Brunch at the Townhouse

Posted on April 7, 2022 by thewineraconteur

We were wandering around in Birmingham, Michigan a very nice suburb in the Detroit area that has a nice downtown area for shopping, dining and hotels.  Actually, the trip was for me, instead of my Bride, as I did have to get a couple of things taken care of.  We did some walking and my Bride was getting hungry and we called a restaurant and they were not taking any reservations for lunch, so we walked over there and there was a minimum of a half hour wait, so we left our phone number and started to walk around.  My Bride decided to try another restaurant and they had one booth left, and no tables, so we took it, and my Bride called the first restaurant to cancel our list on their queue.  We ended up eating at the Townhouse and we had never eaten there for all of our trips to Birmingham.  They also opened up a second restaurant in Downtown Detroit with a retractable roof for dining under the stars; and we have never eaten there either. 

My Bride had her heart set on brunch, and as she went through the menu, she stopped at the House Omelet with Broccolini, Cotswold Double Gloucester and Chives and accompanied by the House Salad.   She also stopped at Acinum Prosecco Extra Dry NV, as she is very predictable.  This is a joint collaboration between Edoardo Montresor from Cantine Giacomo Montresor and Vias Imports.  This wine carries the Denominazione di Origine Protetta (DOP) which is the Italian version of the EU product protection, the same as the AOP in France.  Prosecco is from the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine regions and there are now four sub-classifications and the name still protects the grape, which is Prosecco in the region, otherwise it is Glera in the rest of Italy.  Prosecco can be produced by the Charmat method or by the Methode Traditionelle and this wine was made by the Charmat method or the bulk or tank version.  The wine had a nice yellow color with a greenish tinge and medium size bubbles with notes of citrus fruits.  On the palate there was green apples and pink grapefruit, with a medium count finish and it got better after about ten minutes.

I went with the Townhouse burger that was highly touted by our waitress, it was dry-aged beef and hand formed, with Bourbon Glazed Onions, and White Cheddar on a Brioche Bun and served with their Truffle Fries along with Gremolata and a Rosemary Garlic Aioli.  For not being a steakhouse, it was a very good burger, and I actually ate the fries.  I joined my Bride and had some bubbles as well.  I had Bouvet-Ladubay Excellence Brut Rosé NV from the Loire.  The estate was founded by Etienne Bouvet in 1851, making sparkling wine in the valley.  The fruit is from the Saumur area, which is a mix of clay and limestone.  The wine is made from Cabernet Franc and the color is achieved from a rapid maceration, before the initial fermentation in Stainless Steel.  The second fermentation is done in the bottle and the bottles are automatically riddled by gyro-pallets to speed up the Methode Champenoise.  The wine had a pretty salmon-pink shade with tiny bubbles with notes of cherries and figs.  On the palate a creamy mousse of red fruit, biscuits and a nice terroir driven finish.  My Bride said that I picked the better wine again.     

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Two Potential for the Cellar

Posted on April 5, 2022 by thewineraconteur

When I stop at my local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan, I am always hoping to find our next go-to wine.  I am also looking at wines for cellar potential, but my Bride keeps suggesting that concept may be pushing it, at our age.  She says that we have plenty that are cellaring quite nicely, and we should consider more table ready wines.  Does she know something that I don’t?  Actually, she has a point, and we must start thinking about drinking down the collection, but it is always fun to look and to try. 

Jardin en Fleurs Touraine Sauvignon Blanc 2020 was a wine that I was really interested in trying, as this has become one of my Bride’s favorite grapes and I am always interested in a fine wine from the Loire Valley.  Touraine AOC sits in the very heart of the Loire Valley wine region; the main city is Tours which is halfway between Sancerre and Nantes (Muscadet).  The appellation allows for all three types of wines in both still and sparkling.  Without venturing out too far, since, I can find no information, I will venture to say that this wine was aged for a short period in Stainless Steel.  The wine had a pale-yellow color with soft notes of citrus.  On the palate it was green and flinty with decent acidity.  This will not replace my Bride’s go-to Sauvignon Blanc, but I have to check, all in the name of research.

Azienda Agricola Le Ragnaie “Troncone” Rosso Toscana IGT 2018 and the winery is based in Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy.  The estate has twenty-eighty hectares and comprises four distinct parcels solely devoted to the cultivation of Sangiovese.  They have probably the highest altitudes in Montalcino.  The winery uses cement vats for maceration and fermentation which can last up to forty days.  They then use Slovenian and Allier Oak barrels for aging.  The Troncone wine showcases the youngest vines, and is a way to observe the progress of the vines.  It is not stated, but I will venture to say that the wine is probably aged for about eight months and then stored in bottles for another couple of months.  Toscana Rosso IGT is the most popular designations for the region, and the winemakers can enjoy and try different techniques using it.  The wine had a nice garnet color with notes of red fruit.  On the palate the flavor of red cherries and raspberries with softer tannins and a medium finish of terroir.  A softer Sangiovese wine that would work very well with some lighter pasta dishes.

