Obviously inspired by the Song of Songs, and possibly a glass of Pinot Noir as well, the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda wrote in his “Ode to Wine:”
My darling, suddenly
the line of your hip
becomes the brimming curve
of the wine goblet,
your breast is the grape cluster,
your nipples are the grapes,
the gleam of spirits lights your hair,
and your navel is a chaste seal
stamped on the vessel of your belly,
your love an inexhaustible
cascade of wine
Pinot Noir produces a small crop. It has low amounts of tannin and relatively high acid levels for a red grape. Pinot Noir found its fame in the Burgundy region of France, where it is the primary grape used for red wines. During the Middle Ages, the monks and aristocracy of Burgundy grew an older form of Pinot in the most-favored land, while the peasants grew a more hardy Gouais Blanc in the lowlands. Over the centuries, cross pollination resulted in the two varieties that we know today as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In the fourteenth century, the Duke of Burgundy forbade the cultivation of any red grape other than Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir is also a major component, with Chardonnay, in the production of most fine-quality Champagne. Most of the Pinot Noir cultivated in France is planted in the Champagne region. The state of Oregon in the United States appears to be an upcoming growing area with the right conditions for Pinot Noir. Some promising wines are also starting to come out of New Zealand. It is known as Spatburgunder, or Burgundy-style, in Germany, where the cooler climate produces wines that are crisper and lighter than elsewhere.
Strong cherry and strawberry aromas and flavors are often the most notable components in these wines. The aging potential can range from three to twenty years, depending on the quality and style of the wine. The very best Pinot Noirs from the Côte d’Or region of Burgundy often don’t begin to reach maturity for fifteen to twenty years after bottling. Pinot Noir is very versatile in its ability to match up with foods. Grilled seafood is an especially good match with most wines made from Pinot Noir.
Pinotage is a red wine grape that is South Africa’s signature variety. The grape is a viticultural cross of two varieties of Vitis vinifera, not a hybrid. It was bred there in 1925 as a cross between Pinot Noir and Cinsaut (Cinsaut was known as Hermitage in South Africa during that time, hence the portmanteau name of Pinotage). It typically produces deep-red varietal wines with smoky, bramble, and earthy flavors, sometimes with notes of bananas and tropical fruit, but has been criticized for sometimes smelling of acetone. Pinotage is often blended, and also made into fortified wine and even red sparkling wine.
Primitivo (See Zinfandel)
Riesling (Schiller): Originally from the Rhine river valley in Germany, the Riesling grape is now cultivated worldwide wherever growing conditions are sufficiently cool. Riesling does best in cool climates and is very resistant to frost. It is planted very widely in Northern European growing regions, and is increasingly popular in other areas of the world, such as Oregon, Chile, and New Zealand. Among international wines, Riesling is rated one of the top three white wines, with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Along with Muscat, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris, Riesling is one of the “noble” vines authorized in the Grand Cru sites of France’s Alsace region. The “terroir expressive” nature of Riesling, meaning its sensitivity to where it is grown, can be seen by comparing Rieslings from Alsace to Rieslings grown just a few miles away, over the German border in Pfalz.
An aromatic grape, its wine displays a floral, almost perfumed aroma with high, crisp acidity. Seldom blended with other varietals and seldom “oaked” in barrels, Riesling usually shows fresh fruit flavors and a zesty character. The grape has the ability to produce wines that run the gamut from bone-dry to very sweet, but are usually made in dry or semi-dry styles. It has a perfumed aroma with peach and honeysuckle notes, and although it can be enjoyed young, it also ages well. The grape’s natural acidity allows the wine to improve for decades, and many German Rieslings are still being drunk after more than one hundred years in the bottle. In the German town of Bremen, there are barrels of Riesling dating back to 1653. Dry Rieslings can be aged from five to fifteen years, semi-sweet aged for ten to twenty years, and very sweet can be aged from thirty to one hundred plus years. But, this variability depends upon the winemaker, the vineyard location, vineyard practices, and the vintage year.
