A Wine Reception at Vertical Detroit

Posted on April 1, 2024 by thewineraconteur

AHD Vintners and Vertical Detroit were the hosts for an evening with Jean-Baptiste Bourotte celebrating the Hundredth Anniversary of Chateau Clos du Clocher of Pomerol.  Now, I will preface this by mentioning that this was by invitation from The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, Michigan.  I do mention this shop often, as sometimes my Bride thinks I have a home away from home.  I do mention the shop constantly, but I guess I should also mention the background of the shop.  Jim Lufty began selling wine at his family’s business called Cloverleaf Market about forty years ago, while he was attending Oakland University, and he eventually took over the business.  Over the years, his knowledge of wine and his fine palate, plus his fine business acumen has brought him accolades from trade publications and local news media.  He and his wife Livvie, are steeped in the wine industry, they have two children Remy and Margaux, and the family dog Piper.  In 1993, he moved to Livonia and opened The Fine Wine Source.  He has since opened the restaurant Vertical Detroit in Downtown Detroit in the historic Harmonie Park district in 2015.  I must stress that every wine in the store and at the restaurant has been curated by Jim and his staff, there are no “popular crowd-pleasing labels” unless they can actually be selected for quality.

The reception was to honor the Hundredth Vintage of Clos du Clocher of Pomerol.  Representing Clos du Clocher was Jean-Baptiste Bourotte, the great-grandson of Jean-Baptiste Audy.  Jean-Baptiste Audy is a family operated negociant firm based in Libourne and owner of a number of chateau estates on Bordeaux’s Right Bank, with properties in Pomerol, Lussac-Saint-Emilion, and Lalande de Pomerol. The firm has ownership of: Clos du Clocher, Chateau Bonalgue, Chateau Monregard La Croix, Chateau du Courlat, and Chateau Les Hauts-Conseillants.  The firm also has negocient labels like Audy Bordeaux Rouge and Jean-Baptiste Audy Brut, a Cremant de Bordeaux.  Michel Rolland is a consultant for some of the estates.

To begin the reception, all of the guests were served glasses of Champagne Pierre Moncuit Grand Cru Cuvee Moncuit-Delos Blanc de Blancs NV.  In 1889 Pierre Moncuit and his wife Odile Moncuit-Delos, established the house of Champagne Pierre Moncuit at Le Mesnil-sur-Oger.  In 1928, they begin making their own wine, with Cuvee Moncuit-Delos paying homage to the beginning.  In 2007, they build a modern new winery.  Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is a sub-region of the Cotes des Blancs, which is a sub-region of Champagne.  This wine is pure Chardonnay from ninety-year-old vines, with about three years of aging in the cellar.  The light gold colored wine offered notes of white fruits, citrous, exotic fruits, white flowers, creamery butter and vanilla.  On the palate a medium-weight wine with brisk acidity offering tones of pear, peach, lemon, pineapple, kiwi, butter, and vanilla with a soft mousse and a nice lingering finish of earthiness, and chalk (terroir).  

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Le Garenne Vouvray and Cain Concept for Dinner

Posted on March 29, 2024 by thewineraconteur

My Bride likes to have company over for dinner, even if they are not related to us.  She always gets a little hyper, she knows how to cook for her family, and she definitely knows how to cook for me, after that it gets a bit dicey, maybe I exaggerate.  My part of the formula is easy, I just have to pick out some wine.  A winery that had previously sent me some wine, asked if I would be interested in a new sample, and since I knew that they had read my caveat on “samples” I felt secure enough to say yes, so we would start with a bottle of Le Garenne Chenin Blanc Vouvray Loire Valley 2020 (and I am also looking forward to the Chocolate Rabbit that they enclosed with the wine on Easter Day).  As for the second wine, I went into our cellar and looked for something interesting that I had more than one bottle left and that was Cain Concept Napa Valley 1996.  I might add, that our friends for the evening are not really into wine, but they do appreciate what we serve.

