A Chick Flick

Posted on June 6, 2018 by thewineraconteur

Now I am not trying to be demeaning, but it today’s parlance a chick flick is for a film that the main audience is geared towards the woman.  There are times when we both agree on a film.  Then there are times when one or the other wants to see something and the other spouse goes along with anticipation of a latter quid pro quo.   Well the other day, I was outvoted, as Ms. Yoga and my Bride had already decided on seeing a film, and I was going along, but at least I had to hope that the caliber of the writing would be worthy of the stars of the film.  I mean there are some films that are totally sophomoric and I have no idea who the target audience is.  There are times when we can appreciate a film that is basically computer generated with the scenes, but the writing has to be aimed for adults with a capacity of thinking, otherwise that is what television is for.  To me television was called the Great Wasteland and I think it wears that title quite well, so for almost forty years I have not watched it, unless I have put a DVD movie on to play.  I know that I am old fashioned, but they stopped making Beta format tapes years ago.

As you may have surmised, we went to see the Book Club with a cast of actresses and actors that can no longer play ingénue roles.  We all went to see the film, even though one of the leads lost favor with my generation years ago, because we all lost friends to the Viet Nam war, and a plastic enhanced actress dismayed many of my era.  The film was cute, and the theater was completely sold out, so I guess the marketers did a good job.  I found it amusing that both my Bride and Ms. Yoga did not recognize Andy Garcia, and I chuckled to think that he was the romantic interest for the daughter in Godfather III, and here he was the romantic lead for the mother from that film in this film.  It was a feel-good movie and it was written for adults, even Ms. Yoga’s brother who went with us, had to admit that he enjoyed the film, but I guess it was a while since he went to the cinema, as he was more amazed at the prices that were demanded.

After the movie, we headed back to our house, as another couple were coming over to have dinner with the group, they couldn’t attend the film, as they had a prior commitment, but they did want to see Ms. Yoga.  While we were waiting for them to arrive, to start the dinner, my Bride set out a series of plates of just good appetizers to nosh on.  We even had some wine at this time and it was a chance to compare two different Chardonnay wines from California, both in the popular price realm.  The first wine, was one that surprised me, because it was from Costco, which is now America’s leading wine purveyor.  We had one of their house brands that I did not know that they were offering.  The Kirkland Signature Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2016 was a solid dependable wine.  I have had their California Chardonnay, and we always seem to have their Sonoma Chardonnay here, but this was the first time that I had seen the sub-region of Sonoma offered by Costco.  It was very easy and for the price, I thought it was delightful and I wouldn’t mind having again in the future.  The other wine was also new to me and was part of Wagner Family of Wine and was from there Mer Soleil Vineyard.  The Mer Soleil Silver Chardonnay 2015 was in a silver gray “ceramic” finished bottle and carried the Monterey County AVA.  While I was doing some additional research, the vineyard is in the Santa Lucia Highlands, and several sources I checked list that as the AVA for the wine.  This wine is totally unoaked and was fermented in both Stainless Steel and Concrete tanks, hence the silver gray of the bottle.  The wine still had a lush full taste with distinct citrus, and I guess that is not surprising as the vineyard is surrounded by a Meyer Lemon orchard that the Wagner family also grows and I guess that has added something to the terroir of the soil over time.  We were just enjoying the food and munchies and waiting for the additional guests to arrive for dinner.

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Ms. Yoga is Returning

Posted on June 4, 2018 by thewineraconteur

Ms. Yoga is one of my revolving cast of characters that appear on these pages.  If I were to liken her to a cinematic character it may be Rosalind Russel as Auntie Mame, someone bigger than life and hardly a shrinking violet.  While I have known her for years, she and my Bride go back even further and they could be Thelma and Louise or perhaps Lucy and Ethel.  She used to live here in Michigan and she has moved a couple of times, because of that vile four-letter word – work, but we have maintained a steady correspondence and we have visited her at her other realms.

