Le Brin de Chevre....the next to join the P Funk team

Not long ago, one of my sales reps brought me a line of wines to try. All were French, which for me was great having blown my palate out with Italian wines recently (don't get me wrong, I love them, but there is a whole world of wine to try). As we went through, we tasted a wine that they said was made of Menu Pineau. I thought I had not understood him correctly, as his French accent is insanely thick. So I enquired again, and sure enough, it was what he said and my ears perked up. The complete wine dork in me got excited with the chance to check off another wine from my century list.

Menu Pineau, also known as Arbois, is one of the most widely planted grapes in the Loire region on France. It is unknown where the grape may have come from, but continues to be one of the most used blending grapes in many of the wines we drink from Loire, especially those of the sparkling variety. However, you might come across some wine makers that are trying to bring back tradition and make a wine that is 100% Menu Pineau.

Now that I have bored you with the facts about this grape (you can tell I get excited when the wine geek in me really comes out), on to the nuts and bolts of this wine itself. The winery, Le Clos du Tue-Boeuf, is owed by two brothers, Thierry and Jean- Marie Puzelat. They got the winery from their father and began to focus on classic Loire wines. This wine is by far one of their coolest (and weirdest at the same time). The first thing I thought about when I tasted this wine was hard cider. It has a huge palate of golden delicious apple, making it taste like a bright hard cider. The bright acidic finish almost makes it dance on your tongue and have that effervescent effect on your tongue, making you think it could be carbonated. It really messes with you at first taste. Then, you realize that it has beautiful subtle white flowers, lily, slate, lemon zest, and so many other flavors that you go insane. This wine is truly a unique and really awesome wine that is one to try. Plus, you get to cross one more wine off your list of ones you have tried that isn't Pinot Noir or Chardonnay....make your friends jealous!!

The P-Funk Allstars have a new member: Monster, Monsters Attack!!

This is one of the most fun wines I have had in a long time. It is always fun with people take wine for the fun and exciting thing that it is meant to be. It is even more exciting when it is done in a way that is funny, defusing, and almost irreverent. That is exactly what this wine is.

Some Young Punks are a group of wine makers in Australia. Those wine makers, Jen Gardner, Nic Bourke, and Col Mchryde. They are tattooed, loud, arrogant; everything you wouldn't expect for a wine maker to be. Yet, they are everything that I think is amazing about where we can go with wine. As I have often said, I think wine should be knocked down off it's pedestal and allowed to be accessible. These guys turn the expectations of wine on its head. From the commissioned art work on the labels to the wine itself. Today it is the Monsters, Monsters Attack riesling.

The Monster, Monsters Attack is an off dry riesling from Clare Valley, South Australia. This riesling has tropical notes and some great acidity. The cool thing about this wine is the creamy quality that is seen from the slight oak that is used. Normally, riesling isn't put in oak because of the subtile flavors that a lot of wine makers like or the riesling to have. Also, when more sugar is present, the sugars can attach to the inside of the oak and make the flavors imparted on the wine due to the aging more aggressive. As I said, these guys do things loudly and in their own way and this is certainly no different.

The label art is done by an artist from Tel-Aviv named Asaf Hanuka. He works with many large companies like Nike and has a comic series called Bipolar. You should check out some of the art on his website http://www.asafhanuka.com/

So, these guys get a P Funk stamp because of their style, their approach, and their ability to defuse the pomp that wine sometimes can have. Well done guys. Welcome to the team.

Here is their site: Some Young Punks

A true P-Funk Allstar: Cederberg Bukettraube

Ok, the title says it all for this one. This wine is a funky wine and a half. Until about a year ago, I had not ever heard of this grape, but is a super cool one. The wine is from South Africa, leaving the feelings of skepticism developed from pinotage behind and bring something for wine drinkers everywhere to search for. This is the bukettraube for Cederberg. 

Cederberg is actually the only "wine farm" (not called wineries or vineyards in SA) in the Cederberg ward, or WO, is the Western Cape region of South Africa. Confused? I should have put up a wine geek warning but, since I didn't. allow me to explain. Think of the food pyramid. The bottle level would be the world, the next level would be Africa and so on until you get to South Africa. Now, after that, the next level would be the Western Cape, much like it would be Napa Valley in California. The final level would be Cederberg ward, like Rutherford would be a more specific place in Napa. Make more sense? The Cederberg ward is a highly specific place on the west coast of South Africa because it is essentially a green oasis in the middle of very hot and very desolate hills. Here, they are able to grow a variety of wines, including chard, sauv blanc, chenin blanc, pinotage, syrah (or shiraz to them), and cab. The heat means that the fruits get ultra ripe and rich with sugars and fruit. However, the coolest by far is the Bukettraube.

Prounouced boo-ki-trab, it was once widely planted around Europe. As is the case with a lot of different things from Europe, there is a fight over where it was first discovered, although France and Germany have the most compelling cases as they were the only two countries that were known to have grown the parent grapes of this wine. However, while the origins are certainly important, it is the way it tastes that makes all the difference. 

This wine is an amazing wine for summer. It reminds me of a dry riesling, with tropical flavors, a little sweetness, and some nice bright acidity to keep it in balance. If it wasn't so good on its own, I would say it would be great to make a white sangria out of it. However, PLEASE DON'T DO IT!!! Let this wine sing and dance on your tongue and you will not regret it. Every sip is just as enjoyable as the last. This wine truly is a P-Funk Allstar and I am glad to give it that distinction!

Here is their website: Ceberberg wines