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.

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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.     

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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.

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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.  

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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…”       

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Lunch on the Water in Las Vegas – Part Two

Posted on May 19, 2026 by thewineraconteur

Marche Bacchus describes themselves as a touch of France on the lakes edge and that is a perfect description of being in the Desert Shores community.   We were having a grand afternoon kibbitzing with the wait staff, the manager and the sommelier.

We both decided to continue our light and leisurely lunch by having the Mini Beef Wellington with Truffle Aioli.  My Bride went with a glass of Bodegas Muga Rosado Rioja DOCa 2021.  Bodegas Muga is a family-owned estate, founded in 1932.  The estate is 250 hectares, the majority of which surround the town of Haro.  They have four fermentation rooms with wooden vats allowing them to process different parcels of grapes separately; and they are one of the only producers in Spain with their own cooperage.  The wine is a blend of sixty percent Grenache, thirty percent Viura and ten percent Tempranillo.  The vines for this wine come from two distinct areas.  The first is the Valle del Oja on calcareous clay soil, and the second is the Valle de Najerilla on ferrous clay soils.  The fruit is hand harvested, undergoes gentle maceration, and then is fermented for about twenty days.  Once the fermentation is complete the wine remains on the lees for sixteen weeks to enhance the body, smoothness and finish.  This coppery-pink wine offered notes of stone fruit, florals and citrus.  On the palate this light-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of subtle peaches, lemon and a touch of pepper blending with some acidity and ending with a medium-count finish of dry and savory fruit, terroir and spices.

I went with the Domaine Laroque Cabernet Franc, IGP Cite de Carcassonne 2022.  The IGP classification replaced the old Vin de Pays to make France align to the other members of the Common Market.   The IGP Cite de Carcassonne is a large area in the Languedoc region and encompasses eighteen communes and allows all three colors of wines.  The average age of the vines for this wine is thirty years, and this area has been producing wines from the Sixth Century.  The soil in this area is clay and limestone and hillside vineyards.  A dark garnet-red wine that offered notes of red cherries, raspberries and strawberries along with the funky notes of bell peppers.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed soft, mellow red fruits blending with soft tannins and ending with a short-to-medium count finish of fruit.

As our charming afternoon was coming to an end, we shared a plate of Chocolate Silk Tart with Blood-Orange Sorbet.  My Bride was delighted that they had decaf Cappuccino and I went with (and yes, we shared) a glass of Royal Tokaji Company Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Aszu Hungary 2018 and is a newcomer to the region.  The winery was founded in 1990 in the village of Mad by the English wine writer Hugh Johnson, along with the English wine trader Ben Hawkins and Anglo-Danish winemaker Peter Vinding-Diers.  The wine is a blend of Furmint, Harslevelu and Muscat and these varietals have been famous for the dessert wine since the classification at the end of the 17th Century.  The vineyards are at the convergence of two rivers, that encourage morning mists and the perfect environment for botrytis to flourish.  The vines are approximately twenty years in age and have such low yield, that during some vintages one vine may only produce one glass of wine.  The Aszu grapes are picked berry by berry and placed in small baskets, where they are crushed and then fermented in large Hungarian Oak barrels with natural yeasts. A 5 Puttonyos basket is about 24kgs of Aszu berries added to each Gonci (136L cask). The wine is aged for twenty-four months in used oak barrels, and then an additional ten months of bottle ageing.   A soft amber colored wine that offers notes of peaches, plums, apricots, freesia and jasmine.  On the palate this full-bodied wine displayed tones of ripe fruit, crisp acidity, well-balanced and ending with a medium-to-long finish of candied fruit, botrytised fruit and a touch of oxidation.  A curiosity about labeling is that wine for the USA still has red borders, while the rest of the world gets a blue border; this is left over from the old Soviet Monimpex days.

