Pollux Membership October 2023: Terry’s World and In the Glass
One of Terry Theise’s most treasured estates is Willi Brundlmayer’s Weingut Brundlmayer; here, the vineyard of Ried Langenloiser unfurls itself beneath a golden late summer sun.
“Terry’s World”
Weingut Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner “Ried Langenloiser Loiserberg”, Austria 2021
Like a lot of the food and beverage luminaries I’ve come across, I first met Terry Thiese when he came to dine at Michel Richard’s Citronelle in the late 2000s. An importing luminary (well, in reality a broker luminary, but I’ll come to that) whose innate feel for small family estates in Germany made him a cult sensation by the late 1980s, Terry’s addition of Austrian wines and, particularly, small grower Champagnes to his stable of producers throughout the 1990s contributed to his status rising beyond cult hero to renowned tastemaker and James Beard Award winner.
Taking care of he and his wife at their table that evening, I came to understand a small bit of the type of person Terry is-a dreamer more than a businessman, a wine romantic as much as, if not more than, a hard-hearted beverage boss obsessed with the bottom line. Terry’s enthusiasm and sense of the profound is what allowed him to find a niche bringing German and Austrian wines into the US when most Americans had never tried a bottle, let alone one that was made with actual integrity, and for that, we had (and have) Terry to thank. Even today, German and Austrian wines have more cache with those “in the know” than the average consumer, who are still stigmatized by the concept of sweetness, for one thing. Library and back-vintage offerings from German and Austrian producers, when you can actually find them, are some of the best relative values on any wine list compared to their (mostly red) counterparts in other regions-I vividly recall ordering a bottle of Riesling at NYC’s Bowery wine bar Pearl and Ash at our visit there that had over 20 years of age on it, was from a world-class producer, and a classified single vineyard…for $150. Not cheap, mind you, but think about it: Would you be able to find 20-year-old Bordeaux or Burgundy from a high-quality place and person at a restaurant for $150? For $1,500, even?
Terry Theise knew this, and in a profile of him for the trade website GuildSomm, author Kelli White writes that Terry’s World is full of poetry, but also a hint of bitterness and anger at the fact that his beloved collection of estates aren’t thought of in the same instantly-recognizable fashion as, say, collectible Napa Cab. To me, however, the mere fact that he is so well known in wine and food circles speaks to the success Terry Theise and his importer Skurnik wines have had with his portfolio, even if they still feel a little bit unknown. When I brought in this Grüner Veltliner by acclaimed winemaker Willi Bründlmayer down from New York on special order, I was told by my salesperson I was one of the few to do so. And while the market itself may still be a tad ignorant (woefully so, I’m sure Terry would say), I’m drawn to the youthful version of Terry Theise, who as a young man played in a band, held odd jobs, and had his first swig of wine (the proper term) at a Rod Stewart concert. Truly, how many of us can say that we began our Wine Journey in front of some tasting menu? The tension that arises with uncertainty, and the corresponding levels of curiosity and enthusiasm that accompany a new joy discovered, are why I do what I do-and hopefully, why you’re here reading.
Thomas Klingler and MW Andreas Wickhoff share a row of vines opposite Willi Brundlmayer and his wife Edwige.
Austrian wine is so much more than the hipster-fueled late 1990s surge in demand for the country’s main white varietal, Grüner Veltliner, and Willi Bründlmayer and his team try to take advantage of every bit of what their country’s wine culture has become. How else can you explain this family estate that now covers 80 ha and makes an entire line of sparkling wines, as well as Chardonnays and Pinot Noir, and still has time to cultivate a range of “classic” wines from the venerated Riesling and Grüner grapes.
