As you probably read in last week’s Farm Dirt, October 6 was National Orange Wine Day! If you saw wine manager Leah’s , then maybe you picked up a bottle from our selection and drank it last weekend & now you’re hooked. Welcome to the obsession! We’re happy to have you. This week we’re going to dive a little deeper into one of our newer bottles and pair it with a scrumptious classic for a little new school/old school combo.
Actually, the idea of orange wine being anywhere close to “new school” couldn’t be further from the truth. While the trend has been basking in it’s 15 (more like 30, or even 45) minutes of fame lately, it’s actually one of the oldest styles of wine, pretty much the original use for white grapes. In order to make the white wines we know & love today, it requires speedily removing the grape skins and keeping things relatively cool & unoxidized. It’s pretty clear that those last two steps were fairly difficult to accomplish without more modern equipment, so the lightly tannic, amber gems were a mainstay.
This week we’re sipping on golden hued stunner Les Vins Pirouettes Eros by Vincent, an orange from the Alsace region of France. The Les Pirouettes label was founded by Christian Binner, a well regarded low-intervention wine maker, as a way for small biodynamic producers to make their own wines instead of selling their fruit to bigger cooperatives. Eros is a dynamite wine made up of 40% Pinot Gris, 40% Riesling and 20% Sylvaner. It’s a gorgeous deep coral in the glass with notes of apricots, orange, and wild flowers on the nose. On the palate you get gorgeous stone fruits and citrus along with candied ginger and pink peppercorns – all in all, it’s a really engaging and vivacious bottle. One reason we love orange wines so much is their ability to stand up to food in a way that some whites cannot thanks to their more present tannins and deeper flavor profiles. This also means that it’s a great transition between crisp and refreshing summer whites and warming winter reds – basically exactly what we’re looking for this time of year.
This week as we sip on Eros, we’re snacking on Comté. While Comté isn’t necessarily the most pungent or sharpest of cheeses, it certainly has a distinct and specific flavor profile that has been perfected and protected for hundreds of years (we’re talking 12th century here!) This robust flavor profile comes from the combining of morning and evening milkings of only Montbeliarde and Tachete de L’Est cows which is then sent to certified cellars to age for at least a year. When the aging process is finished, we’re treated to a silky cheese with notes of dried fruit, roasted nuts, and browned butter. Deep and rich, Comté is as great for snacking as it is for cooking – gratins, mac & cheeses, & and any panini you can imagine are all elevated by some Comté. This go-to hails from the Jura mountains in France, just a quick trip down the border from Alsace and our beloved Eros. The singing citrus and zippy acidity present in this bottle are ideal for elevating Comté’s deep flavor profile while the ginger and apricots play with the savory notes present in the cheese. As we lean further and further into comfort food season, this duo is coming right along with us.
Written Erin Hepinstall, Cheese Manager