We Went to See “Aurora’s Sunrise”

Posted on November 6, 2023 by thewineraconteur

It is amazing, for years I never saw an Armenian film, and now twice in one year.  I use to have to find a way, to make a film Armenian, maybe an actor, a screenwriter, or a director.  “Aurora’s Sunrise” is Armenia’s Official Entry to the 95th Academy Awards and nominated for nineteen different awards and has so far, won some of them.  We made a date, my Bride and I, and made a special day of it.  We drove out to Birmingham, Michigan to our daily walk, as we also had to do some shopping for both of us, as well as picking up some alterations.  I did a “Google” search to see if we could have dinner in Ann Arbor, prior to seeing the movie, and of course we were directed to restaurants twenty miles away.  I guess I am cheap, or shall we say economical, but I dislike having to pay constantly to pay to park my car, so we parked and paid only twice, in stead of three times.

After we did all of our errands in Birmingham, and our shopping endeavors were successful, we decided to have an early dinner in Birmingham, before driving to Ann Arbor.  My Bride had been thinking about the cheeseburger and fries that I had at the Townhouse the last time we were there.  Sometimes, the simpler, the better.  Then there was the wine to choose, and we thought something fun and different on an autumn day.  We had a bottle from Domaine Passot Pere et Fils their Maison Passot Les Rampaux Regnie 2020. Domaine Passot is a family estate of fifteen hectares offering four Beaujolais Cru wines, a Burgundy Gamay, a Rosé wine, and two distinct sparkling wines.  They have recently begun the sixth generation of winegrowers.  Regnie was originally part of the appellation for red wines made from Gamay under the designation of Beaujolais Villages, but in 1988, it became the tenth Beaujolais Cru.  It is adjacent to Crus of Morgon and Brouilly.  Regnie is one of the highest altitudes in the hills of Beaujolais and noted for the pink granite soils.  The region is named after a Gallic-Roman nobleman Reginus who grew vines in the region some two-thousand years ago, and they have been growing there ever since.  This is one of the old-style Beaujolais wines that is made with the Black Gamay, but with the addition of some white juice.  The Cru Les Rampaux is planted with vines that average about forty years of age.  The fruit is hand-harvested and Initial Fermentation is for seven to ten days.  This wine is aged in Stainless Steel or epoxy-coated cement vats for nine to twelve months.  A pretty deep ruby colored wine that offered notes of red and black fruits.  On the palate delightful tones of red fruits, with a hint of prunes, soft tannins and a light finish of fruit and soft terroir of minerality.

We decided to take a very leisurely drive on the back roads from Birmingham to Ann Arbor, since we were not under time constraints and we didn’t need to battle with the road warriors on the freeways.  We arrived at the State Theatre, which is stunning in its own rights, as it still has a huge well-lit marquee evoking another era.  While the exterior is classic, the interior has been cobbled together and is no longer one large theater with a balcony, but several smaller screens, a quaint lobby, and a small bar.  “Aurora’s Sunrise” is based on the Zoryan Institute’s Oral History Archives of Aurora Mardiganian’s odyssey.  A genocide survivor, who originally has her story serialized, about her losing her family, escaping slavery and enduring what most people could not.  From her serialized story, and consequent book that was published, she was raising money for Armenian “Near East Relief” and she eventually went to Hollywood and starred in her story in a silent film, and her additional tales of enduring the greed of Hollywood as she continues to tell the world of the Armenian Genocide.  The film she made was “Auction of Souls” (1919) and for the millions of dollars that the film grossed, amazingly there is not a copy of the film that survived.  After the death of Aurora Mardiganian, some twenty-four minutes of the film was discovered (2009) and along with known stills and title cards, which was interwoven with clips of Aurora as she was recording her memories for the archives, and these snippets were then woven into a dramatic animated film.  A few minutes of watching and the novelty of animation isn’t even noticed.   Beyond wine, I also have as one of my many other hobbies, and is collecting ephemera from this time, and when there were mentions of my grandmother’s village.  The film touched me several times, realizing that it was the background of my own family and the survivors never really spoke of the atrocity and horrors that they lived through as children and young adults.  The film covers a “survivor’s journey from bloodshed to the red carpet” as aptly stated as a press release.  You may not see the film in a theatrical release like we did, but I do hope that you get a chance to see the film “streaming” on the small screen.   

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Dinner at San Chez Bistro

Posted on November 3, 2023 by thewineraconteur

Our last night in Grand Rapids for our little getaway and a chance to be a tourist, we enjoyed a dinner of tapas at San Chez Bistro.   We have been to Grand Rapids several times, but the last time I wrote about this restaurant was in 2012, and truthfully, the concept of tapas style restaurants was very novel at the time.  I am not sure what the original business was, where the restaurant is, but I can tell you from my short life, that we were dining in what used to be called a mezzanine, like in the old J.L. Hudson store in Downtown Detroit.  Nowadays, it would be more vogue to call it a loft, but it is a second floor that doesn’t cover the entire first floor. 

