A New Chapter Begins

Posted on August 11, 2022 by thewineraconteur

It is hard to think that my Bride and I have almost been together from Day One back in 1993, and now we are going to start a new chapter with new adventures…eventually.  As one old saying goes “Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht” and if you don’t know Yiddish it means “Man Plans, and God Laughs.” Robert Burns also understood this when he started his poem “The best laid plans of mice and men…”  Lest, you get concerned, all is well, the new chapter is just not starting off as we had envisioned as we started taking these steps.  My Bride feels that God had a reason for her to retire when she did and we are still young and we have lived through inflation periods and Bear Market recessions before.

One of her girlfriends from way back took us out for dinner, actually she was taking my Bride out to celebrate her retirement and I was collateral damage (actually I was invited from the get-go, it just sounds funnier).  She had taken us to Rocky’s of Northville and we all actually remember it as Northville Charlie’s.  Only nowadays, we were having dinner at the Early Bird Menu and the restaurant was packed, so thank God for reservations.  Even during the “science” when our governor was trying to kill all the restaurants, the parking lot at Rocky’s was still packed, with people picking up orders to go.  We started by sharing an order of Whitefish Pate.  Then there were two orders of Broiled Whitefish and one order of Sirloin Tips.

Now these two have been going round and round for years, about whose turn it is, about buying gifts and all the crazy things that friends end up having discussions about.  My Bride started another discussion that will go on for a bit, as she made us get there early, not only to get a table, but to order a bottle of wine, since her girlfriend may drink a glass of wine, when they get together.  We had a bottle of Piper Sonoma Brut NV, which was founded in Sonoma County in 1980 by the Marquis d’Aulan, whose family has been linked for generations with Champagne and Premium wines.  The sparkling wines are made in the classic technique Methode Traditionelle, just like the wines from Champagne.  Each vineyard lot is hand-harvested, fermented and aged separately.  Primary Fermentation occurs in tanks and barrels, then bottled waiting for the Secondary Fermentation.  The fruit is sourced from across Sonoma County and produced in Healdsburg.  This wine is a blend of seventy percent Chardonnay, twenty percent Pinot Noir, three percent Pinot Blanc and seven percent “Aged Reserve Blend.”  The wine was a pretty pale golden color with petite bubbles with note of citrus and brioche.  On the palate crisp citrus with tinges of green apples and brioche, a nice creamy texture, fresh acidity and a nice finish.  Here’s to the next chapter and whatever surprises that come our way.   

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An Abbreviated Club Meeting

Posted on August 9, 2022 by thewineraconteur

My dinner club that has been around since the late 1800’s has had many changes over the years.  If you look at the founders of the club, you will notice that they were business titans, politicians and from families that still have streets named in the honor in Detroit.  At Detroit 300, the club was recognized as one of the oldest societies still functioning in Detroit.  Membership has always been limited to forty-four members and originally the meetings were held twice a month; and a member was the host at his home for dinner and drinks; then he enjoyed the hospitality of the other member’s homes during the rest of the course of meetings.  It changed venues during the Depression when people stopped having dining rooms large enough for the group; the meetings were held at different residential hotels that had dining facilities or at some of the private clubs in the city.  Eventually with members moving to the suburbs, the meetings were held at restaurants and three members were the hosts for the meeting.  That is how it was when I joined in 1989.

Nowadays, the hardest thing to find is a restaurant that has a private room, that has become passe.  We started our “Summer Attire” rules, which is no neckwear and sport coats and blazers are optional.  We were meeting at one of our tried-and-true restaurants Rocky’s of Northville, which began life as Northville Charlie’s.  The restaurant as per our tradition offered three choices of an entrée; Broiled Salmon, Chicken Piccata or a New York Strip Steak.  All the meals began with a Rocky’s Salad with dried cherries and a Maple Vinaigrette and some great fresh baked dinner rolls (which was one of the hallmarks of the old Charlie Muer restaurants).  The meetings always end with a Chocolate Sundae, though here we have Hot Fudge. 

