A Christmas Surprise

Posted on December 29, 2015 by thewineraconteur

There has always been some speculation as to whether I really write a wine blog, and I have even been questioned by other writers, because it may take some paragraphs to actually get to the wine. As I have stated often, I do not write about technical facts per se, I prefer to write how wine enhances the moment and normally the wine is the climax of the memory. I have often even written that I normally do not like using descriptors about the wine, when discussing the nose of the wine, or the elusive, esoteric terms describing the taste. It is just me and I do enjoy reading other writings about these terms, but it just doesn’t sound like me, because I tend to write the same way I talk in conversations, and sometimes I am verbose and other times my conversations are rather economical, and thankfully I do not get paid by the word; actually I do not get paid, as it is just something I enjoy doing.

TK the complete Thomas Keller

My Bride and I enjoy exchanging gifts, though we usually know what we are getting, at our age, the need for surprise has diminished. Then there is the “raconteur factor” as I would call it, which has been curtailed over the years, as she claims that I spend too much money for items, which she feels she can get for less of an outlay. I have to admit that since I have been in retail all of my life, I do not shop, I buy. My Bride is more economical, unless it comes to children or grandchildren and not the child that is writing this article. Well she pulled a fast one on me this year.

TK ad hoc at home

She joined her sister and a friend on a trip to Las Vegas, and she also had a chance to see our children and grandchildren that live there. While there she also had the chance to see some shows and dine at some of the fine restaurants that have turned Las Vegas into a “foodie” paradise. She had my surprise presents shipped from Las Vegas as the weight would have been viewed as an overweight suit case by the airline. The girls dined at Bouchon, the wonderful, but more casual dining experience of Thomas Keller, and my Bride and I have dined at The French Laundry and two different Bouchon locations. So she bought for me (and perhaps a bit for herself) a two volume set of cook books by Keller for those two restaurants that we have been to, plus another single cook book from one of his newer restaurants “Ad Hoc,” a family style restaurant that he opened in Yountville as well. Now one might ask what all this discussion about the largesse of my Bride have to do with a wine blog, and I will respond, that without some wonderful memories of trips to restaurants, the discussion of the wines would be so much less exciting (at least to me). I might also add, that all three books were autographed and when I looked at the index to The French Laundry, if one gave me at least a week, I could duplicate though not nearly as well, my greatest dinner in my life. And this friends, is how I can sometimes write an article about wine without any wine being written about.

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My Recent Shipment from Monterey

Posted on December 27, 2015 by thewineraconteur

I periodically write about the wine shipments that I get from my wine club “A Taste of Monterey.” I always look forward to them as it is a chance for me to get some selections that would be impossible to secure here locally. Since we have the Reserve Wine Selections they are finer wines from some of the smaller wineries in the area and of limited production. I also enjoy the newsletter that they send out with the wines that we have purchased, and there were some articles about Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Port Salut cheese and a wonderful recipe for Scallop and Corn Chowder with Sauvignon Blanc.

Tudor Hook Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010

The first wine that I received was a bit of a surprise as it was wrapped in paper, so it was like an extra Christmas present in the carton. The bottle of Tudor Hook Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands 2010 really caught my attention. Tudor Winery has become one of my favorite wineries from the area, as their Pinot Noir wines have all been outstanding and I hope this wine will continue to be counted among them. The Hook Vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands runs along the west side of the Salinas Valley. The suggested aging potential for this wine is five to six years, and there was only six barrels of this wine produced.

Sinecure Grenache Noir 2013

The next bottle that I will mention is from a small production winery, which is family owned and operated. The bottle of Sinecure Grenache Noir 2013 carries the Monterey AVA. The suggested aging potential for this wine is for seven to eight years. Grenache wines are becoming more endearing to me, because I tend to find them more quirky with the peppers and spices that I detect in them, which I find works very well with the dinners we have at home, because they also tend to be peppery and spicy. I am not sure how long this wine will stay in the cellar.

