Some Odds and Ends

Posted on February 14, 2025 by thewineraconteur

You may have noticed that I have been posting “story” entries labeled “From My Cellar” and certainly not for bragging rights, though there are a couple of interesting wines that I have acquired over the years. It has been an aid to remind me what I have down there and what should be drank first, because I am not that organized. And everyone recommends different apps that they use, but then it starts feeling like a business. Since the forced sequestering of about five years ago, I have been quite fortunate, as I have been trying to keep abreast of the situation, as we only lost about nine bottles from neglect, which is not bad at all.

I am kind of picking and choosing, thinking which wines may not age as well. I will start with Chateau Paradis Casseuil Bordeaux 2003 from the Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite). The Chateau is located in the Entre-Deux-Mers (between two seas) where the Dordogne and Garonne Rivers meet. The “Vines of Paradise” derives its name from the terroir, a distinctive geological formation of sandstone, limestone, marls , claystone with lime nodules and multi-colored magnesium sandstone as well as being rich in calcium. The porous structure of the terroir is what allows the vines to stay cool during the hot summer season. The DBR Lafite family purchased the fourteen-hectare property in 1984, and in 1989 the estate grew by nine hectares, and in 2013 they acquired another thirty hectares. In 2024 they acquired another twenty hectares and its own winery and cellar. The original name of the vineyard is lost in lore, but they are pleased with the name. Using modern technology, fermentation occurs in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel tanks for the gentle extraction of tannins. The berries are small, and the skins are concentrated with tannins and the fruit has a short maceration period. A small percentage of the wine is aged in oak, and the wine is predominately Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and a small amount of Cabernet Franc. The wine was deep purple with no foxing and offered notes of black fruit, cassis, oak and terroir. On the palate the fruit and the tannins had blended, but I was impressed that there was still some solid fruit for its age and a good medium count of terroir in the finish.

Another wine that we had one night at the house was Domaine Sainte-Anne Cotes du Rhone 2001. This is a low-key winery that is considered special in the southern Rhone. The Stenmaiers, originally from Burgundy were considered pioneers for introducing both Syrah and Mourvèdre to the area which was already famed for Grenache, which seems odd now, as The Rhone Rangers of California have made GSM almost a household blend. The winery also makes a Cotes du Rhone Blanc and their vines average about forty years in age. The wines are made in Stainless-Steel tanks as they use no oak. The color of this wine was still a deep purple with no foxing, but I am glad that we opened it up as the nose was starting to soften the notes of blueberry, raspberry and plums. On the palate the aging of the wine had softened the tannins and fruit, both were still present, but not a full-flavored and full-bodied for this higher proof wine.

The last of the wines that I will mention today is also from the southern Rhone from a well respected house. We had opened an E Guigal Cotes du Rhone 2000. E. Guigal is one of the more popular and important producers in the Rhone Valley. Etienne Guigal founded the company in 1946 in town of Ampuis near the fabled slopes of Cote Rotie. The main focus has been on wines featuring Grenache, Mourvèdre, Viognier, Roussanne and Syrah. The company has holdings in Saint-Joseph, Hermitage, Gigondas, Condrieu, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, as well as a couple of Cote du Rhone wines. The company also has four notable wines from Cote Rotie, the latest acquisition being Chateau d’Ampuis in 1995. While the bottle of wine did not list the varietals, I don’t think that I would be going out much on a limb to say that it is the classic GSM blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, the classic trio of the Southern Rhone wines. I am happy to say that the color, nose and taste would have reminded one of perhaps a five-year-old and not a twenty-four-year-old, so the others are still safe and totally drinkable. The deep purple wine offered notes of blackberry, raspberry, pepper, smoke and sous-bois. On the palate nice tones of blackberry and raspberry, roasted peppers, and smoky spices.

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A Taste of Monterey – Winter 2025

Posted on February 11, 2025 by thewineraconteur

By happenstance, back in 2003, my Bride and I were on holidays at having lunch at the famed Sardine Factory and in the Cannery Row district, that was written about by John Steinbeck.  We walked into “A Taste of Monterey” and they could ship local wines to Michigan, when others could not, that was until our governor at the time was sued and she lost.  We signed up for their Private Reserve Club, with the concept of getting limited released wines that would probably never make it to the shelves in Michigan.

Four times a year, we receive three bottles of wine, and the first wine out of the carton was Shale Canyon Estate Grown Tempranillo Arroyo Seco 2019.  In 2008 Shale Canyon Wines began creating hand-crafted estate-grown varietal wines.  The wines are hand-harvested and fermented in small batches and their current production is about a thousand cases of wines featuring about seven different estate grown grapes.  The winery is entirely “off grid,” a solar-powered facility, and they use well water for their water supply.  They also source fruit from other vineyards that maintain the same farming practices as they do for another four varietal offerings.  There were one hundred-twelve cases produced.  The tasting notes furnished state that the wine is a classic bold Tempranillo with dark berry fruit on the nose.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine offers tones of blackberry, cherry and fig, firm tannins, and a long finish of vanilla and leather 

The second wine from the carton was Scratch Pinot Noir KW Ranch Santa Lucia Highlands 2020.  Scratch is a project of winemaker Sabrine Rodems who produces small-lot single varietal wines from Monterey, Arroyo Seco, Santa Lucia Highlands and the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA’s.  She started in the theater, film and television and then went and earned a Masters in Viticulture from UC Davis.  The fruit is from Kirk Williams’ KW Ranch in Santa Lucia Highlands who has forty acres of Pinot Noir and Syrah.  The tasting notes furnished relate that the wine offers notes of dark raspberry and cherry, cola and geraniums.  On the palate the wine offers tones of roasted plum, light oak, spices and lively acidity. 