We were seated just off the staircase of the mezzanine and it was a great location for people watching, plus to observe some of the varied dishes that were on the trays carried by the staff.  Tapas are meant to be shared, and my Bride and I have been sharing dishes almost from day one, but the other unique item about tapas, is that they arrive, as they have been prepared; hence what you may have thought was an appetizer might arrive with an entrée, or vice-versa.  We just ordered dishes and they arrived as the kitchen decided.  We hand Champinones, garlic and herb braised Pebble Creek mushrooms, red peppers, and grilled bread.  Alcachofas a la Parilla, sautéed artichoke hearts, bell pepper cream sauce, with red pepper flakes.  Medjooles Rellenos, honey-cardamom goat cheese stuffed date, with a spicy Harissa sauce.  Atún en Escabeche, Jamaican jerk seared Ahí Tuna, carrot ribbons, mango coulis, and salsa verde.  Gambas Asadas al Fuego, spicy fire-roasted shrimp, banana-mustard cream, and white rice (but we up-charged the dish by substituting Scallops.  Langosta en Crema, sautéed Langostino Lobster, roasted red peppers, anisette-mustard cream sauce, and grilled bread.  I also created quite a stir among the staff, by showing them a photo of a matchbook from the restaurant, which no one had ever seen, some didn’t even know what a matchbook was.

The wine list was rather eclectic, and I thought it should have been top-heavy with Spanish wines, but I knew that we were going to have a Spanish wine in keeping with the food selection.  We enjoyed a bottle of La Perla del Priorat Noster Inicial Priorat DOCa 2018.  The Priorat region of Spain is located in Catalonia and is known for having intense, full-bodied wines. Priorat is also known for having low yields: climate, nutrient-poor soils, and vine age.  La Perla del Priorat is one Priorat’s oldest wineries.  It was founded in the Fifteenth Century by the Carthusian monks of Scala Dei under the original name of “Mas Dels Frares” (House of the Friars) and was a very important monastery.  The fame of the wines grew and the winery was renamed La Perla del Priorat in the Eighteenth Century. The wine is a blend of seventy percent Garnacha (Grenache), twenty-five percent Carinena (Carignan) and five percent Cabernet Sauvignon.  This wine is made from old vines that are grown on slate terraces.  Half of the wine is aged in French Oak, and the other half of the wine is aged in Stainless Steel vats, which gives the wine a fresh fruit flavor.  A very deep ruby red wine that offers notes of cherry, plum, currants, figs, and vanilla.  On the palate tones of rich red and black fruits, traces of raisins and prunes, big and chewy (it is how I describe it) with just enough acidity along with some mocha and vanilla hints, with a nice medium finish of terroir.  A great wine to accompany the mélange of dishes that we chose.    

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Enjoying Some Wine During ArtPrize

Posted on October 31, 2023 by thewineraconteur

We started touring ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, Michigan the night before after having dinner as we wandered about.  In the morning, we drove back downtown, to continue what we hadn’t seen the night before.  We also made an excursion to the Grand Rapids Art Museum, as we always enjoy seeing art museums in other cities when we have the chance and the time.  We also wanted to go back to the JW Marriott hotel to take another look at the display of dresses made from pages of books like from Harry Potter and also from the Princess Bride, among others. While we were there, so was the artist and she was not only helping my Bride, but several other people that were trying to electronically vote and were having difficulty voting.  It seemed that everyone we talked to, had the same problem.  By that time, we had worked up a thirst, and there was a restaurant and wine bar in the hotel called Margaux and a very suitable name for a wine bar.  One of the Grand Cru Communes in Bordeaux is Margaux as well as well as the famous Chateau Margaux; and rumor has it, that Margaux Hemmingway was conceived after her parents had a magnum of Chateau Margaux.

