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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It is time to add more wines to the cellar, this time from northern Michigan. Black Star Farms is rather unique in that it has vineyards and tasting room facilities on both peninsulas, so that they are kind of surrounding Traverse City which is kind of the focal point for all of the wineries in the area. In 1998 Black Star Farms purchased Sport Valley Farm which was a one-hundred-twenty-acre equestrian facility, and the stylized black star was part of the architectural décor in the main house. In their Twentieth year, they were honored to receive the 19’th Annual Canberra International Riesling Challenge (CIRC) -Best Wine of the 2018 Challenge and only the second time an American wine came out on top. It has only been about four years or so, that we joined their club, which we had no intention of doing, but we went there to purchase some wines, after having them at a Michigan resort and we were dazzled by the enthusiastic and professional wine representative that was pouring some wines for us to taste.
The first two wines that I grabbed out of the shipping carton was the Black Star Farms Vintners Select Red Table Wine Michigan NV. The Vintners Select collection is a blend of different vintages of all small lots with unique characteristics. The wine carries a Michigan appellation as eighty-three percent of the fruit is from the Leelanau Peninsula and seventeen percent is from Old Mission Peninsula. This wine is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Teroldego, Merlot and Petite Pearls. The wine is aged in a blend of newer French, European and American Oak. It is described as a full-bodied red with dark fruit flavors and hints of cocoa and spice.
The other two wines that I unpacked was Black Star Farms Pinot Noir Blanc Old Mission Peninsula 2020. I am sure that this wine was completely done in Stainless Steel and eight-hundred cases were made. They had mentioned that this white wine is made from red grapes, and the slight pink hue comes from the skins breaking during the crush. The wine offers floral notes with bright fruit flavors of pomegranate, raspberry and watermelon. Sounds like the perfect summer wine.
Definitely not mine or my Bride’s, but one of our grandchildren and he had several false starts, before he selected the venue for this dinner. I have to admit that it was a bit of an adventure for me, as he had selected a barbecue style restaurant and this was my first venture into such an establishment. To me, a barbecue was when you went out into the backyard and fire up some coals, got them white hot, put a couple of steaks on the grill or some skewers of shish kebab, grab a Molson’s Canadian or two and wait for the meat to cook, bring it into the house and eat. Today, it is a little different, no reservations, look like Paul Bunyan and everything smells like smoke. I also felt like a rube, when I asked for a menu, the waitress said it was on the table, but I was looking for one of those black and white cards that you had to photograph on your phone and instead it was multi-color.
There were six of us and for sure four and possibly five of the six, knew what to expect. I was a fish out of water. Some appetizers were being ordered and for the table there was something called Pig Candy that looked by a bacon rasher by three widths marinated with Can Sugar and Chipotle and smoked and then was served dangling from a wire and using old-fashioned clip-style clothes pins like what we used to use to hang wet laundry in the backyard during the summer; it was tasty. We ordered a Guacamole platter with the smallest allotment of Guacamole I have ever seen. My Bride had Pulled Pork with a side of Beans and Sweet Potato Mash. I order Ribs, after I was assured that I would not have to pick up the Ribs and gnaw on the bone with a side of Beans and Broccoli. The food was good, but the two old folks needed heartburn pills after dinner, but we survived.
I looked at the wine list and chose for the two of us, what I thought would be best with the barbecued (smoked) food and selected Lagaria Italian Style Pinot Grigio Delle Venezia DOC 2020 by Empson & Co. wine producer and importer. Empson & Co. have been exporting Italian wines since 1972. I am not sure what Italian Style meant, but it did carry the Delle Venezia DOC which was good. I could not find anything on Lagaria the winery, but the fruit is harvested from the Lagarina Valley on a clay and sand soil and the age of the vines are from five to twenty-five years. The fruit is hand-harvested and destemmed and cold maceration for a few hours and then fermented on the lees for ten days and then aged for a few months on the lees in Stainless Steel. A pretty light straw color with notes of citrus and floral, on the palate offerings of tree fruit like apricot, apple and pear and a short finish. The was a bit sweeter than I had expected, but with the smokiness of the food, I thought it worked well and I am glad that I didn’t get a red. A unique experience and there will be one of the chain locations coming to our region soon, in case we are taking out our grandson to eat.
One of the most famous idioms, if people still use them; is it still taught in English classes; is English still taught? We hosted a nice dinner party for my sister to celebrate her birthday and naturally the question always arises “what can I bring?” and the response is always “just yourselves.” Good manners I hope will always survive or we may as well just become barbarians. I mention this, because we were given a host and hostess gift, which was totally unrequested and unnecessary. Actually, I am impressed, because most people say “I wouldn’t know what kind of wine to buy for you.” To tell the truth, we are always gracious whenever someone is so kind and considerate.
The first hostess gift was Villa Sonia Pinot Grigio delle Venezia DOC 2019 and that is varietal that always catches my Bride’s eye. Venezia is the Italian name for Venice, as well as the province and for a DOC designation that was granted in 2010. It is an appellation that follows a grape as in Prosecco or Glera or in this case Pinot Grigio and seventy-five percent of this DOC is in white wines. It is amazing that this is considered the second largest selling Pinot Grigio in the district and the winery does not have a website. I will venture to say that the wine is probably produced in Stainless Steel and very little time for aging to produce a crisp fruit forward wine. Some of the reviews I have seen list this wine as a soft pale straw color, with notes of floral and citrus, while on the palate, soft citrus and a touch of lilac with a slight finish of flint (terroir).
The other hostess wine is Canoe Ridge Vineyard “The Expedition” Merlot Canoe Ridge Vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills 2018 of Walla Walla, Washington. Canoe Ridge Vineyard is one of Washington states most recognized winery brand and it was established in 1989 and in 2014, they celebrated their Twentieth Anniversary. The name of the ridge was actually named by Lewis and Clark in 1805 as they journeyed down the Columbia River. This winery has a website, but lacks any production notes, but I eventually found out that this wine is ninety-one percent Merlot and nine percent Syrah. The wine is described as having notes of dark berries and on the palate flavors of currant, cherry and candied violet, with a silky finish.
The Wine Raconteur 