The final wine in the shipment was Folktale Winery Sparkling Rosé Monterey NV.  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.  This wine is a blend of eighty percent Pinot Noir and twenty percent Chardonnay.   The grapes are picked about three weeks early so that they can harvest the grapes at a lower sugar level compared to their still wines.  After the Initial Fermentation the juice is then placed in a Stainless-Steel tank for the secondary fermentation similar to a Prosecco or a frizzante wine.  The tasting notes describe the wine as having aromas and flavors of watermelon, kiwi and yeasty notes with a mouthfeel of a soft Prosecco-like texture.   

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Dinner After the Play

Posted on February 8, 2025 by thewineraconteur

When my Bride and her friend were planning to go see “A Beautiful Noise” they were also deciding where to go for dinner.  Her friend had said a couple of times that she would like to try Le Supreme, since my Bride and I have gone there a couple of times.  And once we had a confirmed reservation we were “In Like Flynn” or “In Like Flint” depending on your era.  What wasn’t considered during all of this time, is that there was a team called the Lions who were on fire, and there was another game that evening, and as we got closer from Uptown to Downtown, we could see the price of parking escalating.

When we got to the restaurant, we saw that they had valet parking and it was only twenty dollars, which was a bargain compared to the signs that had one hundred dollars posted.  I always like to mention to the wait staff about my early memories, when I was a student as I would walk past this building when it housed the booking offices for the airlines that were available in Detroit.  I guess I am one of the old geezers that likes to remember the days gone past.  Our friend ordered the Soupe a L’oignon Gratinee or the French Onion Soup, rustic croutons, and Gruyere cheese.   My Bride and I shared the Foie Gras Torchon with pickled blueberries, mustard frills and toasted brioche.  We also shared a glass of Domaine de L’Alliance Sauternes 2020.  Daniel Alibrand was a fisherman and his wife inherited a few hectares in the region of Fargues, already planted in different plots and different soils.  So, in 2005 they established their winery using organic farming techniques.  This is considered an artisanal Sauternes, picked berry by berry during seven passes.  The wine is a blend of eighty-five percent Semillon, twelve percent Sauvignon Blanc and Gris, and three percent Muscadelle; the vines average about fifty years of age and planted on a mix of gravel, clay and sand.  The fruit is pneumatically pressed, they use indigenous yeasts, and the wine is aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which twenty percent is new.  A nice deep yellow in color, the wine offered notes of tropical fruits, saffron, and almonds.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine showed  tones of candied fruit, especially pineapple, papaya, mango, and melon, good acidity with sweetness, but not cloying and a medium count finish of layered fruit.

We had a rather intriguing mix of dishes for the dinner course.  Our friend had the Omelet Francaise with local farm eggs, fine herbs and Gruyere cheese.  My Bride surprised me and had the Gnocchi a La Parisienne with Autumn Squash and Maitake mushrooms.  While I had the Mediterranean Sea Bass fillet with Saffron-braised potatoes and Sauce Vierge (or Virgin Sauce of olive oil, tomatoes, herbs, lemon and anchovies).  We shared a bottle of Domaine Regis Minet Pouilly-Fume Vieilles Vignes Loire 2023.  The estate is family-owned since Pierre Minet in 1627, and in 2022 Lucia took over from her father and she is the first woman in the field.  The estate is a twelve-hectare winery with sixteen plots and vines aged up to eighty years, and on average thirty-five years.  Sauvignon Blanc is planted in plots of clay and limestone.  The fruit is gently pressed pneumatically, and Initial Fermentation is done in Stainless-Steel tanks, with no Malolactic Fermentation, and is aged in the tanks on fine lees for eight months with batonage.  The pale-yellow gold wine offered notes of white fruit, while florals, chamomile and minerals.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine offered tones of pears, peaches, grapefruit, lemon zest; a crisp dry wine that ends with a long-count finish of subtle fruit and chalky terroir. 

