After the Club Pickup

Posted on October 13, 2026 by thewineraconteur

I was just chatting a bit, a discussing some wines that I saw online, while I was at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  I tend to be a bit of talker, in case you hadn’t noticed and the next thing I knew, there were five wines pulled out and a wine glass, and I will mention the last three. 

The first wine that I will mention is Hourglass Wines Blueline Estate Merlot Napa Valley 2023, and I do have a natural affinity to Merlot.  Hourglass Wines is a small California winery known for quality wines and limited production.  It was founded in the 1990s by Jeff Smith, who take over farming the vineyard that his father Ned had planted in the Seventies.  The original vineyard was five acres which first was planted with Zinfandel and sold to other producers, and in 1992 it was replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon.  The name Hourglass was named for the topography of the vineyard shaped by the Mayacamas Range and the first vintage was 1997.  In 2006, they expanded with the purchase of the twenty-two-acre Blueline Vineyard that was planted with Bordeaux style blending grapes, and they have since added Sauvignon Blanc as well.  Hourglass Vineyard is in St. Helena and the Blueline Estate is in Calistoga, and the wines carry the Napa Valley AVA.  The wines are sold through allocation via a mailing list, similar to other smaller wineries in the area. This wine is a blend of eighty percent Merlot, seventeen percent Cabernet Sauvignon and one percent each of Malbec, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc grown on gravelly Cortina River Wash soils.  The grapes are destemmed with fifty percent crushed berries, and the others underwent a two-day cold soak, and fermented on skins.  The wine is aged for twenty months in French Oak, of which sixty-five percent was new; with a production of 625 cases.  A deep garnet colored wine that offered notes of dark plums, red and black cherries and crème de cassis with trace notes of mandarin orange, black olives, hazelnuts cocoa and crushed stones.  This full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of red and black fruits featuring plums and cassis blending with rich acidity and supple tannins ending with a long-count finish of deep fruit, spices and a minerally terroir.

We then had an Azienda Agricola Talenti Rosso di Montalcino DOC  2024.  Azienda Agricola Talenti is a Tuscan winery just south of Montalcino, founded in 1980 by Pierluigi Talenti and is now by his grandson Riccardo. The estate is twenty-one hectares of which sixteen is planted with Sangiovese Grosso and the balance is a mix of indigenous and international varieties; planted on southeast facing soils of sandy loam, limestone plates and heavy stones.  The fruit is hand-harvested and sorted on a vibrating table, then the wine is fermented in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel vats.  The wine is then aged in large casks of either Slavonian or French Oak, followed by additional aging in the bottle before release.   The deep ruby-red colored wine offered notes of ripe cherry, sour cherry and plum followed by violets and spices.  On the palate this medium-to-full bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of red and black fruits, blending with some bright acidity and silky tannins ending with a long-count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.    

We then had Chateau de Camensac Haut-Medoc 2010 and when you look at the label questioningly, this wine is a Fifth Growth from the 1855 Classification of the Medoc.  The estate is by St.-Laurent-et-Benon and just over the border from Saint-Julien.  The vineyard is documented from the 17th Century, but the estate was   established in 1799, when it was sold at auction after the French Revolution to Joseph Popp, a Hamburg-born merchant.  At one point in its history it was owned by the Forner family, a Rioja based family of Marques de Caceres fame.  It was purchased from them in 2005 by the Merlaut family who also own chateaux Chasse-Spleen and Gruaud-Larose.  The estate is seventy hectares of vines planted to Cabernet Sauvignon.  The soil is predominantly gravel or sandy gravel for the Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Merlot is planted in blocks around the borders of the property on chalky clay.  The wine is sixty percent Cabernet Sauvignon and forty percent Merlot.  The fruit is manually harvested, sorted and fermentation takes place in both temperature-controlled Concrete and Stainless-Steel tanks for six days, followed by three weeks of maceration and daily pumping.  After the blending of the grapes, Malolactic Fermentation occurs in French Oak, of which forty percent is new, for about eighteen months.  Fining with egg white and a final racking before bottling.  This deep garnet/purple colored wine offered notes of black cherry, black currants and plums followed by some whiffs of tobacco and cedar.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of rich cherries and plums, followed by distinct black pepper accents blending with good acidity and velvety tannins ending with an elegant long-count finish of fruit, pepper and some terroir.  