Buttressed by a talented team that now includes his son Vincent, renowned oenologist Thomas Klingler, and Master of Wine Andreas Wickhoff, Willi has achieved that rare feat in the wine world, where his horzontal and vertical axes of growth and standards have not yet crossed paths, but rather continue to trend upward. One of my longstanding favorites in Austrian wine, Bründlmayer’s consistency in general and refreshing take on Grüner Veltliner in particular have held my esteem for the better part of the last two decades, and indeed my arrival in Washington, DC was trumpeted by a winelist that, despite its obvious French bent, was filled with delectable wines from Bründlmayer and many others, courtesy of one Terry Theise, who lived in the capital at the time. Terry has often written about the idea of tension in wine, and Grüner certainly can possess it-a nervy, sometimes overwrought combination of mineral soil and acidity that is so often asked to be paired with vegetables, such as in-season white asparagus. Terry’s confidence in Willi Bründlmayer, Willi’s consummate skill and deft team, and the specific site where this Grüner is grown, lead to our opportunity to taste a bottle of wine that is so much more than what Grüner Veltliner is described as on a sommelier’s blind tasting grid. And because this essay is at least cursorily about Terry Theise, I will now commence with arguably his favorite distinctive device in the wine world: terroir.
A place where one day I would love to spend a little (or a lot of) time- the legendary Vinothek at Brundlmayer, where the family has been preserving bottles from each cuvee and vintage since the 1940s, bringing them out for special dinners or clients in order to showcase their region’s remarkable longevity.
Perhaps it’s the exposure (it has a more southerly bent that, even at its relatively high altitude for the region of 380 meters, shields the vines from the prevailingly harsh winds). Or could it be the pastiche of subtle variations in soil, mainly rocky brown earth overtop schist and paragneiss, but also loess and marble? Whatever the magic alchemy, Ried Langenloiser “Loiserberg” is 39.5 hectares of beauty, rougly split between Grüner Veltliner and Riesling. As I mentioned above, the Grüner harvested from Loiserberg, a site classified as an “Erste Lage” in Austria’s wine law (literally “first site”, this single-vineyard designation has represented Austria and Germany’s equivalent of the French “Premier Cru” since the 2012 vintage), becomes something wholly different when placed in the hands of Willi Bründlmayer and team. In addition to the terroir bringing grapes with more ripeness into the cellar, two key decisions have been made that, for me, make the “Loiserberg” an infinitely more versatile wine. Firstly, although the fermentation temperature is controlled, it is carried out at a more moderate 15-20 degrees Celsius, which allows the juiciness of this pear and apple fruit to really show itself on the palate. The other choice is to rack the wine into large wooden casks for its maturation period, which again helps blunt the strong acidity inherent to Grüner and make this wine a well-rounded experience on a textural level, from attack to finish. The end result is a wine that is first and foremost delicious, but also one which occupies that unique place between drinkability and ageworthiness; the 2021 “Langenloiser Loiserberg” can be opened now and enjoyed straight away, but also has a fantastic potential to cellar, as well.
One bone I have to pick with Terry Theise’s narrative: he is described and has won awards as a wine importer, but in reality he exists as more of a hands-on broker. In his early days in Washington, DC he partnered with Washington Wholesale to bring the wines in, and then of course began his longstanding partnership with Skurnik Wines. Never along this path did Theise take the financial and psychological plunge to actually import his own product, dealing with the immense investment and backlog of back-office work that comes with it (TTB licensing, shipping firms, etc). I bring this caveat up not to demean the work of an American wine legend but to empathize with the stress and toll that comes with being an importer. And of course, these companies would never have brought these wines without Terry’s belief and passion, and his ability to actually get them sold. Perhaps in the end, it is better that Terry Theise never had to think of wine in the way an importer does; his world could exist solely in terms of flavors, food, and stories, and the emotional involvement that great wines like the “Loiserberg” can bring. Those of us in the wine world who came after are grateful to be able to live in Terry’s World, one where wines such as Willi Bründlmayer’s are accessible, one in which wines don’t have to be famous in order to be enjoyed-D.
Weingut Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner “Ried Langenloiser Loiserberg”, 2021
Country of Origin: Austria.