The ladies finished sharing an order of Profiteroles, coffee, and I went with a glass of dessert wine, and yes, I am enjoying then more and more.  I had a glass of Arnaud de Villeneuve Tresmontaine “Tabacal Dos” Rancio IGP Cotes Catalanes NV, The Arnaud de Villeneuve Cooperative was established in 2007 in Rivesaltes, when the Caves de Salses (1909) and Cellars de Rivesaltes (1932) merged, with a membership of over three hundred vignerons.   This is the last wine produced by the legendary Roussillon winemaker Fernand Baixas, who claimed it was the perfect foil to enjoy with a cigar.   Rancio wines are a Catalan tradition as it predates modern wine viticulture.  The wine is made with Grenache Blanc and is initially fermented in glass demijohns for eighteen months often in sunlight, then returned to the cellars to rest in old foudres (very large barrels) and barriques for an additional ten years.  This is an oxidative wine with plenty of foxiness expressions, similar to some wines from the Jura and Sherry styles.  A coppery-amber colored wine that offers a mixed bag of notes like dried figs and fruits, apricots, caramel, smoke, mushrooms and sous-bois.  On the palate, with the sweet nose, one is surprised to encounter a rather bone-dry wine with dried stone fruits, cinnamon, and a rich nutty taste, high acidity, saline and a long count finish of dried fruit and sous-bois.  It didn’t appeal to the women, but I know that my Bride is not partial to oxidated wines.      

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“A Beautiful Noise”

Posted on February 5, 2025 by thewineraconteur

You may have noticed over the years that my Bride is a planner, and she often plans things with her one of her former work associates.  I joke because sometimes, I am the afterthought, as they were going to see the play “The Neil Diamond Musical A Beautiful Noise” and it was going to be at the Fisher Theatre in an area, that historically was referred to as “Uptown.”  Uptown was where General Motors built there high-rise and sprawling two block headquarters, they have since moved to the Renaissance Center, and as they downsize again to the new Hudson block that is being built at the moment.  I ramble, as I am prone to do.  As I am writing this, it is appropo, that yesterday was Neil Diamond’s 84th birthday.  He has been writing songs since my youth back in the Sixties, and I must say that it was a lovely outing for the three of us. 

Way back in the last year, when the two conspirators were making plans, the play was almost completely sold out, as they plotted possible dates and times.  Her friend actually worked in the building where the Fisher Theatre is, but she was not in the automotive industry.  As for us, we had season tickets there for years, but eventually there was a dearth of new plays offered, just repeats; and I have to admit that I have lost interest in “musicals” where the music is the same dirge played with different lyrics and tempos.  I am old fashioned, but I do enjoy leaving a theater with a bounce to my step and singing the lyrics that I had just heard.  I think the last time that happened was “West Side Story” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”  So, these musical medleys that tie a series of songs with a story line is appreciated. The only tickets available two months prior for the three of us was up in the nose bleed section and we had never been this high up before, but for this theatrical production they were fine.

It had been a while since we had been to the Fisher Theatre, and I was surprised at the security system that was in place to see a play.  It was like going to catch an flight, as we had to go through a metal detector, and the women’s purses were inspected, and it was like we were in a police state; I guess they were after domestic terrorists who didn’t appreciated pop music from the Sixties and later.  After going through Checkpoint Charley, we then had to stand in another line to get a drink and I may have created a riot, if I tried to get a photo of my wine glass and a bottle of wine, so I cheated and got an official photo from the winery; but the good news is that they actually used a glass flute, instead of plastic, so a bit of civility.  We had Marques de Caceres Cava Brut NV from Catalunya.  Marques de Caceres is a large wine producer, predominately known for their Rioja wines and more than half of their production is exported.  The estate was founded in 1970 by Enrique Forner, whose family had been in the Spanish Wine industry to the 20th Century.  The winery is still family-owned and currently managed by his daughter.  Originally the wine was called “Champana” as it was made in the Methode Traditionelle, but in the Sixties Champagne authorities objected and in 1970 Cava DOC was introduced.  The wine is a blend of Xarel-lo, Macabeo and Parellada.  The vineyards are more than twenty-five years old and planted in a clay-calcareous soil, and hand-harvested.  The fruit is chilled before pressing to obtain the flower must, and the Initial Fermentation in oak barrels.  The Second Fermentation is achieved in the bottle, and the wine sits on the lees for eleven months before the disgorgement.  The pale-yellow wine displayed fine bubbles and offered notes of apples, white flowers and flaky pastry dough.  On the palate there were tones of apricot, honeydew, almonds and orange zest ending with short count finish of brioche and fruit.

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A Casual Dinner with Our Son’s Family

Posted on February 2, 2025 by thewineraconteur

One of the unique things, is that our son and his family have moved back from Las Vegas and my Bride is trying to get them into the social whirl.  I enjoy it immensely, because I don’t have to factor in time differences, plus wondering what his work schedule is like, as right now, he is fixing up his new home while he gets a new profession lined up,  We will just have to get him to appreciate wine, as we always try to make arrangements for dinners here or out.  My Bride enjoys it when her social calendar is full.  And she always enjoys being a social director.