In drier Rieslings, citrus flavors diminish, and characteristics of mineral, smoke, and petrol become more prominent. Those that are not overtly fruity, with relatively high initial acid levels, some residual sugar (2-2.5 percent) and sealed with screw-caps or a good quality natural cork, are most likely to age well. Modern Rieslings can be classified as “aged” after three years, and many will last for at least twenty years if stored in ideal cellar conditions. It was during the Middle Ages that the botrytized Rieslings, produced and aged in giant oak tuns by the Cistercian Monks along the valleys of the Rhine and the Moselle, became so famous and sought after for their longevity.
In the right circumstances, some of the finest sweet wines in the world can be made from Riesling that has been affected by Botrytis cinerea, or noble rot. This mold attacks the skin of the grape and concentrates the sugars in the grape by allowing the water to evaporate. This is especially true in the Moselle and Rhine river valleys of Germany, as well as the Alsace region of France. These wines, known as Trockenbeerenauslese, are very rare, very long-lived, extremely expensive, and absolutely delicious.
Just as Riesling is Germany’s most famous wine and Beethoven is Germany’s most famous composer, so Friedrich von Schiller is Germany’s most famous poet. Schiller’s poem “Ode to Joy” not only provided the words for Beethoven’s greatest and final symphony, but also celebrated the glories of Riesling:
Joy within the goblet flushes,
For the golden nectar, wine,
Every fierce emotion hushes,—
Fills the breast with fire divine.
Brethren, thus in rapture meeting,
Send ye round the brimming cup,—
Yonder kindly spirit greeting,
While the foam to heaven mounts up!
Rkatsiteli, from Georgia, is one of the world’s oldest vines, and traces, dating back over five thousand years, have been found by archeologists in the Caucus Mountains. Because of its popularity in the Soviet Union for making cheap fortified wines, it became one of the most-planted varietals in the world. It is still a popular grape for making wines in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Roussanne: (See Marsanne & Roussanne)
Sangiovese (Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio): Sangiovese is the primary grape used in Central Italy in the region of Tuscany to make such well-known wines as Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Its Roman name was originally sanguis Jovis, or blood of Jove.
Sangiovese produces wines that are spicy, with good acid levels, smooth texture and medium body. In the right climates and with controlled yields, Sangiovese can be made into very structured and full-bodied wines. It is often blended with other grapes for best results. During the later decades of the twentieth century, Sangiovese was often blended with Cabernet Sauvignon to create a Super Tuscan blend, and was typically aged in French oak barrels. This resulted in a wine primed for the international market in the style of a typical California Cabernet: oaky, high-alcohol, and a ripe, jammy, fruit-forward profile. Although these Super Tuscans eventually won official recognition, the trend in Tuscany now is increasingly to focus on the native Sangiovese grape.
Sangiovese is experiencing increased interest and plantings in California and elsewhere. Because of its ability, like Merlot and Carménère, to create smoother wines with acid levels that pair well with many foods, a great deal of experimentation is taking place with it as a blending agent with several red varieties.
For a Sangiovese literary
pairing, there are three obvious contenders, all of them Tuscan writers of the fourteenth century, and all born in the city of Florence or close nearby.
Durante degli Alighieri, Dante, the Florentine poet, being the oldest and the best known, should obviously pair with Chianti, the most well-known of all the Tuscan wines. Dante’s Divine Comedy is as representative of Italian literature as the straw-covered Chianti bottles were characteristic of Italian wine.
Francesco Petrarch, whose father was a friend of Dante, should be paired with the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The Sangiovese wines from the village of Montepulciano were popular with the educated and refined classes of Tuscany (hence the name). Since Petrarch’s father was a professor, and he himself, along with Shakespeare, is regarded as the father of the sonnet form, then the Vino Nobile wine would seem an appropriate pairing.
Giovani Boccaccio, a friend of Petrarch, is most famous for the Decameron, a series of about one hundred witty and often erotic stories offering a glimpse into the reality of everyday Tuscan life in the fourteenth century. The perfect Sangiovese pairing for such a rich and earthy writer is clearly the rich and powerful wines of Brunello di Montalcino.
