1 WINTER/HOLIDAY 2017 TASTERS GUILD JOURNAL RARE, EXPENSIVE, HANDMADE. AND THAT’S JUST THE CASKS. THAT’S THE GLENGOYNE WAY. glengoyne.com Take your time, enjoy your drink responsibly. Imported by Shaw-Ross International. SHAW-ROSS.com IAN28167 Glengoyne 15 YO 10.75x8in Chilled Mag.indd 1 05/10/2015 17:46 From the President By Joe Borrello Many of you will be receiving a membership renewal notice from the American Wine Society this month. This renewal will include both your Tasters Guild membership and AWS for the calendar year of 2018. As we informed you a few months ago, as of June, 2017 your Tasters Guild membership is CONTENTS: now part of the American Wine Society as well. AWS will be handling the renewal process for both organizations but your current status with your local Tasters Guild chapter will not 4 Amazing Alsace change. It will be food and wine enjoyment as usual with the addition of AWS events and activities plus the AWS Journal quarterly magazine. If you do not renew your membership by Michael Schafer through AWS, your affiliation with Tasters Guild will expire….and we don’t want to lose 5-6 Argentina: Gold Medal you. If there is an AWS chapter near you and you wish to be added to their mailing list as well, Wines are No Fluke just contact the AWS national office at [email protected] and by A. Brian Cain make the request so you will be notified of additional wine and food activities in neighboring areas. This is particularly handy for “Snowbirds” with seasonal residencies. 7-8 The Retailer's Shelf Again, this is all part of your expanded membership with Tasters Guild and the American by Dick Scheer Wine Society. Together we are now the largest wine and food Village Corner appreciation society in the country with over 7,200 members nationally. 9 Holiday Food and Food Safety Cruise with us from Bordeaux to Barcelona, by David Theiste, PhD August 30 – September 12, 2018 The ultimate 13-night ‘Wine & Romance 10 Ask Tasters Guild Voyage” in pursuit to appease your palate and by Joe Borrello lighten your spirit with a sampling of some of the most romantic destinations in Europe. 11 What to Write Bordeaux, Portugal and Spain. Can it get any by Dan Berger better? Yes, it can! Because, if you book before November 30 you will not only receive a veranda 12-13 Wine Judging Results cabin at the price of an inside cabin (that’s a double upgrade!) you will also receive a $1,000 airfare credit 14 Double Gold Notes per cabin. We will be cruising on the new Azamara (our favorite cruise 15 Got the Message? line) Pursuit where all gratuities and standard wines, beers and drinks are included. Plus, by Dr. Richard Vine, PhD we’ll have a private wine tasting and you’ll also receive a FREE Specialty Dining Evening, compliments of Tasters Guild. 16 My Introduction Call Claudia at Cruise Holidays 1-800-403-7936. Remember, the above offer expires to Wine November 30, 2017 and we have a limited number of cabins available. For itinerary by Beth Ann Theiste information go to www.azamaraclubcruises.com. Tasters Guild Journal is published two times a year by TASTERS GUILD INTERNATIONAL 1515 Michigan NE Grand Rapids, MI 49503 (616) 454-7815 Fax (616) 459-9969 e-mail: [email protected] Website: www.tastersguild.com Editor Joe Borrello Creative Director Wayne J Brown Copy Editor Beth Ann Theiste Associate Publisher Robert Machera For advertising information, please contact: Machera Associates Phone/Fax: 802-442-8523 E-mail: [email protected] Tasters Guild members enjoying the food, wine and companionship at the AWS 50th Anniversary Conference in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. 3 WINTER/HOLIDAY 2017 TASTERS GUILD JOURNAL By Michael Schafer Amazing Alsace Alsace produces the best white wines you’ve frequently have the words “reserve personelle” fresh fruit, grape seed, roses and mint. It smells never heard of. This incredibly scenic and or “ reserve exceptionelle” on the label. These like freshly crushed grapes. It frequently smells mostly unknown region of France is truly wines, unlike some “reserve” wines from the sweet but tastes dry. amazing! Their white wines are some of the New World, particularly the USA, are mandated most complex and age-worthy wines on the to be reserved from the regular wines produced Pairing Food with Alsatian Wines planet. from the winery. Pairing Alsatian wines with your dishes is just We’ll discuss the white wines and food pairings Wines from Alsace usually have the grape plain fun! We’ll move from dry wines to sweet in greater depth. Just to let you know, a delicious varietal spelled out right on the front label! It’s wines by grape varietal. sparkling wine known as Crémant d’Alsace is rather unusual for an old world wine. Alsatian available and a tiny amount of red wine (Pinot wines