We had another dinner with the family, before they get too settled in their new environment and new routines.  We are also trying to introduce them to some different foods as they are not that adventurous, without getting carried away, I mean they do come by it naturally, just look at who they have for a grandfather,  Appetizers before dinner is a great way for them to check out cheeses, dips, and pate dishes without a lot of fanfare.  It is also a sly way to let them try some potentially unique wines that they won’t automatically encounter.  We started out with Cline Family Cellars “Seven Ranchlands” Viognier North Coast 2021, which I have found to have a long life and can be perfect with spicier dishes.    Cline Family Cellars is a producer based in Carneros and known for Zinfandel and Rhone varieties and established in 1982 in Oakley.  Fred Cline is one of the original Rhone Rangers of California.  The “Seven Ranchlands” is a way of honoring both the seven children of the Cline family, and the seven vineyard ranches.  The fruit for this wine is from the Catapult Ranch Vineyard in the Petaluma Gap, and the balance is from the Diamond Pile Vineyard at the base of the Wild Cat Mountain.  The grapes are handpicked at night, where they are destemmed and pressed, and allowed to settle for forty-eight hours before racking.  The Catapult portion was inoculated with wild yeast, while the Diamond Pile portion was allowed to ferment naturally in barrels.  After fermentation, the wine was aged in neutral French Oak for six months before blending and bottling.  This was a very soft colored white wine with notes of mango, guava, and pineapple. On the palate tones of dried apricots, pears, and banana in a full-bodied wine with nice acidity and a nice finish.

We then went and had dinner with a choice of tenderloin, salmon and chicken, because of the food preferences of our grandchildren; sometimes it is like having a restaurant, but that is fine, as I can remember times sitting at the dining room table all alone, until I finished eating a dish that I couldn’t stand and to this day, I still won’t even allow it in my house.  I also tried another wine that is off the beaten track, even for plenty of wine drinkers.  We enjoyed a bottle of Familia Fernandez Condado de Haza (Crianza) Ribera del Duero 1997 by Alejandro Fernandez. He began with Tinto Pesquera which was founded in 1972, and the first harvest was 1975.  Ribera del Duero received DO Status in 1982 from the prominence of estates like Vega Sicile and the work of individuals like Alejandro Fernandez and his Tinto Pesquera.  Condado de Haza was the second estate, and the first vineyards were planted in 1987 and there is now two-hundred hectares planted of Tempranillo on heterogenous soils with a high content of clay and the presence of sand.  He also built and dug into the hillside a bottle cellar that is almost thirty meters underground.  The aging requirements for Ribera del Duero is the same as Rioja, and that is how I was able to ascertain that this bottle was a Crianza, though it was not labeled as such, but it was aged for fifteen month in (American) oak, minimum aging is twelve months.  The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered to enhance the full flavor of the wine.  Twenty-seven years later the wine still had a deep black cherry color with no signs of foxing and offered notes of black fruits, licorice, coffee beans and vanilla.  On the palate there were tones of the black fruit, some oak and vanilla, blended with now muted silk tannins and ending with a medium to long finish of fruit and terroir.  

   

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New Year’s Eve 2024

Posted on January 30, 2025 by thewineraconteur

We had a very quiet New Year’s Eve celebration, as the weather was terrible, and we live on the opposite side of the city from everyone else.  So, we had just a small gathering and my Bride was still a Whirling Dervish of activity.  She was enjoying herself, as she later told me, that she could relax and enjoy her company, because it was a quiet evening. 

My Bride loves to have cheese boards, and plenty of dips to nosh on.  She is not a fancy gourmet-style chef, but she enjoys good food.  She enjoys her whitefish pate, her shrimp cocktails, and she enjoys liver pate and mousse, and we have fine specialty markets where she can shop to her heart’s content.  For our guests, they prefer Chardonnay, and we have been drinking more Sauvignon Blanc lately, but we had no problem opening up some Dunning Vineyards Chardonnay Willow Creek District Paso Robles 2018.  Bob and Jo-Ann Dunning are the winemakers and owners of this forty-acre estate which was established in 1991 on the west side of Paso Robles.  The winery produces about fifteen-hundred cases a year using several different varietals.  This Chardonnay wine is produced in the classic Burgundian style with full oak barrel fermentation and sur-lees aged for one year.  It was a delightful wine with notes of pear and citrus, nutmeg and vanilla.  The wine had a nice creamy taste with balance acidity and layers of flavor that opened up and finished with a nice medium finish of terroir.

