We Had Dinner at Butch’s Dry Dock

Posted on October 2, 2022 by thewineraconteur

It wouldn’t be a trip to Holland, Michigan without dinner at Butch’s Dry Dock.  It seems that forever I would see this restaurant listed in the Wine Spectator magazine Restaurant Awards issue as having a great wine selection, and affordable food and wine prices.  It has been true, each time we have been there, and it is still holding on, in spite of spiraling costs and a bleak stock market for us retirees.  We had to take and show Ms. Yoga this restaurant.  We didn’t get our usual table at the window to observe the flow of people, but we still had a nice view.  What I did notice is that it is the type of restaurant, where we have seen three generations of a family dining out.  We also saw that there were young couples out on dates, that were dressed up for the evening.  It made me smile to notice these things.

The restaurant is very unique in that it is a wine shop, and a restaurant.  They have a few wines listed on the menu, as offerings to pair with different entrées.  The majority of the wines are on shelves displayed in groupings like Old World and New World, and then alongside of the wines on the shelves are more wines displayed in a series of coolers.  The wines are retail priced and then there is a corkage fee for the dinner.  A very admirable way of marketing the wines.  We started off with a couple of appetizers for the table and the Truffled Cauliflower with Grana Padana was excellent.  We started off with our pull, a bottle of Sylvain Pataille Bourgogne Aligoté 2019.  He is very well known in the Marsannay region, just outside of Dijon in the northern end of the Cote de Nuits.  The Domaine is known for its Pinot Noir and he is a strong advocate and champion for Aligoté.  He started as a consultant enologist for a number of Burgundy domaines, and established his own operation with one hectare in 1999, and today he has about fifteen hectares all basically in the Marsannay boundary and the vineyards are certified organic.  He produces about twenty wines, including five Aligoté Crus.  This wine enjoys his concept of pressing long and slow, usually about twenty-four hours and fermentation is done using indigenous yeasts, and his vines average about fifty years in age.  The fruit for this wine came from two different sides, one of limestone and gravel, and the other of clay and marl soil.  The wine is then aged for twelve months in oak, filtered, but not fined and minimum use of sulfur.  A nice soft yellow with notes that almost reminded me of a Chardonnay with peaches, lemons, cut hay and butter.  On the palate peaches and tart apples, mouthwatering acidity and a very nice long finish of terroir.          

While we were going into the main dishes of seafood, salmon and whitefish, it was a white wine evening.  Ms. Yoga selected the second bottle for the table, and it was the exact wine that my Bride and I had tried earlier this year at the Carriage House at the Hotel Iroquois on Mackinac Island.  We were enjoying a bottle of Trig Point “Signpost” Chardonnay Russian River Valley 2018.  A nice pale golden wine that offered notes of pear and melon.  On the palate, the wine reminded me more of a Chablis, with the fresh fruit, crisp acidity and a creamy texture, not oak induced with a nice medium finish of terroir courtesy of the Russian River Valley.  Ms. Yoga is very partial to her Chardonnay wines, when she is drinking white and we all had a wonderful meal.  I am also please to say that we were not even charged with a corkage fee. 

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Noshing and Shopping in Holland, Michigan

Posted on September 30, 2022 by thewineraconteur

We were walking up and down the downtown of Holland, Michigan, there was me tagging along with my Bride and Ms. Yoga.  We even did the Farmer’s Market and thankfully, we came in Ms. Yoga’s rental car, so there wasn’t enough room, or we would have had a produce vehicle on the way back home, but we still bought enough there.  Then they had to shop the apparel stores, which is kind of a given.  They don’t have to worry about me, as there were only two men’s stores and one was a chain that I wouldn’t even venture into, and the other was an outfitter.  Trust me, my wardrobe doesn’t suffer, only the budget does when I shop.

The three of us walked into a shop, and I knew that I would probably be getting a video call or two, to help in the decision making.  I asked some of the help, for somewhere I could go and take care of my parched throat, shopping is such an arid endeavor.  They pointed right across the street to Waverly Stone Gastropub and I was off like a Mad Hatter.  I walked into the establishment and commandeered a table window side to see how many bags were being carried, and then I looked at the menu and the wine list, and I knew that I could weather the storm quite easily from my little command post.

