A New Italian Restaurant

Posted on October 25, 2019 by thewineraconteur

I don’t know if you are like me, but I tend to read articles in the newspapers and in the slick paper magazines about new restaurants and trends.  I guess I am old fashioned, and by now you know that, but some of the trends just don’t get me excited.  I guess I still do it, because when I was gainfully employed I liked to keep abreast of the current restaurants as a clothier, as if I was a concierge, because there is a whole world beyond what one does for a living, and you have to have intelligent conversations with your customers.  I have noticed that new “critics” and “authorities” and “clerks” lecture about their own personal thoughts, instead of listening to the customer.  So, I was intrigued to read about a new Italian restaurant that a critic, who admitted that he wasn’t around in the early days, but he could take cheap shots at some of the local chains, while talking about a potential new chain of restaurants, which made me laugh.  I was curious, because when I finally found in the article where the restaurant was, I could not place it and I mentioned it to my Bride, and she couldn’t either.  I got out my phone and did a map search and discovered that this new restaurant replaced another Italian restaurant.  We called our son in town and made a date to try the food since it is between our two homes.

Bar Verona wishes to infuse the traditional with the unconventional.  The first thing I noticed is that they seated us in a booth, and they must have gone to the airlines to study how to fit one additional booth into a section, as the four of us could barely squeeze in on each side of the table.  We ordered an appetizer that was touted in the article that lead us to dine there.  We had the Tuna Crudo with charred Shishito pepper relish and house potato chips, with the concept that one would use the chips as a utensil to dine on the tuna.  Our son laughed and said it was the first time that he ever had Sushi with chips, and outside of me, the others enjoy Sushi.  My Bride had the local Whitefish with carrot puree, spiced cauliflower and lemon gremolata.  I ordered the braised short ribs with whipped potatoes, roasted lemon broccoli and breadcrumbs.  Granted, we did not have real Italian entrée offerings, but after the appetizer, the menu was open.  I have to admit that our dishes were done very well, and our Son and his Wife did order Italian dishes and they were happy with their selections as well. 

From their website
From their website

We selected a festive type wine in case our Daughter-in-Law wanted to join us with some wine as she thinks our wines are too dry.  We ordered a bottle of Lucien Albrecht Cremant d’Alsace Brut Rosé NV.  Outside of Champagne, Cremant d’Alsace is the second largest region for sparkling wine in France and the manufacturers must abide by the rules, just as in Champagne.  The Alsace appellation law requires that only Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and Auxerrois plus Chardonnay, which is not otherwise allowed in the region, but because of the acceptance and success in Champagne it is allowed in the Cremant, and by law the grape varietal must be indicated on the label.  This particular bottle was made entirely from Pinot Noir.  As with all Cremant appellations, the Methode Tradittionnelle is used to make the wines.  The wines must spend a minimum of nine months on their lees, to aid in creating a certain accepted level of complexity.  This allows the wine to impart some of the terroir and a better finish to the wine, and the traditional dosage concept is used, as this wine was a Brut, which had a small dosage to keep it dry.  It was a very easy drinking wine and easily paired with our dishes, and the bubbles and the color made the table more festive.  We will probably go back to this restaurant, not because of the exuberance of the youthful (I surmise) critic, but because of the location, and the food was well prepared, though I don’t think we will sit in a booth, unless they redesign the interior. 

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Let’s Put on a Show

Posted on October 23, 2019 by thewineraconteur

I know I could have titled this “there’s no place like home” and yes, we went to the cinema.  It is not too often that we totally agree on seeing a film.  Sometimes we begrudgingly go with the other one, and sometimes I just have to suggest that she go with one of her family or friends.  I like to be entertained and I don’t want to be lectured at, or really see his history altered to fit someone’s idea of the truth, so there is always a hesitancy to see a “biography.”  While I wasn’t around in 1939, in spite of what some may think, I kind of grew up watching Judy Garland on television, in the old movies, television guest spots on the old variety shows and her live television specials.  She was always part of the background tapestry of growing up, and it wasn’t until I graduated and got my first house that I had a color television and I made it a point to watch the Wizard of Oz, just so that I could actually see the change from black and white to Technicolor when Dorothy opens the door of the house.  As a side note, I am not a film critic, we both enjoyed the film, and Renée Zellweger did an excellent job, dramatically and vocally as an actress. 

