QbA's, Kabinetts, and Spatlese. I know that profound expressions of Riesling emanate from the beautiful slopes above the Mosel River and throughout the rest of the German wine countryside- so the class was a welcome opportunity.

German wine can seem a bit dense on the surface. The nomenclature on the labels seems complicated, but is actually fairly simple upon memorization. The classification of levels of ripeness/sweetness on the top level QmP wines is different, but overall the quality classifications are similar to other European countries. The aesthetics of the bottles are unique but grow on you as you come to appreciate the wines. The German Wines website is a good source of specific information.

We tasted wines from Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Rheinhessen, Pfalz, and Rheingau. All were Riesling (QbA, Kabinett, Spatlese, and Auslese) except for a Scheurebe Spatlese from Pfalz and a QbA Troken (dry) Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Rheingau. Generally, I ended up preferring the sweeter Kabinetts and Auslese wines as the residual sugar consistently came with an intensity from the fruit profile and acidity. A good example of this was the Joh Jos Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese 2006 from Mosel- beautifully elegant and sweet heather honey flavors that were ushered into the palate by an attacking tart tropical fruit profile- bone dry on the tip of the tongue before the lush sweetness comes in. The Joh Jos Prum Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spatlese 2005 was less sweet and more marked with apple, lime, petrol, and floral notes- very nice as well.

Other favorites included Gysler Weinheim Riesling Kabinett 2007 from Rheinhessen- red floral notes, red apple, and honey on the nose moving into citrus, exotic spice, pear, apple, and honey on the palate- very rich and complex. I also liked the Kurt Darting Durkheimer Spielberg Scheurebe Spatlese 2007. Great aromatics of currants, grapefruit, and wet stone and a palate of honeycomb, forest floor, grapefruit, and apricot- very nice. Both of these wines are selections of noteworthy importer Terry Theise.

A great overall experience, and a nice break from my usual wine suspects...