My Bride had worked up a thirst and she wanted something festive and bubbly, so she had a glass of Rivarose Brut Prestige Rosé Mediterranée IGP NV.  Mediterranée IGP is a large area covering Provence and part of the Rhone Valley, Loire, and Corsica; and wines are a major part of the culture and economy of the region.  A large proportion of this designation is rosé wines that are beyond the scope of the AOC wine laws.   This region was previously classified as Vin du Pays, but was changed in 2009, because of a poor consumer image.  The wine was formerly bottled and labeled as Royal Provence Rivarose Brut.  Rivarose is the oldest effervescent wine company in the Mediterranée region, founded in 1909, and they produce alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.  Created by Edmond Thery, a famed economist who had a passion for effervescent wines.  For about thirty years, they assisted Champagne houses until the strict delimitation of production areas; and they created their own wines.  The winery has two-hundred-forty-thousand acres under vine and they use the distinctive Provence style bottle, created, and patented back in the 1920’s.  The wine is a blend of Syrah and Grenache and always harvested at night.  The grapes undergo maceration after pressing to extract maximum aromatic intensity.  The juice then undergoes fermentation and then aged for several months using the Charmat MethodL.  A soft coppery-rose colored wine with fine bubbles that offered notes of predominately strawberry and raspberry.  On the palate tones of red fruits, spices, soft and fine mousse.  A delightful and refreshing wine for the day.

I also had a rosé wine of Les Vignerons du Mont-Ventoux Cuvee des 3 Messes Basses Ventoux 2021.  Ventoux is a large district, southeast of the southern Rhone, bordering Provence, and was known as Cotes de Ventoux until 2009 and known for their rosé wines.  Mont-Ventoux towers over the region, and is referred to as the “Giant of Provence” and is part of the Alps Mountain range.  Wine has been recorded from this region since the First Century AD.  In 1924, the winegrower families created a cooperative “Les Vignerons du Mont Ventoux,” and now has one-hundred-twenty winegrowers comprising of one-thousand-hectares of vineyards and certified sustainable.  The wine is a blend of fifty percent Clairette and fifty percent Grenache Blanc.  Cuvee des 3 Messes Basses (3 Low Masses) was named from a short story penned by the Provencal author Alphonse Daudet who wrote about the grapes harvested on the slopes of the mountain.  The grapes are completely de-stemmed, undergo pneumatic pressing and cold settling of the must and an Initial Fermentation for three weeks.  The Malolactic Fermentation is inhibited to retain brightness and freshness.  The juices are aged separately and aged for a couple of months in vats, before blending and bottling.  The pale coppery-rose colored wine offered notes of peaches, citrus, and white florals.  On the palate tones of citrus and peach, with a crisp, supple feel.  Perfect for a summer day.   

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ArtPrize and Bistro Bella Vita

Posted on October 28, 2023 by thewineraconteur

While we were in Grand Rapids, the other site that we wanted to see was Art Prize.  Art Prize is an annual, international art competition.  As they say it is a celebration of ideas, conversations, and experimentation.  This year, there was $600,000 to be awarded to artists, in the form of grants, juried prizes and public votes.  The grand prize was $125,000; second prize $75,000 and third prize $50,000.  The exhibit was huge and spread over a couple of hundred blocks, so we didn’t see every piece of art, as the art was on sides of businesses, inside of businesses, and in parks.  We had to go to Art Prize headquarters to get a walking map and even then, we realized that it was too much to conquer in a day, so we tried to go to high cluster areas.

The nice thing was, that we ended up passing many watering holes around the city and while one of the monikers for Grand Rapids is “Beer City,” we passed on that sobriquet and looked for wine dispensaries.  The evening after the Meijer Gardens we met some friends and had dinner at Bistro Bella Vita and we have dined there before with them on one of our other trips to Grand Rapids.  Though, since the last time we had dined there, they had moved to a bigger venue and sometimes that can be fatal for a business, but it seemed that they were fine.  My Bride and I started by sharing an appetizer of Sea Scallops with cauliflower gratin, peas, dukkah, dill pistou and lemon agrodolce.  My Bride had Faroe Islands Salmon with potatoes, peas, kale, farm beans and smoked salmon vichyssoise.  I had the Saffron Risotto with shrimp, crab, sausage, broccoli, red pepper, parmesan and Calabrian chili aioli.

After having cocktails before our meal, we ended up with a bottle of Azienda Vitivinicola Tiberio Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2020.  Riccardo Tiberio found a very old plot of sixty-year-old Trebbiano Abruzzese vines, which is a rarity and almost forgotten varietal.  In the year 2000, he bought the eight-hectare plot and an additional thirty-one-hectares of land suitable for single estate wines; on property 350 meters above sea level, twenty-three miles inland near the town of Cugnoli. On the thirty-one-hectare property he meticulously planted cuttings of indigenous vines suitable for each soil sample.  His first vintage was in 2004, and his minerally whites and fruit forward reds were immediately appreciated and lauded.  Trebbiano d’Abruzzo is grown mainly on the eastern side of central Italy and is a distinct variety from the other Trebbiano varieties.  There is debate as to whether it is the Bombino Bianco variety, but it hasn’t been proven, so the DOC law hedges a bit, and allows a minimum of eighty-five percent of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, Bombino Bianco and/or Trebbiano Toscano since 1994.   The wine is a pretty golden-yellow and offers notes of ripe peaches, lemongrass, and chamomile.  On the palate tones of white fruit in a light and balanced wine that had a nice medium count finish of lemons and minerals.  I thought it was perfect with our entrée choices.      

