I love Springtime and everything associated with it. Flowers, sunshine and non-root vegetables all make me cheer. But for me, the best part is lighter wine—the kind that wake up your palate and says, “Hello! Time to come out of your doldrums, put on a floral print and have a garden party.” Right on.
But choosing the best wine for spring can get a little confusing, what with a zillion options for rosés, whites and lighter reds. Which is why it was time to research different options via a My Wine Tribe blind tasting. In choosing wines for the tasting, I looked for three things; it had to pair well with a variety of springtime foods and had to be relatively inexpensive. Finally, given that I like to quaff with my friends, who are all in different tribes, I was hoping to find a crowd pleaser.
So off I went to Total Wine. With the help of the super store’s staff I chose two whites and two rosés for the tasting. In selecting the whites we went off the beaten path and chose two wines made with Grüner Veltliner, a white grape grown primarily in Austria, Hungary and Slovakia that has a zippy level of acidity and tang. It is a food friendly wine, but most importantly to me Grüner Veltliner + asparagus = true love. And who doesn’t love asparagus at this time of year?
We also included two rosés in the mix because let’s face it, rosé is springtime in a glass. It’s pretty in pink and plays nicely at an outdoor party. But I have a fear of flabby, sweet rosé so I am always a bit anxious when choosing one. So, I selected two from Provence, the largest rosé producing area of the world known for wines that are bone dry and more complex than their US counterparts.
This spring’s lineup:
Here’s what we tried:
– Gruber Röschitz 2017 Grüner Veltliner: $15. This Austrian wine is made with 100% Grüner Veltliner grapes.
– Winzer Krems 2017 Kremstal Reserve: $25. This highly lauded wine is another Austrian Grüner.
– Mathilde de Chapoutier 2017 Grand Ferrage: $21. This rosé, from Cotes de Provence, is made from Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Rolle grapes.
– Chateau d’Esclans 2018 Whispering Angel Rosé: $17. This super popular rosé, loved by critics and drinkers worldwide, is a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Rolle, Syrah and Tibouren.
The results
We learned two things from this tasting: price does not equal quality and sometimes the critics are wrong.
The Gruber Röschitz Grüner Veltliner was the big hit of night. Folks from all four tribes liked the clean scents of citrus, peach and kiwi and the fresh tastes of honeydew, peaches and minerally rocks. Tasters also commented on the bright, zippiness of the wine and how food friendly and flexible it was. This was a crowd pleaser and the least expensive wine of the night, which means it will be my spring go-to wine.
The right food pairings matter
The highly awarded Winzer Krems 2017 Kremstal Reserve was no tribe’s favorite wine. In fact, it was the least favorite (yet most expensive) wine of the night. It had scents of green apple Jolly Ranchers and a bit of straw with an interesting mouthfeel that was heavy, even though it had a bit of fizz. But it was bossy when it came to food pairing and none of our springtime noshes went well with it. However, I drank the leftover wine the next night with Indian take-out and was surprised by how good it was. So if you are going to try this wine, pair it with heavy, spicy foods.
The Mathilde de Chapoutier 2017 Grand Ferrage is Mathilde de Chapoutier’s first wine, but she is an 8th generation winemaker who has received some nice accolades, so expectations were high. The wine had lovely scents of cut grass after a big rainstorm. However, we found it to be another wine that was hard to deal with in terms of pairing. It tasted a bit like buttery roses with peaches and gasoline mixed in and it felt hot going down. It wasn’t terrible but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Springtime’s favorite rose
Finally, we tried the Chateau d’Esclans 2018 Whispering Angel Rosé. Last year this wine was voted the no. 1 rosé in the world by the readers of Vivino and is another favorite of wine critics. With aromas of raspberries, flowers and a hint of plastic (weird), it tasted delicious. Juicy, with perfect levels of acid, this wine was a little herbaceous and a lot fruity, with flavors of raspberries, strawberries and citrus and it paired nicely with a variety of springtime foods. Though the Accessible tribe found it too acidic and the Complex tribe thought it was meh, the Balanced and Developed tribes really liked this wine.
So if you are looking for the best wine for Spring, My Wine Tribe highly recommends the Gruber Röschitz Grüner Veltliner. Enjoy and please leave a note with your favorite springtime wine. I am always willing to do more research 😉 Cheers!