Places and People: Willi Bründlmayer’s eponymous winery is located in the Austrian appellation of Kamptal (the winery is located in the town of Langenlois); Bründlmayer has long been respected as one of the foremost winemakers in the country, and his winery now has a vibrant team that is a case study on how to grow and remain true to your ideals-Bründlmayer now produces an entire line of sparkling wines, as well as international grape varieties, but continues to be most known for his noble regional whites, Riesling and Grüner Veltliner. Kamptal DAC is northwest of Vienna, and the single vineyard “Loiserberg” (after the nearby village of Loisbach) is an Erste Lage site (Austria/German equivalent of 1er Cru). “Berg” means mountain in German, and even though this 380-meter vineyard doesn’t quite achieve actual mountain status, it’s a good 160 meters higher than the village of Langenlois. Extreme temperature variation is common, although “Loiserberg” has a south-southeast exposition that largely shields it from the instense winds that sweep over the moor.
Soil: Mainly a rocky patch of non-calcareous brown earth, “Langenloiser” nevertheless also sports an underpinning of schist and paragneiss, loess that covers those rocks in the southeast of the vineyard, and occasional outcrops of marble as well.
Grape Varieties: 100% Grüner Veltliner.
Winemaking: Vines that are trained in the Guyot system are harvested over a 8-10 day period (in 2021, this occurred mid-late October), and the wine is crucially fermented at a more moderate 15-20 celsius temperature, allowing for some balance between juicy fruit and Grüner’s natural crackling acidity.
Aging: Just as important to the 2021 “Ried Langenloiser” is its being racked into large wooden casks for its maturation period (8-10 months). This gentle aeration again serves to soften the texture of this at-times unforgiving grape variety.
Flavors and Foods: A pale straw with flecks of green in the glass, the 2021 “Ried Langenloiser” from Willi Bründlmayer begins with a subtle nose-think less petrol/stone and more bright green apple and pear, along with a kaffir lime scent. Savory notes of white beans and fennel fronds also aid complexity. On the palate, the “Langenloiser” has this juicy lime element again threaded through the main fruit notes of Bartlett pear and juicy green apples. The true excellence is textural, where the “Langenloiser” vineyard site and the choices outline above by Willi Bründlmayer in team give you a Grüner that is juicier and less underripe than is perhaps common for this grape. The spritz/acidity is present but superbly balanced; in short, this Grüner is less varietally recognizable than in more typical bottlings, but the wine is all the better for it. The increased versatility shows up in the food matches: pair the 2021 “Langenloiser” with oven roasted salmon in a confit of olive oil, lime, and fennel, or lean into autmn with grilled pork chops and pan-roasted apples. Indeed, white meats are honestly the more applicable protein as opposed to seafood (any sort of chicken permutation would be excellent)-the “Langenloiser” would also accompany southeast Asian dishes (non-spicy is recommended, as the wine’s lack of residual sugar won’t turn back the heat enough).
Service and Cellar: Serve the 2021 Bründlmayer “Ried Langenloiser” Grüner on the higher end of the white wine temperature spectrum (48-52 degrees F); too chilly of a glass will subdue the juicy texture and lime notes. This wine is excellent now but can be cellared as well for the next 5-7 years easily.
The long (dirt) road to the top: Green and Red’s Tip Top vineyard in Chiles Canyon, outside of St. Helena, Napa.
“In the Glass”
Green and Red Vineyard Syrah “Tip Top Vineyard”, Napa Valley 2016
In case you haven’t been pondering consumerism lately (and having things to do with yourself, I can certainly understand that), I’ve got you covered. It sure seems as though virtually any and every activity that a human being can engage in has a minimum of 1.7 trillion entrepreneurs wanting to tell you the correct way to engage in it. Topics that appear on the surface to be frighteningly simple (such as wanting to secure your child safely inside of your car) are bloated into whales of Brendan Fraser-like status, replete with myriad options and endless bloggers telling you what to do (as a result, my children are now strapped into car seats that look like Apollo spacecraft and cause me bleeding knuckles each time I need to remove/reinstall said seats, but I digress, as I’m sure all of these products are completely necessary and in no way marketed to appeal to a parent’s sense of overwhelming fear and ill-preparedness).
