Light Fruity Reds
"They do all seem so similar!" says a friend, known as the "supertaster," sniffing the mystery wine inside bag #2.
In front of us are three opened bottles of wine, each of their identities covered by sleek silver bags. All we know is that one is a Valpolicella Classico 2007, a Gamay from Touraine, and the wine that created the idea for this tasting, a Torette from the Vallee d'Aoste.
Tasting wine without its label revealed -- what is called 'blind tasting' in the wine profession - is a very popular occupation with students of wine. Virtually every school (Master of Wine, Court of Master Sommeliers, the Diploma level of the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust) asks students identify a wine 'blind' in aroma and flavor. For this reason, it is important that students develop a vocabulary for wine and try to memorize the connection between certain flavors and aromas and their grape varietal and location.
For this reason, my local wine store selects wine for me and delivers them in silver wrapping, so I can blind taste the wine without knowing what it was. The first time I had the Grosjean Vallee D'Aoste several months ago I couldn't place it -- with its light color, cherry expression, and subtle tannins could it be a Gamay? Or perhaps a Valpolicella?
Looking up the wine (Grosjean Vallee D'Aoste Torrette 2007), I discovered Torrette is Italy’s most remote wine growing zone, just west of the city of Turin, in the mountains bordering France and Switzerland. Wine has been growing here for 2100 years yet is no longer of major economic importance as revenue from ski tourism has usurped this. The major grape is Petite Rouge -- light colored (nearly transparent) and spicy, with a hint of French oak. In trying to memorize its aroma and flavor, I realized I could possibly confuse it with Gamay and Valpolicella, hence the new blind tasting.
So upon request, the wine store chose the Gamay and Valpolicella for me, and the Supertaster and I set about nosing the wine. The Torrette has bright acidity and an almost chiaroscuro aspect to it, with the bright notes underscored by darker, tea-like tannins. The Gamay (Jean-Francois Merieau Le Bois Jacou 2007), though quite good in its own right, by comparison seems to be more one dimensional, with no real texture to provide contrast to its simple fruity nature. Now the Valpolicella Classico (Corte Rugolin 2007) does provide more similarities to the Torrette -- more tannin, more spice, more diversity and concentration of flavors. Both of these wines are nearly identical in color, aroma, and palate, yet the Petite Rouge of the Torrette offers a distinctive expression. To characterize it, one might call it slightly native or even wild.
Through reasoning and methods of deduction, we were able to correctly identify the three wines. Torrette is an excellent and unusual wine that pairs with a wide variety of dishes ... very rare beef comes to mind, grilled salmon, or a steak salad. You will find it more similar to Valpolicella than Gamay, and in my brief reading of the region, it seems like a very exciting place to visit. Winemakers in Torrette are motivated by passion and respect for history rather than economic profit. The Petite Rouge grape possesses its own very unique personality. Very well worth seeking this region out when you are in the mood for a new, exciting style of wine with a long, mesmerizing history.
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