We are a couple of creatures of habit any more, when we go to the cinema, as we always go, normally, to the same complex, because all the seats recline, and in the winter, they actually have built in heaters.  The complex is in a moderate size shopping mall and we become mall workers, while we are there, to get a couple of miles logged in for our exercise and perchance to keep someone from shopping; as if I am a deterrent.  We also tend to go to the same restaurant and lo and behold, my Bride switched up and ordered something different, while I stayed the same.   She had a half of an oven-roasted turkey sandwich with warm Brie, shaved Granny Smith apple and baby greens with a house made honey-mustard dressing and of course she had it with a small Caesar salad.   I stayed true to form, though I admit that her sandwich was tasty, and had the Jambalaya Linguini with blackened chicken and shrimp, crawfish, Andouille sausage and Tasso ham in a creamy Cajun sauce.  Ingredients that we normally don’t have at home and too labor intensive for when we want a quick meal at home, hence that is why I usually order fun stuff out.

I have found over the years that chains and smaller establishments cannot by nature have large wine lists, and they try to pick out wines that will sell on a daily basis, whether by the bottle or by the glass and that is how a good merchant stays in business, through the ups and downs of the economy.  I always try to find the best of the moment, no matter the price, unless the selection is so bad that we have cocktails.  It wasn’t the situation here as we had Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2018 and Kim Crawford is probably New Zealand’s most famous wine making name internationally.  Marlborough is the leading area for wine in the country and there are more than five-hundred wineries there and Sauvignon Blanc is king there with seventy-nine percent of the production.   Kim Crawford began in 1996 and built a state-of-the-art facility in 2000.  In 2003 the brand was sold to Vincor of Canada, and in 2004 Vincor was acquired by Constellation Brands.  For a major produced wine, this wine still gives good value with the lush tropical fruits that are there in the nose and afterwards in the finish.  It worked well with the Turkey and Brie and it was refreshing with the Jambalaya and that is what we were looking for.  Until the next time, we try to be Mr. and Mrs. First Nighter.  

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Anoosh and Stoller

Posted on October 21, 2019 by thewineraconteur

Our last evening in Louisville, Kentucky and we were going out for dinner, just because, because both my Bride and her Sister are both excellent in the culinary arts.  We were going to see Anoosh, who is a friend of theirs in Louisville.  We have gone to his restaurants over the years and by accident, even did a wine tasting and dinner at a restaurant that he had in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Our first introduction to him was for the private dinner for my Sister-in-Law’s Fortieth Birthday party and she was born in the legendary year of 1961 if you are into First Growth Medoc wines.  My Bride thought that we were going to his casual restaurant “Noosh Nosh” and we were in the same strip center, but we were going to his “Anoosh Bistro.”  This does help to explain why I will be joining a gymnasium shortly.  I also have to say that I went crazy as soon as we walked in and they had boxes of matches, my favorite token of visiting an eatery, but since the governments cracked down on smoking, all the restaurants stopped printing matchbooks and another industry went by the wayside.

We were treated like celebrities, because of the Louisville connection and had a great table, but Anoosh works the entire room and makes everyone feel at home.  He is very proud of his culinary skills and rightfully so.  My Bride had the Roaster Heirloom Beet salad with arugula and pickled Cippolini onions and a Balsamic vinaigrette.  I went with the Lobster Bisque with cream and chives and some Lobster meat and Sherry.  My Bride was a gem that evening, because I was really torn between two dishes, so she ordered one and I ordered the other, even though I am sure that she would have rather had a fish dish, what can I say, she is a real trouper.  She ordered the Chili-Lime Braised Short Ribs with fried potatoes, arugula, pickled shallots, toasted almonds and Red Chimichurri.  I know that some of you have figured out that I went with an order of the Duck Breast cooked medium with Farro Succotash, English Pea Puree, pickled beets and duck gastrique.   There were several “doggie boxes” afterwards, but I had to finish my plate, because somehow duck is never quite as good reheated. 

