Allright, where to start here. First, a word about Schilcher. Schilcher is a protected name for rosé wines made from the Blauer Wildbacher grape in West Styria, Austria. There is a great tradition with these wines, and they represent one of the few truly noble rosé wine styles (even as a still wine, Schilcher is at it’s best after 5-7 years of ageing, and lasts up to 20). Though he is not the the only producer making méthode champenoise Schilcher sparkling wine, Franz Strohmeier is one of only a handful, and the results are unbelievably wonderful.
The characteristic flavors of Schilcher are intense, gamey, cassis and wild blackberry, with a sort of floral character providing complexity, and a little bit of a peppery undertone. And while one might expect these characters to be somewhat muted in the 
sparkling wine production process, in fact they show beautifully, with the added complexity that only a second fermentation and the resulting autolysis and Reaction Maillard can give to a wine. On top of that, the bubbles in this wine are as fine as any Champagne, and the hints of tannins from the skin contact provide what can only be described as a pleasant shock to the palate, and a great starting point for food pairings.
Franz Strohmeier is a leading Schilcher producer, and is in the process of transforming his vineyards to completely biodynamic farming. He is also striving to eliminate all sulphur additions. But his main goal, is to make the truest wines he can, that show the soil, the grapes and the vintages effortlessly. The wines really are stunning, especially considering that they are virtually unknown outside of Austria. This is one situation where a little bit of adveturous drinking spirit pays off in spades.
Try this wine with white sausage like Weisswurst, Schnitzel, and salads. Also try this with all manner of pork, as it it is the nearly perfect foil. Drink it now – 2010 (though I suspect it will be wonderful for a long time after).
The wine growing estate of 
Pierre et Monique Luneau-Papin head this 30-hectare estate in Le Landreau, in the heart of Muscadet country, where small hamlets dot a landscape of vineyards on low hills. Their estate, also known as Domaine Pierre de la Grange, has been in existence since the early 18th century when it was already planted with Melon de Bourgogne, the Muscadet varietal. Pierre and Monique are the eighth generation of winemakers in the family. Pierre is a genial, low-key, distracted professor type. He’s the winemaker and vineyard work supervisor. His wife Monique, lively, energetic and equally genial, is the business manager.
The Douro in Portugal is where the vineyards from which Port is produced lie. The vineyards, called quintas, are carved out of stone on the intimidatingly steep slopes of mountains on either side of the Douro River (the Duero in Spain). Traditionally (though this is changing rapidly), the large port houses haven’t owned their vineyards, and as a result, there are hundreds of small growers producing grapes. Over the last fifteen years, worldwide sales of Port have been dropping rapidly, and though these small vineyard owners have always made some still wines for local consumption, many have been trying with mixed success to break into the market for still wines. The challenges are that many of even the best quintas don’t have their own winemaking equipment, and don’t have the know how to make polished, modern wines for the export market.
Vinos Sin-Ley is a very cool project. The literal translation is “Wines Without Law.” Vinos Sin-Ley’s two goals are to create new wines: that are focused on expressing their respective grapes and terroirs; while also being accessible to consumers as a great value. The concept is driven by creative innovations utilizing non-conventional methods of harvesting, fermenting, blending and ageing. The results are wines with fresh fruit driven flavors, distinct from other wines in the past. Vinos Sin-Ley is composed of a group of resourceful young winemakers from all across Spain. Vinos Sin-Ley shares a common philosophy driven by experimentation and innovative insight to make value oriented, well crafted wines. They meet twice a year to set in place new projects of mutual interest and to share their collective knowledge of the winemaking techniques to be implemented.
