MCF Rare Wine

 

Cool, Herbaceous Energy: Gojer's Rosato of Vernatsch

The notion of an 'Alpine' feel is something I can picture in my mind, though I rarely feel like I can quite nail the description of it.  

 

It's, at once, visceral, but also fleeting, but I certainly know it when I feel it...

 

...or smell it, or taste it, etc. 

 

Certainly, there are the usual, familiar impressions of fresh mountain air...words like 'brisk', or 'invigorating' or the like...

 

...and, being an American who grew up in the 80s/90s, I, for better or worse, am reminded of old ads for a certain famous circular, flat mint/dark chocolate candy bar, or for throat lozenges that Alpine Horn players can't seem to live without. 

 

Anyway, you know...that whole thing...the zippy, refreshing, minty/mountain herb thing...

 

But it's more than that...especially when it comes to wine and food.  When you taste a cheese or sausage or some classic local dish from, say, the Vallée d'Aoste or wherever, there's that more fleeting sense of Alpine - the higher-pitched, edgy, pungent grassy-ness. 

 

Of course that could just as easily be something I've concocted in my head over the years, but, when I taste a wine like this Vernatsch Rosé of Franz Gojer, I think that, yeah, I might be on to something. 

 

Gojer is one of Alto Adige's (or Sudtirol, if you're a German speaker) true gems, and does some of the most amazing work with the local Schiava (aka Vernatsch) grape of anyone. 

 

This is perhaps the most 'Alpine' Rosé I've ever encountered, and high on the list for most 'Alpine' wine I can recall.

 

Why?  Well, because it's packed with just about every element of 'Alpinity' (Yes, I just made that word up, so what?) that I can think of. 

 

Start with the what is the #1 indicator of a mountain wine, the racy, high-pitched acidity that the whole package is draped around.  Then, there is the super-bright, super-fragrant berry fruit...you know, like those kids of wonderful berries from cold places that electrify your palate...that kinda berry fruit. 

 

Dancing within the fruit space are all of the herbaceous/grassy/wildflower elements - picture the most impossibly perfect mountain field on a Spring day like you'd see in a tourism ad - the edges of which get wonderfully mint-y, and add even more of a sense 'coolness' to it. 

 

Deep inside, there are ever-so-subtle hints of smoked meat (for those of you wondering how I could leave sausages out of a discussion of mountain life), and a spicy, minerality brings you home to the bracing finish. 

 

This is a beautiful, exciting wine - one of the most unique rosés I've had in a while...one that will thrill you through what's left of your Summer, and right into the Fall, where you'll be just as happy to have it...

 

...and this is the only place to get it...

 

Alpine, baby! 

 

You may order by emailing info@mcf-rarewine.com or calling 212.255.8870.

 

Matt Franco

MCF Rare Wine, Ltd

249 West 13th Street NYC 10011

212.255.8870