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Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park

Posted on October 25, 2023 by thewineraconteur

It was still the month of September and we decided to make a little getaway to Grand Rapids, Michigan; which is also known as Furniture City or Beer City which were always mentioned in the last series of “Pure Michigan” advertising campaigns narrated by Michigan’s own Tim Allen.  We decided to kill two birds with one stone as the old adage goes, because ArtPrize was just starting and I figured we could go see the Meijer Gardens see some old friends and have a couple of different dinners; actually, it was more than two birds, but who is counting.  I am becoming a tourist in my own state late in life, but that is fine, my Bride with her job, was much more immersed in the state, but she is getting to see the state through my eyes as well.  

The Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park was created in 1995 by the West Michigan Horticultural Society.  It was a fusion of Frederick’s love of sculpture and his wife Lena’s love of flowers.  The park is one-hundred-fifty-eight acres, so make sure that you have a good pair of walking shoes, though there are curated trams that you can take as well.  There are two-hundred sculptures in a permanent display, though while we were there, they were moving some to new locations.  Though I guess the one that is a must-see is Nina Akamu’s “Homage to Leonardo and Leonardo da Vinci’s Horse” in several different sizes, and that photo has no trick photography.  There are many different gardens, some are enclosed like in conservatory settings and museum collections.  It is outside that is amazing.  There is a Children’s Garden, the Sculpture Park, an Amphitheater, a Japanese Garden with its own waterfall and lake, and a Michigan Farm Garden focusing on the horticulture that was prevalent during the Great Depression, and there is a walk way around this working farm.

We actually went to the Meijer Gardens as soon as we drove to Grand Rapids to give us a day walking around.  You know that I had to check if they had any beverages to make me happy, and yes, they did, but at the same time, not really happy.  We went to the James & Shirley Balk Café in the main building.  My Bride had the Michigan Maple Salad, with grilled chicken breast, candied pecans, dried Montmorency cherries, goat cheese, heritage greens and a Michigan Maple vinaigrette.   I had the Smoked Brisket Quesadilla with a house-some beef brisket, sweet corn, caramelized onions, mushrooms, Cheddar cheese, chipotle barbecue sauce on a jalapeño cheese tortilla. The restaurant was like a cafeteria and I encountered the Cabernet Sauvignon and then the Chardonnay as we progressed down the lane with our tray going to the checkout register.  I lamented about the wine, only for the reason that I thought that two Michigan wines could be featured, but instead we had two California wines to choose from.  We both had Coastal Ridge Chardonnay California NV in a one-serving glass pour bottle like for an airplane.  I couldn’t find any information about the winery other than they produce about eleven classic wine offerings and did some more detective work and I found out it is part of the Bronco Wine Company.   Bronco Wine Company originally begins with the Franzia Family that started in the wine industry in 1893.  Two brothers and a cousin from the Franzia families began Bronco Wine Company in 1973.  Today they are the largest privately held US vineyard holder with vertical integration and they cover a wide variety of price points and they are especially popular to the food service industry.  I am sure that the wine is totally bulk produced in Stainless-Steel tanks.  The wine is seventy-six percent Chardonnay and twenty-four percent Proprietor’s White Blend.  It was also the first time that I had ever seen a glucose/fructose listing for wine.  The wine had a soft golden-yellow color and offered notes white fruits, oak, and vanilla.  On the palate there were tones of apple, pear, and pineapple, some more oak and crisp acidity.  I have to surmise that they must have a formula for using oak chips in the tanks to get that oak taste.  The only good thing is that I hope that some of these bulk wines actually get people to try other wines, and some will become wine enthusiasts.       

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Fine Wine Source Club Selections October 2023

Posted on October 22, 2023 by thewineraconteur

I am interrupting my flow of September stories to mention the wine club selections from The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  And no, I do not live there, nor do I work there, but I do enjoy my visits there.  By now, you must realize that I am very unassuming and very quiet when I am in the store, in fact that probably don’t even see me.  That is the farthest from the truth, but if they are busy with customers, I manage to stay low key.  As I wander around admiring some of the new cases of wines, that will probably be gone, by the next time that I am in the shop, as they really understand their customer’s collecting habits.  I was there to pick up the October Wine Club selections that are curated by the owner and his staff; one from the Old World and one from the New World. 

