The WGOM

Gold Gloves Wines - Missouri vs France

September 25th, 2008 by zooomx

It has been a while, but I am finally posting the play by play from a battle that took place earlier this summer. Rhubarb Runner had suggested that I try, and review, a Missouri Wine. He suggested Montelle Winery in the Augusta Wine District of the Missouri Valley as a worthy winemaker. I ended up purchasing 3 different bottles from Montelle and thought it would be fun to pair one of them up against a white wine I had experienced from France. So... this led me to the idea of putting these two wines up head to head in a tasting. Probably not the fairest fight going in, but it ended up being an interesting experience. So, without any further ado...

In this corner, the reigning champion, from the Vouvray Commune in the Loire Valley region of France, we introduce a veteran heavyweight with centuries of experience. Made with the stellar Chenin Blanc grape, the 2005 vintage Chateau de Montfort Vouvray!!!

French Champion

French labels are a different read than those in America. When you read the "Vouvray" on this label you may think it is the grape (or varietal). However, on most French bottles it is the AOC (wine growing district) that is featured on the bottle. In this case, Vouvray refers to the Vouvray district in the Loire Valley region of France. Vouvray is famous for fine Chenin Blancs, and this is both a fine and affordable Chenin Blanc. At your local liquor store, or online, you can expect to pay anywhere from $10-$16 for a bottle of this wine.

Chenin Blancs from the Loire Valley region of France are typically semi-dry, crisp white wines. Many compare them to some of the Dry Reislings from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region of Germany. The crispness derives from the slight acidity and it is typically balanced out by a moderate sugar content. The result in this Vouvray is a very well balanced, peachy, floral white wine that pairs well with many foods like salads, poultry and cream based pastas.

This is also a wine that we have begun to carry on our list at the restaurant I manage. I have been pleasantly surprised that many people in Alexandria have jumped all over trying this wine. I thought the label might intimidate, but it has actually roused the curiosity of both beginning and expert wine samplers alike.

And in this corner, our challenger, a scrappy competitor from the Augusta Wine District of Missouri, let's hear it for the 2005 Vintage of Montelle Winery's Seyval Blanc!!

Missouri Challenger

Doing research on the Missouri wine industry has been fun. I was not aware that Missouri has a long, storied history in wine making going back to the mid 1800's. In fact, at the turn of the century, Missouri's own Stone Hill Winery was the 3rd largest winery in the world! Unfortunately, prohibition, completely crippled the industry and it wasn't until the 1970's that Missouri started to experience a rebirth of their winemaking past.

Montelle Winery is a very well respected, and highly awarded winery on the Osage Ridge just east of Augusta, Missouri. The shorter growing season in Missouri does limit which grapes can thrive, resulting in the increasingly planted Seyval Blanc grape. Seyval Blanc is an American/French hybrid resulting from two Seibel grapes (#5656 and #4986 or Rayon d 'Or). The grape is popular in England (second most popular English vine), and the United States as it ripens early. The French highly discount the grape, claiming that only poor quality wines result, but those crafty English, and Americans have learned how to maximize the grapes potential through both growing practices and manipulation during the wine making process.

Montelle cold ferments their Seyval Blanc in stainless steel tanks. The result is a refreshingly crisp, fruity white wine that is similar in style to the Chenin Blancs of the Loire Valley. This is what led me to compare these two wonderful wines. The Montelle Seyval Blanc is available on their website for $13.42 per bottle. Their Chardonel is also impressive and the winery offers great discounts for purchases of 6 total bottles or more.

The setting for this comparison was my dinner table. I made Mrs. zooomx one of her favorite dishes, my own Buttercrumb Walleye. I lightly brush walleye fillets with melted butter, then press them into some seasoned Ritz cracker crumbs. I pan fry the fillets in a cast iron skillet and top with a honey, almond butter. Not the healthiest way to cook fish, but absolutely tasty! I served them with some parmesan and havarti cheesed scallop potatoes and grilled asparagus.

We first tasted the Seyval Blanc, as I thought the challenger should go first. I was pleasantly surprised by this wine. It had a crisp, light acidity that you taste immediately as it rolls across your tongue. I am not a fan of sweet whites, so this definitely appealed to me. Since it was a hot summer day, the Seyval Blanc was really refreshingly clean. I picked out just a hint of citrus, and there was a bit of zip or zest to the wine. I thought it paired well to my meal as it cut through, and held up to the richness of the butter on the walleye. I would definitely buy this wine again. In fact, I am strongly considering taking a trip down to Augusta for my anniversary in October.

Next came the Vouvray. I had tasted it several times during different wine tastings, but had never enjoyed a glass with a meal. Like the Seyval Blanc, the Vouvray is a crisp, clean, refreshing wine. It is a little more fruity with distinctive notes of melon and peach. Very well balanced, it also paired very well with our dinners.

Mrs. zooomx definitely enjoyed the Vouvray more as it was more fruit forward and complex than the Seyval Blanc. I was torn, as the Seyval Blanc appealed to my preference for a clean, crisp, semi-dry white, yet the Vouvray had more depth and character without being heavy or sweet. Hmmmmmm.... tough call.

Well, in the end, I had to set aside my disdain for anything French, my desire to support the American entry, and thus my patriotism, and give the match to the 2005 Chateau de Montfort Vouvray. It was a classic, well rounded Loire Valley white that came up big in a hard fought match. However, when the opponents shook hands after the match, I thought I heard the Vouvray mutter "there ain't gonna be no rematch!" ala Apollo Creed in the original Rocky.

Thanks to Rhubarb Runner for putting forth a great selection for me to try. If I do make my way down to your neck of the woods to tour the wineries, I will let you know.

Once these pesky Twins either win it all for fall short, I hope to be able to post wine reviews more often. This summer I have been forced to choose many times between my love for wine or my love for baseball. After all of these years of wine tasting, I have not found a wine yet that can pull my attention away from my Twins. However, I do have a very special bottle just waiting for the next time we lift the World Championship trophy!

Tags: Chenin Blanc, France, Missouri, Seyval Blanc, Vouvray, walleye, wine

This entry was posted by zooomx on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Featured Articles, Gold Glove Wine. It is one of 11 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.