Lorenzo Gatteschi and a Wine Tasting

Posted on May 31, 2022 by thewineraconteur

By now, if you have read any of my articles, you realize that I am a creature of habit and I tend to visit my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  I am an old war-horse from the retail industry and I can appreciate an old pair of well-formed slippers as well as a pair of brand-new brogues, in fact sometimes the slippers are preferred.  I have been to many wine shops in the past fifty years; and some have been so snooty that I have not wanted to buy a bottle of wine, all I wanted to do was to get out of the building, establishments like that are what give the wine industry a bad name.  Most of the shops are just retail stores, just like going into a clothing store and the clerks pretend that they are knowledgeable, but they are useless, they may as well be selling ten-penny nails at the local hardware store.  Let us say that I do put retail under a fine microscope, because it was what I did, until I realized that being a gentleman is a lost cause.  That is why I appreciate The Fine Wine Source, they don’t attempt to let you know how smart they are, but when you ask a question, they can answer it, that is important, especially since you can not find any of the “popular” wine brands there, like you find at the drug store, grocery store or gas station.

All of the above rambling of mine leads me to a wine tasting with Lorenzo Gatteschi, winemaker of Podere Ciona in Gaiole, Tuscany was there hosting a tasting of his family’s wines. I was reading the history of the winery on their website “Franca and Franco Gatteschi were looking for a place in the countryside to retire to, after many years of working in Italy and abroad, when they came across a small, beautiful, albeit run down property: 100 acres of land, mostly wooded with 10 acres set aside for cultivation, of which 2.5 acres already had vineyards; a house from the 18th Century, abandoned for more than 40 years; and, above all, a view without equal on the Chianti hills, with Siena in the distance.”  It really sounds idyllic and makes one ponder how this property was neglected and ignored for years.  “They purchased the estate at the beginning of 1990 and they immediately started the reconstruction work on the main house (it took nearly three years). They also set up a small but well- equipped wine cellar for making wine. In 1996 they permanently moved to live on the estate and the following year, the great 1997 vintage, saw the birth of the first “official” wine of Podere Ciona: A Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva.”

Not only am I treated as an old friend by The Fine Source, but Lorenzo Gatteschi greets me and every other person there as an old friend, he even remembers little bits of information from past conversations.  Lorenzo is a fine gentleman of the “Old School” and was very gracious, in fact each time that I have met him, I get the same feelings.  After dealing with the public for fifty years, I think I have developed a keen appreciation for the qualities of a gentleman.  We started off with Podere Ciona Rosé Toscana IGT 2019 made entirely of Sangiovese in the saignée method.  The vines are from six to nineteen years of age and planted on quartz, clay schist and marl.  The fruit is harvested manually in small baskets and then de-stemming, berry by berry for a slight crush in Stainless Steel vats for ten to twelve hours of skin contact and no Malolactic Fermentation. The wine is then aged for about six months in Stainless Steel and then further fined and bottle aged for six months before distribution. There was about one-hundred-eighty cases produced of this wine.  A pretty salmon-pink color with notes of fruit and spices, just a well-balanced light and easy drinking wine with a nice medium count finish offering terroir.

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Another Gathering of Shamrocks

Posted on May 29, 2022 by thewineraconteur

I was attending a reunion of the Shamrocks, the name of my Bride’s high school’s nickname.  They were trying to get a group together, and since my Bride is not on social media, I had to request a membership to a closed group, identifying myself as the husband, using my Bride’s maiden name.  I was accepted and I had to relay all the information to my Bride about potential dates and locations.  It all worked out, in the end, and I bit the bullet and tried a glass of Yellow Tail Pinot Grigio Australia 2021, while my Bride was being a social butterfly and reintroducing herself to some of the people that showed up, as I am sure that no one still looks like a teenager.  While I was trying the wine.  I also secured a table for five of us to have dinner.  My Bride pulled herself a way for a bit, to try the wine, as the restaurant only carried wines by the magnum, or double bottle, and the price of a magnum for any of their wines was the price I have paid for a glass of wine in some locations.  I tried the Pinot Grigio, for my Bride and for the record, the wine was a soft yellow, with floral notes, on the palate a bit of fruit (citrus?) and a very short finish of almost rubbing alcohol. It could be, just because the magnum only had perhaps one more glass left, and who knows how long it was between pours; it also didn’t help that the wine glasses were the old-fashioned restaurant utilitarian glass where the wine is filled to the brim.

