I feel that I was overdue to pick up my wine club selections from The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  It has been an interesting time the last month or so, and I have plenty of wines, and tastings to write about, and it was a pleasure to just stop by the shop and admire the goods, and I was a good boy, as I had to rush back to the house, as we have been in the midst of updating the outside of our house, as we have been here for thirty years or so.  The wine shop was a pleasant respite.

The first wine represents the Old World, and it is bottle of Vin Schoenheitz Riesling Vin d’Alsace 2020.  During the 1970s, Henri Schoenheitz Sr., who had a passion for the history of his birthplace, undertook the rebirth of an all but forgotten vineyard at Wihr-au-Val in the Munster Valley.  Preparing the soil and replanting the steep hillsides, and this passion and dedication has been maintained by Henri Schoenheitz Jr., and his wife; both are graduates in oenology and viticulture.  The family made a name for themselves as the only independent wine makers in the village.  The wine is pure Riesling, and the vineyard is in the heart of Munster Valley with the first hillsides facing south-southwest.  The vines are ten to thirty years of age planted on granite soils that are very decomposed, rich in micas and silica.  This white wine has been described as having notes of citrus, stone fruits and white florals.  On the palate this off-dry wine is said to display tones of green apples, pears, and hints of fig and kiwi, and ending with a long-count finish of fruit and lemon zest.

The wine representing the New World is Two Mountain Hidden Horse Red Blend 22, Yakima Valley, Washington State NV.  Two Mountain Winery is a family concern, owned and operated by Matthew and Patrick Rawn, their family began farming in 1951, when Schmidt Orchards had forty acres.  The brothers bought the farm from their late uncle in 2006 and began Two Mountain Winery and Estate Vineyard.  Hidden Horse was originally only available in their distribution and retail partners.  It is their work horse and budget friendly.  The wine is a blend of 48% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 7% Syrah, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Malbec.  The wine was aged for twenty months in ninety-four percent French and six percent American Oak.  A deep blackish-purple colored wine that offers notes of dark fruits, dark chocolate, tobacco leaf and vanilla.   On the palate this medium-bodied wine displayed tones of blackberries, plums, raspberries with crisp acidity blending with supple tannins, and a medium-count finish of fruit and spices.