White Wines that are GREAT for SPRINGTIME!

2014 King Estate Pinot Gris – Situated at the tip of the Willamette Valley just southwest of Eugene, OR, King Estate’s idyllic land is as much part of their story as their wine. With a full acre of lavender, and 30 acres of organic gardens and orchards, they are proudly one of the largest organic vineyards in the world.

2014 Donnafugata Lighea – From the Zibibbo grape, ‘the muscat of Alexandria”, a rich and aromatic bouquet, floral notes of white and orange blossoms, hints of peach and candied citrus peel. Donnafugata is one of Sicily’s premier winemakers with quite the cult following.

2013 Maryhill Viognier – Expressive with hints of dried pineapple, apricots. Light oak and vanilla bean and white floral. This particular example has a full-bodied mouthfeel but a nice acidity to balance the weightiness of it, finishing crisp and clean.

Pepper’s Pro-tip: I haven’t posted one of these in a while, but my tip for this week is “Pay attention to the year on the bottle”. Winemakers today will hold onto their wines until they are ready, a lot more than they used to. As a result, 90+% of the markets wine are intended to be consumed within a year of release. This is particularly important concerning certain varietals. Light, refreshing, and delicate wines tend to lose their oomph after a year or two (oxidation will kill off the fruity notes of the wine, first). Here’s a few varietals that are normally best being within a few years from the current year (for example, stuff that generally should be year 2013 or newer vintage, for right now): All Beaujolais/Gamays, Most all Roses, a lot of Pinot (Noir and Gris/Grigio), Vinho Verde, Albarino, Picpoul.

Stop in Saturday from 1 to 4  for our Wine Tasting!