Three Sparkling Wines for My Bride

Posted on May 12, 2024 by thewineraconteur

When we were at “Sip & Shop” at Vertical Detroit restaurant, that is owned by my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan; I was watching my Bride select three sparkling wines from a grouping of seven from the Old World.  Since, there were so many wines, we sometimes even share the same tasting glass, especially since there were fifty-five wines being poured.  It is kind of easy for me to softly suggest some wines, as I have had a chance to try probably half of the wines offered, and I have an idea of what she will like.  Sometimes, I get surprised. 

The first of the sparkling wines that we shared was Albert Bichot Cremant de Bourgogne Brut Rose NV.  Domaine Albert Bichot is a major family-owned and run negociant house and estate owner in Burgundy, that began in 1831 and is now based in Beaune.  Their main focus is Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines and in their more southern holdings they also produce some Gamay in Beaujolais.  Alberic Bichot took over the reins in 1996 and is the sixth generation of family to run the holdings.  They own more than one-hundred hectares of sustainably farmed vineyards divided among six estates, and the majority are run organically.  The wine is eighty percent Pinot Noir from the Cote Chalonnaise, ten percent, and more Chardonnay from Auxerrois and less than ten percent Gamay from the Maconnais.  Each grape variety is vinified separately to enhance the qualities of the varietal.  The base wine is thermoregulated in Stainless Steel vats, then blended and aged for at least twelve months on laths, with three additional months after disgorgement before it is released.  A nice coppery-salmon wine with fine even bubbles and offered notes of currants, raspberry, strawberry, and a touch of lemon citrus.  On the palate a bright, fresh wine that showed tones of the red berries, and ended with a nice dry finish. 

We then had Champagne Stephane Coquillette Brut Carte d’Or Premier Cru NV.  Stephane Coquillette is a fourth-generation winemaker in Champagne.  His grandmother, Helene, was the first grower to domaine-bottle in Chouilly.  His late father, Christian, ran Saint-Chamant from 1950-2020; and he encouraged his son to start his own estate when he turned 25.  He developed his own house with ten different parcels, including a single-vineyard, single-vintage Champagne.  He has parcels in Chouilly (Grand Cru), Cuis (First Cru) for Chardonnay; and d’Ay (Grand Cru) and Mareuil/Ay (First Cru for Pinot Noir; and all of his parcels are on limestone-based soils.  He employs organic practices, including using bark as ground cover to stop erosion, farming by hand, and all of his wines are small-production.  The wine is a blend of sixty-five percent Pinot Noir (d’Ay and Mareuil/Ay) and thirty-five percent Chardonnay (Chouilly and Cuis).  His style is considered to be a little fresher and leaner than the more traditional Saint-Charmant that his father had made legendary for the region.  The fruit is slow-pressed and undergoes Initial Fermentation and Malolactic Fermentation in Stainless Steel tanks.  Reserve wines are not used to adjust the blend of the non-vintage wines, but not marked as such, because they did not sit on lees for the three-year mandatory minimum period.  The wine was a pale yellow with plenty of fine bubbles and offered notes of green apples, peach, lemon, florals, and toasted nuts.  On the palate the tones of fruit, and citrus blended with toasted brioche, big acidity, and a nice medium finish of fruit and minerals.  

We then had the Champagne Laurent-Perrier “Cuvée Rosé” Brut Rosé NV.  Laurent-Perrier was founded in 1812 in the village of Tours-sur-Marne, and is famed Champagne house with emphasis on Chardonnay.  Laurent-Perrier is likened to Veuve Clicquot, as a widow Mathilde Emilie Perrier was the impetus for success.  After the vineyards were established, she gave control to the cellarmaster Eugene Laurent and his wife Perrier.  After his death in 1887, Perrier took over the house and named it for herself and her late husband.  Laurent-Perrier was sold in 1939 to the de Nonancourt family, and Bernard de Nonancourt, a war hero took control of the house in 1948, until his death in 2010.  The house makes two rosé Champagnes, the popular Cuvée Rosé, made from pure Pinot Noir, and the vintage Cuvée Alexandra which has twenty percent Chardonnay.  The wines are all vinified according to their vineyard, and they were one of the first Champagne houses to use Stainless Steel tanks for fermentation.  They have thousands of bottles stored in eleven kilometers of cellars at Tours-sur-Marne.   The property is now part of the Laurent-Perrier Group, which also has Salon and Delamotte among others.  In 1968, developed a particular method of maceration for Pinot Noir grapes, for their two rosé Champagnes.  This wine is pure Pinot Noir from ten different Crus in the Montagne de Reims district.  The grapes are selected by plots and destemmed before vatting.  Maceration can last for three days and the wine spends three days in contact with the skins (Saignée) and then matures for a minimum of sixty months before disgorgement.  The salmon-pink colored wine offers notes of raspberry, currants, strawberry, and black cherry along with some florals and citrus.  On the palate the tones of red fruits are fresh, lively, and crisp, with structured acidity, and blended with a smoky brioche flavor and a nice medium finish of fruit to savor.     