In the wine world, one of my biggest bugaboos has always been the subject of glassware. Now, do I believe that certain shapes and sizes of wineglass can enhance or detract from the overall enjoyment of a particular bottle? Of course I do; I was trained to understand the reasoning behind traditional glass types. However, like most things these days, I think wineglasses have been, ahem, “over-explored”, with umpteen options for every subtle variation in grape varietal or location presented as must-haves, as if the wine will spontaneously combust if we haven’t placed a special pre-order for our customized set of “Gamay Grape from Georgia-Only Glasses”(the republic, not the state-if Georgia the state had its own Gamay wineglasses, I would buy them immediately). Look, although my grouchiness doesn’t exactly reveal it, I am not so old as to remember a time when any variation on traditional glassware was perceived as heresy. I remember a guest at Citronelle some years ago who, when we had the audacity to put a white wine glass in front of them for their champagne in lieu of the time-honored flute, reacted with the type of hysterics that in times gone by would have resulted in the arrival of “men in white coats”. So, to extend an olive branch towards more and diversified glassware, I’m willing to present my own set of best practices:
-Regarding Champagne, I respect those who want to indulge in the visual reinforcement of celebration that is the flute-the fact is, however, that most fine champagnes are better served in letting their aromas and richness be elevated via a coupe or a white wine glass-the exception being a champagne with extreme age where there is concern the mousse/bubble content will quickly dissipate; in those cases, the flute helps the bubbles remain as vibrant as possible.
-I do believe that, as with regional food and wine pairings, a particular region’s chosen glassware (i.e. the larger, wide-bowled, rounder Burgundy glass being served with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) usually hits the mark, and if you have these stems to serve alongside the corresponding wines, your life will be easier (or at least you won’t be judged as harshly by any snotty glassware snobs that you invite over).
-Minus a cabinet full of varying stems, most wines can be enjoyed thoroughly in a standard tasting glass with a relatively tall and narrow opening that both concentrates a wine’s flavor profile and allows it some distance to reach your nose, thereby aerating the wine and ensuring your first sniff isn’t just a snoutful of alcohol.
-Because I am such a stickler for serving temperatures, I prefer a stemmed wineglass to the new fad of stemless glassware, since putting our warm hands directly to the part of the glass where the wine is pretty much obliterates any time you spent getting the wine to the correct temp. Having said that, if I am in a bistro/trattoria/at home with a bottle of red and the children have gone to sleep, I am quite content to fill a stemless glass to its maximum level and revel in my peasantry.
To conclude my diatribe and return to the previously scheduled programming of this month’s Pollux Red feature, my thoughts when tasting your October red had me thinking a good bit about the appropriate glass for it, which happily (and unsurprisingly for this wine) went against convention-the “Tip-Top Vineyard” Syrah from Napa Valley’s pioneering garagiste winery, Green and Red.
Green and Red owner/founder Jay Tobin, utilizing a traditional basket press-this photo was taken in 1980, when Green and Red was already three years old.