For appetizers, my Bride did not go crazy, but we had a Cranberry cheese, and we also had a Duck and Chicken Liver Pâté on simple water crackers.  We started with a bottle of Le Garenne Chenin Blanc Vouvray Loire Valley 2020.  This wine is crafted by Jean-Marc Gilet and he now represents the tenth generation of winemakers in Vouvray.  In 2001, he took over responsibility for the twenty-seven-hectare estate La Rouletiere, and he is into organic farming.  Vouvray is one of the oldest and most respected appellations of France, planted back in the Middle Ages and awarded its appellation in 1936.  Chenin Blanc (or locally Pineau de la Loire) is basically the grape of the region, and the appellation covers the various styles of sweet, dry, still. and sparkling wines from eight villages around the medieval town of Vouvray on the northern banks of the Loire River.  The vineyards all enjoy free-draining topsoil, above deep tuffeau (porous limestone created during the Prehistoric age of the earth.  The wine has a pretty golden-yellow color and offered notes of limes, green apples, with traces of honey, bananas, spices, and chalk.  On the palette, this wine was off-dry with medium body and high acidity and offered tones of green apples, citrus fruits (with a soupcon of grapefruit), spices and a nice medium finish of limes and chalk (terroir).

We moved into the dining room for dinner, and began with a Caesar Salad, followed by Roast Beef, with sides of Armenian Pilaf and Sautéed Fennel and Onions.  Since the meal was during Lent, my Bride went to a baker and got an assortment of cookies, so that the heathen would be pleased, as the heathen only gives up, what is missing in the house during Lent.  I was looking forward to the Cain Vineyard and Winery Cain Concept Napa Valley 1996 and I opened the bottle, just prior to our guests arriving and since the wine was thirty-years old, I used my Durand, but the cork was firm and solid.  In 1997 the wine’s label was changed and since then it is Cain Concept “The Benchland” and it is a project to show what Cain Five would be, if it was not a mountain wine.  Cain began in 1980 when Jerry and Joyce Cain purchased 550 acres of the McCormick Ranch on Spring Mountain, where it was a sheep farm.  It is the top of Spring Mountain AVA and adjacent to the Sonoma border.  The first release was 1985. While Cain Vineyard is located at the crest of the Mayacamas Range overlooking Napa Valley, Cain Concept (The Benchland) is at the foot of the mountain side from Yountville to Oakville to Rutherford to St. Helena.  The fruit is harvested from the following vineyards: Beckstoffer, Cain, Claes, Kenefick, Stagecoach and York Creek.  The winery, heritage barn and housing on the property, as well as the 2019 and 2020 wines in the cellar, were entirely destroyed in 2020 by the Glass Fire, one of several wildfires that ripped through parts of Napa Valley.  This vintage was a blend of seventy-eight percent Cabernet Sauvignon, seventeen percent Merlot and five percent Cabernet Franc.  This wine like Cain Five requires over three years of production, before it is released.  The wine was still a deep-inky colored wine with a bright red rim, and no foxing or aging in the color.  The nose was still strong and offered notes of black and red fruits, scented with violets and traces of tobacco and spices.  On the palate, at the age of thirty, there was still fruit, but not as dominate, with tones of cassis, blended with mature tannins, still balanced and with a lingering finish of terroir.  I guess I should open the other bottle of this wine, and enjoy it, later this year.

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A Taste of Monterey – Spring 2024 Selections

Posted on March 26, 2024 by thewineraconteur

We have a wine club membership with A Taste of Monterey, it is their “Private Reserve Club” and we went with the gusto.  The idea is that with this classification we would be getting some wines that we definitely won’t see here in Michigan, because the production quantities would be so low that it would preclude shipping nationwide.

The first wine out of the carton was Pianetta Winery and Vineyard “Tuscan Nights” Monterey 2021, it is John Pianetta’s homage to “Super Tuscan” wines and his Italian heritage.  Pianetta Vineyards was started in 1995, when John Pianetta bought a ninety-five-acre ranch and developed it into seventy-acre vineyard.  His family’s background was in the fresh market produce in California going back to the 1920’s.  At one time they even had a small family vineyard in Lodi. The vineyard is in the Southern part of Monterey County in a small valley called “Indian Valley.” The vineyard was basically planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and fifteen acres for Syrah. Originally, they sold their crops to other wineries and in 2002 they had their first vintage of three-hundred-seventy cases of estate wine.  It is now a family business as his daughter Caitlin has joined her father and they now produce about 2500 to 3500 cases of wine annually and only in red wines. They have started sourcing wines from other vineyards and doing single variety wines.  They also produce a “JUG” wine each year as an homage to their Italian heritage.  This wine is sourced from both the Pianetta Estate Vineyard and the White Hawk Vineyard of Santa Barbara.  It is a blend of seventy-two percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twenty-three percent Sangiovese and five percent Petite Sirah.  The wine was aged for twenty-two months in oak and it has an aging potential of six to eight years; with a production of one-hundred-seventy-four cases. The wine is described as having notes of cherry, raspberry, and pomegranate with secondary traces of anise and graphite.  On the palate, tones of the fruit, and warm toast blended with mild tannins.

