Vintages
A look at some of the lesser-known wine varieties

By Randal Caparoso

An easy-to-read, pocket-sized guide to grapes used in winemaking called "Guide to Wine Grapes" by Jancis Robinson (Oxford University Press) makes for great reading.Robinson gives details on more than 800 distinct wine varieties grown in the world today.Great book; read it.

Richard Smart, another one of the world's most respected authorities on wine growing, says there are actually between 5,000 and 10,000 grape varieties available.

Yet when you walk into your nearest wine or grocery store, how many different types of "varietal" wines (wines made predominantly from one specific grape variety) do you actually see? Perhaps 10 varieties.

These are the grape varieties that are popular, and so it is economical for wine producers to concentrate on these wine types and ignore the thousands of others that they could possibly make. But this doesn't make a lot of sense.Consumers, for instance, are certainly not satisfied with just 15 types of cars, or 15 types of music. We all instinctively prefer variety.

But what can you do about it? The answer is to conscientiously seek out variety. Ask for it. Demand it. Look for it in restaurants, and cultivate a taste for change for change's sake.

The other day a younger wine professional friend of mine asked me this question: "What was Ma-TAY-us?"

It took me a few seconds to realize that she was talking about Mateus (which Americans pronounce as Ma-TOOS, although Ma-TAY-us is probably closer to the original Portuguese pronunciation), a light, fizzy, fruity pink wine from Portugal which at one time was one of the top-selling wines in the world.

But when was the last time you saw one of those squat little bottles (shaped like a flat tire) of Mateus?

The point being, our tastes in wine do change, and almost always for the better. I'm just suggesting that if you hurry it along, your pleasure in wine will increase exponentially.

Two weeks ago, I attended a tasting sponsored by the Wine Appreciation Guild. There were some 2,000 opened bottles all lined up on tables beckoning to our palates. After about 150 of them I cried "uncle."I did taste a few interesting wines; here are six that I liked in particular:

• 2000 Handley, Anderson Valley Pinot Gris ($15-$20) — Handley is a grossly underrated producer from Mendocino's Anderson Valley — in my opinion, the best in the county — which makes wines of terrifically smooth and lively qualities.This one, made from the pinot gris grape (the white permutation of pinot noir), is dry as a bone yet soft as silk; with creamy, mineral and floral perfumes that make me, for one, happy-as-a-leetle-girl.
• 2000 Thomas Fogarty, Monterey Gewurztraminer ($14-$18) — Love the name of this winery ("I ain't no fortunate son, ya'll"), and I'm enthralled by this lightly sweet white wine with its beautiful, on-the-money, lychee-like varietal fragrance. On the palate, it is lush and finely balanced, its off-dry character perfectly suited to things like lumpia, spring rolls, and shiu mai in sweet-spicy dipping sauces. A potential crowd pleaser.
• 1999 Luna, Napa Valley Sangiovese ($18-$24) — Luna has been tooling around with this red grape from Tuscany (sangiovese) for a number of years, and I believe that it's only with this vintage that they are showing a real proficiency.True to the grape, this version is round yet zesty, firmly dry yet almost sweet and succulent with black cherry flavor bolstered by rich oak qualities. Drink this up with a good grill — fish, vegetables, meat skewers and all — or within the classic Italian context of pasta, tomatoes, garlic, oils and vinegars. Can't go wrong.
• 1998 Sonoma "Augusta" ($18-$24) — This is a commemorative red wine bottling, made primarily from the barbera grape, produced by Sebastiani Vineyards; and it's a dandy — chock full of blackberry, roasted meat and Italianate leather aromas, and full and fleshy with flavors, combining youthful spite with a knowing sophistication. What do you expect? Sebastiani has gone way beyond its "naive, domestic burgundy" days, and red wine lovers would be foolish to pass up on their mastery — particularly of the zesty, highly food worthy barbera grape. This is a wine you can drink everyday, with deepening appreciation.
• 1997 Murrieta's Well "Vendimia" ($22-$28) — This is not a varietal bottling, but a blend of four red varieties: cabernet sauvignon (mostly), merlot, cabernet franc, and zinfandel. Blends of cabernet and merlot, you've probably known and loved before; but I believe it's the dash of zinfandel — the palate pulsating, sweetly aromatic zinfandel — that gives this wine that extra kick, that flair and flourish, combining to make lush, smoky, herbal tinged aromas that land on the palate with rich, juicy, yet perfectly civilized aplomb.Buy, and enjoy, this beauty before it is suddenly "discovered" by the big-name wine magazines, resulting in the usual surge in price.
• 1998 De Loach, "Splendo Blendo" ($30-$40) — Ignore the hokey name, because there isn't anything hokey or dopey about the taste of this red wine, blended from cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese and merlot. In fact, it is a stunningly original and delicious red wine, just dripping with red and black berry flavors, and aromas that emerge from the rims and grab you like a genie from a bottle. Or is it "genius" in a bottle? Whatever it is, Cecil De Loach and his winemaker, Dan Cedarquist, have come up with real winner.

Randal Caparoso is corporate wine buyer for the Roy's Restaurant chain.