Two Beautiful Whites

Posted on February 25, 2022 by thewineraconteur

There I was at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan just casually stopping by to pick up my monthly club selections, and I was asked if I had a few minutes to taste some wines that they were looking at for the shop and for their restaurant Vertical in Downtown Detroit.  I know that it may look strange that I always write it as Downtown Detroit, but I grew up when it was thought of as that way.  I mean who doesn’t enjoy tasting a wine or two?  Also, it is rather flattering to even have wine professionals ask me for my thoughts, 

The first white wine was P.J. Valckenberg Madonna Auslese Rheinhessen 2016 and they have been in business since 1786, both as a winemaker and as a wine trading house. In 1400, the Liebfraumilch has been cultivated by Capuchin monks around the church of “Our Dear Lady” in the city of Worms, Rheinhessen.  Peter Joseph Valckenberg exported the “Liebfraumilch” as the first in history in 1908.  The firm has over two centuries of experience in bottling and exporting wines, especially from their five-hundred-year-old vineyards.  The Rheinhessen is famed for their two white varietals: Muller-Thurgau and Riesling. Since neither is listed on the label, it is probably a blend of the two, as both are grown in almost equal amounts in the district.  Auslese is a special designation and means “selected harvest” and some of the grapes are affected by botrytis, the “noble rot” which consolidates the sugar in these late harvested grapes.  The wine had a nice soft gold color with notes of honey, peach and apricot.  This was a true dessert wine with a true balance of acidity and sugar, with a very nice long count finish of honey and peach for me.    

Klein Constantia Vin de Constance Constantia, South Africa 2017 is what legends are all about.  Napoléon Bonaparte asked for it on his deathbed.  Vin de Constance is their flagship wine made from Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains, as well as many other local names like Muscat de Frontignan.  This is the oldest member of the Muscat family known for its small berries and seeds.  The estate was once part of a larger estate called Constantia, established in 1685 by Simon van Der Stel, the then Governor and namesake of Stellenbosch.  In 1817, the estate was broken into two, and the smaller (klein) of the two estates was hit by phylloxera at the end of the century and basically was left dormant until the Seventies.  The grounds are decomposed granite and limestone, and the fruit is left to raisin on the vine, before harvesting. That is about all the trade secrets I could find.  A beautiful soft golden color with notes of citrus, florals and almonds.  On the palate, it was a true nectar of the Gods with ripe stone fruits, citrus zest in a perfectly balanced combination of acidity and sweetness, without being cloying, and a honeyed spice finish that had a nice long count.    

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My February 2022 Wine Club Selections

Posted on February 23, 2022 by thewineraconteur

My Fine Wine Source Club Selections came out at the usual time, it is just for some odd reason the hardest month for me to get there.  It just seems that projects seem to grow exponentially and then compounded with multiple blizzard snow falls, didn’t someone win a bundle of money once, crying about Global Warming; I sure wish that politician would come over here and shovel my sidewalks and driveway.  Now onto subjects that should warm my heart, the two wines, one representing the Old World and the other representing the New World.

Fattoria Il Muro “Il Muro” Chianti Riserva DOCG 2016 has been owned by the Pancaro family for over two centuries.  Their land has always been used for the cultivation of grapes and olives as it is composed of loose marl and limestone.  In the Seventies, the winery modernized their technology with emphasis on the vineyards.  The fruit is pure Sangiovese from their best vineyard “Galioffo Vecchio,” crushed and aged for eighteen months in large Tuscan style barrels and then aged for another six months in the bottle, prior to distribution.  The wood of choice for these barrels is Chestnut, as they want to maintain their tradition. The wine is described as being bright ruby red with notes of ripe mulberry, roasted coffee beans and dark chocolate.  On the palate offerings of cherry, spice, velvety with excellent structure and a prolonged concentration and “Sangiovese” tang in the finish.