The Old World was represented by Domaine Jean-Christophe Mandard “Les P’tites Notes” Touraine 2020 from the Loire Valley in Mareuil-sur-Cher; located in the heart of the Loire castles, between Chambord and Chenonceaux.  The winery is now into its fifth generation of family control when Jean-Christophe joined with his family in 1993 and managed the Mandard business; and now his son Jean-Baptiste has joined in 2020 to help with the twenty-seven-hectare estate.  The estate produces wines with either the AOP of Touraine or Touraine Chenonceaux on the left bank of the Cher and the estate has two distinct soils.  They grow four white varieties and five red varieties.  This wine is sixty-percent Pinot Noir and forty percent Gamay Noir.  The wine is described as having the finesse of Pinot Noir and the delicacy of Gamay, with velvety tannins mixed with cherry and undergrowth aromas.   

The wine representing the New World is Fox Run Vineyards Dry Riesling Seneca Lake-Finger Lakes 2020.  The Finger Lakes of New York state is probably the best-known wine region of the eastern United States and especially known for their Riesling wines.  There is eleven Finger Lakes in all, carved out by the movement of glaciers during the Ice Age.  Of the eleven lakes Cayuga was given its AVA in 1998 and Seneca in 2003, the entire Finger Lakes AVA was awarded in 1982.  Seneca Lake is the largest and there are thirty-five wineries.  Fox Run Vineyards is located on what was a Civil War era dairy barn and ranch, and the first grapes were planted in 1984 by Larry and Adele Wildrick.  In 1994, it was purchased and expanded to fifty acres of east facing vineyards on glacial soils.  In 2012, the vineyards changed hands again and is now a family owned and run winery.  They focus on non-hybrid European varieties and they are dedicated to being good stewards of the land, by being environmentally sound in their farming practices and sustainable techniques.  The 2020 growing season was considered one of the best in the decade and considered close to perfection; with a mild Spring, lots of sunny weather and just enough rain in the Summer, with a warm, bright, and dry Autumn.   The grapes were picked in the morning with a cool temperature, the fruit was gently crushed and pressed.  Fermentation was conducted at moderated temperature using three different yeast strains, with the wine chilled just before reaching dryness, to leave a small trace of residual sugar.  I will make a presumption that the wine was processed and aged in Stainless-Steel tanks for about eight months, and just under a thousand cases was produced.  Tasting notes furnished by the winery offers notes of citrus with lemongrass and lime zest.  On the palate, a perfectly balanced wine with a focused finish.       

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The Grotto at the Inn at Saint John’s

Posted on October 19, 2023 by thewineraconteur

I may have been named after a Saint, but I certainly don’t refer to our home in such lofty terms.  Saint John’s Resort has a history that began in the late Forties when St. John’s Provincial Seminary opened its doors and for over forty years it was an institution of Divine education and learning.  It was created by the Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, eventually being the retirement home of Cardinal Maida as well. In 1979, a semi-private golf course was built on the two-hundred-acre parcel of land and when the seminary closed, it became the St. John’s Conference Center and eventually added the Grande Ballroom while still maintaining the Romanesque architecture even with all the additional building.  They also created the “5ive Steakhouse” as part of the new hotel and conference center.  In 2021, the entire complex was purchased from the Archdiocese with the proviso, that all profits from the resort go to a charitable foundation.  The latest addition to the complex is The Grotto, which is nestled under the original and still functioning chapel.  This space was a place where the Seminary students could pray in peace, and now is a charming wine bar that is an off shoot of “5ive.” In 2023, the resort received the Wine Spectator award The Award of Excellence which recognizes restaurants with an exceptional wine list.  Somehow, during all of the years of enjoying wines, the new sommelier of The Grotto and I have crossed paths at different wine tastings, and my Bride and I, broke from our usual practice and went to the grand opening of The Grotto.

The Grotto features small plate dishes for sharing and for “munchies” and they were certainly not trying to offer “bar food.”  We started off with some Shishito Peppers, with a chili crunch vinaigrette, and honey-citrus zest.  Perfect finger food, as long as one knows that probably one out of ten peppers could have some real zing.  My Bride had a glass of Scarpetta Prosecco DOC Brut NV.  Scarpetta wines began in the Friuli-Venezia Giuli region in 2007 and since then has expanded into other regions of Italy as well.  Scarpetta is an old Italian term for that last piece of bread that is used to soak up the last of the sauce on your dinner plate.  With this wine being Prosecco DOC, the fruit is officially called Glera, for the rest of the world outside of Prosecco DOC, the grape is called Prosecco. Once considered a “poor man’s Champagne” Prosecco has been a work in process, and is now a truly recognized label of its own.  It is made with the Charmat method, also known as the tank method or bulk method, to differentiate it from Methode Traditionelle, but as the years go on, I have to admit that the size of bubbles keeps getting smaller and definitely more numerous and persistent.  This particular wine is a blend of Glera and Chardonnay, and according to the DOC regulations, the wine must be at least eighty-five percent Glera. The pale golden-yellow wine offered notes of fresh fruit, honeysuckle and a tweak of hazelnut.  On the palate there were tones of green apples, honeydew melons and a nice crisp taste and finish, that I would call “sec” instead of the sometimes-overpowering puckering taste of “brut.”

