A Different Wine Tasting – Part Four

Posted on June 18, 2026 by thewineraconteur

As you may have noticed that The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan captures plenty of my wine tasting moments.  This tasting was sponsored by the shop at a fund raiser at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church and not only had plenty of tables of wine, but a huge spread of food, for either making plates to sit down for dinner or just for grazing, and I found that I did both at times.

At the Italian Table there were seven wines, and I will mention three.  My Bride who is always the logical one, was concerned that there were too many wines to taste.  We started this table off with the Vite Colte “Tra Donne Sole” Sauvignon (Blanc) Piedmont 2023 and over the years this wine has carried both the Monferrato DOC and Piemonte DOC.  The wine “Tra Donne Sole” (The Lonely Woman) is named after a work by Cesare Pavese.  The members of Vite Colte ad their families, partners and winegrowers are the cornerstone of a modern winery with a combined goal to maintain the high standards that are part of the Piedmont tradition.  The vineyards for this wine are in two different areas with different soils and microclimates, and also low yields, and these points are used to create a complex and balanced wine, as the regions ripen at different times.  The earlier vineyards have grapes that are higher in acidity and have class aromas of Sauvignon, while the later vineyard displays tropical fruit.  Ater the grapes are pressed; the juice is allowed to ferment in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel vats and then the wine rests on the lees for three months until bottled.  A straw-yellow colored wine offered notes of pears, apples, passion fruit, gooseberry, citrus and white florals and grass.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of grapefruit, baked apples, vanilla with a touch of mint and licorice in an unfussy and very easy drinking wine that ended with a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir.

We then followed up with a glass of Casa Vinicola D’Angelo Aglianico del Vulture DOC Basilicata 2019.  Casa Vinicola D’Angelo has spanned four generations and almost a century in the history of Aglianico del Vulture.  While the winery was established in the thirties, in 1924 the wines were exhibited at the IV Commercial Fair in Bari.  In 1971 Aglianico earned the DOC designation.  Mount Vulture is an extinct volcano and is part of the landscape of norther Basilicata.  The wine must be made exclusively from Aglianico, on volcanic soil, and altitude is an important factor in that it must be planted between 200m and 700m.  The fruit is manually harvested, and basic Aglianico del Vulture wines must be aged in oak barrels for at least a year, before being released.  The D’Angelo wine undergoes ten days of maceration on the skin and is aged for eighteen months in large barrels.  Their first vintage was 1960, and the average age of the vines is from 30-35 years of age.  The wine was a deep garnet color and offered notes of black fruit, Sous-bois, sage and licorice.  On the palate this medium-to-full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black cherry, earth and tar and a very chewy wine with firm tannins that ends with a medium-to-long count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.

We finished our Italian wines by tasting a glass of Enrico Santini “Montepergoli” Bolgheri Superiore DOC Toscana IGT 2018.  The winery was founded in 1998 and is now a family-run business with fourteen hectares of vineyards in the heart of the Bolgheri district.  This wine is a blend of twenty-five percent Merlot, forty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twenty percent Syrah and fifteen percent Sangiovese.  The vineyards have an East/Southwest exposure.  The fruit is manually harvested with careful selection of bunches.  The grapes go through the vinification process separately.   The Initial Fermentation takes place in a controlled temperature with indigenous yeasts and m the maceration process is for about twenty-eight days.  The wine then ages for a minimum of eighteen months in oak barrels, of which forty percent is new.  Then the wine is aged in bottles for an additional eighteen months before being released.  A deep red wine with notes of blackberries, currants, plums with smoky aromas, tanned leather, cloves, black pepper and toasted oak.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine displays tones of the dark fruits, spices and rich tannins and then a medium count finish of fruit and spices.

Posted in Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Different Wine Tasting – Part Three

Posted on June 15, 2026 by thewineraconteur

We were trying to enjoy some food, between wine tastings at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church during a fund raiser, that was partly supported by The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, Michigan.

