In the wonderful feature film Wine Diamonds, which chronicles the struggles of five lovely Midwestern family wineries, noted wine judge Bob Foster declares “Hell, any gorilla can make wine in California.”
Ain’t it the truth! So when we decided to make a forgery of vintage port, and forbidden by the Feds to call it that, we chose Bob’s observation as an appropriate proprietary name for our fortified sweet red.
In the wonderful feature film Wine Diamonds, which chronicles the struggles of five lovely Midwestern family wineries, noted wine judge Bob Foster declares “Hell, any gorilla can make wine in California.”
Ain’t it the truth! So when we decided to make a forgery of vintage port, and forbidden by the Feds to call it that, we chose Bob’s observation as an appropriate proprietary name for our fortified sweet red.
An obscure ancient grape of the Muscat tree, Petit Manseng is highly aromatic and achieves very high sugars while retaining exceptionally high acidity. It was treasured by the ancients because it stops fermenting while still sweet, producing a luscious dessert wine without the need for modern sterile filtration.
This crazy grape produces a Sauternes-style
dessert wine in southern France in the regions
of Jurançon and Pecherenc du Vic Bilh, a white
wine appellation superimposed on Madiran,
where I received my tutelage in postmodern
winemaking techniques from my guru, Patrick
Ducournau.
Expect a palate impression lighter and
drier than Sauternes, better with Tiramisu,
cannoli’s, strawberry shortcake or mille-feuille
puff pastry, or just by itself. The French like it
with half-shell oysters or duck foie gras.