Sauvignon Blanc (Saki): Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned varietal, high in acidity, which produces a white wine of great distinction. The grape is widely grown around the world, partly because of its high yield and low costs, and also because it can tolerate greater heat than many other varieties. Depending on the climate, the flavor can range from aggressively grassy to sweetly tropical; the wines often exhibit “melon” in the nose and taste, and are usually described as crisp, elegant, and fresh. If grown in too cool a climate, it can develop a herbaceous character in its aromas. Karen MacNeil memorably wrote that “if Chardonnay were Marilyn Monroe then Sauvignon Blanc would be Jamie Lee Curtis.”
Sauvignon Blanc originated on the west coast of France in the Loire and Bordeaux regions. Although it can gain additional complexity and richness after some limited time in the barrel, it is seldom aged in wood because it can get overpowered by the oak flavors. Some of the best Sauvignon Blanc in France comes from two villages in the upper Loire Valley, called Sancerre and Pouilly-sur-Loire. The wine from the second village is called Pouilly Fumé, and so, for marketing purposes, US winegrowers often called the wine made from the grape Fumé-Blanc.
New Zealand is currently having notable success with Sauvignon Blanc, and produces wines that have very high levels of acidity and complexity. Wineries from Cloudy Bay in Marlborough on the South Island have won many international prizes, and are regarded by many as some of the best Sauvignon Blanc in the world. The asparagus, gooseberry, and green flavor commonly associated with New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is derived from flavor compounds known as methoxypyrazines that become more pronounced and concentrated in wines from cooler climate regions.
While it is usually unblended when bottled in the Loire valley, in Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc is blended with Sémillon, Muscadelle, and Ugni Blanc to produce Bordeaux Blanc and Entre-Deux-Meres. In the Bordeaux subregion of Sauternes, it is blended with Sémillon alone. The Sémillon rounds out the acid of the Sauvignon Blanc, and the two late harvested grapes, after undergoing noble rot (Botrytis cinerea), produce a powerfully sweet and alcoholic wine of which Château d’Yquem is the most famous and sought after.
A common saying in the upper Loire is “any land not perfect for vines is perfect for goats.” Sauvignon Blanc is especially good when served with chèvre, goat cheeses, or seafood, and is one of the few wines that pairs well with sushi—not that sushi is especially common in the villages of the upper Loire.
Saki was the nom de plume of H.H. Munro, an Edwardian short story writer who was killed on the Western Front in 1916. Like Sauvignon Blanc wines which are widely accessible and refreshingly easy to drink, Saki’s short stories were widely popular and dealt amusingly with the everyday concerns of upper-middle class English life. A chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc is the perfect accompaniment to a lazy summer afternoon, relaxed in a deckchair overlooking the croquet lawn. And for the accompanying reading material, nothing could possibly be more appropriate than a new story from Saki. Like the wine, Saki’s stories dazzle and delight, entertaining and refreshing. But beneath the soft hints of melon and gooseberry, Sauvignon Blanc wines can have a sharp acidity that accosts the palette with a surprising jolt. In the same way, the graceful French-windows of Saki’s witty and elegant Edwardian drawing rooms open to an outside world of surprising and savage cruelty. The realm of the Great God Pan is never far from the well-tended gardens of the vicarage.
Sémillon (James Joyce): Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make both dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia. Sémillon ripens earlier in the season than most grapes, and is less-likely to be damaged by rains or frost. It produces wines that are full-flavored, rich, and aromatic, and is most often blended with other varieties (especially Sauvignon Blanc) to add body to more acidic varietals.
In France, Sémillon is grown mainly in the Bordeaux region where it is used for blending, adding softness and body to the more acidic Sauvignon Blanc. When it is blended with Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle, and Ugni Blanc to make Bordeaux Blanc, Graves or Entre-deux-mers, Sémillon is a minor component in the blend. However, when blended with Sauvignon Blanc alone to make Sauternes or Barsac, then it is usually the major component. For example, Château d’Yquem is usually 20 percent Sauvignon Blanc and 80 percent Sémillon. As discussed elsewhere, in such wines the vine is exposed to the noble rot of Botrytis cinerea, which consumes the water content of the fruit and concentrates the sugar present in its pulp. When exposed to Botrytis cinerea, the grapes shrivel and the acid and sugar levels are intensified producing powerfully sweet and highly alcoholic wines. Whether in the sweet wines or in dryer styles, Sémillon has the ability to age for a very long time.