Peachy Canyon Winery “Incredible Red” Paso Robles 2019 is representing the New World for this month’s selection. Peachy Canyon is a family-owned winery founded by Doug and Nancy Beckett in 1988 on the Central Coast near Big Sur and the Hearst Castle in Paso Robles.  Zinfandel is their flagship grape and this wine is seventy-five percent Zinfandel with thirteen percent Petite Sirah, nine percent Alicante Bouschet and three percent Counoise.  The wine is described as being maroon in color with notes of red and black fruits and mulling spices.  On the palate it is fruit forward with tart cherries, raspberries and strawberries.  It sounds like a classic California Zinfandel to me and perfect for a nice casual dinner.           

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A Quiet Night for My Dinner Club

Posted on February 22, 2022 by thewineraconteur

My dinner club is actually a “society” that is probably about one-hundred-forty-years old and has been recognized by the City of Detroit as one of the oldest groups still functioning, and is listed as Group Number Six in the national organization that we are affiliated with.  Originally the club of forty some members by charter met at a member’s home and the host supplied the dinner and the drinks.  I truly don’t know anyone that can seat forty some members for a formal dinner at their home, and during the Great Depression, the meetings began being held at hotels, fraternal clubs, and then finally in restaurants that have a private room.  Hosts went from singular to now having three hosts per meeting, and several years ago, there was an uproar that non-drinking hosts were upset that they had to pay for the drinks of the drinkers, and that is now paid for by each drinking member.  Our latest uproar, was decided that during the “Summer” meetings, members could refrain from wearing coats and ties for dinner, and the attire has yet to be seen.

There were storm advisories issued for the night of the meeting and I think that we had the smallest turnout that I ever recall, as we only had about sixteen members show up, and granted that the majority of the members live on the west side all the way out to Ann Arbor and this meeting was on the east side, which didn’t help.  It was a nice meeting that started off with a chafing dish of Breaded Chicken Filets and Meatballs in a Mushroom Gravy for appetizers.  There was a salad course, and then the members were offered their choice of either Beef Tenderloin Tips, “Hawaiian” Chicken or Grilled Salmon (which each dish served with rice pilaf). Coffee and Chocolate Sundaes for dessert.

Since none of my wine drinking associates attended, I just went with wines offered by the glass.  I started off with a glass of Maso Canali Pinot Grigio Trentino 2020.  Maso Canali Estate has a heritage of winemaking since the Middle Ages, and they have raised Pinot Grigio since 1893.  The winery is unique in that they only make one wine, but they do it very well.  The fruit is hand harvested, with a small selection that is selected to be late harvested, and these grapes are dried on racks for eight to ten weeks.  The late harvest grapes are fermented separately and then blended with the other wine and aged on fine lees for a month.  While the wine is green and flinty this wine offers a very rich finish on the palate that is missing from most bottles of Pinot Grigio.  With my entrée, I went with a glass of Beringer Vineyards Founders’ Estate Cabernet Sauvignon California 2019.   Beringer has the honor of being the longest continuously operating winery in California.  They have a range of offerings from affordable generic table wines to single-vineyard cuvées and a private reserve label. Brothers Jacob and Frederick Beringer had their first harvest in 1976 in what is now St. Helena AVA.  Frederick built his Rhine House, a Victorian mansion in 1883 which is now the main visitor building at the winery.  This home was added to the US National Register for Historic Places.  They even survived Prohibition, the first dismal nanny-state disaster, by getting a Federal License and producing sacramental altar wine.  After Prohibition, they were the first winery to offer public tours which was the start of making Napa Valley a tourist destination. In the 70’s Beringer was bought by Nestlé, and then it changed hands a couple of more times and is now owned by Treasury Wine Estates, which also owns among other labels Penfolds and Stags’ Leap.  In 2015, Mark Beringer became the Chief Winemaker and he is the great-great-grandson of Jacob Beringer.  While Beringer owns vineyards in Napa and Sonoma as well as their leased vineyards are all certified sustainable.  This is part of their bulk popular priced wines with fruit from Lodi and the California Delta.  The wine was a deep rich color, and had notes of dark red fruits and spices, while on the palate dark fruit, soft tannins and some vanilla and a very short finish.  It was an easy food wine and I am sure that it is probably made to be dependable year after year. 