East of St. Helena, if you pass Lake Henessey and turn north on Chiles Pope Valley Road, you will notice the hills of the Vaca Mountain Range, the forested slopes that border the Chiles Valley, and the gentle unulation of Chiles Creek. What you won’t notice is another winery besides Green and Red, purchased by founder Jay Heminway in 1969 (his last name, for the record, doesn’t share the g of the famous novelist, so don’t look for the typo your mind is going to want to find). The remoteness of Green and Red, still the only operation located in the Chiles Canyon area after 45+ vintages, is pretty remarkable given the development of the rest of Napa. Coming from Berkeley in the late 1960s, where his circle of friends included the founders of the legendary Cheese Board and chef Alice Waters, whose Chez Panisse remains an icon (and for whom Green and Red has produced a proprietary Zinfandel for over 35 years), Jay Heminway’s transformation of this rugged terrain into a spirited winery remains a unique Napa Valley success story, mostly eschewing the Cabernet and Bordeaux-varietal blends cultivated in other parts of the AVA in favor of Zinfandel, Petite Syrah, and Syrah. Grown on the Red Chert and Greenstone Gravel soils that give the winery its name, the wines of Green and Red have a distinctly old-timey sensibility to them, with tremendous balance and a slew of earthy and non-fruit descriptors sharing the stage with each cuvee’s fruit flavors. Having been fortunate on a few occasions to taste Napa Valley wines from the ‘70s and ‘80s, the wines of Green and Red share a common ground with those more nuanced bottlings, before the wine press and points rating systems drove winemakers to bigger, more bombastic styles. The total production of Green and Red is small at 6,000 cases, but most of that is devoted to the Zinfandel plantings, making the Heminway family’s (Jay’s passing in 2019 has seen his daughter Tobin, who grew up in these hills, now holding the reins) small lots of Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Sauvignon Blanc precious commodities-the 2016 Syrah that you’ll be receiving saw a total production of less than 200 cases. Green and Red has 31 hectares under vine, including the famed Chiles Mill Vineyard, the 9-acre Catacula vineyard that features a single vine from the original late-1800s Rancho Catacula plantings that still produces fruit, and the Tip Top Vineyard, jutting out into the sky at 1800-2000 meters above sea level and sporting commanding views of St. Helena and central Napa to the west, with the Chiles Valley in the east. Tip-Top’s 15 acres of vines include Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Syrah, planted to a cooler northeast exposure, and the 2016 Syrah reflects this in its subdued (for Napa Valley) fruit profile and savory warmth that, while typical of the Syrah grape at large, isn’t always a focal point in its New World expressions.
The humble Green and Red winery on Chile’s Pope Valley Road, St. Helena AVA.
Regionally-defined wine glassware has been around for quite a while (the Burgundy glass, Bordeaux glass, etc.), but other varietally-driven glassware wasn’t really a thing until the 1990s, when companies like Riedel started conducting tastings at wineries in regions that produced similar grapes around the world. Riedel’s Syrah glass, featuring a long, thin bowl similar to Bordeaux but with a slightly narrower width and tapered opening, was developed between 1993 and 1995 after a series of what the glass company calls “sensory workshops”, and other companies like Schott Zwiesel and Zalto have followed suit.
The reasoning behind a Syrah glass is sound; one would want a long shape to concentrate the famed aromatics of the grape (black pepper, dried flowers, cured meats), while keeping the bowl and opening slightly narrower, as Syrah doesn’t possess the tannic structure of the Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot). Such specificity comes at a price (the Riedel version of a Syrah glass in either their Vinum or Performance Series is over $75 per stem), and as with vintage assessments and defining wines by their region’s overarching characteristics, choosing glassware based strictly on the grape and not what a particular wine is showing you is, at best, a useful guidepost. With the Green and Red Tip Top Syrah from 2016, I found that of all the varied (and at this point, hopelessly mismatching) stemware in my home, the best glass for the wine was a Spiegelau Burgundy glass called “Vino Grande”, which still captured the Green and Red’s secondary aromas but noticeably softened the wine’s considerable structure, with the wide bowl bringing a real freshness to the mix of black and red fruit the wine features. While certainly not wound as tightly as a Riedel or Zalto, the “Vino Grande” feels both bulkier and yet more durable-also, a set of 4 of the Spiegelau glasses cost about $10 less than what one single Riedel Syrah Vinum glass goes for.