Sometimes I bring her up, because of the text messages that I receive from her.  I think originally, she was like my Bride and only drank white wines and then they were usually a Chardonnay.  That all changed especially when we all went to Napa Valley for a holiday and I had booked plenty of wine tastings, not to mention restaurant reservations.  When we get together, one never knows exactly what we will be drinking, though there will still be a Chardonnay somewhere in the mix.  She also likes to find me an occasional unique looking wine and label, from the early days when I was decoupaging the door to my first wine cellar that predates our current address.  In fact, it was her that introduced me to Marilyn Merlot, just because of the label and I have had a love affair with that wine ever since.

During the course of her latest texting announcements that she would be coming to Detroit, she sent me not only a wine cartoon, but a photo of a wine bottle that she really enjoyed and thought that I should know about it.  She was in Florida on business and wrote that she had found a Key Lime Vodka that she was enjoying in some Key Lime Martinis.   While she was in the Tampa area, she also discovered a wine from one of the assorted collections produced by Oak Ridge Winery of Lodi, California.  Oak Ridge Winery began as a cooperative in 1934 and is the oldest winery in Lodi.  It was bought by the Maggio and Reynolds families in 2001 and then joined by the Dondero family in 2010.  They have over 500 acres and the winery is known for its unique tasting room, which is in a converted 50,000-gallon Redwood tank.  The wine she texted me about was their Silk Oak Chardonnay 2014, and as I have told you, she is still very partial to that grape.

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EL Ixsir White

Posted on June 2, 2018 by thewineraconteur

I was getting a chance to taste a couple more wines from Ixsir Winery.   I was still feeling rather sheepish for getting my dates mixed up for the tasting and I was a week late at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia.  They must have thought that I was senile or just crazy and I had missed the chance to talk with their representative.  The wine shop was very generous though to let me try some of the wine that was left over from the actual tasting, and since they use the Coravin system, I can say whole-heartedly that the wines that they poured were still fresh and didn’t show any signs of being over the hill after being in the chiller for a week.

I can understand that they were out of the red wines for a tasting, and I would not expect them to open fresh bottles for me to try, since I was so late.  Ixsir Winery offers three collections of wines; Altitudes, Grande Reserve and EL.  The Altitude collections I did not try and there was a red, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Caladoc and Tempranillo, a rosé which was a blend of Syrah, Caladoc and Cinsault and a white which was a blend of Obeidy, Muscat and Viognier.  While I had a chance to try the Grande Reserve White, I missed out on the Grande Reserve Red which was a blend of Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The EL collection is their supreme cuvee at Ixsir Winery and it best exemplifies the terroir of the estate in the Batroun.  It is a labor of love by the winemaker Gabriel Rivero and his close advisor Hubert de Bouard a co-owner of Chateau Angelus in Saint Emilion.  If you were aware of it, France and Lebanon had a long history in the Twentieth Century and Beirut was called the Paris of the Middle East.  The EL Red was a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  Which leads us to the two wines that I had a chance to try.  The EL White was at blend of seventy percent Viognier and thirty percent Chardonnay.  The wine is aged for twelve months in French Oak, of which a third was new, a third was used once and a third was used twice.  I tried both the EL White 2012 and the EL White 2014.  It was really interesting to see, because I normally if I had a chance to buy the wine untasted I would have chosen the later vintage, because of my wariness of buying older white wines.  The 2012 vintage was pure bliss and a real eye opener to me, as the two wines were blended so well and mellowed that I would not have thought that it was such a large degree of Viognier.  I could have easily drunk a bottle of it with a dinner and be totally happy with its smoothness.  Going by the quality of the three white wines, I am sure that the red wines would be equally wonderful in the glass.

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Ixsir Grand Reserve White

Posted on May 31, 2018 by thewineraconteur

I guess that I am becoming one of those “seniors” who lose track of time, but then numbers have always been my bane for remembering.  I was blocking some time to go to my latest favorite wine shop The Fine Wine Source, because I had an email promotion from them about tasting some wines from Lebanon.  My knowledge of this area of the world for wines is very limited and I was looking forward to discussing wines with the representative.  I walked into the wine shop, where they know me and asked how the tasting was going for these wines.  They laughed and said it was a great turnout and very successful, but that I was a week late.  Talk about being embarrassed.  Though they told me that they have some wines available still for tasting, due to the wonders of the Coravin system.  I tried to save face and agreed to try what was available.