For our dinner my Bride prepared her Caesar Salad, Armenian Pilaf, a couple of side vegetables, a simple New York Strip Steak for one of the guests that has a certain food regimen, and a whole tenderloin for the rest of us.  We then had one of my Bride’s favorite wines, that she likes to save, but I went with one anyways.  We had Cain Vineyard and Winery Cain Cuvée Napa Valley  NV12.  Over the years I have called Cain Cuvée, Cain-Lite because it is made with the same loving attention, and with the same five grapes, but from two vineyards and much more affordable.  I still have in the cellar some of the original Cain Cuvée wines that have an actual vintage year.  I mention this because now the wine is a blend of two vintages and the date on the label refers to the year of the blending.  I think that it is a rather clever play on the term NV, as most of the time I use NV to mean Non-Vintage, some may think of Napa Valley and in some sort of texting language is can be read as eN-Vy or envy.  A great way to create interest, especially the first year that they did it.  Each blending year is a different blend and the wines are not a cookie-cutter duplicate of the year before and neither is the taste of wine, as compared to the Champagne houses that strive to have every batch of Non-Vintage taste like the last year for continuity and market appeal.  The labels are now a diamond shape and the back label now reads “harvested, vinified and blended for freshness, lightness, complexity and balance.” The wines also carry a Napa Valley designation as the fruit can be from their Spring Mountain estate and from their Benchland vineyards.   NV12 Cain Cuvee Napa Valley is a blend of fifty percent Merlot, thirty-two percent Cabernet Sauvignon, ten percent Cabernet Franc, four percent Petit Verdot and four percent Malbec.  A deep garnet red wine that offered a slightly funky nose when I first opened it, but about two hours later when we had it with dinner it showed a rich Medoc style wine and offered notes of black fruits, old leather, coffee, herbs and sous-bois.  On the palate a medium-bodied wine with striking tones of black cherry, plums, cedar, elegant tannins and a nice medium-count finish of fruit and forest floor terroir.  This is a totally pleasant wine that definitely is not a typical Napa Red Wine. 

After an assortment of desserts, they got ready to watch to watch a modern version of Dick Clark, and some entertainers that were all shivering from the cold weather in Manhattan.  For the count-down we had Andre Clouet “Spiritum 96” Rose Champagne NV. Today the estate is owned by Jean-Francois Clouet, a Bouzy native with a family history dating prior to the 17th Century.  The house of Andre Clouet was established in 1741, and over the years the family had built it up to the present portfolio and status.  The estate now has eight hectares of vineyards on the mid-slopes of Bouzy and Ambonnay in the Montagne de Reims, on the famous chalk soils of Champagne. The desire to make this wine was to have a Rosé that offered freshness and youth with the essence of a great vintage.  This wine is a blend of ninety percent of a white Pinot Noir base, seven percent Bouzy red and for the dosage three percent of a liqueur made from their 1996 Grand Cru Bouzy Pinot Noir.  A pinkish orange/salmon colored wine with tiny bubbles and fine mousse that offered notes of red cherries, strawberries, raspberry, blood orange, brioche, florals and minerals.  On the palate a medium-bodied, high acidic wine that offered tones of cherries, strawberries, raspberries, some grapefruit with toasted yeasts and a nice long finish.  My Bride and I are both not major sparkling wine drinkers, but we both really enjoyed this wine and looking forward to other wines from this house.  

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Christmas Dinner 2024

Posted on January 27, 2025 by thewineraconteur

I don’t know how it is in your family structure, but certain families have certain holidays booked, basically for life.  Which is great, as it makes sense and much easier to make plans.  One of my cousins has had a lock on Christmas dinner for ages, and I was looking forward to having our son’s family join in, as they had just moved back and bought a house.  It would be the first time that all second cousins could meet each other. 

We were asked to bring my Bride’s now famous and requested Caesar Salad, and a half tray of paklavah (the Armenian pronunciation), as none of us eat as much sweets as we used to. I also brought four bottles of wine to add for the festivities.  The first one is one of our go-to wines at our house Otella Lugano DOC 2021 from Azienda Agricola Otella.  The second wine was Domaine Houchart Rosé Cotes de Provence 2023 from Vignobles Famille Quiot.  The third wine was Close du Clocher Pomerol 2020 from Heritiers Bourotte-Audy.  While the fourth bottle was Highlands 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles 2021.  I figured that group of four would accommodate any of the wine drinkers attending.

I figure that I will discuss two of the wines along with the meal.  There was Cheese Boereg, a flaky pastry stuffed with a white brick cheese.  There was Lahmajoon, the Armenian individual pizza for a lack of a better description, topped with sauteed ground lamb, onions, garlic and parsley.  Another cousin brought this huge irregular long board that was finished and was a Charcuterie Board with several versions of olives, peppers, Armenian String Cheese and of course the cherished shavings of Basturmah.  Now Basturmah is an acquired taste, because it is a dried beef that has been covered in spices and allowed to age and dry (as there was no refrigerators back then) and the meat is then cut paper thin.  It sounds pleasant enough, but the spices make the meat deadly lethal in spicy hot tastes and then to boot, the spices emanate out of your pores for a couple of days after digesting the Basturmah.  Needless to say, since I was in retail, I abstained for my customer’s sake.  I will start with Famille Quiot Domaine Houchart Cotes de Provence Rosé 2023.  Famille Quiot is a wine producer with numerous estates in southern France.  They have been making wine since 1748, starting in Vaucluse in Chateauneuf-du-Pape at Domaine du Vieux Lazaret.  The Domaine is run by the thirteenth-generation member Jerome Quiot and what was originally a few hectares is now one-hundred-ten hectares.  In 1890, they acquired the sixty-hectare estate of Domaine Houchart near Aix-en-Provence.  The family estate has its roots and was farmed during the Roman era and is located in the plain between Sainte Victoire and Aurelien mountains, and has its own climate.  The land is clay and limestone soils, from the decomposition of the scree from the surrounding mountains.  The wine is a blend of Cinsault, Grenache Noir, Syrah, and Tibouren; with the average age of the vines being thirty-five-years.  The fruit is harvested in September, with direct pressing for most of the varieties, with vatting for almost two weeks in I surmise Stainless-Steel to maintain freshness; the wines are bottled in December.  This salmon-pink colored wine offers notes of citrus and strawberries.  On the palate the wine offers tones of red currants, watermelon, with great acidity and ending with a nice medium count finish of fruit and terroir.  And as a side note, with all of the festivities, I forgot to take a photo of this wine, so I had to get another photo from a prior article, thankfully, we buy many of these wines by the case.   