After having a tour of the brandy distillery, a cocktail before dinner, it was time to order some wine.  I knew that it was going to be a Pinot Noir, but there was a slight debate over what to order.  I was leaning towards a classic French Burgundy, but I was swayed to try a bottle from Oregon.  We ordered a bottle of Stoller Family Estate Pinot Noir Dundee Hills 2017.  Dundee Hills is an AVA in the Willamette Valley and they began planting Pinot Noir there in the mid 1960’s as there were a group of winemakers that felt that the region was better suited for Pinot Noir, than even California, and they recently were proven right in tastings.  The soil is volcanic and is easy draining which causes the roots to dig deep for hydration and the vines are stressed and they grow berries at the expense of grape leaves.  In 1943 the Stoller family started raising free range turkeys, and in 1993, one of the sons bought the farm to grow grapes.  In 1995 they started with ten acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and now they have two-hundred-twenty-five acres of which seventy percent is Pinot Noir, twenty-five percent is Chardonnay and the balance is a mixture of Aligoté Gamay Noir, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Meunier, Riesling, Tempranillo, Syrah and Viognier.  The first vintage was 2001 and since then they have several certifications and had built a new winery and tasting room, that is all self-sufficient.  2017 was considered a bumper-crop and this wine was pressed whole cluster and they used native yeast and almost a year in French Oak.  I have to say that this was the best Pinot Noir from Oregon that I have ever had, as the nose told me immediately that it was Pinot Noir with tastes of dark red fruits and dark cherries with plenty of terroir that totally makes me happy, as I am not partial to lazy Pinot Noir wines and I realize that it is a very finicky and troublesome grape to grow and to make wine with.  This wine easily competes with wines that I have had and enjoyed at twice the price, so it is a wine that I hope I can readily find in Michigan.  It was a wonderful weekend for us and the next day we were back on the road. 

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Copper & Kings

Posted on October 19, 2019 by thewineraconteur

While in Louisville, we went to a distillery.  Now, before you think that I am going to start writing about Bourbon, and I may have once or twice, Copper & Kings produces American Brandy, manufactured in Bourbon barrels and the barrels listen to Rock ‘n Roll for the two years that they are resting.  Brandy is derived from the Dutch word brandewijn which means burnt wine and that is because the wine is distilled by heat, and at Copper & Kings the “juice” is distilled twice.  The first reference for brandy was on Staten Island in 1640, and eight years before Rye whiskey was recorded and about 180 years before distillation of brandy was recorded in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  Brandy became a big industry in California thanks to the Spanish Missions that were founded there.  Brandy distillation was being regulated and taxed in Kentucky in 1781, the Commonwealth was founded in 1792, and the first commercial winery in Kentucky was founded in 1798.   I just get a kick out of the fact that they were regulating and taxing before the state was founded, politicians have found ways to get into someone else’s wallet since time immortal.  In the late 1800’s there were about four-hundred brandy distilleries in Kentucky and another hundred that produced both brandy and whiskey.  For the record brandy is made from fruit and whisky is made from grain.