The second bottle out of the case was Comanche Cellars Syrah Tondre Grapefield Santa Lucia Highlands 2021.  Michael Simons, in his own words started as a love affair and turned it into a passion for producing small lots of very handcrafted wines from neighboring vineyards.  The winery is now up to a production of eighteen-hundred-cases of wine.  Comanche was the name of the horse, he used to ride when he was ten years old.  Now, he laments that he hardly has time to ride a bicycle.  But he enjoyed his time with Comanche that much, that he has his name and shoes on every bottle of wine.  In 1997 the Tondre Grapefield was planted, originally at six-and- a-half acres and now is one-hundred-four acres, located in the center of the Santa Lucia Highlands and is planted with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and a limited amount of Syrah and Riesling.  The wine is described as inky-purple in the glass with notes of exotic spices, blueberry, and vanilla bean.  On the palate the wine is described as the fruit being wrapped in a velvet cloak with bold tannins and a satisfying finish.

The third wine is a bottle of Bernardus Winery Single Vineyard Chardonnay Soberanes Vineyard Santa Lucia Highlands 2021.    Bernardus Winery and Vineyards was founded by Ben Marinus Pon about twenty-five years ago with the intention of creating premier wines in the Carmel Valley.  His intent was to produce single vineyard designated wines and a Bordeaux blended wine.  Bernardus has three estate vineyards: Marinus planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec; Featherbow planted with Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon; and Ingrid’s Vineyard planted with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  All fifty-four acres of estate vineyards are in the Carmel Valley AVA.  To compliment the estate vineyards Bernardus also has contracts with vineyards the Arroyo Seco, Santa Lucia Highlands, and others in the Monterey County. I am sorry to say, that Mr. Pon passed away in September of 2019 and his vision will be continued by Robert van der Wallen the current owner, who also understand the passion that Mr. Pon had for his winery.  As a non-wine note, they have recently opened Bernardus Golf in Holland, and it will be the host for the Dutch KLM open.  The wine is pure Chardonnay fermented and aged in the Burgundian tradition.  The fruit is hand-harvested with gentle whole-cluster pressing, barrel fermented using select yeasts.  The wine also undergoes a complete Malolactic Fermentation with hand stirring every two weeks.  The wine is aged for about seven months in French Oak, of which a third is new and just over three-hundred cases were produced.  The wine is described as having notes of white fruits, white florals, and hints of vanilla.  On the palate there are intense tones of ripe peach and yellow cherry, accented by subtle baking spices with a long-count finish.    

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Fine Wine Source Club Selections – March 2024

Posted on March 23, 2024 by thewineraconteur

 I have some great tastings and events coming down the pike, courtesy of my local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  Some may deride me for belonging to a wine club, but I find it so much fun.  It is wines that I might not even look at in a wine shop, as there are always so many bottles to look at, so little time.  I was probably a bit obnoxious, OK, maybe a bit more when I first walk in there.  I knew of the store for ages, but my work routine was identical to the hours at the shop.  My Bride and I finally got there for an initial visit, after, we had dined at their restaurant Vertical in Downtown Detroit.  Here was a wine shop that was totally curated by the owner and the staff.  I didn’t have to look at shelves and shelves of the same wines that can be found at gas stations, grocery stores, drug stores and big box stores.  Everything was worth trying, and not to mention, they even offered to let you try some of their selections.  One-ounce pours are offered, and one can make some fine selections after a pour.  Two wines are chosen each month, one representing the Old World, and one representing the New World.