Cru Chardonnay 2011

The third bottle in the shipment was a white wine for balance with the two red wines. The bottle of Cru Chardonnay Arroyo Seco 2011 should be interesting as well, as all of the Chardonnay wines we have received over the years from Monterey have been rave hits as well. This wine features fruit from two vineyards in the Arroyo Seco AVA, namely Marks Vineyards and Cobblestone Vineyards. According to the tasting notes, French Oak is well integrated in the wine and the suggested aging potential for this wine is five to six years, though most of the white wines in my cellar do not last that long.

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Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2015 by thewineraconteur

We just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and may it be filled with love, luck, health and happiness. It is a time to reflect on those that we will not be with, due to geography or because of their untimely passing away, which is part of life.

JATjatt Wedding Ornament

I have to write this ahead of time, as of course we will be totally in time constraint issues, as we are having Christmas Eve at our house for about thirty five guests, the dinner menu has been chosen, but the wines are always done at the moment, and God willing I will have the chance to write about the meal afterwards. Traditionally we celebrate Christmas morning at my Mother-in-Law’s home with all of her family for a traditional breakfast and Mimosas. Then we shall leave that happy home and go off to one of my Cousins, as she always likes to make Christmas dinner and off course that will require another story as well.

Merry Christmas

I will leave you all with a classic photograph that I have been using for the last couple of years on Social Media, for all of the participatory postings where people expect a response of “Merry Christmas.” I think the photograph does the intended job much better and I hope truly brings a smile to all that sees it. So Merry Christmas until we meet again.

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Dinner with the Wine Raconteur Jr.

Posted on December 23, 2015 by thewineraconteur

Christmas time is always a special time to be with friends and family. One of my favorite perks of writing these memories about wine is that I am allowed to give “nom de plume” aliases to some of the cast of characters that I write about. The moniker of Wine Raconteur Jr. was not assigned by me, but self-appointed by a dear friend who wished to write an article for me, and he flattered me with the name he had chosen. I have known him, since his teenage years when he worked part-time along side of me years ago. I have had the great honor of knowing his parents and his family, attended his wedding and continue to see him, his charming Bride and get the chance to watch his two children as they grow up as well. We were able to get our calendars in agreement and we had dinner, and he wanted to prepare dinner for us, as he is quite an accomplished chef as well as a musician; he is such an accomplished young man without pretensions.

Avignonesi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano 1992

He had decided that he was going to make his signature dish of Chicken Parmesan and he was amazed that he had not made that before, for us to enjoy. They were relishing some adult time that evening as his parents had picked up his two children to take them to a Christmas function at their club. Our hosts had prepared several appetizers for us to nibble on, while we caught up on all that had happened since the last time we were together. The Bruschetta was amazing, as it was not the usual type one found, and he had also roasted some cashews with the spices associated with the Christmas season. Both of these were totally addicting. The Chicken Parmesan was just outstanding, featuring large breasts of meat, cooked so tender and properly and they were served with a pasta that I had never seen before and I forgot to write the name down, but he laughed, because he had allowed his children to pick the pasta and it was done in a simple al-dente style with butter and oil. Afterwards we enjoyed a large platter of assorted home made cookies.

Bourdy Cremant du Jura NV

We started off with some Spanish Cava that they had already opened, and one knows that to properly cook, one needs to have wine, either to cook with or to enjoy while cooking. We had brought over a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy with them. The first bottle was Jean Bourdy Cremant du Jura Brut NV which was all Chardonnay. This wine was chosen as they had first informed me of the wine shop that this wine came from, and we regaled them with some stories of how we had this at a special Jura wine tasting at Selden Standard, not too long ago, that I had wrote about. My Bride fell in love with this wine, so consequently when she went to pick up the wine that we ordered, she also got a few more bottles of it. The other wine that I chose from my cellar, some may question, because I grabbed a red wine to go with chicken, but since it was Chicken Parmesan and would be more robust, I felt that a fuller bottle of wine would do the trick. The wine was Avignonesi Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG 1992. This wine is produced in the Tuscany region of Italy and I have a very soft spot in my heart for all wines from Montepulciano. The trick to remember is that there are two similar sounding wines from there. There is Montepulciano d’Abruzzo and Vino di Montepulciano, the first is made from the Montepulciano grape and the latter is made from Sangiovese. This wine by tradition is made from 85% Sangiovese and is usually blended with ten percent Canaiolo Nero and the balance with Mammolo. This wine by law must age for twelve months in oak barrels and then another twelve months in bottles, before being released, and if it had been a Reserva, there would have been even longer aging required. Considering the age of the wine, the color was still deep and the nose and the taste showed the beauty of cellar aging, it was just so mellow that it was perfect with the meal and would have been stellar with almost anything. After dinner his parents and his children showed up, and we were able to give them their presents in person, and that just finished the evening so well.

