An Early Dinner

Posted on January 7, 2022 by thewineraconteur

My Bride keeps in contact with plenty of her past associates and some have developed into long lasting friendships.  She has groups of friends going back to the days when everyone and every business seemed to be located in downtown Detroit, and we have mementos still in the house.  She has maintained school friends, work friends and national and state professional association friends.  I joke that they adore her and put up with me, when I tag along, because I am such a quiet soul.  The other day, we had an early dinner, because one of her friends doesn’t like to drive in the evenings and unfortunately that is a rather common lament one hears as one gets up in the years. 

My Bride was excited and she was making a simple dinner that for a lack of a better term was “comfort” food.  We started off with one of her new favorites where she bakes Triple Cream Brie and tops it with Onion Jam for a nice savory taste, instead of using fruit.  Then she needs no prodding to whip up a batch of her Caesar Salad.  Then she made a Turkey Pot Pie with lots of turkey and vegetables.  It was mentioned that our guest prefers red wine, otherwise I would have selected a white wine with the meal.  We had a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle Ethos Merlot Columbia Valley 2006, and currently it is listed as Ethos Reserve.  Chateau Ste. Michelle is the oldest and one of the most prestigious wineries in the State of Washington.  They are known for their Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay, but are famed for their Riesling.  It was founded as the American Wine Growers in 1954 by the merger of two that companies that followed the repeal of Prohibition; the National Wine Company and the Pomerelle Wine Company.  The National Wine Company had planted Vitis vinifera grapes in the Columbia Valley, and under the consultation of Andre Tchelistcheff they planted even higher quality grapes in 1967.  These were under the name of Ste. Michelle Vintners and the first wines released were Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Semillon and Grenache.  The particular wine that we had was basically Merlot with some Cabernet Sauvignon blended in, as they claim that their Merlots are so big, that the Cabernet softens the tannins.   The fruit is harvested from three of their vineyards and fermented separately until time of blending.  The wine was aged for twenty-two months in French Oak, of which fifty-six percent is new. They make about thirteen-hundred cases a year. The wine offered lots of dark fruit notes, both for the nose and the palate and the tannins were very mellow with a good medium finish.  A beautiful drinking fifteen-year-old wine.

We also received a clever and inventive wine box, though the gift was for my Bride,though I was mentioned during the selection process as it seemed that I would appreciate the gesture as well.  The wine box had the appearance of an old steamer trunk, when luggage was hard-sided with leather and brass fittings.  It was also covered with replica travel labels, like what people would glue onto the luggage to show that they traveled abroad, especially on the continent.  It appeals to both of us, high on the nostalgia aspect, but also as a great table accessory for parties and a great conversation piece.   

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A Retirement at Rocky’s

Posted on January 5, 2022 by thewineraconteur

Not mine, as somehow, I just eased into a retirement mode after practicing for it, for several years, or so it seems.  Not my Bride’s either, though she is chomping at the bit and making her plans for it.  I joke that I may have to go back to work, when she retires, but in reality, we have actually gotten used to both of us under one roof, almost full time, so I guess we are OK.  No, one of her friends retired and she really didn’t want any of the pomp or circumstance of a corporate retirement party, as she had basically worked “remote” most of her career and enjoyed it immensely.  For years she and my Bride used to go to the spa together and get a workout, and now they mall-walk.  They shop together, and even though they have called a moratorium on gift giving, they still find loopholes to continue giving gifts. 

Sometimes I even get a chance to be the third wheel as the other night, we had gathered for dinner to celebrate the retirement.  We all met at Rocky’s in Northville, which is becoming one of go-to restaurant along with half of the population around here.  It is off the beaten track and as far back as I can remember, you always had to have a reservation, especially now with their shortened hours of business. Rocky’s has several rooms and this time we were seated just off the bar and not far from the stuffed Kodiak bear, which just adds to the ambiance of being a restaurant “up north.” We actually were very easy that night as we all started with the famous Black Bean soup, that even during the fifteen-day quarantine that lasted over a year, we would order this soup by the quarts to take home. Then we all had Potato Encrusted Great Lakes Whitefish with a Lemon-Cream Sauce and fresh vegetables.  Then the three of us shared a Sander’s Hot Fudge Cream Puff, a Michigan (especially a Detroit) classic dessert.