The first wine is Nexus One Tempranillo Tinta Fina, Ribera del Duero, Spain 2018.  Nexus & Frontaura was established in 1840 by the Gonzalez family, when the first vineyards were planted in the Toro region.  Bodegas Frontaura and Nexus Bodegas produce wines from the prestigious appellations in Castilla y Leon: Toro, Ribera del Duero, and Rueda.  Camino Pardo Alvarez is from the original Gonzalez family, a union of a Castilian father and an Asturian mother.  Sine 1999, she has been active in production, viticulture, and enology, and in the international marketing of the wines.  In 2004 she became the General Manager of Marques de Valdelecasas, Bodegas Frontaura and Nexus.  Ribera del Duero rose from basic obscurity in the 1980’s to one of the most important wine regions.  For red wines Tempranillo is the main varietal, though some blending is allowed.  The region uses the same aging rules as found in Rioja. The vineyards are planted on sandy-clay and loam.  This wine is pure Tempranillo and has been aged for eight months in French Oak.  The wine is a dark cherry red color with notes of ripe cherries, lavender flowers, balsamic and a touch of menthol.  On the palate there are tones of cherries, vanilla, and caramel blended with sweet and polished tannins and offering a medium count finish of ripe fruit and spices. 

The wine representing the New World is Highlands 41 Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles 2021.  The winery is named after the historic Highway 41 and the rugged Creston Highlands.  The Creston Highlands are over 1,300 feet above sea level with limestone-rich soils, which originally were submerged sea beds.  The estate vineyards and winery are Certified Sustainable by CSWA using environmentally friendly farming practices, solar panels, and wastewater treatment and reclamation.  The winery is under the umbrella of Riboli Family Wines, now in their fourth generation of winemaking excellence with estate vineyards in Paso Robles, Monterey, and Napa Valley.  The wine is pure Cabernet Sauvignon from the Creston Highland Vineyard, and barrel aged in oak for ten months.  A deep red wine that offers notes of red fruits, licorice, and chocolate.  On the palate tones of black cherry, plum, cocoa, and dark spices and strongly recommended for grilled meats.  

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What Happens in Vegas, Stays with Us

Posted on March 20, 2024 by thewineraconteur

Somehow, no matter how long we stay in Las Vegas visiting two of our children and five of our grandchildren, the time seems so short.  There were many side trips that we made, quick meals, shopping (me even more than my Bride), and the occasional glass of wine.  We always try to cram as much as we can with these trips, and there are some traditions that we try to maintain.  This trip we didn’t make a family trip to the cinema, as nothing was appealing across the board for us.  We did go bowling, it started out, just something to do the first trip out there on a gray day, and now it is a tradition; in fact, one of the grandsons actually bought his own ball and all the accoutrements.  The hardest part of the entire trip, was that we could not have one time with everyone together; between school and jobs, try as everyone did, we couldn’t have a complete family grouping and that was extremely hard on the group historian and photographer.   Hopefully, when we return for another visit, we can get everyone together.  

One side trip that my Bride and I made was that our daily morning 10K walk had us ending up at one of our favorite places for brunch.  We went to Echo & Rig, which is two stories tall, and the main floor is a bar and complete butcher shop with aging facility, and upstairs is the restaurant.  “A hot dog at the ballpark is better than steak at the Ritz.” – Humphrey Bogart is emblazoned on one of the windows.  We actually try to always eat out on the terrace overlooking the Tivoli Village complex and a fountain, the locals found the terrace to be cold, but to Michiganders it was very pleasant.  My Bride is also happy that she found out after our last meal there, that the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes are still being made there, but the write up on the menu doesn’t state it; and as for me, try as I might, I still can’t get past ordering the Braised Short Ribs Hash with Poached Eggs (my Blood Pressure and Cholesterol can accommodate me once in a while).  It was here that we discovered the perfect method to make a Mimosa.  We have the “Bottomless Mimosas,” so they bring an ice bucket with a bottle of bubbles and a very small carafe of Orange Juice, which is where I came up with the term “a tincture of Orange Juice.” I think that Orange Juice is more dear, compared to Charmat Method William Wycliff Winery “Brut” “American Champagne” NV; which is now part of Gallo (and they probably bought the winery for the designation).  A wine that was grandfathered in, so that it can claim the “American Champagne” designation and is I believe still made with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier.  Actually, this wine is perfect for making Mimosas and we try to keep a case at home, just for our breakfasts when we feel fancy.