Another change in the club, besides the recently installed “Summer Attire” is that drinks are Dutch Treat, whereas for years it was the host’s responsibility.  The only good thing is that I no longer have to drink “well drinks” or “wine by the glass.”  Usually, another member and I will just buy a bottle, which is two good pours each and much better compared to what is offered by the glass.  We were glad to see that Celani Family Vineyards Robusto Proprietary Red Wine Napa Valley 2019 was back on the wine list.  Tom Celani is famed for his philanthropic donations in the Detroit area, before he moved to Napa Valley and bought an Italian villa, though he still maintains his Detroit ties and still raises money for charities.  While the wine is listed as Proprietary, Tom explained at a tasting that it is pure Merlot, and the winery is very partial to new French Oak.  The wine has a nice rich color with notes of red fruits.  On the palate the fruit is forward, but not jammy and it is excellent to drink young, very chewy, soft tannins and a nice lingering finish.  As soon as the entrées were served, the restaurant lost all its power, as well as the neighboring areas of the city.  We had no desserts, and the poor waitress, had to write out every bill on paper receipts and she was hoping that everyone was paying in cash.  The dinner was delicious as ever, just very abbreviated, but it was still good to see all the members.       

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Did Anyone Lose a Slipper?

Posted on August 7, 2022 by thewineraconteur

We went to an exhibit “Heroes & Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume” at The Henry Ford.  The Henry Ford is the modern way of referring to The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan and possibly the top tourist attraction in the area.  As a kid, I can remember riding our bicycles there and touring one of the venues each Saturday, back when a kid could pay for it, out of his allowance.  Every day we have our daily 5K walk to start the day and then we work toward a goal of ten-thousand steps, because I guess that has been decreed as the Holy Grail of steps.  Actually, we went and walked The Village and then we were going to go and have lunch, but the one area was mobbed, so we went to the exhibit at The Museum first. 

I was expecting to see some of the great costumes from the Disney vaults and we did, but they were basically from the recent years, after we had raised our children and kind of even after the grandchildren.   So, I was kind of lost, but my Bride could identify the costumes, and she was even surprised that some of the television shows were Disney.  I recognized one costume from my youth, and then one costume of a swishy-swashbuckling pirate who has been making more news from his personal life, compared to his cinematic life.  Though it was all in all, very interesting and because we have year-round passes, it is a great venue for walking, and we will be back, because I think that my Bride didn’t want to compete with the young Princesses there, but they had a virtual booth, where you could see yourself in some of the costumes. 

It was still time for lunch, and the crowds had dissipated.  The newest venue at The Henry Ford is a restaurant operated by Plum Market, a specialty grocery chain in the Detroit area.  It is set up, so that you can buy pre-boxed meals and beverages or stand in line and get something freshly prepared.  My Bride had a Chicken Caesar Salad and a bowl of Chicken Soup.  I had Short Rib Tacos and Garlic-Grilled Broccolini.  My Bride decided to have a special coffee and I had a glass of Terrazas de los Andes “Altos del Plata” Malbec Mendoza 2020.  Chandon Argentina of Moet & Chandon began the Terrazas de los Andes project to find the best sites Argentine wines and based their estate at an historic 1898 Spanish-style winery in the heart of Mendoza.  The fruit for this wine is from Lujan de Cuyo and Uco Valley, which are both sub-regions of Mendoza.  This wine was aged for eight months in Stainless Steel.  This dark inky-purple wine offered notes of cherry and plum.  On the palate there was more red cherry and a bit lighter and easier drinking and I attribute it to the aging in Stainless Steel. 

  

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Having Ms. Yoga for a Couple of Days

Posted on August 5, 2022 by thewineraconteur

After getting over the surprise retirement party, and as we were getting ready to pack up, which was unique, as normally we are the last to leave, as we are there to the end cleaning and straightening.  My Bride had all of her gifts to pack up in the car, not to mention, we had Ms. Yoga as well.  A total surprise for my Bride and they were talking almost to the time of party, sometimes we have to be sneaky.  My Bride had a lot going on with her family, that is still going on, and she couldn’t understand why a schedule that she and three of her sisters worked on, was being upended for the weekend.  I guess when she saw that Ms. Yoga was staying at Casa Raconteur, it dawned on her. 