Copper & Kings is located in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville and the property has been recycled, and the distillery is big on recycling and sustainability.  Wood has been recycled from torn down structures, offices and shop areas are recycled shipping containers, they have solar panels on the rooftops and have mounted another six-hundred or so, on the rooftops of the neighboring businesses.  They have planted a Monarch garden to entice the Monarch butterflies to make a stop over on their classic migrations.  They are also started to grow their own herbs for flavoring some of the other products that they make like gin and absinthe.   They have even found a way to recycle water that is used for chilling or heating the necessary pots for making the brandies.  They belong to different cooperatives and exchanges to acquire different barrels that have been used for producing bourbon, beers, sherries and other beverages.  American Brandy, made from distilled grapes must be aged in oak for a minimum of two years, and this ruling does not apply to fruit brandies like apple, peach etc. The alembic copper pot-stills were manufactured and set in place by another Butchertown business, the Vendome Copper and Brassworks, and the three stills have been named for women that are mentioned in Bob Dylan songs; Isis, Magdalena and Sara.  The grape brandies use three different varietals known for their aromas; French Colombard, Muscat of Alexandria and Chenin Blanc and the fruit comes from the Central Valley and Central Coast of California, and they also produce, but it was not offered at the time, an annual Kentucky vintage brandy using the Vidal Blanc grape.  For you mathematicians out there, it takes five tons of grapes to produce one barrel of brandy.  As a side note they did mention that all the apples that they use are from Michigan.  We also took a tour of the basement maturation cellar and they use the principle of Sonic Aging (maturation) and it is not vibration, but pulsation.  They have five major sub-woofers to pulse especially the bass notes of music, since the alcohol molecule is less dense than water, the pulsating beats keep the brandy in a constant “distillate wave” within the barrels.  While we were in the cellar, they actually put the speakers up to their normal level and we were in the midst of the barrels and you could actually feel the liquids vibrating and waving. 

The final part of the tour ended up in the tasting room, where we were given a complimentary sipping glass, and there was also glasses of water available to help with the tasting.  Each guest was allowed three tastes and since we are talking about products in the 90-120 proof, that seemed logical and sensible.  We, all started with the classic “American Brandy” which is the house label using white oak barrels and 90 proof.  It is a good thing that he warned everyone to slowly taste the brandy and there were a few in the group that did not heed his warning and they had quite a mouthful, and I am not sure if they could taste anything afterwards.  My Bride and I decided to share each other’s other two tastings to get a better report.  “A Song for You” is their anniversary limited release, which carries the signature DNA of the original brandy and it is done in a “Solera” system like when they make Sherry and I really thought this was smooth, and it was an even 100 proof.  The next one that I tried was “Cadillac Walk” a French Colombard brandy finished in Tequila barrels and at 130 proof, and while I thought it sounded intriguing, I was not that thrilled with the finished product.  My Bride tried the “Distillaré Intense Chocolat that was finished by reverse osmosis to get the 90 proof and finished with chocolate nibs and honey, and neither of us were really excited by it.  Her last choice was “Way Up West” and it was American Brandy finished in Pacific Northwest Single Malt Whiskey barrels at 128 proof and it was very smoky, like a Scotch and since she prefers Scotch when we have cocktails, she was all over this bottle.  We actually had to go back with our tour guide to another part of the tour, and she actually bottled this brandy and she has just the perfect recipient of this bottle as a gift, which will be announced at a later time.  All in all, the tour at Copper & Kings was informative, fun and we did buy lots of stuff, including an interesting cook book, some house bottled cherries and their own Bitters.

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A Dinner In, In Louisville

Posted on October 17, 2019 by thewineraconteur

After the long drive from Detroit to Louisville and a couple of glasses of wine to relax, we started thinking about dinner.  As I said, we schlepped a small refrigerator that runs both off of the car or on a standard electric plug and besides the wine that we had chilling in it, we also brought some other stuff.  For starters we had brought some frozen pasties for our brother-in-law from his favorite place in Cadillac, Michigan that both he and his father enjoy, and we had sent his father his share earlier, because he lives near us.  We also brought ten filet mignons for the dinner.

I have to admit that I am a carnivore and almost everyone I know is one as well.  I know that many people prefer a steak with a bone, and I have to admit that growing up, we always tended to have porterhouse, T-bone or rib-eyes, but they were always well-done, and that is from growing up with parents that survived the Great Depression.  Nowadays, I prefer medium rare filet mignon steaks as there is no waste, and I know that some claim that the meat closest to the bone is the best, but since we don’t have a dog, we can go boneless.  The steaks were done in a marinade of olive oil, garlic and fresh rosemary.  My sister-in-law also prepared a diced up and then sautéed fennel, and it was the first time that I ever had it prepared that way.  Between my Bride and her sister in the kitchen, I thought it prudent to just be a casual observer and then dine on the proceeds, and in retrospect, it was a wise move. 

