S.W AND RICH HERMANSEN
Staff Writers
wine@lbknews.com
Some of the best wines that we have tasted belong in the category of “neglected wines”.
By “neglected”, we mean small numbers of bottles sold relative to top selling wines. For example, the popular Italian white wine, Pinot Grigio, sold 250 million bottles in 2022 compared with Vermentino sales of 10 million bottles. The excellent 2924 Argiola Costsmolino Vermentino ($17) from Sardegna in Italy blows away most of the Pinot Grigio in its price range. It has sweet fruit taste on the front despite a low level of residual sugar, a mouth feel of citrus and tart green plum acidity, and a strong finish of seabed minerals. In Italy, Vermentino wines are gaining popularity at the expense of Pinot Grigio. In the US, the “Vermentino” name, perhaps alluding to “ferment”, sounds too much like “vermin”. Neglect of this lovely wine will likely continue until wine merchandizers come up with a different take on the name. Too late for this wine to become a Thanksgiving favorite, we fear. Those who can find a good Vermentino will find this wine a great pairing with turkey and dressing.
Two other promising candidates for Thanksgiving wines, the Arneis from the Piemonte region of Italy and the Gewürztraminer from the Alsace in France, the Alto Adige region in the Italian Alps, the USA, and Germany, suffer from neglect due to their names. In the Piemonte dialect, Arneis means “troublesome child”. The grape variety had disappeared into back corners of vineyards until its revival in the 1970’s. The Gewürztraminer grape variety has a name that most wine drinkers cannot pronounce or remember.
Wine experts classify the Arneis and Gewürztraminer varietal wines as aromatics. They show rich floral and fruit overtones on the nose and pleasing acidic tastes on the tongue. The revival of Arneis happened at the Vietti winery in 1967. The winemaker collected Arneis grapes from Vietti and neighboring plots and made the first vintage of Roero Arneis. Today Arneis varietals such as the 2022 Mauro Molino Roero Arneis DOCG ($20) from the Piemonte have attained high ratings. The 2018 Trimbach Gewürztraminer from the Alsace ($26) offers the aromas and tastes characteristic of a classic Gewürztraminer.
One or more of these neglected wines will add something unexpected to your Thanksgiving table and bring smiles to the faces of guests. We will have more to say about rose and red wines for the Thanksgiving feast. Stay tuned.
S. W. Hermansen has used his expertise in econometrics, data science and epidemiology to help develop research databases for the Pentagon, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Agriculture, and Health Resources and Services. He has visited premier vineyards and taste wines from major appellations in California, Oregon, New York State, and internationally from Tuscany and the Piedmont in Italy, the Ribera del Duero in Spain, the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale in Australia, and the Otego Valley in New Zealand. Currently he splits time between residences in Chevy Chase, Maryland and St. Armand’s Circle in Florida.
Rich Hermansen selected has first wine list for a restaurant shortly after graduating from college with a degree in Mathematics. He has extensive service and management experience in the food and wine industry. Family and friends rate him as their favorite chef, bartender, and wine steward. He lives in Severna Park, Maryland.