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Fine Wine Source Club – October 2026

Posted on October 10, 2026 by thewineraconteur

It was a pleasant trip to go visit The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan and pick up the Wine Club selections that are curated by the owner and his staff.  It is always a trip to look forward to, because one never knows what to expect.   This time there were two white wines.

Representing the Old World was La Bioca “Cyrogrillo” Langhe Rossese Bianco 2023.  La Bioca is a small winery in the Langhe near Serralunga d’Alba.  The winery has eight hectares of vineyards located in Monforte d’Alba, Novello, La Morra and Barbaresco.  The word “Bioca” is a Piedmontese local word to describe a decisive person with a “tough head.”   Their first vintage was in 2012.  Rossese is a mildly aromatic red grape variety found in Liguria, and along the Riviera in southern France to the Franco-Italian border.  It is rather rare to be seen on its own, and is often blended with Sangiovese, though a few wineries are staunch supporters of this grape.  There is a mutation of this grape known as Rossese Bianco, the most famous being Rossese di Dolceacqua.  This wine is a blend of eighty-five percent Rossese Bianco and fifteen percent Manzoni Bianco.  The fruit is manually harvested, destemmed, and softly pressed without maceration.  The wine is fermented in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel tanks, and the two juices are vinified separately on the lees for about five months, and then the two wines are blended about two months prior to bottling.  This straw-yellow wine offered notes of lemon, chamomile, white florals, herbs, cut grass and minerals.  On the palate this light-bodied wine displayed tones of lemon-lime citrus, white pepper, traces of vanilla, good acidity with an oily-like texture and ending with a medium-count finish citrus and terroir.

The club selection representing the New World is from an old friend of the shop Korbin Ming who began producing Moonbeam Chardonnay Massa Vineyard Carmel Valley 2023, which is produced by Moonridge Vineyard, the parent company and estate of Korbin Kameron Winery.  Even the labeling is different and depicts a line drawing of Korbin’s dog Kiera.  While the wines of Korbin Kameron are from the family estate on Mount Veeder, this is a completely new venture, using the Massa Vineyard in Carmel Valley, with an elevation of 1,500 feet and ten miles from the Pacific Ocean.  Massa Vineyard was formerly Heller Estate and was a very early champion of dry farming and organic farming.  The Chardonnay rootstock was planted in the 1970s of unknown Chardonnay clones.  This wine was produced using an Oxidative Fermentation, with SO2 after fermentation to bring color back and to block Malolactic Fermentation.   The wine was aged for eighteen months on gross lees in Neutral Oak and Stainless-Steel drums with no lees stirring and racked to tank for bottling.  Oxidative Fermentation is like a controlled process found in Sherry or Vin Juane.  This initial wine created seventy-five cases produced and The Fine Wine Source purchased the entire lot.  This pale golden colored wine offered subtle notes of caramel and toasted almonds.  On the palate this light-to-medium bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of muted green apples and melons, with astringency and ending with a medium-count finish of soft fruit and nuts.  A very low-key and interesting Chardonnay. 

I will now mention the other wine that I tasted after I had picked up the September wine club selection.  We gathered around a table and tasted Chateau Haut-Batailley Pauillac 2016.  Chateau Haut-Batailley has the status of a Fifth Growth from the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux. It was once part of the larger Chateau Batailley, and it was bought in 1932 by the Borie brothers, who divided the property in two, for inheritance reasons.  The smaller estate without a physical chateau was named Haut-Batailley and later added purchased plots from Chateau Duhart-Milon.  The estate is now twenty-two hectares, and the Borie family also owns Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou and Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste. In 2017 it was purchased by the Cazes family.  According to my research this was a blend of seventy percent Cabernet Sauvignon, thirty percent Merlot with a small percentage of Cabernet Franc (about five percent) (sic).  The wine began its fermentation process in thermoregulated Stainless-Steel vats and then aged for sixteen months in French Oak, of which sixty-five percent was new.  A deep garnet colored wine that offered notes of black and red fruit, cedar and graphite.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of red cherry, currant, blueberry and cassis followed by cedar, graphite and crushed stones blending with firm tannins and ending with a nice long-count finish of fruit, a touch of tobacco and terroir; this wine is ready to drink or will still hold for more cellaring.      

