Palate Shockers
I tend to find inspiration for wine everywhere I look. Most recently, I found it watching the Netflix show, Next in Fashion. The show is a reality competition that focuses on fashion design—think: off-brand Project Runway. One feature of the show is that there is always a contestant creating ridiculous, unwearable, crazy pieces that seem more like extravagant costumes than clothes. But what surprises me the most is that every time a contestant makes one of these crazy outfits, the judges LOVE it. Waxing poetic about how different, avant-garde and exciting it is, they swoon over comically oversized shoulder pads and detachable wings, regardless of the fact it is essentially unwearable. It is excruciating to watch, but you can’t look away.
Which got me thinking: Wait... is this something I’m guilty of? In the thousands of wines we taste at K&L each year, it is often the most strange, wildly different wines that are the most raved about. At any given staff tasting, we may taste through 15 incredible Pinot Noirs, but it’s that skin-contact orange wine made from Santa Barbara Malvasia that gets everyone’s attention. Regardless of whether you think the wine tastes good or not, they are so radically different that they always tend to inspire heated discussions and end up stealing the spotlight.
There’s a term reserved for these kinds of wines: palate shockers. These are wines that have intense flavors, aromas, or textures that are highly unusual and rarely found in most wines in the marketplace. There are many reasons why these wines taste so different. Sometimes the wines are made from funky grape varieties like Mtsvane from the Republic of Georgian or Mondeuse from the French Alps. Just as often, some of these wines result from techniques in the winery that can turn traditional varieties on their head: skin-contact on whites, aging in clay amphora, zero added sulfites, or carbonic maceration can all radically transform the characteristics of a wine.
But don’t get me wrong. In wine, everything is distinctive. That’s what I love most about K&L. You can taste one hundred Cabernets in succession, all from the same year and grown within five miles of one another, and each one is different. For me, judging detail and subtlety in wine is the most satisfying aspect of tasting wine. But at the same time, I always appreciate the chance to break out of the mold and try something controversial.
So I reached out to our buying staff to compile a list of wines that will shake up your palate. If you find yourself in need of a bottle to change up your wine routine, argue over, or just explore somewhere new, check out the list below.
From Australia:
2019 Brash Higgins “ZBO - Amphorae Project” Zibibbo ($34.99)
“Zibibbo is an older Italian name for the grape Muscat of Alexandria, an incredibly floral variety most often used for dessert wines. This rendition is dry, with a full six months aged on its skins in a clay amphora. Maybe the most aromatic wine I’ve ever had in my life.”
2020 Ochota Barrels “The Green Room” Grenache-Syrah ($36.99)
“The late Tarras Ochota was an icon of the natural wine movement in Australia and his wines show every bit of his commitment to producing wildly interesting wines. Incredibly light and fresh with an intense fruitiness that borders on Ocean Spray, this is bright, crunchy and delicious Rhône Blend that’s in a class all its own.”
-Thomas Smith
From the USA:
2020 Ovum "Big Salt" Oregon White ($17.95)
“A progressive co-fermentation that begins with Gewürztraminer. As it ferments, early picked Muscat is added, followed by Riesling, more Gewürz, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and topped with more Riesling. With aromas of salty bergamot, lemon, nectarine, white tea, and exotic fruits—when was the last time you saw those descriptors in a tasting note together?”
- Kai Strommer
From Champagne:
Drappier "Sans Soufre" Brut Zero Blanc de Noirs Champagne ($59.99)
“This is the only sans soufre Champagne in our stock currently. To me, the shocker is how much it tastes just like really good Champagne—it doesn't have the ‘mouse’ flavor that is often associated with no sulphur wines. It must be the acidity... but you be the judge.”
- Gary Westby
From Spain:
2019 Longavi "Gulp! Naranjo" Moscatel Itata Valley ($19.99)
“This could be the Orange Wine equivalent of the Clash’s London Calling: punk, really good, and, most importantly has mainstream appeal. This is orange wine that tastes like oranges! Herbal fruit teas, ginger, and spices too. Edgy, yes. Discordant, no. This will change the way that you think about orange wine.”
- Kirk Walker
From Elsewhere:
2019 Archil Guniava Tsitska Tsolikouri Krakhuna Kartli Georgia (Orange/Natural Wine) ($21.99)
“Low intervention, light skin contact, no/minimal SO2 additions on all wines. Funky wild, a blend of three prominent but less-known grapes in the Kartli region of Georgia. Aged in Qvevri (underground amphora), whole-cluster aged on the skins for a shorter period than usual, this is a more refined version of his classic orange wines.”
2018 Domaine Tatsis Limnio Macedonia Greece ($17.99)
“Potpourri exudes from a glass of Limnio. It is exotic and perfumed, light-to-medium bodied and leans into the more natural-sided profile of aromatics. Simply gorgeous with a light chill.”
- Keith Mabry