We were still at the Ixsir Winery tasting table, though my Bride was already determined to guarantee a case of wine, before we left the table, after we finished the tasting.  I told her not to worry, as I was sure that we wouldn’t be shut out.  We were also enjoying our conversations with different people as we sat down to eat the assorted foods that we would put on our plates to accompany the wine choices.

We continued with some of the red wines and enjoyed the Ixsir Winery Altitudes Rouge Lebanon 2021.  The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Caladoc and Tempranillo.  I will mention Caladoc, first produced in 1958 and is a cross between Malbec and Grenache.  It is not sanctioned in the AOC regions of France, but it is being used for blending in several areas quite successfully, for the richness of color and with flavors and nose of wild berries, balsamic and eucalyptus.  The fruit was harvested from several plots: Kfifane, Ibeil, Basbina, Jezzine and Bechouat, all at different altitudes and all on clay and limestone soils.  This wine was aged in French Oak for six months, with fifteen percent new.  The deep rich garnet-colored wine offered notes of mulberries and black fruits and a noticeable trace of oak.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed great tones of black fruits and currants, blending with silky tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir. 

Our last wine at the Ixsir table, because my Bride wanted to make sure that she was pacing herself was to try the Ixsir Winery Grande Reserve Rouge Batroun, Lebanon 2018.   The Batroun Mountain region is in northern Lebanon, and the vineyards are spread among the various towns in the mountains overlooking the coastal city of Batroun.  Batroun is one of the oldest cities in the world, going back to the Phoenicians, dating back to the 14th Century BC.  Over the years it was important to the Romans, a Crusader Citadel, and an administrative site for the Ottoman Empire.  It is home to a small group of wineries, and the area is also a tourist destination.  The fruit for this wine is Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and is from three distinct plots that all have ferric clay and limestone soils: Ainata, Yamoune and Kab Elias.  The wine has been aged for twenty-four months in French Oak barrels, of which sixty percent is new, and forty percent was used once.  A deep garnet colored wine that offered notes of black fruits, red fruits, sous bois, smoky oak, and traces of cedar.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed beautiful tones of black currants, spices and oak blending harmoniously with tight tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir. 

Posted in Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Different Wine Tasting – Part Two

Posted on June 12, 2026 by thewineraconteur

We were having a grand time at a fund raiser at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church, sponsored by The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, Michigan.  And my Bride was having a grand old time.

We were still at the Ixsir Winery Table, and the name Ixsir derives from the Arabic work for Elixir, a word common to many languages; that secret potion that grants eternal youth and love.  Some background information is that Ixsir Winery was founded in 2009 in the northern part of Lebanon in Batroun which is a coastal area.  They are a mountain winery, and one of the highest in elevation for the Northern Hemisphere.  The winery is very progressive and has been named one of the greenest buildings in the world.  The winery owns one hundred-twenty hectares in the Batroun with several different vineyards capitalizing on the terroir.  A Seventeenth Century traditional Lebanese house presides over a contemporary winery with sustainability at its core; and they have been recognized many times for their “green credentials.”  The winery grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Tempranillo, Caladoc, Cinsault, Merlot, Obeidy, Viognier, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon.  Quite impressive for a young company, as far as I am concerned.

We then proceeded to taste Ixsir Winery El Ixsir White Batroun, Lebanon 2024. The fruit for this wine comes from two plots Niha and Kab Elias with lime marl, clay and limestone soils. This wine is a blend of seventy percent Viognier and thirty percent Chardonnay and was aged on the lees for twelve months in French Oak, of which a third were new.  This was an elegant deep golden colored wine that offered notes of white florals, with tropical fruits along with citrus and saffron.  A full-bodied, well-balanced dry white wine, first offering tones of Chardonnay’s white fruits and spices, and then opening up with the passion fruit and peaches, followed by spices and minerality blending with crisp acidity of the Viognier and a nice long-count finish of fruit and terroir. A wine that would hold its own with opening courses or pairing with dinner as a stand-alone.  It offered depth and complexity, that one expects from a good white, and I have been finding that Viognier is great for cellaring as this five-year-old was totally fresh.