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La Fiorita and Natalie Oliveros

Posted on May 9, 2024 by thewineraconteur

On one of my tasting trips to The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan I had the chance to enjoy a couple of Italian wines from Fattoria La Fiorita, a wine estate in Montalcino, Tuscany specializing in the Sangiovese varietal.  Founded in the early 1990’s, it was partially owned by Natalie Oliveros in 2011, and fully owned by her since 2014.  Since her takeover, she has shifted the winery to organic viticulture with certification and in 2019 she completed a new winery and cellar.  The estate is nine-hectares in size and has four separate vineyards: La Fiorita, Pian Bossolino, Giardinello and Poggio al Sale; each with its own identity and terroir.  Natalie Oliveros came to wine making naturally in the basement, in northern New York State with her Calabrese Nonna.  She had planned to be in show business, and she did, as a star in the American Adult Film Industry using the name of Savanna Samson.  She began that career in the early 2000’s and at the same time she was introduced to Fattoria La Fiorita, and she began with a collaboration of Italian wines called “Sogno” (Italian for dreams).  She eventually left the film industry for the other, and hasn’t looked back.  The rest as they say is history.

We started with Fattoria La Fiorita Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2018.   The wine is pure Sangiovese and the fruit is harvested from three of their different vineyards with differing terroirs: Poggio al Sole with Tufo and clay (a rarely encountered limestone soil over a clay bedrock), Giardinello which has sandy clay, and Poggio d’Arna which is a clay loam.  The Initial Fermentation and Maceration for eighteen days using indigenous yeasts in Concrete tanks; each parcel has its own concrete tank.  The wine is then aged for twelve months in French Oak, followed by two months in Stainless Steel, and a minimum of two additional months in the bottle before being released; and 18,000 bottles were produced.  A nice garnet-red colored wine offering notes of black cherries, raspberries, sweet tobacco, and spices.  On the palate great tones of cherries, Star Anise, cloves, sous bois, all blended together with velvety tannins and a nice medium finish with some terroir.

We then had the Fattoria La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018.  The wine is pure Sangiovese and the fruit is harvested from three vineyards with differing terroirs: Collosorbo with calcareous gray and red clay, Pian Bossolino with classic clay schist soil, and Giardinello with sandy clay loam.  Initial Fermentation and Maceration is for thirty days with indigenous yeasts in Slavonian Oak casks.  This was followed by thirty-six months in French Oak, followed by two months in Concrete vats before bottling and an additional eight months in the bottle before release; with 22,000 bottles made.  This deep garnet wine offered notes of black cherries, strawberries, florals, spices, sous bois, and cedar.  On the palate there were tones of red and black fruits, savory blend of pepper, rosemary, with soft tannins, ending with a nice medium finish of fruit, spices, and terroir.       

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Twelve Years of The Wine Raconteur

Posted on May 6, 2024 by thewineraconteur

I am not sure where the time went, but on 4 May 2012 01:10 GMT my first article was published and I questioned why would anyone want to read my ramblings, and I still ask that eternal question.  As I look back, it was terrible, and I am not sure if there is much improvement.  I was never around people that drank wine, I grew up where the drink of choice was a shell of beer or a Seven and Seven, or better yet a Boilermaker.  I liked wine from a standpoint as a kid, if I was on a date and all dressed up; and I ordered a bottle of wine with dinner, no one asked for any identification.  So, at sixteen, I began my quest of wine education in a city that only had a few restaurants that had more than carafes of jug wine.  I just knew that I didn’t want to be a snob, as I didn’t like the way, that a lot of articles about wine, seemed to make it appear that it was an inner circle type of enjoyment.  I tried many ways at first, trying to borrow points from this writer and that writer.  Actually, twelve years ago, there was a group of us that ended up following each other and it was fun, and quite a few of that group are still blogging; a few have become wine journalists and even accredited wine judges on panels.  As for me, it was fun and kept me off the streets.  The first year, I actually published an article every night at 01:10 GMT, just to get in the habit of writing, since it had been a long time since I had been in college.  The second year, I started publishing every other night, and until maybe around two years ago, I became a slacker and started publishing every third night; and it is not because I have run out of ideas or wines.  Somewhere, in the early writings I found my voice, or my conceit of writing, that it is best if I think that I am at a bar or a table, talking to another individual, while we drink wine.  I can’t lecture, but I can talk, tell stories, and make the stories revolve or include wine, and hence I became the Raconteur.

When I was a kid, we went out for dates, and usually at restaurants.  The high school that I attended was what is now called a magnet school, back then it was your grades that got you invited and accepted (who knew).  The only problem was that the school was in Downtown Detroit, and the students could be from all points in the city, so downtown was the most logical place for dates, and my discovery about wines made it all worthwhile, because downtown was where a fine restaurant would carry a selection of wines.   So, besides writing about wines from my memories, I would write about the restaurants that I would frequent, when possible, because minimum wage back then was $1.25 an hour.  Over the years, these articles about Old Detroit are some of my most popular pieces, and have taken on a life of their own, to the point where people have even left messages for others on the thread that grew after publication.  Some may even still think of Detroit as the Automotive Capital of America and back then cars had personalities.  There were restaurants even away from the downtown that cater to the automotive business men and workers, only a couple might have French Cuisine, but you sure could get a great steak with all of the trimmings, and appetizers galore.  I wrote about a place near and dear to my heart, as it was where I grew up, and the last time, I did a Google search, I discovered that I was the second and third listing for the site, and I was even copied to other sites at well.  Joey’s Stables of Detroit (Delray) may be gone on maps, but not in the hearts of my readers, friends and family.  It makes me smile and this is a fluff piece where wine is kind of peripheral.

