I decided to go to my favorite wine shop, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan, between snowfalls.  We had finally got our real first shot of winter, and all I can say is “a big whoopee.” The first snow was heavy and wet, and useless to try using a snowblower, then each successive snow fall was enough for a shovel, but not for the snowblower.  I have had bonus cardio workouts.  I went into the shop to get my wine club selections and I could readily recognize the retail doldrums of the staff, when the stock work is done, and the snow is not making it conducive for the customers.  I don’t miss those days.

The wine representing the Old World was Tenuta Monteti Caburnio, Toscana IGT 2016.  Tenuta Monteti began in 1998 when Gemma and Paolo Baratta found a parcel in the southern Maremma area (15km from the sea and 145m above the sea) protected by the Monteti hill.  The Barattas with their consultant Carlo Ferrini took some old grazing land with a ruined home and created their vineyard estate.  As they were preparing the land, huge boulders were discovered and now act as guardians to the vineyards and a symbol of the winery.  Since, it was new vineyards, they were not required to abide by the DOC classifications and the three wines that they make are all Toscana IGT, which allows them free rein to produce their own wines.  Construction was completed in 2004 and the first vintage was released in 2007.  In 2010, their daughter Eva and her husband took over the estate, and Carlo Ferrini is still assisting.  In 2017 they have been granted “Sustainable Wine.” Caburnio is not a second wine and it is named after a mistake in legendary history of the area, and has been used ever since. The fruit is all hand-harvested, they use gravity feeds, instead of mechanical pumping and indigenous yeasts.  The wine is fifty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twenty-five percent Alicante Bouschet and twenty percent Merlot.  The vinification of each varietal is done in their own Stainless-Steel vat, up to the time of blending; Maceration was up to twenty-one days depending on the variety.  After blending the wines age for twelve months, fifty percent in Stainless-Steel and fifty percent in French Oak (thirty percent new).  Then an additional twelve months of bottle ageing with no fining or filtering.  The wine is described as a bright ruby red and offers notes of strawberry jam, myrtle, wet grass, pepper and plum.  On the palate the wine offers juicy tannins and tones of wild strawberry, black tea, linden flowers, and juniper. 

The wine representing the New World is Dove and Stone Chalk Hill Red Blend Sonoma 2019.  I could find no information on Dove & Stone Cellars, which was interesting because the wine is bottled in those distinct heavy bottles that tend to cry out, that I am not an ordinary wine. The wine is from Chalk Hill AVA which is one of the thirteen sub-appellations in Sonoma County and was awarded the designation in November 1983, at the same time as Russian River Valley.  Chalk Hill’s terroir is not chalk, but powdery white volcanic ash, less fertile compared to alluvial soils and the more difficult, the better for vines, to make them struggle.  The climate of Chalk Hill is considered to be warmer compared to the Russian River Valley.  The wine is fifty-four percent Merlot and sixty-two percent Petit Verdot.  This is one of those inky-dark, glass and tooth staining wines that offers notes of chocolate covered raisins, boysenberry, cocoa, leather, and under-growth.  On the palate there are tones of dark fruit, macerated plums, roasted espresso, cacao nibs with a long finish of terroir and graphite. An earthy wine that is suggested for grilled meats and any chocolate dessert.