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Taverna Pazzo Pizzeria

Posted on December 21, 2015 by thewineraconteur

We were finally leaving Niagara-on-the-Lake and on our way home, we were going to stop and see some friends, about half-way on our drive. The amusing part is that we were leaving one theatrical centric community to go to another like community. While we did not see any theatrical productions while we were in Niagara-on-the-Lake, it is home to the Shaw Festival that is wildly popular, and we were going to Stratford, Ontario, which happens to be on the Avon River and home of the famed Stratford Festival. My Bride grew up during the summers, kind of in the shadow of Stratford and grew up with her friends from her cottage days. So we decided to meet and have a late lunch with them in their home town. Stratford is quite a unique community with a charming downtown area, and one of the few places that I know, that you can have a kilt made in your family tartan, or almost any other type of garment that tartans are suitable for.

Illuminati Ilico Md'A 2013

We have been to Stratford at different occasions and have dined at some of the more popular locations. Our friends suggested someplace new to us, namely Taverna Pazzo Pizzeria, which is right downtown, and has two levels for accommodations. The basement level is more casual and is an upscale pizzeria and the main level is a charming tavern and restaurant. We ended up on the main level and our meal went fron late lunch to early dinner, because we were just having so much fun, catching up on what was going on with the assorted families. We just kept ordering appetizers, individual pizzas and assorted classic Italian entrée dishes that we all tended to sample and enjoy.

Pazzo Wine

Now I have to laugh to myself, I am not Italian by descent, but I do understand some Italian from working for years with people of that heritage. Pazzo, in Italian roughly translates to “crazy” at least in my rudimentary understanding of that language. While I was searching the wine carte for an interesting wine for our visit, I searched on my phone for a photo of a wine label that we had enjoyed some time passed. I have wine labels on my phone like crazy, because there are times that it is not convenient to take the bottle(s) of wine that we have enjoyed at certain times and it gives me a chance to write about the wine and event and a later time. I showed them a label of Pazzo wine from Baccio Divino Cellars from Napa, California. This wine is basically a blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon, and our waitress came up with a bottle of it from their cellar. I am glad that I did ask the price, prior to ordering the wine, since with all of the taxes in Canada, plus the markup, the wine was about three times what one would pay for it, here in the states at a comparable restaurant. I did find another wine from a firm, that I have enjoyed other wines in the past, and I even have some in my cellar still. We enjoyed a couple of bottles of Illuminati Ilico Montepulciano d’Abruzzo 2013. Abruzzo and the area is the fifth largest wine producing area in Italy. The Montepulciano grape thrives in the area and is very popular and in 1968, it was designated a DOC. This wine starts with long term maceration in Stainless Steel and then is aged for ten months in Slovenian oak barrels, followed up with three to four months of bottle refining, before being released. This was just a wonderful way to end our little trip to Canada and we ended up with plenty of memories.

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Trius Winery Restaurant

Posted on December 19, 2015 by thewineraconteur

We finally had dinner at Trius Winery Restaurant and that is why one makes reservations, as I noticed that all of the tables were occupied while we were there. The next time we go to Niagara-on-the-Lake I shall make appointments at some of the wineries, so that the experience will be more sedate (I hope).