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Two Different Types of Bubbles

Posted on April 3, 2022 by thewineraconteur

I do enjoy my trips to my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source, because I never know, what I may encounter.   I mean there are some days, when they text me, about a special tasting and other times, I just walk in, sometimes to chat, but mostly to pick up some wine category that we are getting low on.  Then there are times, when they are really busy, and rather interrupt, I just can always come back; it is not that far of a drive.  I am going to compare two distinct sparkling wines, and I will tell you, that I am not a major fan of sparkling wines, but I always make sure that we have some on hand.  Actually, I am probably a wuss, as I prefer a Sec, over a Brut, but then in the old days, they claimed that the not really secret, secret in Champagne was that the import market liked the term Brut, but the wine usually shipped was Sec.  It has probably changed in the last fifty years. 

Champagne Andre Clouet is a producer of grower Champagne in the Grand Cru village of Bouzy, and all of the wines are exclusively Pinot Noir.  The estate actually has eight hectares on the mid slopes in the villages of Bouzy and Ambonnay, all on the famed chalk soils of the region.  Andre Clouet Silver Brut Zero Dosage NV is from an estate going back to the 17th Century and the foundation of the house began in 1741 and over the years they have built up, to what they now hold.  All Champagne must rest on the lees for twelve months and Non-Vintage Champagne must mature in the bottle for fifteen months, plus a minimum of additional three months after the dosage.   On Brut Zero Dosage, the last steps are not required.  The Silver Brut Nature is a blend of thirty-five percent reserve wine, to maintain a consistent flavor year in and year out, this reserve wine is similar to the Solera system that is found in the Sherry houses of Spain.  This wine is a pretty straw yellow color with medium to small bubbles, with notes of apples and pears, on the palate a creamy finish with a nice finish of terroir; but for me, it was just too acidic, while others were totally enjoying this wine (so, it must just be me).

Mascaro Brut Nature Cava Penedes NV is from a family business that in the 19th Century were wine traders.  In 1919 the company was known as Mascaro Widow & Sons and in 1940 they purchased the Mas Miquel vineyards, formerly the property of the Cistercian Monastery in the foothills of Tarragona and in 1946 they created the Montserrat Mascaro brand.   The wine is a blend of eighty percent Parellada and twenty percent Macabeo; the fruit is hand-harvested and pressed without destemming and only the juice from the first pressing and aged for twenty-four months in bottle, after fermentation.  The wine is a pale yellow/golden color with a slight greenish tinge and fine bubbles and notes of stone fruit.  On the palate a creamy finish with apricots and peaches and a dry taste, without being bitter or too acidic, with a nice finish of yeast.  I really enjoyed this wine. 

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Two Reds from Bos Wines

Posted on April 1, 2022 by thewineraconteur

The last two wines that I enjoyed with winemaker David Bos at my local wineshop, The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan featured the grape that he has the longest affinity for, under his own label Bos Wine.  While David worked at Grgich Hills as their vineyard manager, he met his wife Jackie and 2008 they got married and started off in Calistoga.  They started with a vineyard consulting business and had access to some of the highest quality fruit in California and started Bos Wine in 2010 with forty-eight cases of Bos Wine Phoenix Ranch Syrah.

The Moon Bos Wine Harvest Red Blend California 2017.  The wine is mainly Syrah with a little Petite Sirah and a touch of Mourvedre.  The wine was fermented and aged in neutral oak, so as not to alter the Syrah.  A nice deep color with notes of black cherry and lavender.  On the palate it offered black fruit and balanced tannins, with a very nice finish offering traces of graphite. 

The last California red by David Bos was his Bos Wine Phoenix Ranch Red Wine Napa Valley 2017.  This wine is pure Syrah, a single vineyard wine and the Phoenix Ranch is a small vineyard at the base of Atlas Peak.  David Box started consulting for them in 2009 and converted the farming method to biodynamic.  The wine was fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels for eighteen months and only three barrels were produced.  The wine was a nice deep ruby with notes of dark fruit and florals.  On the palate a rich black cherry with tints of lavender and rose petals on a beautiful balanced wine with a really nice long count finish with great terroir. 