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I Cooked for Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 20, 2022 by thewineraconteur

It is true, and we didn’t have to call for an ambulance.  I have a secret, I can cook, but I can’t cook for one or two people, if the Fifth Army was stopping by, I could cook.  I once saw a meme that said basically that the only time one clove of garlic is used, is if the recipe was how to cook a clove of garlic, and then just in case, add another clove to the recipe.  I am not a cook, and for sure, I don’t know about measurements, but I try. When my Bride and I decided to split duties, she decided to cook, and I said that I would do the laundry, only because I am fussy and I won’t pay a service to destroy my custom shirts and my mother taught me, the fine art, when I was in elementary school.  And my Bride is thrilled.  

Well, once in a blue moon, I will make my Sauce Bolognese, and the trick is to dice up all the ingredients ahead of time, and I really dice the hell out of them; garlic, onions, red pepper, green pepper, carrots and mushrooms.  Start with a big pot, heat it up and toss in some bacon or prosciutto and get it nice and crispy, first you start off with some nice “smoky” grease to begin with, and then when you pull the meat out of the grease, pat it down a bit, and you have a nice sandwich to get started.  With the “smoky” grease toss in one very large finely diced onion of your choice and lots of diced garlic and as they start to get golden and translucent, time to add about three pounds of ground beef (I like to ask the butcher to grind his “stew meat” twice -see what a pain I am).  Add more garlic, salt and pepper, and a ton of mixed Italian spices, and when it browns up nicely, remove the excess grease that has accumulated, then add all the other diced vegetables.  Then multiple cans of Tomato Paste, Tomato Sauce and Tomato Puree (the finely diced carrots are in lieu of sugar to cut the acidity).  Add more garlic, Red Pepper Flakes, more spices and cook on low heat for at least three hours with a mesh top over the pot.  A third of a bottle of red wine, or in my younger days, I liked almost a can of Molson Canadian beer, the balance for the chef, while he stirs. The other secret, is to take some good Italian hard crusted bread and dip it into the sauce for a sandwich, and then you can determine if you have to add anything more, for some zing.

The wine I used for the sauce and later, for our dinner was from Societa Agricola Le Siepi di San Giovanni Sangiovese Superiore di Romagna DOC 2012. The estate of Le Siepi di San Giovanni is located in the Northern Apennines in the Santerno River Valley near Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.  The Emilia-Romana region is big and it is the only region in Italy that has an East and West Coat.  The estate is owned by the Zuffa family and was started in 1960.  The estate is forty hectares, but only eleven hectares are devoted to vineyards.  The wine is pure Sangiovese and was manually harvested.  I could find no production notes or rules pertaining to Sangiovese Superiore.  I got this wine in 2019, so I have to presume that there were some years of storage, both in barrel and in the bottle.  I tried the wine before pouring it in the sauce, and just kept the bottle uncorked for the next five hours, while the sauce was cooking. The wine was a pretty ruby color, with mulberry and floral notes, On the palate, the wine was still fruit forward with good red fruit, soft tannins and a peppery finish.       

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Valentine’s Day – Part Two

Posted on February 18, 2022 by thewineraconteur

Life is never quite how you plan it.  We were going to go see the ice sculptures in downtown Plymouth and it would give us a day of exercise.  One year, we went and it was so warm the sculptures were melting as we looked at them, there were puddles everywhere.  This time it was extremely cold, so the sculptures were safe, but we weren’t.  I don’t know if the homeowners on the perimeter of the downtown take umbrage at all the tourists that flock into the city, but the sidewalks were a “slip and fall” waiting to happen.  My Bride, didn’t want to take a chance, as she is still in physical therapy for falling and having a hairline fracture in her ankle.  We were going to look at the exhibits, stop and have some wine and something to eat.  We had to go elsewhere, and the next place that we tried was closing at in fifteen minutes, due to a lack of staff, as we are still suffering from the fallout of our forced lockdowns.  We were going to go grocery shopping afterwards, because I said that I was over due to make my Sauce Bolognese. 