Eventually all five were seated at the table, as the waitress was coming around to take the orders, and this was a family-owned restaurant that has over fifty years of continuous business, which is impressive.  My Bride and I were going to split an Antipasto Salad and the waitress assured us that the Small would be adequate for us, and she was right, as we let others have some of the salad as well.  The waitress did ask me what type of dressing, and I thought for an Antipasto, that Italian would be the best.  Then we also shared an order of Veal Scallopini, and my Bride had our bowl of Minestrone Soup and we also shared a side order of Mostaccioli with a Meat Sauce.  There was definitely enough food for the two of us, and the other people at the table agreed.  I was surprised that one of the others at the table has to have a Gluten-free diet and at this Italian restaurant they had Corned Beef and Cabbage and Potatoes and she was totally happy.  To finish it off, we all had a slice of the specially decorated sheet cake for the event. 

There was a group of us, and since the price was so safe for a magnum, I made a mental decision between a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Merlot, and of course with my predilection, we ended up with a bottle of Yellow Tail Merlot Australia 2021.  Yellow Tail is a major single-variety wines, as well as sparkling and rosé wines with value pricing. It is now one of the largest selling wines by volume in the world. The Casella family began history in wines back in Italy in the 1820’s.  They moved to Australia in 1957 and began making wines in the 1960’s. The Yellow Tail brand, which depicts a wallaby was formed in 2000, from the juice that they used to produce and sell to other wineries and the bulk of the wines carry the appellation of South Eastern Australia, but the winery and facilities are located in Yenda, New South Wales. By 2003, Yellow Tail was the number one imported wine to the United States of America.  The wine had a nice deep garnet color with mild notes of dark fruit.  On the palate a small taste of red fruit, mellow and a very short finish.  This wine was not the worse red wine that I have tasted, and if it has the ability to eventually get people to try other wines, then I applaud the results.  The odds are that I won’t be attending my high school reunion, even with the monumental number, but I am sure that I will live.   

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Ladder 4 Wine Bar

Posted on May 27, 2022 by thewineraconteur

We went to a wine bar in a rehabbed firehouse called Ladder 4 Wine Bar. When I was a kid, even before kindergarten, I can remember my mother taking me to see my dad at work.  He worked for Police Communications, but he was not with the Police Department, he was actually with the Public Lighting Commission, we all know that city administrations can be screwy.  He repaired traffic signals, teletypes, the blue boxes on poles that police could call in for updates in their precinct and the red boxes that sent the fire departments off and running to put out a fire.  I remember all of this, because his machine shop and warehouse, was on the grounds of Detroit Fire Academy, where future firefighters learned how to put out fires.  I mean as a kid, how could you not get excited about visiting a working firehouse with all of the equipment, the neat old- fashioned helmets, a chance to slide down the pole and once they even opened up the big window on the second floor and had me jump into the trampoline-like net that you used to see in the cartoons.  As a kid, you don’t really have any fears, especially when you are surrounded by firemen and your father to go ahead and do it, and have fun.  I mentioned all of this, because these are the memories that filled my head, as we pulled up to park in front of this unique wine bar, not far from the academy, and even though the buildings official signage was removed, it was a firehouse, just like in my old neighborhood, which wasn’t even that far away.

As we walked in, the first thing that we were asked, was if we could show our vaccination papers, and we weren’t even going to fly, thankfully my Bride has all of that stuff filed on her phone.  Ladder 4 firehouse was built in 1910 and it was only in 1860 that Detroit started having paid and professional firefighters, instead of volunteer bucket brigades.  The firehouse was designed by famed local architects of both residential and commercial buildings.  The new firehouse was the home of both Engine 10 and Ladder 4, which were located elsewhere, but grouped together in 1910.  Ladder 4 was also the home of the Rockwood, which is a solid brass tip on the end of the firehose and they were the last station to still use it.  Ladder 4 was closed in 2000 and Engine 10 was closed in 2012.  The Cadariu brothers in 2015 bought the building and restoration work began in 2019 with the concept of making it a wine bar, potential restaurant and a venue for live music, all on the grounds.  We had a self-guided tour and admired the wine bar and the wine shop.  We also saw other people enjoying a bottle of wine up on the side rooftops, that are being renovated for seating purposes for the future music productions.