James Joyce spent much of his life struggling to be published. Much of his early work, such as Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners, are decent examples of the writer’s art, just as the Sémillon grape makes a fairly decent white wine. These short stories of Joyce usually appear, along with the work of other writers, in anthologies, just as Sémillon is usually drunk when it has been blended with other grapes to produce wines such as Entre-Deux-Mers.
However, when exposed to the fungus Botrytis cinerea, there is a magical transformation which elevates the humble Sémillon grape to the realm of the divine and gives us such masterpieces as Château d’Yquem. In the same way, a combination of the First World War and exile life in Paris transformed the struggling Joyce into an avant-garde giant and his masterpiece Ulysses became one of the two greatest novels of the twentieth century. Leopold Bloom, the hero of Ulysses, regarded the taste of wine as an affirmation of life:
“Glowing wine on his palate lingered swallowed. Crushing in the winepress grapes of Burgundy. Sun’s heat it is. Seems to a secret touch telling me memory. Touched his sense moistened remembered. Hidden under wild ferns on Howth below us bay sleeping: sky. No sound. The sky… O wonder! Coolsoft with ointments her hand touched me, caressed: her eyes upon me did not turn away. Ravished over her I lay, full lips full open, kissed her mouth. Yum…. She kissed me. I was kissed. All yielding she tossed my hair. Kissed, she kissed me.”
Unlike France, where it is almost always blended with other varietals, in Australia Sémillon is gaining renown under its own name. North of Sydney, in Hunter Valley, four styles of Sémillon wines are being produced: a commercial style, often blended with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc; a sweet style, similar to Sauternes; a complex, early picked style, which has great longevity; and an equally high-quality, dry style, which can be released soon after vintage. Once the Australians have decided on which cuddly animal to use on the label, we should begin to see more Sémillon on our supermarket shelves.
Shiraz/Syrah (Sebastian Faulks and Richard Flanagan): This grape is known as Syrah in France and Shiraz in A
ustralia. In the United States, it can appear under either name depending on the style of the winery. The grape was long thought to be named either for a city in Sicily, Syracuse (Syrah), or for a city in Persia (Shiraz), in either of which it possibly originated. It produces full, rich wines of intense color and flavor. In warmer climates like Australia, the grape produces wines that are sweeter and riper tasting; in cooler climates like the Rhône valley of France, it often has more pepper and spice aromas and flavors. Syrah wines usually becomes drinkable at an early age, and most are produced for consumption within a year after release (second year after harvest). On the other hand, there are Syrah/Shiraz examples of very long-lived wines, such as Hermitage in France and Penfold’s Grange in Australia.
Like Sebastian Faulk’s brilliant novel Birdsong, Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North intertwines a tragic love story of infidelity with unbearable images of the brutality of war. Each novel features a protagonist who simultaneously inhabits two different worlds; one of banal normalcy and the other of indescribable horrors. His experience, whether in the trenches of Flanders or the jungles of Burma, is something each man is unable to share after returning home. Flanagan’s hero returns home to Australia, tormented by his memories, unable to share them, unable to move on.
Legend has it that a crusading French knight, Chevalier Guy De Sterimberg, returned to the Rhône Valley from a visit to Persia, with some vines from Shiraz. Wearied from the horrors of war, he became a hermit, built a stone chapel and developed a vineyard on the steep hill where he lived. It became known as the Hermitage, by which name the wine is known to this day. The use of the crusader’s vine, Syrah, spread throughout the Rhône region, and it is now the dominant varietal of the Rhône valley. It is often blended with Grenache and Mourvedre, and is an essential grape in the production of Châteauneuf du Pape (which can include as many as nineteen different varietals).
The Booklovers' Guide to Wine Page 29