Tag Archives: Anne Amie

Thanksgiving wine 2022

turkey holding a wine glassFour Thanksgiving wine 2022 suggestions

How about another Shakespeare quote this year? Or, more exactly, not quite a Shakespeare quote? “Gnarly, dude.” Because, after the past couple of years, it’s time for a good laugh.

So enjoy the holiday, and especially these Thanksgiving wine 2022 suggestions. The blog’s guidelines for holiday wine buying are here.

• McManis Pinot Noir 2020 ($12, sample, 13,5%): Lots of nits to pick with this California red — too much oak, it doesn’t need all that vanilla, and the acidity seems a bit out of whack. Having said that that, this is about as close to legitimate pinot noir from California at this price as you’re going to find. It’s fruity (berries and cherry), but not overblown, and the tannins are soft. It is wine, and not smoooth.

• Anne Amie Pinot Gris 2021 ($20, purchased, 13.9%): Would that all wine at this price was this well made and this true to its variety and terroir. This Oregon white has lots of lime, but is also balanced — a bit of mineral and some zippy acidity. Highly recommended from one of the WC’s favorite producers.

• Veuve du Vernay Brut NV ($9, purchased, 11%): There are, apparently, warehouses and warehouses jammed with inexpensive French sparkling wine, made with methode Champenoise for $10 or so and that are well worth drinking. This is one of them, soft but more than just fizzy, with some lemon and apple fruit and a longish finish. Imported by Patriarche USA

• Les Maitres Vignerons de la Vidaubanaise Le Provencal Rose 2021 ($15, purchased, 13%): Well-made and spot on Provencal rose, so there is garrigue, barely ripe berry fruit, and oh so stony. If you can find it for $13, buy a couple of bottles. Imported by Michael Corso Selections

More about Thanksgiving wine:
• Thanksgiving wine 2021
• Thanksgiving wine 2020
• Thanksgiving wine 2019
• Wine of the week: Cantina Cellaro Luma 2019
• Wine review: Patricia Green Dollar Bills Only Pinot Noir 2020

Labor Day wine 2020

labor day wine 2020
The WC has just the wines to pair with this plate of barbecue.

Labor Day wine 2020 — these wines will make your holiday that much more enjoyable

Labor Day marks the traditional end of summer, even a pandemic summer. Hence these wines, which should cheer up even a socially-distanced holiday barbecue. Churro, the blog’s associate editor, and the Wine Curmudgeon will be doing that, if Dallas’ 100-degree temperatures allow for it.

These four bottles will get you started for Labor Day wine 2020; don’t overlook the blog’s porch wine guidelines:

• McManis Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 ($12, purchased, 13.5%): This Lodi cabernet is balanced, and neither too ripe or too hot. Its New World fruit (black currants, even) and tannins actually hold everything together. This a big red wine that needs food, and especially red meat from the grill. Highly recommended.

• Anne Amie Cuvée A Amrita 2018  ($18, purchased, 12.8%): This goofy Oregon white blend with a bit of fizz is always enjoyable, and it’s even available closer to $15 if you look hard enough. The fizz is spot on, better than some Proseccos, and the sweetness is buried in the back behind some lemon and red apple fruit. Highly recommended, and just the thing for porch sipping.

• Schafer-Frohlich Dry Rose 2018 ($14, sample, 12.5%): This nifty German rose features ripe-ish strawberry fruit, a surprisingly full mouth feel, and a fresh — and not sweet — finish. Imported by Winesellers, Ltd.

• Fantini Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2018 ($9, purchased, 12%):  This Italian white, a long time WC favorite, is as it always is — tart and lemony. Chill it, drink it, and don’t worry about what other people think about what you drink. Imported by Empson USA

Photo: “Linner!” by jessicafm is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

For more about Labor Day wine:
• Labor Day wine 2019
• Labor Day wine 2018
• Labor Day wine 2017

Mini-reviews 95: Geyser Peak, Triton Tridente, Cloudline, Anne Amie

geyser peakReviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the fourth Friday of each month.

• Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc 2015 ($12, sample, 13%): I’m sure the current owners of Geyser Peak, once a great cheap sauvignon blanc, had their reasons for blending this vintage with riesling. The reason, though, escapes me, since it adds an almost syrupy consistency and sweetness to a wine that is supposed to be crisp and fresh. Plus, $12?

• Bodegas Tritón Tridente 2013 ($16, sample, 15.5%): This Spanish tempranillo sat in the wine closet for more than a year, and the age made all the difference in the world. Much better than I expected – rich and lush with cherry fruit but not hot despite the high alcohol.

• Cloudline Pinot Noir 2015 ($16, sample, 13.5%): This Oregon red from the well-known Domaine Drouhin is not for all tastes, made in an almost old-fashioned French style. That means tart berry fruit and very simple in style.

• Anne Amie Cuvee A Amrita 2015 ($15, sample, 12.6%): This Oregon white blend, from one of my favorite producers, is a cross between a frizzante riesling and a sweeter, more Prosecco style sparkling. It is well made, as all Anne Amie wines are, with citrus and white fruit, but could use more acidity to balance the sweetness.