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Working In the Cellar Again

Posted on October 7, 2026 by thewineraconteur

If you are like me, the best part of wine is tasting it and enjoying it.  I think next, I like to talk about the wines and maybe write about them as well, and hopefully you have noticed.  Next, I like to purchase wines, especially when I am with the Exchequer, because she likes to shop.  Then if you are like me, perhaps the worst part is the physical part of labeling tags and finding a suitable slot to store the wines.

A couple of years back, there was a bit of a potential calamity, where we had a governor that wanted us to wear a mask while swimming, but that is water that has flowed past the dam.  I only mention it, because it gave me time to get motivated and discover what I may have overlooked, and we lost about eight bottles that the drain in the sink enjoyed.  I discovered a few bottles that I thought were destined for the sink, but I was wrong: a Darioush Chardonnay 2000 and a Darioush Viognier 2001 that were both excellent and fresh as a daisy.  If you only follow me here, you may not know that I on social media sites I have been running a series of “stories” called “From My Cellar,” not to brag, but to let me know what I have there.

I began with the red wines, and pulled every bottle out, made sure that the tag was right and then rearranged the cellar and filled in holes from purchases that we still had in cases.  And yes, I found wines that I had forgotten about, including a nifty six-pack of Darioush Cabernet Sauvignon 1999.  I am not ready to claim senility, but there is a lot of wine that we have acquired over the years.  Now, in my retirement, we must start enjoying even more wine and purchasing less.  We now have only one wine club that we maintain, another one was stopped by the club, because even though Michigan and the country celebrated Granholm vs. Heald and Michigan stopped being a felony state for wine deliveries, we are a felony state once again.  I removed the white wines entirely from our family room, where we have a wine vault, and I reboxed all the wines by vintage.  I then restocked the wine vault starting with non-vintage wines, and then with the oldest vintages, so that I can pull those first during dinners and discover if we have a winner or a loser. 

The rest of the wines, red, white and rosé, have been boxed up in the basement outside of the cellar and the wine vault due to lack of space.  The red wines in storage are boxed by Old World and New World, to facilitate my filling gaps in the wall, as the cellar is set up that way.  My collection of after dinner and dessert wines are also separated for ease of selection, as well as the sparkling wines that were stored all over the place. The wine vault has white wine from 2019 and earlier, and the newer vintages are boxed regardless of Old or New World.  And believe it or not, there are still some cubby holes of assorted what-evers that I still must enter.  I began The Wine Raconteur while I was still gainfully employed, but with the anticipation of giving myself something to keep me occupied when I retired.  Thank God for retirement, and here is to enjoying more wines for new articles.    

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Tasting of Fattoria La Gerla – Part Two

Posted on October 4, 2026 by thewineraconteur

The crowd at my designated time slot at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan was thoroughly enjoying the moment.  There were two representatives from Chicago and one locally representing Fattoria La Gerla, which is the only family-owned property in Montalcino working with the original Biondi Santi Sangiovese clones.  The winery, besides producing wine, also makes Grappa and Olive Oil.

The last three wines of the tasting were all Brunello di Montalcino designated wines.  The first was Fattoria La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019.  This Sangiovese Grosso (Brunello) wine is from vines that average thirty years in age, and the vines under intense pruning to limit only a few bunches per plant, manual harvesting and then the fruit is sorted on tables.  Once sorted the fruit is soft pressed, and the juice undergoes fermentation and maceration for fifteen days in temperature-controlled vats.  Then the wine is aged for twenty-four months in Slavonian Oak barrels in assorted sizes and then bottle aged for twelve months prior to being released.  This deep ruby colored wine offered notes of plums, cherries and strawberries, followed by violets, and then some citrus, tobacco, baking spices and Sous-bois.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of dark fruits, vanilla and cloves blending with rich acidity and firm tannins and ending with a long-count finish of fruits, spices and terroir.  Ready for drinking or continued cellaring.