What always surprises me, is that I have followers, because I have never asked anyone to follow me.  There are always about a thousand readers a week, which includes visitors to my site, and people on Facebook, Twitter or whatever it is now, Instagram and where ever else people find out about my articles.  Yes, I do enjoy wines and I write about them and usually from the viewpoint of the situation.  I am held in low esteem by some (who still follow me though) because I have no designations or wine degrees.  One day, I might do the Century Club, to see how many varietals I have had in the fifty plus years of wine enjoyment.     

My Bride, and everyone of my characters that get mentioned have nom de plumes, as if I was Dashiell Hammet.  She has endured and put up with all of my craziness, in fact, I think she was one of those that pushed for me to start writing.  When we met, she only ate fish and drank white wine, that didn’t last long, and there are times when we end up having a better bottle of wine out for dinner, if there is a great bottle of Cabernet Franc that may have her name on it.  She likes to get dressed and go out for dinner, and alas there really are no more night clubs for dining and dancing.  She realizes that our day trips, dinners, vacations, and any social event may be fodder for an article.  And there are times when she has to put up with my gripes about the quality of the wines offered, but if we can suffer, so can my readers, because it is the real world and I don’t live in a world of only hundred dollar or better wines.  She might also be chomping on the bit, to have a drink, and she has to wait for the world’s worst iPhone photographer.  The queue on my phone is often full and I often get messages that some cloud that I didn’t request can’t handle all of my photos, so I guess I will still be writing until it no longer gets fun anymore.   Now, I will get back to being a Raconteur and publish at 01:10 GMT.

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Another Wine Tasting Later That Day

Posted on May 3, 2024 by thewineraconteur

My Bride and I had quite a Saturday together, after Sip & Shop at Vertical Detroit, we had a quick dinner downtown and then off to Livonia, for another wine tasting at The Fine Wine Source.  For those of you that think that Nick and Nora are crazy, there were fifty-five wines offered at the first setting, and eighteen at the second tasting; we did not try tasting all the wines.  This was more for my Bride, as there were plenty that I have already tasted, some I have already wrote about, and still more to be chronicled.  Only so that you don’t worry, we bought two cases at Detroit Vertical and one case at The Fine Wine Source.  Somehow, we will find space.  I will mention three wines for the moment.

We had Chateau Bourgneuf Pomerol 2016 from Famille Vayron; and until 2012 was often labeled Chateau Bourgneuf Vayron.  The Vayron family has had the estate since the 1840’s, Xavier and Dominique Vayron took over in the 1970’s, but their daughter Frederique is now in charge of the estate and winemaking.  The vineyards are spread over nine hectares on the slope of the Pomerol plateau, neighboring some famous chateaus.  The soil in the various vineyards go from pure clay, to a blend of clay and sand, to gravel.  Ninety percent of the vines are Merlot and ten pen percent is planted with Cabernet Franc.  Each parcel is harvested by hand separately and then they are initially processed in temperature controlled concrete vats, followed by twelve to fourteen months in Oak, with about a third in new oak.  A deep ruby-red colored wine that offers notes of dark fruit, violets and mocha.  On the palate there were tones of black cherry, plums, cassis, and mocha and finishing with a good count of cocoa and terroir.

We enjoyed some Chateau de Pez Saint-Estephe 2016, and Saint-Estephe is one of the Communes that one doesn’t encounter that often.  Chateau de Pez is one of the oldest wines in Bordeaux.  The Domain of Pez was established in the 15th Century, but the vineyards were added by the Pontac family (Chateau Haut-Brion) in 1585; and then lost by them during the French Revolution.  In the 20th Century there was a series of owners until the present Rouzad family of Champagne house Louis Roederer and Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande and others.  There is about forty-two hectares of vineyards with fifty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, forty-three percent Merlot, four percent Petit Verdot and three percent Cabernet Franc.  The vineyard sits on a high plateau (Pez) on soils of about a meter of gravel over a bedrock of limestone and clay.  De Pez was classified as Cru Bourgeois in 1932 and continued through all the revisions to 2003; and then it was one of nine Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnels.  The classification was annulled in 2007 and reintroduced in 2010 as a one-tier system.  De Pez and five of the other Exceptionnels decided to forgo the new classification and they now are called Les Exceptionnels; and they have continued to stay apart even when in 2020, a new three-tier system was created (standard, Superieur, and Exceptionnel).  The cellars were modernized in 2018, to allow for vinification of individual parcels, which are still hand-harvested. The fruit undergoes Fermentation with their skins for about twenty-one days in temperature-controlled oak vats.  The wine is then transferred to oak barrels, of which forty percent is new, for between twelve and eighteen months.  After one year in the barrel, the wine undergoes an egg-white fining, but later the wine is bottled unfiltered.  This dark purple wine offers notes of dark fruits, and traces of mulberry, some licorice, and spices.  On the palate a big wine with tones of black berries, cherries, licorice, tight tannins; a big chewy wine that has a nice long finish of rich fruit and terroir.  