We then left the white wines and the Ixsir Winery Grande Reserve Rosé Batroun, Lebanon 2024.  The 2020 vintage was selected as the best Rosé by the Robb Report.  The wine is a blend of forty percent Mourvèdre, forty percent Cinsault and twenty percent Syrah and was created in Stainless Steel tanks with almost no aging time to create a fresh and lively wine.  A soft salmon-pink colored wine that offered notes of white peaches and white florals.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of white peaches, followed by pomegranate blending with some nice acidity to end with a crisp medium-count finish of fruit and terroir. 

Posted in Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Different Wine Tasting – Part One

Posted on June 9, 2026 by thewineraconteur

Most of the wine tastings that I attend, I must admit, are at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  The Fine Wine Source was hosting a wine tasting at his church as a fund raiser with tables and tables of food.  My Bride and I had a great time.  The event was held at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church.

We started our tasting at the Ixsir Winery table. The first time I tried the wines of Ixsir Winery, the hosting was by Etienne Debbanne, the Co-founder and Chairman of Ixsir Winery at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  Ixsir Winery is considered to have the finest terroirs in Lebanon from Batroun to Jezzine, and it is a mountain wine that culminates at 1,800 meters and is the highest mountain winery in the Northern Hemisphere.  The grounds are clay and limestone soil, old, respected lands only recently discovered and utilized again.  The total area of the estate is one hundred-twenty-hectares, and the winery also has contracts with other immediate vineyards, which they oversee all aspects of the land and pay them to allow Ixsir total control of the vines for their vision and products.

The first wine that we tried was Ixsir Winery Altitudes White Batroun, Lebanon 2024.   The wine is a blend of forty percent Obaideh, forty percent Muscat and twenty percent Viognier and the fruit is from the Bekkaa Valley.  The wine was aged for three months in Stainless Steel.  Obaideh is a Lebanese grape that has been used in blends, now being done as a varietal and traditionally used in the production of Arak, the famed Anise liqueur of Lebanon.  Obaideh is high in sugar, low acidity with a creamy texture with notes of honey and lemons.  A straw yellow colored wine that offered notes of white florals and grapefruit.  On the palate this light-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of fruit and florals with some nice acidity and ended with a medium-count finish of fruit, spice and minerality.  A very easy wine by itself or with food. 

We then went and tried Ixsir Winery Grand Reserve Batroun, Lebanon 2024.  This wine is grown at 1,800 meters above sea level and is one of the highest wineries in the Northern Hemisphere.  The estate is planted on lime marl, clay-limestone and clay-calcareous soils.  The wine is a blend of sixty percent Viognier, and the balance is Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.  The wine is aged for twelve months in French Oak barrels.  A soft golden colored wine that offered notes of stone fruit, honeysuckle, citrus and oak.  On the palate this medium-to-full-bodied, well- balanced wine displayed tones of pears and peaches, citrus with a silky texture and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit, white pepper and terroir.      

Posted in Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Fine Wine Source Club – May 2026

Posted on June 6, 2026 by thewineraconteur

My apologies all around as I am in June, as I write this article, but I had so many articles that I wanted to write about our unexpected trip to Las Vegas, and then I came down with pneumonia, which grounded me in more ways than I expected, I mean my Bride had to go and pick up the Club Wines for May at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.

