Two “Notes”

Posted on May 24, 2017 by thewineraconteur

Continuing on with my notes about Domaine Sainte Cecile du Parc wines that I enjoyed at a wine tasting and the musical notations that the wine evokes from their patron Saint namesake. Sainte Cecile is for music and most of the wine labels have names that evoke the harmonious melody of the estate. The tasting was held at D.vine Fine Wines and it was a full house to sample all of these wines that carry the IGP Pays de Caux designation, which prior to tasting these wines, I may have cavalierly passed them on a merchant’s shelf. Christine Mouton Bertoli the charming wife of Stephane Mouton was the spokesperson for their winery and one immediately could feel the passion and the pride that she had in presenting her wares.

The second wine of the evening that we tasted was Domaine Sainte Cecile du Parc Notes Franches 2012 and Christine added that this name was playfully chosen as kind of a pun if you will for being frank, France and for the Cabernet Franc. Cabernet Franc was the star of this wine as it was seventy percent of the blend with the other being Merlot and frankly I just adored this wine. Actually, after tasting this wine, I had to step outside from the hubbub of the crowd to phone my Bride to let her know that she was missing something that she would have just adored, as it is her favorite varietal; and being the potentially good husband I knew that I would have to get some of this wine and worry where I would store it later. This wine had an aging period of twelve months between small concrete vats and French Oak. This wine also showed I thought extremely well as it was with young eight-year-old vines that they had planted after taking over the estate.


The third wine of the evening had a delightful musical connotation. Domaine Sainte Cecile du Parc Note d’Orphée 2013 was named for the legendary musician of Greek mythology Orpheus who it was claimed could charm all living creatures with his music, in fact he could even charm stones. This was a blend of eighty-five percent Syrah and the rest was Cabernet Franc and the vines were from eight to twenty-seven years old, so I would surmise that the Cabernet Franc vines were of the same as of the Notes Franches. This wine also had been aged for twelve months between small concrete vats and French Oak. This wine was enjoyable, but after having the Notes Franches and my own personal preference to Cabernet Franc as well, it had to take a back seat.

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Christine Bertoli

Posted on May 22, 2017 by thewineraconteur

I went to another wine tasting, and this one featured Christine Mouton Bertoli, who along with her husband who was not in attendance, acquired Domaine Sainte Cecile du Parc in 2005 just outside of Pezenas in the Languedoc. I really enjoy a wine tasting from a single estate to see what is being offered and this tasting was once again at D.wine Fine Wines. Christine was charming in her approach to wine making and one could see the passion that she has, even as she stressed that winemaking is not an easy endeavor.


The estate encompasses ten hectares of vineyards encircling the winery, so every vine is within walking distance and that they use small baskets during harvest, so as not to damage the fruit, and the harvest goes for a couple of weeks, as they pick the fruit individually as each cluster ripens. The vineyard was replanted in high-density rows, which is not the norm for the Languedoc, but is quite common in other areas of France. The 2013 vintage of Domaine Sainte Cecile du Parc will carry the Agriculture Biologique label, which means they have met the standards to be fully organic. While the art of winemaking is hard work, there is a bit of whimsy as they have taken the name of Sainte Cecile to heart, as Sainte Cecile is the Patron Saint of Music, so all the wines have musical associations.


The first wine of the evening was Domaine Ste. Cecile du Parc Notes Frivoles Rosé 2015, and here is the first example of the music theme as the name of the wine means Frivolous Notes, and Christine stressed that the wine was not frivolous, but the wine should be enjoyed capriciously. The wine is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan and Cabernet Franc and began first in concrete and then was aged in Stainless Steel for eight months. It was rather intriguing to hear some of the audience kind of gasp when they heard about using concrete, but their fears were allayed as Christine explained about the concrete vats. The wine carries the IGP Pays de Caux which is a subset of the IGP Pays d’Oc which covers most of the Languedoc-Roussillon region. The wine had a pretty pink shade in the glass, though the wine shop should have opened the bottles a little sooner to let the wine breathe. After I allowed the wine a few minutes of swirling in the glass it was a nice easy glass to drink and would be perfect to enjoy in the weather we are now approaching.

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Two Malbecs

Posted on May 20, 2017 by thewineraconteur

Some times without any forethought one encounters a couple of wines that are of the same grape. Malbec started off in the Cahoors region of France, ended up as one of the grapes for blending in Bordeaux and then took off around the world. It has acquired much more of a cachet today as compared to when I first started enjoying wines. I am going to discuss a couple of wines that were complimentary pours before a couple of wine tastings that I attended at D.vine Fine Wines not far from my home.