I started off by ordering a plate of their Smoked Whitefish Spread with Capers, Parmesan, Peppers, Celery and Crackers, after all Michigan is the Whitefish Capital of the World (I think).  So, I had a chance to nosh, and watch for the shoppers and I started off with a glass of Paul Mas Domaine Astruc “dA” Viognier IGP Pays d‘Oc, France 2019.  Domaines Paul Mas covers about six-hundred-hectares in the heart of the Languedoc.  The estate was acquired in 2002 and is located at the foot of the Pyrenees about 200-300 meters about sea level.  The Malras location is in Limoux sur le Geu and housed and ultra-modern winery and facility.  Domaine Astruc is eighty-hectares in AOP Limoux, AOP Malepere and IGP Pays d’Oc depending on the wine being made.  The wine had a pretty yellow color and offered classic notes of stone-fruit and citrus.  On the palate some pineapple and passion-fruit and a short finish of limestone and chalk.  A light and easy wine to enjoy.  The ladies finally finished and my Bride ordered the Lucien Crochet Sancerre 2020, which was a given.  Lucien’s grandfathers Andre Crochet and Lucien Picard were winegrowers in the 1950’s and Lucien Crochet merged the two estates together.  Twenty-six of their thirty-five hectares are planted with Sauvignon Blanc on calcareous clay over Kimmeridgian subsoil.  The fruit is fed into pneumatic presses and Cold Fermentation for thirty days in Stainless Steel, and then matured on the lees for ten months.   A pale-yellow wine with notes of white fruits.  On the palate tones of peach and pear, in a nice balanced wine with a medium count of terroir in the finish.  We also ordered some more of the Whitefish Spread and some IPA Beer Cheese and some great jumbo Bauhaus Pretzels with a side of Whole Grain Mustard.  Ms. Yoga stayed true to form and had a glass of Stoller Family Estate Chardonnay Dundee Hills 2021.  Stoller Family Estate is the largest contiguous vineyard in Oregon’s Dundee Hills in the Willamette Valley and spans four hundred acres with two-hundred-twenty-five-acres dedicated to vines at higher elevations.  The Chardonnay juice after maceration and fermentation, which is done in a mix of Stainless Steel, Concrete and Neutral Oak for about four months, and then the three juices are blended together in Stainless Steel and aged for an additional three months.  A pretty yellowish-golden color, the wine offers notes of lemon tarts and wet slate. On the palate tones of persimmons and starfruit, very crisp and finishing off with a nice touch of terroir.  We were on a roll.

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Another Trip to Holland, Michigan

Posted on September 28, 2022 by thewineraconteur

We took another trip to Holland, Michigan and this time with Ms. Yoga.  Holland was settled in 1847 by Dutch Calvinist separatists, who left the Netherlands during a time of dire economic conditions.  To this day, Holland has promoted the ethnic background of the city with its Tulip Time Festival in May, which is almost impossible to secure hotels, anywhere near the area.  There is also a windmill and wooden shoes can be found in abundance around the city.

Shopping and dining are the two major draws for us and Ms. Yoga, it was a get-away for both of them, and I just tagged along, like a third wheel.  We have never been there during the winter season, but the city actually had the sidewalks reinstalled in the downtown area, which is the shopping and dining center of the city, after they installed geo-thermal hot water pipes underground to melt the snow and ice for the benefit of the tourists, visitors and the locals.  Imagine, shopping in Michigan with dry sidewalks.  Also, one can find statues everywhere on with themes strong for the city, both civic and whimsical.  I mean how can you not enjoy seeing a group of school children around a flag pole, and in your mind, you are reciting the Pledge of Allegiance along with the children.  There is a great statue honoring the Police Department, escorting a young girl.  In the center of the downtown, instead of another building, this is a charming little park with a local music group looking splendid in bronze, and the details and expressions are captivating. 

After we arrived, and settled in, we opened a bottle of wine in the room to celebrate the mini-vacation.  We had a bottle of Domaine de la Verpaille “Harmonie” Vire-Clesse 2019 by Estelle & Baptiste Philippe.  The Domaine is in its fifth generation, located in what is now the heart of Cru Vire-Clesse.  They actually make wines with five different designations from the one property; Vire-Clesse (cru du Maconnais sine 1998), Macon-Village, Macon, Burgundy and a Blanc de Blancs Cremant.   The Domaine converted to organic farming in 2006 and in 2009 they were officially recognized for their efforts.  They only grow Chardonnay on a clay-limestone soil and the average age of the vines is sixty-five years of age.  The Vire-Clesse appellation was created in 1999, but the 1998 vintage was allowed to use it, as well.  The appellation only is for Chardonnay grapes and replaces the older Macon-Clesse and Macon-Vire and includes several other communes as well in the immediate region and the region is considered to offer wines as dry as Chablis.  After harvest the wine undergoes fermentation, maceration and aging for twelve months on the lees, which adds to the flavor and richness.  The wine is a pale yellow with notes of yellow fruits and florals.  On the palate there were tones of apples, pears and peaches in a full, round wine with a nice meandering finish of gun-flint.          