Since the ladies were busy in the kitchen, I decided that I should decant a bottle of wine that I had brought with us from our cellar, naturally the cork decided to crumble and I was all set to get a coffee filter and a funnel, but my brother-in-law had an wine aerator that I had not seen before, but my Bride said that she had and that I had talked her out of buying it, the aerator had a built in strainer; and I do think that I would have noticed the logic in such an item.  While dinner was being prepared, we were still enjoying some more white wine.  We opened up a bottle of Cobble Creek Vineyards Chardonnay 2017 from Paso Robles.  Now I realize that California is ahead of the curve on some trends, but because I don’t have certain dietary problems, I just don’t understand all of the new verbiage on labels.  I understand that “organic grapes” means the elimination of pesticides, but somewhere in the back of my brain, I just think that grapes are organic by nature.  I am not sure how or what would make one wine gluten and another wine gluten free, but I am old fashioned, and the same is about “vegan friendly” as I would think wine would be perfect for vegans as it is plant based.  I think that I had heard that the old method of fining the wine with eggs whites is what would make a wine non-Vegan, but I only thought of that being done by home-made wine makers like the old “Dago Red” wines as a kid.  I am not being facetious or snide, I guess I just don’t stay as trendy as I should.  Cobble Creek Vineyard was planted fifteen years ago, as an organic farm and they are part of Castoro Cellars.  Castoro Cellars started off making wine, then they purchased their own equipment, then a winery, then a tasting room and then began purchasing and planting vineyards.  It appears that Total Wines is a big seller of the wines and that make sense, as my in-laws do a lot of shopping there for their daily wines.  The wine was very smooth and really a step up from most popular priced Chardonnay wines.  The wine that we decanted was a Duckhorn Wine Company Paraduxx 1999 when it was still produced in St. Helena.  As always, the label features a painting of a pair of ducks (Paraduxx from Duckhorn) and this label is of recent and rare visitors to the Pacific area two Mandarin ducks painted by Robert Carlson of Paso Robles, and this was the sixth of a series.  This wine is a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.   As soon as we started decanted the wine, the aroma from the wine filled the room and belied that it was a twenty-year-old.  The color was deep with no browning to be seen.  It was a big chewy wine and the three varietals were very harmonious.  I think the wine could have been good for at least another ten years, that is how firm it was and with the filets, it was spot-on.

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Two Chilled Ones After the Drive

Posted on October 15, 2019 by thewineraconteur

I am sure that everyone thinks that in the summertime, orange barrels are a rite of Spring.  In Michigan they have become our State Flower, our State Tree and our State Bush.  We had a change of regimes in our fair state and one person ran on the platform of “fix the damn roads” not a nice slogan for children to hear, but today’s society is not as genteel as when I was growing up, not that there wasn’t anything ever said, that I never heard at home, as I have stated, we had a colorful environment.  Anyways the politician that claimed that catchy phrase, promised no new taxes, was elected and decided that Michigan needed to surpass all the other states for gasoline tax, and the senate and the representatives gave her a budget which is mandated with a larger amount earmarked for road construction so as to avoid an onerous new tax, the new governor vetoed and slashed almost the entire budget and now we are “not fixing the damn roads.”  We got a chance to enjoy road construction in Ohio and Kentucky and to be fair, I think I-75 in Ohio has been under construction ever since the road was built, but at least they have joined the rest of the country and allowed drivers to do seventy miles per hour away from the major cities.  We made a little dash down to Louisville to see the family, a week after some family members had made the same trip, only because it was going to be a bit calmer in Louisville and would give the sisters a chance to relax and catch up.   