We also shared a Lobster Roll at The Grotto, which was made from claw meat, with spices, micro-sprouts, and a side of potato chips.  I had a glass of Azienda Agricola Villa Sparina Gavi del Commune di Gavi DOCG 2021. This winery was purchased in the Seventies by the Moccagatta family.  Villa Sparina is spread over one-hundred hectares of which seventy are reserved for the native varieties of Gavi (Cortese) and Barbera.  Some of their vineyards are located on the hills of Monterotondo, which is considered a Cru region for Gavi.  For the wines to carry Gavi di Gavi, the fruit must come from vineyards in the township of Gavi.  The winery wishes to stay distinctive and they even created a golden-hued glass bottle based on an ancient vase found during the renovation of the winery.  Gavi is considered the jewel of white wines in the Piedmonte, though it has the feel of Liguria as it is found to be more light and fruity.  The Cortese grape has been recorded in the area since the 1600’s, Gavi di Gavi received its DOCG status in 1998.  The wine is aged in Stainless Steel for about five months to keep its freshness and crispness.  The wine is a straw-yellow color and offers notes of white fruits, white flowers, herbs, and almonds.  On the palate there are tones of green apples, honeydew, citrus, and spices in a very bone-dry, crisp wine with bright acidity with a great finish of mineral-laden terroir.     

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September 2023 Birthdays

Posted on October 16, 2023 by thewineraconteur

We had an invitation out to the families to come for a celebration for seven celebrants, including myself.  My Bride as always was intent on getting everything perfect.  Of course, time and schedules for some people is not understood.  If it was me, I would put the food out at the designated time, and for those that consistently arrive late, they can make plates of leftovers and nuke the meal in the microwave, and they can enjoy soggy salads.  My Bride started out the meal in the living room with fruit, vegetables, dips, hard cheese, warmed Brie with a fig topping, and of course a selection of crackers.  We started with Famille Joly Vignobles de la Coulee de Serrant Les Vieux Clos Savennieres AOC 2019. Famille Joly is known for its age-worthy wines made from Chenin Blanc, especially from their monopole Coulee de Serrant vineyard. The area was originally planted by Cistercian monks in the 12th Century, Famille Joly acquired their property in 1961.  The estate is now biodynamic and Nicolas Joly who took over his parent’s winery is a major proponent of this farming technique. The appellation for Savennieres does allow for some sweet wines, Botrytis once defined the region, but not now.  The appellation laws also require low maximum yield restriction; hence the wines are very concentrated and have very long life.  The original appellation laws were written in 1952 and updated in 1996 and standard Savennieres wine is dry.  There are only about thirty winemakers in the area.  The estate is three hectares, and they produce all three of their wines from this property. The vines for this wine are about five to thirty years of age, and they are cuttings from their own vines from the monopole which were planted in the 1920’s.  The vines are planted in slopes ensuring good airflow on schist soil of quartz and sand.  No synthetic chemicals have been used since 1984.  It may take a couple of months for the harvest, as the grapes are picked as ripe.  The winery is basically hands-off in production, no rinsing of the grapes, no temperature control during fermentation and total Malolactic Fermentation, only local yeasts, and even very little racking, and not fining.  The wines are aged in a mix of wood (and very little new oak) and Stainless-Steel tanks.  There is no standard rule for aging and the wine is finished usually in six to eight months, when they decide it is.  The wine is a pretty golden-yellow and offers notes of melons, orange zest, pears, tobacco, and wet slate.  On the palate there are tones of delicate fruit, roasted pineapple, salt and beeswax; very complex a dry savory wine with tinges of sweet fruit and a nice finish of terroir.

For the dinner, the marinated salmon finished first, along with the vegetables.  Those that wanted to have some immediately were encouraged, while the last course was still cooking.  We morphed from one white wine to another at this point and we served Chateau Marjosse Blanc Entre-deux-Mers 2021. Their signature wine is the white, they also produce a red with a Bordeaux AOC.  The chateau is owned by Pierre Lurton, who is also the managing director of Chateau Cheval Blanc and Chateau d’Yquem.  He began winemaking there for the Deleuze family in 1990 when the estate had twelve hectares, and later after some other commitments he bought the estate in 2013 and began upgrading almost immediately.  The estate is now sixty-five hectares, and the white wine vines average over thirty-five years of age.  The wine is a blend of forty-five percent Sauvignon Blanc, forty-five percent Semillon, and a ten percent blend of Sauvignon Gris and Muscadelle.  The grounds are sloping hillsides that rise to about sixty meters on sand with clay and limestone.  The juice in vinified in temperature controlled egg-shaped cement vats and used five-hundred-liter oak barrels.  The wine is a pale straw-yellow colored wine that offers notes of green apple, grapefruit, citrus, and white flowers.  On the palate tones of green apple and grapefruit that are bright and crisp; very youthful and alive and refreshing.  