The first wine was a bit of a surprise for me and a delightful one at that. Les Jamelles Malbec Cepage Rare 2015 was from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France, and the term Cepage Rare just means rare grape variety and I guess it is an homage to how it is part of the Bordeaux blend of grapes. This wine carries the Pays d’Oc IGP designation which was formally Vin de Pays d’Oc, which is basically the entire Languedoc-Roussillon region and the designation was changed to make it more in line with the wine rules of European Union and their terminology. This designation is the middle of the road between Vin de Table and the AOC that France is known for. This wine is made from two vineyards of Les Jamelles that have thirty-year old Malbec vines and the aged in oak, with ten percent new. I really enjoyed this wine and it is a very affordable bottle of wine and I guess that makes it even better.


The second wine that I will discuss is Casarena Estate Malbec 2014 from Casarena Bodega y Vinedos in Argentina. Malbec is the king of grapes in Argentina and this wine is from the sub-region of Lujan de Cuyo which is part of the largest wine region Mendoza. I really could not find out much additional information about this wine and while it was good, it was not as big and bold that I look for in a Malbec, but that is just me. When I think of a Malbec, I think of a steak, so for this wine, perhaps a steak barbequed in the backyard in a more informal setting.

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Two Full Bodied Reds

Posted on May 18, 2017 by thewineraconteur

It was the end of the wine tasting for the evening and of course that meant some full bodied red wines to finish the flight. My white wine glass had become the receptacle for the water that I would pour into my red wine glass to remove the last wine that I had. At D.vine Fine Wines where I was at, they had selected two types of wines that I normally do not end up selecting. The reason is that I usually find something else to pique my curiosity, so certain wines go lacking.


The second to the last wine that I had was Bouza Tannat Reserva 2015. This wine had the appellation of Canelones a region near Montevideo, Uruguay. Tannat is the major grape of Uruguay and the fruit for this wine was hand harvested from the family’s two vineyards, Las Violetas and Melilla. The wines were aged from twelve to fifteen months in a mix of French and American Oak and it was unfiltered. There were twenty-six-hundred cases of this wine produced. The wine was deep in color with a good medium nose and very heavy legs on the glass. As a side note and don’t ask me why, but every time I see Tannat, I think back to my days of scouting where they had all the scouts gather to sing praises to three kings of yore whose names were Owah, Tanah, Siam and we had to keep saying those three names until the last scout figured it out.


The last wine of the evening was a Zinfandel and I have to say that I do tend to refrain from ordering this by the bottle, because of all the heavy jam-fruit bombs that I have encountered which tend to always remind of the home-made “Dago Red” wines that we used to get at home during the Christmas season from friends of the family when I was still not even in high school. The Peachy Canyon Westside Zinfandel 2014 is from Paso Robles. Paso Robles is the northern half of San Luis Obispo County and Peachy Canyon which was founded in 1988 was one of the original wineries in Paso Robles. This wine while being seventy-seven percent Zinfandel was blended with Petite Sirah, Alicante Bouschet, Tannat and Syrah. There were just over seven thousand cases produced of this wine and it was more impressive than what I was expecting, so I was quite pleased, as it did not hit either of my two preconceived notions. So, it was two for two of nice wine tastings that I had, so I may go back for some more wine tastings.

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Two Distinct Reds

Posted on May 16, 2017 by thewineraconteur

I usually refrain from just going to any old wine tasting, because I am afraid of only sampling mediocre wines, not that I am so worldly, but I think that most wine tastings are designed for people new to wines and then they can get an overview of some different wines. It appears now that perhaps D.vine fine wines is a step beyond the novices. The first two wines that I tried were in the mid-range of prices that one would expect (sorry Two Buck Chuck). I also heard that they had a couple special evenings of wine tastings that were already sold out, so they must be doing a good job.


The third wine that we tasted that evening was a new varietal and a new DOC for me from Italy, and Century Club potential members take note. The Tenuta Olim Bauda “Isolavilla” Grignolino D’Asti 2015 was unique. Grignolino is one of the oldest varietals native to the Piedmont, and even the name comes from Piedmontese dialect for Grignole which means many seeds or pips. This varietal is so well known there, that it was given its own DOC and is one of the sub regions of Asti. This particular winery uses their sixty-five-year-old vines to make this wine which is aged on the lees for its unique tannins. As you are well aware, I tend to avoid descriptors, but this wine was unknown to me, so I will mention that I tasted some cherry and some pepper, and I think a light chilling of this wine would enhance it even more. I hope that you can discern the color of this wine, as it was a pretty red and on their website, they say “Grignolino is the reddest white wine and the whitest red.”