We had Chateau Larcis Ducasse Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Classe B 2020 from the Famille Gratiot-Attmane.  Chateau Larcis-Ducasse dates back to the 16th Century and is located on the Cote Pavie, adjacent to Chateau Pavie.  It has been owned by the Gratiot-Alphandery family (now Gratiot-Attmane) since the 1940’s.  The estate is about eleven hectares primarily planted with Merlot with a small planting of Cabernet Franc.  The average age of the vines are thirty-five years of age and planted on soils that vary from alluvial sand deposits to limestone, clay, and chalk.  The estate also produces a second wine called Murmure de Larcis Ducasse.  The fruit is hand-harvested, and Initial Fermentation takes place in Concrete Tanks, and Malolactic Fermentation is done in oak barrels, and the wine is then aged for about two years, with two-thirds of the barrels being new.  A dark dense ruby-red colored wine that offers notes of black cherry, spices, and chalk.  On the palate there are tones of red and black cherries, a touch of raisins, some chocolate, with strong tannins, some heat, and finally finishing with a long count of spices, fruit, and terroir.    

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Sip & Shop April 2024

Posted on April 30, 2024 by thewineraconteur

My local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source, held a wine tasting at their restaurant Vertical Detroit and call it “Sip & Shop.” This is the second one that they have held and we have attended.  It was fun, because I could watch my Bride taste some of the wines that I may have tried earlier at the store without her.  The restaurant was rearranged so that there were tasting tables arranged throughout.  There were nine themes per table: Vertical Exclusives, Roberts & Rogers, Korbin Kameron, Champagne & Sparkling, Italian Selections, French Selections, California & Oregon Selections, South America & Other Europe, and Vignobles Sullivan. The entry fee was thirty dollars per person, and the price would be credited to one’s purchase of twelve bottles of wine.  I thought it was very reasonable and we showed up to make the most of the event.  As I looked around, I realized that the people attending were regulars of the restaurant as opposed to the regulars at the wine shop and that made sense. 

We went to the back of the restaurant, where the bar is and we started there.  We stopped first at the table that were Vertical Exclusives, and that is because between the wine shop and the restaurant, the allotment for the state was purchased.  We started out the festivities with Champagne Andre Clouet “No. 5” Brut Rosé NV.   Champagne Andre Clouet is a grower Champagne in the Grand Cru village of Bouzy and its wines are made exclusively from Pinot Noir on their eight-hectare estate on the famous chalk soils of Champagne.  Jean-Francois Clouet, a Bouzy native with a family history in the region before the Seventeenth Century.  1741 is the year that the foundation of house was built by Andre.  According to their website, “Bouzy Rouge” was created in 1770, by adding a few drops of red wine from Champagne to white wine to create a pink wine. They claim three hundred years later, everyone is still crazy for this Champagne.  This wine comes in different numbered editions.  The wine is blended: with seventy-five percent from 2018, eight percent from 2017, ten percent from 2015 and 2016, and seven percent Rouge de Bouzy 2018. The wine is a medium salmon-pink color with fine bubbles and offered notes of cherries, pomegranates, and brioche.  On the palate there are tones of strawberries, raspberries, and cherries with bright acidity and a fine mousse; ending with a finish of fruit, spice, and a light chalky terroir.

At the table designated as Vignobles Sullivan, while I was chatting with Michael Kasper who came up from Florida for the event as he had been at the wine dinner at Vertical Detroit along with the Directeur General Damien Landouar, the winemaker for Chateau Gaby and the umbrella wineries of Vignobles Sullivan.  My Bride wanted to refresh her memory and to see if we needed more (of course we did, along with the rosé) of the Augustine Bordeaux Blanc 2022 made by Chateau Auguste.   Chateau Auguste is a seventy-four-acre Bordeaux estate located in the Right Bank region of Entre-Deux-Mers, which means between two seas; the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers.  A triangular region of sand and gravel atop layers of limestone, originally planted by the Romans.  Chateau Auguste is owned by Vignobles Sullivan and under the guidance of winemaker Damien Landouar.  An organically made wine of ninety-five percent a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon and five percent Muscadelle.  This light straw-colored wine offered notes of white fruits and freshly cut grass.  On the palate there were tones of pears, peaches, and almonds in a well-balanced and very easy drinking wine with a nice medium count finish of crispness and terroir.  

