Cupcake Vineyards

Adam Richardson’s first love is flying, earning his pilot’s license before his driver’s license. Before he became a winemaker, he was a lieutenant aviator in the Royal Australian Navy. He flew helicopter search and rescue missions for 8 years before making a dramatic change in careers, entering the world of the vine.

“You can spend your whole life looking for the bottom of the glass and not get there”.

I had the pleasure of meeting this true flying winemaker for dinner at one of Atlanta’s finest new restaurants, Miller Union. Adam is the head winemaker for Cupcake Vineyards, which is a part of the larger Underdog Wine Merchants organization. We enjoyed 9 different wines, along with great food during all three courses of our meal. FULL DISCLOSURE: The meal and wines were all covered by the winery, so I had to pay for nothing.

First, let’s talk about some of the highlights from our conversation.

Least favorite varieties to work with: Merlot and Pinot Noir. My wife was a bit taken aback by his lack of appreciation for Pinot Noir. We got to talking about it and he did say he loved (to drink) a good Burgundy, but that it could quite frustrating to really find those that really moved you.

Favorite variety to work with: Shiraz. He commented that his answer might seem obvious, being it is a major grape in his homeland, but he said that wasn’t the real reason. He felt Shiraz was a grape you could generally always make a good wine with, but that to make a distinctive, unique wine was a much more challenging task. It was finding that distinct voice which made it his favorite grape to work with.

Favorite wine to drink: Outside of his own wines, it was Barbaresco. His answer took me aback, as it wasn’t something I really expected. He said he was a big fan of German Rieslings as well, but when it came down to it, Barbaresco was his absolute favorite and it yielded my favorite quote of the evening, “You can spend your whole life looking for the bottom of the glass and not get there”. I thought this was a great way to describe the passion for a particular wine and it is one I feel like many Burgundy fans could identify with.

Worst thing he’s ever eaten: Adam is an enthusiastic cook whose favorite cook book is [AMAZON affiliate link] The French Laundry Cookbook. Not exactly lightweight stuff there. The answer to the question was lamprey eels that had been boiled in their own blood. He said it was as disgusting as it sounded. As for an unusual thing he’d eaten that he did enjoy, it was drunken prawns.

Approach to winemaking for Cupcake: In our conversation, I think I’d say Adam is shooting for a broad audience, but without making wines geared only for newbies. He wants to make balanced wines which exhibit typicity for their region and grape. His personal affinity for European wines and understanding of the US market make him well equipped to pull off his aim of creating value wines that wine drinkers of all experiences can enjoy.

Overall, I got the impression that Adam was quite a fan of food and wine, especially when you consider he is responsible for making wines on four continents and continues to add new wines to the portfolio. At this point in time, the Cupcake brand alone has 12 different wines, with more coming this Fall. From a business point of view, the brand is easy to remember and hints towards a more fruit driven style.

Here are quick notes on all the wines we tasted:

2009 Cupcake Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough, New Zealand) 12.5% alcohol: As before, this was a very nice balanced approach to the grape, which can often exhibit overwhelming grapefruit and herbaceous character. This wine weaves together grapefruit, pear and sweet lemon flavors that make it suitable for drinking alone or with seafood, be it raw, grilled or sautéed.

2009 Cupcake Vineyards Pinot Grigio (D.O.C. Trentino, Italy) 13% alcohol: So, the wine world used to be pretty crazy for this grape, which I often found to be more akin to lemon water as the mass market producers tend to make it. This was actually pretty good and while I’d not personally run out to buy it, I’d have no issue with recommending this as a solid example of the grape.

2009 Cupcake Vineyards Riesling (Mosel Valley, Germany) 10.5% alcohol: We had a nice chat about German Rieslings and how they are becoming an endangered species in the wine world, as the vineyards are hard to work and many of the younger generation have no desire to work the land. At this price point, you have a nice wine that exhibits stone fruit and citrus, but lacked the punch of slate and overall flavor that I so enjoy from this region’s wines. I think you can do better with other choices.

2009 Cupcake Vineyards Riesling (Columbia Valley, Washington) 13.2% alcohol: Creamier and drier than the German wine, I found this more to my liking. It just required the right food, which we weren’t really having and honestly, we sort of rushed through the two Rieslings and the next wine, as our entrees had arrived and we were eager to get to the whites. I’ve got a sample bottle of this in the fridge and think I may try it with some veggie spring rolls.