 

 

Wine of the week: Anne Amie Cuvee A Muller-Thurgau 2015

Anne Amie Muller-ThurgauThe Anne Amie Muller-Thurgau is an interesting and enjoyable white wine from a top Oregon producer

Small, interesting producer? Check.

Weird grape? Check.

Something no focus group could ever love? Check.

In other words, the Anne Amie Cuvee A Muller-Thurgau ($15, sample, 12.7%), a white wine from Oregon made with a German grape that is seldom grown much anymore. What’s not to enjoy?

The Anne Amie Muller-Thurgau offers white spice, a little lime fruit and the acidity that goes with it, some green apple, a freshness and minerality that I didn’t expect, and maybe a touch of sweetness if you swallow a certain way.

In this, it’s a shrimp and shellfish wine if you’re tired of sauvignon blanc, a roast chicken wine if you’re tired of chardonnay, and a porch wine for the first nice afternoon in the spring.

My only complaint? The tasting notes say it pairs with something called a kati roll, and I’m not nearly hip and with it enough to know what that is.

Expensive wine 82: Anne Amie Winemaker’s Select Pinot Noir 2012

Anne Amie winemaker's selectNothing illustrates the foolishness of the three-tier system more than the Anne Amie winemaker’s select. This Oregon producer isn’t especially big, and only has distribution in 39 states. Which means that those of you in the other 11, including Pennsylvania, can’t buy it.

Which is a shame, because the Anne Amie winemaker’s select ($24, purchased, 13.6%) is a steal, perhaps the best pinot noir at this price I’ve had since I started writing the blog. If nothing else, it is varietally correct. To find a pinot that tastes like pinot at this price is the equivalent of my beloved Chicago Cubs winning two or three World Series in a row, and they haven’t won one in more than 100 years.

And there is much more than varietal correctness. This is a beautiful and delightful Oregon-style pinot with zingy red fruit (very red cherry), a touch of bramble and blackberry on the nose, soft and relaxing tannins, and more oak than I thought. This wine is still very young, and the oak should fade into the background over time, letting the fruit show a little more. It also shows how a talented winemaker can work with a warm vintage to produce a balanced wine.

Highly recommended (though the price may be higher elsewhere), and another reason why Anne Amie is one of my favorite producers in the U.S. I just wish more people could buy its wines.

Wine of the week: Anne Amie Cuv e A Muller-Thurgau 2012

Wine of the week: Anne Amie Cuv e A Muller-Thurgau 2012One of the most nefarious developments in the wine business is the $15 wine that is only worth about $10. You’ll see this a lot at grocery stores, but it shows up elsewhere as well. The point of these wines is to add value not through what’s in the bottle, but what’s on the bottle — a clever name, a funny label, or paragraphs of winespeak.

That these wines trick consumers into paying more than they should is bad enough, but they also sour the market for $15 wines that are worth that much money, like the Anne Amie. How is a wine drinker, faced with the grocery store wall of wine, going to know that the Anne Amie is an honest wine that delivers value and not something made to fool them?

That’s why I’m here. Anne Amie in Oregon’s Willamette Valley is one of my favorite U.S. producers, making smart, value-driven wines with grapes that aren’t for the faint hearted. The Amrita, for example, is a blend of 10 grapes, including chardonnay and riesling, a combination designed to warm even the most curmudgeonly heart. The Cuv e A ($15, purchased, 12.6%) does the Amrita one better.

Muller-Thurgau is a white German grape not much planted anywhere anymore, even in Germany. It’s sort of like riesling and gewurtztraminer, but with its own characteristics. That means it’s crisp, but not necessarily fruity. The 2012 Cuv e A is softer than previous vintages, almost off-dry — which isn’t a bad thing. Look for white pepper and spiciness, with honey and apricot flavors. Exceptionally well done, and the kind of wine that’s perfect as spring arrives.

Wine review: Anne Amie Cuvee A Amrita 2011

This post was going to be a wine of the week for a different wine from Oregon ?s Anne Amie ? the muller-thurgau, one of my all-time favorites. But bizarre fog last year did something to the grapes, and rather than make a crappy wine, Anne Amie winemaker Thomas Houseman decided not to make it at all. How often do I get to write that?

So we ?ll have to settle for the Amrita ($15, sample), a white blend that is a fine wine in its own right. It’s mostly chardonnay and riesling (plus eight other grapes for good measure), and is fresh and lively and without the stilted, heavy fake oak that so many wines at this price use to compensate for poor quality fruit, to cover up a winemaking flaw, or to add oak flavor because they think it makes a more popular wine.

The Amrita, like the muller-thurgau, is a food wine with enough sweetness to pair with spicy food (look for a little citrus and apricot fruit), but not enough to offend people who think sweet wine means white zinfandel. In this, it would be a huge hit at Thanksgiving, what with turkey and cornbread dressing.