As we had dinner reservations for later on, we only stopped by for a drink and to check it out, as I had heard about it from others, and of course, I am never Mr. First Nighter.  They had a limited number of choices of open wines to try, so I thought I would get us something interesting and more esoteric, we enjoyed Domaine Pecheur Cotes du Jura Poulsard 2020.  Domaine Pecheur began in 1976 with one hectare and today they are just shy of nine hectares of vineyards.  Cotes du Jura received its appellation in 1937 and is basically a terroir of limestone and marlstone and encompasses over one-hundred communes.  The varietal Poulsard is a mainstay for the region, it has thin skin and a pale color and is used to make white, rosé, red and sparkling wines and is known for having long fermentation periods to extract color and flavor, as some reds are presumed to be rosé at first glance.  The vines are about twenty-five years of age and the fruit is hand-harvested and destemmed.  The juice is considered delicate and historically does not do well in small barrels, so part of this wine was done in a six-hundred-liter demi-muid and the balance in Stainless Steel and is aged for a year.  This very soft red colored-wine offers notes of red fruit and pepper, and on the palate offers tones of cherry and strawberry and pepper, a round and pleasant tasting wine with a nice finish of spice and terroir.  The Ladder 4 will be a great place to go with some friends and enjoy a bottle of wine or two in a distinct setting.

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“Mixtape” and “Green”

Posted on May 25, 2022 by thewineraconteur

We were coming down to the wire for the last two wines to taste at The Royce and curated by the winemaker and owner Mike Laing of both Mawby Sparkling and bigLITTLE Wines.  During the entire time, he was also trying to explain the concept of making sparkling wines and why Michigan was perfect for it.  He was also explaining the different ways to make sparkling wine.  While he was discussing the concept of riddling the bottles, I automatically envisioned in my mind’s eye the boards with holes in it, that are slowly ratcheted and tilted further and further down, until the bottles are upside down to facilitate the disgorgement and the addition of the added liquid for the final fermentation that makes Methode Champenoise.  I said that I had heard that it was one of the highest paying jobs in the Champagne region of France, because of the danger of exploding and breaking bottles.  Mike Laing explained that it is all done at the winery by automation with almost no breakage encountered at all.  I found that very interesting, but I may have been the only one.

The penultimate wine for the tasting was bigLITTLE Wines “Mixtape” Leelanau Peninsula 2020.  One of ways in the old days to make a collection of music that one enjoyed to hear over and over, was to record the music on tape, way back before computers made everything so easy and this was named to honor how this wine was made.  This wine is a field blend of grapes that are grown and picked together at their Sylt Road Vineyard.  The wine is a blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris.  The wine is fermented slow and cold and bottled with residual grape sugars for an off-dry white wine and there were four-hundred cases made of this wine. The pretty soft straw-colored wine offered notes of fresh fruit and on the palate tones of pink grapefruit, with a mix of sweet and tart, and bright acidity; a charming still wine with a touch of sweetness, and refreshing.

The last wine of the tasting was Mawby Sparkling Semi-Dry “Green” American NV. This is the only wine from Mawby that we had that is produced by the Charmant Method or the Tank Method, a more economical way of producing bulk wine that is used around the world.  This wine is made from seventy percent Cayuga and thirty percent Riesling and the fruit is sourced from Michigan, California and Washington State. The grapes for this cuvee are gently pressed, as they only use the juice from the first pressing for this wine and after initial fermentation the secondary fermentation is done in the tank.  The soft, pale gold colored wine offered notes of citrus and florals and on the palate tones of apricots, lemons and tropical fruit in a slightly sweet wine with high acidity and a crisp finish.  I guess “Green” as in a fresh and young wine and very easy to drink, as we were leaving The Royce, I ran into a fellow Instagram blogger and his wife, who I recognized and I introduced myself, by my nom-de-plume which he recognized, as well as my Bride.    