The fourth wine that was poured, looking at the label, would be a wine that I might have passed on, because it was in the thirty-dollar range with a California AVA and just said Red, not a combination that would ring my bell. The Paring Red 2012 was this wine. The winery is in Beullton, California and is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Those wines almost complete was is affectionately known as the Bordeaux Blend or in the States, if you belong to the society, you may call it a Meritage. Some of the most famous wines in Napa Valley do not use the term Meritage, because they feel that they were doing their own thing way before the society and their marketers drummed up a name. A lot of the wineries just use the term “red” or “red blend” or a similar wording. I guess from the price of the wine, one could presume something better than mediocre and this wine was not mediocre. This wine was aged for twenty-two months in French Oak, of which fifty-five percent was new; so, it is not a hastily made wine. The wine had a nice balance and was unfiltered and unfined and I think that it could even use some cellaring time. So, it just goes to show you that one can’t pass judgement just on the label.

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A Wine Tasting

Posted on May 14, 2017 by thewineraconteur

I have had quite a busy time with projects and sometimes I just have to put on the brakes and do something different. We normally go out and have dinner and have wine or sometimes we have wine at home. Most of the time I tend to avoid wine tastings unless there is a featured winery that tickles my fancy. Recently I found myself home alone as my Bride had something going on and I really didn’t want to stay home. I had recently gone to a wine tasting for J. Vineyards & Winery at d.vine fine wines and I knew that they have a special wine class on Tuesdays with guest speaker Lee Hershey. I first encountered Mr. Hershey years ago giving a wine seminar at the Culinary Extravaganza that we always try to attend. So, as they say I bellied up to the bar, paid my admission fee and tried six new wines that I may have not tried otherwise.


Of the six wines offered that evening, I will start off discussing the first two wines that started off the tasting. The first wine was a bubbly, but not a Champagne. The wine featured was made by Montserrat Mascaro from Catalonia, Spain and was made in the Methode Tradicional, the Spanish spelling of Methode Traditional, the approved wording in the EEC for the old expression Methode Champenoise. As you may have surmised we had a Cava wine, but this was a pink Cava. The Mascaro Rubor Aurorae Cava Brut NV was a refreshing sparkler made entirely from the Grenache grape, a mainstay in Spain. Most Cava wines are not made from Grenache and this wine was aged for twelve months, and it not only offered a delightful soft pink color, but very tiny little bubbles, which one looks for in a good sparkling wine.


The second bottle of the evening was a marvelous job of marketing as the bottle would stick out on any shelf as it had gold lettering baked on the bottle in a graffiti appearance and a line from a Robert Frost poem. Jim Regusci and James Harder created Tank Garage Winery and their presence is in an old Art Deco styled gas station in Calistoga in Napa Valley. Tank Garage Nothing Gold Can Stay Chardonnay 2014 was a charming Chardonnay. The fruit is from Carneros with only two percent from the Russian River Valley, so it carries a Napa Valley AVA. The wine was aged for thirteen months in French Oak, of which forty percent was new and yet it did not have that overpowering Oak/Butter taste and they made twelve-hundred cases of the wine, which is not a massive amount of production. This is the second wine that I have had from this winery and I feel that they are very serious about their craft, even if their showroom and labels have whimsy.

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Dress Up Wine Down

Posted on May 12, 2017 by thewineraconteur

Sean Connery and Jill St. John were the stars of Diamonds are Forever, one of the original James Bond movies and the theme for Dress Up Wine Down. To me if one was to attend a charity event with a glamorous theme like that, you would think that all the men would be in classic dinner jackets or at the least in tuxedoes, but at least most of them were in suits. Your kindly old Raconteur probably channeled Richard Blaine (though a bit more colorful), more than 007, but one would have to know their movies to pick up on that.


The event was to raise money for the Center for Rehabilitation of Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital Patients. The featured event was a fashion show of both men and women’s attire and the models were either doctors or noted business people from the city of Wyandotte, plus there was also Miss Michigan modeling for the women. Like most events of this nature there was a silent auction of goods that were donated. The hall was donating the catering and they had set up strolling buffet tables of dishes, which is not my preferred method of eating. I always eat beforehand, because it always appears that people try to load up their plates with enough food to cover the cost of the entrance, as the tables were mobbed, but that is to be expected; and I just have a phobia about buffet lines anyways. There was a beautiful sweet table set up as well and that was done by another benefactor. After the crowds had diminished I went and grabbed some cheese and crackers to accompany my drinks of choice.


