Best grapes you have never heard of

I was at a tasting recently where I tried some remarkable varietals that I had never come across. I wondered if you had similar grapes that blew you away after trying them.

The wines in particular that won me over last week were the Hiruzta Hondarrabi Zuri from the Txakoli winery in the Basque region. this traditional grape was apparently lost in the 17th century and is enjoying a comeback.

The second was the Narince grape from Turkey made by the Kayra winery in the Anatolia region.

Both were complex wines with rapier acidity and intense minerality. Expect them soon in the UK market as they will be twisting tongues all over the place.

These grapes are not as unknown in Eastern USA but I like some of the wines from the hybrid grapes Vidal Blanc and Seyval Blanc--especially Vidal Ice Wine.

I was at a tasting recently where I tried some remarkable varietals that I had never come across. I wondered if you had similar grapes that blew you away after trying them.

The wines in particular that won me over last week were the Hiruzta Hondarrabi Zuri from the Txakoli winery in the Basque region. this traditional grape was apparently lost in the 17th century and is enjoying a comeback.

The second was the Narince grape from Turkey made by the Kayra winery in the Anatolia region.

Both were complex wines with rapier acidity and intense minerality. Expect them soon in the UK market as they will be twisting tongues all over the place.

OK, Kevin.....I'll take the "obscure grapes" window for $200!!

If you browse thru some of my posts over the last few yrs, you'll see that I've been ardently/stupidly pursuing a lot
of obscure grapes & regions. Most of them from Italy where there are hundreds of unknown varieties.

Some that I've particularly liked are:

Rosesse/Liguria
Timarasso, Brachetto, Freisa, Favorita/Piemonte
Croatina,Vespolina/AltoPiemonte
Schioppettino,Refosco,Tazzalenghe,Glera,Vitovska, Teran, RibollaGialla,PicolitNeri/Friuli & Slovenia
Lagrein, Schiava, PetiteArvine/AlktoAdige
Lacrima, Visciola/Marche
Mondeuse, Gringet, Jacquere/Savoie

You can look at the FringeWine blog for RobTebeau's thoughts. Alas, it's inactive because he's died.

Happy hunting.
Tom

My best grape variety surprises in the last 10 years were in Valais, Switzerland, namely Petite Arvine and Cornalin, both capable of making world class wines in suitable Valaisan sites; Petite Arvine also does very well in Valle d'Aosta, not far from Valais as the crow flies.

Following closely come Mencia and Godello from NW Spain; Mencia also does well in N Portugal disguised under the name Jaen. Spain is a treasure trove for little known local varieties but too often their individuality is masked by heavy handed oak treatment.

Just had a decent wine called Reto from the white grape Abilla, produced by Bodegas Ponce in Manchuela, Spain. Good structure and intensity, there was apparently only a few dozen acres of this left. Old vines with organic viticulture, which see some second-hand oak. These guys also specialize in reds from somewhat disparaged Bobal grape - these are also pretty good. I'm waiting for Tom Hill to tell us about the Abilla being made in CA!

You can look at the FringeWine blog for RobTebeau's thoughts. Alas, it's inactive because he's died.

Tom

Thanks for the info on Rob. I did not know. Although he signed off on his blog almost 2 years ago I've kept the link on my blog roll in the hope he'd recover from his ailments and resume.

I enjoyed his dedicated hunt of obscure varieties -- something I did in my winelabels site until I ran out of steam , and Ron and I had several email conversations on obscure varieties...

The second was the Narince grape from Turkey made by the Kayra winery in the Anatolia region.

Both were complex wines with rapier acidity and intense minerality. Expect them soon in the UK market as they will be twisting tongues all over the place.

I was at a tasting of Turkish wines from native varieties and was very impressed.

I am less optimistic than you about their appearence on the market oustide of Turkish restaurants. Wine drinkers are stubbonly resistant to varieties new to them, and wines from regions with no repuation struggle, even when priced a bargain basement prices -- see Bulgaria and Roumania for example...Hope I'm wrong.

Rarest varietals I've recently experienced are from varieties that are the parents of Syrah/Shiraz
Mondeuse Blanche - only 5 ha planted worldwide
Dureza - only one vineyard (planted in 2010) - I tasted tank sample of the first vintage -2014
(see viewtopic.php?f=3&t=53685

and this month, the rarest:

Cabernet labrusco - first vintage, produced from one mother vine....
see viewtopic.php?f=3&t=55327

[Robin Garr]

We're big fans of Pineau d'Aunis in this family, especially Puzelat's. It seems to have fallen off the shelves in recent years, though. But it makes a lean, peppery Loire red with a ton of minerality, and we used to buy the new vintage by the six-pack. The only wine on earth that I purchased that way.

[David M. Bueker]

How can I post on them if I have never heard of them?

.....Following closely come Mencia and Godello from NW Spain; Mencia also does well in N Portugal disguised under the name Jaen. Spain is a treasure trove for little known local varieties but too often their individuality is masked by heavy handed oak treatment.

Tim,

Mencia and Godello are fairly common if you drink wines in Galicia or NW Spain. What always puzzles me is the geographic distribution of these grapes on the other side of the border (essentially, the Minho/Mino separating Spain and Portugal). While grapes like the Alvarinho are grown on both sides, Mencia/Jaen is not found much directly on the Portuguese side. To find Jaen, one generally needs to go south to the Beiras, and particularly Dao, where it almost always occurs in a blend (a typical Dao wine would be Tinto Roriz, Alfrocherio and Touriga Nacional). And even then, it doesn't usually have the respect that the other red grapes get in that region - it usually appears in the lower priced cuvees.

A similar observation can be made about Godello in Portugal, where it is known as Gouveio. If you want to find wines with this grape, your best bet is to again go south, where it is often a component in white Douro wines (usually blends).

On both sides of the Minho you will find a lot of the same white grapes: in addition to Alvarinho, there is Loureiro, Trajadura, Arinto, etc., and their Spanish equivalents. The best red Vinho Verdes are made from Vinhao, called Souson (IIRC) in Spain, and are a bit of an acquired taste. The latter are a very, dark, inky violet and look great when drunk from a Malga, which is a white porcelain bowl used by traditionalists.