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House of Pure Vin

Posted on September 26, 2022 by thewineraconteur

While we were still celebrating my birthday, and yes, I do like to prolong the celebration, we had some time between Vicente’s for lunch and Immersive Klimt.  We wandered around Downtown Detroit and there was a wine bar, that was not open, the last time we were in the area.  The establishment is the House of Pure Vin, and you know that I have to stop and be nosy, all for the sake of my blog, as I wouldn’t want to miss something. 

It was quite sterile in appearance, cold and rather aloof in feeling, which perhaps, is the goal to attract the hipsters that I do not claim to be part of, nor that group that calls themselves “influencers.”   It is both a wine shop and they have a tasting bar and they have a back room with a large tasting table adjacent to a large wall with a series of bottles connected to something similar to a “Coravin System,” but monitored by a credit card that you had to purchase ahead of time if you want to drink any wines. We were told that you could only buy in increments of twenty-five dollars, so we bought credit for the four of us. The shop and the wines are curated by a Master Sommelier, but we were left to fend for ourselves, as I guess they are not partial to people walking in off the street.  They explained how the gadget works, gave us each a glass and left us to our own devices.  My Bride discovered that two of the smallest pours gave more volume compared to the second size pour, and that it was more economical in cost to the second pour as well.  The group tried a Gewurztraminer, a Rosé, a Gavi di Gavi, a Pineau d’Exception, a Sardon de Duero, and a blend of Gros Manseng and Sauvignon Blanc.  There were plenty of different wines to choose from, starting with Bubbles, Reds and Whites. While we were there, two people came in to the back room, tried a glass under the supervision of the help and then they left.  

Of the different wines that we tried the Clarendelle Rosé Bordeaux 2021 was the most interesting and flavorful.  Clarendelle is part of the Clarence Dillon Wine Group, which was established in 2005 and they offer four wines; a red, white, rosé and a dessert wine with the fruits coming from Dillon estates across Bordeaux.  The selling point of this wine is that the Dillon family in 1935 bought Chateau Haute-Brion.  The wine is a blend of sixty-five percent Merlot, thirty-two percent Cabernet Sauvignon and three percent Cabernet Franc.  The fruit was harvest in the last two weeks of September and had direct pressing, and a short maceration and fermentation period, presumably in Stainless Steel, to maintain the crisp, fruit flavors.  The pale pink-salmon colored wine offered notes of tropical fruits like Pomegranates and Lychee.  On the palate, tones of fruit, a touch of menthol, pepper with very soft tannins, fresh with a medium finish of fruit.     

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A Birthday Celebration 2022

Posted on September 24, 2022 by thewineraconteur

My Bride came up with a unique way to celebrate my birthday this year.  She has been suggesting a Cuban restaurant for ages and she got her wish.  We went to Vicente’s Cuban Cuisine for lunch, and they are on Library Street.  I remember Library Street and the Library as it was on the back side of J.L. Hudson’s and I remember a liveried door man there and they still had hitching posts, though very elaborate, and my mother always parked in a structure just on the other side of the library.  Of course, I do ramble.  We went with her sister and her husband, who also recently had a birthday.  My Bride had the Camarones Criollos a dish of jumbo shrimp sautéed in olive oil, garlic, white wine, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, asparagus tips and parsley; served with white rice and sweet plantains.  I had the Zarzuela de Mariscos with shrimp, scallops, calamari and mussels sautéed with onions, peppers and mushrooms, then flambéed with Brandy and simmered in a tomato broth; served with white rice and sweet plantains.     

We went with a bottle of Martin Codax Albarino Rias Baixas 2020.  Martin Codax is a co-operative of growers in the Rias Baixas.  It was formed in 1986 and is named for a famous troubadour from the 13th Century of old romantic Spain.  The winemaker and one of the original founders of Martin Codax is Luciano Amoedo, who was also one of the most vocal in getting Denominacion de Origen (DO) appellation for Rias Baixas in 1988 and the main varietal for the co-operative is Albarino, which accounts for ninety percent of their production.  This wine was light and crisp and had a nice flinty terroir in the finish and I was totally happy with the wine for lunch.