Ixsir Winery was founded in 2009 in the northern part of Lebanon in Batroun which is a coastal area.  They are a mountain winery, and one of the highest in elevation for the Northern Hemisphere.  The name Ixsir derives from the Arabic word “Iksir” the original Arabic word for “elixir.” History has recorded that man has searched for the perfect elixir for eternal youth and for love.  The winery is very progressive and has been named one of the greenest buildings in the world.  The winery owns one-hundred-twenty hectares in the Batroun with several different vineyards capitalizing on the terroir.  The winery grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Tempranillo, Caladoc, Cinsault, Merlot, Obeidy, Viognier, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon.  Quite impressive for a young company, as far as I am concerned.

The first wine that was opened for me, was totally impressive and thankfully they had some bottles, so that I could take some home to share with my Bride.  The Ixsir Grand Reserve White 2015 captivated me immediately, as soon as I came into contact with the nose of the wine.   I enjoy Viognier and the heady, perfumed fragrance hit me immediately, and I knew that my Bride also enjoys this grape, I guess I have learned a bit about her over the years.  The wine was a blend of sixty percent Viognier, twenty-five percent Sauvignon Blanc and fifteen percent Chardonnay.  The wine was aged in French Oak, of which half were new, for a period of five months.   It was a nice crisp wine with just enough oak, so as not to be cloying.  So far, I have kept the wine under wraps at home, until the right moment to surprise her with it.

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The Caller Retired

Posted on May 29, 2018 by thewineraconteur

We recently had the opportunity to have dinner with The Caller and his wife at Gravity Bar & Grill in Milford, Michigan.  The Caller is one of my beloved cast of characters that I rely on for an occasional article or two.  If we thought trying to arrange a dinner with them was tough when they were working, it is twice as tough now that they both retired.   When I grow up, I want to be like him, just joking, but they are still as busy as they have always been.  We chose Milford as the best location as it is located rather centrally for both of us, and we have met there on several occasions.  We have met often at Gravity, both for the food and for the bar, yes, we do like to amuse ourselves with adult beverages from time to time.  We left almost an hour and a half early to get there, because of rush hour traffic and we ended up taking the back road in, that I didn’t think anyone used, because the freeway looked like a parking lot.  They kept themselves amused while we were late, by enjoying some appetizers before we got there.

We needed a cocktail when we got there, to try to catch up with our guests, who were enjoying a Gin and cucumber drink.  My Bride had a Dirty Martini and I went with my simple Vermouth Cocktail, which always requires my reciting the recipe; I guess that I am just high maintenance.  Since they had already had appetizers waiting for us, we went directly for ordering our dinners.  They and my Bride all ordered Caesar Salads, while I went with the House Salad.  The Caller and his wife had a special version of the Filet Mignon for the evening.  My Bride had the Jumbo Lump Crab and Shrimp Cakes, which were pan-seared and served with a Creamy Lime Risotto, Tomato Cilantro Relish and Beurre Blanc.  I went with the special Grilled Sea Bass with Red Pepper Coulis and Pesto Gnocchi.  I might add that we were all members of the “Clean Plate Club” after dinner, as every dish was perfect.  Crème Brulee and coffee finished off the meal.

It was quite a decision trying to select a wine with the dishes.  The Caller said that he would have a white wine with his dinner, but I felt that a red wine would have been better for the filets, and I selected a red wine, even though it was a bit bold for our dinners, but it wasn’t the first or the last time that I would enjoy a big red with a lighter meal.  We went with a wonderful bottle from Trivento Bodegas y Vinedos, their Trivento Golden Reserve Malbec 2015 from the Lujan de Cuyo which is a well-respected sub-region of Mendoza in Argentina.  Malbec is the King of Mendoza and especially in the Lujan de Cuyo.  This wine started with cold maceration in Stainless Steel and then spent twelve months aging in French Oak, and since it was their Reserve, the wine spent an additional twelve months in the bottle prior to being released.  It was a big wine with beautiful color and really chewy, it may have overpowered our dishes, but it was worth it, as the structure was firm and with a couple of years in the cellar this wine would really shine, which is high praise, as it was quite affordable even in a restaurant setting.  We are looking forward to seeing them again, as they settle into retirement.