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Two More Whites from Bos Wines

Posted on March 30, 2022 by thewineraconteur

It is a pleasure doing a wine tasting with a winemaker like David Bos at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  The only problem is that I have to be careful that I don’t monopolize his time, as there are others to taste his wine as well.  I can tend to commandeer a conversation, if I am not careful, and that would ruin the moment for the other tasters, as not every question or discussion might not be as important to them. 

It took David Bos and his family about three years to move from Calistoga, California to Williamsburg, Michigan; just outside of Traverse City, which plenty of people deem to be the epicenter of the wine industry in Michigan, though he did maintain his contacts in California.  From Williamsburg, he kept looking for his final destination.  I tried his Bos Wines Riesling Old Mission Peninsula 2018.  For years, I and many others would connotate Michigan vinifera wines with Riesling and in the early days it was made to be sweet, but over the years the Riesling became dry and that is what this wine was.  The wine had a nice pale straw color with a little golden rim tone.  The wine offered notes of soft citrus, I thought of lemon and lime, while on the palate an easy drink with the delightful higher acidity that I enjoy, which makes me want to have another sip.

While they began in earnest in Williamsburg, they discovered a farmhouse on Ames Street just off downtown Elk Rapids, Michigan with a red bar in the background and they knew that they had found their home.  Even though their boutique wine began in 2010, they now feel that they rightfully have a home with a tasting room and a garden.  I then tried their Bos Wine Wishflower Old Mission Peninsula 2018.  This wine is a blend of Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer co-fermented with Riesling, all from the Old Mission Peninsula just north of Traverse City.  This wine had a soft golden color with notes of pears, apples and the perfume of Gewurztraminer.  This wine had lower acidity with flavors of apricot and spices.  I think it would be great with spicy Middle Eastern to Easter cuisine or with some interesting appetizers.               

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Valvin Muscat

Posted on March 28, 2022 by thewineraconteur

I am tasting wines made by winemaker David Bos at The Fine Wine Source and I have discovered another new grape.  I guess one of these days, when I have some free time, I must sit down and apply for the Century Club; I am sure that I have tried one hundred different grapes made into wines.  Valvin Muscat is a hybrid grape variety developed for white wine production.  It was developed by grape breeder Bruce Reisch at the Cornell University New York State Agricultural Experiment Station and was released on 7 July, 2006.  The wine is a cross between Muscat Ottonel (vitis vinifera) and Muscat du Moulin (hybrid); and offers distinct Muscat grape characteristics.  Muscat Ottonel is found predominately in central Europe and most famously in Alsace.

Bos Wine Methode Agricole Michigan 2020 is made with Valvin Muscat and is a “Pet-Nat” type of wine.  Methode Agricole is a farming method that minimizes risk to the environment without sacrificing economic production.  Pet-Nat is short for Petillant Naturel “naturally bubbling” and is respected as authentic craftsmanship of small quantities of wine.   The wine uses natural yeasts and does not undergo a second fermentation (like Champagne) and some refer to it as Zero Dosage, because there is not added sugar.   There is less bubbles and pressure and the bottle uses a cap closure like a bottle of beer, so make sure that you have a “church key.”  I liked the wine, as it is not bone dry as most sparkling wines seem to be aiming for.  The wine has a bit of a funky nose, the best that I can describe it (you know me with descriptors) and the wine is a bit cloudy or hazy, a by-product of the production method.  A very easy drinking wine that brings some of that magical brioche taste at a moderate price, and it is a fun wine for groups.

Bos Wine Peridot Michigan 2019 was the second wine that I tasted using the Valvin Muscat grape and since this was a still wine, it was an easier wine to taste the grape.  At first when I heard that it was a Muscat, I was expecting a sweeter wine, but even us old Street Somms shouldn’t try to second guess any wine.  This was a very easy drinking white wine with soft notes of florals and roses and mild taste on the palate that will compliment most appetizers or dishes, as there is no discernable bitterness or sweetness to the wine.  Excellent for conversations and good friends.              

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Winemaker David Bos

Posted on March 26, 2022 by thewineraconteur

I know that you may be surprised to find that I was at a wine tasting at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  The wines featured were by the winemaker David Box who started in Michigan went to California and has now returned to Michigan.  He attended Hope College with dual majors of Religion and English, discovered some quality wines and took off to California without a job, but with determination.  He started with a job at Grgich Hills and eventually became their vineyard manager.  He arrived there at the most opportune time, as they were converting to biodynamic farming and there are over three-hundred-fifty-acres to work.  He said that he considers himself to be a farmer, who makes wine.