We went to our favorite Italian grocery store Cantoro’s Market, which is a huge interpretation of their original location, only about six miles away and still going strong as well.  The Market is a labyrinth of small aisles that defy navigation and two carts cannot go side by side in some of the aisles.  From Prosciutto to Wagyu Steaks and everything your heart desires from an Italian viewpoint.  We picked up everything we needed, my Bride went to the cashier and then to the trunk of our car, while I went to Cantoro Trattoria, which was entirely full for reservations, but I was told that if I went to the back bar about twenty minutes before the restaurant opened for dinner, I might be able to snag a couple of chairs, and I did, immediately after I go there, the bar was totally full.  It was not the first time that we have dined at a bar and we ordered two appetizers to share and then a pizza after that.  We had Calamari Peperonati, which was lightly floured and grilled, tossed with sweet, sour and spicy peppers, fresh lemon and Marinara Sauce. We also had Carpaccio, thinly sliced, raw beef tenderloin, capers, red onion, parsley, lemon, arugula and Parmigiano Reggiano.  Our pizza was their “Rucola & Bresaola” (and I shared a frou-frou pizza) of Italian Beef, tomato sauce, fresh Mozzarella, arugula, grape tomatoes, olive oil and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

I did mention that we were sitting at a bar. We had Henri Gaillard Cotes de Provence AOP 2020.  Henri Gaillard was the best negocient in the Cotes de Provence area for Crus et Domaines de France.  He was a descendent of an old Languedoc family and is regarded as a pioneer for the South of France.  The Cotes de Provence is the largest growing region in Provence.  The Cotes de Provence was originally a VDQS designation in 1951, encompassing forty-two communes.  In 1977, it was awarded AOC status and covers eighty-four communes.  This wine is a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvedre.  The wine I am sure was done in Stainless Steel with minimum aging.  The wine offered notes of strawberry, rose petals and spices, and on the palate, it was a dry wine with good acidity, offering red fruit, florals and some light spices.  Then we had 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.  After dinner, we had to go back into the market, as someone wanted more of this wine.           

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A Head Start

Posted on February 16, 2022 by thewineraconteur

If romance is in the air, it must be St, Valentine’s Day.  Now, my Bride and I are not partial to going out, when the rest of the world is expected to be out for dinner.  The restaurants and staff are overtaxed, and normally the food and the service suffer, because of it.  It is not a great combination and especially if it is a night to honor romance. So, we normally celebrate early or after the holiday.

We went out to celebrate and most of the time, these days, we really enjoy a table in the bar area, as opposed to the dining area.  My wife had a Caesar Salad, and they brought out a dish of sliced anchovies to add, if one was inclined, and they made soft croutons on the side as well.  I had a nice bowl of a classic interpretation of Lobster Bisque with poached lobster and a dollop of Sherry.  Of course, after the first course, my Bride always says that she is full.  She had Chicken Milanese, a dish of crispy Romano encrusted Chicken with White Wine, Lemon, Caper Sauce and Asparagus. While I enjoyed Crab Cake Oscar, with Sauteed Asparagus, topped with Lump Crab and Sauce Bearnaise. We finished our meal with a New York Style Cheesecake with Amarena Cherries and a Chambord Cherry Glaze and French-Press Coffee.

