I went back to my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan the next day after the Lingua Franca tasting, as the shop was wall to wall people with those leaving the tasting and making purchases, and others tasting some different wines prior to going in for the main event.  It was just easier to pick up the wine club selections the next day. 

The first wine representing the Old World was Mas de Daumas Gassac Rosé Frizant Mousse IGP Pays de l’Herault 2021.  IGP Pays de l’Herault is a department of Languedoc-Rousillon on the southern coast of France and well over a hundred varieties are allowed to be used, and the region is so vast that it encompasses plenty of different terrains.  Mas de Daumas Gassac is well known and is nicknamed “the Lafite of the Languedoc.”   The winery cellars were built in the foundations of an ancient Roman mill.  The wines are vinified in Stainless-Steel and kept naturally cool by two springs running under the cellars and slows down fermentation.  The first vines were planted in 1972.  The estate is still family owned and operated.  The wine is a blend of seventy percent Cabernet Sauvignon and thirty percent Mourvedre; all hand-harvested and grown on white clay soil.  They use free-run juice (saignée) at low temperature, followed by fermentation in the Charmat Method.  A coppery-rose colored wine offering strawberry, raspberry, cranberry and violets.  On the palate a charming sparkling wine with tones of watermelon, strawberry, soft mousse and short finish of fruit and terroir.

The second club entry was Three Wine Company Faux Pas Contra Costa County 2024, that is “chillable,” and their sentiments are “the dirt, the micro-climate and don’t screw it up.”  Winemaker Matt Cline’s philosophy is that the dirt, the micro-climate, and sustainable winegrowing form the cornerstone of good winemaking, and he places them in every bottle of wine he produces. He has a passion for preserving and educating on the historic varietals to California, such as Zinfandel, Mataro and Carignane.  He and a like-minded group stood up to the State and saved an historic vineyard.  This wine is a blend in two ways, first the wine is a blend of sixty-three percent Carignane, twenty-nine percent Zinfandel, six percent Petite Sirah and two percent Mataro.  The Carignane is from the Joaquin Jose Vineyard which was planted in the mid-1880’s with an average age of over one-hundred-thirty years.  The Zinfandel came from the Vineyard Lane and Oakley Road Vineyards.  The Petite Sirah is from the Mazzoni-Live Oak Vineyard planted also in the mid-1880’s of which only 1.9 acres remain but is part of the seven-acre portion of the vineyard that is planted to the same varietal.  The other part of the blend of this wine is that it is a blend of rosé and red wine lots fermented in Stainless Steel tanks.  The rosé portion is a blend of mostly Zinfandel with some Carignane with about twenty-two hours of skin contact and fermented for forty-two days.  The red wine portion had the Carignane fermented on its skins for thirty-one days, while the Petite Sirah was fermented for fifteen days.  All the lots were unfined, and once the blending was complete, the wine was aged for four months in Stainless Steel.  This wine is suggested to be lightly chilled before serving.  According to the notes, this light crimson colored wine wine offers notes of Bing cherry, raspberry and pomegranate.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displays tones of fruit, a touch of minerality and fine acidity, ending with a medium-count finish ending with a dominate finish of cherries. It is suggested that if you drink this wine during the summer months that a slight chill to the wine will make it feel more refreshing.

I thought I would just like to mention a few more facts about Larry Stone that was gleaned from his hour long tasting with nine wines from the day before.  Besides his accolades from being a Master Sommelier and Best International Sommelier, he also managed a couple of restaurants that I know of.  He was in the back room and the front of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago and for Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon. Which is great training for dealing with the public.  He began as a winemaker with the creation of Lingua Franca in 2012 and in 2022 he sold to Constellation Brands, leaving in place his original winemaking team, and he is now their “Brand Ambassador.”