The other side trip that I will mention, is because the grandchildren all kind of alluded that they would enjoy a dinner at Capo’s Italian Steakhouse & Speakeasy.  It is probably the favorite haunt of the kids, starting with the sliding peephole that is opened to determine if you have a reservation, to the seamless “wall with a payphone mounted on it” that becomes a door to allow entrance.  A lounge singer crooning the classic songs of Sinatra, Martin, and Bennett which my grandchildren enjoy and you know where that gene came from. Though they must have had complaints, because they changed the lighting, it was so dark that the menus came with a flashlight, and you can see from the photos that the ambient lighting is still rather dark.  The kids were ordering up a storm, and in the old days, they would split dishes, now they each order plates of food, but they still share the dishes.  The only problem and I thought they were going to create a classic prison-film dining room scene of rebellion was when they were informed that the restaurant no longer made their Creamy Garlic salad dressing.  One thing that did stay the same was that they still carried and they refer to it as a “Baby Amarone” a wine that has always been on our table there.  The Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre Veronese IGT 2020 is just a great value, even in a restaurant.  Allegrini is a winery that has been based in the Valpolicella region of the Veneto since the Sixteenth Century.  This wine is a blend of forty percent Corvina Veronese, thirty percent Corvinone, twenty-five percent Rondinella and five percent Sangiovese.  A small percent of the Corvinone grapes is left to dry like raisins and then pressed and then are blended with the juice from the other grapes.   The juices are aged for fifteen months in second used Oak barrels and then blended together for another two months in the barrels and another seven months in the bottle, before it is released.  The use of the raisin juice is referred to as Ripasso Method and if they had used Molinara instead of Sangiovese, the wine would have been a Valpolicella.  The Corvinone grape is relatively new in name only, as it was originally lumped together with the Corvina Veronese, until it was discovered to be its own grape.  The wine is just delightful and really deserves some cellar time, but that really doesn’t happen that often in a restaurant and I am sure that they go through plenty of this wine in the course of a year.      

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More Wine After Caesar’s

Posted on March 17, 2024 by thewineraconteur

After having brunch with Ms. Yoga, we decided to go next door for her to see the Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.  Shopping became fun, years ago when the Forum opened up and it created something new to be emulated in Vegas; theme shopping.  The skies could be controlled, the statutes of the Gods moved and talked, it was Disneyland for the adults, when they left the tables and decided to buy something, instead of giving it back at the tables. It is fun to be entertained and the show is always on in Vegas, and not only that, but the Gods were smiling down at me, because neither one of them bought anything.  I was also pleased to see that at least on the corner that we were, that we were not inundated with “hooker” advertising brochures.   We decided to go back to Bellagio, in case Ms. Yoga’s room became ready, and I tried to keep her clear from entering the enticing Petrossian Caviar Bar, but we did find a nice bar for people watching.

We started off our session of people watching with Famiglia Cielo dal 1908 Pinot Grigio delle Venezie DOC 2022.  The history of the Cielo family and wine began in 1908, when Giovanni Cielo purchased an estate in the heart of Veneto, between Vicenza and Verona, at the foothills of the Dolomites, overlooking the famed castles of Romeo and Juliet.  The second generation worked on making the label and wine consistent and to survive the war.  The third generation took the estate and created a national company.  The fourth generation took the wine international and eqpanded the production by opening up to the members of the Cantine dei Coll Berici, with more than a thousand winegrowers between Vicenza and Verona.  The wine is probably one of their larger productions, an easy drinking wine that was probably fermented and short aging in Stainless Steel tanks.  In 2017, the classification changed from delle Venezie IGT to either delle Venezie DOC or Trevenezie DOC.  This was a perfect afternoon wine to drink with its straw-yellow wine offering notes of white fruits, white florals and traces of beeswax.  On the palate, a light wine offering tones of white peaches, and a short finish.

This was followed by Il Borro Twentieth Vintage Toscana IGT 2018.  My second wine from this winery in a day, without being a tasting.  Il Borro is located in the Valdearno hills of Tuscany planted primarily with classic international varieties, as well as Sangiovese. The vineyard is forty-five hectares and was planted in 1997 on a combination of sandstone and sandy-clay soils.  The vineyard is 300-500 meters above sea level.  This is their flagship wine, and before any planting was done, they commissioned a geological study and the soils were considered best for classic international varieties.  This wine is a blend of fifty percent Merlot, thirty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon and fifteen percent Syrah.  The fruit was manually harvested and Initial Fermentation was done inn Stainless Steel vats.  Then the wines were aged for eighteen months; the Merlot partly in large tonneau and the balance in oak barrels, while the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Syrah was aged in new and second use oak barrels.  The wines were then blended and finished in Stainless Steel for an additional six months.  A dark red to purple wine that offered notes of red fruit, florals, Sous-bois, cocoa, and tobacco.  On the palate a big, velvety wine with tones of raspberry, currants, and kirsch blended with soft tannins and finishing off with a good medium count of fruit, spices, and iron.     