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“Blanc Brut” and “Underdog”

Posted on May 23, 2022 by thewineraconteur

Mike Laing of Mawby Sparkling and bigLITTLE Wines was holding court and he had everyone in the loft section enraptured with his discussions of winemaking, and even discussing contract purchases of grapes, and how the Vineyard Manager is going to different estates, checking on the quality and health of those vines as well.  It was a pleasure hearing him talk about the different AVAs in Michigan and he even discussed Larry Mawby who was one of the pioneers in the Leelanau Peninsula, but he also mentioned Bernie Rink of Boskydel Vineyard (Bosky means “befuddled with drink, inebriated”) the proprietor of the first bond winery in the region back in 1976.  Some referred to him as a curmudgeon and some as the “Wine Nazi” as he didn’t want tour busses of inebriated, partying “wine tasters” invading his serene and rustic winery.  

The wine tasting at The Royce was a bit more sedate compared to the always fun Mawby Sparkling with the bell and gong ringing.  The third wine that was being poured was Mawby Sparkling Blanc Brut Leelanau Peninsula NV and made in the traditional Methode Champenoise. The wine is a blend of eighty percent Chardonnay and twenty percent Riesling with a minimum of sixteen months Tirage ageing.  It was stressed that the classic sparkling wines from Mawby Sparkling use hand-harvested and whole-cluster first gentle pressing for the juice, the later pressings which contain more phenols, tannins and acids are reserved for other, sweeter sparkling wines.  The initial fermentation is done in Stainless Steel and then the young wine is transferred to bottles for the Tirage ageing.  This is considered their most delicate and refined wine.  This soft pale golden colored wine offered notes of lemons, brioche and yeast.  On the palate the delicate white fruits and lemon zest along with the traditional brioche added to the refreshing and clean finish.  It was my favorite of the bubbles.

Then along side the third wine the fourth wine was bigLITTLE “Underdog” Gamay Leelanau Peninsula 2020.  Since the wine names are from childhood memories, I thought of a cartoon series called Underdog, but I was told it was a certain way of utilizing a swing set for maximum velocity at a park.  This Gamay Noir fruit is harvested from their Stoney Point Vineyard.   The fruit is handpicked and crushed, and the wine is fermented on skins, with ten percent undergoing Carbonic Fermentation.  At the end of fermentation, the wine is pressed again and racked to barrel and then undergoes full Malolactic fermentation.  The wine is aged for eight months in French Oak, of which twenty-five percent is new and it is bottled unfiltered.  There were two-hundred-eighteen cases produced.  The wine is a lighter garnet color with notes of red fruit and black pepper.  It is a medium bodied with tones of berries, vanilla and a touch of pepper with a medium count finish with lingering fruit.   

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“Open Road” and “Grace”

Posted on May 21, 2022 by thewineraconteur

There I was walking up the steps at The Royce going up to the mezzanine to have a tasting with Mike Laing of Mawby Sparkling and bigLITTLE Wines.  After they made sure that we were registered and paid, we were handed our first glass of wine and of course, I had to slow up the proceedings as I had to take a photo of the bottle; and then we went off to stake our seats.  I selected two seats with a small table at the rail, so that I could watch what happens up in the loft, and downstairs to see what was going on at the wine bar.

The first wine that we were given was bigLITTLE Wines Rosé “Open Road” Leelanau Peninsula 2020.  All of the bigLITTLE Wines have names evoking nostalgia to the two Laing boys and this wine evoked family road trips from their home, and I have to say that road trips were very prominent and still are to Michiganders and the home of the original Big Three automotive corporations.  The wine is a blend of fifty percent Pinot Gris, twenty-five percent Marechal Foch and twenty-five percent Riesling.  The fruit was hand-picked, crushed and gently pressed together.  The wine was fermented in Stainless Steel and three-hundred cases were produced.  This dry rosé wine had notes of strawberry and hard candy, while on the palate fresh strawberries, juicy with a crisp acidity that made you want to have another taste.  A good first wine or to enjoy on a nice summer day with a casual dinner.

