So this is not my favorite varietal. However, my favorite wine is a Marechal Foch from Purple Cow Vineyards in Forest Grove, Oregon. (From here out I will refer to this wine as Mmmm Foch.) They are a small winery I have mentioned before several times and probably will again, and again. They made 1 barrel of Mmmm Foch in 2006 from estate grown grapes. It is amazing. There will be no 2007 as there wasn't a full barrel's worth of Mmmm Foch. I'm heart broken, but have been promised there will be an '08 of this fabulous wine!!!
Brief background of Mmmm Foch: Pronounced mar-esh-shall fosh. Named after the French Marshal Ferdinand Foch. It was developed in Alsace, France and believed to be a hybrid crossing of Goldriesling ( a cross of Riesling and Courtiller Musque) and a Vitis riparia / Vitis rupestris cross. It is an early ripening and cold hardy varietal that is very disease resistant. They have small berries, so the birds love them too. It is used to add color to other varietals including Pinot Noir. It has a strong acidity most years and can range from aromas of black fruits all the way to mocha, coffee, and vanilla bean (Wikipedia 2008).
I have not had many Mmmm Foch wines produced through out the world. It is very common in Canada because of the cold and disease resistance. It is growing in popularity in Oregon for the same reasons. We just has a wonderful 12 inches drop on my house. Many wineries had more than 2 feet on their roofs. It was awesome to drive up to Archery Summit this past weekend to see the vines in all their winter glory. They may have been freezing, but they were gorgeous.
The only Mmmm Foch I can recommend at this time is Purple Cow Vineyard's 2006.
Other wineries that are working with Mmmm Foch include Ankeny, Honeywood, Starling Lane, Chateau Lorane, and Amity. None of which I have tried so I can not comment on theirs. But all of which I have heard of and have good things of their wines in general. I will be looking into who has Mmmm Foch elsewhere as I am now curious about this wine varietal. Nothing compares to that in your backyard, and unless you're in Oregon, you probably can't get Purple Cow's. That, and they may have a case or two left of the 28 they started with, and they don't have previous vintages either.
Good Luck finding this great varietal, it isn't very popular. There are so many options, but if you ever see an Mmmm Foch on the menu, give it a try, you may get hooked, you may find it's not for you. But how will you know unless you try? Like I said when I started this blog, this isn't my favorite varietal of wine. And as a rule I like more Pinots than I do Mmmm Fochs, maybe that's because I haven't had the opportunity to try more wineries Mmmm Fochs, I just don't know yet. But I'm trying.
The next blog will be about my new cat Mmmm Foch...
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