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Lunch on the Water in Las Vegas – Part One

Posted on May 16, 2026 by thewineraconteur

Our first day in Las Vegas was just for the two of us, as the kids were making plans for their mother, and we didn’t want to interfere, but we let them know that we would help them.  I suggested that we have lunch at Marche Bacchus, a wine shop, wine bar and restaurant way off The Strip on one of the lakes.  If you don’t know that there are lakes in Las Vegas, that is understandable, as Howard Hughes built them. 

I felt like an historian there as I had mentioned to the staff about the black swans, and about the pickup truck that crashed in their front door.  Some had heard about one or the other, but none had been there that long.  We started going there in 2017, and it was where we took two of our grandchildren for their high school graduation dinner, and I would let them taste some wine with the meals, like a good grandfather.  My Bride insisted that we start out with Seared Fois Gras with a seasonal clafoutis (a custard-like battered pastry with fruit and liqueur).  Naturally, we had to pair this dish with Sauternes, and this time it was Chateau Roumieu Sauternes 2023 from the Haut Barsac region.  The estate was founded in 1896 and is fifteen hectares in size, nestled in a microclimate influenced by the Ciron River, which creates morning mists ideal for the development of Botrytis Cinerea, the “noble rot” that makes Sauternes famous.  The name Roumieu is from medieval times when the Moors referred to the Christians, on their pilgrimages and the shell represent Saint Jacques.  The Chateau uses a classic blend of eighty-nine percent Semillon, ten percent Sauvignon Blanc and one percent Muscadelle.  The fruit is hand-harvested to select the berries at the height of the noble rot, then gently pressed and then undergoes a slow fermentation and then aged in French Oak for at least eighteen months.  A deep golden-yellow colored wine that offered notes of tropical fruits, white flowers, spices and herbs and a whiff of honey.  On the palate the medium-to-full bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of peach, mango and pineapple, along with mandarin and tangerines, blending with some bright acidity and ending with a nice long-count finish of candied fruit, a whisp of smokiness and chamomile.     

We then went with orders of Steamed Mussels in a spicy coconut broth, Thai chili, Thai basil and Espelette Pepper and the dish offered quite some pep.  We differed on what we wanted, so my Bride went with Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Reserve Champagne NV and in the old days, this wine was known as the White Star.  Moet & Chandon is one of the most famous Champagne houses in Epernay as they produce around sixty million bottles a year, and between their estate lands and the contract growers they have 1,150 hectares of vines in the region.  The house was founded by Claude Moet in 1743.  In the 1970s and 80s, they partnered with the Cognac house of Hennessy and the fashion house of Louis Vuitton, creating the luxury brand of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy or LVMH.  They also make sparkling wines in California, Argentina, Brazil and Australia and soon in India and China.  The wine is a blend of thirty-five percent Pinot Noir, thirty-five percent Chardonnay and thirty percent Pinot Meunier; created from a hundred different wines, of which 20 -30% are reserve wines.  This soft golden straw-yellow wine with a steady flow of tiny bubbles offered notes of green apples, citrus, white flowers and brioche.  On the palate the full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of pears, peaches and apples with crisp acidity and a medium-to-long count finish of fruit and brioche.

I on the other hand decided to enjoy a glass of La Mesma Etichetta Nera Monterotondo Gavi del Commune di Gavi DOCG 2023.  This estate began in 2001, by three sisters, whose mother insisted that if they have a house, they should have a winery in the Gavi region.  The land is one hundred hectares, but only twenty-five hectares is vineyards, the rest is a forest.  Of the twenty-five hectares, fifteen are in Monterotondo and ten in the Tassarolo.  The three Rosina sisters are Paola, an art historian, Francesc, a biologist and Anna, a lawyer.  The vineyards are only planted with Cortese.  The red soils of Gavi are gravels mixed with clay from ancient alluvial deposits.  The vineyards in Tassarolo are aged from 18 to 55 years on slopes, about 300 meters above sea level.  Whereas the vineyard in Monterotondo di Gavi has white limestone soil and tuffaceous patches at an altitude of 350 meters above sea level and offers more minerality.  The fruit is manually harvested, then undergoes soft pressing and fermentation is done in temperature-controlled cement tanks.  After fermentation is complete the wine rests on the lees for at least a year, with batonage aimed at bringing the lees in constant suspension.  A deep straw-yellow to golden color, this wine offered notes of peaches, citrus, white florals, hay and wet stones.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed notes of white fruits and citrus in a crisp, acidic and dry wine that ends with a good medium-count finish of fruit, terroir, bitter almonds with a touch of honey and lemon zest.  