Even before we started to enjoy the first wine, they came around and poured the second wine for tasting and it was Mawby Sparkling “Grace” Brut Rosé, Leelanau Peninsula NV.  The wine is a blend of seventy-nine percent Pinot Noir, nineteen percent Chardonnay and two percent Regent.  The fruit was hand-harvested and had whole-cluster gentle pressing and only the juice from this first pressing was saved for this cuvee (the harder pressed juice which contains more phenols, tannins and acid are reserved for other sweeter sparkling wines).  After Stainless Steel fermentation, the young wines are blended with older, reserve wines before bottle fermentation in the Methode Champenoise and tirage ageing of fourteen months culminating with a dosage of Brut wine.  This pretty pale rose wine had notes of red fruits and on the palate, there were tones of black cherries and red berries mixed with that charming yeasty flavor, with a crisp and dry finish.  A very easy drinking wine that would add festive notes for any dinner’s first wine, or by itself, just with friends.

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A Tasting With Mike Laing of Mawby and bigLITTLE

Posted on May 19, 2022 by thewineraconteur

We were going up to the loft at The Royce and it we were going to do a wine tasting with Mike Laing who I had thought was the winemaker at Mawby Wine, as I knew that he and his brother were making wines in a side building off of the parking lot at Mawby with their own label bigLITTLE.  I was kind of right and kind of wrong, as you will note later.  I went back in the archives and the first of multiple articles about Mawby was back in 23 October 2012 “October Birthdays and a Dinner” and I had only begun writing my blog in May 2012, but I had been drinking wine for decades before then.  I was even surprised that they were making the house bubbly for The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.  Years back, there was a group of us bloggers that would get a theme and we would all write about that theme, and it would take us out of our comfort zone, and the theme was “Once Upon a Time’ and I used the story of Lawrence Mawby and his almost fairy tale story of really being the impetus for the Leelanau Peninsula, and yes, there were one or two before him, but not with his drive and moxie.

In 1973, Larry Mawby planted a parcel of land in Leelanau County, and in 1984 he produces his first sparkling wine and decides that the region and climate is best suited for making this type of wine.  L. Mawby Vineyards by the mid 1990’s is only making sparkling wine either by Methode Champenoise and the M. Lawrence label is for the Charmant Method.  In 2004, he started marketing a fruity and fun line under the M. Lawrence label with the names like Sex, Detroit and Us. The Laing Family partners with Larry Mawby in 2009.  In 2019 L. Mawby and M. Lawrence are rebranded as MAWBY Sparkling Wines.  Michael and Peter Laing, who have a combined twenty years of experience are now currently in charge of the company, with able support from Stu and Sharon Laing and Larry Mawby. 

I first wrote about bigLITTLE wines on 27 December 2013 and their Tire Swing Brut NV and there were only one-hundred-eighty-six cases made of it.  Stu and Sharon Laing planted two acres of Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir vines on an old cherry orchard in the Leelanau Peninsula in 2003 and now there was two-thousand vines.  Eventually the magnetism and charm of the wine industry won over the two sons and Michael and Peter Laing were on-board by 2010, living and working the dream.  As they say “Big and Little brother, making Big wines from this Little Peninsula.” By 2012, they were producing other wines like Treehouse White Pinot Noir, Mixtape blended white and C-3 Pinot Sparkling Brut, as well as Dune Climb and Open Road.  The names of their wines are culled from childhood memories of fun endeavors.  They have also continued to buy acreage to expand their vineyards as well as having contract crops as well.

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The Royce and a Muscadet

Posted on May 17, 2022 by thewineraconteur

A friend told me about a wine tasting for Mawby and Big Little Wines at wine bar called The Royce, that I have heard about, but we had not been there.  Of course, the friend that told me about the tasting, didn’t make it, but we went down to check it out.  Many years ago, when I was going to high school in Downtown Detroit, I walked by the building and never thought about it, at all.  I cannot place what type of business was there, but it is rather unique in that it has a mezzanine within the confines of the building, which in today’s parlance would be called a loft.  It is owned by a woman that has a restaurant with an adjoining butcher shop, on the east side of Detroit, in the West Village, and she has recently opened a fish-centric restaurant in the Corktown section of Detroit.