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Thirty-One and Counting

Posted on April 27, 2024 by thewineraconteur

It is hard to believe that my Bride and I met one night, thirty-one years ago at a singles dance.  We have been basically been together every day since.  Of course, I also told her that I was going to marry her, that evening; I guess she didn’t try to run away too hard that night.  It doesn’t seem that long ago, but I know that I would never be able to get into any of the clothes that I had, except for my hats, scarves, ties, hosiery, and jewelry; though my Internist wants me to lose some weight, back then it was easy.   These thoughts I am relaying, is because we were out at Taste Kitchen in Ann Arbor, Michigan celebrating (which makes it even harder to lose weight).

We had moved from the bar, to our table looking out the window at the locals walking by, mostly college students.  Neither of us, ever had a student life, during college, as we were our own scholarship program, and back then we worked.  My Bride had the Miso Glazed Salmon with wild mushrooms, bok choy, Fresno chili peppers, and coconut milk.  I went with the Seared Diver Scallops with Fingerling potatoes, an asparagus salad, pepper coulis, and chive oil.  Our choices for dinner, made the next wine selection a bit easier and I selected Domaine Daulny Sancerre Le Clos de Chaudenay 2022 and Etienne Daulny owns fifteen hectares of vines divided into about fifty different plots within Sancerre and none of these wines see Malolactic fermentation.  Les Clos de Chaudenay is a single vineyard cuvee of Sauvignon Blanc, right next to the winery.  Most of the aging occurs in Stainless Steel, but about twenty percent is aged in well used six-hundred-liter “puncheons” and then the wines are blended at the end.  A nice straw-colored wine that had notes of grapefruit, lemon, and herbs.  On the palate, tones of a classic Sancerre, a bit racy, well balanced with a nice long crisp finish with terroir.  

Then my Bride wanted to go back to the bar, for dessert and reminisce again.  I let my Bride select, as I no longer enjoy desserts, like I did at one time, and since Lent was over, she could indulge.  We shared a dish of “Chocolate Delice” with a blackberry-wine reduction, berries, and a cinnamon graham cracker.  She was chomping at the bit, to have their Spanish Coffee, which is made from local products and the restaurant’s house made crème fraiche.  Hyperion Coffee Company of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, do their own roasting and blending.  When blended with the Barrel Reserve Spaulding’s Coffee Liqueur made from scratch by the Ann Arbor Distilling Co., she was in heaven. The Spanish Coffee was so great, that my Bride made the poor bartender get us the name of the coffee and the coffee liqueur that was used in the drink, and both were local brands to Ann Arbor.  Hyperion Coffee Company is located in Ann Arbor and in Ypsilanti, and they do their own roasting and blending.  The other ingredient that the bartender shared with us, was the Barrel Reserve Spaulding’s Coffee Liqueur made from scratch by Ann Arbor Distilling Co., founded in 2014. The liqueur is made from cold-brewed coffee and sugar cane and delivered a taste of roasted coffee, almonds, and creamy vanilla.  I was more hedonistic and went with The Rare Wine Co. Historic Series Madeira Savannah Verdelho Special Reserve NV, produced by Barbeito; and they have the longest brand name known to man or woman.  Verdelho is one of the drier and fresher (high acid) of the four varietally labeled, fortified wines of Madeira: Sercial, Bual, Malvasia and Verdelho.  Verdelho Madeira now represents a wine style, as much as the varietal.  After the phylloxera devastation of the 1860’s, Verdelho Madeira almost disappeared as they began using a resistant hybrid Jacquet, now outlawed, and Tinta Negra Mole, but in 1993, legislation was introduced that stipulated at least eighty-five percent of the variety must be used, if it is on the label.  Madeira Verdelho historically is a relatively dry, very fresh, fortified, oxidized white wine.  This wine was released in April 2010 and is still available.  This tawny-amber colored wine offers notes of orange zest, shortbread, ginger, milk chocolate, and almonds.  On the palate the wine is lightly sweet and offers tones of candied citrus, ginger, and some spice honey that ends with a delightfully long finish of spice and citrus sweetness.       

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It Was Thirty-One Years Ago

Posted on April 24, 2024 by thewineraconteur

My Bride and I met thirty-one years ago, and I may have ambushed her about the date, as she was just waking up.  Even though we are retired, she has volunteered to help her sister, who just acquired the company that she has worked at, since I have known her; hence her grogginess.  She got all keyed up and suggested that we go to our local place for dinner, and we have been going there almost as long as we have known each other. 

I suggested Taste Kitchen in Ann Arbor, Michigan as we had discovered this restaurant by accident, because I guess they don’t pay off the local world of “food critics” that frequent the internet, because when I was looking for a restaurant in this area, the big bullies of social media, tried to have us believe that we had to be twenty miles away.  We had sat at the bar, shared a dessert and she had the best Spanish Coffee, and I had a Malmsey.  I booked a table, we got there early and she wanted to have a drink at the bar, as she thought the man behind the bar was superb, and he was there.  She wanted something festive, and he poured us two tastes, before we got festive.  The first taste was Champagne Lete-Vautrain 204 Brut NV.  It began at Chateau-Thierry in 1968 when their Maison was founded by Robert Lete and his wife Liliane Vautrain.  They began with a 0.4-hectare plot and progressively until today it is seven-and-a-half-hectare vineyard.  It went to their children and then in 2011 to the Baron-Fuente family in the Marne Valley.  The wine is a blend of fifty percent Pinot Meunier, twenty-five percent Chardonnay, and twenty-five percent Pinot Noir.  It is aged in the cellar for three years.  A nice golden color with fine bubbles, it offered notes of peaches and apricots.  On the palate, tones of peaches and green apple, with bright acidity, minerals and a longer finish of fruit and terroir. 