 The reason we all got together in Downtown Detroit, is because we ended up with four complimentary tickets for Immersive Klimt.  What happened was that it seems like decades ago, we had ordered four tickets to see Immersive van Gogh, back in the early days of 2020 and most of us, would like to forget what occurred that year.  The venue changed and then it like almost everything in the state ceased to exist, to please our harridan governor.  The promoters of Immersive van Gogh promised that anyone that had outstanding tickets, that you could either get a refund or as a bonus, you could get bonus tickets for the next Immersive show that hadn’t been announced.  Everything was rather hazy and it felt like it was run by a group of charlatans, but we decided to keep the original tickets and go with the bonus.  My Bride liked the Immersive van Gogh and I told her that she would enjoy the Immersive Klimt, and I had told her that she had seen his works, she just didn’t recognize the name.  Afterwards, she told me, that she enjoyed the show, more than she had anticipated. 

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September Birthdays 2022

Posted on September 22, 2022 by thewineraconteur

This was going to be a litmus test, as this was going to be the first family get-together since my Mother-in-Law passed away.  My Bride went overboard trying to make it special as she views herself as the peacemaker, and she also has the unenviable task of being the executor and co-trustee of the estate.  I like to tease her, that she must have done something really terrible once, that her mother assigned her this position.  At least most of the invitees attended and only one of the birthday recipients didn’t show.  As per usual, they arrived late, and the affair ended a little early. 

My Bride did her best and I laud her for her efforts.  She decided to make two different styles of ribs, so she began slow cooking them the night before, after we removed the muscle tissue on the back of all the ribs and cook them into workable size sets of bones.  She finished most of the ribs with barbecue sauce and she made some for me basted and soaked in Molé sauce.  She also tried a recipe that I read about, roasting a head of cauliflower stuffed with garlic, drizzled with mustard and olive oil and then topped with grated Reggiano di Parma. For the early attendees we had fresh fruit, cheese and guacamole.  Since I was one of the honorees, I went and found something interesting to start out with a bottle of Galante Vineyards Blackjack Pasture Cabernet Sauvignon Carmel Valley 2001.  Jack Galante’s great-grandfather James Frank Devendorf was the founder of Carmel-by-the-Sea in 1900.  He later built the Pine Inn and the Highlands Inn (that I have wrote about from our trips).  Jack’s parents purchased a cattle ranch and in 1983 began a vineyard.  In 1994 Jack built a winery using the estate vineyards.  The vineyards were sold in 2020, but the still has the rights to the grapes for this winery.  I tried to get some basic information, but they never responded, which is a pity, because they are still selling Library wines from this era, and this wine was excellent.  I used my Durand and the cork came out perfectly for a twenty-one-year-old.  I opened the bottle before the guests arrived to allow it to breath.  The wine still had a beautiful hue for a Cabernet Sauvignon and it offered striking notes of dark fruit and spices.  On the palate was dark cherry, cassis, some chocolate and tobacco, the tannins had mellowed beautifully and a really nice long finish of terroir.  My Bride came back for seconds quite quickly.

While the first courses were being enjoyed there was still Scalloped Potatoes, Sautéed Brussel Sprouts with Balsamic and Marinated and Roasted Pork Tenderloins.  After I opened the first bottle, I opened a second bottle, just because.  We had Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars “Artemis” Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2003.  The winery was founded in the early 1970’s by the Winiarski family on land that would eventually become part of the Stags Leap AVA, and they became famous when during the Judgement of Paris tasting of 1976, they beat Mouton-Rothschild and Haut-Brion in the blind tasting.  The estate is two adjoining vineyards Stag’s Leap Vineyard (SLV) which has volcanic soil and is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, some Merlot and a little bit of Petit Verdot.  The Fay Vineyard is alluvial soil and the same mix of plantings.  Stag’s Leap Wine Cellar is not to be confused with a nearby producer Stags’ Leap Winery and they had a legal war and the position of the apostrophe came out of the legal battles.  Then they both joined forces to try to fight the name of Stags Leap District AVA, which eventually through the courts was decided that it would have no apostrophe.  In 2007, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars was sold to Washington’s Ste. Michelle Estate and Tuscan’s Marchesi Antinori. This particular wine “Artemis” contains juice harvested from both vineyards (forty-one percent) and some non-estate vineyards and is basically all Cabernet Sauvignon and a few points of Merlot.  The wine is aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which a third is new.  The critics notes at the time called the wine “overly soft with ample tough tannins.  Nearly Cab the wine is rich in cassis and blackberry flavors and dry.  Could surprise after, but it’s a gamble.”  Nineteen years later, the wine was still very dark with notes of blackberry, cassis and spice.  On the palate the tannins had mellowed and the dark fruit was still evident with an abundance of enticing spices and a nice decent finish of terroir.  For their opening wine, it held up extremely well, though in hindsight, I think that I would have started with this wine first, just because it was a little lighter in heft.