The Royce, besides being a wine bar, also is a wine shop and they offer to rent out the “loft” for parties.  There were tables outside to drink wine on the sidewalk, as well as some tables inside, and my Bride and I just bellied up to the bar, as they used to say.  They had fourteen bottles of wine that they were selling by the glass and they were posted on a blackboard, a tried-and-true method since I can remember at some restaurants, when the menu can be adjusted very quickly with an eraser.  There was also another blackboard that had a list of assorted cheeses, cold cuts, munchies and preserved fish.  Since, we arrived early, we had a plate of Portuguese Sardines (served in an open tin) with crackers and lemon slices, and an order of Spanish Manchego cheese.  The sardines were excellent and my Bride photographed the label, so that she will attempt to find them in her travels. 

Of course, we had some wine to prepare us for the wine tasting that we came for.  We enjoyed Eric Chevalier Domaine de l’Aujardiere “Les Clos de la Butte” Muscadet Cotes de Grand Lieu Sur Lie AOC 2020.  Eric Chevalier was a negocient in the Pays Nantais region of the Loire Valley for ten years, in 2005 he moved back to be with his family and the following year took over the family domaine. In 2020, the domaine which is thirty hectares, and now under the fourth generation, was certified organic.  All Muscadet wines are made from Melon de Bourgogne or sometimes just referred to as Melon.   The land at one time was underwater and hence the soil is basically quartz and limestone.  The vineyard for this wine is about six hectares and the average age of the vines are fifty years.  The grapes are gently crushed and the juice is transferred to Stainless Steel tanks.  Natural fermentation is by indigenous yeasts, and this wine aged for about ten months on the lees and stirred regularly.  The grapes are known for having high acidity and that is the reason for the extended aging on the lees for a richer and creamier texture to the palate.  This soft golden color wine offered notes of apples and citrus, while on the palate soft fruit, a touch of pepper, and a salinity factor that was refreshing with a nice finish of chalky terroir.  Just as we were paying the bill, it was announced that the tasting up in the loft was now open and ready to begin.      

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May 2022 Club Selections

Posted on May 15, 2022 by thewineraconteur

It always feels to me that I am over due for a visit to my local wineshop, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan, even if I am tripping over some cases of wine at the house.  Today was just a short and sweet visit with no wine tasting as they were busy with real customers.  Though while I was there, I also booked a dinner reservation at their restaurant Vertical for later in the month, since we are going to an exhibit downtown.  I also like to make reservations with a person and not a computer site as I feel that it is so impersonal, and dining is such a personal art. Yes, I am from another century, but it is fine with me.  I also enjoy the wine club as I get a couple of wines that for any number of reasons I may overlook, just wondering around.

The wine club selection representing the European side of the Atlantic Ocean, but going further south to the Republic of South Africa and Mulderbosch Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé Stellenbosch 2019.  Larry Jacobs founded Mulderbosch Vineyards in 1989 and the farm property was referred to locally as “vuilplasie,” which is Afrikaner for “dirty little farm.”  He soon partnered with Mike Dobrovic and they cleared and planted the first vineyards of twenty-five hectares.  They soon built a small winery and cellar and the first wines produced were a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chardonnay.  Mulderbosch Vineyards was acquired by the California-based Terroir Capital in 2011.  In 1999, they created the Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé, the very first in South Africa.  The vineyard for this wine is specifically farmed to produce a Rosé, with early picking and then to vinify the wine as if they were making an aromatic white wine. By picking early the grapes have a naturally high level of acidity, once pressed the wine is handled the same as if they were making a Sauvignon Blanc with a short period in Stainless Steel and early bottling to preserve the wine’s freshness.  This blush pink wine with a touch of copper shimmer offers notes of fresh strawberries and floral notes and spices of a Cabernet Sauvignon.  On the palate the bright acidity and vibrancy offer tones of black cherry, pomegranate and watermelon with a medium length finish offering aromatics and terroir, along with the desire to have another taste.

