Drinking the 2006 Eagle Haven Madeleine Angevine Siegerrebe
Quite recently, I found myself back at Poco Wine Room in Seattle. I have written about Poco before, and apparently I was the first person to review Poco on the Internet. That’s really cool; I didn’t expect to have a scoop, to be sure.
Poco was fun as usual. I realized this was my 4th trip to Poco and every time I go, I ask myself why I don’t return more often. Case in point: From 4-6 PM, it’s Happy Hour. That means $2 off every glass of wine and $8 off every bottle. The $8 off per bottle is particularly tempting, especially when you’re thinking about getting a bottle of wine that is about $30 at every other time of day. The selection is also very nice since they try to focus on Washington and Oregon wineries who make slightly unusual releases.
For example, I thought about getting a glass of Robert Biale Zinfandel, which was one of my favorite wines from my last trip to California. But at 16.5% alcohol, that wine is a bruiser. I ended up debating with one of the owners of Poco about Biale: I asked which Zinfandel release they had by the glass, and he tried to tell me that Biale only releases one Zinfandel. Although I knew he was mistaken (they tend to release 3-4 different bottlings per vintage), I didn’t want to act like a jerk so I said, “Perhaps I was thinking of Syrah.” An elegant way to get the evening back on track, I think.
I also thought about getting a glass of Washington State Sangiovese, which is quite interesting and which the woman at the next table seemed to like a lot. I tried a taste of the 2005 River’s Edge Pinot Noir. I only had a taste from a bottle that was probably just opened, but it was very acidic and too young to drink yet. Perhaps it needed a couple of hours to decant first, as there was definitely some baked cherry and baking spice flavor in the glass. In a few years, this wine might be quite nice. But I only had a taste, and I quickly moved on to the main wine of the evening.
My friend and I settled on a bottle of the 2006 Eagle Haven Madeleine Angevine Siegerrebe. This wine is made from two grapes that are traditionally associated with German whites: Siegerrebe and Madeleine Angevine, which is one of the “parents” of the Siegerrebe grape (Gewurztraminer is the other parent). For $20/bottle at Happy Hour, it was hard to turn down this chance to add 2 more varietals to my spreadsheet of varietals that I’ve tasted.
The 2006 Eagle Haven Madeleine Angevine Siegerrebe is a curious white wine. The blend is 50/50, although there is apparently a 100% Madeleine Angevine release too. I’d love to try that wine after drinking a lot of this one. Anyway, this wine is a bit of a curiosity from a winery that is also a bit of a curiosity. Eagle Haven makes a red apple wine, a blackberry wine, and a winter peach wine, all of which sound like fun to me. You can read more details about these releases here. The 50/50 blend had 12.5% alcohol, so it’s quite light and refreshing. Here are my notes:
- Aroma: Light, fruity, with a balance of apple, citrus, and hay that was nice. The 50/50 blend keeps the muscat aroma to a minimum.
- Flavor: Semi-sweet, lots of minerality and effervescence at first, well-balanced and lip-smacking. Green apple and lemon abound, and there is a muscat undertone that apparently comes from the Siegerrebe half of the blend.
- General impression: A great, highly drinkable white wine! I liked the Humboldt Fog chevre pairing the best, I’d say…this cheese, plus a slice of pear, tasted incredibly good with the Eagle Haven. Recommended for sure.
If you’d like to know more about the Madeleine Angevine and Siegerrebe varietals, I have linked to a couple of different information sources in this sentence. Washington State is an excellent site for these grapes, among other odd German varietals.
After Poco, we wound up at The Stumbling Monk where I treated my friend to a glass of De Koningshoeven (nee La Trappe) Quadrupel. After a couple of these bad boys, we were done for the evening. But I was happy to have found such a drinkable white wine! I think the Wannabe Wino would absolutely love this one….