Trius Brut Rose NV

My Bride was not as hungry as I was, from the lunch we had downtown, so she ordered two dishes from the regular menu, while I wanted the total experience and ordered the “Black Glass Tasting” which was a prix-fixe menu. We each started off with a glass of Trius Brut Rose Niagara Peninsula VQA NV which was lovely and an enjoyable way to start off the meal. She ordered the Trius Icewine Smoked Salmon, which was pressed smoked salmon, goat cheese, lemon curd, sea asparagus and Chardonnay Shrimp. She had the Trius Showcase Clean Slate Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc Niagara-on-the-Lake Vineyard, Niagara-on-the-Lake VQA 2012 to accompany her dish, and this was one of their single barrel collection offerings and I thought it blended well with the assorted tastes that she had on her plate. The wine was called Wild Ferment, because it was made with the wild yeasts present on the grapes in the vineyards. I had started out an “Amuse” which was an egg custard blend served in an egg shell. This was followed by their “Egg and Bacon” dish which was a Creamed Sunchoke and White Bean Soup. I had a glass of Hillebrand Showcase Wild Ferment Chardonnay Niagara Peninsula Vineyards Niagara Peninsula VQA 2011. This was another example of a single vineyard and single barrel offering, and earlier in the tasting room, I was told that the wines were actually different from barrel to barrel.

Trius Showcase Clean Slate Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc 2013

I also nursed this wine through the next course which was Trius “Fish and Chips;” Trius Brut Tempura, Yellow Perch Filet, Forked Peas, Parmesan Gnocchi and Malt Vinegar Aioli. After this course I was brought out a Fruit and Wine Infused Popsicle made of Apple, Pear and Vidal Late Harvest Wine.

Hillebrand Showcase Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2011

For my Bride’s entrée she chose the White Bass Filet from Lake Erie with smoked ham hock, leek, Cavatelli Pasta, sea asparagus, Atlantic Mussels and shell broth. She enjoyed my glass of Chardonnay so much, that she requested a glass of that to accompany her meal. My entrée was Beef Rib Eye from Wellington County with Trius Pot Pie, duck fat potatoes, honey carrot and Icewine Red Cabbage. I paired this with Trius Showcase RHS Merlot Clark Farm Vineyard Four Mile Creek VQA 2012, another of their stellar wines and it went perfectly with the Rib Eye and of course I am very fond of Merlot wines. The RHS was in reference that the wine was made from the vines on the sun-bathed “right hand side” of the vineyard.

Trius Showcase RHS Merlot 2012

For our dessert we shared my dessert, just as we kept sharing each other’s dishes through out the meal and it was a slice of Pumpkin Cheese Cake with Chocolate Grenache, Spiced Cream and Caramel Popcorn. We also shared a glass of Trius Showcase Riesling Icewine Niagara Peninsula VQA 2012, as I think we had both enjoyed eating and tasting the whole day through.

Trius Showcase Riesling Icewine 2012

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Trius Winery at Hillebrand

Posted on December 17, 2015 by thewineraconteur

The last time we were in Niagara-on-the-Lake we had stopped at Hillebrand Winery and were impressed by the winery facility and the wines. We had tried some of the Hillebrand wines, as well as a couple of the Trius wines that they were offering. We also tried to have dinner at the Trius Restaurant, but they were no tables left, so we had to eat elsewhere, so we made sure this time and we had a reservation. Hence Hillebrand Winery was the last stop for the day after trying several other wineries that day. The next time that we go to this area, we will have to allow ourselves more time, because there are just so many wineries to stop at.

Trius Showcase Red Shale Cabernet Franc 2012

Of course at Hillebrand Winery, as well as every other winery that we had stopped at that day, there were people milling all around at all the tasting counters and this was surely from all the tour busses that I had seen all day long. As we walked along the racks and racks of wines that were for sale, while we were waiting for an opening at one of the counters, I noticed the Loft. I went to an employee of the winery and asked what the Loft was, as I guess that I am either nosey or inquisitive. I was informed that it was where the Trius wines were offered for tasting, as well as for sale. Trius Wines were begun in 1989 at Hillebrand and they were the top tier of the winemakers craft, they also offered their Showcase collection there. I was also informed that the wine tasting at the Loft would be more expensive and I guess that piqued my curiosity even more, so I asked if the Loft was open. They told me that there was no one up there at the moment, but they would find us a hostess that would take us up there for tastings.

