We  hope to see a good crowd on June 24 at 7-ish; it’s going to be fun.  And don’t forget, it’s also $10 Thursday, so plan to stay for dinner.

On May 20, the Montauk Wine Club explored the whites of Austria by tasting a Gobelsburger 2009 Kamptal Gruner Veltliner and comparing that with a Gobelsburger 2009 Kamptal Riesling.  It was a challenge to taste two different varietals from the same vintage and winery, both with the same alcohol content (12.5% — meaning the Riesling was quite dry).  After that we roamed up to the Rhone valley to compare a northern Rhone – Domaine Mucyn 2007 Crozes Hermitage with a Domaine Montvac 2007 Vacqueras Arabesque from the southern Rhone valley.  The Domaine Mucyn is 100% syrah with a 13% alcohol content, while the Domaine Montvas is a blend of Grenache, syrah and morvedre with a 14% alcohol content.  Here’s what we thought about these wines:

Our first wine was golden in color with a tinge of pink or amber.  The legs were thin and runny signifying a pretty light body.  The smell, however, brought a bit more to the table with a fruity and sweet scent of golden delicious apple and a hint of bubble gum.  At the same time, there was a clean aroma like fresh linen sheets.  Green apples came through in the taste which was a bit more acidic than the smell let on.  This wine seemed quite dry and tingly with notes of citrus and pine.  Compared to the second white we tasted, this one struck us as more fun like eating a Jolly Rancher apple candy.

The second white also was gold but with a greenish tint and more substantial legs.  Its smell was more sour and earthy with the grassy aroma of freshly worked garden gloves.  The citrus scent was much stronger than in the first white.  Interestingly, the taste had a bit more sweetness to it, with pear being the predominant flavor.  This was not as tart as the first white and was subtler and earthier.  We liked the very mild long finish of this wine and thought it might pair better with food.

Somehow we were fooled by the color and acidity of the first white.  Most of us picked this as the gruner veltliner, but instead it was the Riesling.  We should have known that the second white, with its earthiness was the true gruner veltliner.

When we moved on to the reds from the Rhone valley, we had better luck.  Our first red was really inky and viscous, suggesting a very full body.  The first scent to hit the nose was pepper – loud and clear.  We also described the aroma as smoky, spicy, jammy and somewhat fruity.    When we got to tasting, we heard exclamations some of which cannot be put into print here, but to give you a flavor, there were such outbursts as “wow”, “am I eating bacon?”, “it feels like I’m chewing a tea bag it’s so tannic”.  This wine stood up and said “I am wine!”

The second red was much quieter.  Its nose was just a whisper in comparison.  Its taste, however, was more interesting.  It was sophisticated as a blend would be, with a creamy, chewy texture.  Less pepper and more chocolate characterized this wine.  We had little trouble picking this as the Vacqueras and the first red as the pure syrah.

Our favorites for the evening, and recommendations for the Montauk Club wine list, were both the Riesling and the gruner veltliner, as well as the Crozes Hermitage.

Our next club meeting takes place on June 24, 2010, beginning at 7:00.  In honor of the World Cup, we’re going to try some wines from South Africa.  We’ll start off with a 2009 Graham Beck Chenin Blanc (14% alcohol) from the Beck family game preserve in South Africa which we’ll match against a 2007 Le brin de chevre chenin blanc from Touraine, France (11.5% alcohol).  Then we’ll see how a 2008 Graham Beck Pinotage (a hybrid of Cinsault and Pinot Noir unique to South Africa, 14% alcohol) compares to a 2007 Primarius Pinot Noir from Oregon (13.5% alcohol).  At the end of the tasting, we may try to see who can say “goal” the longest.

I hope to see a good crowd on June 24 at 7-ish; it’s going to be fun.  And don’t forget, it’s also $10 Thursday, so plan to stay for dinner.

Suzy Marquard