There was a made-for-television movie in 1971 starring Dennis Weaver, famed from Gunsmoke and McCloud, depending on your age and it was directed by a newcomer that was just starting to get noticed by the name of Steven Spielberg and the movie was called “Duel.”  Dennis Weaver plays a businessman driving along the road, who ends up being stalked by unseen driver after he passes a slow and old tanker truck.  It was a white-knuckle road trip and extremely scary film that would have made Hitchcock proud.  I know that by now you think I have lost it, but I bring it up, because the entire trip down and in fact the returned trip, I kept thinking of this movie from my youth, because of a quirk in the laws of the road in Ohio and Kentucky.  In Michigan, trucks cannot be in the passing lane, except to pass and get back into the right lane.  In Ohio and Kentucky trucks routinely stay in the passing lane to pass vehicles for long stretches and they normally wait until a car is attempting to pass them to change lanes, so that cars can hit the breaks on the freeway.  One other thing that I noticed about the trucks in those two states, is that while they drive the vehicles like they are a Mini-Cooper, they feel that there is no need to use turning signals, except after they are half-way into the next lane. 

We did make it to Kentucky, as you may have surmised and we unloaded the car of its luggage, a portable refrigerator and a six-pack of wine, since we were only going to be there for two nights.   Our hosts immediately produced a couple of wine glasses and poured some chilled white wine.  We started off with some Banter California Chardonnay 2017.  It is one their go to everyday whites that is produced with Stainless Steel and French and American Oak.  It appears from the winery’s webpage that the biggest buyer of the wine is Total Wines and that can be a major buyer, especially in popular priced wines.  The wine was easy drinking with a taste of stone fruits and a little oak.  The name of the wine is good, because that is what we were doing while we started to relax.  In our car refrigerator we had chilling a wine that I was holding, until we could share it with them.  We opened up the bottle of Diving into Hampton Water Languedoc AOP 2017, a Rosé wine that has a very limited market area of New York, New Jersey and Florida, from what I understand.  The wine is a joint business venture of Jesse Bongiovi, who is the son of Jon Bongiovi the singer and the French winemaker Gerard Bertrand of the Languedoc.  The wine is a blend of Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre and Syrah.  The bottle did not have a cork, and it was not a screw cap, there was a glass stopper with a rubber base that fit very tightly in the neck.  There were two old geezers trying to get the almost invisible plastic wrap off and then figuring the right way to leverage the stopper out, I am glad to say that we finally accomplished it, but it was one of the hardest bottles that I have ever opened.  The wine had a pretty color and it was fresh and fruit forward with the spice from the French Oak that it imparts and a mineral terroir finish.  It was an interesting wine and we finally calmed down and we started talking about dinner. 

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Le Mistral Joseph’s Blend

Posted on October 13, 2019 by thewineraconteur

As I am unpacking the last of the three wines that we received from “A Taste of Monterey” I am always interested, naturally to see the wines.  I also enjoy reading the enclosed newsletter and the lead article is “To Blend or Not to Blend.”  There was a side bar article on Sauvignon Blanc and another one was on the cheese Raclette.  There was also an interesting recipe for Prawns Sambuca, where the dish will undergo a step known as flambé, but the recipe does not mention if it is White or Black Sambuca, but since the dish calls for Chardonnay, I will presume that it is the White.  The other thing that amazes me, each time I get a shipment of wine, is the packing used.  Originally alll wines were shipped in wooden crates, so the odds of the crates being flung around was rather limited, but then I think of how large the cartons and the Styrofoam pockets that I had to purchase years ago, when I had to ship “olive oil” from California to the felony State of Michigan.  Now I just marvel at these engineered pressed “cardboard” containers that will adapt to most of the classic wine bottle shapes, and as of yet, I have not had one damaged carton, knock on wood.