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Fine Wine Source Club Selections September 2022

Posted on September 20, 2022 by thewineraconteur

The month of September has been a bonanza of wine club shipments, though my favorite club selections are from The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  I guess, because I feel like family when I walk in the door.  I even got a “Happy Birthday” greeting from one of the employees who follows me on social media and my writings.  They were very busy, which is a great sign, and I am sure that the Wine Club is a great pull for them.  For just under thirty dollars a month, one gets two curated bottles of wine, but I think the best, besides the great customer service, is that club members automatically get case discounted prices, even if they just stop to get a bottle or two.

The first club selection was Gran Passione Rosso Veneto 2020 a limited production wine made by Cantine Bertoldi.  Cantine Bertoldi is known for their Valpolicella and Amarone wines.  They were founded in 1932 and several generations later they now own fifty acres of hand-cared vineyards.  They are now part of the larger umbrella wine producer and distributor Casa Vinicola Botter.   They began in 1928 selling local Veneto wines.  After World War II, they moved onto bottled wines and started exporting.  Now in their third generation, ninety percent of their business is done overseas.  The soil of the estate is basically clay, and this wine is a blend of sixty percent Merlot and forty percent Corvina.  The grapes selected for this wine are hand selected and harvested, allowing for the grapes to dry on the vine, reducing the weight by about fifty percent.  This technique is in the tradition of Apassimento (to dry and shrivel), just like how Amarone is made.  After harvest, the over-ripe grapes are destemmed and undergo maceration and fermentation for fifteen days on the skins, and then malolactic fermentation occurs in the barrel aging.  The wine is described as an intense purple color with notes of black raspberry puree, black cherry, cassis, black tea and dried violet blossoms.  On the palate the wine is described as a medium-bodied red with intense flavors, medium acidity and medium tannins.  I still have a few bottles of the last vintage and I have been assured that this wine is even better than that, so it is truly a great bargain.  I can’t wait to try it.  

The second club selection, representing the New World is Cline Family Cellars “Seven Ranchlands” Viognier North Coast 2021.   Cline Family Cellars is a producer based in Carneros and known for Zinfandel and Rhone varieties and established in 1982 in Oakley.  Fred Cline is one of the original Rhone Rangers of California.  The “Seven Ranchlands” is a way of honoring both the seven children of the Cline family, and the seven vineyard ranches.  The fruit for this wine is from the Catapult Ranch Vineyard in the Petaluma Gap, and the balance is from the Diamond Pile Vineyard at the base of the Wild Cat Mountain.  The grapes are handpicked at night, where they are destemmed and pressed, and allowed to settle for forty-eight hours before racking.  The Catapult portion was inoculated with wild yeast, while the Diamond Pile portion was allowed to ferment naturally in barrels.  After fermentation, the wine was aged in neutral French Oak for six months before blending and bottling.  The soft colored wine has been described as having the texture of a reserve Chardonnay.  The wine offers notes of mango, guava pineapple.  On the palate tones of dried apricots, pears and banana in a full-bodied wine with nice acidity.  It sounds like a wonderful Viognier from the Rhone and my Bride was excited when I showed her the wine, when I got home.         

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Black Star Farms Club Selections Fall 2022

Posted on September 18, 2022 by thewineraconteur

Back when the world was young and fun, we were at a board meeting at the Inn at Bay Harbor, and a delightful time it was.  The food was excellent and normally the wine takes a back seat to the liquor selection and the craft beer selection, but this time even the wine was excellent.  The final evening of events the wines were from Black Star Farms of Michigan, and there was quite a lot of buzz, at least in Michigan wine drinking circles, because the Black Star Farms Arcturos Dry Riesling Michigan 2017 had won the Best in Show at the Canberra International Riesling Competition.  We did not have the Dry Riesling being poured, but we tried their Cabernet Franc 2013 and it was that great, along with two other wines, that my Bride wanted to make a special stop at the winery to see if we could get the Cabernet Franc and some of the Dry Riesling.  We were so impressed with the service from the representative that we did a tasting with, that we signed up for their club.

