Left Foot Charley – Page 2

Left Foot Charley Pinot Blanc, 2013

February 3, 2016February 3, 2016 Josh1 Comment

Maker: Left Foot Charley, Traverse City, Michigan, USA

Place of origin: Island View Vineyard, Old Mission Peninsula AVA, Michigan, USA

ABV: 13.5%

Other information: 21.4° brix at harvest, harvested 10/19/2013, 6 g/l residual sugar.

Purchased for $24

Appearance: Pale straw

Nose: Mild lychee, lemon thyme, mineral water

Palate: Tangerine, Meyer lemon, sage, pear, peach, thyme.

Finish: Overripe Bartlett pear, mandarin orange, tannin.

Parting words: Pinot Blanc is a funny wine. In Europe, it’s associated with Alsace, but Alsatian Pinot Blanc is really just a white wine blend made with white wines from grapes in the Pinot family. In Alsace, Pinot Blanc (the variety) and Auxerrois (a very close sibling to Chardonnay) are the most common components. Sometimes Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir (vinified white) are blended in as well. Comparing an Alsatian Pinot Blanc to an American varietal Pinot Blanc is not really a fair comparison because of that.

I had intended to compare this wine to an Alsatian I had in my cellar, Emile Beyer’s Tradition Pinot Blanc. I didn’t end up doing that comparison because it just didn’t seem fair to compare the two for the reasons above, but also because Tradition is $10 cheaper and is not single vineyard. That said, I did drink them in close proximity and the LFC Pinot Blanc held up well, for what it’s worth.

Pinot Blanc is a grape variety that has come up as a potential “signature grape” for Michigan. I’ve ranted about this on Twitter at least twice. When the marketeers who love the idea of signature grapes talk about Pinot Blanc they use buzzwords like “crisp”, “clean” and “quaffable”. Those words always translate to “boring”. The idea is to grab Pinot Grigio drinkers who are looking for book club type wines that are easy to pound down and don’t require much contemplation. I think this is the wrong approach because I don’t want to see Michigan tying its fortunes to a dull grape and being perceived as a dull wine state, instead of one producing robust, complex white wines on par with anywhere else in the world.

Most Michigan Pinot Blancs I’ve had have indeed been boring. They have very little going on other than acidity. The ones that aren’t boring have been bad. Left Foot Charley’s 2013 Pinot Blanc is the exception. It’s complex and fruity, but with plenty of acidity to keep things moving along. $24 puts it on the high side for Michigan whites, but it’s worth it. If all Michigan Pinot Blancs could be like this, I might change my mind about the grape. Left Foot Charley 2013 Pinot Blanc is recommended.

The Missing Spire

May 27, 2015May 27, 2015 Josh2 Comments

Maker: Left Foot Charley, Traverse City, Michigan, USA.

Grape: Riesling

Style: Semi-sweet

Place of origin: Michigan, USA (Antrim Co., Grand Traverse Co., Old Mission Peninsula)

Vintage: 2012

ABV: 10.4%

Purchased for $16

Appearance: Light gold.

Nose: Fresh sliced apple, apricot, gravel, orange peel.

Palate: Medium bodied and very well balanced. Medium tart apple, mandarin orange, woodruff, flint.

Finish: A bit of sweet citrus, then smoke and stone.

Parting words: Missing Spire is named after a spire missing off Building 50 in the former insane asyum in Traverse City where Left Foot Charley is located. There’s nothing missing here, though. This has everything one could want in a Riesling: bit of minerality, a bit of fruit, a bit of acid, a bit of sweetness, a good body and brilliant color. It’s the kind of wine that made me fall in love with this grape years ago. Left Foot Charley might be the best winery in Northern Michigan right now and this is one of their best wines. It’s also a favorite of friend-of-the-blog Oliver Windgätter, who knows more about German Riesling than anybody I’ve ever met. As Nicholas Cage might say, that’s high praise. The Missing Spire is highly recommened.

Left Foot Charley Gewürztraminer

April 30, 2014April 30, 2014 Josh2 Comments

Maker: Left Foot Charley, Traverse City, Michigan, USA

Place of origin: Manigold Vineyard, Old Mission Peninsula AVA, Traverse City, Michigan, USA

Vintage: 2011

ABV: 13%

Price: $20

Appearance: Light gold with not much in the way of legs, but that may be down to the glass.

Nose: White peach, Bosc pear, a pinch of curry powder and white pepper, woodruff and fresh thyme.

Palate: Medium bodied and medium dry. Spice moving to white grapefruit and unripe mulberry.

Finish: Fairly dry with some bitterness on the tail end. Lingers for a good long while.

Parting words: The Manigold vineyard is known for producing excellent Gewürz (Peninsula Cellars has also made Gewürz from this vineyard) and this is a very good example from a very good vintage.

The back label has a puzzling apology for “obnoxiously loud” LFC Gewürz of the past and hails their return to Manigold vineyards, albeit a different slope. The whole thing is curious but it is nice to have such detail right on the back of the bottle. Also included is the name of the growers, a description of the plot the grapes came from, harvest date and sugar levels at harvest and residual sugar.

This wine certainly isn’t obnoxious. The nose is rich with fruit, spice and herbs and enough sweetness and acidity to keep it all in balance. Like most Gewürz it goes very well with food, especially roast chicken and even Asian cuisine. The price is good for a single vineyard wine from OMP. 2011 Left Foot Charley Gewürztraminer earns a recommendation.