Our waitress tried to tout me into selecting a two-hundred-dollar bottle of wine, but I passed, actually, for a restaurant, they were really low-balling the price compared to retail.  It was a nice suggestion, but I don’t know about you, but I like to try different wines and different regions.  She did ask me, if I needed the assistance of the Sommelier, but I passed.  Since we were both going in the direction of a white wine for our meal, I thought something green and flinty, with a robust saline acidity (I realize that does not really sound enticing, it is hard to envision, but when you taste the pairing) it makes sense.  I selected a bottle of Bodegas Agro de Bazan Granbazan Etiqueta Verde Albarino Rias Baixas DO 2020.  The winery did not talk about themselves that much for history, but they claim to have a classic profile and essence of the Salnes Valley, on the banks of an estuary, with a strong Atlantic personality.  This wine was from fruit harvested from thirty-five-year-old vines on soil with a high granite content. The fruit was destemmed, soft pressed and a cold maceration for six to eight hours in Stainless Steel.  Then it was allowed to rest on the lees with no batonnage (stirring of the juice and lees), fermentation and then aging for three months, still in Stainless Steel.  A pretty yellow wine with notes of citrus and green apples. On the palate, stone fruit and the acidity was invigorating, enticing you to have another taste, and the finish had a nice long count of terroir and a touch of salt (or saline).  A great dinner and a great wine, and a wonderful way to start the Valentine’s Weekend.

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Butter Run Saloon

Posted on February 14, 2022 by thewineraconteur

Butter Run Saloon * Spirits * Nourishment * Character* is the basis for a recent get-together.  If I leave it to my Bride, we will always dine at the same restaurant, have the same meal and the same wine.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it would make for a lousy blog, in my opinion.  We were going to meet one of her cousins and her husband, have a meal and then go to her mother’s house to wish her a 96th Happy Birthday.  We were on the East side of town and I found a restaurant that sounded interesting, and the Eastsiders had seen this place, but never ventured there, until now.  It was one of those places that I instantly felt comfortable in, long and narrow with the old-fashioned plank wooden floor, embossed tin ceiling, tables that were shadowboxes of Detroit nostalgia, and so were the walls.  They tout themselves as having the larges whisky selection in the state.  I know that it doesn’t sound like a place for us, but I called to make a reservation, which was no, and to ask if they have a wine list, which was a yes. 

The menu was quite extensive for a small casual place, besides burgers and sandwiches, they had full dinners and even exotic appetizers like Escargot.  There was one Fish and Chips, one Walleye and one Whitefish dinner, and I had the Barbecued Ribs (note to myself to go with fish, the next time, because they had chosen better).  The meals started off with two people have big mugs of Beef Barley Soup, my Bride had a House Salad with (of course) Caesar Dressing and I had Purple Cabbage Cole Slaw.  We will be back, when we are in that part of the town,

My Bride wasn’t too sure about what to expect from their wine carte, but it was an adventure and they did have a succinct, but nice list of some good popular value and priced wines.  We had a bottle of J Vineyard and Winery Chardonnay California 2019. The winery began in 1986 by Judy Jordan, the daughter of Tom Jordan, founder of Jordan Vineyard & Winery fame. The father and daughter team began as equal partners, until the daughter was able to buy out her father and she became sole proprietor. For the first ten years, they only produced the J Vineyard Brut and what a fine job they did with it. In 2015 E&J Gallo bought J Vineyards & Winery and the winemakers were maintained with the change of command.  This is their introductory Chardonnay as the fruit is harvested from Monterey, Sonoma and Napa Counties.  I will venture to say that this wine is produced using Stainless Steel and a short aging period, but it was just an easy drinking wine and especially perfect for the fish dinners.  The name “Butter Run” is from the time the grandfather was asked to go buy some butter, and during that errand, he got side tracked at a watering hole for a quick one and a few hours later, he returned home with the butter.  There are now four generations that have continued this family tradition of going out for a “Butter Run.”  You have to honor tradition.