The first wine in the carton was Black Star Farms Arcturos Pinot Blanc Old Mission Peninsula 2020.  Black Star Farms is located on the same 45th Parallel that runs through some of the great wine regions of the world.  While 2020 was devastating to the state and country, you may recall; it was actually quite good for that part of the state.  Early budding in the spring, warm spring and early summer, and then cooling off in September with a burst of warmth in October which allowed the fruit to fully ripen.  The fruit was harvested from two plots, both in the Old Mission Peninsula; eighty percent from Montana Rusa and twenty percent from Montague Estate Vineyards.  There were five-hundred-seventy cases produced of this wine.  According to the supplied notes this wine is medium-bodied with notes of green apple and lemon and the on the palate the two fruit tones blend into a crisp wine with a finish of minerality (terroir).  They even mentioned that there would be a certain creaminess that can develop in bottle aging.  

The second two bottles were Black Star Farms Vintners Pinot Noir Michigan NV. The winery has a Pinot Noir program that is the focal point of their red wine production.  The winery is very fortunate to have both tasting rooms on both peninsulas surrounding Traverse City, but also both estate and contract vineyards in both as well.  This particular wine is a blend of multiple vineyards from both peninsulas and multiple vintages.  This particular wine is based on their 2016 vintage, but it has been made to be more fruit forward and barrel aging.  The tasting write-up supplied by the winery offers raspberry, cherry and plum and oak.  On the palate tones of dark fruit, spices and perfect balance.    

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Monterey Wine Club September 2022 Selections

Posted on September 16, 2022 by thewineraconteur

It must be September, because I just received a shipment from “A Taste of Monterey” which we started years ago, back when Michigan was still a felony state for out of state wine shipments.  By accident, we walked into their shop, did a wine tasting, started to lament about Michigan’s archaic wine laws and the person behind the counter checked and said that they could ship to us, that was probably around twenty-five years ago or so.  We signed up for the “Private Reserve Club” which was the most expensive range, but I figured that I would get some wines that otherwise I would never see here, and I was right, and we are still doing it.  I also noticed that all three bottles had no capsules covering the corks in the bottles.   

The first wine out of the carton was KORI Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands 2020.  This winery is a partnership that started in 2007 between grower Kirk Williams and his step-daughter Kori Violini.  This is a dream winery, getting fruit from the KW Ranch & Highlands in the Santa Lucia Highlands.  This is one of the respected vineyards that sells grapes to wineries like Wrath and Morgan.  The vineyards owned by Kirk Williams is surrounded by other well-known estates like Gary’s Vineyard, Sleepy Hollow and Rosella’s (all vineyards that I have had the good fortune to encounter because of my wine club).   I was a little surprised that in today’s computer era, I could find almost nothing about the winery or any production notes, other than an aging potential of five to six to eight years and a production run on one-hundred-fifty cases produced.  The tasting notes furnished mentioned notes of dark cherry, vanilla cola, boysenberry compote.  On the palate barely ripe blueberry, fresh violet and raspberry pie filling.  Not my terminology or descriptors, but we shall see.

The second bottle was Folktale Winery and Vineyards Le Mistral “Joseph’s Blend” Single Vineyard Monterey County 2018.  Folktale Winery and Vineyards was originally founded in 1982 by Bob and Patty Brower, as Chateau Julien Wine Estate and they wanted to replicate their wine experiences in France to the Carmel Valley.  In 1996 they expanded the property and structures to ensure that they were making great wines, and my Bride and I visited Chateau Julien each time we had holidays in Carmel-by-the-Sea.  In 2015, the property was purchased by local winemaker, Gregory Ahn, and renamed Folktale Winery and Vineyards; and as a side note, from what I gather the label Chateau Julien is still property of the Brower family.  Earlier mentions of this wine identified Joseph as Joseph Phelps.  Grapes for this vintage of Joseph’s Blend were hand-harvested from 5 different vineyards in our region.  Each lot fermented in small batches and was gently pressed and racked to French oak barrels to age.  After 6 months, all lots were tasted and a final blend was created.  The wine spent another year in barrel before being bottled in Aug, 2021.  In this year’s blend, Grenache came from Ventana and Mission Ranch Vineyards (Arroyo Seco AVA), Syrah from Cedar Lane Vineyard (Arroyo Seco AVA) and Tondre Grapefield (Santa Lucia Highlands AVA), and Mourvedre from Sandy Lane Vineyard (Contra Costa County AVA).  Aging potential of six to eight years. The furnished tasting notes offered notes of plum, cherry, wet granite, worn leather, vanilla, cherry cola, red apple, fresh fig, cloves, red pepper and sage.  On the palate bright and fresh currant with nuances of tea leaves, buckeye and baking spice.    