The second tasting was Veuve Ambal Blanc de Blancs Brut NV.  Anne Marie Ninot was born in Rully in 1859, she met and married Antoine Emile Ambal, a Parisian banker in 1879.  She had two children with Antoine and he died and she moved back to Rully, where she had a brother who was an owner and merchant of Burgundian wines.   She was observant of the beginning of the “Champagne Method” and created her own Maison in 1898 of red and white sparkling wines.  Veuve Ambal has been a family-owned concern and in 1975, they and others saw the designation AOC Cremant de Bourgogne approved.  In 2005 Veuve Ambal Maison built a state-of-the-art premises closer to Beaune.  This wine is a blend of Airen and Ugni Blanc.  Airen is a drought-resistant, white wine grape, that in the 1990’s was the most-planted grape in the world.  It is considered a workhorse grape and along with Ugni Blanc is known as a base for brandy.  The fruit is hand-harvested, and only the first pressing is used and it aged on racks for twelve to eighteen months.  This golden-yellow sparkling wine with fine bubbles offered notes of citrus, lemon, lychee, and white florals.  On the palate there were tones of green apples, plums, and pine nuts.  A nice dry wine, that is very fresh and I thought it would be great as an aperitif, as we were sitting at the bar, and my Bride concurred.

Since we had gotten to the restaurant early and having a drink there, we also enjoyed an appetizer, before we went to our table.  We were going to share an order of Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes with a vegetable escabeche, avocado and Remoulade.  I knew what wine I was going to have, as I enjoy the grape, much more than my Bride does.  I went with Azienda Agricola Malvira Renesio Roero Arneis 2021.  Giuseppe Damonte started to produce wine in the Fifties, in the winery and estate of his family.  In the Seventies the company was renamed Malvira, after the old 19th century building in the center of Canale that became the headquarters of the winery.  The name refers to the exposure of the courtyard which faces north, instead of the traditional south. In 1989, they moved the headquarters again to the foot of one of their Trinita vineyards. Since the harvest of 2017, they have been certified organic.  They are now into the third generation known for their Arneis, but they have also recently began making Barolo wines as well.  This varietal was almost lost in the Piedmont, but through some dedicated winemakers, it has been saved and locally it is also referred to as Nebbiolo Bianco.  This wine comes from their Renesio vineyard.   The wine undergoes fermentation and maturation in Stainless Steel tanks and undergoes about eight months of repeated batonnage to get all the flavor from the grapes.  It is a pale straw-yellow color with a greenish tint and offers notes of white florals, white peaches, and herbs.  On the palate, where one would expect a sweeter wine, this wine is savory and that perhaps is why I am always drawn to it; the wine proclaims freshness and has tones of almonds or hazelnuts, with a nice maybe a kiss of honey at the finish, after being so crisp in the beginning.      

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Three from Chateau Figeac

Posted on April 21, 2024 by thewineraconteur

The final notes on a wine tasting at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.   Of the six wines up for tasting, five were from Chateau Figeac.  Chateau Figeac was rated as Premier Grand Cru Classe (B) in the 1955 Saint-Emilion Classification, and this rating is not static, and in 2022, it was elevated to Premier Grand Cru Classe (A).  At the shop they also had some wine from the 1998 and 2020 vintage, that were not for the tasting, but they were sold by the time I got to the shop. 

The property has been an estate since Roman times, but in terms of viticulture, the estate became known following The Middle Ages.   In the 18th Century the estate was much larger, but in the 19th Century sections had been sold off, including to Cheval Blanc in 1832.  A couple of other properties that acquired land during dispersals, have appended “Figeac” to their titles.  Most of the region favors Merlot and Cabernet Franc, but at Chateau Figeac the plots are planted thirty-five percent Cabernet Franc, thirty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and thirty percent Merlot.  The current estate is now forty-two-hectares and is known for have three different types of gravel soil.  The fruit is hand-harvested and then inspected by video-scanning.  After the fermentation process, the wine is aged in all new oak barrels for thirteen to fifteen months.  We started this set with Chateau Figeac Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru – B 2010.  During the tasting, I was talking to the representative of the wholesaler and he told me that this wine was extremely tight when it was open, but had truly mellowed, by the time I got to the tasting.  The wine was a deep ruby colored wine and offered pure Bordeaux notes of red and black fruits, and ending with the classic expression of pencil shavings.  On the palate the plums and raspberry were prominent, blending with very fine tannins and with a good medium count finish of fruit and terroir.