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Podere Ciona Chianti Classico Riserva

Posted on February 11, 2022 by thewineraconteur

All good things do come to an end, and wine tastings seem to go by quicker than other events.  Winemaker Lorenzo Gatteschi was representing his family’s Podere Ciona wines from Gaiole in Tuscany.  While we were talking and tasting wines, some of the people there at the same time, were making inquiries about the guesthouses on the property some going back to the 18th Century, but all with modern conveniences for today’s travelers. Since the estate is located between Florence and Siena, it is a perfect location for a vacation.  

I have often mentioned Chianti and Chianti Classico, as it was one of the first wines that I tasted as a child, when we didn’t have homemade “Dago Red” as gifts. There is a highly romanticized story about how the Chianti area was originally created. The story centers on horse riders with one from Florence and one from Siena and they stopped when the cock crowed, hence the Black Cockrell which is seen on all the bottles of Chianti, except in the USA, because of an international lawsuit by the Gallos.   The area was first marked out in 1716 and significantly enlarged in 1932.  It was legally recognized in 1966 with the DOC laws and in 1984 it became Chianti Classico DOCG.  There are five other demarcated Chianti zones: Colli Aretini, Colline Pisane, Montalbano, Montespertoli and Rufina. The region is so large, with diverse altitudes, microclimate, soils and solar exposures that in 2021, eleven Unita GeoBlackgrafiche Aggiuntive (UGA) or Additional Geographical Units were designated.  The following UGA designations will be allowed on the front label, instead of just being part of the address of the winery on the back label: Castellina, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Gaiole, Greve, Lamole, Montefioralle, Panzano, Radda, San Casciano, San Donato in Poggio and Vagliagi.  

Lorenzo Gatteschi was offering current and some library wines in a vertical tasting of Podere Ciona Chianti Classico Riserva 2011, 2012 and 2015.  Since all of the wine is estate grown, it is all on the same quartz, clay schist and marl soil.  Each vintage had a slightly different blend, but at least ninety percent Sangiovese, then the balance basically Merlot, with only a couple of percentages of Alicante Bouschet.  The production methods were basically the same year after year of manual harvesting, berry by berry selection, initial fermentation for ten days on the skins in French Oak followed by twenty-five to thirty days of Malolactic fermentation on the skins in French Oak. The 2011 and 2012 vintages were then aged for eighteen months in a mix of new and used French Oak, and the 2015 vintage was aged for twenty-four months and then all vintages were aged an additional twelve months in the bottles before distribution. The winery is not huge and I have included the case production for each vintage: 2011 seven-hundred-seventy cases, 2012 six-hundred-seventy-five cases, and 2015 one-thousand-seven-hundred-ninety “six packs.” All of the vintages offered the deep ruby-red color, notes of red fruit, on the palate rich fruit and velvety tannins with a nice deep finish of terroir.  My immediate notes were: 2015 “perfect Chianti Classico,” 2012 “mellow and rich,” and the 2011 “excellent, all Chiantis should taste this great.” My notes for this fine estate, until the next time. 

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Four Super Tuscans from Podere Ciona

Posted on February 10, 2022 by thewineraconteur

What could be better than enjoying a wine tasting curated by a winemaker; well, that is what was happening when I was at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source.  Lorenzo Gatteschi was representing his family through their Podere Ciona wines from Gaiole, Tuscany, Italy.  Toscana IGT is the most famous of the IGT designations and it actually has three sub-regions already, and there are ten provinces that are allowed this designation.  Tuscany is the home of Italy’s most famous IGT category, but it was where this category forced the hands of wine classification for a new designation, because some of the wine makers felt constrained by the current rules, and originally had to use the lowly Vino de Tavola or Table Wine designation for their new wines.  Finally, in 1984, Sassicaia was granted its very own title of DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia and the floodgates were opened.  IGT is Italy’s version of the Common Market’s designation of IGP.

