Wines of the Week: April 6-12
Everyday: I’m a bit hesitant to tout the 2013 Concha Y Toro “Casillero del Diablo” White ($12) because it’s impossible to find out what the grapes are; even the “tech sheet” at the winery’s website doesn’t say. That arrogance aside, this is mighty delicious juice, with a surpassingly fresh nose and persistent lemon (sauv blanc?) and pineapple (chardonnay?) flavors. It’s a pretty ideal springtime wine, meaning it goes well with the salads of the season, grilled chicken or fish and soft cheeses. And with the get-up-and-dance music on the new Mavericks album.
Occasion: I love wines that taste like where they came from. No, not really the whole terroir thing, but juice that purely and simply evokes its origins. The 2009 Schloss Gobelsberg Riesling Tradition Reserve ($50) smells and tastes like the clean, crystalline mountain air of its native Austria. On the dry side (like most Austrian rieslings), this beauty offers up a mega-floral nose, pure stone-fruit flavors, spot-on acidity, perfect texture and a burst of minerality popping up near the clean-as-all-get-out finish. It’s trout season, and that freshwater fish is made for this wine, but smoked fowl and grilled Vidalia onions and zucchini will do nicely, too. So will the gorgeous Elliott Smith tribute album by Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield.