Converted from paper version of the Broad Ripple Gazette (v15n03)
The Wine Scene: by Jill A. Ditmire
posted: Feb. 02, 2018
GONZO GRAPE ESCAPES
The February calendar offers a few specific days to beat the winter blahs by focusing on food and drink.
Hugel Pinot Gris is a tasty reason to not give up white wine this winter. Welsh cartoonist Ralph Steadman designed the fun loving label. He gained fame with his gonzo inspired illustrations for writer Hunter S. Thompson. You'll find his free wheeling flair in books, album covers and on craft beer products from Flying Dog Brewery. Steadman's unstuffy style for Hugel reflects the lip smacking Alsatian wine inside. No oak aging means pure, crisp flavors of tropical stone fruit. Chill it and swill it with Super Bowl snacks or Fat Tuesday gumbo.
Bear Flag Zinfandel is another way to avoid taste bud hibernation. Full bodied, complex old vine Sonoma county grapes get a fruity spicy boost from Petite Sirah and Malbec. It's jammy but it's not. It's toasty but it's not. It's, you guessed it, just right. Bear Flag refers to a month long "revolt" in 1846 when a gonzo group of Sonoma county settlers carrying a flag with a grizzly bear and a lone red star design, demanded separation from then Mexico controlled California. They settled their specific dispute with drinks not bullets. California became a state in 1850. The Bear Flag became its symbol in 1911.
Jill A. Ditmire is an Omnimedia wine specialist, AWS certified wine judge, freelance broadcast journalist and 20+ year home owner in the Warfleigh neighborhood of Broad Ripple. Send your questions and comments to Jill at
jill@broadripplegazette.com
Also on INSTAGRAM @jaditmire
jill@broadripplegazette.com