NYTimes: Asimov On Grapes We Should Try

Article in today's NYTimes by Eric on 10 grapes we should try:
Asimov:10GrapesToTry


Only one I've not tried: Fer Servadou
The Brachetto & Altesse are particularly good recs.
Tom

[David M. Bueker]

Article in today's NYTimes by Eric on 10 grapes we should try:
Asimov:10GrapesToTry


Only one I've not tried: Fer Servadou
The Brachetto & Altesse are particularly good recs.
Tom

OMG! I have tried a grape that Tom Hill has not tasted!!! I actually owned several bottles of a Fer Servadou wine back several years ago. I got hooked on it because it was the house wine at bistro I used to go to when I had those wonderful business trips to France!

From memory, I don't think I've had Mandilaria, Fer Servadou, or Areni,

[David M. Bueker]

Somebody needs to make a wine out of Mandilaria called Baby Yoda!

[Jenise]

I've only had a few of those, but I do love Altesse and Areni (though it's rare I find them).

The French South West is full of little known but interesting indigenous grape varieties, often masquerading under different names in different appellations. Fer Servadou is known as Mansois in Marcillac, Braucol in Gaillac and Fer Servadou I'm not sure where. Marcillac is a regular at my table but I have none left at present because a couple of local cavistes have stopped stocking it. Fronton, also a regular at my table, has Négrette and Gaillac, much less a regular, has a host of its own varieties regrettably often dumbed down by the likes of Syrah and Merlot.

Savoie is similar with its Altesse, Jacquère, Mondeuse, etc. and unlike many other regions often cites the grape variety as part of the wine's name. I would love to know this region's wines better.

Until proof of the contrary, I tend to be sceptical about efforts to adapt such grapes to different environments elsewhere in the world.

[Robin Garr]

From memory, I don't think I've had Mandilaria, Fer Servadou, or Areni,

Similar for me, Dale. I've had Mandilaria, but not Baga, Per Servadou, or Areni. More grapes to conquer!

I've bee in the Baga a few times....

A great place to find unusual grapes is Iberia where they seem to be names something different in every town, and Jugoslavia, since shattered into no less than seven separate chunks (at last count). I still think of it under the old name as it was one of the best manufacturers of vacuum tubes (valves to you, Peter) in the world. My hobby of audio that includes tubes has taken a big hit as the other prime source was Russian Sovtek tubes the existing stocks of which are being snapped up right now by audiophiles like toilet paper in a Covid epidemic.

I've bee in the Baga a few times....

A great place to find unusual grapes is Iberia where they seem to be names something different in every town, and Jugoslavia, since shattered into no less than seven separate chunks (at last count). I still think of it under the old name as it was one of the best manufacturers of vacuum tubes (valves to you, Peter) in the world. My hobby of audio that includes tubes has taken a big hit as the other prime source was Russian Sovtek tubes the existing stocks of which are being snapped up right now by audiophiles like toilet paper in a Covid epidemic.

So, Bill...do you still take your vacuum tubes down to a nearby grocery store, plug them in to see if they work, and buy a new one from the storage kabinett underneath??
Are you one of those audio nuts that swear up&down that the audio from a vacuum tube device is far superior to that from a solid-state device??
Tom

I've had a Marcillac, so I guess I've had Fer Servadou after all.

I have only found Marcillac in London when visiting.