WINE CLUB | CHEESE CLUB

Welcome to another edition of fantasy summer travel, brought to you by your favorite monthly wine club.

We spent last month in Greece and Puglia, and now we’re adventuring over to Germany and Austria. While these two countries share a border, history, and language, their most popular grapes and wine styles are surprisingly diverse. What they do have in common is an interesting, effortless cool that makes us want to practice saying “okay one more bottle please, why not” in German.

We hope you have fun tasting your way through these bottles, finding delicious food pairings (or not — we’re just here to support and cracking a bottle sans food is sometimes just as good!), and Googling droolworthy, wanderlust-inducing pictures of every region. We can’t wait to hear what you think.

The Halfseas Team

ALL CLUB MEMBERS GET TO ENJOY THESE 3 BOTTLES:

NV Dr. Loosen 'Dr. L' Sparkling Riesling

Grape: Riesling
Region: Mosel, Germany
Retail: $18
Pronunciation: “LOH-zen”

Riesling sometimes gets a bad rap and that makes us very, very sad. If the first thing you thought when you saw this bottle was “I don’t like Riesling”, we beseech you to reconsider. You might see still Riesling more often, so right off the bat, getting to taste a sparkling version is pretty cool. But Dr. Loosen Riesling is something special — it comes to us from a renowned estate that’s been in the family for over 200 years. The vines are planted on super steep slopes dripping down towards the Mosel River, and it’s a vibrant, fresh wine that’s begging to be opened right now to celebrate the official arrival of summer.

PS: “NV” on a wine label (pretty typical for sparkling wine) stands for “non-vintage”, meaning that the grapes were all harvested in different years (aka vintages). An indicated vintage (for example, 2015) means that the grapes were harvested in the same year. The more you know.

Drinking & pairing ideas: Your favorite sushi, fish and chips with lots of lemon, or by itself on a sunny evening. Just make sure to serve it chilled.

2020 Glatzer Gruner Veltliner

Grape: Gruner Veltliner
Region: Carnuntum, Austria
Retail: $18
Pronunciation: “GREW-ner VELT-lee-ner”

This wine will make you dream about going back to Austria, even if you’ve never been. It’s whimsical and reminds us that good wine comes in all shapes, at many price points. This killer value wine tastes like what you’d want to be drinking with lunch at a bustling café (oh what the hell, let’s throw a view of the Alps into this fantasy) along a lovely little Austrian river. Walter Glatzer, like so many winemakers around the world, has slogged through Covid. Luckily, he’s made it through to the other side. We’re thrilled to get to share his talents in this entirely delicious bottle.

Drinking & pairing ideas: Squid ink pasta, garlicky shrimp, or really any seafood you love. Not in the fish mode? Grilled veggies with creamy burrata over herby lentils would also do the trick.

2020 Judith Beck Ink Red Blend

Grapes: Zweigelt, St. Laurent
Region: Burgenland, Austria
Retail: $22
Pronunciation: “sv-EYE-gelt”

This lusty red blend comes to us from the badass Judith Beck, who took over her family’s winery after learning the trade in France and now built her home smack in the middle of her grape vines. If that’s not passion, we don’t know what is. If you’ve never had Zweigelt, you might recognize its parents, Blaufrankisch and St. Laurent (who makes an appearance in this bottle). It’s dark, velvety, and a little smoky, but always bright and playful. Basically, Zweigelt is for lovers.

Drinking & pairing ideas: Anything dripping with BBQ sauce — chicken thighs, ribs, brisket, baked beans — and all of the sides and trimmings because life is for living. A little chill on this would give it that extra mmmm.

6-BOTTLE MEMBERS ALSO GET TO ENJOY THESE 3 BOTTLES:

2020 Villa Wolf Pinot Blanc

Grape: Pinot Blanc
Region: Pfalz, Germany
Retail: $18
Pronunciation: “pfAHLTZ” (think “waltz” with a “pf” at the beginning)

Villa Wolf is essentially a sister winery to Dr. Loosen (the first wine in our line up this month — if you haven’t opened it yet, GO!). While it’s been around since the mid-1700s, it started to falter a bit in the mid-late 1900s. Ernst Loosen (of Dr. Loosen) took it over and helped turn things around, and it’s now run by Sumi Gebauer and her partner Patrick Moellendorf, who both learned the ropes at Loosen. A little heft in this wine makes it a fun option for those who might typically prefer beer.

Drinking & pairing ideas: Weekend brunch with bagels, cream cheese, an ambitious spread of smoked and cured fish, and so many toppings it’s almost hard to eat.

2020 Carl Ehrhard Rudesheim Spatburgunder Blanc de Noirs Trocken

Grape: Spatburgunder (aka Pinot Noir)
Region: Rheingau, Germany
Retail: $18
Pronunciation: “shPAT-burg-UNder”

Yes, Pinot Noir is a red grape. And yes, this is a white wine. Because we like to both keep you on your toes and feed you terribly good wine. When a red-skinned, white-flesh grape like Pinot Noir is made into a white wine, it means that after the juice is pressed it doesn’t spend any time on the grape skins and stems, so it never has a chance to soak up all those deep colors and morph into red wine. The resulting wine (at least, this one) is an alluring spin on a grape you thought you knew and now won’t want to live without all summer long.

Drinking & pairing ideas: Take it to the beach with a basket full of cured meat, salty cheese (especially goat or sheep — cheese club members, unite!), and some briny or pickly things. We could also fully stand behind a cold glass with a tuna melt.

2019 Biokult Red Blend

Grapes: Zweigelt, Pinot Noir
Region: Burgenland, Austria
Retail: $20
Pronunciation: “sv-EYE-gelt”

Zweigelt showing up twice in this month’s lineup is kind of poetic, because it’s Austria’s #1 most-produced red grape and also has a cult following. It’s easy to see why — especially in this bottle by the Austrian co-op Biokult. The co-op is nestled along Lake Neusiedl, where a tight-knit group of grape growers share crops and winemaking equipment. This is a pretty normal set up in Europe, and when it’s done well like with Biokult, it offers local farmers stability and resilience against all the things that can go wrong.

Drinking & pairing ideas: This is the wine for a classic American picnic. Grab some fried chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, lots of fresh fruit, a blanket, and head to your favorite park for a lazy early dinner. Throw the bottle in the fridge ahead of time or bring it in a cooler for an extra little thrill.

Looking for past lineups? We got you.

REMINDERS

• As always, our food suggestions are just starting points. Wine is nostalgic and we’re big fans of making what you like, drinking what you like, and not giving a damn if they “go” together.

• Email us at info@halfseaswine.com to buy more single bottles or a 12-bottle case with special pricing.

• Come see us at Halfseas, your charming little neighborhood wine shop tucked inside Brimmer & Heeltap. Open Wednesday through Sunday 12 - 9pm.

• Wine pairs best with friends. Tell your friends.