Now Ms. Yoga, by rights should have been Castilian, as one would think that the concept of tapas was created by her.  She enjoys noshing and would rather have plenty of appetizers instead of one entrée.  I knew about it and I really couldn’t give my Bride a heads up about what foods should be forthcoming, before the “tiki” party; just like I couldn’t get the guest bedroom ready ahead of time.  I mean there would be no logical reason for me to put fresh linens on a bed, that isn’t being used, nor could I pull out a luggage stand and set it up in the room.  Though I could get a stock of Chardonnay wines chilling in the back refrigerator, without causing any eyebrows to go up.  One of the wines we had was Bernardus Winery Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands, Soberanes Vineyard 2019.  Bernardus Winery is one of our favorites from Monterey County and it was at their restaurant that I actually received a glass of Screaming Eagle for a special night and memory.  Bernardus Winery and Vineyards was founded by Ben Marinus Pon about twenty-seven 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.  Soberanes Vineyard is a joint venture of two famed growers Gary Pisoni and Gary Franscioni in the Santa Lucia Highlands.  This wine is made in the “Burgundian tradition” and it is almost twelve months between harvest and bottling.  The wine is aged in French Oak, of which forty-three percent is new.  This pretty soft golden colored wine offered notes of baked apples with crème and spices.  On the palate layers of white fruits, buttery oak and a nice long finish. 

In the two nights that we had Ms. Yoga, we had a chance to enjoy several wines, I know that I was not surprised and several dishes of food, in an eclectic manner.  I know that you wouldn’t be surprised that I was regaling Ms. Yoga about the wines along with side stories.  One other wine that I will mention is made from a man that was originally from the Detroit area and still maintains ties to Detroit, especially philanthropically.  Another party that he still holds in Detroit is a big cigar night and through the course of years I have met several of the men that are part of this party, but my Bride is happy that I retired from that habit; not to mention that I always enjoyed a panatela with an English market wrapper and that size seems to have disappeared, which I guess is alright with me.  We did get to enjoy a Celani Family Vineyards Estate Chardonnay Napa Valley 2020 from the Oak Knoll District.  The Chardonnay was whole-cluster pressed and fermented on its lees using forty percent new French Oak and sixty percent in self-stirring egg-shaped concrete fermenters. To maintain the natural acidity of the Chardonnay, malolactic fermentation was inhibited.  The nose on this wine was excellent with notes of apple, pear, tropical flowers and brioche and some soft notes of spices and jasmine. The taste was a crisp balance of fruit and floral flavors with a very decent length finish of oak and roasted nuts.  Until the next return of Ms. Yoga.    

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Mission Impossible Worked

Posted on August 3, 2022 by thewineraconteur

Jim Phelps would have been impressed, especially when there were several times that I thought the cat had been let out of the bag. As I walked up along side of her with two bags of wine, I knew that she wasn’t absorbing the scenario.  As Nick Charles was thinking about the wine, I had to watch Nora as she was still in a daze.  She first saw a coworker and friend for decades, and because she wasn’t supposed to be at the pool party, even the “surprise!!” was taking time to absorb.  Then right behind her, was Ms. Yoga who came in from North Carolina, and then The Wine Raconteur, Jr. and his family followed.  After that, the family members that she expected, along with family members that she didn’t expect to see that day.  It was wonderful to observe.

 The first bottle of wine that I opened evaporated, and the second one of the same almost did as well.  I do think that the wine helped her get over the shock and then she was working the “room” in all of her glory.  She didn’t even think of noshes or nibbling, but she was laughing and just totally letting loose, as she really didn’t expect this.  I then opened up Black Star Farms Arcturos Sur Lie Chardonnay Michigan 2020.  There is no explanation of where the fruit was harvested, and it could actually be from two of their own vineyards which are located in different AVA designations, but it is not stated.  This is a non-oaked style wine, which I presume to mean that it is Stainless Steel.  The wine had a beautiful soft-gold color with lush floral notes.  On the palate tones of citrus, apple and pear in a medium bodied wine with a short finish with a subtle mineral tinge.