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Two from Rutherford Wineries

Posted on May 27, 2018 by thewineraconteur

There is something about Rutherford in Napa Valley that brings out the awe factor for a six square mile area.  While the Rutherford AVA was established in 1981, it seems that for years, the Napa Valley AVA was an easier selling point to the masses.  I of course am old enough to always think of Clarence (Lumpy) and his father Fred Rutherford from the old “Leave it to Beaver” television show, but that is just how my brain functions.  I was at The Fine Wine Source trying tasting some wines.  One wine carries the Rutherford AVA and the other wine comes from a time-honored wine family based in Rutherford, but the wine carries the Napa Valley AVA.

The first wine is from a newer winery that was established in 2012.  The Foley Johnson Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon 2014.  The fruit for this wine came from their estate vineyard of forty acres and the adjacent Peral Vineyard.  The wine was aged for twenty months in French Oak, of which thirty-five percent was new and the balance of the barrels were one and two years old.  The wine was bottled unfiltered and they produced five-hundred-eighty-eight cases.  It was a delightful wine with a wonderfully long finish that I truly enjoy, but then I would have been disappointed with any Cabernet Sauvignon that was crafted from this area, that wasn’t.

The other wine that I tried was a Merlot and I think that Napa Valley has produced some wonderful wines from that grape as well.  The second wine came from the very famed Wagner Family of Wine group.  Emmolo Wines is managed and operated by Jenny Wagner, the daughter of Chuck and Cheryl Wagner and named after her Great-Grandfather who bought the property in 1923.  Emmolo Wines was started by Cheryl Emmolo Wagner in 1994 and now by the daughter.  When I visited Caymus, there were only five wines total for us to taste, the selection has grown quite a bit since then.  The Emmolo Napa Valley Merlot 2015 was an enjoyable Merlot and priced very reasonable for a quality wine from the region.  I would not hesitate ordering this wine with a meal, especially since I am very partial to a good Merlot.

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Omen

Posted on May 25, 2018 by thewineraconteur

I am not going to talk about the film with Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, nor the last film that starred a future winemaker.  I was at the Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan tasting some wines.  I am sure that I make a pest of myself when I am there, as I am hastily writing some cryptic notes and trying to capture a photograph of the wine and the label.  I am that guy that makes other people groan when they are trying to taste a wine and having fun.  I also try not to monopolize the conversation, not because I am so knowledgeable, but because I want to learn as much as I can, in a short period of time.  I figure that what I don’t glisten at the moment, I hope to find additional information on the web and help someone else out.

I was tasting a wine from Atlas Wines called Omen Red Blend 2016.  To be candid, if I was just out shopping for something new, I may have passed this bottle by because of the rather prosaic name.  I am so used to wineries coming out with an exotic name for a blend, that Red Blend is rather boring, but when I look back, that is exactly what the label describes.  Here was a wine that was fifty percent Syrah, twenty-seven percent Barbera, sixteen percent Petite Sirah and seven percent Zinfandel.  The wine carried the Sierra Foothills AVA and I have had some other wines from that area.  The wine was aged for nine months in French Oak, of which twenty-five percent was new and there were only eight-hundred-twenty-five cases produced.  Even though the tastings are done using the Coravin system, so the wine is basically fresh from the bottle and one has to swirl it a bit, before the tasting, I could tell that it was a full-bodied wine and a pretty wine as well.

