We are two days from the start of May which, outside of October, is usually my favorite month of the year.  After what seemed like a never-ending winter, with a parade of wicked snowstorms, spring has finally arrived in earnest.  Days are beginning to grow longer.  The world feels just a little lighter -- like it has shed its rough skin to reveal the fresh new growth waiting below. The ground is a little tender and vulnerable, but also is full of vibrating energy ready to burst forth. 

Just a few days ago I heard the first low rumble of thunder during a rainstorm and it made me smile from ear to ear.  The town I live in is awash in the pale pastels of cherry and crabapple blossoms and the bright cheerful yellows of daffodils.  The air is perfumed with fragrance from flowers and flowering trees. 

I experienced a big change in my life last week. It was unanticipated and, at first, unwelcomed. I felt vulnerable and exposed. However, as each day passes, I realize I feel lighter and lighter.  I have sloughed off a heaviness that I wasn’t even fully aware of.  It’s like when you clear the wet winter leaves in your garden. As you rake, you realize how heavy the matted mass is.  You are happy to see the buds muscling through underneath and you are happy to help them along.  You can’t wait until the buds flower with color and perfume and announce, “look world, we are here!”

So, in honor of change and renewal, and the flowering month of May, I want to share a short discussion of a wine that distinctly announces to the world, “I am here,” with big intense floral aromas.  This wine is the wine everyone wants on a blind tasting exam because it is hard to mistake it.  The wine is Gewurtztraminer. 

Most Gewurtztraminer has intense floral character – typically rose petal/rose water/lychee aromas.  Other aroma notes you might find are ginger and sometimes a smoky quality, like incense. It is a perfect match for some of my favorite ethnic foods, spicy Indian and Chinese cuisine.

Gewurtztraminer is grown in cooler climates, the large majority being produced in the Alsace region of France.  The US is the second largest producer of the grape. Washington State and New York State, are areas with a great deal of potential for producing high quality Gerwurtztraminer.

I have a soft spot for the Finger Lakes region of New York, so I am reviewing a purchase I made in January at the famed Dr. Konstantin Frank Vineyards on Keuka Lake. Dr. Konstantin was a true pioneer, bringing northern European rootstocks to the Finger Lakes over 50 years ago, and proving that they could thrive. His work in viticulture in the 1950’s and 60’s elevated the quality of wines and winemaking in the region.

2012 Gewurztraminer Finger Lakes– Dr Konstantin Frank ($15)

Pale gold in color with powerful rose petal, honysuckle and lychee on the nose with hints of just ripe banana and pear.  Just off dry, medium- full bodied ‘mouth coating’ wine with tropical fruit – pineapple, passion fruit, and honey on the palate along with the floral notes.  Lemon and mineral notes on the long finish revealing good acidity that balances with the initial punch of sweetness on the tongue. Like the month of May in the mouth.

Two of my dear friends are 'moving' today. One is 'literally' moving to a new home. It's been in the works for some months now. His reasons were simple. Time for a refresh, to see the same town from a new angle, to seek a new sense of place. My other friend is moving more 'figuratively' to a new professional role. Her reasons? A much needed chance to write a new chapter, adjust the story, a time to stretch and grow and refresh, to come at 'work' from a new angle, to seek a new sense of place. 

One of the particular wonders and romance of wine, to me, is this idea of 'terroir'-- the idea that the wine can uniquely reflect a sense of place.

Do you remember Peter Mayle? I will admit to having been completely captivated by his best selling book, A Year In Provence, a breezy travelogue describing the actual undertaking of "chucking it all' and packing off to the South of France. 

To me, drinking a lovely dry rose is aspirational, it's about possibilities and the romance of shedding the gray and finding the sun. 

So, today, I want to share a dry Rose grown in the Southern Rhone region of France, that speaks to me of the idea of possibilities, aspirations, and a sense of place. 

Domaine La Manarine encompasses vineyards that are situated on what is known as the "Le Plan de Dieu." For generations this specific terroir has been recognized as unique -- the underlying soil consists of more than 60% hard limestone 'galets' (large pebbles). 

Domaine La Manarine Cotes du Rhone Rose 2013 is a blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, and 20% Syrah. A sunny Mediterranean climate with Mistral winds provides hot, dry weather for the growing season.

This wine is absolutely lovely both to look at and to sip! There is raspberry and strawberry on the nose as well as white pepper. It is dry with crisp acidity, tart red berry fruit and a really refreshing minerality and wet stone on the finish. This wine would be delicious paired with fruit, cold salad, a picnic lunch of sandwiches, or charcuterie. 

To me, this wine is all about shedding the old, finding the new. It tastes of possibilities and aspirations. It is 'sense of place' in a glass. See if you can find this wine in your area. The wine retails for $13-$17 a bottle. I found this wine at CoolVines in Westfield, New Jersey.

So, as I sip, I toast to my two dear friends for casting off, moving on, seeking the new angle. I am turning my face to the sun with you both. Here's to a finding new sense of place.

No fooling. 
It's April 1st. 
It's time. 

I have been threatening to do this for awhile -- to start a 'blog' where I can review a bottle or two of wine and share my thoughts and insights (or, frankly, share just about any other thing I feel like discussing). 

So, I am sticking my toe in the water by creating this page, a FB 'bloggette.' My definition of a bloggette is baby psuedo blog I can write without having to create something in word press or some other format I don't know just yet! So this is my inaugural post. 

It's been a roller coaster-like week and a half for me. The details of the week aren't important. What is important is the theme of the week which was aptly summarized by Mick Jagger, heard on my car radio today -- 'you can't always get what you want... but if you try sometimes, you just might find you get what you need.'

What the heck does this have to do with wine, you ask? 

Well, in fact, a great deal. Wine has the potential to be fantastic IF it starts with vines that produce the finest grapes. Winemakers may seem like magical alchemists (and in many ways they are) but at the end of the day a winemaker can't turn poor grapes into great wine. Wine starts with the vines and grapes.

So, what kind of natural conditions produce great vines and grapes? As it turns out, great vines are grown where other agricultural crops don't thrive and grow well. Vines that produce the best grapes STRUGGLE. They often grow in rocky soils with marginal nutrients. Of course, vines need some water and rain, but never too much. Vines are often planted on slopes that drain away water and the vines are often kept just at the edge of 'thirst', keeping yields low and allowing for grapes to ripen and for sugars to develop.

Vines that see struggle (and survive) are the vines that produce finest grapes. The grapes harvested from these vines have the potential to be transformed by winemakers into truly memorable wines.

I see parallels with vines and wines and people's life experiences. The Rolling Stones' lyrics fit grape growing and quality wine making too -- the best vines and grapes don't often get what they want, but they get what they need. 

It is often through struggle that we learn and grow and become the truest expressions of ourselves. Struggle is hard but the rewards are sweet.