The first wine representing the Old World is CVA Canicatti “Alico” Inzolia – Chardonnay Terre Siciliane IGP 2021.  CVA Canicatti was founded in 1969 in the wake of the Sicilian peasant movement.  From its beginnings, the project was supported by the local farmers and their regards to the cultural value of viticulture and wine.  Since the turn of the century the winery has been focused on enological excellence and the production aspects, with an investment in new technology and organization.  The wine is a blend of seventy-five percent Inzolia and twenty-five percent Chardonnay.  Inzolia for those attempting the Century Club (I know I should) is an old Sicilian variety, genetically related to Grillo, Frappato and Nerello Mascalese; and is also known in other parts of Italy as Ansonia, Ansonia Bianca, Anzulu, Insolia, Nsolia, Soria and Zolia Bianca.  Traditionally grown in Sicily for Marsala, but is now being used for white table wines, either as a varietal or blended.  This wine is grownN in south-west Sicily on sandy-silt soils, with an alkaline reaction due to the presence of limestone.  The wine is fermented for fifteen days in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel tanks with no Malolactic fermentation and then aged for six months in concrete tanks, bottled and held for one month prior to release.  This straw-yellow colored wine offers notes of ripe white and yellow fruits, and white florals.  On the palate this light-to-medium bodied, well-balanced wine displays tones of stone fruit, citrus and tropical fruits blending with natural acidity and ends with a medium-count finish of fruit and wet rocks.   

The second wine representing the New World is Silver Palm Cabernet Sauvignon California 2023.  The Silver Palm Wines was created in 1982 when Jess Jackson founded the Jackson Family Wines group.  The winery is part of a broader family-owned, small-batch, artisanal approach to winemaking.  The wine is a blend of eighty-nine percent Cabernet Sauvignon, ten percent Merlot and one percent Petite Sirah.  Most of the fruit comes from Mendocino County, but also from the Coastal AVA of California.  It has been aged for five months in a mix of French and American Oak.  The wine is described as a dark ruby color that offers notes of black cherries, anise, tobacco and dark chocolate.  On the palate the medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displays tones of blackberries and cherries, with cocoa blending with soft tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and toasted oak.

My Bride did a quick tasting while she was at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  She brought home some wines for the house and one she claimed was for my birthday in September.   I now have a bottle of Domaine de Riveyrac Rivesaltes Vin Doux Naturel 1976 in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France.  Domaine de Riveyrac was founded in January 1909, by an association of eight local vignerons, working in the cellars of Chateau de Salses; Salses-le-Chateau cooperative cellar, and one of the oldest in the Pyrenees-Orientales department.  The wines have been lauded by Voltaire and Rostand.  Vin Doux Naturel is an naturally sweet, lightly fortified French wine made by stopping fermentation early with Brandy (referred to as Mutage), preserving residual sugar and aromatic complexity.  The popularity of this wine slowed down in the 1950s, but because the cellars are so huge, they have been able to maintain inventories of many vintages in huge wooden casks, which can be undisturbed for many decades, and the wine is resistant to oxidation; because of that, I have had the good fortune of having wines older than myself.  The wine is a blend of forty percent Grenache Noir, thirty percent Grenache Blanc, ten percent Grenache Gris and twenty percent Macabeo; and has rested for forty-eight years.  The wine is mahogany in color and offers notes of yuzu, ginger and citrus, followed by burnt toffee and honey.  On the palate this well-balanced, full-bodied wine displays tones of yuzu, ginger, toffee and honey blending perfectly and ending with an elegant long-count finish of dried fruit, honey and toffee; without being cloying.  

Posted in Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mother’s Day in Las Vegas

Posted on June 3, 2026 by thewineraconteur

Our last event in Las Vegas, before we had to fly home and it was great that we could get as much of the family together one more time.  We had other reasons for this trip, so we went and chose restaurants that everyone knew and enjoyed; and there is a rumor that we may be returning sooner for a joyous occasion.  

We met everyone at Grape Café in Downtown Summerlin, which is a restaurant and wine bar, and even though we had reservations, the staff insisted that we have eighty percent of the crowd to get our table, we ended up commandeering the last table for eight and started ordering food for the crowd.  We began ordering some plates of New Zealand Mussels in a white wine sauce, Snow Crab stuffed Shrimp in a Scampi sauce, and Roasted Garlic Bulbs.  We got a bottle of Montevina Terra D’Oro Chenin Blanc & Viognier Clarksburg 2023.  This was the first winery established in Amador after Prohibition and founded in 1970, and the first release was 1973.  The name translates to “land of gold” for the Mother Lode that was discovered in the Gold Rush days.  In 1988, the Trinchero family, who had been purchasing their grapes, purchased the winery and the 240-acre vineyard.  The land is granite and iron-rich volcanic soil.  This soft golden-yellow wine offered notes of stone fruits and tropical fruits along with white florals.  On the palate this light-to-medium bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of Meyer lemon, Golden Delicious apples and dried apricots ending with a medium-count finish of lemon zest, fruit and terroir.