Now you have to understand that at an Armenian dinner after the appetizers, everyone says “I could have stopped after the appetizers,” but that never happens.  My cousin had made as the centerpiece of the dinner this huge beef tenderloin that actually fed the troops, cooked with onions and garlic and other spices.  There was Clams Spaghetti, my uncle’s favorite dish that is still served in his honor.  There were several assorted sides of vegetables, and I have to say, that she still makes the best roasted peppers I have ever encountered.   For the main course, I made sure that my Bride and I had the Clos du Clocher Pomerol 2020.  Jean-Baptiste Bourotte was front and center, as the great-grandson of Jean-Baptiste Audy the founder of Clos du Clocher.  The first vintage for this small, but consistent estate in Pomerol was in 1924.  The winery is just shy of six hectares and is home to some truly ancient vines.  The estate is set in four parcels and seventy percent of these parcels are dedicated to Merlot, and the balance is planted with Cabernet Franc.  The average age for the vines is forty years and they are planted on clay and gravel parcels on the Pomerol plateau.  No herbicides are used and organic treatments are implemented where possible.  The fruit is hand harvested, double-sorted with a density bath, de-stemmed to create a homogenous final crop.  Fermentation is done in small Stainless Steel and concrete tanks by parcel; hence the wines reflect the percentages of the grapes grown.  The wine then is aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which two-thirds are new.  This was the first year that Organic conversion began and was officially instituted in 2021.  This vintage must be indicative of what should be expected from the entire plateau as well as the rest of Pomerol.  Another deep garnet-purple colored wine that offered big notes of black currants, black cherries, violets, and graphite.  On the palette, this was a big wine of black fruits, bold tannins and a great finish emphasizing fruit and terroir.  Then we all had to make room for the myriad of desserts, and the paklavah was only a small part of the selection.

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Planning Another Christmas Dinner

Posted on January 24, 2025 by thewineraconteur

Some dinners are easier to plan than others.  We have friends that are not wine drinkers like we are, and we have to create menus that will work for all concerned.  My Bride had a friend and her husband come for dinner, and her friend goes back to elementary school, so they have a couple of years between the two of them.  Her husband likes Bourbon, and he also likes Rum and Cola; so that was easy enough.  We started with an assortment of appetizers, which is now called a charcuterie board, and years ago, we may have called it an antipasto plate.  We had cheeses, meats, fish, peppers and assorted dips, crackers and the necessary accoutrements needed for the munchies.  I was also trying to select an opening wine that might work. 

I decided on an easy to drink and understand bottle of bubbly.  We started with The Furst Crémant D’Alsace NV which is produced by Cave Vinicole de Kietzenheim-Kaysersberg.  Cave Vinicole de Kietzenheim-Kaysersberg is a cooperative of one-hundred-thirty landowners in the villages of Ammerschwihr, Kientzheim, Kaysersbert and Sigolsheim and covers one-hundred-seventy hectares of vineyards.  This cooperative is part of a much larger cooperative of successive merger and is now called Bestheim.  Crémant d’Alsace is an appellation created in 1976 covering the sparkling (Methode Traditionelle) white and rosé wines of the Alsace region.  The wines must spend a minimum of nine months maturing on their lees, before disgorgement and the dosage; all vital and required steps to comply with the appellation.  The Furst is produced in concert with the Dopff au Moulin Estate with seventy hectares of vineyards, and currently in the thirteenth generation of wine makers.  The Estate is located in the historic Riquwhir at an altitude of 300 meters in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains.  The Estate is also credited with the creation of Crémant D’Alsace and the creation of the distinctive tall, slender Alsatian wine bottle.  This wine is a blend of fifty percent Pinot Blanc and fifty percent Pinot Auxerrois.  The golden-yellow wine with small to medium size bubbles offered cidery aromas notes.  On the palate there were  tones of apple, pear, and lemon zest which  complimented a delicate mousse, and ending with a savory finish.