The penultimate wine was Fattoria La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Gli Angeli 2019.  This is the flagship of the estate from their Vigna gli Angeli (Vineyard of the Angels) which was first planted at Colombaio in 1965; this wine is only produced in exceptional vintages and made with the concept of long cellaring.  This wine is pure Sangiovese Grosso (Brunello) and the vines average fifty-five years of age, and they undergo intense pruning of only a few bunches per plant, manually harvested and then additional selection of grapes on a selection table.  The grapes are soft pressed, fermentation and maceration for fifteen days in temperature-controlled vats with macro-oxygenation.  The wine is aged for four years in Slavonian Oak barrels and then aged an additional twelve months in bottle before release; there were 8,100 bottles produced.  A deep ruby colored wine that offered notes of dark fruits, violets, citrus and vanilla with Sous-bois and a trace of camphor.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balance wine displayed tones of rich fruit compote, citrus and vanilla, followed by cloves, and other herbs and spices blending with fresh acidity, firm tannins and a dash of salinity ending with a very long-count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.  A very serious wine that probably should have more time in the cellar, and from talking to the representatives, this may be the last of the allotment, and it sounded like it was all sold out, save the bottle for tasting.

The last wine of the tasting was Fattoria La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Pieve 2020.  La Pieve Vineyard was planted in 1997 on slopes between two hills and above an old marble quarry.  The average age of the vines are twenty-five years of Sangiovese Grosso (Brunello) and the vines undergo intensive pruning to enable only a few bunches per plant, hand harvested and then the grapes are put on a selection table for the final pick. The grapes are soft pressed, and fermentation and maceration in a temperature-controlled vat and then aged for twenty-four months in Slavonian Oak barrels, with an additional eight months of bottle aging before release; with a production of 6,450 bottles.  A deep ruby-red colored wine that offered notes of red and black fruit, violets, balsamic and eucalyptus.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of red and black fruits, with plenty of herbs and spices blending with vibrant acidity and fine tannins and ending with a long-count finish of fruit, herbs and terroir.  I think this wine tasted in its youth, needs some more time to mature.

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A Tasting of Fattoria La Gerla – Part One

Posted on October 1, 2026 by thewineraconteur

I had the good fortune to attend a tasting of six wines from Fattoria La Gerla of Montalcino in Tuscany, all featuring wines only made with Sangiovese grapes and this was at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  The estate began when Sergio Rossi bought eleven and half hectares of vineyards and two hectares of olive groves from the Biondi Santi family in 1976. While Sergio Rossi passed away in 2011, but his family maintains his commitment to the land and the products.  Many of the wines we tasted carried scored between 94 and 100 points.

We started with Fattoria La Gerla Poggio Gli Angeli IGT Toscana Sangiovese Montalcino 2023.  The vineyard Poggio Gli was initially planted in 1965, and then in 1985 and 2022; with the average age of the vines being fifteen years.  The vines are maintained with deep pruning, harvested by hand, loose grape pressing with fifteen days of maceration on skins in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel vats.   The wine was then aged for four months in large Slavonian Oak barrels and then an additional two months in the bottle before being released.  A ruby-red colored wine that offered notes of sour cherries and mulberries, with lilacs and almonds.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of fresh fruit, crisp acidity blending with firm tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of slightly bitter fruit, almonds and terroir.

The next wine was Fattoria La Gerla Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023.  This is a classic interpretation of the Sangiovese with the DOC marque.  The average age of the vines are twenty years, and they undergo intense pruning to limit only a few bunches per plant, harvested by hand.  The Initial Fermentation and maceration on the skin for approximately fifteen days in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel vats.  The wine is aged for six months in Stainless-Steel, then six months in large Slavonian Oak barrels, and then six months in bottle, before distribution.  This dark ruby-red colored wine offered notes of cherry and raspberry, followed by some violets, spices, leather and Sous-bois.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balance wine displayed tones of rich fruit blending with good acidity and refined tannins and ending with medium-to-long count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.

We then went with Fattoria La Gerla “Birba” IGT Toscana Sangiovese Montalcino 2021.  “Birba” is Italian for “Rascal” and this was an experimental wine created originally by Sergio Rossi, to try to age some Brunello in a French Oak barrique, the first year one barrique and now this wine has a production of seven thousand bottles; but by changing the rules it carries an IGT Toscana Sangiovese designation.  The average age of the vines for this wine is thirty years, and the vines undergo intensive pruning of only a few bunches per plant, hand-harvested, and hand selection of grapes on the selection table, followed by soft pressing of the grapes.  Fermentation and maceration is for fifteen days in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel vats, then aged for fourteen months in French Oak barriques (a third new), and then fourteen months in bottle, before release.  This deep ruby-red colored wine offered notes of cherry and strawberry, rose petals, vanilla and traces of licorice and cinnamon. On the palate this medium-full bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of cherries and strawberries, followed by vanilla, black tea and sweet spices blending with velvety tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit, spice and a touch of graphite terroir.     

