Something Different This Way Comes!

Shake up your routine
 with Oak Knoll's Niagara

Like most people, I get tired of the same old thing.  Much as I like a cool glass of white wine in summer, I occasionally get a little bored with chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and Riesling.  There must be more to life, I’ve concluded, so this summer, I’ve been making a special effort to try more unusual white varietals.  Fortunately, it’s getting easier and easier to find a lot of these wines – even in Central Oregon.  I’d like to recommend a few to you.

Typically in this column, I suggest specific wines from specific winemakers.  This time, however, I want you to learn about the varietal (or type of grape) that the wine is made from.  The idea is not necessarily to find the best of a particular varietal; it’s to find out how different these varietals taste from the usual chardonnay or sauvignon blanc that most people automatically offer up when you ask for “white”.  If this is successful, the next time you’re asked your preference you can give a really different answer!


Albariño.  This grape likely originated in France, but has become famous in Spain.  The Albariño grape makes wines that are quite crisp (high in acid) and therefore satisfying on a hot day.  The wine tends to be pretty aromatic with flavors and aromas of grapefruit and other citrus fruits as well as peaches and apricots.  This is a good wine with food – especially seafood.

Gewürztraminer.  This grape is very aromatic and perfumy when you smell it.  I think of it as a rather spicy wine – in the sense of spices, not heat.  It can taste and/or smell of lychees, roses, gardenias, honeysuckle or mango.  But you won’t get all these if you don’t work at it.  Before you drink this wine, take time to swirl it vigorously, and stick your nose into the glass.  You will be amazed by the floral notes.  This is a great wine to drink as an appetizer, and it pairs very well with fruit or cheese.  I love it because it goes very well with spicy and/or hot Chinese food--something you can’t say about any red wine.

Marsanne.  Marsanne is another wine that likely originated in France.  Although it isn’t grown much outside of France even today, a few California vintners have started experimenting with Marsanne.  It is most commonly used in blending with other varietals to add depth or dimension to a wine.  In France, Marsanne tends to produce wines that are nutty and/or spicy.  Australian Marsanne grapes, on the other hand, tend to produce honeysuckle or melon flavors.  In California, you can get any of these flavors and, quite often, the taste of pears, too.  Our Grocery Outlet is currently carrying a very interesting Marsanne-Viognier blend that would be terrific with seafood.

Niagara.  I first discovered Niagara while wine tasting in the Finger Lakes Region of New York.  This is a truly American wine. Although many other wine lovers consider it too “foxy” to qualify as “great”, I absolutely love it for its originality.  When I taste it blind-folded, I never mix it up with another wine.  This grape has very lively flowery aromas and sweet and sour flavors.  One analyst referred to the most common flavor of Niagara as being “a high-toned, candied muskiness.”  Most Niagara wines are made to be slightly sweet, which makes them perfect for a sunny afternoon or a casual picnic.  I was delighted recently to discover that an Oregon winery (Oak Knoll) is now producing it and that our Bi-Mart carries it for about $8 (on sale for $6.19 until the end of this month).

Viognier.  Viognier, (pronounced vee-un-yay), is best known for growing in France, but many experts believe that it originated in Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia).  This grape almost became extinct in 1965, when the total world-wide plantings were only 8 hectares (or about 20 acres).  Although many white wines are aromatic, Viognier leads them all.  Viognier can be hard to find because it is a difficult grape to grow, and it is prone to a type of mildew that ruins the grapes.  But when the grapes ripen cleanly and the winemaker doesn’t interfere too much, this wine smells like a fruity perfume in your glass (think apricots and orange blossoms).  The aromas of this wine will contribute quite a bit to your enjoyment; to prove this, I suggest you try two sips of the wine – the first without holding your nose and the second while holding your nose.


The flavors in your mouth can vary, but tend toward tropical fruits, mango, guava and kiwi.  Unlike many of the other white wines described here, Viognier tends to be made into dry wines with virtually no sweetness.  A friend of mine once said that she never missed an opportunity to buy a bottle of Viognier when she found it; even if it wasn’t great, she knew it would be interesting, and she also wanted to reward the few people who take a risk on growing it.  I agree with one exception – don’t buy it if it’s more than 3 years old.  Viognier is best enjoyed young; with age, it can develop fairly unpleasant oily flavors.


Summer’s rapidly coming to a close, so your time to tickle your palate with something new is growing short.  Before the leaves start to turn, head to one of our local stores and grab a bottle or two of one of these wines.  See for yourself how enjoyable and interesting it can be to get out of the chardonnay rut!