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Not a Festive Trip to Las Vegas

Posted on May 13, 2026 by thewineraconteur

One morning I had to post for friends and family “This morning just after five, my children informed me that their mother is in the arms of God.”  Then we had to wait until the slow trudging of a local bureaucracy turned, so that plans could be made.

We had to travel to Las Vegas, a place that I have been going to for years, but not for a solemn occasion but to be of support to my children and grandchildren.  We ended up booking for a week, and I was not in the best of spirits for this trip.  The airlines are going out of their way to make air travel miserable, on top of the fact that an airline just ceased, causing all sorts of added people to rebook their flights.  At least the TSA situation was corrected, but we do get to the airport early and find a restaurant as I don’t live on crackers and cookies.  The best my we could accomplish was center seats, with us seated one in front of the other.  We were able to travel with one bag each overhead, plus one personal bag, and then one suitcase each to be carried as cargo.  We also had to plan to transport a suit for my son, and one for his son.  I do think the airline must have added three additional rows of seats, as it was nearly impossible to get into and out of our assigned seats; any additional seats and I think that we will all be standing and just holding a strop above the head like in a subway.  I think that we were the only travelers that still maintained the dress of the old days of junkets, habits don’t disappear.

We were making arrangements to see as many of the family, the first evening at Grimaldi’s an Italian pizzeria and restaurant.  We have been going there for years, at least once on each trip.  In fact, one of my favorite photos that I ever shot was in the parking lot of the restaurant, as I got a chance to capture snow on palm trees.  It was just easy to order family style, and we started with their Lemon Arugula Salad with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini, red onions, shaved Parmesan along with Genoa Salami and Roasted Chicken.  We also had a couple of extra large classic (at least to me – classic) Pizza, the only thing missing was anchovies, which surprisingly they don’t offer).  

My Bride wanted a lighter wine as we had a long day, so I ordered a bottle of The Crossings Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough, New Zealand 2023. The Crossings is owned by the Yealands Wine Group.  The fruit is sourced from three vineyards in the cooler Awatere Valley, a subregion of Marlborough.  The Crossings takes its name from an historical crossing point of the Awatere River.  The wine is made using a “long, cool fermentation to retain purity of flavors, then blended, stabilized and filtered prior to bottling. The light golden colored wine offered notes of tropical fruits, citrus and herbs and mowed grass.  On the palate this light-to-medium bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of fruit, fresh acidity with a low proof count, and a refreshing short-to-medium count finish of lemon peel, a touch of jalapeno and white pepper, and minerality.    

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Willie Newman Introduces Sisters

Posted on May 10, 2026 by thewineraconteur

When Willie Newman was at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan offering a tasting of his Tre Son wines, he also had the world premier of his new wine Sisters. 

Willie Newman is getting ready to retire from his current vocation that keeps him in Ann Arbor, Michigan and he has plans to retire to Paso Robles, California to retire and make his wines.  I am not sure how much of a true retirement it is, but he seems eager.  This is a new wine, and the fruit is from his 4 Hearts Vineyard, that is named after his wife and his three daughters.  Since he has been concerned with his Zinfandel and his Cabernet Sauvignon wines since his debut in 2009.  I have even had a chance to try his “Stash” wines that were not offered for sale but was a way to show how his wines age in the bottles and cellars.

This tasting featured “swag” for the premier of Sisters, and I have just never quite gotten used to “swag” now meaning gifts, as I still think of swag as booty, from the old pirate stories of yore.  There were T-shirts and quilted vests.  Also wine tumblers and wine keys.  Not to mention canvas tote bags and a handsome wine caddy.  The items were gifts given according to the amount of wine purchased. 