Then the roast tenderloin was finished along with Armenian Pilaf and root vegetables.  I had selected for this part of the dinner a bottle of Vignobles Brunier Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Telegramme Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2009.  Chateauneuf-du-Pape actually means “new castle of the Pope” and goes back to the Fourteenth Century during the time of Pope Clement V, the same Pope that is honored on the wine from Graves Chateau Pape Clement. Pope Clement chose Avignone as his new seat and the town has been historical ever since.  While the name is drenched in history, up until the early Twentieth Century, the wines were usually lumped into a general Avignon wine.  Baron Le Roy of Chateau Fortia, drafted a document centering on quality wine production conditions, and this document became the precursor of France’s appellation system.  Originally thirteen varieties were approved for production and after a 2009 review, eighteen varieties are now approved. The other unique proviso about Chateauneuf-du-Pape is that they drafted a law forbidding flying saucers from taking off, landing, or flying over the vineyards and it is still enforced to this day.  The domaine was established by Hippolyte Brunier and produced its first wine in 1900. It has grown to become one of the largest land owners in Chateauneuf-du-Pape with almost one-hundred-hectares. There was a real telegraph involved in the Brunier story. In 1898, Hippolyte Brunier had just one hectare of vines to make a bit of family wine, with his vineyard situated at one of the highest points in between Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Bedarrides. Its altitude made it the perfect spot for the communication tower built in 1793 by Claude Chappe to transmit telegraph messages between Marseilles and Paris. Hippolyte’s grandson, Henri, was the first to put the Domaine’s bottlings under the Vieux Telegraphe label. Today, even though the communication tower itself has long gone the name remains.  Vieux Telegraphe’s second-label Telegramme is made with young vines, under thirty-years of age.  The wine is a blend of eighty percent Grenache, ten percent Syrah, six percent Mourvedre Monastrell) and four percent Cinsault. The grapes are hand-harvested, with double-sorting at the vine, and a third sorting at the winery.  They are de-stemmed, with about thirty days for Initial Fermentation in temperature-controlled vats; followed by pneumatic pressing and then Malolactic Fermentation. The wine is aged for about sixteen months in French Oak foudres, bottled without filtration or fining and released after eighteen months. A deep ruby-red offering notes of blackberry, figs, and rose petals.  On the palate there are tones of rich fruit preserves, anise, and tea with a nice long finish of fruit and terroir.  A totally delightful way to enjoy my birthday dinner with the other celebrants.

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Oak & Reel

Posted on October 13, 2023 by thewineraconteur

My Bride puts up with me, and sometimes I don’t know how she does it, but she pampers with attention and indulgence, and she is part of why my birthday celebrations get extended longer each year, as the years seem to get shorter.  I had heard about Oak & Reel almost from the time that they opened up.  A local guy who ended up working and then captaining the two Michelin Star restaurant Marea in New York City and it became a destination seafood restaurant.  He wanted to come home, because he heard of all the promise there was in Detroit.  He created a seafood focused Italian restaurant in the Milwaukee Junction district (every area in Detroit now seems to have a name) and I had never been in this part of the city.  He opens up in 2020 and somehow managed to survive everything the governor inflicted on businesses, if you wish to have to remember that year.  In 2022, the glossy periodical of Detroit names it “Restaurant of the Year.”  So, now I wait another year to try it out; and it was worth the wait. 

We started out at Oak & Reel with a couple of appetizers after my Bride had her Negroni and I had my Vermouth Cocktail.  She had Frito Misto with delicata squash, shrimp, Calabrian honey, and sage.  While I had Campanelle with lobster, corn, seaweed, and chive.  My Bride had Halibut with rosemary spaetzle, chestnut ragu cabbage, and capers.  I had the New Zealand Langoustine, with arugula, and Salsa Verde.  After all of that, we still had room for our Decaf Cappuccinos and we shared a Panna Cotta with pistachios and Carpano Vermouth granita.  The bill came served on the lid of California Anchovies, which always sounds good.