2009 Cupcake Vineyards Chardonnay (Central Coast, California) 14% alcohol: Well made, with a nice balance to the oak and fruit flavors. The oak shows some character in the buttery vanilla nose, but the palate exhibits some nice tropical fruit flavors and I felt this was well made, though I don’t know if the world needs another $10 Chardonnay. This strikes a nice balance between the classic butter bomb Cali-style and the surging popularity of un-oaked wines. California Chardonnay fans will enjoy.

2007 Cupcake Vineyards Merlot (Central Coast, California) 13.9% alcohol: Juicy, but lacking any real character and was just sort of there. My least favorite wine of the night.

2009 Cupcake Vineyards Malbec (Mendoza, Argentina) 13.5% alcohol: Starts off with a great smoky leather aroma that lays over the black fruits, which make their presence known once you get this lovely drop in your mouth. I liked the sort of restraint this wine shows, as I’ve been finding so many Malbecs of late to be over ripened fruit bombs that are one trick ponies. This went really well with my NY strip, which was cooked to a perfect rare. (Thank you Miller Union!). This was my favorite wine of the night and something I’d buy.

Overall, the Cupcake brand is off to a fairly good start. They have an easy to remember name, no critters or low-brow marketing, an appealing price point and cover most of the major grapes. I had my favorites, as any wine drinker will, but it wasn’t like I found any of the wines undrinkable. Those I didn’t care for (Merlot and German Riesling) weren’t bad, I’ve just had better for the money.

A big thanks to Adam for taking the time to meet with me and my wife, we really enjoyed it.

Cheers!

Whenever spicy dishes hit the table, Riesling is the go to wine in our house. The residual sugar keeps the spice in check, the acidity refreshes the palate and best of all, they just taste so dang good. The best come from the Mosel (formerly and sometimes still known as Mosel-Saar-Ruwer) region. I don’t have a lot of experience with the other regions, but I have had some great examples from the Pfalz, Rheingau & Nahe. Make sure to try a few different ones and compare them against one another. Just make sure they are of the same quality level (e.g. QbA, Kabinett, etc.) and vintage.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I received this as a press sample. Retail price should be around $12.99.

2008 S.A. Prüm Essence QbA Mosel Riesling

I’d never had a wine from S.A. Prüm before and this was a great introduction to their level of quality. This was more medium bodied than most QbA Rieslings I’ve had, an element of the 11% ABV, which is pretty hefty for this style of wine. While far from heavy, it wasn’t as sublime and silky on the palate as I’ve come to expect from German Riesling.

My wife called it pear and apple juice flavored, which I agree with. It had some nice citrus tones and was very easy to drink. So easy I was almost ready to wring the bottle to extract the last few drops of precious juice.

The only element I didn’t care for was the missing slate or wet-stone which is a hallmark of these wines. It didn’t make for a bad experience, it was just a mark against typicity. A large part of Mosel Riesling’s appeal is the slate flavor. Granted, I know that sounds weird, especially to folks who avoid Riesling. I can hear it in my own head, “why you don’t just go lick some rocks you weirdo?” All I can tell you is that certain flavors are what make certain wines appealing to each of us. Just like some burghounds love their barnyard funk, I dig the slate. Deal.

While it was missing for me in this wine, I still found it preferable to most of the Washington and California Rieslings I’ve had. Nothing wrong with those, as Eroica from Chateau St. Michelle is a world class Riesling, but they just don’t have that taste I get from the German versions. They also tend to be a bit too high in alcohol and often lack the requisite acidity which keeps the sweet in balance. Sort of like a really good batch of Chik-Fil-A lemonade. When they make it too sweet, it loses the appeal, but when they keep the sugar in check, magic! That is why I tend to stick to Germany and Washington, with Australia having my favorites when I want something dry and tangy. If you like New Zealand Sauvignon blancs, you should definitely be browsing the Australian section for some Riesling. Okay, back to the wine at hand.

Overall, I’d say it was an above average wine and a welcome accompaniment to either spicy dishes like our jambalaya or at your Thanksgiving table in two days, especially if you are serving ham.

Haiku
Pear citrus flavor
Surprising body profile
Wash down some turkey

Thanks for visiting and if you like what I’m doing, please leave comments and share with your friends. Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday.