Trius Grand Red 2012

Our hostess took us up there, and while we were chatting, as I tend to be verbose, she asked where we were from and she wouldn’t take “Detroit” as an answer. It turns out that she had family in one of the Northern Suburbs, so she was well acquainted with the Detroit area, so we ended up chatting like long lost friends, we were working a bit against the clock, because of our dinner reservation, but she directed us to some of her favorite wines. We tried several, but I will only mention the wines that we ended up buying. The last time at the winery we had tried their “Meritage” style wine called Trius Red, and it was good, but not as exciting as it could have been. She smiled and told me that we had to try Trius Grand Red 2012 and she was so right. The Grand Red was a classic Bordeaux Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc and it was one of the best wines that we had tasted that day. The wine carried the Four Mile Creek VQA, which is the largest sub-appellation of the Niagara-on-the-Lake VQA. I knew that we had to have some of this wine before we left. The other wine that we had to have will be totally understandable, because of my Bride. We tried the Trius Showcase Red Shale Cabernet Franc 2012, which was also from the Four Mile Creek VQA. The other notable quality of this wine was that the fruit was all harvested from the Clark Farm Vineyard; hence the Showcase designation and it really hit the spot for our enjoyment of Cabernet Franc, the wine of choice for my Bride. We finished our tasting and made our purchase of wines, and our hostess also called the restaurant to let them know that we would be there in a few minutes, as we were running late. My Bride went to get the table and went to the car to drop off our purchases in the trunk along with all of the other treasures that we had bought that day.

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Jackson-Triggs

Posted on December 15, 2015 by thewineraconteur

One of the more awe-inspiring wineries in Niagara-on-the-Lake is Jackson-Triggs, as it is very imposing and very impressive as you drive to their tasting room facility. Alan Jackson and Don Triggs started the winery in 1993, and they are billed as “Canada’s Most Awarded Winery.” The last time we were in the area, we enjoyed a wine tasting one evening at the resort that we stayed at, and we wanted to go there on our recent trip.

JAT JATT at JT

Jackson-Triggs is a very large winery and they have four distinct vineyards. They have two vineyards in the Niagara district and one very large vineyard in British Columbia. In Ontario they have the Niagara Estate Vineyard which is eleven and a half acres where they plant Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Riesling. They also have the Delaine Vineyard which is just less than one hundred acres in the Niagara Parkway. At this vineyard they grow Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer and Semillon. In British Columbia that have the Okanogan Estate of four-hundred-ten acres which has two smaller vineyards; Bull Pine Estate Vineyard and Bear Cub Site. Also in that province they have the Sun Rock Vineyard of one-hundred-four acres and this vineyard has hand harvested crops.

Jackson-Triggs Cabernet Franc Icewine 2014

The winery was packed with wine tasters, and there were so many wines being offered that we decided to try their Icewines which the whole area is famous for and what we had tasted a couple of years back. We tried the Gewürztraminer 2014, the Vidal 2013, the Cabernet Franc 2014 and the Riesling 2014 and they were all excellent with their own unique personality. The Gewurztraminer had the spice that we enjoy so much and it was evident in the Icewine. The Vidal is the varietal of choice for Icewines in the region. The Riesling, I had anticipated would remind me of a Trockenbeerenauslese from Germany, but it was different from what I expected. The Cabernet Franc was very lush and it made my Bride very happy, as almost any wine made from that grape will. We also bought a couple of bottles of each, plus some smaller bottles to give as gifts, because we were that impressed. As busy as the winery was, we also had to stop and have, as they used to say, a “Kodak” moment, for those that are old enough to remember that expression as both my Bride and I both have the same initials of JT.

