Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Native Flora 2017 Jumping Ship Pinot Gouges, Eola Amity Hills

Written by Allison Levine on January 15, 2020

Wine

Pinot Noir is a grape with more than 1000 registered clones, according to Jancis Robinson’s Wine Grapes. There are also various Pinot mutations, such as Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Meunier, to name a few. But have you heard of Pinot Gouges? I had not until I tasted one in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. This unique grape is not Pinot Noir nor is it Pinot Blanc. Pinot Gouges is a mutated Pinot Noir and the Native Flora 2017 Jumping Ship Pinot Gouges, Eola Amity Hills is the Please The Palate wine of the week.

Native Flora is a 33-acre property sitting at 800 feet elevation in the Dundee Hills. Scott and Denise Flora founded Native Flora in 2005 and produce premium estate wines in limited quantities. The Pinot Gouges is definitely very limited in quantity. Native Flora only made 68 cases of this wine.

Pinot Gouges was first discovered in Nuits-St.Georges in Burgundy by Henri Gouges in 1936. Found in 1er Cru La Perrière, he located a vine with white clusters. He cut off a branch of the mutated grape and propagated the vine, which produced white clusters as well. The grape continues to be cultivated in La Perrière as well as in the premier cru vineyard of Clos de Porrets-Saint-Georges. Today the Domaine Henri Gouges Nuits-St.-Georges 1er Cru La Perrière is a white wine made from Pinot Gouges, however Pinot Gouges is not written anywhere on the label.

Today there are 10 acres of Pinot Gouges in Burgundy. Pinot Gouges arrived in Oregon in the 1980s and a small plot, approximately half an acre, was planted in the Eola-Amity Hills by John Zelko of Zivo Wines. Scott Flora took cuttings of the Pinot Gouges and planted two acres on his property in the Dundee Hills.

The Native Flora 2017 Jumping Ship Pinot Gouges, Eola Amity Hills is a light gold color wine with bright aromatics. On the palate, the wine is restrained with high acidity. It has a lovely weight on the mid-palate and a long finish.

Sadly, the 2017 is sold out but the 2018 is now available, also sourced from the Eola-Amity Hills vineyard. But beginning in 2019, the Native Flora Pinot Gouges will be sourced from the estate vineyard in Dundee Hills.

Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Handpicked 2017 Riesling, Clare Valley, South Australia

Written by Allison Levine on January 8, 2020

Wine

Considered one of the six noble grapes, Riesling is a wine that is refreshing, acidic and versatile with great aging potential. Many may think of Riesling as a sweet wine and there are many that do have residual sugar, balanced by intense acidity. But there is dry Riesling as well. One dry Riesling to look out for is the Handpicked 2017 Riesling, Clare Valley, South Australia, the Please The Palate Wine of the Week.

Riesling was born in Germany and also found success in Austria and the Alsace region of France. But Australia has been famous for its dry Riesling, specially from the Clare and Eden Valleys in South Australia. The Clare Valley is one of Australia’s oldest wine regions. It is also South Australia’s northern-most and coolest wine region. The moderate continental climate with cold nights and hot days, as well as a higher altitude, are ideal for Riesling.

Handpicked Wines focuses on producing regionally expressive and site-specific wines. The Handpicked 2017 Clare Valley Riesling is stainless steel fermented and aged. It is a vibrant wine with notes of lemon, lime and tart apple. The wine has a lovely texture on the palate and has a clean, crisp, mineral-driven finish.

The Handpicked 2017 Riesling, Clare Valley, South Australia retails for $26.99 and is the perfect wine to pair with oysters or a seafood salad.

Please The Palate Wine of the Week: Quinta da Roques 2015 Touriga Nacional, Dao, Portugal

Written by Allison Levine on January 1, 2020

Wine

If you think about Napa, you think Cabernet Sauvignon. If you think Burgundy, you think Pinot Noir. If you think Portugal, you should think Touriga Nacional. Touriga Nacional is the most known red grape of Portugal and also considered one of the country’s best wines. Touriga Nacional is part of Port production but it is actually one of the primary grapes of the Dão region, which is where it originates.

Touriga Nacional in the Dão may be blended with other grapes or it can be made as a single variety wine. The Quinta da Roques 2015 Touriga Nacional from the Dão is a 100 percent Touriga Nacional and is the Please The Palate wine of the week.

Quinta da Roques, a 35-hectare property, was planted in the 1970s. Working only with indigenous varieties, owner and winemaker Luis Lourenço began making single varietal wines to understand each varietal’s individual characteristics.

Touriga Nacional is a grape that produces low yields and can be challenging to cultivate, yet it is resistant to fungal diseases and can stand up to heat. It is a grape that is known for making deep ruby-colored wines with dark fruit flavors that are complex. They are wines that are seen as having the aging potential similar to a Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Quinta da Roques 2015 Touriga Nacional is a beautifully aromatic wine with notes of sweet fruits and violets. The wine is concentrated on the palate yet it is elegant. At 13.5% alcohol, it is balanced. This is a wine to pair with lamb, goat or beef or a hearty, fatty cheese.

The Quinta da Roques 2015 Touriga Nacional retails for $32.50 which makes it an excellent value for a wine that can be enjoyed now or held on to for five or ten more years.