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My Official Birthday Dinner

Posted on September 28, 2026 by thewineraconteur

We finally go to the destination of the evening to actually celebrate my seventy-second birthday.  It was a day early, but I was accommodating my Bride who had planned a girls-outing, with my blessing.  Her one cousin was accompanying us, as she was spending the night, so that they could leave early the next day. We were at The Earle in Ann Arbor, Michigan and seated in the French Room surrounded by dusty dead soldiers of classic wines that had been imbibed over the years. 

Her cousin was not sure how the dinner would proceed, so we started noshing, first with Roasted Garlic, then we split the Panzanella salad of cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, basil capers and anchovies with Tuscan-style hard bread.  Her cousin had the Stuffed Chicken Breasts stuffed with Pesto, seared and roasted, finished in a sauce of white wine, tomato, shallots and basil, served or orzo.  My Bride had the Veal Scallopini, lightly breaded and sautéed with garlic, mushrooms, prosciutto and sage; deglazed with Marsala and lemon, finished with butter and served with orzo and asparagus.  As for me, I was a true creature of habit and had the Coquilles St. Jacques al crème de Xeres, but now listed as Sea Scallops sautéed with mushrooms and garlic, pan sauced with Sherry and cream with a Ruby wild-rice blend. 

It was rather easy to select a wine for the table, though I have to tell you, that the wine list is a huge looseleaf binder with pages printed on both sides.  I thought that a bottle of Cave des Vignerons de Buxy Montagny Buissonnier Blanc Cote Chalonnaise 2022 sounded interesting for the three dinner entrée choices.  The Cave des Vignerons was founded in 1931, a federation of winegrowers to make fine wines and to promote the region.  Today, it is a group of 120 wine growers, with 42 employees, and sell seven million bottles of wine each year.  On June 2, 2015, the Cave des Vignerons de Buxy and the Caves Bailly-Lapierre joined forces to create “La compagnie de Burgondie” to increase their position in the Greater Burgundy region.  The soils of Montagny are homogenous and enjoy an eastern exposure of calcareous clay which is ideal for Chardonnay grapes.  The Chardonnay grapes are from the Premier Cru Buissonnier, and the grapes are destemmed and aged entirely on fine lees in Stainless-Steel vats to preserver freshness and minerality.  This light golden colored wine offered notes of Fuji apples, pears, peaches and citrus, followed by white florals, honey, almonds and hazelnuts.  On the palate this medium-to-full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of tree fruit and spices, blending with crisp acidity ending with a medium-to-long count finish of a creamy texture of tropical fruits, nuts, spices and an enjoyable mineral terroir.

While the ladies were enjoying some deserts and coffee, the birthday boy enjoyed a glass of C. da Silva Presidential Vintage Porto 1997.  In 1933, Clemente da Silva, recently arrived from Brazil to make premium wines.  The following year he registered the Dalva brand (a contraction of “da Silva”).  He ended up through marriage to the company Correa Ribeiro e Filhos, founded in 1862, and owned by his wife’s family.  The wine is a classic blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Sousao and some odd lost varieties in the lore books.  The fruit is manually harvested and destemmed.  Maceration lasts for forty-eight hours to maximize the qualities derived from the skin.  The wine is fermented in temperature-controlled vats and then halted by the addition of wine brandy, and then aged for two years, prior to bottling. A deep red-amber colored wine that offered notes of red fruit compote, followed by cigar box cedar, smokiness and chocolate.  On the palate, this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black cherry and blueberry, brown sugar, caramel and chocolate blending with velvety tannins and ending with a long-count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.       

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Seventy-two Times Around the Sun

Posted on September 25, 2026 by thewineraconteur

Somehow, seventy-two doesn’t seem that old nowadays, or maybe I am just placating myself.  Maybe it is because I do know that I am no longer a spring chicken, but I keep going.  Some people try to hide the fact or deny it, as you can see, I don’t.  We actually started celebrating it last month, or at least my Bride let me get away with it, and the dinner was planned the night before, because the restaurant wasn’t open on a Monday.