What really geeked me, and I guess that I am a wine nerd to a degree, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be sharing information every other day.  While the wine carries the Sierra Foothills AVA, the first three varietals were actually grown in the Fair Play AVA, and if I had read about this district before, it did not register with me and I had to do some research.  I like wine, but I also, if possible like to speak with some basic knowledge and who knows how often in Michigan I would find another wine with Fair Play AVA.  Fair Play AVA is entirely found inside of the El Dorado and Sierra Foothills AVA’s.  It is only thirty-six square miles in size, which in Michigan is how big original townships were platted, as I can tell you, that I live in a former township, now a city that still has the original six by six square miles.  Fair Play is currently having three-hundred-fifty acres planted with additional two-hundred more acres in the planning stage.   This is the esoteric information that I like to carry around with me and it is amazing what one can learn from tasting a wine.

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Two Distinct Cabs

Posted on May 23, 2018 by thewineraconteur

As always, it is not too difficult for me to find some time to do some wine tasting.  I mean, not that I really need any wines to add to the cellar, even if I had room, but one never knows what lays ahead.  On one of my trips to Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan I had a chance to sample some wines.  If one is not prepared they will be over-powered by the tastings that are offered in the shop.  In one area they are doing tastings of domestic wines, and in another section of the shop there are imported wines.  The shop is not that large and after you take into account the racks and cases of wines all around, add the help and then add the customers, you are talking about a ready-made party of new friends.  The shop uses the Coravin system to keep the wines sound, between tastings and I probably drive them nuts taking photographs of the wine in the glass next to the bottle.  I will mention two wines made by established wine making families.

The first wine that I had was by the Michael Mondavi Family, their Emblem Cabernet Sauvignon 2014.  The Michael Mondavi Family was formed in 2006, and of course the Mondavi family is one of the old guard in Napa Valley.  This company has a couple of different series and the Emblem series is one.  The wine is a blend of seventy-nine percent Cabernet Sauvignon and is blended with Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Syrah and Zinfandel.  After fourteen days of fermentation on the skins, the wine is then aged in small French Oak barrels for eighteen months.  I found the wine to have a good nose, deep color and a nice long finish; a wine that I could really chew.  This was not a bargain Cabernet Sauvignon, and it was affordable.

The other family wine that I tried was a new one for me, but that is very easy, for me to find new winemakers.  The Marietta Cellars Family Series Armé Cabernet Sauvignon 2014.  The Family Series pays homage to the seven winemakers in the family.  The wine is estate grown and they have three properties in the North Coast/Sonoma County area.  This wine was eighty-six percent Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance being Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot.  There were seven-thousand cases produced.  This wine reminded me of an Old-World Claret in the best-case description.  This wine I might add is also very affordable, especially for the quality that it displayed.  I was very happy with this wine and I could have gone for seconds on it, it was that good.

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Two For Eighty

Posted on May 21, 2018 by thewineraconteur

We were recently invited out to celebrate a couple who were both turning eighty this year.  The party was hosted by their children and they had a full turnout of guests to enjoy the festivities.  The children grew up with my Bride and the parents are friends with my in-laws, so I kind of sat back and watched my Bride revel in the get-together.  They had made a video of their life that was playing on a big screen television that they brought in, and of course, even though gifts were not encouraged, everyone seemed to bring something.

The party was held at a Buddy’s Pizzeria, because it had a large private room, and was rather centrally located for the children of the parents who were being honored.  Buddy’s is rather an institution in Detroit, as they started out as a blind pig in 1946 and became legit, rather quickly.  They are nationally known for their pizzas, usually getting into the top ten of most lists.  The dinner was set up family style and there were two kinds of salads, an antipasto and a Greek-style, and I am always amazed that that pizzerias have a Greek salad, but what do I know.  There were platters of mostaccioli for all of the guests and then there were pizzas.  This was the first time that I have ever eaten their pizza, I have been to several of the different locations, but I never had pizza.  They are credited for the creation of the “Detroit-Style” thick crust square pizza.  Tradition has it that necessity was the creation, as they secured these “pans” that were used in industry to hold nuts and bolts for an assembly line.  I was a little surprised that the main cheese used for the pizza was Wisconsin Brick cheese, so it was totally a different taste than what I was expecting.

