Weingut Loimer - Muskateller mit Achtung!   When you are a winemaker of high stature, like Fred Loimer, it takes a lot of gumption to risk making a wine that is all about time and tension – a wine made without modern winemaking techniques and with high probability of failure. This is, however, what Loimer did and this is that wine … it’s a rousing success and is enchanting to enjoy. Also, it makes me say that I’m glad to be alive.   Quick Tidbits   All Biodynamic Farming Practices. Barrel fermented on the skins. (AKA Orange Wine) Very small and limited...

Unassuming and Excellent - A Wine to Cellar   Sagrantino is the quiet and unassuming powerhouse of Italian wine. It doesn’t garner the lavish praise and attention that Nebbiolo or Sangiovese does. Sometimes that deters people from trying the grape but it also means that the regions prices have been kept artificially low. Sagrantino, when young like this one is, can be a quiet beast. The picture I have in my mind’s eye is of a hulking young kid … nose down in a book, a bit clumsy but freakishly strong, quiet, unassuming. The kind of kid who gets picked last for...

  Knoll - Grüner Veltliner Loibenberg Smaragd   The perfect counterbalance to all the easy drinking white wines in the world: this is bold, dense, and packed with minerally goodness and is built for long aging. The wine is challenging in its austerity but with faith and with age this wine will transform into a true thing of beauty.   Quick Tidbits   Champion of Single Vineyard wines in Austria. Considered to be one of the 2 best wineries in Austria. Famous for their label of St-Urban (patron saint of wine).   About the Winery   Emmerich Knoll (the first),...

  Bodkin - Cuvee Agincourt Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc   I’d love to be able to write some flowery and overenthusiastic prose about this wine but it’s simply too drinky to waste the time on. That’s no faint praise and I don’t mean to undersell its awesomeness with flippancy but truly this wine is good enough that, I know, once you taste it that you’ll agree that it’s purely drinky.   Quick Tidbits   First American Sparkling wine made with 100% Sauvignon Blanc Winery name comes from the arrow Henry V’s archers used at the Battle of Agincourt Small but highly...

  Changing Faces of Wine   The sage Ferris Bueller once quipped that “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” This is true in the wine world too. Trends pop up and disappear so quickly that staying current can feel like a roller coaster ride and, sometimes, I just need to stop and look at what is around. So, this is what we’re doing in this, the first, Sunfish Somm Session – We’re going to stop and smell the roses. This Somm Session isn’t meant to be prescriptive nor...