My Bride had made her signature dishes of Caesar Salad, Armenian Pilaf and her Bourbon and Brown Sugar Salmon.  I knew our guest’s wife likes red wine, so I went with a bottle of J Vineyards & Winery Black Label Monterey-Sonoma County-Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2015.   The winery began in 1986 by Judy Jordan, the daughter of Tom Jordan, founder of Jordan Vineyard & Winery fame. The father and daughter team began as equal partners, until the daughter was able to buy out her father and she became sole proprietor. Originally, I only knew the winery for their sparkling wine and for the first ten years they only produced the J Vineyard Brut and what a fine job they did with it. In 2015 E&J Gallo bought J Vineyards & Winery and maintained the winemaker. The wine is a blend of Pinot Noir from three areas: seventy percent of the fruit came from the Olson Ranch in Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey County and I have been praising the Pinots from that region for some time, twenty-six percent of the fruit came from the Russian River Valley and four percent was harvested from Santa Maria Valley AVA in Santa Barbara County. The different wines were aged for six to seven months in a mix of French and American Oak, then blended and bottled.     The wine was a deep dark garnet color and offered notes of dark plums, vanilla and anise.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine showed tones of plums and rose petals and finished with a medium count finish of fruit and a trace of terroir.

 For dessert my Bride had stopped at our local Italian market and went to their bakery to buy an assortment of cakes, cookies and tarts.  I knew that the husband enjoyed Riesling wines, as that is what we have given him other bottles as gifts in the past.  So, we opened a bottle of Weingut Carl Ehrhard Rüdesheim Berg Rottland Riesling Auslese 2017 from the Rheingau.  The Rheingau was first settled by Celts, followed by the Romans in the First Century.  Rüdesheim is a town on the northern banks of the Rhine River and there are seven vineyards rated by the VDP as Grosse Lage (First Growths) and the best are west of the town with on the steep slopes with southern exposure and Berg Rottland is one of them.  Here is one of the steepest slopes and the soil is slate, quartzite, gravel, and scattered loess.  Weingut Carl Ehrhard is an historic family estate and winery founded in 1815 and is now organic and biodynamic.  All fruit is hand-harvested, Initial Fermentation occurs spontaneously from indigenous yeasts in large neutral oak barrels.  The juice remains in the barrels on their lees for over a year, and they like to release the wine seventeen months after harvest with no fining or filtering.  The wine had a nice golden color and offered notes of ripe peaches and apricots, white florals, and honey.  On the palate a rich full-bodied wine that had tones of ripe fruit, a touch of citrus with balanced acidity and a long finish of honey and terroir.

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Fine Wine Source Club – January 2025

Posted on January 21, 2025 by thewineraconteur

I figure that I will break up the current narrative to mention that I have stopped at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan to pick up the monthly club offerings.  The club selections as well as all the wines offered there have been curated by the owner and staff, and they never go after popular brands like you can find at the local grocery store, drug store or even nowadays the gas station,

The first wine offered always represents the Old World and this selection is Azienda Agricola Lombardo “Confino” Toscana IGT Rosso 2020.  The winery was established by Antonio Lombardo who left Sicily to be in Montepulciano in Tuscany.  He began with a trucking company and in 1972 he planted his first vineyard.  He started with sixteen hectares and now has a total of thirty-five hectares.  His son, Giacinto took over the winery after his father’s demise and has continued to upgrade and improve upon what they have created.  The winery is basically planted in Sangiovese (Prugnolo Gentile) with vineyards in Caggiole, Confino, S. Polo and Graciano, where the winery is based.  Confino and Graciano vineyards are rich in clay soil producing powerful and tannic wines, while Caggiole is sandstone (Tufo) for making elegant and non-tannic wines.  Confino is Italian for border and this vineyard is in the north-east corner of Montepulciano.  The wine is a ruby colored wine offering notes of blackberries, cherries, cassis, violets, herbs and spices.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine offers tones of dark fruit, smooth and plush tannins that linger into a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir.    

The New World is represented by The Paring Pinot Noir Santa Barbara 2022.   The Paring was created in 2006 as a way to explore and experiment making wines without rules.  The fruit for this wine comes from vineyard blocks that are either too young or don’t fit into the vintage style of JONATA and The Hilt wines.  The winery uses fruit harvested from the Santa Barbara region: Santa Ynez Valley, Sta. Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley.   The wine is aged in French Oak, of which thirty-five percent is new, and the balance is neutral, for eleven months.   The wine is described as having notes of blackberries, plums, red fruit and rosemary.  On the palate the wine has spicy red cherry, oak, and fine tannins with a lingering savory texture.

While I was picking up the club selections, I was also poured a quick tasting of eight wines, which I will eventually get to, but for the moment I will mention my thoughts on Bella Union Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2022.  Far Niente Wine Estates owes its history of dedication and passion starting with John Benson in 1880 who founded the estate and to Gil Nickel who brought the estate to the modern era.  Not only with an exceptional winery in Rutherford, but also with a small winery on Bell Oaks Lane when they purchased a sixty-acre vineyard for Bella Union, as the original name of the lane was Bella Union Roadway.  Bella Union Winery in Rutherford opened in 2024 with its current legacy going back to 1979.  The vineyard is located on well-drained loam, and the vines range from twenty to thirty years of age.  This wine is a blend of ninety-four percent Cabernet Sauvignon, two percent Merlot, two percent Cabernet Franc, 1.5% Malbec and .5% Petit Verdot.  Initial Fermentation was done with ninety-seven percent in Stainless-Steel and three percent concrete vats, with about nineteen days of skin contact.   The wine was aged for seventeen months in French Oak, half new and half neutral.  A deep dark garnet colored wine that offers notes of black cherry, cassis, cedar and herbs and spices.  On the palate there were tones of black cherry, ripe plums, dark chocolate and vanilla blending perfectly with firm tannins and ending with a nice medium to long count finish of fruit and tannins.  This wine is still “grippy” and needs some years to mellow out.     