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Of All the Gin Joints, In All the World..

Posted on March 14, 2024 by thewineraconteur

It isn’t quite the same, but Ms. Yoga turns up in Las Vegas, while we are there and, on a day, when the kids are in school and our kids are working.  My Bride and I ended up on The Strip a second time in a week, but this time at the Bellagio, and she was there for work.  We met her at the check in counter, of course her room wasn´t available, so she gave her luggage to the Bell Captain and we were off to discover somewhere for lunch.  Now I have to admit, that I knew of all the dining establishments at the hotel, but I had never been there for lunch and the Concierge gave me a recommendation after checking his computer and suggested Sadelle´s Café, which we eventually found as we walk around the casino floor and passed all the wonderful places for dinner that had views of the fountains.

How can you go wrong with brunch food at the Bellagio, and I guess you can´t, though we were really there to catch up with all of the news and to create some more good times.  We started with Miner Family Vineyards Viognier Paso Robles 2019.  Miner Family Vineyards began as a custom crush label made in Oakville and now produce a wide range of wines from several locations.  Emily and Dave Miner began the label in the mid Nineties purchasing fruit and making it at Oakville Ranch and they bought the winery in 1999.  They have four major categories that they make their wine to emulate, they own no vineyards, but have long-term buying agreements with vineyards in several appellations in California.  This wine is from their “Burgundy” concept wines and is pure Viognier from the Steinbeck Vineyard of Paso Robles.  To maintain the freshness of the wine, the grapes were pressed whole cluster and was fermented and aged for about six months in Stainless Steel; and just under fourteen hundred cases were produced.  This soft golden colored wine offered notes of citrus and honeysuckle.  On the palate a lush wine that offered tones of white stone fruit, tropical fruits with balanced acidity that was a pleasure to have with food.

We then followed with Il Borro Lamelle Chardonnay Toscana IGT 2022, as Ms. Yoga enjoys her Chardonnay wines.  Il Borro is located in the Valdearno hills of Tuscany planted primarily with classic international varieties, as well as Sangiovese. The vineyard is forty-five hectares and was planted in 1997 on a combination of sandstone and sandy-clay soils.  The vineyard is 300-500 meters above sea level.  The fruit is hand-harvested and two-thirds of the juice is fermented in Stainless Steel vats, while the last third is divided among clay vats, acacia barrels, oak barrels and “Alma” which is a special oak and ceramic barrel. The wine is then aged for ten months on fines lees with an evenly split among clay vats, acacia barrels, oak barrels, and the “Alma” barrels.  The wine is then stored in the bottle for twelve months with a production of three-thousand bottles.  A straw-colored wine that offered notes of citrus, yellow fruits, with a touch of rosemary, sage, and vanilla. On the palate the wine offered tones of fruit, with texture and body and finished with a nice medium count of fruit and terroir.        

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Lunch at Vida in the Fontainebleau Las Vegas

Posted on March 11, 2024 by thewineraconteur

The newest hotel on The Strip is Fontainebleau Las Vegas and normally we don’t go to The Strip anymore, but we were meeting one of our son’s friends who has moved out to Vegas, has his own show at a casino, published a book, and recently got married.  I suggested the Fontainebleau for brunch, as I still have a magnificent memory of the finest Corned Beef Hash and Eggs that I have ever had and it was at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, and it is amazing how some memories are forever with you.  I had forgotten though how much of a labyrinth parking structure are adjacent to the casinos; architects probably specialize in just creating these mazes, and we lucked out and found a parking spot almost immediately off of the first entrance to the hotel.  This hotel, was totally classy and did not feel at all like a Vegas casino.  In fact, there were these huge moving murals dedicated to the original hotel with the founder featured along with great images of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, both who also were headliners in Vegas, but they were scenes from the early Sixties.  There was also a great series of photos being played out, when Auric Goldfinger was playing cards and cheating at a table poolside at the Miami hotel, and how James Bond figured out his method of cheating and alas the eventual demise of Jill Masterson; such great memories to me.  As we walked around, we passed the casino, which was a departure from the other casinos on The Strip, past the wonderful shopping and we finally found the restaurant Vida, where the four of us were going to meet. 

