Open Mic: Sankt Laurent (St. Laurent)!!!

First, a little background is probably necessary for this wonderful grape. It must be said however that like many of the obscure wines that grace our dinner tables, Sankt Laurent has a background that is more than a little cloudy.

Hi Bill, There is a St Laurent project in Central Otago. No sure if they have produced any yet,
Here's the link: http://www.judgerock.co.nz/pages/stlaurent.shtml
The guy behind it the project wanted an alternative to Pinot Noir and picked his first fruit from the 2007 vintage, which is evidently still in barrel. I hope I get to try it.

I have tried a couple of St Laurents - if old notes are OK.

Stift Klosterneuberg St Laurent 2002 from Austria was tasted December in 2004. I wrote "While this particular wine had aromas and flavours slightly reminiscent of Pinot Noir with a good definition of plummy fruit, I thought it more like a Pinotage with its rustic earthy depth."

In April 2002 I tasted Collegium Vinitorum Svatovavrinecke 1999 from Moravia. Svatovavrinecke is their name for St Laurent. I loved this wine,which was carried to New Zealand in Martin Kristek's luggage. I wrote, "The dense red / blue wine of excellent colour had a rich, jammy nose of 'jam as it cooks'. In the mouth it was fruity and savoury with a little spice but meaty too. I couldn't detect any oak. It was a seemingly simple style at first but became quite rich and intriguing in its complexity with its lovely, rich, ripe, concentrated, sweet fruit that was full of berries and plums. Wonderful mouthfeel too with its soft velvety fruit tannins. "

Cheers,
Sue

Thanks Sue! Awesome notes -I've tasted nothing from Moravia, but my wife and I are thinking about a trip through on the way to Prague. I'll certainly keep my eyes open for SL. I'm glad too that NZ is embarking on its production. NZ could give SL a big shot in the arm.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill, maybe someone has asked before but any chance this might show up in Slovenia??

Bob, it is grown in Slovenia but I've never seen one. They call it Sentlovrenka. If you find any, please let me know.

This sounds more like what I like in Sankt Laurent (given my very limited experience-a whopping TWO wines)

Brian, It should be easy to track down. Vin Divino imports Beck.

I liked very much the 'regular' Sattler SL I tasted a few weeks ago. This is a different animal altogether. While it doesn't in the least fit into the 'Frankenstein' SL box that some producers have toyed with (for it is balanced), I would place this firmly in the big kid camp. Highly perfumed with lilacs, rose petal, blueberry and pomegranate fruit, tar. It has a kind of Croze-Hermitage galet saltiness. No doubt that in a few years when the oak is better resolved it will be a very fine wine indeed.

First, the origin of the grape has been pinpointed by genetic fingerprint method over here in Klosterneuburg Viticultural School: It is a offspring of pinot noir, a so-called "seedling" (Sämling in German): a vine originally grown from the pip of a pinot noir grape.

Thank you Michael, I must have missed this post initially. There seems to be a lot of mis-information out there about this Grape. Importers and growers themselves can't seem to agree. When did the Klosterneuburg make this discovery?

Vielen Dank,
Bill

Bill,

Ferdinand Regner from "Höhere Bundeslehranstalt und Bundesamt für Wein- und Obstbau Klosterneuburg", head of "Abteilung Rebenzüchtung" (vine breeding department) published his findings in issue #11/1999 of "Der Winzer", a monthly journal published by the aforementioned viticultural school, on pp. 8 to 18, under the title "Wissenswertes über unsere Rebsorten". I have a faxed copy of the article, but it's not decently readable ...

A. Christmann Pfalz Sankt Laurent Trocken QbA 2008 -Pfalz, Germany 13%

Muted at first, but really opens up with air. Strawberry and blackberry fruit, soft, silky, tannin are reminiscent of Pinot Noir. But there is also a smoky, ashy element along with some anise that brings it back into Sankt Laurentdom. Tasty.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill, I thought I was the only one here dragging stuff from the archives!

Bill, I thought I was the only one here dragging stuff from the archives!

Bob,

I cannot even pretend to keep up with you on such matters! Sometimes though, memory serves.

Cheers,

Bill

Coincidentally, tried the 2004 Juris St. Laurent, Burgenland, Österreich, a few days ago. Cherry and berry, with some pepper notes. Still quite tannic. It opened up with time, and went down easy with a casual weekday meal.

I've had a few of these. Never as good as a decent Pinot Noir, but of course I can't say if that is a comment on the varietal or the winemaking.

Can't see it ever getting a large following, but then it is better than Pinotage and there seems to be no shortage of people that (unaccountably, to my taste buds) actually like that grape, so never say never.

A varietal may be a secondary or tertiary level grape, gathering a little interest and a few dedicated growers, but destined never to hit the big time (i.e Charbono). That's the slot I'd put this in.

Can't see it ever getting a large following, but then it is better than Pinotage and there seems to be no shortage of people that (unaccountably, to my taste buds) actually like that grape, so never say never.

A varietal may be a secondary or tertiary level grape, gathering a little interest and a few dedicated growers, but destined never to hit the big time (i.e Charbono). That's the slot I'd put this in.

Bill,

I agree that it will probably never reach the mass-appeal of Malbec or even Pinotage (if in no small part because it is difficult to cultivate.) But, it remains a valid member of the family if perhaps merely one of the many black sheep. And that's just fine by me. The world has more than enough big timers.

Cheers,
Bill