We each only had one glass of wine as we had quite a bit of driving to do after the party.  My Bride had a glass 0f Bollini Pinot Grigio Trentino DC 2016.  The wine was cold pressed and settled for sixty hours and then low temperature vinification in Stainless Steel for twenty-five days and finally spent four to five months on the lees, also in Stainless Steel.  The wine had a nice, but not overly crisp taste with just a tinge of minerals.  I had the Santa Martina Rosso Toscana IGT 2016 from Tenute Ambrogio e Giovanni Folonari.  The Folonari family has been in wine production since the late 1700’s and is still family owned and operated.  The wine was forty percent Sangiovese and then the balance was equally split among Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah.  With the additional three varietals, the wine had to have the Toscana IGT designation and almost every restaurant seems to carry a “Super Tuscan” as opposed to a Tuscan wine.  I have to admit that with those four grapes, the wine was not that over-powering and I think that my Bride had the better of the two wines.  We were there for the celebration and not for the food and wine, so all was fine.  A good time was enjoyed by all.

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Adieu Louisville

Posted on May 19, 2018 by thewineraconteur

It was our last night in Louisville and outside of the commute, it was very pleasurable.  My Bride had finished up her Continuing Education credits which are necessary for one of her designations.  As for me I just sat in the lap of luxury and tried to catch up on some of computer work, I mean I work so hard.  I also had a chance to start packing some of the suitcases ahead of time.  All we had to do when we got up the next day was strip the bed linens and launder them, as well as the towels; and it was convenient as there was a washer and a dryer in the cabana suite.

We were going to the main house and join them for dinner that evening.  My Sister-in-Law was preparing a dinner and I was fascinated watching her prep the dinner.  We were going to have salmon done in parchment and I just watched how easy she made the whole dinner appear, even to the point of adding some wine into the packets before cooking them.  She was also making a special salad and she had some great heirloom tomatoes that she had picked up that day, during her running around.  It was just a laid-back evening and it was good to take it easy.

I opened up a couple more bottles that I had brought with us for the trip.  The first wine that I opened during the prep period was one wine that I thought I might have opened for Thanksgiving, but it was never opened.  The bottle of wine was from Domaine Saint Barbe and was “Terres Rouge” 2013, which just translates to “Red Lands.” This wine carries the Appellation Macon-Burgy Controlee and is a red wine from the Maconnais. To carry this Appellation Controlee the white wines must be Chardonnay and the red wines must either be Pinot Noir or Gamay. Domaine Saint Barbe has eighty acres of Gamay vines planted and they are a mix of Gamay, Gamay de Chaudenay, Gamay de Bouze and Gamay Freau.  It was a full-bodied wine from the region and I guess that I am not that knowledgeable or that my taste buds could discern all the nuances of the different Gamay grapes, but it went down very easily and by then it was time to open the second bottle to let it breath a bit.  I was really looking forward to them trying this wine as our hosts both enjoy big reds.  I had brought a bottle of the Yao Ming, and my Brother-in-Law enjoys basketball, mostly collegiate and he takes his one son to some of the games.  He knew that Mao Ling had retired, but he did not know that after he retired from sports in July 2011, he began a new career as a winemaker in November 2011, barely enough time to realize that he had retired. Yao Family Wines owns no vineyards in Napa Valley, but they do have a tasting room in St. Helena, with contracts with vineyards in Coombsville, Atlas Peak, Oak Knoll District and St. Helena, but the wines carry the Napa Valley AVA. The Yao Ming Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 was the perfect wine to end the evening with. The wine was almost entirely Cabernet Sauvignon, but there was 5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, and of the Cabernet Sauvignon there were three different clones and each was vinified separately before the blending. Here was a wine that was aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which 65% was new, and they had created a wonderful drinking wine even with a high 14.3 Proof, and I knew that this would be the last of the case that I would open up as I think it will require about ten years and then this wine would be wonderful and by then I am not sure how much of this vintage will still be around.  There were twenty-eight-thousand cases produced of this wine and I think that I heard that it was sold out at the winery.  I had chosen the proper wine for the last night and yes, all that was left was the bottle and the cork.

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