The first time that I discovered Bos Wines was naturally at The Fine Wine Source.  I tried the Bos Wine Moon BOS Harvest Red 2015 with blended fruit from Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, Clarksburg and East Bay.  I also had the Bos Wine DEO Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2015.  Then in the ominous year of 2020 we were in Louisville, Kentucky having dinner because such niceties disappeared and we had as our opening bottle, the Bos Wine Ode to Fume Napa Valley 2015 with their tagline of “Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs” by William Shakespeare and an homage to Pouilly-Fume of the Loire. 

The first wine that I will discuss was the Bos Wines Ruby Marquette Napa Valley 2019.  What surprised me, was that the wine is made from the Marquette grape that I always associate with the Cold-Hardy grape states like Michigan.  It was created at the University of Minnesota, originally crossed in 1989 and introduced in 2006 and is a cousin of Frontenac, a French-American hybrid and a grandson of Pinot Noir.  This wine is produced using semi-carbonic techniques.  I am not a chemist, so I will try to make it easy and was discovered when carbon dioxide was being experimented with for grape preservation.  Carbonic maceration occurs when clusters of intact grapes are in a sealed tank filled with the gas.  Almost any type of container can be used and one gets that effervescent sensation found in Beaujolais Nouveau, the “maceration traditionelle” of Beaujolais is a semi-carbonic technique and whole clusters are not mandatory.  This was a fun wine to try and the wine has a pretty light ruby color with notes of cherry, and on the palate, it was a medium-bodied wine that offered some fruit with some effervescence and ended with some spice.  The owner of The Fine Wine Source was so enamored with the freshness of this wine, that you can only buy it at the winery or at this wine shop.       

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Fine Wine Source March 2022 Club Choices

Posted on March 24, 2022 by thewineraconteur

This has been the month for wine club selections, and I always look forward to my local shop, The Fine Wine Source, for their picks of the month.  Every wine has been selected and curated by the owner of the shop and he goes out of the way to find unique wines that the gas stations, party stores, department stores or the big box stores would carry.  Each month the club offerings feature an Old World and a New World selection.  Of course, my exchequer enjoys the fact, that as club members we are entitled to case discount pricing, no matter the quantity that we purchase on a given day. 

The Old-World selection is Chateau de Calavon Rouge, Provence 2013.  Nowadays most people think rosé when they see Provence, in the south-eastern part of France, and in particular Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence, the second largest appellation of the region.  Originally the region was known as Coteaux du Roy Rene (Rene D’Anjou, a 15th Century King of France who was very partial to wines), in 1956 it was granted VDQS status and in 1985, it was granted AOC status. The long dry summers make it ideal for vineyards, and the entire region is basically limestone.  The winery is located in the center of the region in Lambesc, and the Audibert family has been making wine there for five generations. The estate is sixty hectares and was originally cultivated as vineyards by the Prices of Orange, broken up during the French Revolution, and slowly reconstructed.  The vineyards are basically small terraced plots that were configured about three centuries ago.  The estate has been certified Organic Agriculture since 2013 (Ecocert).  The wine is a blend of fifty-five percent Syrah, thirty percent Grenache and fifteen percent Cabernet Sauvignon.  The fruit is basically hand-harvested and goes through a long maceration in concrete tanks, and then is matured in a mix of Stainless Steel and wooden barrels for a minimum of two years and then four years in the bottle, before release.   The profile sheet touted that the wine offers notes of black fruit, thyme, bay leaf and a touch of mint and on the palate well structured tannins.

The New World is represented by Donati Family Vineyards Merlot, Paicines AVA, Central Coast 2017.  The Donati family started arriving in the Paicines region of the Central Coast in 1998, when they purchased the land that would become the family estate and vineyard.  Since then, they have planted the vineyards and built a state-of-the-art winery.  Paicines is the southernmost AVA in the San Benito County and in the 1980’s and 1990’s the area was associated with the production of bulk wines, but a few wineries are attempting to correct that image.  To this day, much of the fruit is grown and then sent to wineries in other parts of California.  It is still home to the five-hundred-acre Vista Verde Vineyard that was previously owned by Almaden Vineyards, before the company was sold and split up in the 1980’s.  The sandy soils of gravel and limestone have forced the vines to develop deep root systems, because of the good drainage and has strengthened the vines.  The wine is ninety-seven percent Merlot and three percent Mourvedre.  Initial fermentation was in Stainless Steel and then aged for twenty-eight months in American Oak, of which fourteen percent was new.  Seven-hundred-twelve cases were produced.  The information sheet offered notes of a strawberry bomb with secondary notes of raspberry and maraschino.  On the palate bright acidity and red fruits with secondary tastes of chocolate mousse and vanilla-sugar cookies with a finish of charred barbeque and duck-fat oak.  It sounds perfect for an outdoor barbeque. 