Airfield Estates Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley 2019 represents the New World.  Airfield Estates goes back to 1907 when H. Lloyd Miller was pioneering this area as he was into the buying and selling of farm properties, and this area did not have access to irrigation water.  He was instrumental in getting water from the Roza Canal Project and he also leased part of the property to the Olympia Air Transport Corporation, which constructed a flight school for hundreds of Army Air Corps pilots needed for World War II.  Eventually they got their property back and it was the basis for Airfield Ranch and a portion became Airfield Estates originally selling grapes to other wineries, until 2005 when they began producing their own wines.  This is an Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon.  The grapes go through a cold soak for twenty-four hours and inoculated with several different strains of yeast. Fermentation on the skins was for fourteen days and then the skins were gently pressed and then all the juices were sent to a variety of French Oak barrels still with the lees for Malolactic fermentation for four months and then aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which forty percent was new.  The deep red wine offers notes of black fruits and sandalwood, while on the palate slightly sweet notes of blackberry and black cherry with tones of coffee grounds with a medium bodied wine with a medium finish of fruit and toasted oak.  

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Mother’s Day 2022

Posted on May 13, 2022 by thewineraconteur

It is a holiday that is popular and celebrated around the world.  It is also a day that seems to get more chaotic each year, as we try to make plans.  For restaurants, it is a powerhouse of a holiday, as a lot of people think that Mom should not have to cook on her day.  I have thought about making reservations, but my Bride wants to make sure that everyone gets together for Mother’s Day.  It is getting harder to coordinate the families to agree on a time and to get them to actually get there, though this year, the highway construction teams went out of their way to make it difficult to get from Point A to Point B with all of the detours not with actual construction, that even the handy-dandy GPS systems were not aware of.  So, even with my Bride trying her best to get everything done at a certain time, everyone basically showed up later.

She always enjoys making fruit and vegetable platters for all the noshers to get started on, and sometimes I think that it is the most labor-intensive part of the meal.   We may not have a charcuterie plate, but we always have cheese.  One of her cheeses of choice that she like to prepare is warmed Brie with a savory onion jam topping and she had some wonderful brown crusty bread to go with it.  Along with our trusty “go-to” white wines, since my Bride is also a mother, I had to make sure that we had a Pinot Grigio for her to enjoy.  I opened a bottle of Pratello Pinot Grigio Garda DOC 2020 from Azienda Agricola Pratello di Bertola.  Pratello was founded in 1867 on the morainic hills off of Lake Garda.  The estate is now one-hundred-twenty-hectares, of which eighty are vineyards and the balance is for olive groves and borders two districts; Valtanesi and Lugana. Lake Garda is Italy’s largest lake and it splits up two DOC areas; Lombardy and Veneto.  In 2017, Garda DOC combined with Valtanesi and Riviera del Gard Bresciano to become the Riviera del Garda Classico DOC.  The fruit is hand harvested with a soft pressing in Nitrogen saturation.  The initial fermentation is for about fifteen days, and then aging in Stainless Steel for five months, with an additional bottle aging for three months.  The wine was a pretty golden color with notes of pear and golden apples, and on the palate, great citrus flavor and acidity and a finish of fruit. 

For the main dishes my Bride went with some tried and true and one new dish.  She made a classic Roast Beef with roasted vegetables and gravy with mashed potatoes.  She made her Bourbon Salmon, Armenian Pilaf, Candied Carrots and Fennel and Onions.  This time she also tried Braising Center Cut Pork Chops in a Port-Fig Sauce.  She also made her own Cream Puffs to go with Hot Fudge and Ice Cream.  I brought up from the cellar a bottle of Langtry Estate & Vineyards Guenoc Victorian Claret North Coast 2007.  Lillie Langtry the famous British actress bought the estate in the Guenoc Valley in 1888 and introduced vineyards in the area.  The property is over twenty-three-thousand acres going from Lake County to northern Napa Valley.  The winery was built in 1981 and looks like another barn on the property.  It is now owned by Foley Family Wines.  A proprietary red wine and is a blend of Petite Sirah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Malbec.  The nice dark claret wine offered notes of black fruit, cloves, tea and vanilla.  On the palate were tones of black cherry, raspberry and blueberry with soft tannins and a medium finish of spices. Father’s Day will be a brunch.             

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