My Bride’s cousin was joining us, as she was spending the night, as the next day, another girlfriend of hers was also going to see a replica of Noah’s Ark at The Ark Encounter in Williamstown, Kentucky and they were also going to visit an adjacent Museum of Biblical Artifacts.  They invited me, but I said that they would have more fun as a “girls getaway.”  We got into Ann Arbor early, so we walked around the downtown area, until the restaurant opened.  I was also getting a bit parched, so we stopped by Vinology for something cold and wet.  What is odd is that this was the first time we had ever been there.  The owner of the establishment had a wonderful wine shop across the street from where I worked for years, and Vinology was the perfect place to let his daughter hang her hat, as the old expression goes.

The ladies had a glass of Le Coeur de Reine Sauvignon Touraine 2024, by Domaine Jacky Marteau of the Loire Valley.  The estate is in its fourth generation of family winemakers and is twenty-nine hectares of which twenty hectares of Sauvignon Blanc and four-and-a-half hectares of Gamay all on clay-silica based soil.  Touraine is in the very heart of the Loire Valley; the city of Tours is halfway between Sancerre and Nantes.  Touraine is a regional appellation of about five-thousand hectares and almost sixty percent is white, but it also produces red, rosé and sparkling (in all three colors).  They use pneumatic pressing and cold fermentation for seven days in Stainless Steel.  The wine is a pale gold color with notes of grapefruit and melon, fresh cut grass and traces of flint.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of crisp citrus with bright acidity and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit, spices and flinty terroir.

I tried a different wine, just to be contrary and I had a glass of Domaine Marc Portaz Savoie Apremont France 2025.  Jean-Marc Portaz worked at wineries in New Zealan and California, before returning to his family’s estate just south of Chambery, the capital of the ancient Duchy of Savoy at the foot of Mount Granier in 2000.  His family created a ten-hectare vineyard in 1993, and the Apremont Vineyard (rough mountain) is their “tete de cuvée.”  This wine is pure Jacquere, the grape of the region and is also known as Martin-Cot or Molette de Montmelian.  The average age of the vines at Apremont are thirty to fifty years of age on a soil of limestone rubble and glacial debris from an ancient avalanche.  It is organically farmed with no pesticides, manually harvested, with full cluster pressing, fermentation using indigenous yeasts in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel tanks, and aged on fine lees.  A pale golden colored wine that offered notes of stone fruit, honeysuckle, white pepper and basil.  On the palate this light-bodied, high acidity and mineral driven wine displayed tones of pears, citrus and herbs blending with crisp acidity and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit, spices and minerals.          

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Fine Wine Source Club – September 2026

Posted on September 22, 2026 by thewineraconteur

It was pure pleasure to stroll into The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan, because for the last couple of weeks, I had basically been seeing my internist, with a side trip to the oral surgeon to have a wisdom tooth removed, and I don’t know how much more wisdom I can afford to lose.  I was picking up the wine club selections as well stocking up on another wine that just tickled our fancy, more of that wine later.  

The first curated selection from The Fine Wine Source and representing the Old World was Quinta do Paral Branco-Blanca Alentejo, Portugal 2019.  Dieter Morszeck, the former president and grandson of the founder of the luxury luggage brand Rimowa. He splits his time between business in Switzerland and the United States and winemaking in Vidigueira, Alentejo, Portugal.  In 2017, he acquired eighty-five hectares of vineyards in Alentejo and started his Quinta do Paral project producing wines and olive oil.  The soil is a mix of fertile clay, granite and slate.  This wine is an equal blend of Antao Vaz, Verdelho, Vermentino and Viognier; which are all forty-years of age.  The grapes are manually selected in whole cluster, then destemmed, pressed and fermented and aged in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel vats.  The straw-yellow colored wine offers notes of tropical fruits and tangerine zest.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displays tones of passion fruit, pineapple, green apple and lemons, followed by traces of clove, cinnamon and oak blending with bright acidity and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and spices.