Fear not, that I mentioned the bill prior to the wine.  We enjoyed a bottle of di Lenardo Vineyards “Monovitigno” Sauvignon Venezia Giulia IGT 2021. A family-owned estate, di Lenardo Vineyards began in 1878 cultivating vines.  They own five vineyards, rent one vineyard, and a couple of controlled vineyards.  In 1987 they began producing and bottling their own wines from one-hundred-fifty hectares of vineyards.  The vineyards are in the Friuli DOC region, but this wine carries the Venezia Giullia IGT designation, as it doesn’t match up to what is needed for the DOC designations that are there. The wine is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Sancerre clones. The whole berries are pressed gently in a pneumatic press, and after the first racking, the must is transferred to temperature-controlled fermentation still vats (Stainless-Steel) and the wine stayed on the lees until bottling, which was probably only a couple of months.  Clarification of the musts are made with their new “state of the art” “flowtation bio-system” and bottled under vacuum.  A pretty pale straw-yellow with green highlights this wine offered notes of melon, peach and sage.  On the palate there were tones of the melon, peach, and sage with fresh acidity, a slightly oily-textured wine with a finish of figs and tropical fruits. It was a very interesting wine with dinner.     

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Black Star Farms Club Fall 2023

Posted on October 10, 2023 by thewineraconteur

The last of the wine club shipments that I can claim as part of my extended birthday celebration month.  Black Star Farms is rather unique in that it has vineyards and tasting room facilities on both peninsulas, so that they are kind of surrounding Traverse City which is kind of the focal point for all of the wineries in the area.  In 1998 Black Star Farms purchased Sport Valley Farm which was a one-hundred-twenty-acre equestrian facility, and the stylized black star was part of the architectural décor in the main house.  In their Twentieth year, they were honored to receive the 19’th Annual Canberra International Riesling Challenge (CIRC) -Best Wine of the 2018 Challenge and only the second time an American wine came out on top.  There were 567 Rieslings from six countries (Australian, New Zealand, USA, Germany, France’ and the Czech Republic).  The Black Star Farms Arcturos Dry Riesling 2017 scored 98 points, in addition to taking home Best Dry Riesling and Best American Riesling.  In fact, all six of the Riesling wines that Black Star Farms submitted took home medals, showing a consistency across vintages and styles.  The fruit is sourced from both of the proprietor’s vineyards and from local grower partners in both the Old Mission Peninsula and Leelanau Peninsula.  The winery has three series; the premium Arcturos, A Capella and the Leorie Vineyard labels for sparkling and fruit wines.

The first wine out of the carton is Black Star Farms Arcturos Cabernet Franc Michigan 2020.  In fact, we had two different bottles of wine with a meal that caused us to drive over to Black Star Farms while we were up in northern Michigan and one of the bottles was Cabernet Franc.  It also is probably my Bride’s favorite varietal, so it is always easy to get her to agree to a bottle or two.  Now the year 2020 is rather ominous for most people’s memories, but it turned out to be an excellent growing season for the region, and a lighter crop, which made it easier for the production team, it also had an earlier bud break, a warmer spring and early summer and a long cool September which was a boon to the smaller crop.  October offered plenty of sunshine which encouraged the ripeness of the grapes.  This wine carries a Michigan designation, because the fruit was harvested with sixty-nine percent from Leelanau Peninsula and thirty-one percent from Old Mission Peninsula.  They were one of the first to have Cabernet Franc, with the first bottling in 1998 and now plenty of the other wineries now grow it as well. This wine is ninety-two percent Cabernet Franc and eight percent Teroldego.  The wine was allowed to mature for almost twenty-two months in a blend of French and American Oak with thirty percent being new; and six-hundred-ninety-cases were produced.  This new wine is described as offering notes of blackberries, plums, oak, and herbs.  On the palate the dark fruit blends well and has soft tannins and a finish of herbaceous notes.

The second wine out of the carton was Black Star Farms Arcturos Pinot Noir Rosé Michigan 2022.  Black Star Farms is located on the 45th Parallel that runs through some of the world’s great wine regions and they also enjoy a “lake effect” climate with helps especially near harvest time.  The fruit for this wine comes from the estate’s vineyards as well as some local grower partners; fifty-two percent from Leelanau Peninsula and forty-eight percent from Old Mission Peninsula, which causes the Michigan designation.  The growing season had a mild, but sunny spring, sun and heat for the summer, and a good drought from mid-June to mid-August, with a little rain in September and October.  The wine is ninety-eight percent Pinot Noir and two percent Pinot Gris.  It is not stated, but I would venture to say that this was a wine that was entirely done with Stainless-Steel for Fermentation and a short maturation period to allow the fresh fruit to be enjoyed; with eighteen-hundred-fifty-two cases produced.  The wine is described as a classic dry style rosé with strawberry aromas, with red fruit on the palate and is complimented by subtle minerality and a clean finish.      

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