On September 24th, 2009, I was privileged to participate in my very first Taste Live event. The quick and short of it is that a cadre of wine bloggers are selected to receive samples of wine and Tweet about them at the same time. Essentially, a cyber-tasting. Personally, I was doubly excited to be selected because I love German Riesling and view them as probably the second most under-appreciated category of wine by the typical wine consumer. The wines we tasted were from Schloss Saarstein, a small family operated winery in Germany with a vineyard in the classic Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region.

One of the bonuses was having the wine maker, Mr. Christian Ebert, Tweet live with us. While technical difficulties delayed us a bit, everything eventually worked out and we gained a lot of insight into German Riesling via his comments and answers to questions. Here are a few quick notes he shared that are relevant to the wines in general.

• The 2007 vintage is basically de-classified spätlese.
• The vineyard is a 25acre Monopole [single owner], Steep hillside.
• In response to the question if he irrigated, “No irrigation… Against the law”
• In response to the question regarding differences in vineyard sites for each wine, “All 3 are from same vineyard, but diff sections and diff age vines. Oldest into Spat.”
• In response to a question regarding the vineyards, “hard blue slate in front steep slope down to river” and “softer blue slate, smaller stones in side vineyards.”
• Regarding a question about German labels, “we know that they are complicated the labels. but no laws” and “we already made the labels easier for the U.S. market about 2 yrs ago.”
• Answering a question regarding how different slates express themselves in wine, “blue slate brings lighter and more elegant mineral notes. Red slate is spicier.”
• “2007 was a great vintage, perfect healthy fruits with high oechsle levels.” [Oechsle is the level of ripeness in the grapes when they are picked, equivalent to our brix or the French baume.]
  
• “legally it is now simply labeled Qualitatswein to make it easier for consumers” in response to someone’s explanation of what QbA [Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete] stands for. Translated, it means quality wine from a specified region. More of the Europeans and their terroir. So, for those who are used to seeing QbA, you need to look for either term.

2007 Saarstein QbA – average $14 retail
This was our first wine, the only one bottled under Stelvin. The aromatics were typical for the wine, with minerals, green apple and a whiff of petrol. Once you drink it, you get loads of fruit in what is an obviously off-dry wine. It tasted of white peaches and apples with a core of lime that really takes over on the finish. I referred to this as a “porch wine”. This was a solid bottle for the price, but was my least favorite of the 3. Would I drink it again? Absolutely. Would I pay $14 for it? I think that is a fair price, but it was not something that blows away other wines in this price point. Here are some notes from Christian (the wine maker) from the live tasting:

• When questioned as to why the QbA (wine #1) was bottled under Stelvin screwcap, Christian responded “Stelvin is not in the German market but Sweden, US, and others asked for it.”
• QbA is primarily export. Very little stays in Germany.
• QbA is sourced from a single vineyard.
• No chaptilzation in the 2007 QbA.
• “legally it is now simply labeled Qualitatswein to make it easier for consumers” in response to someone’s explanation of what QbA [Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete] stands for. Translated, it means quality wine from a specified region. More of the Europeans and their terroir. So, for those who are used to seeing QbA, you need to look for either term.

2007 Schloss Saarstein Kabinett – average $24 retail
A strong shot of petrol greets your nose on this and if you aren’t prepared for it, it can be a little off-putting. If you’ve never smelled petrol and want to understand what we wine geeks are talking about, this is a great bottle to start with. Once you begin to actually drink it, the petrol largely disappears. This wine has more sugar and less alcohol than the QbA, along with what was a surprising lower degree of acidity. I say this because for me, this was the most in balance of the 3. The flavors were that of kiwi that had been dusted in tangerine zest and steamed with jasmine water. It was really quite delicious and I’m looking forward to having this again. Easily my WOTN and from what I recall, it was popular across the board with fellow wine Tweeps. Here are some of Christian’s comments:

• “both late harvest and older vines and better vineyard site” in answering a question as to what makes spätlese different.
• “QmP wines usually have higher oechsle levels than QbA when harvested”
• “glad you guys are getting the pineapple notes, also known for lemon and citrus notes on the Saar” regarding the Kabinett.
• “Kabinett can age for 10-15 years easy. Gets a bit drier as it gets older.” “we’re tasting 1995 Kabinett from our cellar a couple weeks ago – it was perfect”

2007 Schloss Saarstein Spätlese – average retail $28 – 30
We reached the final bottle and were not disappointed. I don’t recall a lot about the aromatics, other than it exhibited a high degree of petrol like its predecessor. What I do remember was typing that it tasted like a big old Sweet Tart, as it had this almost powdery finish. Christian replied to my tweet with “ jolly rancher – you got it!“, at which my wife told me it tasted like a green apple jolly rancher to her. In addition to the Sweet Tart taste, I got accents of blue slate, stone fruit and granny smith. The riper fruit was obvious, but I felt it needed more time to show at its best. While the Kabinett was my WOTN for drinking right now, I think the Spätlese will be the superior wine once it has another 5+ years under its belt. I couldn’t find any Tweets from Christian that related directly to this wine.