The Fine Wine Source Club selection for the New World is Gambler’s Ghost Cabernet Sauvignon North Coast 2021, and is part of the portfolio of Precision Wine Company, which was founded by winemaker Trevor Sheehan.  This label produces two wines, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Sauvignon Blanc.  This wine was listed by Wine Enthusiast as Number 36 of the Top 100 Wines of 2024 Best Buys.  This wine is a blend of eighty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, with fifteen percent Merlot and five percent Petit Verdot and the fruit is from vineyards located in Lake County and Sonoma County.  The wine was aged for ten months in American Oak, of which sixty percent was new.  This deep violet-colored wine offers notes of dark fruits, with hints of coffee, tobacco and black molasses.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displays tones of black cherry, blackberry, blueberry and plums, followed by vanilla and espresso blending with soft tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and spices.

I was asked if I was up to trying some new wines, and I had a dinner engagement after, so I said perhaps one, they counter-offered with two.  One was Chateau Haut-Batailley Pauillac 2016, a Fifth Growth Medoc which I will discuss at another time.  The wine that totally captivated me was Clos René Pomerol 2016.  While Clos René is not a chateau in the traditional sense, it is held in the same esteem.  Pomerol is noted for their “blue clay” followed by “crasse de fer” an iron-oxide rich soil.  The “hill of Petrus” is the center of the blue clay, and around that area is the crasse de fer, which is where Clos René is located on.  Clos René is located on the western side of Pomerol and operated by the Garde-Lasserre family, which also controls Chateau Moulinet-Lasserre and Chateau La Mission.  The estate covers twelve hectares of vineyards planted to seventy percent Merlot, twenty percent Cabernet Franc and ten percent Malbec; the vines average about thirty-five years of age, and the mix is basically the normal blend found in each vintage.  The harvesting of the fruit is partially manual, and the Initial Fermentation is done in temperature-controlled cement tanks, followed by eighteen months of maturing in French Oak, of which twenty-five percent is new.  This deep purple colored wine offered notes of red and black fruit, followed by Sous-bois, vanilla and other spices.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black cherry, blackberry and blueberry blending with velvety tannins and ending with a very long count of fruit, terroir and truffles.    

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Happy Birthday The Wine Raconteur, Jr.

Posted on September 19, 2026 by thewineraconteur

No, it is not my birthday, but for the young man who selected his own sobriquet of The Wine Raconteur, Jr. when he guest penned a few articles, it was a milestone birthday for him.  My Bride and I were pleased that he invited us for the evening, and I go back with him, since his days at the university.

He turned fifty, and I met him, when he was just starting to show his moxie and we have been in touch ever since.  My Bride and I have seen him get married, buy a home, have children and be successful in many endeavors.  The only thing over the years that I could not request, is at his wedding, when they were asking people to select their favorite dance tune, my Bride and I couldn’t select our bridal dance of “Love is Lovelier, the Second Time Around,” so we went with our alternative “You Make Me Feel So Young,” and he and his Bride have contributed to our staying youthful.  We have adopted each other over the course of years, and there we were, sitting at the Blue Llama Jazz Club and Restaurant with his Bride, his mother and father, and his aunt and uncle.

We also enjoyed a bottle of Giocato Pinot Grigio Goriska Brda, Slovenia 2025.  The wine is made by Aleks Simcic, considered to be one of the finest winemakers in Eastern Europe and the estate is just meters from the Italian border and adjacent to the Colli Orientali in Friuli.  Originally the land was part of Italy, and then after the war, it was part of Yugoslavia and now Slovenia.  The estate is too small, so it is made with an organic collective Vinska Klet, established in 1957, in an area that is referred to as “Little Tuscany.” The soil is like Friuli, being basically “ponca” a clay of salts and minerals.  The wine is pure Pinot Grigio, manually harvested, fermented and aged for two months in Stainless-Steel.  This straw yellow colored wine offered notes of peaches and apricots, white florals and almonds.  On the palate this light-bodied, rather well-balanced wine displayed notes of green apples and pears, with a bit of tropical fruit and ending with a medium-count finish of crisp fruit, almonds and minerals.