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Two More From ATOM

Posted on March 22, 2022 by thewineraconteur

A Taste of Monterey, is the oldest and longest wine club that we belong to.  I think that my favorite part of the club is that it is not beholden to any one winery.  Though I am also a fan, that their Reserve Wine Selection is of wines that I would not find here in Detroit, because some of the production is very minor.  When we originally signed up, we had a choice, and they still offer that choice, of having two popular priced wines each month or the three wines that we get four times a year.  The quantity is the same, but the quality is different, and I will always go for the more unique when I have the chance. 

Kori Wines Chardonnay Santa Lucia Highlands, Highlands Vineyards 2019 was the second bottle I took out of the carton.  Kori Wines is the partnership between Santa Lucia Highlands grape/citrus grower Kirk Williams and his step-daughter Kori Violin.  Kirk planted the first vines in 1998 and in 2007 the initial Kori Wines Pinot Noir was released; and Sabrine Rodems has been the winemaker since 2010.  In 2018, they opened a tasting room in Carmel-by-the-Sea.  The Highlands vineyards occupy thirty-six terraced acres in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation.  The wine was made using French Oak and there was a production of one-hundred-fifty cases made.  According to the accompanying publicity the wine offers notes of ripe fruits and spices.  On the palate the wine promises to offer intense and focused flavors of apple tart, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg, with a finish offering toasty oak and mineral terroir.

The third wine in the carton was Mesa Del Sol Zinfandel Arroyo Seco Monterey 2016.  Mesa Del Sol has been a favorite destination for travelers and some of the buildings on the estate go back to the 1800’s.  Costa Del Sol is in the Arroyo Seco Santa Lucia Highlands and the hot dry air was considered a haven for tuberculosis patients and even Teddy Roosevelt had stayed there.  The estate grown Zinfandel is from a vineyard planted on limestone and granite terroir.  This wine is made for the resort by Chualar Canyon Winery in Salinas, California, at least from the last production notes that I could find and about two-hundred-cases are produced.  According to the information furnished the wine offers notes of blueberry, leather and pipe tobacco, offering flavors of blackberry-cherry brandy in a spicy Zinfandel with a decent finish of terroir.

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McIntyre Estates Vineyards Per Ardua

Posted on March 19, 2022 by thewineraconteur

It is that time of the year, as we have received more wines from another club, this time from “A Taste of Monterey.”  We discovered the club by accident as we were wandering around the waterfront of Monterey, as we were going to have lunch at the famous Sardine Factory, not only was that a spectacular meal, we ended up buying some art at an art gallery and we joined the wine club at A Taste of Monterey as well.  That was probably around twenty-five years ago and we joined their Private Reserve Club as a way of receiving some wines that are made in too small of batches to end up in Michigan.

The first wine out of the carton was from McIntyre Estate Vineyards.  The vineyard lies in the “sweet spot” of Monterey County’s Santa Lucia Highlands, a twelve-mile stretch of benchland famed for the wines produced there.  Their vineyard was originally planted in 1973 on an eighty-acre site and boasts some of the oldest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines.  The McIntyre family purchased the vineyard in 1987 and they are among the first properties in the Santa Lucia Highlands to be SIP (Sustainability In Practice) Certified.  It is said that Steve McIntyre has planted about twenty percent of the Santa Lucia Highlands.  

The McIntyre Estate Vineyards Per Ardua Arroyo Seco Santa Lucia Highlands Kimberly Vineyard 2015.  Per Ardua is the ancient Gallic motto for clan McIntyre, and “thru difficulty.”  For three decades they have endeavored to produce a “Bordeaux Red” and this is their inaugural bottling.  The Kimberly Vineyard in Arroyo Seco is an eighty-one-acre vineyard named after Steve’s wife Kimberly, near the confluence of the Arroyo Seco and Salina Rivers at the foot of the Santa Lucia Mountains.  The wine is a blend of seventy percent Merlot and thirty percent Malbec.  Primary and Malolactic fermentations were carried out with wild, indigenous yeast.  I wish there was more in the production notes.  The 2016 vintage produced less than two-hundred cases, so I will presume that the 2015 was similar in number and with an aging potential of eight to ten years.  The wine is described as an amazing red Bordeaux blend; deep and ripe with leather, licorice and plums.  Time will tell, as I will write about it when we have given it a bit more cellar time.     

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