We arrived early at the restaurant, as the other couple do not drink, so we ordered our drinks at the bar, as we waited for them.  My Bride decided that she would get a classic interpretation of Eggs Benedict, so I decided on a wine that I thought would work very well.  She had a large pour of Diatom Chardonnay Santa Barbara County 2022 by Greg Brewer, the Wine Enthusiast magazine’s Winemaker of the Year 2020, and under the umbrella of the Jackson Family Wines.  Diatom is named for the diatomaceous earth, which is a plankton fossil found in the oceanic landscape of Santa Barbara County.  The wine is from the Bar-M Vineyard in the Los Alamos Valley of Santa Barbara County.  The wine is made from a single block, and all of the same clone from the vineyard, and the wine formerly was labeled as Diatom Bar-M Chardonnay.  The fruit is harvested over a three-week period at night, with soft pressings and the juice is chilled immediately, until all of the block has been harvested.  The juice is then all blended with Cold Fermentation and no Malolactic Fermentation, a quick time of aging in Stainless Steel and then bottled.  The wine is a soft golden-yellow that offered notes of pear, lemon, lime, and wet stones.  On the palate there were tones of tropical fruits, white florals, a dash of pepper, in a bright, balanced with that had a medium count finish offering tones of terroir.  A very refreshing wine and definitely no signs of Jackson Family Wines intervention.

Since, I was kind of crushed about no Corned Beef Hash, I decide to go with a dish that I probably wouldn’t encounter the whole time we were on holidays.  I had the Vida Prime Bacon Cheeseburger with Cheddar Cheese on Brioche with hand-cut crispy fries.  I selected the Roth Estate Heritage Red Wine Sonoma County 2021, which is part of Foley Food & Wine Society.  The Roth Estate was founded in 2001 in the Alexander Valley using site specific vineyards for the different varieties used to make this wine, hence the use of the Sonoma County AVA.  The wine is a blend of seventy-seven percent Cabernet Sauvignon, fourteen percent Merlot and nine percent Petit Verdot.  The wine was aged for seventeen months in American Oak, of which six percent was new; with just over two-thousand cases produced.  This dark inky-burgundy colored wine offered notes of cherries, molasses, tobacco, and some chocolate.  On the palate there were tones of black cherry, currants, plums, chocolate, rich tannins, and a nice finish of dried cherries.    

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Another Night of Pizza at Grimaldi’s

Posted on March 8, 2024 by thewineraconteur

I realize that most people that go to Las Vegas, believe the quotation “whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”  Not for us, we go to Vegas to see two of our children and five of our grandchildren.  We try to see as many as possible for every outing, but as they get older, other things like school, dates and jobs get in the way.  The weather was just a little warmer in Vegas, compared to Detroit, so a sport coat was perfect to wear.  Our first night after getting our luggage, rental car, and stopping to get some supplies for our hotel room, we were worn-out, so it was just a day of traveling.  In Vegas, everyone drinks bottled water and that is a major supply, besides wine for our room.  The first couple of nights we eat early, because we are still on Detroit time, three hours difference, so I am sure the kids think we are fuddy-duddies.  Our first night for dinner, we met at one of our stand-by restaurants, because everyone likes pizza and Grimaldi’s makes a pie, like the early days.  Though we did have to move the reservation up an hour later, but the restaurant made it happen, it was a double whammy of Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day. 

My Bride and I got to the restaurant first, to make sure that they knew the table was going to be used.  We like that we can actually walk to the shopping center from our hotel/casino; and when you are on holidays any additional walking is great.  My Bride went to the church, our kids use and she had the ashes applied earlier in the day.  The kids were going to be late, because the mass after school didn’t agree with the original reservation.  So, we had a chance to study the menu and know what we were going to order, and it was rather easy, since I was the only heathen that could eat meat.  We ordered two large salads to begin with, an Antipasto, with all of the meat, going towards the heathen, and of course, a Caesar Salad.  We started off with a bottle of Anterra Pinot Grigio Terre Siciliane IGT 2022.  Anterra which means ¨ancient lands¨ perfectly describes the island of Sicily.  Anterra describes their wines as authentic and uncontaminated from vines whose roots are embedded in soils rich in history and culture.  Terre Siciliane IGT is region wide and replaced the older Sicilia IGT in November 2011, and Terre Siciliane translates to ¨Sicilian lands. ¨ The only two designations as Sicilia DOC is for wines made from Grillo or Nero d´Avola.  This wine is made from pure sustainable techniques in the sunny and dry Central to Western part of the island.  A soft golden colored wine that offered notes of tropical fruits and a hint of almonds.  On the palate there were tones of fresh fruit and a short finish of fruit.  A very simple wine and easy to understand, and easy for the grandkids, in case they decided to pour some into some of the extra empty wine glasses on the table.