With eight dinners, it was hard to keep track of who had what, thankfully the waitress could.  After the appetizers, we ordered some salads to share: Sesame Ahi Tuna with Field Greens, Red Onion, Cucumber, Tomato, Feta, Wasabi Aioli and Soy-Ginger sauce, and Crab Louie with Bairdi Snow Crab, Hearts of Romaine, Red Onion, Kalamata Olives, Cherry Peppers, Cucumber, Tomato and Louie dressing (and there were a couple of other salads shared at the other end of the table).   We were still in a white wine mood, so we had a bottle of Alban Vineyards Viognier Central Coast 2024.  Alban Vineyards is one of the pioneers of Rhone influenced blends and varietals.  They have sixty-six acres in the Edna Valley which is in the southern corner of San Luis Obispo County.  John Alban purchased the land in 1990 as it best resembled the Rhone Valley to him.  They make two versions of Viognier, and the Central Coast version has fruit that is seventy-five percent from the Estate and blended with other contract fruit.  It is fermented and aged early in Stainless-Steel to maintain a fruit-forward flavor.  This dark straw to golden colored wine offered notes of stone fruit, honeysuckle and minerality.  On the palate this light-to-medium bodied wine displayed tones of apricots, white flowers and ends with a medium-count finish of fruit, ginger and terroir.  

For the entrée dishes, it was very eclectic from pizzas to burgers to steaks.  My Bride had the Grilled Salmon with Tarragon Butter sauce with Leek Mashed Potatoes and Ratatouille, while I went with Short Ribs with Mushroom Risotto, Sautéed Spinach and a Red Wine reduction sauce.  It was time for a bottle of red wine, so we had a bottle of Societa Agricola Le Monde Cabernet Franc Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2021, originally it was marketed and labeled as Vigneti Le Monde.  The winery began with Alex Maccan and his friends that grew up in the region.  The Le Monde vineyard is in an area shaped by the rivers that deposited calcareous-dolomitic materials from the mountains, which cover the underlying gravelly layers.  All the fruit comes from the estate vineyard, and the Cabernet Franc is hand-harvested.  After the crushing phase, the juice undergoes a slow, temperature-controlled fermentation with daily punch downs for about three weeks and then spends about ten months in Stainless Steel tanks prior to bottling.  This deep ruby red wine offered notes of black fruit, grass, bell pepper, coffee beans and chalk.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of dark fruit preserves, licorice and spices blending with medium tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit, spices, smoke and an earthiness of grass and hay.

Posted in Dining, Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Another Brunch at Echo & Rig

Posted on May 31, 2026 by thewineraconteur

It was a beautiful morning as we walked from our hotel to Tivoli Village to have brunch at Echo & Rig.  We always get there early, so that we can hopefully be the first ones to be seated, so that we can be comfortable, as we decided to eat indoors, but looking out onto the plaza, as the temperature had already climbed from the time we started out.  One of the joys of being in a desert. 

While we were waiting for the restaurant to open, we discussed the fine experience we had two days earlier, when we discovered that the bar was open, while the butcher shop had hours.  We also were happy that neither of us had a problem with the house-made hot dogs that we tried at the bar, as we had strayed into their Happy Hour period, before the restaurant opened at night, I guess you understand that we were enjoying ourselves at the bar.  We will repeat this date again, but my Bride did not like the Happy Hour Negroni, compared to her first one; a great lesson to remember. 