The last wine in the carton is a bottle of Folktale Winery and Vineyards Le Mistral Joseph’s Blend 2017.  Folktale Winery and Vineyards was originally founded in 1982 by Bob and Patty Brower, as Chateau Julien Wine Estate and they wanted to replicate their wine experiences in France to the Carmel Valley.  In 1996 they expanded the property and structures to ensure that they were making great wines, and my Bride and I visited Chateau Julien each time we had holidays in Carmel-by-the-Sea.  In 2015, the property was purchased by local winemaker, Gregory Ahn, and renamed Folktale Winery and Vineyards; and as a side note, from what I gather the label Chateau Julien is still property of the Brower family.  The five-acre vineyard at the winery is one-hundred percent organically farmed, and they are working towards this goal in the three-hundred acres in the Arroyo Seco that they maintain.  The winemaking team is led by David Baird who focuses on the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes that produce great wines in the area.

David Baird also works on his Rhone varietals for Folktale’s Le Mistral brand, which was founded in 1992 and named for the Mediterranean wind.  Joseph’s Blend is a single vineyard blend from the Arroyo Seco vineyard.  The wine is sixty-four percent Grenache, thirty-three percent Syrah and three percent Petite Sirah.  The wine was aged for eleven months in a mix of French Oak barrels, with just over nine-hundred cases made and an aging potential of ten to twelve years.  The winemaker strove to create a wine big enough to stand up to food or elegant enough to drink on its own.  With the grapes used, it is no wonder that the tasting notes call for notes of cherry and raspberry, black pepper, Herb de Provence and a finish of vanilla and crème Brulee.  Since the wines of the Rhone were some of the original wines that I enjoyed as a teenager, because they were priced so well, is it any wonder that I am always interested in trying “California Rhone” wines.

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De Tierra Syrah

Posted on October 11, 2019 by thewineraconteur

There is nothing better than opening up a carton to discover the new wines from your wine club “A Taste of Monterey” and in all the years of opening up those cartons, I have never been disappointed.  It probably pays off in spades, because we belong to the Private Reserve Club.  Monterey County is a relative newcomer according to the AVA as it was only awarded status in 1984.  It is kind of a long a narrow region that follows the Salinas River, and the area was immortalized by John Steinbeck long before wine was grown there. 

De Tierra Vineyards began in 1998 as an organic grape growing operation by Tom Russel, an agriculture professional from Phoenix, Arizona.  He had transitioned his crops from conventional vegetable operations to organic farming in the 1990’s.   He was very successful and tried his approach to winemaking in the Salinas Valley and he teamed up with Lucio Gomiero of Italy and they developed a forty-acre farm and De Tierra Vineyards was established.  The vineyard is now owned by Dan McDonnal and Alix Lynn Bosch and they strive to maintain the name which translates to “of the land.”  They grow eight varietals and they also make three different blends, but some of the fruit is sourced beyond the estate.  They maintain a tasting room in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

The fruit for the De Tierra Syrah 2016 comes from the Coast View Vineyard and the Chalone Vineyard, both of which are found in the Gabilan Mountains.  The days are warm and the nights cool off, and the soil if rocky and evokes Cote-Rotie of the Rhone.  There are sparse notes on production, but it was aged in oak, with minimal stirring and they allowed full malolactic fermentation to occur.  The wine also enjoyed twenty-four months of bottle aging and brings with it the classic Rhone flavors of white pepper, cassis and raspberry with a finish vanilla and oak.  I have to believe that this will be a full bodied and big wine and they are suggesting eight to ten years of aging potential in the cellar. Time will tell.

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Wrath Fermata Chardonnay

Posted on October 9, 2019 by thewineraconteur

It has been a busy wine time here at the house and the quarterly shipment from A Taste of Monterey arrived and it took a couple of days, even to open up the carton.  We have been getting shipments from this club since we discovered them on our first holiday at Carmel-by-the-Sea and we went to eat at the legendary Sardine Factory in Monterey.  Between the meals, art and wine it was a very expensive, but very enjoyable trip for us.  The gallery tried to buy the art work that we bought, a couple of years later, but we like it hanging in our living room, so that everyone can see it, we then walk into the house.   We signed up with the Private Reserve Club, which come quarterly, they have other clubs that come monthly, but they are more popular price and we really wanted to get some wines that we would not encounter otherwise. 

