29 April, 2010

Frisky, prickly wine?

Last week I attended a great class on pork belly at the Corner Table. (Here's a link to A Good Appetite's blog post about the class.) While we had many great wines that night to pair with the various pork belly dishes, there's one that's got me on a hunt. It's called Frisk Prickly and it's from Australia.
Now, I'll admit, I barely got to taste this. The restaurant only had a half bottle and I was the sixth of six to be served. But the tease was enough to get me excited about this new wine. It's a blend of Riesling and Muscat Gordo, two aromatic white grapes known for sweetness and lower alcohol levels. They're also known to have great levels of acidity making wines that can be well balanced and full of flavor.

Here are the tasting notes from Frisk's website: 

It’s a mouth-revving Riesling with a bite that sings with mountain-stream purity, quartz-like acidity coming right at you, bold and unapologetic. You may see notes of lemon sorbet, bath salts and white lilies layered with spices from your favorite childhood pie shop…guess  that depends on your childhood. But you can’t deny its raciness and versatility, sidling up suggestively to food that’s both sweet and spicy. Its intensity will slap you in the face, the oodles of length will have you scrambling for more.

I'm not so sure about "bath salts" but with both Riesling and Muscat, it is very aromatic. It was sweet and spicy and also had really good acidity. It was also slightly sparklling, hence the prickle, so it was also very refreshing. For me it would make a great summer apertif. Others in the group thought it would be better as a dessert wine. Either way, I'm on the hunt for this wine so I can try it both before and after dinner. 

5 comments:

  1. Yeah, I'd like to get a bottle of this for the summer, perhaps a warm evening on the patio

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  2. Kat, I stopped in at Edina Liquors today and they agreed to look around for this. I'll let you know if anything come of it.

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  3. Can you explain more about Muscat? I've never heard of it before...

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  4. This sounds great, let me know where you find it. The name rules and you got me at "slightly sparkling". Keep up the great posts!

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  5. Jenna, I'll keep searching!

    Maija, Muscat is an ancient grape originally cultivated in the Mediterranean. Today it's grown in France, Italy (Muscato), Spain (Moscatel, Austria, Australia, the US and a few other places around the world. It ranges in style from very dry (France) to very sweet (Italy). We see it here in the Twin Cities most often as a dessert wine option as Muscato d'Asti and it is delicious. One of the identifying traits is its aromas of flowers and fruit. In particular roses, orange blossoms and orange zest. Others have said that is is unique in that it actually smells and tastes like grapes! Some can be very similar to Gewurztraminer, if you're familiar with that.

    Foodwise: I like to drink it for dessert, it's very low in alcohol so it doesn't put you over the top like some dessert wines. If it's drier version then it will go very nicely with spicier foods like Thai and Indian cuisine.

    Hope this helps!

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