This entire trip on several levels was unique, as we didn’t try a single new restaurant, but went with tried-and-true locations.  We did order different though, my Bride had the Smoked Salmon Benedict with Crème Fraiche, Red Onions, Sautéed Greens, two Poached Eggs and Hollandaise on Crispy Potato Pancakes.  I went with the Filet Tenderloin Benedict, with Roasted Tomato, Asparagus, two Poached Eggs and Béarnaise on a Toasted English Muffin.  We also went with the Bottomless Mimosas, that we had initially discovered here; and I have finally decided that Orange Juice is dearer, compared to Charmat Method William Wycliff Winery “Brut” “American Champagne” NV, which is now part of Gallo (and they probably bought the winery for the designation).  A wine that was grandfathered in, so that it can claim the “American Champagne” designation and is I believe still made with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier.  Though we both decided that this current bottle of Brut was more Sec and sweeter compared to what we have at home, it was still fine.  Some aficionados of Mimosas claim that one only needs to waft the smell of the orange juice across the wine glass, but I still prefer my method of a tincture of orange juice is adequate.

 Afterwards, we celebrated Mother’s Day with as much of the family as possible.  So, in preparation we decided to go to Downtown Summerlin and spend the day shopping.  It was amazing that neither one of us bought anything, though we did get a lot of steps (walking) in the desert sun, though we were in and out shopping at boutiques and department stores.  We could have our unique morning, as everyone else was on Vegas time, and we still had to work on saving a table for eight, but we prevailed and onto the next story.     

Posted in Dining, Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Taking Everyone to the Bar for Dinner

Posted on May 28, 2026 by thewineraconteur

While we were still in Las Vegas, we really tried to monopolize the time with our kids.  While they were making final arrangements, we wanted to make sure that they were eating properly, after all, isn’t that one of the functions of being a parent?  We were also still on Detroit time, so if the bar at our hotel/casino opens at four o’clock, it is still seven o’clock for us, and we are used to eating at least by five.

Ever since My Favorite Daughter got married and the wedding was held at the Suncoast Casino and Hotel, we have been staying there, except for the odd times for a business trip.  The complex is in a major renovation that began last year, when we were in town and it is still on-going.  For ages, the hotel felt like a “senior citizen” complex, but no longer, as Summerlin now has the cachet for the region.   There was an Italian restaurant there, that I had originally ate at, when they were on The Strip.  Now, I was taking the crowd that was still in town there for dinner; two of the grandchildren had to get back to Detroit for either college or work.

The bar at William B’s Steakhouse opens at four, and the restaurant opens at five, but the bar menu had plenty of offerings.  The bar didn’t take reservations, and my memory only recalled booths for six, but I was hoping that they would find accommodation for a party of eight, and they did, in a little alcove just off the bar and technically in the restaurant, but I wasn’t going to complain.  We, just left it to each person to order, plus the grandchildren knew if they could order drinks or not, and they knew that their grandfather would turn a blind eye if they wanted some wine.  It was easy to get a couple of bottles of Tommaso Gambino Cuvée Brut Prosecco Veneto, Italy NV.  Gambino Prosecco was launched in 2015 and is owned by GV Liquid Group, Inc.  The Gambino winery is based in Sicily, but they also produce a Prosecco from the Treviso and Valdobbiadene regions.  The chalky soil of the Treviso area compliments the winery’s image of their wines in the shadow of Mt. Etna.  The Glera grapes are hand-harvested and then undergo gentle pressing to minimize any bitter tannin extraction.  Primary Fermentation is in Stainless-Steel temperature-controlled tanks, and the Secondary Fermentation occurs in pressurized tanks using the Charmat Method.  The entire process takes about forty days to maintain flavor freshness.   A soft-lemon colored wine with small to medium size bubbles offered notes of peaches, green apples, citrus with traces of bees wax, herbs and spices.  On the palate this light-to-medium, well-balanced sparkling wine displayed tones of green apples, passion fruit and lemon zest blending with some acidity, with a soft brioche and ending with a short-medium count finish of fruit, citrus and wet stones.

