“Music to hear, why hear’st the music sadly? Sweets with sweet, war not, joy delights in joy,” Shakespeare, Sonnet 8, 1.
When one considers wine importers of integrity and quality, a nice list pops up: Chateau and Estates (now Diageo), Kermit Lynch, Vineyard Brands, Julius Wile (in the northeast), Eric Soloman and Wilson Daniels. To me, though, one name has always stood distinctly on its own: Frederick Wildman & Sons in New York.
Every bottle of Wildman’s wine sports their distinct oval label, which almost looks like a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Their wines are sourced around the world: Argentina, Alsace (France), Burgundy, Champagne, Chile, Italy and Spain. Seldom have I found a clinker from Wildman, and I strongly recommend them.
Recently, I tasted through a variety of their wines. First, I sampled some stellar Beaujolais, Burgundies, beauties from Alsace, Italy and then some stout, elegant ones from Spain. Additionally, here are notes from a small collection of others that I tried last week. All are available at better wine shops in town, and I’ve assigned my typical “A”-“F” grades to them:
1. 2009 Grooner Gruner Veltliner, Weingut Meinhart Forstreiter, $10.99 (loved by the Chicago Tribune): Almost clear white, with a light body and flowery, fruity notes of lychee fruit and a faintly spicy tease. Lightly fruity in the mouth with an enticingly acidic tongue dance. Light dry finish. Dandy with sausage or Chinese food, this national grape of Austria earned an easy A-.
2. 2008 Vincent Pouilly Fuisse, Marie Antoinette (named in honor of Jean Jacques’ mother), $21.99: This Chardonnay was made from 5- to 15-year-old vines and sported an elegant pale yellow, which suggested a light kiss of wood aging to me. The body was medium, and the lightly rich nose of Chardonnay was folded with some complex, deep notes and hints of toast. Nicely rich, it finished cleanly and dry. A solid B.
3. 2008 Hugel Gentil “Hugel”, $9.99: This intriguing blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris and Sylvaner from this storied producer won a Decanter Award in October of this year. Its slightly off-white color and medium body led to playfully fruity notes in multiple layers as the Gewurztraminer and Riesling strutted their stuff at the front of the stage. Clean, pleasing finish. A-
4. 2008 Michel Torino Don David Malbec Reserve, Argentina, $14.99: This lovely wine was purple-hued with heavy body and a deeply fruity, briary nose with notes of cherry and chocolate pointing toward its complexity and promise. Rich, deep middle and fun finish. When I re-tasted this after 24 hours, I whistled with amazement. Good stuff! A
5. 2006 Trapiche Broquel Cabernet Sauvignon, Argentina, $14.99: The winery noted that all of these grapes were manually harvested (Psst! Gallo uses machines.) in order to maintain quality. Its color was dark ruby, and it boasted a heavy body. The nose was hedonistically complex with layers of plum overlaid on its solid fruit. Great, long finish. A+
6. 2006 Chateau Saint-Sulpice Bordeaux, St. Emilion, France, $12.99: This 100-acre property produced an elegant wine that was medium dark ruby with lightly elegant, balanced fruit on the nose and nicely complex fruit in the mouth. With whistle-clean finish, this is one pleasing wine! B+
Today’s winner was the Michel Torino Don David Malbec Reserve, closely followed by the Grooner, which carried the day with a solid price/value award.
Cheers to you, Wildman gang!
