Spring into Summer with Hess Select Whites

It’s that time of year when I begin to drink more white wines. In our home the saying is if it’s light outside, it’s a white. I was excited to taste some of the Hess Select whites, especially after tasting some of the reds. (see previous post here)

To celebrate Spring I brought these three Hess Select whites over to my friend Jenn’s house to be enjoyed for the first barbecue of the season. On the menu were Turkey Burgers and bean salad. I’ll let you know which one paired the best at the end.

I am not a big Pinot Gris fan so I was excited to taste the Hess Select 2017 Pinot Gris. I’m always trying to expand my palate and comfort zone. You have to realize, if you are not thrilled with a wine variety by one winery, you might be impressed by the same variety by another winery especially if it’s from a different part of the world. With that in mind I have to say I was impressed with the 2017 Pinot Gris. So impressed, I was smiling after taking the first sip.

This Pinot Gris is fermented in stainless steel with no oak influence. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed it so much. Aromas of white flowers and pineapple immediately brightened the Spring evening. Flavors of tropical fruit, pineapple and a touch of honey fills your palate with nicely balanced soft acidity. This wine is great value at $13. This will pair nicely with white fish.

Hess Select 2016 Monterey County Chardonnay was fermented in 75% stainless steel and 25% new French oak. The grapes come from Shirtail Creek estate vineyard that benefits from the cooling fog of Monterey and the costal breezes. This Chardonnay had wonderful clean expression of fruit and nice balanced acidity. Flavors of melon, pineapple and green apple expressed themselves with a slight hint of butterscotch on the finish. Another great value summer wine from Hess at $12. I can see pairing this Chardonnay with a nice fresh lobster!

Hess Select North Coast 2016 Sauvignon Blanc fermented in stainless steel has nice bright acidity and not to racy. The North Coast of California is unique with a mild Mediterranean climate and well drained volcanic and gravelly soils that allow the Sauvignon Blanc to thrive. Nice flavors of citrus and tropical notes. Another great value from Hess at $13. This would pair nicely with shellfish.

What paired the best with the turkey burgers? The Pinot Gris and the Chardonnay.

2 Alsatian Wines You Must Try

I took part in a twitter tasting last week with two Alsatian wines that I was in love with. Before I go into the wines I want to talk about the producer and winemaker Florian Beck-Hartweg.

Florian Beck-Hartweg is a 28 year old winemaker on a small family estate in Dambach la Ville, Alsace, France.  His family's winemaking has dated back to the 1590's.  He works with his wife and parents at his side who love doing all the work themselves...from the vineyard work to the bottling and everything else in between.

Their aim is to respect the balance of the vines so they don't add any fertilizer or compost to the ground.  They want the vigor of the vine to be based on the capacity of the soil to nourish the vines. With these natural balances this will allow a high ripeness level in terms of aromas, saltiness and acidity with not to much sugar content.

They only spray against disease when necessary and they use organic pesticides and plant extracts.  If you get a chance to visit them in Alsace you will see bees, ladybirds, typhlodrome mites, syrphid flies, spiders and birds in the vineyard which helps to reduce the population of grape-worms in a natural manner.

The Alsace region where their vines are located sits on granite.  The granite soil attributes to the elegance and soft fruitiness of their wines.

I paired bot the wines with a shrimp and scallop dish and I used the Pinot Gris in the sauce.  It was  delish! (Recipe will follow)

These two wines were both soft and elegant.  They both have their individual character as they should of their grape, but you can tell they come from a great circle of friends.

2011 Florian Beck-Hartweg Pinot Gris - Nice pale yellow color with soft floral aromas with lemon and hints of minerality.  On your palate it's elegant and fruity with citrus.  As the wine warms up a bit there is some hints of clementines.  Mid palate you get a soft creaminess of minerality that finishes with notes of limon.

2012 Florian Beck-Hartweg Riesling - I immediately picked up petrol aromas.  They were soft and not bold combined with apricots and wet stone. A bit chalky on the palate with stone fruit and a hint of honey.  What's nice about this wine is that the acidity kind of just sneaks in.

These two wines are priced under $20.  A good find!

Debbie's Shrimp and Scallops Saute

1 lb Shrimp shelled
1/4 lb scallops
2 cloves garlic
3 shallots
1 tsp chicken base
1/2 cup white wine
3 tbs butter

Chop garlic and shallots and saute.  Add shrimp and scallops and cook for 5 minutes.  Add chicken base, white wine. Blend then add butter and saute for about 3 minutes.  Serve over rice.  It's quick and easy and delish!

Finger Lakes Whites Beyond Riesling

The Finger Lakes region in New York has become known as producing some fantastic Rieslings.  Yes, they are great, but they also produce some great whites besides Riesling.

I recently took part in a twitter tasting of 5 of those "other whites".  The varietals tasted were Pinot Gris, Gruner Veltliner and Gewurztraminer.  Gruner Veltliner is new to the Finger Lakes and it taking quite well to the region. Yes I am impressed!

When seeking out other white wines from the Finger Lakes, you might want to give these a try.

Thirsty Owl Wine Company 2012 Pinot Gris - While I am not a big fan of Pinot Gris, I was quite impressed with this wine.  I have to admit, I cheated as Thirsty Owl table was next to mine (Happy Bitch) at a trade show that week and I tasted the Pinot Gris.  Looking forward to more than an ounce in my glass, I embraced this wine at the tasting.  All estate grown fruit in this dry Pinot Gris that was very light in color.  It showed beautiful aromas of honeysuckle, pear, apple, citrus and some minerality.  Flavors of pear was dominate but had some lime mid palate and minerality towards the finish with very nice acidity. (yes that's my daughter in the picture being silly)

Three Brothers Winery Stony Lonesome Estates 2011 Gruner Veltliner is all estate grown and stainless steel fermented. This is the second vintage for them.   The initial aroma I got with this wine was stinky feet.  After a few swirls the aroma dissipated that brought on a nice floral smell. There were soft flavors of pear and melon.  Even though the technical sheet says 0% residual sugar I thought it was sweet.  My residual sugar taste buds would give it a 1.2% and others taking part in the tasting thought the same. There were 300 cases of this wine produced and it retails for $14

Fulkerson Winery 2012 Gruner Veltliner - here's another confession. I received a media sample from the winery and didn't realize it would be one of the wines featured in this tasting.  I had reviewed this wine the week before giving it it's own post.  You can read about it here. 

Knapp Winery 2011 Dry Gewurztraminer was a happening wine. After the grapes were harvested they sat on the skins overnight before they were pressed. Nice nose of jasmine, tangerine and some floral notes.  On the palate we saw some soft pineapple and lemon with some white spice. As a dry Gewurztraminer it did have .95% of residual sugar which balanced out the acidity nicely.   There were 116 cases of this wine produced and it retails for $14.95

Dr Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars 2012 Gewurztraminer had a beautiful nose.  Aromas of soft jasmine, wet stone and citrus with a hint of floral filled the glass.  This very nicely balanced wine had flavors of orange blossom with a slight spice on the finish.  Even thought this had 1.1% residual sugar it wasn't a "sweet" wine.  The sugar balanced out the acidity to make it a very nice wine.  Discussions during the chat were what to pair this wine with.  Cheese Master Wendy Crispell suggested a "goey stinky washed rind cows milk cheese"  This wine retails for $14.99

Disclaimer:  I received these wines as a media sample from the Finger Lakes Wine Alliance.