It was quite an evening of assorted seafood appetizers and dishes, and plenty of cheeseburgers, and may I opine, that I truly think that a steakhouse delivers the best burgers, along with classic salads and sides.  And then followed by assorted desserts, I know that this old curmudgeon had his fill, and I can also safely say that the assorted college age students and parents were also well fed.  Of course, these days I tend to have side-stepped desserts and go for some additional liquid enjoyment.  I had a glass of Taylor Fladgate Ten-Year-Old Tawny Porto NV.  Port or in Portuguese Porto gets its name from Oporto and the famed Douro Valley in northern Portugal. The name was changed to Porto, because of all the inexpensive wines that flooded the market years ago called Port. If you ever get a chance to see a fine list of Porto wines being offered you will be surprised that they all seem to have English or Scottish names in the brand, and that is because for years the chief market for Porto wines was England, though the rest of the world has caught up with it. There are several distinct types of this wine, and a Tawny is just one of them. A Tawny is a slightly lighter colored wine, hence the name, but especially in an older blended wine like this one, the nuances of the wine can be greatly appreciated; the other thing about a blended 10 Year old is that it can be enjoyed immediately as opposed to a Vintage Porto that may require another twenty years in the cellar to fully appreciate the complexity, and many consider a Vintage Porto to be one of the finest wines known to man. The most common varietals for this wine are Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and/or Tinta Barroca.  A deep amber colored wine with notes of dried fruits, almonds and chocolate.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed rich tones, but medium-sweetness of stewed and dried fruits and medium chocolate and ending with a long-count finish of dried fruits, nuts and a touch of caramel.

Posted in Dining, Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An Afternoon in a Butcher Shop

Posted on May 25, 2026 by thewineraconteur

After the funeral we had a quiet day to ourselves.  We have basically over the years charted about a 10K walk that we do, while in Las Vegas, and we usually end up in Tivoli Village for breakfast at a café. Later that day we walked back over to Tivoli to do some shopping, as I had noticed that they have an RH shop, and I have read about the wine and nibbles offered at most other locations, alas the one in Vegas did not offer such an amenity.

Our casino and hotel does not offer a watering hole, per se, and we lamented that the wine bar that used to be in Tivoli had not made it, during the lockdown period.  One year, we attended, just by happenchance, the Las Vegas Food & Wine Festival there.  I suggested that we try Echo & Rig, as I remember that they have a butcher shop and a bar on the main floor, while the restaurant is upstairs.  Sure enough, the bar was open and my Bride asked if she could have a Negroni.  The young lady behind the bar, asked if she preferred a certain Gin, and I casually mentioned maybe an Italian Gin, she suggested another and made her a Negroni using Black Forest Distillers Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin.  A good third of the ingredients come from the Black Forest of Germany, and they claim that the local lingonberries is their “secret weapon” that shines through their distillation and maturing in traditional earthenware containers.  I normally don’t drink Negronis, but it was a delightful choice and unique.  I looked it up while we were in Vegas, and the Gin is available in Michigan.

While my Bride had her enhanced Negroni, I decided to combat the desert heat with a glass of Chateau Minuty Cotes de Provence “M de Minuty” Rosé 2024.  Chateau Minuty has sixty-five hectares in Saint-Tropez and an additional fifteen hectares on the slopes of Val de Rians.  It is one of the Cru Classes of Provence, designated in 1955, but this effort never really took off, like it did in Bordeaux.  Cotes de Provence is the largest appellation in Provence, though it sounds like it should be a smaller designation. In 2009, the winery constructed a new tank room with temperature-controlled, Stainless-Steel tanks and each individual block has a designated tank and is fermented separately.   This wine is a negociant blended wine with their contract growers and is sixty percent Grenache, thirty percent Cinsault and ten percent Syrah. It undergoes cold pressing and fermentation, with no Malolactic Fermentation.  A very pale coppery-pink wine that offers notes of strawberries and cherries, citrus and white florals.  On the palate this light-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of red fruit, watermelon and peaches and ended with a crisp medium-count finish of fruit and herbs.