Wrath Estate Winery is located in Soledad, California and they are a winery where production is limited, but not the quality, and since we have been there, they have opened a satellite tasting room in downtown Carmel.  We have had at least a half dozen different wines from Wrath Wines over the years.  The winery produces Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Falanghina and Sauvignon Blanc from their estate vineyard and some very respected private vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands.  Wrath Wines has contracts with McIntyre Vineyard, which was planted in 1973 and has the oldest Pinot Noir vines in the Santa Lucia Highlands.  The Doctor’s Vineyards also in the Santa Lucia Highlands grows eleven different clones of Pinot Noir on one-hundred-ninety-three acres, forty-five acres of five different clones of Syrah and almost five acres of Malbec.  The Tondre Grapefield started in 1997 with six and a half acres in the heart of the Santa Lucia Highlands and is now one-hundred acres dedicated to Pinot Noir.  Th KW Ranch is also in the Santa Lucia Highlands and was planted in 2000 and dedicated to Pinot Noir and Syrah.  The Alta Loma Vineyard was planted in 2000 and is two-hundred-forty-six acres of biodynamically certified Merlot, Pinot Noir, Syrah and Grenache.  The last of the private vineyards that Wrath Wines contracts with is the Boekenoogen Vineyard, which went from a fifth-generation cattle ranch to becoming a vineyard in 1998 and growing Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. 

The Wrath Wine Fermata Chardonnay 2015 is from the Wrath Estate San Saba Vineyard in a nook of property just below the Santa Lucia Highlands.  The property is known for having very little rain, cool temperatures and one of the longest growing seasons in the world.   “Fermata” is Italian for halted, because after the primary fermentation, the malolactic fermentation is halted at the half-way point to keep the wine precise according to their information.  The wine is then aged for ten months in French Oak, of which twenty percent is new, and then after bottling, the wine is aged for a year, before being released.  The production for this wine was just above six-hundred cases with a cellaring potential of six to eight years.  The wine promises to have bright acidity from the halting process and a nose featuring lemon and lime, to toast and crème Brulee.  The finish is layered and offering some good terroir.  I have never been disappointed with any of the selections that I have received from Wrath Wines.  

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Broadway Vineyards Chardonnay

Posted on October 7, 2019 by thewineraconteur

One never knows what to expect when one is getting wines from a wine club and the second wine that I picked up recently from the Fine Wine Source has raised my eyebrow.  I always expect something interesting from this club, because when you walk in to the shop, the shop is void of every name brand that one sees at grocery stores, party stores and most of the big box shops as well.  They actually go out of their way to look for something unique and while they have some wonderful unicorn wines, they also find some very interesting items in the popular price range.  I mean what one would spend for a “name brand,” and very few wineries have big budgets for advertising, sometimes one can find a wine that has the nuances one would expect from a wine twice or thrice the price. 

Broadway Vineyards feel that they embody the essence of the Sonoma lifestyle.  In 2002 Jim and Marilyn Hybiske found property just two miles from the Historic Square in downtown Sonoma.  Six of their friends joined them to develop a small vineyard focusing on Chardonnay, Merlot and Syrah.  Work began on the vineyard in 2004 and the first harvest was in 2006.  The results each year got better and better and the wine started being appreciated by others than the original investors and they started to take off.  Since the estate is small, there is only a finite amount of wine that can be produced.  The winemaker for Broadway Vineyards is Philippe Langner who began his career at Chateau Clarke, a Rothschild property in Bordeaux, France.

The three different varietals were chosen very carefully to be planted on the estate from day one to take advantage of the soil and the cool nights and warm days and the area was perfect for the three cool-climate varietals.  The Broadway Vineyards Chardonnay 2015 was hand harvested at the beginning of September, 2015.  The wine was barrel aged for ten months, bottled in mid-June of 2016 and then spent nine months in the bottle before being released.  There were only one-hundred-sixty-two cases of this wine produced.  The tasting notes for this wine suggest a tropical, floral nose with subtle tastes of peaches and apricots, described as rich and opulent with hints of butter and a layered lingering finish. I think that I will have to try this wine sooner, before they sell out.    

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