The wine is widely considered to have greatly improved since World War II, under the ownership and guidance of Thierry Manoncourt.  The average age of the vines are probably around fifty years of age, and some are over the century mark, as many of the vines were personally planted by Thierry Manoncourt with some help from Madame Marie France Manoncourt.  We then had Chateau Figeac Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru – B 2012.  This dark ruby colored wine offered fresh and vibrant notes of red and black fruits, floral fragrances, and some shades of cedar, and tobacco.  On the palate the tones of red fruit were most prominent, blending with the rounded tannins and finishing with a medium count of fruit and terroir.    

The wines from Saint-Emilion all have the potential through quality work and techniques to become Grand Cru status, as the status since the 1955 Saint-Emilion Wine Classification is an evolving process.  The concept being that the wineries will continually improve the quality of their wine.  The regulations are tighter and have more restrictions in the Grand Cru classification compared to the basic appellation rules.   The Grand Cru Classe designation has been conferred in 1955, updated in 2006, 2012 and 2022.  Three of the four regulations concern the nuts and bolts of viticulture, and the fourth requires an extra fourteen months of storage before being released.  As a side note, I have heard that some of the great houses withdrew from the listing, over requirements of visitations, parking lots and marketing requirements; some did not want to become commercial.  The last wine of the tasting was Chateau Figeac Saint-Emilion Premier Grand Cru – B 2016.  This wine is a blend of thirty-eight percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twenty-six percent Merlot, and twenty-six percent Cabernet Franc.  A deep ruby/purple wine that offers notes of ripe black cherries, cassis, licorice, cloves, cocoa, and cedar.  On the palate the tones are so elegant, and complex that it is breath-taking.  It starts with the ripe fruit, but it is blended with “cashmere-like” tannins and multi-layers of pure joy, which my vocabulary cannot do it justice and it ends with a long count finish of like chocolate covered cherries.  A true seductress, the 2016 vintage has been superlative for Bordeaux and of the four wines, this was tops, followed by the 1989 (which I thought was very chewy), the 2010 which was very mellow and then the 2012 (and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that wine); and that is what can drive me crazy on a vertical tasting, but oh that 2016.  I might add that the 2016 received 98 points by Parker, 99 points by Suckling, and 100 points by Decanter.      

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Three Unique Wines from Bordeaux

Posted on April 18, 2024 by thewineraconteur

I received a text message from my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan inviting me for a special wine tasting.  Sometimes, I have been known to enjoy impromptu wine tastings there as well; and this time I was asked what time would I be arriving.  Now, with all of the wonderful wines that they carry, the shop can feel claustrophobic with a crowd eagerly tasting some wines; so, I responded with a time, a little while later, I was asked if I could come at a different time.  That told me, that it was going to be a wonderful tasting experience, so I let them pick the time, and then I agreed.

The first wine out of the icer, was Chateau Brane-Cantenac Blanc Bordeaux 2021, a white wine from the famed house in Margaux.  Chateau Brane-Cantenac was ranked a Second Growth in the 1855 Classification of the Medoc and Graves.   The estate goes back to the 17th Century, and was purchased after the French Revolution by Baron Jacques-Maxime de Brane.  In the 1950’s the estate was purchased by Lucien Lurton and is now owned by Societe Viticole Henri Lurton and is currently overseen by Henri Lurton.  There are seventy-five hectares of vineyards planted on top of sandy, gravel-bases soil, with an abundance of large pebbles, which are beneficial to the vines for maintaining warms and for excellent water drainage.  Three hectares of vines are planted in the Haut Medoc appellation of their property on gravelly clay soil and it is here that they grow their white Bordeaux wine and the first vintage was in 2019.  The 2021 vintage is a blend of seventy-two percent Sauvignon Blanc and twenty-eight percent Semillon.  The wine is blended and aged in a mix of 225 liters and 500 liters barrels with fifty percent new oak for eight months on fine lees.  The wine is a light yellow in color and offers great aromatic notes of yellow fruits, green apples, cinnamon, and new leather.  On the palette there were tones of candied lemons, tropical fruits, a soupcon of honey, velvety tannins that had a nice long lingering finish of lemon meringue; and I must stress that this wine was dry, even with the lively nuance blend of flavors.

The first red wine of the afternoon was Chateau Petit-Figeac Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2020.  In 1945, Chateau Figeac was one of the first Bordeaux estates to have a second wine, and it was La Grange Neuve de Figeac, named after a particular plot in the estate.  In 2012, the second wine was labeled Petit-Figeac and is now made from fruit from various plots across the estate.  The production of the Grand Vin is 100, 000 bottles, the production of Petit-Figeac is 40,000 bottles.  Petit-Figeac is harvested, vinified, and bottled to the same standards as Grand Vin, just with younger vines.  The wine is a blend of fifty-eight percent Merlot, thirty-three percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and nine percent Cabernet Franc.  The wine is aged from fifteen to eighteen months in oak, with about twenty percent new.  The deep red wine offers notes of black and red fruit, florals, and spice.  On the palette great tones of cherries, plums, spices blended with polished tannins; a medium-bodied red wine with a good finish of terroir.