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Christmas with The Wine Raconteur Jr. 2024 Part Two

Posted on January 18, 2025 by thewineraconteur

While my Bride was getting the main course prepared, she also had made her Caesar Salad, and vegetables.  The main course of the meal, she started preparing the night before, as she was making two different types of Ribs in Molé, a dark and a red sauce; according to our participants, the red sauce was the hit.

 The dinner was a night to enjoy wines from the Sixties.  The Wine Raconteur Jr. was excited as he brought a bottle of Marchesi Villadoria Barola DOCG 1964 from the Cascine Rivette e Marena Vineyard in the Piedmont.  It began with Daniele Lanzavecchia (Sr.) who began a vine plant nursery with the dream of eventually making wine.  He then had a son, who shared his passion and in 1959, the Villadoria Estate was established in the Serralunga hills; and now the third generation is assisting.  Besides growing Nebbiolo for Barolo, they also grow Merlot and Muscat, as well as having a hazelnut grove.  Serralunga is one of the eleven best known towns producing Barolo and known for their famed terroir of limestone and sandstone soil.  The fruit is hand-harvested, destemmed and crushed gently, and Initial Fermentation occurs in Stainless-Steel tanks on the skins for about twenty-eight days,  and Malolactic Fermentation follows.   The wine is aged for a total of five years, the first twenty months in Slavonian Oak; followed by time in concrete and steel tanks to tamper the strong tannins of the Nebbiolo grape.  The bottle came with a candle mounted on it, to allow for decanting illumination, but directly in line with the candle was the old Italian Export label that is no longer used,  and the bottle had a wax closure over the bottle, try as I could, even with my Durand, the cork crumbled and I used a funnel and coffee filter to drain and decant the wine before dinner.   For a sixty-year-old wine the color was still a deep garnet with no foxing or browning.  The wine was still offering notes of cherries, roses, tobacco, truffles, old leather and tar.  On the palate the tones of cherries and tannins were finally tamed and tempered with secondary notes of truffles and licorice and ending with a finish of subtle fruit and terroir.       

While we continued with the dinner choices, we enjoyed a second bottle of wine, this time from Familia Fernandez de Manzanos 1961.  Bodegas Manzanos is a large wine producer in Spain, founded in 1890 and is now run by the fifth generation of the Fernandez de Manzanos family.  They are in the top three of Navarra and the top five in Rioja for production and they own ten wineries.  The original winery for the family is in the Rioja Alta zone back in 1890.  A cache of bottles was discovered in the cellar of the winery by Victor Manzanos.  After trying a bottle of wine, the decision was made to rebottle, recork and relabel the wine.  After spending three years in French Oak, this wine was bottled in the mid-Sixties and has been untouched since then, until two years ago.  Familia Fernandez de Manzanos “Manzanos Red Wine 1961 Spain” was the relabeled wine that was reissued.  The designation of Rioja was not as well known internationally, and it was not always indicated on the labels of wines from the region.  The wine is a blend of Tempranillo and Grenache (Garnacha) and was considered a Vino Tinto at the time.  The fruit was hand-harvested (automated wasn’t available then).  The wine on the first time was aged for three years in French Oak.  This wine was originally listed as a lighter wine at the time, and perhaps that is why it was left to age longer and then forgotten, as it was stored in a hillside cellar. There was six-hundred bottles of the original cache, every bottle was opened and four-hundred bottles were selected. The four-hundred bottles were emptied into vat and re-blended together, prior to re-bottling and re-labeling.  The wine was a deep garnet with notes of dark fruit, cigar box and spices.   On the palate there were tones of dark cherry, plums, licorice, soft tannins with secondary tones of coffee, vanilla and balsamic tastes.  The wine had a medium-count finish fruit with a touch of terroir.  It was definitely a Rioja, even without being identified as one, and a very interesting wine to chew on and I needed to use one word, it would be elegant and at sixty-three, it held its own.

For dessert we had several choices of pastries and cookies and coffee.  Then we had Korbin Kameron Late Harvest “Sweet Isla” Moon Mountain District 2018 from Moonridge Vineyards in Sonoma County and it is Estate Grown.  I was able to get in touch with Korbin Ming and he was able to give me some information. The wine is late harvested Sauvignon Blanc with an addition of fifteen percent Botrytised Semillon. One week cold soak and fermented on the skins for an additional two weeks to pick up extra color and flavors, called phenolics, which was a really long and cool fermentation for intense aromatics. The wine was aged for eight months in neutral oak. .  A beautiful wine that was just magnificent and reminded me of a French Sauternes with a nose of honeysuckle, a silky texture offering notes of sweet lemons, apricots and marmalade with a nice long count in the finish.  If I must say, we had a wonderful dinner until the next time we get together   

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