Our first Super Tuscan was Podere Ciona Semifonte Rosso Toscana IGT 2018, and in all the excitement of the moment, I somehow forgot to photograph this bottle, but I have a photo of the 2017 vintage, that we had with dinner one night.  The wine is a blend of seventy-five percent Merlot and twenty-five percent Alicante Bouschet from nineteen-year-old vines planted on their estate of quartz, clay schist and marl. The fruit is hand harvested and the initial fermentation is for ten days on the skins in Stainless Steel vats, with Malolactic fermentation occurring for an additional twenty-five to thirty days still on the skins and still in Stainless Steel. The wines were then aged for twelve months, seventy percent in French Oak barrels and thirty percent in once used French Oak tonneaux.  Afterwards, the wine was fined and did an additional twelve months in bottles before distribution.  There were two-hundred-six cases produced of this wine.  A pretty purplish-red wine with notes of red fruits, spices and nuts.  On the palate the taste of plums, nuts and pepper, on a balanced wine with a nice finish; of course, I have always been a strong advocate of Merlot.

We then had a nice vertical run of Podere Ciona Le Diacce Rosso Toscana IGT 2015, 2012 and 2011. Le Diacce is the estate’s flagship wine featuring their finest Merlot grapes with a touch of Alicante Bouschet.  The 2011 vintage was pure Merlot of twelve-year-old vines planted on quartz, clay schist and marl. Initial fermentation was for ten days in Stainless Steel vats, followed by an extended thirty-thirty-five days of Malolactic fermentation in French Oak barriques.  Aged for eighteen months in French Oak, with an additional twelve months in the bottle.  Two-hundred-fifty cases were produced.  The 2012 vintage was ninety-eight percent Merlot with two percent Alicante Bouschet.  Initial fermentation was ten days in French Oak, followed by thirty to thirty-five days of Malolactic fermentation in French barriques.  Aged for twenty-four months in a mix of new and once and twice French Oak barriques, with an additional twelve months in glass. Three-hundred-thirty cases of wine produced.  The 2015 vintage was ninety-seven percent Merlot and three percent Alicante Bouschet. Initial fermentation for ten days in French Oak, followed by Malolactic fermentation for thirty to thirty-five days in French Oak barriques, and the cellared for twenty-four months in a mix of new and used French Oak barriques, with twelve months in glass.  Three-hundred-thirty-three cases were produced.  The 2015 vintage was a deep purplish-red with notes of red fruit, chocolate and nuts.  On the palate was a feisty intense red berries flavor, balanced with a nice finish; this wine needs some cellaring in my humble opinion, but others were really excited about the fruit forward taste.  The 2012 vintage was deep purplish-red with notes of red fruit, chocolate and nuts.  On the palate the red fruits had mellowed with the tannins offering a great bottle of aged Merlot with a lingering finish.  The 2011 vintage reminded me of the 2012, but even more mellow and my first scribbled note was “excellent,” but then I extremely partial to mature wines, especially Merlot, and I make no bones about it.          

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A Tasting with Lorenzo Gatteschi

Posted on February 8, 2022 by thewineraconteur

Sometimes all roads lead to The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan; at least for me.  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.”

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 2018 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.

We then had the Podere Ciona Chianti Classico DOCG 2018. This wine is a blend of eighty-eight percent Sangiovese, ten percent Merlot and two percent Alicante Bouschet and planted on their quartz, clay schist and marl.  The ages of the Sangiovese vines are from seven to seventeen years of age, while the Merlot and Alicante Bouschet vines are eighteen years of age.  Once again, the fruit is hand harvested, crushed and initial fermentation is done in Stainless Steel vats for ten days, and then an extended twenty-five days on the skins during the Malolactic fermentation. Seventy percent of the wine is then aged in French Oak barrels, while thirty percent are aged in large French Oak tonneaux for twelve months, with an additional twelve months in the bottle, before distribution.  Three-hundred-fifty cases were made of this wine. The wine was a lighter ruby shade with notes of red fruits and spices, while on the palate notes of cherry, spices, softer tannins and well balanced with a nice medium finish of terroir.  Great for easy drinking or with food.    

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