Esoteric Tasting Themes

If you ever want a really esoteric wine theme, you could do wines from islands off Africa. North to South:

Azores - https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles ... the-azores

Madeira - the obvious wines we are familiar with http://www.winesofportugal.info/pagina.php?codNode=3911

Canary Islands - quite a bit to choose from
https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/a-comple ... y-islands/

Cape Verde - small vineyard on Fogo, a sort of extinct volcano
https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-cape+verde

It would probably take years to accumulate wines from all of those areas, so no rush....(start collecting now, Jenise!)

This thought train was instigated by a taste of a very good wine from the Canary Islands, made from Listan Blanco (same as Palomino) and oak aged/fermented.

[Jenise]

I've had some terrific wines from the Canary Islands. Not just good, but game-changer good. One of the funnest tastings my dork group did was in fact islands: just couldn't be the usual suspects. Some great discoveries that night.

[Jenise]

Ah, looked for my notes and it wasn't Island wines per se, but "Mediterranean Wines Not the Big Three". Still, an extremely interesting evening:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=60372&p=465843&hilit=corsica#p465843

I wondered. If it was just 'island wines' then a Maui Blanc pineapple wine would have to be allowed as would Whidbey Island Winery wines closer to you.

BTW, found an amusing one for your local tastings - Bellingham Mocha Java Merlot (just don't tell them it is the South African Bellingham).

[Jenise]

Well, I knew it was from that part of the world and a lot of the wines brought were from islands, I just couldn't remember how we set the parameters such that Maui Pineapple wine didn't show up. That's why I looked for my notes.

The Bellingham thing--too late, I already did that.

[David M. Bueker]

Now I want to figure out a way to put together a tasting of wines that start with E, S, O and T that are made by people named Eric.

Had Maui Pineapple wine. Had Volcano (Big Island) Honey wine. Think we even had a Maui Blush wine. At that time Maui winery was called Tedeschi. Now renamed to Maui Wine.

I tasted it (once) back when it was still Tedeschi. Too much RS but not immediately identifiable as pineapple.

I was too busy hoovering up very decent 1970s vintages of Bordeaux and Rhones that one store had brought in, only to find that there wasn't much of local market for fine wine (there was, however, a huge market for locally made Primo beer!)

Looks like it would be a fun tasting, but a few of those are just impossible to get in Utah sadly.

I may have to set up an Island Wine tasting soon, so many great choices!

I love Canary Island wines (though they are not in the Mediterranean!). but have never had a wine from Azores, and didn't know Cape Verde grew grapes at all (tough to grow much of anything, despite name)

[Jenise]

I love Canary Island wines (though they are not in the Mediterranean!).

Didn't think they were, I just mistakenly bundled two separate thoughts on the subject of Canary Islands wine and esoteric themes into the same paragraph.

If you ever want a really esoteric wine theme, you could do wines from islands off Africa. North to South:

Azores - https://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles ... the-azores

Madeira - the obvious wines we are familiar with http://www.winesofportugal.info/pagina.php?codNode=3911

Canary Islands - quite a bit to choose from
https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/a-comple ... y-islands/

Cape Verde - small vineyard on Fogo, a sort of extinct volcano
https://www.wine-searcher.com/regions-cape+verde

It would probably take years to accumulate wines from all of those areas, so no rush....(start collecting now, Jenise!)

This thought train was instigated by a taste of a very good wine from the Canary Islands, made from Listan Blanco (same as Palomino) and oak aged/fermented.

Look where a new AVA has been established:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documen ... tural-area

My prior post in this thread noted Hawaii/Maui wine. Now they have their first AVA.

[Jenise]

I drove past that winery and didn't even stop in (the area's rather remote and literally on the way to nowhere) because I just presumed it was pineapple wine.

They do indeed have Pineapple wine and others. I seem to remember we brought back a Maui Blush, and at least one Pineapple wine.

Memory: we went to a Turkey Day dinner at DH's uncle's house. For the heck of it I brought the Pineapple wine. Several others brought various cheap wines. True story. One of DH's cousins walks into the kitchen, looks at the Pineapple Wine. He had already been...imbibing. He shrugged his shoulders, seemed to think what the he$$, and took the bottle back to the other room where he and some others were eating and drinking.

Worked for me. There were others I preferred. Pineapple was just a hoot.

didn't know Cape Verde grew grapes at all (tough to grow much of anything, despite name)

We holidayed on Sal, one of the Cape Verde islands, no grapes (or anything else) grown on Sal and if wine is made on another of the islands we didn't see any.

Ah, looked for my notes and it wasn't Island wines per se, but "Mediterranean Wines Not the Big Three".

I have been to quite a few "but not" offlines to encourage diversity, and the idea seems to work well.

Like "Italy but not Sangiovese or Nebbiolo", "Spain but not Rioja", "Germany but not Rhine or Mosel" or "Lebanon but not Musar".

Ah, looked for my notes and it wasn't Island wines per se, but "Mediterranean Wines Not the Big Three".

"Lebanon but not Musar".

We'd be dead in the water here - we have exactly one Lebanese wine - Musar!

We've done things like Australia but no shiraz, and 'any grape that starts with an M'.