By the time, I got there I had missed the “champagne reception” so I am not sure what was being poured, and there was a cash bar, but I waited until they opened up the wine tables and there was a selection of wines that were also donated for the affair. I believe that they had two different white wines and two different red wines and I tried one from each category, for research (of course). The more interesting of the two white wines was the popular priced Cupcake Vineyards Monterey County 2015, as I normally see the Cupcake Vineyard Chardonnay with a Central Coast AVA, which would also encompass the Monterey County. I really couldn’t find anything more about this wine in regards to the production, but I have had the Central Coast versions before and I was hoping for something a bit dryer, but the winemaker prefers to keep his fruit-forward image in place; and with the cheese and crackers it was fine. The red wine was Columbia Crest Grand Estates Red Blend 2011 from the Columbia Valley in Washington State. This wine was a blend of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and the proprietor’s “others” that were aged in French and California Oak for sixteen months. The wine surprised me that it was a bit more fruit-forward as I expected a bit more dryer of a wine, but it went down easily enough. I did notice that the wine table was finished before the food and sweet tables were. All in all, it was a fine affair and I am sure that the objective of raising money for the hospital was a success.

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El Asador

Posted on May 10, 2017 by thewineraconteur

I really wanted to go and celebrate my five years of blogging and of course that meant wining and dining, as the expressions goes from my parent’s generation. This restaurant was in my old neighborhood that I have been talking about ever since I left to start my adult life after college, and I was looking forward to seeing a place that all the food critics were raving about. There were actually two things that really intrigued me about El Asador; they allow you to take your own wine or beer and they are located in my old neighborhood. I told my Bride about it and she was game for trying out a new restaurant and believe it or not, she had never been to my old stomping grounds of when I was a kid. She had an important meeting the day that I delivered the commencement speech to my old junior high school that was closing after that year. Even with all of the road construction we got there, and I guess that over the years I have still had reasons to go to the old neighborhood, so I guess I had gradually noted changes, but seeing the neighborhood through her eyes was different. I guess that since I had been talking about the neighborhood all of my life that perhaps I had allowed myself some rose-colored glasses. Thomas Wolfe was right. As we drove by looking at my old family home and at my cousin’s home and then driving by the gutted hulk that was the church my Mother attended all of her life, looking at the broken out stained glass windows the world had changed in one moment.


When we got to the restaurant that was basically across the street from another restaurant that is a fixture in the neighborhood, I kept looking at the building, but I could not remember what had previously been there, but I did admire the beautiful mural that they had commissioned to be painted on the side of the building and it was in sharp contrast to all of the graffiti-inspired “art” that has become the norm in the area. The chef/owner had worked at a couple of restaurants that we have gone to, and he is very well respected. Rather than going to the trendy areas of the Metropolitan Detroit, he was pioneering and created a Mexican Steakhouse. As soon as we were seated they brought out the standard chips and salsa, but while the chips were freshly made they were not the usual greasy ones that have become the norm and the salsa while not overly spicy had a nice flavor. We ordered the Guacamole en la Mesa and it was prepared tableside by our waitress. My Bride ordered the Mole de Gallina, which is probably what I would have ordered as I just adore a well-made Mole sauce and this was one for sure. The dish if you have never had it is a chicken breast in a sauce of sesame seeds, Chile ancho, pasilla and mulato with a hint of chocolate, peanuts and assorted spices. I didn’t order that dish, because El Asador is a Mexican Steakhouse, so I ordered the Ribeye Con Rajas, which was a char-grilled steak topped with a Poblano Pepper Green sauce and it came out perfectly cooked “medium-rare” as requested. What was kind of refreshing for a restaurant that has been discovered by “hipsters” is that the décor is not breathtaking and the dishes were not plated as most of the new places sometimes replace flavor with appearance.


When I called for reservations the young lady that answered the phone, almost immediately told me that I could bring my own beer or wine, but not liquor to the restaurant and she also suggested that I should bring a “tool” for opening whatever I was going to have with dinner, and that they have glasses. I asked my Bride if she would prefer a Malbec or something from Cain to celebrate with, and she wanted a Malbec. I thought it was a good call since the Malbec has natural spiciness and I like it with spicy dishes and with steaks as well. The wine I chose was a Heller Estate Malbec 2011 from the Carmel Valley, California. We have actually gone to the winery twice and they were not even offering Malbec wines when we were there, so I guess we are overdue for a trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea once more. In fact, the leather bag that I use to transport wines around was bought on our first trip to Carmel. As for the wine, 2011 was a rather dicey year for the whole Monterey region, but right from the first sip, this was a delightful wine. The color and the nose both impressed me immediately and it had aged and mellowed perfectly when we opened it. The only sad thing is that I no longer have any more of the 2011, but I have some more Heller Estate Malbec resting at the moment. I guess the next celebration that we have, will not be back in the old neighborhood, but I am sure that I will still find occasions to return on my own.