Then we started a vertical tasting of Chateau Figeac Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe – B 1989.  Chateau Figeac is a forty-two-hectare vineyard that is rather unique as it has a much greater planting of Cabernet Sauvignon, compared to the other vineyards in the Right Bank.  The estate is planted thirty-five percent Cabernet Franc, thirty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon and thirty percent Merlot.  On the average the vines are forty-five years of age, with some over one-hundred years of age.  The fruit is hand-harvested and then inspected by video-scanning.  After the fermentation process, the wine is aged in all new oak barrels for thirteen to fifteen months.  The wine is a nice ruby-red color offering notes of cherries, plums, florals, tobacco, and earthiness.  On the palate the tones of fruit were a bit feisty or gamey, with that delightful character of an aged Medoc, good acidity, with firm tannins, and ending with a nice decent finish of some cedar, graphite, and fruit.

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Fine Wine Source Club Selections – April 2024

Posted on April 16, 2024 by thewineraconteur

Once a month, I go to my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, Michigan to pick up their club selections.  The odds are that I go there more often than that for the camaraderie and the in-house wine tastings.  Another great bonus is that one gets case pricing, even if you only need a bottle or two.  The selections always have one wine representing the Old World and one representing the New World.

The first bottle is Cantine Renzo M “Cornioleta” Chianti Riserva 2019 from the Fattoria di Basciano which is owned by the Masi family since the beginning of the 1900’s. It is a family-run company that has been making wines for three generations in the Chianti Rufina region of Tuscany.  Chianti Rufina is the second most widely known region after the Chianti Classico district, and it has nothing to do with Ruffino, a wine producer in Tuscany (but people get the two confused, because they sound and look similar).  They have long term relationships with growers, and maintains a consultation on how to maintain the vineyards for the highest quality.  The Rufina region is more mountainous compared to the Classico zone and is known for cooler evenings, allowing the grapes to ripen more slowly.  The Riserva is only made in selected years and this wine is ninety-five percent Sangiovese and five percent Colorino (a minor Italian varietal that is known for its dark-black skin and high tannin levels to give color and character to the Sangiovese grapes in Tuscany).  “Cornioleta” means a small grove of dogwood plants (corniolo in Italian) that grown nearby some of the vineyards.  The wine is aged for thirty months in oak and Paolo Masi is considered a “modern-style” winemaker in the region and known for deep colors and elegant aromas.  The dark wine offers notes of cherries, fennel, sage, rose, tar, and graphite.  On the palette tones of mature cherry fruit, blended with full tannins with substantial acidity against a chocolaty backdrop.

The second wine representing the New World is Kenwood Vineyards Merlot Sonoma and Mendocino Counties 2019.   Kenwood Vineyards was established in 1970 in Sonoma.  It was founded by the Lee family when they purchased the estate and winery of the Pagani Brothers that began in 1906 and were successful until Prohibition.  In 1999 the winery was bought by F. Korbel and Bros. and in 2014 Kenwood was bought by the international beverage concern of Pernod Ricard.  Kenwood Vineyards has twenty-two acres of estate vineyards and also sources fruit from dozens of other growers in Sonoma.  The winery has been known for years for some of their Single-Vineyard wines, as well as some of their other collections.  This wine is from one of their other collections as it also uses fruit harvested from seventy-one percent Sonoma County and twenty-nine percent Mendocino County.  The various blocks of Merlot were picked from September through October and ferment separately, then aged with new oak before the final blending.  The wine is eighty-seven percent Merlot, nine percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and four percent Petit Verdot. The furnished tasting notes describes the dark red wine as having notes of blackberry jam, dark chocolate, blueberry, and touches of toasted oak.  On the palette, tones of black plum, raspberry, cedar, soft tannins, and a long finish.

I thought I would also mention a wine that I tasted at Fine Wine Source, that really hasn’t fit conveniently with other wines for an article.   It is Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Kabinett 2020.  The winery is currently managed by Sofia and Christina Thanisch and the family goes back to 1636 and covers twelve generations.  The winery first made the attention of the tax men in 1654.  They now have vineyards located in Bernkastel, Kues, Lieser and Brauneberg and all are planted with Riesling; the most famous vineyard is their Bernkasteler Doctor.  Most of their vineyards have been owned by the family for over two-hundred years.  In 1910, they were one of the founding members of the VDP (the Association of Germany’s finest wineries).  The “Villa Thanisch” was built in 1884 and is still the seat of the winery.  This winery is known as a VDP.Grosse Lage (a Grand Cru Vineyard).  The wine is listed as a Riesling Kabinett, which means that the fruit was picked later to ensure richness, and the term is referred to as Mit Pradikat as a designation of further respect, and it is listed as “feinherb” which translates to “semi-dry.”  Riesling wines with Pradikat from Grosse Lage are respected and appreciated and known for long aging potential.  This golden-straw colored wine offered notes of green apples, citrus, and white florals.  On the palette there were crisp tones of green apple, lime, and lemon and a long finish of fruit and minerals; very refreshing.   

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