are undiscovered gems well worth Riesling Noir) is also made. Let’s focus on the amazing seeking in your local wine shop or favorite Dry Riesling is the perfect foil for fresh white wines from this small French region. restaurant. seafood. Pork, pork and more pork such as sausage, potatoes fried in pork, leg of pork and Location Late Harvest Wines pork belly all pair perfectly with a dry Alsatian Alsace is in the northeast corner of France, Two types of late harvest wines are also version of Riesling. Tarte Flambée is the classic bordering Germany. While it’s currently a produced in Alsace. Vendage Tardive (VT) and pairing. Pasta carbonara loves a dry Riesling. French wine region, within a 75 year period selection de grains nobles (SGN) are less than Sweet Riesling is fantastic all by itself as a during the 19th and 20th centuries, sovereignty 1% of the region’s production. These incredible dessert wine, especially the selection de grains of this region went back and forth between wines are otherworldly. They are concentrated nobles (SGN). These delights are affected by Germany and France four times! It’s postcard and profound. VT grapes may or may not be botrytis, the noble rot, and elevate peach or pear pretty and the architecture and feel are Germanic infected with botrytis. SGT wines are always pastries. rather than classic French. Located 300 miles infected with botrytis and are always sweet. east of Paris, this region is set in the backdrop The sweetness is balanced by amazing acidity Gewurztraminer of the Vosges Mountains. These mountains and is one of the best tasting experiences in the Gewurztraminer made in the dry version provide a unique “rain shadow” effect making wide world of wine. enhances duck, pork (of course), spicy foods, it one of the driest climates in France. Colmar, and quiche. Potato soup with bacon is amazing the picturesque capital of the Haut Rhin, the Riesling when served with a glass of dry Gewurztraminer. southern part of Alsace, is the driest city in One of the big six of grapes, Riesling, is crafted Medium-high residual sugar Gewurztraminers France. into wines ranging from brisk and bracing to are superb with spicy foods such as Thai, Alsace is split into two sub-regions, the Haut- unctuous and luxurious. Riesling excels in the Sichuan, Hunnan and southern Indian dishes. A Rhin and Bas-Rhin. The Bas-Rhin contains incredibly varied terroir of Alsace. This royal wedge of Stilton cheese with the sweet version over two-thirds of the Grand Cru vineyards. grape vibrantly reflects the terroir in which it is is mind-blowing! There are 51 Grand Cru vineyards in Alsace. planted. The Alsatian soils are made up of 13 These are the finest vineyards in this region of different geologic formations, each imparting Pinot Gris France. These wines are usually more complex, a unique character to vines planted there. Dry Pinot Gris complements butternut squash structured, elegant and intense than the already Limestone gives a lemony acidic character, soup or risotto. Light, white fish such as trout or powerful regular bottlings. It is not mandatory volcanic-sedimentary soil imparts smoky, briny walleye are enhanced by Pinot Gris. to use the designation Grand Cru on the label. qualities and schist reveals the austere nature Pinot Gris with some sweetness loves Pork However, if the winery labels the wine Grand of that soil. The variations are reflected in the Saltimbocca. Smoked sausage and sauerkraut, Cru, it must also state the specific vineyards aromas, body and flavors of the wines. chicken or veal in a creamy mushroom sauce or from which the wine is made. Grand Crus are scallops will have your guests asking for second only 4% of the production of Alsatian wines. Gewurztraminer helpings. They are expensive and worth the money. Gewurztraminer is one of the most aromatic and, some would say, exotic, varietals in the Muscat Grapes world of wine. Scents of roses, ginger, grapefruit, Muscat with little or no sweetness is lovely The most important grapes in Alsace are Pinot lychee, incense, pineapple and allspice are as an aperitif. Asparagus with hollandaise Gris, Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Muscat. typically used to describe this enticing wine. is an accomplished pairing for this “tricky” How familiar are you with these grapes? This To be candid, for most of us, it’s a love or vegetable. Pinot Gris is not at all similar to Pinot Grigio hate relationship with Gewurztraminer. If you Sweet Muscat is best served alone, and or the Pinot Gris from Oregon or Michigan. haven’t enjoyed one of these enticing wines you slightly chilled. This voluptuous dessert wine is Riesling is perhaps the most underrated grape owe it to yourself to experience a bottle made an explosion of aromas and flavors.