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Five Years

Posted on May 8, 2017 by thewineraconteur

Leave it to Social Media to remind me that I have been writing for five years. It may have dawned on me a couple of days later, as I have been quite busy, but I will accept the wake-up call. It truly doesn’t seem that I have been doing it for that long, well there are a couple of times that I have had to write, just to get under the bell, as I like things to be on an even keel. The first year I wrote an article every day, just to get into the habit of writing, because it had been years since I had been a student, and now it is every other day. I am still amazed that I have even wrote over a thousand articles and my ability to weave stories around wine is still intact, much to the chagrin of some of you, but as I have often stated, I don’t like wine jargon or to get too technical, because that is not my character. I am a creature of habit, as some of you may have noticed, as I like to have my article appear at the same time of the day, I know it is quirky, but that is just me. I have met some very interesting people through these five years, and so far, I have even met one other blogger, since I am in the Detroit area and that seems far from the maddening crowd.


Since I started discovering wines when I was in high school, there has been gallons of wine under that bridge. There have been some awful wines, some mediocre wines and some stellar wines that are truly the nectar of the Gods. For the record, the only wines that I have not actually paid for is because we were at a dinner where we were treated, as of yet I have never been offered to review wines; and I was brought up with the concept not to ask for anything free. Yes, I wax poetic at times, and sometimes I have to curb my opinions, as I try to stay positive. I very seldom get political, because from me you don’t want politics, from me, I hope you want enjoyable times with wine. I mean that is why I tend to leave my “lead” buried in the end of the article. I think wine makes the memory even better, especially when the stage has been set.


It is my Bride that sometimes gets the short shift at a dinner, at least for a few minutes, as I take a photograph of the wine and make some notes, but then I do go back to her. She has a much more hectic schedule than I do, so there are some things that we miss, as I try to include her as often as possible. I mean would Nick Charles be as much fun without Nora? I am writing this as I think of a small little race that will happen around 6:40 today and she has just returned from that city, because of business requirements. She did not bring me any wine, as if we need more wine in the cellar, I guess that is a silly statement as yes, we always need more wine, but she did bring me something to savor, since I had to be without her for five days, but hardly the same. So now to figure out how to celebrate this milestone, my next project. Most of all I would like to thank all that put up with my ramblings and know that I have been having fun, as I try to entertain you and perhaps impart a little wine knowledge to you.

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Two Reds From J

Posted on May 6, 2017 by thewineraconteur

The wine tasting from J Vineyards & Winery was thoroughly enjoyable. 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. As I stated earlier for the first ten years they only produced the J Vineyard Brut and what a fine job they did with it. Scott Anderson went up the ranks at the winery and finally went to Associate Winemaker with Nicole Hitchcock and he made the evening most enjoyable discussing some of the nuances of this job. In 2015 E&J Gallo bought J Vineyards & Winery and Scott maintained his position with the change of command. After the tasting, I had a chance to discuss wines with him and when I found out that he was staying at the Westin Book Cadillac in downtown Detroit, I learned that he had eaten at Roast, the first evening, and being a staunch Detroiter, I strongly urged him to walk out the side door of the hotel and cross the street and to go into Lafayette Coney Island to try one of the unique dining opportunities in Detroit and that they are an institution. I even get side-tracked in conversations.


The first red wine for the evening was the J Vineyard Pinot Noir California 2015. This was 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. I thought this was the wine of the evening, as it impressed me on all points of the tasting.


The last wine of the evening was stellar and if I hadn’t been blown away from the last bottle, this one would have done it for me. The J Vineyards Estate Pinot Noir 2014 had fruit from all eight of the Russian River Valley estates. This was their flagship wine for the Pinot Noir line and there were ninety-nine different lots of fruit that was aged for eight months in French Oak, of which twenty-five percent were new and then aged in the bottle for an additional nine months before release. Just some truly wonderful wines, that seemed to evaporate in the glass after being poured and a delightful speaker who you could tell enjoyed winemaking much more than marketing.

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