Look What the Trojan Horse Dragged In

We've started a new quest at the Lab. We are on a obsessive mission to drink wine made from ungrafted vines. What started innocently as a historical thought-experiment about pre-phylloxera wines has swelled into a relentless search for the Ungrafted Grail. Careful readers will have noted the occasional hints in this direction. A full-fledged Ungrafted Manifesto is forthcoming.

Thus far, our search has yielded a number of triumphs, and we will describe those in a later report. But I couldn't resist a special mention of a recent discovery.

Gaia Wines, Thalassitis, Santorini, 2007. Thalassitis is made from the Assyrtiko grape native to the Greek isle of Santorini. Gaia (say: yeah-ha) grows theirs in a vineyard of ungrafted vines more than 70 years old. A Greek wine-making tradition goes back to 4000 years. The Cult of Dionysus, that Minoan import that flourished as a Grecian Mystery Cult, might represent the world's first assemblage of wine wankers. More recently, BFC aficionados will remember the brief reign of a Greek sparkler in the Bubbledome.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a grape I've never before tasted. Assyrti who? But I wasn't expecting the smell of brand new Firestone tires. In the mouth, it's bright, energetic citric acids (lime and tangerine), rubber (I swear you can taste it, but probably just the strong olfactory suggestion) and a core of creamy apple fruit. Burnt match on the finish. Weird descriptors, I acknowledge (the petrol-y smells might result from the black, rubber stopper Gaia uses). But I find this fascinating and delicious. The mouthfeel is amazing. Like I would imagine a dollop of liquid mercury might feel (before it killed you). Or like a weird, funky blend of Riesling, Sauvingnon Blanc and Silver Surfer Spit.

(trojan horse: A project by Scott Kildall & Victoria Scott. Rights are protected under a Creative Commons license. Do not reproduce without attribution. The artists have no affiliation with the Rational Denial Lab. For more info see www.nomatter.org.)

BFC#5: A Lightning Bolt from Zeus!

Stunned.

No other way to describe it. We were stunned. All of us. None could believe that we'd all voted for a sparkling wine made from an antique grape we'd never heard of. Moschofilero? When the blindfolds came off -- we have a slightly unorthodox approach to blind tasting at the Lab, more like waterboarding really -- every jaw dropped. There before us, an international smörgåsbord of sparkling wines, and we had all picked the Greek as our favorite.

Tselepos Amalia Brut, NV. Nose was musty and graphitic with faint hint of apple. Elegant and balanced on the palate with nervy acid, delicate, honeyed orchard fruit and a clean, crisp stony finish.

So Amalia will be back to take on Goisot in the Bubbledome.

The rest of the competition, in order of finish:

Gruet Brut, NV. Strongly effervescent. The cork took out a chunk of ceiling plaster. Fruity nose of white flower and melon. In the mouth, a little flabby but not without some energetic acid.

Toso Brut, NV. Weird. And not in a good way. Tropical fruit and honeysuckle and a faint, almost Rieslingesque petrol quality. Less complex in the mouth, melon with some almond and a flat and dull finish. Very strange expression of pinot/chardonnay blend.

Taltarni Brut Taché, NV. Almost exactly that unique, rusty pink color of Dom Perignon Rosé. Beyond the color, this was disappointing. Closed, yeasty nose. Slightly overripe, apple fruit and tart, attention-demanding acid. This isn't bad as much as it's generic.

We all thought the Zipang Sparkling Sake was out of category, but really interesting. So we pulled it from the cage before it suffered any real damage. We'll bring it back for sushi night in the Dome. Coming soon.


(passport image © Icefields | Dreamstime.com)

BFC #5: Olympic-style Cagematch

To commem-
orate the spirit of the Olympics, I suggested to the boys that we host an event in the Brooklynguy Bubbledome with an international flair, something aimed at fostering understanding across cultural divides and promoting the ideals of world peace.

They were having none of it. So instead we're holding an old fashioned CAGE MATCH in the Dome tomorrow.

Five will enter. Only one will exit. And the winner will earn a shot at the current BFC champion, Goisot Cremant in BFC #6.

You'll notice though, I did manage to sneak in my internationalist agenda via the fight card.

The competitors (btw, I've been practicing trying to make my digital photos look like old, cheap polaroids. I'm getting pretty good, I think):

From Tasmania, Australia: Taltarni Brut Taché, NV. I've seen this on a lot of restaurant wine lists lately, universally overpriced. So I bought one at the shop for $14. Traditional 3 grape, Champagne blend. Bottle fermented. Taché means "stained". So the wine is essentially "pinked" with red wine blended into the liqueur d'expédition.

From Mendoza, Argentina, Toso Brut, NV. Only $10! A Blanc de Blanc (though the label doesn't say so), from Pascual Toso, a winery established by the eponymous Italian in the 19th century. Secondary fermentation in tanks (method charmant).

From Peloponesus, Greece, Domaine Tselepos Amalia Brut, NV. $19. An original Olympian. Made from a traditional Grecian grape, the Moschophilero.

From New Mexico, USA, Gruet Brut, NV. $13. I see this all the time. And I walk past this all the time. Except today. Today I thought, let's see how New Mexico holds up against the world.

From Fushimi, Japan, Zipang Sparkling Sake, NV, $6 (250 ml). This should be interesting? Naturally carbonated rice wine. One of the kids from our neuro-chemistry group brought this back to the Lab when we sent him for sushi from the Japanese convenience store up the street. Figured why not toss it in the cage?

Rules are blind-tasting with scorecards and no eye-gouging. Results will be posted as soon as they're tabulated. It'll be soon, but the new kid in accounting who's adding up the scores isn't exactly the sharpest stick in the pile.

(If you're new to the exciting world of no-holds barred, sparkling wine fighting, you can read about the origins of the Bubbledome here. Or search keyword: Bubbledome for the whole exciting history.)

image credit © Claudio Bertoloni | Dreamstime.com.