Ok, here’s the latest on my quest for 100 varieties — I’ve purchased seven new ones – haven’t tried them yet, but when I do, I’ll update the count.
A few of them like Verdicchio and Vernaccia are pretty common and I’ve probably had them previously, but on this new quest – I’m only counting if I can identify the specific wine containing that varietal..
The other five are much less common, at least to me:
Tazzelenghe is a red Italian wine grape from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy. The name means, “Tongue Stinging” or “Tongue cutting” – that’s kind of scary. I bought a couple of bottles of 2004 Moschioni “Real” Colli Orientali from Garagiste. I don’t have them yet, but can’t wait for that “tongue stinging” experience.
Lemberger ( you probably know this as: Blaufrankisch — cmon now, that’s a joke). I purchased a bottle of 2005 College Cellars Lemberger from Catie in Walla Walla, WA – How could anyone resist a wine purchase from The Wild Walla Walla Wine Woman . I don’t have this one yet either, but I’m eager to give it a try.
Muscadelle – I actually opened this (2005 Jacques Sans Souci Blanc) last night. It’s a white Bordeaux also containing Semillion and Sauvignon Blanc. It was light, fruity, with a bit of an un-pleasant aftertaste, but decent and my #62.
The last two varieties are Palomino and Pedro Ximenez, both found in a bottle of NV Lustau Deluxe Cream Sherry. I haven’t opened this yet and am a little reluctant to do so – don’t know why, just am. I don’t think I’ve ever had sherry, creamed or otherwise.
The closer I get to 100 varieties, the more difficult it gets. I am confident that if I just pay attention to one of my favorite wine blogs: Good Wine Under $20 , Dr Debs will continue to identify new varieties for me to seek out. I’m still looking for the Roditis that she mentioned a few weeks ago and now need to find Gaglioppo which she highlighted in a recent post.
Even with all of these, I’m still almost 30 short — that really seems like a lot. As one commenter said, “It’s not a race” but when you’re 70 years old, – it could be.
Posted by DRHamp in Wine-Wine-Wine