pjwine.com - FEATURE: Hidden Gems 2

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FEATURE:
Hidden Gems II
Gravello By Dr. I

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS AN ARCHIVED ARTICLE. THE WINES BELOW ARE SOLD OUT.

This month I continue to encourage you to "Drink for yourself". There's never been a better time to drink adventurously. The range of wines available whether measured by grape variety, region, producer or style has never been greater than it is today, nor the general quality higher.

Many wine lovers find this diversity threatening: faced with so much variety it's tempting to just give up and stick to what's familiar. The paradoxical result has been the emergence of a large submarket for standardized wines in a "modern" style (extracted, soft, oaky) made from a tiny range of "international" grapes (cabernet, merlot and chardonnay) that shun terroir . culture and history. Safe, drinkable, but, let's admit it, boring. This rise of this standard style has been fueled of a few dominant critics who use a 100-point ranking system that reserves its upper reaches for such wines.

Dr I says: be brave and "Drink outside the numbers". PJ's shelves hold a range of wonderful hidden gems, delicious bottles at attractive prices from lesser known regions, varieties and producers. Just tell Steve, Sam or Victor that you're willing to be open-minded, and they'll be happy to let you in on some of our secrets. If you are planning a dinner, they can even pick wines that will pair beautifully with your menu. Pretty soon your friends will think you're a connoisseur, and, if you make it a practice to try new wines regularly, pretty you will be a connoisseur. That's how Dr I learned.

This month I'm focussing on a couple of wines made from little known but delicious grape varieties and from "hidden" regions. Both are drinking perfectly now.

· '96 Librandi "Gravello" $24.99
Over the past two decades, Librandi has emerged as the top estate in Calabria (the toe of the Italian boot) and a strong advocate for its traditional red grape gaglioppo. The Gravello, their top bottling, blends gaglioppo with cabernet sauvignon, and the '96 with a year in barrique, two in vat and three in the bottle fully reveals the grape's potential. The small berries and maraschino cherry fruit of the gaglioppo merge with darker fruit from the cabernet and cedary wood into a rich, elegant palate set off by warm, full but polished tannins. Paradoxically, this is a great winter wine, to match with a full flavored stew or pasta with a spicy meat sauce. A multiple Tre Bicchieri winner that's a winner for drinking today!

· '99 Rijckaert Arbois Savagnin "En Paradis" $15.99
Absolutely unique, a wine for the truly brave, but that will reward your courage. Arbois lies just south of Alsace and east of Burgundy in the foothills of the French alps. Savagnin is the local specialty, a low-yielding grape which is difficult to grow but yields uniquely perfumed, intensely flavored wines. Most are given long vin de voile barrel aging to produce the rare Vin Jaune which can age for a century (Metternich called them the "greatest white wines of France") and retail for $75 and up. This wine, from the great '99 vintage, was vinified in stainless steel to show off the grape's natural character by a young star of the future Rijckaert trained with the legendary Guffens-Heynen at Verget. Brilliant light in the glass, a classic perfume that recalls hazel nut, laser bright lemon fruit in the mouth, a long, crisp and haunting finish. A perfect wine for white-fleshed fish with mushroom or truffle flavored cream sauces.