Finally, she was back to herself, and relaxing.  Even though she retired, she had been quite intense with other affairs, so this was a great day for her.  The amazing thing and the common theme of all three of her parties was that there was a taco station at each one and I had brought Margaritas, as the host had a frozen drink maker, and on a summer day, for those that needed it, a Frozen Margarita could really hit the spot, especially if you weren’t using the pool.  While I was doing beef, I am sure that my Bride was doing chicken in her tacos, and we were both enjoying the Guacamole, and all of the other stuff.  I didn’t know the menu, so the wine I brought for the main course was over kill, but what the hell. We were enjoying Blason D’Issan Margaux 2015 from Chateau D’Issan, one of the Third Growths from the legendary Classification of the Medoc in 1855.  Blason is a French word for “coat of arms” and I guess that is a nice way for them to list their second label.  Chateau D’Issan is from the commune of Margaux and it is one of the districts that I totally enjoy, encountered the most and probably drank the most or it may be tied with Pauillac.  The Chateaux is rather legendary and has been recorded in history as the wine served in 1152 at the marriage between Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England. The best word in my mind to describe the great wines of Margaux is silky, I know it is a rather ethereal word, but it just seems like the perfect word when describing certain beverages.  The major difference between the first and second label, since all the fruit is from the same estate, is that the fruit harvest for Blason is from the younger vines, and since they started making this wine in 1995, as an alternative wine that is more fruit forward and drinkable much earlier.  One hears of some of the leading Margaux wines still being in their prime from the earliest years of the last century.  This wine is sixty percent Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance is Merlot.  The Blason is aged for fourteen to sixteen months in oak, of which a third is new, the blending and the aging is slightly different compared to the first label.  She fell in love with this wine from the first sip, so she made sure that we had a six-pack before we left that tasting.  The party was a success, and all the while as I drove home, Nora Charles was upset that she had missed some of the obvious blunders and some of the minor ones as well from people concerning this party. 

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We Pulled It Off

Posted on August 1, 2022 by thewineraconteur

My Bride had retired and was honored at her work and by her client, but she thought that there should have been a party among the family.  There was a lot going on that whole last month along with some problems that were not foreseeable, So, she left her party, more on the back burner.  She can be a take-charge individual, and there were plans afoot, that I had to try at my end to keep her from deciding on doing something herself.  Originally, there was going to be a Tiki pool party for all the July birthday celebrants, and then one celebrant, didn’t want to be part of the big group, and then the Louisville family was coming up, for an airshow at Selfridge Airforce Base, so we had a time schedule, so she knew that we couldn’t get to the house for the party until two in the afternoon, otherwise she would have wanted to get to the party at eleven or so in the morning to help with the food preparation and cleaning and what have you. 

The day arrived and my Bride was tired, and since she was only going to a pool party, she didn’t want to do her makeup or get all dressed up, though I told her that she could use a little color.  She wanted me to drive, normally she drives as she is always in a hurry, and I have told her repeatedly that she must relax and start calming down.  As we were driving to the pool party, we got a call asking if we could pick up a bag of ice, and of course I was trying to make every red light on the way, and she was getting upset with my driving and the traffic.  When I got to the street, I saw that there was a lot of cars parked up ahead and I saw a tent up on a front yard, so I parked several car lengths away and we unpacked the car.  She wanted to know why I brought so much wine this time, and I told her, that the last time, she made go light and I was embarrassed, because I had a thirst still.  As we started to get on the sidewalk to walk to our destination, she was a bit flustered as we had to get back on the street, because someone was power washing their motorized tricycle.  She didn’t even look up, as she has a tendency to look down at her feet, because of some prior tripping accidents. 

“Surprise!!!!”  I immediately went and opened up a bottle of wine and got a couple of glasses.  I knew that she would want a drink, and I figured that she would be totally mad at me for not wanting her to get all dressed up, when she thought, she was going to a pool party.  It didn’t even dawn on her at first, that the party was in her honor.  She got teary eyed and couldn’t immediately focus and she saw a couple of faces that didn’t belong at the family get-together.  I gave her a glass of Gazela Vinho Verde DOC Minho 2019 from Portugal and owned by Sogrape Vinhos; as this has become one of her go-to wines at the house.  Sogrape Vinhos began in the wartime environment of World War Two and was started in 1942 by a group of friends and the vision of one man to promote Portugal into an international wine making country.  Fernando van Zeller Guedes led the group and the first global brand that they developed was Mateus Rosé which is now sold in over one-hundred-twenty countries and was a total success.  They began as a negocient buying barrels of wine from small producers in the Douro and bottling in a rented facility.  Through wise investments and careful development, they now own over eight-hundred-thirty hectares of vineyards in all the key Portuguese wine regions. In 1982, they acquired Solar and Quinta de Azevedo in the Vinho Verde region and created their brand of Gazela in 1984. Vinho Verde DOC in the Minho region is famous for their straw-colored light, tangy youthful wine, in fact the wine is so youthful, that is how it got the Vinho Verde name, which means “green wine” and it is also used for the small amount of red (tinto) wine from the district as well. The wine is so “green” that there is a natural petulance or effervescent finish, not enough to be considered a sparkling wine, but distinct from a still wine.  This wine is pure Loureiro for a varietal, which is a light skinned grape famed in Minho, it tends to be blended with Albarino, which is thought to be a relative, but the jury is still out.  There are references to Loureiro going back the late 18th Century in Minho of this grape.  The party was a success and more to come, and she didn’t kill me.  

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Dinner with The Caller

Posted on July 30, 2022 by thewineraconteur

I have to say, that The Caller did an admirable job navigating the pontoon boat on the lake.  The lake that they are on, is a private lake, and I don’t quite understand it totally, but it is like a cooperative and every house on the lake contributes to the health of the lake.  It is a “no wake” lake, so no speedboats, just row boats, canoes, kayaks, small fishing boats and pontoons.  The second bottle of wine, basically lasted for the cruise.  Then we tied up and went back ashore to have dinner.

The Caller’s wife was all excited and made a Creole dish, that she learned how to make, while they were on holidays in New Orleans.  My Bride signed up for a cooking class on one of our trips there, and that may have been an impetus for them.  They had a diploma; my Bride bought an apron from the school that spends most of the time hanging up and displayed on a coat rack in the library. Continuing with the theme of the day, for dinner I opened up a bottle of Korbin Kameron Merlot Estate Grown Moon Mountain District 2015. The Moon Mountain AVA is a very new subregion of the Sonoma Valley, as it was only awarded status in 2013.  The wines were all aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which half was new.  Production of the wine was three-hundred cases and easily ten plus years of cellaring would be wonderful, but I opened this one a bit early and it was strong.  I am and have always been partial to Merlot wines since my teens, and these were some of the best Merlot wines that I have had with a nose of red fruits and spice, with a taste of lush cherries and a charming silky tannin finish. 

The evening was coming towards the end and out came coffee and freshly filled Sicilian Canolis.  But we couldn’t finish without a dessert wine and I opened up a bottle of Korbin Kameron Late Harvest “Sweet Isla” Moon Mountain District 2018.  We were actually having such a great time, that I forgot to take a photo of the wine, but I had a couple of back up stock photos in my files.  The wine is late harvested Sauvignon Blanc with an addition of fifteen percent Botrytised Semillon. One-week cold soak and fermented on the skins for an additional two weeks to pick up extra color and flavors, called phenolics, which was a really long and cool fermentation for intense aromatics. The wine was aged for eight months in neutral oak. A beautiful wine that was just magnificent and reminded me of a French Sauternes with a nose of honeysuckle, a silky texture offering notes of sweet lemons, apricots and marmalade with a nice long count in the finish. After we said good byes, and reminded ourselves that this was the first real function as retirees.  Thankfully, we remembered how we got to their street, because we had to drive like in the old days for about a half-mile, before the GPS kicked in.  

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An Afternoon with The Caller

Posted on July 28, 2022 by thewineraconteur

Way back, before my Bride had retired, in fact, way back, the last time we were with The Caller and his charming wife, we made arrangements to have dinner with them.  The hardest thing to get from them, is a free date, as they are always going hither and yon.  They are making the most of their retirements, as their weekends are always booked, but we worked out a day in the middle of the week, since by the next available date, we would both be retired as well. 

I mean you almost have to pack a lunch to get to their home, as they live out in the country on a private lake, because all the homes around this lake belong to one association, so you have to live there, to bring a boat unto the lake.  Our GPS on our phones got us about a half mile from their home and then it stopped functioning; like we had come to the end of civilization.  We made it and we started off in the dining area off of the kitchen with a cheese and munchies and all the good stuff.  They catered and we brought the libations.  We were going to treat them with a day of Korbin Kameron wines, that we just enjoy.  We started with a bottle of Korbin Kameron Sauvignon Blanc Estate Grown Moon Mountain District 2017. Korbin Kameron wines is the brand for Moonridge Vineyards located on Mount Veeder, a curious location which separates Napa County from Sonoma County and there nineteen acres can be found on both sides of the slope.  Mitchell Ming is the proprietor along with his wife, and the winery is named after his twin children and his other daughter has a vineyard named for her.  Moon Mountain District is a subregion of Sonoma County.  This wine had initial fermentation in Stainless Steel and then was aged for four months in oak, of which twenty percent was new, and three-hundred cases were made.  This wine had the classic nose of lemongrass and a touch of lime, while on the palate the classic taste of grapefruit and perhaps a touch of honeydew melon, with a nice dry finish; a different taste from either the Continent or Down Under.

Afterwards, we moved out to an enclosed terraced room to start with the second bottle of wine and some more munchies, but after opening the wine, we went out and down a small knoll to a wharf and boarded a pontoon boat for a leisurely trip around the lake for about an hour.  We were enjoying a bottle of Korbin Kameron Semillon Estate Grown Moon Mountain District 2018.  Semillon is probably one of the least known, major varietals in the wine industry.  It makes some of the greatest sweet wines and it also makes some of the greatest dry wines.  Its home is Bordeaux, though it is done extremely well in parts of Australia and among a few wineries in California.  A wine that starts in Stainless Steel and finishes in oak.  There was only one barrel made of this wine or twenty-five cases or three-hundred bottles, so I am glad that we got some, and I consider it a rare coup for us. This organically made wine used native yeasts and had a nose that I would call plush floral and citrus, and it brought notes of citrus and ripe pear with a nice lingering long count finish.  Needless to say, it was a great way to relax, while The Caller manned the helm with no fear of encountering an iceberg.

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Two I Am Sure My Bride Will Enjoy

Posted on July 26, 2022 by thewineraconteur

When I spend some time tasting wines at my local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan, I am tasting wines that I think will be of interest to myself, as well as for this blog.  I am also looking for wines that I think will make my Bride happy, and I think they also realize that; and so far, I have only mis-judged her palate once, so I guess that is pretty good odds.  She will remind me that I am more open to different wines, while she is much more open to different cuisines, and that is a given.

The first wine was Jean-Claude Berrouet (Famille Berrouet) “Herri Mina” Blanc Irouleguy 2020.  This winery is the most south-western part of France, in the Basque country and adjacent to the Basque in Spain.  Jean-Claude Berrouet is an Irouleguy native, who left home and worked for three decades as a winemaker at Chateau Petrus.  He went back home and purchased a four-and-a-half-hectare property in 1992, and named the estate “Herri Mina” which in Basque; herri means country and mina means homesick.  The estate is on rather a steep slope on the Pyrenees, and is planted with Gros Manseng, Petit Corbu, Petit Manseng and a small plot of Cabernet Franc.  The region has been planted with vineyards for the last couple of thousand years.  There are about sixty growers within a hundred-hectares of vineyards.  The soil of the region is sandstone and limestone. There is a rosé wine made in the region, but it is basically just for local consumption.  This was a beautiful dry wine, that was probably produced in tanks.  The soft-straw colored wine had notes of tropical fruits, along with pears and green apples.  On the palate, a big full-bodied white wine with tones of mango and pears and tangy and bold acidity, that was very fresh and a good medium count finish of terroir.  I can’t wait for my Bride to try this wine that came home with me.

The other wine that I was excited about Roberts + Rogers Mendocino County Red Wine Blend NV.  Longtime friends Roger Louer and Robert Young decided in 1999 to create a “first-class” Cabernet Sauvignon wine brand with fruit from Howell Mountain from a vineyard jointly developed by the two men.  The first vintage was in 2004, and released in 2007 was for three-hundred cases.  The original and still current winemaker Barry Gnekow described the first vintage as “this wine is so big it will be coming into its own in about thirty years, but is drinkable now.” In 2009, Roger Louer produced the Louer Family Reserve Cabernet from his personal estate and sourced from the areas of his thirty-four-acre estate.  It was released for the first vintage under the Roberts + Rogers Winery label in 2012.  This is a very special proprietary wine that was blended by Roger Louer, Jim Lufty and Remy Lufty of The Fine Wine Source and Vertical Detroit.  The juice is a blend of two different years, hence the NV status and a blend of Petite Sirah, Zinfandel and Merlot.  A very pretty garnet color with notes of red fruit and spices.  On the palate a big fruit forward wine of black and red cherries, good tannins, well balanced with a finish of terroir.  My kind of red, and I am sure that my Bride will agree, and this was a very limited production of two-hundred-cases. 

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July 2022 Wine Club Selections

Posted on July 24, 2022 by thewineraconteur

I finally picked up my wine club selections from The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  I can tell you that even though I have been retired, there is no moss on me, I always seem to be on the go, or doing a project, and now with my Bride retired, we will eventually have to develop a new rhythm.  I always look forward to the monthly selections, as I know that they have been curated by the owner of the shop and he has impeccable selections, as every wine in the shop has been personally selected by him, there are no mass-produced jug wines here.  And as always, there is one Old World selection and one from the New World.

The first wine was Eguren Ugarte Family Winery Crianza Rioja DOCa 2012, originally the winery was known as Heredad Ugarte and they have been making wine since 1870.  They are in the sixth generation of wine farmers in Laguardia, in the heart of Rioja Alavesa.  The winery has one-hundred-thirty hectares of vineyards and two-thousand meters of caves under the winery for aging.  The Rioja region is divided into three sub-regions; Rioja Alta, to the west, known for more traditional style wines; Rioja Alavesa which is at a lower elevation which can offer some richer flavors and sometimes in more modern winemaking techniques and Rioja Baja, which has the lowest elevation, the dries climate of the three and offering deeper color, intense flavors and a higher alcohol count. Many of the fine houses blend wines from the three sub-regions to take advantage of what the region can offer. This wine is a blend of ninety-two percent Tempranillo and eight percent Grenach.  The wine is fermented and aged for six months in American Oak barrels and then aged for another six months in bottles, before being released to the market.  The tasting notes offered is “red cherries, spices and herbs captures the aging with a slightly toasty aroma.  Soft tannins and an excellent aromatic aftertaste.”  I have had other wines in the past from this winery as it is easy for me to remember their name, because if you are a major “Casablanca” fan like me, you know that Peter Lorre’s character was named Ugarte.

Representing the New World is Montoya Vineyards Pinot Noir Monterey County 2019.  Monterey County is huge piece of real estate and the two major varieties that have found critical acclaim for the soils and climate there is Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The region was recorded as being planted for grapes a couple of centuries ago by the Franciscan Friars and the Spanish Mission in Soledad.  There is not much to glean from Montoya Vineyards, but I will presume that they buy fruit that they have contracted for from other vineyards.  The winery has two vineyards (Twin Oaks and Suter) for planting and only Suter is listed in the Arroyo Seco Vineyards site as having Pinot Noir.  According to the notes offered there was extended skin maceration during fermentation and aging in French Oak.  According to the furnished notes with the wine “juicy blackberry and raspberry fruit flavors, with balanced structure and a silky, complex finish.”  Additional notes discuss “raspberry and rhubarb flavors with a long lingering finish.”      

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