The third wine in the carton was Pierce Ranch Vineyards Mal/Zin San Antonio Valley AVA 2019.  A new winery for me, and a relatively new AVA for California, perched in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Range, roughly fourteen miles from the ocean and twenty-five miles from Paso Robles.  The region was first recognized for wine growing by the missionaries of Junipero Serra with the establishment in 1771 of the Mission of San Antonio de Padua for sacramental wines.    Pierce Ranch Vineyards is a small, family-owned winery of limited-run, estate grown wines with an emphasis on Spanish and Portuguese varieties.   The wine is a blend of twenty-six percent Malbec, forty-eight percent Zinfandel and twenty-six percent Alicante Bouschet.  The only production notes are that this wine was fermented in several small lots, using native yeasts and then blended in a mix of new and neutral oak.  Only one-hundred-seventy-five cases were produced.  The tasting notes said that this was the “sleeper” hit of the new releases, being somewhat rich and yet not heavy or overly tannic, with a combination of black fruit, spice and minerals (terroir) for a finish.

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“Bordeaux is My Favorite Grape”

Posted on September 14, 2022 by thewineraconteur

A couple of weeks ago, my Bride and I went out to meet another couple for dinner.  I am always a bit concerned when she couches the restaurant’s description and tells me that they have really good food.  I have been to plenty of restaurants over the years that have no pretensions, no décor or ambience, but have great food.  I have also been to places that reek of pretensions and self-importance and can’t even serve a glass of water properly.  I don’t think that I am a snob (well maybe a little bit), but I really despise paying good money for mediocrity.  If a place is a family-style restaurant that all of a sudden, thinks they are gourmet, this could be scary. 

My Bride told me that they had just started to carry wine, because they now have a liquor license.  She called and asked what their policy is regarding bringing your own wine and paying a corkage fee.  She was handed over to the restaurant’s wine buyer who assured my Bride that every wine has been tasted by both the owner and the wine buyer for quality, and that they don’t allow outside wines.  We went and placed our dinner requests; the specials were on an erasable board as we came in.  When I asked about the wine, the wine buyer shows up to take the order.  They had a small wine carte, which is fine, one should always start cautiously.  I saw a white wine that I did not know, but I knew and respected the house, as they make one of our go-to wines at the house, so I was willing to try their opening range wine.  When I selected the wine, the wine buyer informed the table that “Bordeaux is my favorite grape.”  I am not sure when Bordeaux became a grape, but I learn something new daily.  The wine buyer brought the bottle out and it was warm, and I asked for a wine bucket, and she was surprised that a white wine should be chilled.  I kept my cool, had the bottle opened and prayed that an ice bucket would be brought before the meal was finished.

The wine was Maison Sichel (Cave) Bel-Air Bordeaux Blanc AOC 2019 and pure Sauvignon Blanc.  Maison Sichel, about forty years ago was the first negociant to invest in a vinification cellar; so that they could be responsible for the wine from grape to the bottle.  This Cave handles the fruit from about two-hundred hectares of vineyards in making red, white and rosé wines from Bordeaux.  The average age for the vines is thirty-years and basically from clay-limestone soils.  The juice undergoes skin maceration for about twelve hours, pressed and preserved using carbon dioxide gas for a day. Then the juice is put into Stainless Steel vats for fermentation, the heavy lees are racked, and the fine lees are allowed to age with the juice for about four months.  The wine had a soft yellow color and offered notes of citrus and exotic fruits and florals.  On the palate there were tones of fruit and some nice acidity, with almost no finish.  The wine may have shown better, if it had been chilled prior.  My Bride knows that I will not go back to this restaurant.     

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