We then tasted Sisters Dry Farm Blend Red Wine 4 Hearts Vineyard Paso Robles 2023.  And if you noticed on the label, in the lower scroll of each “S” were emblems of a hand holding “the sun,” “the moon” and “the planet Mars.”  The three daughters were also on hand pouring the tastings and each modeling their singular tattoo of the sun, moon or Mars.  The wine is a blend of thirty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twenty-five percent Petite Sirah, twenty-five percent Zinfandel and fifteen percent Tempranillo.  This deep garnet colored wine offered notes of black cherry, plums and black raspberry, followed by spices.  On the palate this medium-to-full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black “jammy” fruits,  blending with smooth tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruits, and white pepper.   

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Willie Newman and a New Tasting

Posted on May 7, 2026 by thewineraconteur

Willy Newman is a businessman from Ann Arbor, and I remember the first time that I tasted his Tre Son wines, was at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan back in 2018 and I was told that it was an exclusive to the wine shop.  In August of 2021 was the next time that I tried the wine, and it was an impromptu tasting with the owner of the winery and the first time that I met Willie Newman. 

We started with Dunning Vineyards Chardonnay Paso Robles/Willow Creek District 2023.  They are neighbors of Tre Son Wines, and they do the crushing and wine production for Tre Son as well as their own wines. So, Willie Newman always begins by showcasing this wine and gives them some much appreciated attention in Michigan.   Bob and Jo-Ann Dunning are the winemakers and owners of this forty-acre estate which was established in 1991 on the west side of Paso Robles.  The winery produces about fifteen-hundred cases a year using several different varietals.  This Chardonnay wine is produced in the classic Burgundian style with full oak barrel fermentation and sur-lees aged for one year.  This was a golden-yellow wine that offered notes of pear and citrus, nutmeg and vanilla.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of white fruit, citrus and had a nice creamy taste with balanced acidity and layers of flavor that opened and ended with a medium-count finish of fruit, citrus and terroir.

We then were treated to a vertical tasting of Tres Son Zinfandel Paso Robles, 4 Hearts Vineyard 2020, 2021 and 2022.  Tre Son Winery is the label from 4 Hearts Vineyard in Paso Robles.  My wine shop helped design the label and helped secure the proper paperwork in the Byzantine labyrinth, that is how Michigan can sell wines.  The vineyard was bought in 2004, which at the time was a walnut ranch, and the first fifteen acres of thirty-seven were planted in 2007, of which ten acres were Zinfandel.  The vineyard is owned by the gentleman Willie Newman who hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan who now divides his time between Michigan with his current business and residing in Paso Robles which will eventually be his retirement home and business.  The 4 Hearts refer to his wife and his three daughters.  When one considers the tender young age of this vineyard, it is well respected by some other wineries that use their fruit.  Some of the wineries listed by the vineyard include some of their earliest purchasers like Dunning Vineyard, Saxum Vineyards and Venteux Vineyards and many others.  I have had tasted the Zinfandel wines since the 2009 vintage, including the 2010 “Private Stash.” I will discuss the Tre Son Zinfandel 4 Heart Vineyard Paso Robles 2022. The wine is aged for twelve months in neutral French Oak to allow the grape to shine as opposed to the spices inherent in the oak.  This deep purple wine offered notes of black fruit and pepper.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black cherry and plums, not a fruit bomb, but a nice chewy wine that featured good, but young tannins and ended with a good medium-count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.

We then had the Tre Son Cabernet Sauvignon 4 Hearts Vineyard Paso Robles 2022, and Willie Newman joined me, as he said that he hadn’t tasted this wine since it arrived in Michigan.  The wine was aged for six months in a mix of new and neutral French Oak barrels.  The winery uses the dry-farming techniques, and I am not sure if this was the cause for my notes, but I wrote “great terroir.” This deep garnet colored wine offered notes of black cherry, blackberry, cassis and plums followed with spices and earth.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced displayed tones of dark fruit, spices blending with supple tannins ending with a good medium-count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.

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