Overall, this was an awesome experience. The wines were all delicious and tasting them with other great oenophiles was a real delight. I look forward to participating in more of these Taste Live events and wish to send a big thanks once again to them, the folks at Wines of Germany and Mr. Ebert for making the evening a possibility.

For those interested in these wines, tell your local wine shop they are available through National, who is the distributor for the wines here in Georgia. Believe me, knowing this will make things easier as German wines can be difficult to track down.

Haiku
Deutsche delights for tongue
Blood line fire illuminates
Greatest of white wines

Update at 5:05PM on Monday evening. These wines were opened and tasted almost 4 days ago and I’m sipping on the Kabinett right now as I cook dinner…and it is awesome! I get a lot more of the lime, less petrol and the wine is still really good. Demonstrates once again that German Rieslings are capable of aging really well and should be on any serious collectors list for stocking their cellar with.

I don’t know if it is the German blood coursing through my veins or not, but I really love German Riesling. Here are the reasons why:

1. I’ve never had a bad one.
2. They are low in alcohol, which keeps them refreshing and never tiring to drink.
3. Perfect balance of sugar and acidity, even in the dessert level wines.
4. They go with just about everything, but especially well with spicy foods. I like spicy.

I keep telling my wife we need to keep more of them in stock at the house. [Making mental note by repeating mantra of Drink German Riesling...Drink German Riesling...Drink German Riesling...there, that should do it]

This introductory bottling from the Loosen Brothers is something I’ve read about, but never actually had before. I’ve been missing out, but won’t make that mistake any longer. Some of you may recognize the name Loosen due to Ernst Loosen’s collaborative effort at Chateau St. Michelle known as Eroica. This joint effort is by far the best domestic Riesling I’ve ever had (I’ve had 3 different vintages and it always rocks), but the one thing I always miss from it is the slate character so prevalent in wines from the Mosel region in Germany.

Mosel is the new (as of 2007) name of a region formerly known as Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, source of many of the finest white wines in the world. The climate is cool and what sun the grapes do get is amplified by the reflection off of the river, making the vineyard sites along the north side (which face south) the most sought after. Topsoil is almost non-existent, but there is plenty of porous slate. Two key features of slate are it retains heat and makes drainage easier. Even though global warming has fattened up the flavors quite a bit in the region, the wines are still some of the most balanced you will ever taste. It always hurts when I hear people refer to Riesling as being too sweet, especially here in the South where we drink sweet tea as if it were running out the tap. Hmm…there has to be a money-making idea in that sentence somewhere…if you find it, please let me know.

Okay, now on to the wine.

Price: $14.99 at Bullock’s in Woodstock.

Aromas: A bit closed on the nose, especially for the varietal which is known for having very strong aromatics. I did get hints of the sought after slate character and yes, I’ve never licked wet slate, but I have smelled it. Next time, I’ll pull a Gary V and lick it.

Flavors: Honestly, I slugged the first glass in two “sips”. It was that good and I was that thirsty. Our son gave me administrative punishment, but it was worth it. This wine was so good, it was almost like I’d forgotten how good wines from my bloodline could be. Perhaps I was a German winemaker in a past life? Anyways, I did eventually remember my manners and began to take more pleasure in the wine, along with writing some notes. It was full of stone fruit, like peach and apricot, along with a strong hint of tangerine. All of this fruit was wrapped around a blue rock, like some sort of nouveau snobby restaurant using it as a serving platter for a fruit course. Hmm…another money maker? Nah.

Pairing suggestion: We had this with spicy jambalaya, but I think you could pair this with just about anything and it would still be delicious. Even crappy food would taste better with this.

Final word: Go buy this wine. Nothing more needs to be said.

Haiku
Blue slate fruit river
Floating on an apricot
Tongue will eat the glass