After the Maison Trimbach wine tasting at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan in the new addition, we walked back into the original store to be greeted with more wines to taste,  Red wines from both the Old World and the New World.

We started of with Domaine Rene Leclerc Bourgogne Rouge 2022, and if you don’t speak French (and that includes me) it just means Red Burgundy.  Bourgogne Rouge wines received an appellation in 1937, the same as most of the major designations there, and covers grapes grown from over three-hundred communes throughout Burgundy.  Rene Leclerc and now his son Francois are the winemakers and management of this sustainably farmed Domaine.  The Domaine has twelve hectares in and around Gevrey-Chambertin and parts of the Domaine fall into the Bourgogne Rouge appellation.  The Domaine was founded in 1982 and it is on clay and limestone and the ages of the Pinot Noir vines are from twenty to forty years of age.  The fruit for this wine was just outside of the Gevrey-Chambertin delineation.  After the harvest, the grapes are pressed using an antique, manual wooden press, then the juice undergoes a short cold maceration.  Fermentation is completed using indigenous yeast in traditional vats.  After six months the wines are raked into barrels for aging, all in used French Oak, to minimize the oak, for twelve months.  A bright burgundy colored wine that offered notes of red and black fruit, sous-bois, licorice and tobacco.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine displayed tones of young red fruit offering a light mouth with a touch of earthiness, soft tannins and velvety finish with a short to medium count finish of some fruit, some smokiness and terroir.

The next wine we tried was La Bioca Bussia Barolo 2019.  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.  This wine is pure Nebbiolo, and the fruit is hand-harvested, destemmed and cold maceration for a few days.  The wine undergoes fermentation in Stainless-Steel tanks without temperature control for seven days with regular punching down and pumping over: with secondary maceration for twenty-five days.  The wine is then aged for a minimum of eighteen months in oak casks.  A deep garnet colored wine that offered notes of black cherries, blood oranges, violets and a whiff of cinnamon.  On the palate this full-bodied wine displayed tones of black cherries and other black fruit, citrus, and spices blended with velvety tannins, bright acidity and ending with a long count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.    

We then tried Proprieta Sperino ‘L Franc ****** Vino d’Italia-Vino da Tavola 2018 and critics have scored this as one of the top five Italian table wines.  Proprieta Sperino is a winery near the town of Lessona in Piedmont, and most of their focus is on Nebbiolo.  The estate is owned by Paolo de Marchi who inherited the wine from his grandfather, he also owns Isole e Olena, the famed Chianti Classico brand.  Paolo with the help of his elder son, Luca began restoring Proprieta Sperino back to a fully functioning wine estate.  They began in 1999, and by 2006, they released their first vintage, a 2004 release.  This wine is pure Cabernet Franc, from Bordeaux clones, and is grown on a 0.4-hectare Castagnola vineyard, 290 meters above sea level on volcanic soil which at one time was covered by sea and then rose after glacier displacements which created the Alps. The soil is rich in minerals with trace elements including iron, manganese, aluminum and zinc. The fruit is manually harvested, destemmed and gently pressed and gravity fed to fermentation tanks.  Fermentation took place with indigenous yeasts, in open topped wooden fermenters, with maceration lasting for thirty days with regular punching down.  The wine remained sur lie for eighteen months before aging in French Oak (half new) prior to bottling, with additional cellaring of the bottles before release.   This deep garnet colored wine offered notes of black cherry, cassis, raspberry, plum, violets, chocolate, tobacco, graphite and some white pepper.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine with bright acidity displayed tones of dark fruits blended with silky tannins and ending with a long-count finish of dark cherry, herbs and spices, tobacco and terroir.