The bonus of the evening, and everyone was told to stay after the concert, was a special wine that was poured for the evening in his honor.  It was a gift from his uncle and aunt, while they were abroad on a holiday.  Everyone that evening was poured a glass of Cossart Gordon & Co. Bual Madeira, Portugal 1976.  Cossart Gordon & Co. was established in 1745 and is the oldest company in the Madeira Wine trade.  Bual (or Boal in Portuguese) is the name given to several grape varieties in Portugal and the name give to a style of medium-sweet Madeira.  The grape was known as Bual, but over the years, a common practice was to also use Tinta Negra Mole but historically called Bual.  The grapes are also known as Boal, Gual and Malvasia Fina.  This bottle was a Vintage Bual 1976 and is a single harvest Madeira.  The wine was aged for twenty years in seasoned American Oak casks using the traditional “Canteiro” system, whereby the casks were gradually transferred from the top floors of the lodge to the middle floors, and finally to the ground floor.  The wine would undergo regular racking, until it was bottled in 1998.  A brownish-red topaz- colored wine that offered notes of black fruits and wildflowers, followed by toffee, cigar box, vanilla, cinnamon and other baking spices.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black fruits, but especially in the form of raisins and dates blending with lively acidity and ending with a long-count finish of dried fruit, toffee and a touch of citrus and then pleasant aftertaste of spices.  The perfect ending for the celebration and I hope that if there were any left, that The Wine Raconteur, Jr. took it home and enjoyed a cigar with it, which one can’t do anymore in society.

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Inconceivable

Posted on September 16, 2026 by thewineraconteur

I am always trying to find things for “date” nights, especially to go see a movie, my Bride enjoys an evening at the cinema, but alas, most of the films produced anymore don’t make the cut for me anymore.  It is like asking me to go out for mediocre food at a restaurant, I just refuse to waste my money.

Anyways, I saw an advertisement for a film that I really enjoy, there is even a copy of the film at home of The Princess Bride.  It was billed as “An inconceivable evening with Cary Elwes” and it was to be presented at the Fisher Theatre.  A perfect night out, especially with a dinner preceding the film.  Then fate changed our plans.  One of my favorite casts of semi-regulars that I write about, The Wine Raconteur, Jr. (a catchy name) was celebrating his “milestone” birthday at a jazz club, and we were invited to join in the revelry.  Of course, we wouldn’t miss the event.

We were going to meet the crowd after eight in the evening, and after a life of dining at 4:30pm in the retail world, I even molded my Bride to eat at an earlier hour.  The venue was in Ann Arbor, which between the road construction and the evening closing of streets to have wining and dining outside, we decided to go to an old standby, just outside of the downtown area.  We went to the Gandy Dancer. In old railroad slang a “gandy dancer” was a maintenance of way laborer, left over from when the tracks were laid by hand and a gandy pole was an implement used for tamping, while another man held tongs on the railroad spikes to hold the rails in place.  Now all this labor is performed by machines, but the term has kind of hung around in the parlance of railroad enthusiasts.  We shared a dish of Dynamite Scallops that were crab encrusted in herb oil on individual half-shells.  My Bride had the Mahi-Mahi, and I had the Shrimp Scampi.  We had a bottle of Beni di Batasiolo Gavi DOCG 2024. Beni di Batasiolo is one the most predominant family-owned wine producer in Italy’s Piedmont region.  Batasiolo was formed by the Dogliani Brothers in 1978, the winery has grown to encompass over three hundred-twenty acres of estate vineyards.   Starting as grape growers in 1882, the Dogliani family has a long history in the Piedmontese wine industry. Batasiolo was one of the first companies to export Barolo to the United States.  The wine is pure Cortese and is grown on limestone, clay and marl; the grapes are destemmed and undergo a soft press.  The juice is then fermented in temperature controlled Stainless-Steel vats with time on the lees for about five months to maintain its freshness and crispness.  A pale straw-yellow wine that offered notes of white fruits, white florals, herbs and almonds.  On the palate this light-to-medium bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of green apples, citrus, herbs and spices in a dry, crisp wine with bright acidity and ending with a good medium-count finish of fruit and almonds.  

After dinner, we meandered our way and finally found a parking facility quite close to the Blue Llama Jazz Club and Restaurant.  When we got there, we ran into The Wine Raconteur, Jr. and his bride and some of the other partiers for the evening.  They had to set up two tables for the crowd.  That evening the entertainment was by Ben Patterson from Chicago, along with a local drummer and guitarist.  When they finally got the tables ready, the man of the hour sat at the head of one table facing the musicians and he sat with his Bride’s family that had come up from Ohio for the evening.  I grabbed the far end seat of another table that was perpendicular to the man of the hour, and his Bride sat at this table, and I am pleased to say that my Bride and I were the “honorary family” members at the table; of course we did know all of the local family.

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