As the rest of the guests arrived, we also placed an order for a couple of extra-large pies, one with just cheese and one with cheese and vegetables, and one small meat lover´s pizza (for the heathen).  We also ordered a bottle of Decoy Merlot Sonoma County 2021from the Duckhorn Portfolio.  I first discovered Duckhorn back in the Nineties when everything was done in Napa Valley, and they didn´t even have a tasting room, but through a friend, we had a private tasting in the back of a semi-trailer and Decoy was their second label originally as a red Bordeaux style wine.  Now Decoy is in Sonoma County as a blend, as well as single variety bottlings.  Duckhorn Vineyards bucked the trend and they were resolute about Merlot, and when I think of California Merlot, I automatically think of Duckhorn.  This wine was aged for twelve months in French Oak, forty percent new and sixty percent neutral. A beautiful deep red wine, and it offered tones of black fruits and baking spices.  On the palate there were tones of black cherry, currants, mocha, vanilla, blended with silky tannins and a medium finish of fruit.  A great way to start our visit, and no desserts, as Lent had begun, and that is what is given up among my crowd; and they also got a Valentine’s card.  

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What Happened?

Posted on March 5, 2024 by thewineraconteur

I guess I have been going to this little city in the dessert for years, at least from the Seventies.  In the old days there were plenty of “junket flights” which were basically free transportation.  I think the casinos underwrote these flights and they were fun, you could feel the energy on the plane as people were geeked up to go and donate their money to a worthy cause.  Men wore suits and women had dresses as they boarded the plane.  There really wasn’t any food on the four-hour flight from Detroit, but the booze flowed easily, back then, I don’t recall if wine was even an option.  Everyone had haircuts, manicures and shoes were polished; and at least two suitcases were in the cargo hold for the trip, because everyone dressed up to go gambling, unless you were going to the old downtown district.  Nowadays, I am about the only man that has a sport coat and a pair of dress shoes on; as I figure it is a couple of bulky items that I don’t have to pack.

The Strip has changed from the days of Ocean’s 11 to Ocean’s Eleven.  It costs a small fortune to take a cab from the airport to The Strip and they are basically abutting each other, so unless you are getting limo service, you have to rent a car, and especially for us, as we no longer stay on The Strip, as we want to be close to our children and grandchildren.  Only a few of the Old Guard are still standing and some are truncated.  The Aladdin with its old ties to Detroit is gone and replaced by a Planet Hollywood.  The Dunes has been replaced by the Bellagio.  The Sands is now the Venetian.  The Stardust has been replaced by Resorts World.  The Dessert Inn has been taken over by the Wynn and the Encore, though the golf course remains.  The Hacienda gave way to Mandalay Bay, and the Riviera has become part of the Las Vegas Global Business District. The beat goes on.

The city went from Family owned to Corporate and it just doesn’t have the same glamour.  It’s expensive on your own dime, as in the old days the casino at each hotel underwrote the entire entity.  Now the hotels, and the restaurants have to carry their own freight, and I think that there are probably still some buffets around, but I can’t tell you, as I never went to them, and I am not going to start now.  I also haven’t walked on The Strip, as the last time we were there, the streets were littered with advertising papers for hookers.  Also the shows are different, while there are  still some headliners, the town now lives on dazzling productions with cast members that can be changed without anyone being the wiser; would you know if it was a new crew of “blue men?”  This year, we got lucky as we don’t have any grandchildren graduating, but next year we may have three to regale with special dinners.  Though this will be a unique trip, as we may not be able to have everyone at every dinner, as the grandchildren have extracurricular activities from school, and they all have part-time jobs.  And by the time you read this, we will be back home, as I never have understood the concept of telling the world that your house is empty.  

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