Like anything else, the economy of wineglasses is in the eye of the beholder; if you want your Riedel Performance, or your Gucci bag, or your Cartier watch, then it’s worth it to you. I would tell you that the point of all of this is simply to appreciate what’s IN the glass first and foremost, that the tremendous quality of Green and Red’s Tip Top Vineyard Syrah 2016 is the real focal point. I would tell you not to sweat all of this glassware guesswork, but then I’d be just another guy telling you what to do-D.
Green and Red Vineyard Syrah “Tip Top Vineyard”, Napa Valley 2016
Country of Origin: USA.
Places and People: Green and Red Vineyard was founded by Jay Heminway (no, I didn’t forget the g) in 1969, with its first vintage being produced in 1977 via a traditional basket press and featuring Jay’s daughter Tobin hand-corking the bottles one by one. In time, Jay’s vision of bringing wine to the Chiles Canyon (east of St. Helena; the 200 acre property has 31 acres planted to vines on three distinct vineyard sites) was fulfilled, and Green and Red boasted not only their own stellar lineup but a who’s who of Napa winemakers purchasing their fruit for their own award-winning labels. The total production of Green and Red is small at 6,000 cases, but most of that is devoted to the Zinfandel plantings, making the Heminway family’s (Jay’s passing in 2019 has seen his daughter Tobin, she of the hand-corked bottles, now holding the reins) small lots of Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Sauvignon Blanc precious commodities-the Syrah sees less than 200 cases produced. Tip Top Vineyard is, as the name suggests, the highest vineyard area in Chiles Canyon (St. Helena AVA), sporting wide views back across to Central Napa, St. Helena, and the Chiles Valley to the east. Elevation for this site planted to Zinfandel, Syrah, and Petite Sirah is between 1,800 and 2,000 meters above sea level.
Soil: As the winery’s name suggests, the green serpentine gravel and red iron-rich soils (from decomposed chert) are present throughout each site. The Tip Top vineyard also includes some loam.
Grape Varieties: 100% Syrah.
Winemaking: From vertical cordon-trained vines that are hand-harvested and grapes treated with no synthetic materials, the Green and Red Syrah is hand-harvested and completely destemmed before a tabletop hand assortment. A 3-day cold soak of the chosen grapes is followed by a 10-day fermentation.
Aging: The Green and Red 2016 was aged for 14 months in oak (a 70-30 split between American and French oak). Only 20% of these barriques are new, so the overall effect is one of gentle aeration rather than overt oaky flavor profiles.
Flavors and Foods: Green and Red, as you might expect given its history as a pioneering winery in Napa Valley, epitomizes a certain classic style that is, sadly, no longer emphasized in the Valley’s production now. Instead of an overtly fruit-driven wine with lots of saccharine, jammy notes, the 2016 Syrah is an homage to terroir: a nose of black currants and black cherries mixed with red fruits like pomegranate and raspberry, all mitigated by Syrah’s signature non-fruit notes: leather, cigar wrapper, black pepper, and spicy cured meats. On the palate, the Tip Top Syrah brings dark plums into the mix alongside the aforementioned black cherries and currants; the wine’s acidity keeps bright red raspberries in the fold as well. Cured meats like rosette de Lyon and black pepper salami are evoked and would also make an excellent pairing choice; apart from that, make sure to have a grill on hand and enjoy the Green and Red with bistro cuts of steak suck as skirt or tri-tip. The weight and tannin structure of the Green and Red is a bit higher than most Syrah, so leave the more measured food pairings (game birds, lamb) for other bottles.
Service and Cellar: The structure and ripeness of the Green and Red Syrah 2016 is best served in a wide-bowled Burgundy-style wineglass, as opposed to the traditional long Syrah glass with a comparatively thinner opening. In one sense, the Green and Red 2016 has been cellared for you, and as it enters its 6th year in bottle, the wine opens quite well with a brief decanting and is very enjoyable now. The structure, however, will lend this wine to further aging, and while I don’t see the fruit softening further, neither do I forecast it diminishing-this wine can be held for the next 3-6 years. Serve at red wine cellar temp of 58-62 degrees F.