We then settled on having some sparkling wine, as we knew that we would be enjoying Mimosas later that weekend with brunch at Echo & Rig and they had introduced us to the appealing offer of a bottomless Mimosa. The sparkling wine that we enjoyed at the bar was Nino Franco Rustico Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG NV.  In 1919 Antonio Franco founded Cantine Franco Antonio Produttore e negoziante in vini.”  In 1966, his son Giovanni (Nino) changed the name to “Nino France di Franco Giovanni” and continued the production of red and white wines.  In 1971, Nino’s son Primo graduated from Scuola Enologica di Conegliano Veneto and began collaborating with the focus of producing Prosecco.  In 1979, Rustico changes from being a white wine aged on lees, to a Charmat Method sparkling wine.  Since then, Primo began other ventures in Prosecco, including vintages and single vineyards cuvee productions.  The company is now over a hundred years of age, making Prosecco wines, using the traditional Glera varietal on mid-elevation vineyards on calcareous substrates.  A straw-yellow colored wine with constant fine bubbles offered note of pears and white florals.      On the palate this sparkling wine displayed tones of white fruit and lemon zest with good acidity and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and a bit of saltiness.  

Posted in Wine | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How Do You Keep the Music Playing…

Posted on May 22, 2026 by thewineraconteur

This past trip to Las Vegas, while it was good to see my children and grandchildren, we were there to say our last goodbyes to their mother or their “baba.” I was also amazed at the red tape involved, as we had originally thought that we would do this a week earlier.  Municipalities and governments are on their own timetables.

My daughter lives there and my son moved back here about a year ago, but he and his wife flew out about three weeks earlier.  It was very surreal. I mean, sometimes I have felt like a professional mourner since my mother died when, I was fifteen and then my paternal grandmother died when I was sixteen.  Since that time, I have been constantly paying my respect, as I see fit.  There are still a few that are living in my parent’s era, and I am starting to see some of my older friends pass away.  It is much harder when one must attend a funeral for someone younger, even if they are a contemporary.  My children and a couple of their cousins made all the arrangements; I came in for support.  They had found a hall that would allow them to bring in their own food and caterer, as well as buying all the beverages.  We made quite a scene at one of the local liquor emporiums, and my Bride was also helping to coordinate incidentals for the two nights of mourning.

My main thoughts were for my children and to give them multiple types of support, whether they asked for it or not.  The first night, after the viewing at the funeral home they had music, Chinese food and the beverages; we did not go to the hall that evening, as we were still on Detroit time, and the viewing ended for us at midnight.  The next morning there was additional viewing at the funeral home, and I had to be the one to keep the timetable honored.  One of her nephews, who is an accomplished musician and lives in Paris, had just finished some concerts in Italy, and he flew out to pay his respects, he also played a tune that was requested, before we left for the church service.  He supplied the tradition, in the old days, the men would play their instruments as the mourners left the church to go to the hall for the honorary dinner; alas there were no musicians to maintain that tradition, so I appreciated her nephew’s gesture.   Her priest was very eloquent both at the cathedral and at the grave site.  I had my quota of fast food for the year that day, as I ate on the run, more concerned with the health of my children.  I was impressed that the planning of the two days still had the structure and feeling of the old days; which probably made it easier for all concerned. 

While we had delivered all the liquor and beer, the night before, I was told that I could bring a bottle of wine for our consumption.  I really wasn’t in the right frame of mind, and the proprietor of the hall, objected to my having the bottle on my table. My Bride reminded me that it is probably dram laws in the county or the state. At first I exploded, but then I calmed down, as my children didn’t need me to add to any additional aggravation.  I couldn’t eat, and as I reflect upon it, I don’t think that I have really eaten much at any family funerals, but only for friends or associates I have.   My Bride and I spent the day watching my children and grandchildren, and when we were sure that they were holding up, we left.  And all I could think of was the words of one of consistent funeral medleys for at least the last forty years that I can attest to “How do you keep the music playing…”       

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments