The Wine Raconteur

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. 

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.”      

I stopped at my local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan, to pick up a case of my Bride’s latest go-to wines.  I may be a blogger, but she is the darling of the shop and they are always checking on how she is doing.  They were able to ably assist in her desire for more wine, and offered a couple of wines for me to taste as well, and of course to relay the results to my Bride.

We started with a taste of Bodegas Gerardo Mendez Albarino DO Ferreiro Rias Baixas subzone Val do Salnes 2020.  The DO wine zone in the Galicia region of Spain was awarded in 1988, and the predominate grape is Albarino.  There are five distinct Subzones and Val do Salnes is considered one of the most important of the subzones and it is known as being the coolest and wettest of the zones off the coastline and a granite soil.  The DO rules state that the wine must be seventy percent Albarino, but this particular wine is pure Albarino.  Bodegas Gerardo Mendez has vineyards dating back to 1850 and now they are completely modernized. This straw-colored wine offered big floral notes.  On the palate a very crisp wine with tones of floral and mouth-watering acidity with a decent finish of minerals, a wine that a lot of people refer to as green and flinty.

We followed that wine with Domaine Huet L’Echansonne or just Domaine Huet is the leading producer in the Vouvray region of the Loire Valley.  They are known for their assorted Chenin Blanc wines, both for their richness and concentration of flavor, but also for their ability to age for a long time.  The thirty-five-hectare estate has three main south-facing vineyards on a plateau above the river and smaller plots as well.  Domaine Huet Cuvée Constance Vouvray 2016 and it is a tribute to Madame Constance Huet and only uses the late and concentrated grapes from the three main vineyards. This wine is only produced in small quantity and only in years when the high standards for this wine are met.  “Constance” was the result of an accident. In 1989, during the final harvesting of the berries, the grape juice was so exceptional, that the fermentation lasted for months. After consultations, it was decided to blend only these long-fermented juices together and Cuvée Constance was born. Grapes are pressed and fermentation using only natural yeasts with half in demi-muids (600-liter capacity oak barrels typically used in the Rhone Valley) and half in traditional vats for six months and a production of five-hundred cases.  My first thoughts were that this pinkish-gold wine was honey, but then it revealed ripe pears and sweet spices with a delicious and long finish, and yes, I nursed this tasting for all it was worth.

We were on our last business trip and we were going to the northern part of the lower peninsula, and we were going a day early to have some “us” time as well, so that we could be refreshed for the board meeting.  We also took a slight right turn and went back to Mackinaw City, where my Bride saw a piece of lawn art and she had been thinking about it since she saw it, on our last trip.  I was not thinking of lawn art, but I always like to ask and research an area to find someplace, hopefully new to us and worth our effort.  We went to the Walloon Lake Inn for dinner on our first night up and it was an excellent excursion.  The building itself was built in 1891as the Fern Cottage an inn on the lake for travelers.  It was renamed the Walloon Lake Inn in 1981 and totally renovated in 1981. 

We were seated at a table overlooking the Walloon Lake and you really couldn’t have asked for a better table.  I even have to mention that one of the walls in the Men’s Room kind of made me homesick for my cellar; I later found out that the Lady’s Room did not have such décor.  We started off with two appetizers.  My Bride had the Ahi Tuna Tartar with Organic Mixed Baby Greens, Mango, Avocado, Pickled Red Onion, Peanuts, Cracker Ring, Honey Lime Vinaigrette and Blood Orange Aioli.  I had the Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms, Roasted Garlic and Sherry Cream.  We started off with a bottle of Marc Bredif Vouvray Classic 2020 one of the many labels that are part of Domaine de Ladoucette. The original estate dates back to 1787, when the Comte Lafond bought the estate from the illegitimate daughter of Louis XV and, to this day, the estate is owned by his descendants.  Marc Bredif created sparkling Vouvray in the early Twentieth Century.  The cellar goes back to the Tenth Century with vintages back to 1874.  Baron de Ladoucette purchased Marc Bredif in 1980.  The wines are now made at the Chateau du Nozet of Ladoucette.  The “Classic” means the traditional interpretation of Chenin Blanc Vouvray.  The soils are mostly chalk clay, but some are flint clay, and most of the vines are twenty-five to thirty years of age.  The grapes are hand-picked, and undergo pneumatic pressing, and only the free running juice is used for this wine and the juice is left to clarify for almost two days.  Two months of temperature-controlled fermentation, followed by nine months on the lees in Stainless Steel vats.  The pale-yellow wine offers notes of peach and pear, along with citrus.  On the palate, the tones of pineapple and citrus, some lemon zest in a big full wine with a nice medium count finish of exotic fruits and terroir.

My Bride had the Seafood Risotto which was a Vegetable Risotto with Scallops, Shrimp in an Herb-Butter Wine Sauce.  I enjoyed a Citrus and Chile Braised Short Ribs with Whipped Potatoes, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Baby Carrots in a reduction sauce of including Cilantro-Parsley Chimichurri.  Afterwards, we shared a Lemon Tart with Toasted Merengue and Raspberry Coulis.  While my Bride continued with the Marc Bredif, I went with the Gibb Dusty Red Napa Valley 2019. This is a third generation of a wine growing family that started in the 1950’s along with walnuts and dates.  In 2000 they began experimenting with winemaking and in 2013 they introduced Gibbs, with some vines that go back sixty years. The wine is a blend of forty-eight percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twenty-two percent Merlot, thirteen percent Malbec, ten percent Petit Verdot and seven percent Cabernet Franc.  Each varietal was individually fermented and then blended prior to bottling.  The wine was aged for twenty-two months in French Oak and only eight-hundred-twenty-four-cases were produced.  This was a very pretty deep Bordeaux style wine with notes of cherries and spices.  On the palate there was a comingling of black and red cherries, very velvety with a nice finish of spices.  A real pretty wine with food, that wasn’t the typical California, in your face blend, but more Continental and plusher.