Jackson-Triggs Icewines

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Reif Estate Winery

Posted on December 13, 2015 by thewineraconteur

The Reif family has been making wines for around a hundred years; they started in Neustadt in the Rhine Valley and now have Reif Estate Winery along the Niagara River in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Ewald Reif purchased the land in 1977 and in 1983 the winery opened their doors. The winery is housed in an 1870’s era coach house and they have one-hundred-twenty-five acres to grow their grapes. Though I do know that the next trip that I make to the wine country, I will send out letters of introduction and try to make appointments. The later in the day that we progressed, the more the hoards of tourists and wine busses showed up at all the wineries that we went to, including Reif Estate. It was almost like bellying up to the bar the last night before Prohibition went into affect. It was just too difficult to concentrate, taste and take notes.

Reif Estate Cabernet Icewine 2013

Since we were there, we did try a couple of wines, and they were both with the Niagara River VQA, which was new to me. We tried the Reif Estate Chardonnay Reserve 2012, which was made from a slow warm fermentation in Stainless Steel, followed by aging for twenty-four months in a mix of eighty percent new French Oak and the balance in American Oak. They were proud of this vintage and suggested that it would age for seven to nine years. We also tried their Reif Estate Grand Reserve Cabernet Icewine 2013; they made their first one in 2000. This was an excellent wine with everything going for it, but it was just a mad-house and we left empty handed, which was an unusual event for us.

Reif Estate Chardonnay Reserve 2012

Actually later on in the day, after stopping at a couple of more wineries and on the way for our dinner reservation, my Bride kept thinking about the Chardonnay that we had earlier. She is really getting good at this, and thankfully the entire wine district for the Niagara area is not that big, so we made a special trip back to Reif to buy some of the Chardonnay, so for now, our record is safe.

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Riverview Cellars

Posted on December 11, 2015 by thewineraconteur

There were so many wineries in the Niagara-on-the-Lake area, that we could not stop and see them all. Riverview Cellars was originally a peach farm with a roadside stand. The farm consists of twenty-five acres, and they slowly started planting some grapes, and they started with Gewurztraminer in 1992. Slowly they start adding more varieties of grapes with Vidal Blanc, Baco Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, and then Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Merlot and finally Cabernet Franc. It was systematic growth, and then some adjusting of the crops, they cut back on some of the hybrids that they tried and stuck with Vidal Blanc for some Icewine production and the Baco Noir, because they developed a following for their table wine as well.

Riverview Cellars Pinot Noir 2012

In the tasting room they were offering twenty wines, plus an additional thirty-one wines from their library holdings. They also offered two different pours of wines, there were samples pour of one ounce, or glasses pour of four ounces and they were priced accordingly for each wine, though all of the samples were at the price of two Canadian dollars, except for the Icewines. We started off with Angelina’s Reserve Chardonnay 2013, which was aged for nine months in oak and about four months in Stainless Steel and this wine had a unique taste, because there was some crispness and some butter and it was very refreshing and enjoyable. The Riverview Cellars Pinot Noir 2012 was aged for one year in American Oak and there was a delightful blend of fruit and spice with just enough tannin to merit some additional cellaring time. Salvatore’s Reserve Malbec 2012 which my Bride decided on trying, which surprised me, had a robust full bodied taste, and it would require some more time in the cellar as well. This wine was a blending of 80% French Oak and the balance American Oak and aged for one year. The last wine that we had, was really not on the tasting menu, but how could we refuse having some Salvatore’s Reserve Cabernet Franc 2012, especially with the beaming smile on my Bride when she found out that we were going to try it. This wine was also full bodied with all of the characteristics that I favor from Cabernet Franc and it was blended using the same ratio of barrels as the Malbec and also aged for one year. I could see three to five years of cellaring for this wine.

Riverview Cellars Pamphlet

This was another crowded winery due to all of the bus tours and tourists from the Niagara Falls and since I had not made any prior arrangements, I felt that I could not try to monopolize the services of our hostess at the wine bar. It was rather awkward, just asking all the questions that I did ask, as I was quickly scrambling to write my notes down as we enjoyed sampling some of the wines. We left with several bottles of the Pinot Noir, since the holiday season is upon us, and I know that we will be having dinners where these wines will work very well.

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