Since this was a bon-voyage party we had a bottle of bubbly, Piper Sonoma Brut Sonoma County NV.  Piper Sonoma was founded in 1980 by the Marquis d’Aulan, whose family has been linked for generations with Champagne and Premium wines.  The wine is produced in Healdsburg and is produced by the classic technique known as Methode Traditionelle; the same process used in Champagne.  Each vineyard lot is hand-harvested, fermented and aged separately.  Primary fermentation takes place in tanks and barrels, and then is “tirage” bottled where it undergoes a second fermentation and it ages on the lees.  The wine is a blend of seventy percent Chardonnay, twenty percent Pinot Noir, three percent Pinot Blanc and seven percent Aged Reserved Blend.  The wine was a pretty pale gold color with small bubbles.  It offered notes of apple, mandarin orange and brioche in a rich creamy texture and balanced acidity with a nice medium length finish.  Our guest of honor, who really doesn’t drink, enjoyed a glass of the wine, and of course my Bride found another loophole to give her a retirement present.    

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Christmas Day 2021

Posted on January 3, 2022 by thewineraconteur

As we are all trying to make some semblance of life, we were going to my cousin’s home for Christmas.  For years, Christmas Day was her bailiwick and then her son got married, bought a home, then had a child (a natural progression of life) and then my cousin discovered the joys of a married child.  One year she has Christmas, and the following year, she goes to her son’s home (in another state) for Christmas.  This was her Christmas in Michigan with her son’s family making a homecoming.  A delightful compromise and all the cousins attended with their children.  Years ago, I can remember at my aunt’s home (my cousin’s mother) the kids couldn’t wait to matriculate from the kitchen table to the dining table to be with the adults.  Now, it is another way, as there are so many children of the cousins, that they enjoy having the table in the kitchen away from the “old folks.”

My cousin had a beautiful selection of Armenian appetizers fresh from the oven.  There was Cheese Boereg, a flaky pastry stuffed with a white brick cheese.  There was Lahmajoon, the Armenian individual pizza for a lack of a better description, topped with sauteed ground lamb, onions, garlic and parsley.  Another cousin brought this huge irregular long board that was finished and was a Charcuterie Board with several versions of olives, peppers, Armenian String Cheese and of course the cherished shavings of Basturmah.  Now Basturmah, is an acquired taste, because it is a dried beef that has been covered in spices and allowed to age and dry (as there was no refrigerators back then) and the meat is then cut paper thin.  It sounds pleasant enough, but the spices make the meat deadly lethal in spicy hot tastes and then to boot, the spices emanate out of your pores for a couple of days after digesting the Basturmah.  Needless to say, since I was in retail, I abstained for my customer’s sake.  I only covered some of the main dishes.  I also brought some Gazela Branco Vinho Verde DOC Minho 2019 from Portugal and owned by Sogrape Vinhos.  Sogrape Vinhos began in the wartime environment of World War Two and was started in 1942 by a group of friends and the vision of one man to promote Portugal into an international wine making country.  Fernando van Zeller Guedes led the group and the first global brand that they developed was Mateus Rosé which is now sold in over one-hundred-twenty countries and was a total success.  They began as a negocient buying barrels of wine from small producers in the Douro and bottling in a rented facility.  Through wise investments and careful development, they now own over eight-hundred-thirty hectares of vineyards in all the key Portuguese wine regions. In 1982, they acquired Solar and Quinta de Azevedo in the Vinho Verde region and created their brand of Gazela in 1984. Vinho Verde DOC in the Minho region is famous for their straw-colored light, tangy youthful wine, in fact the wine is so youthful, that is how it got the Vinho Verde name, which means “green wine” and it is also used for the small amount of red (tinto) wine from the district as well. The wine is so “green” that there is a natural petulance or effervescent finish, not enough to be considered a sparkling wine, but distinct from a still wine.  This wine is pure Loureiro for a varietal, which is a light skinned grape famed in Minho, it tends to be blended with Albarino, which is thought to be a relative, but the jury is still out.  There are references to Loureiro going back the late 18th Century in Minho of this grape.  This light alcoholic wine was just perfect with the assorted spices and flavors for the appetizers.

Now you have to understand that at an Armenian dinner after the appetizers, everyone says “I could have stopped after the appetizers,” but that never happens.  My cousin had made as the centerpiece of the dinner this huge beef tenderloin that actually fed the troops, cooked with onions and garlic and other spices.  There was Clams Spaghetti, my uncle’s favorite dish that is still served in his honor.  There were several assorted sides of vegetables.  My cousin also asked if my Bride could bring her Caesar Salad, which I have to say, is a traditional hit as well.  Then whatever is left is clear off the island counter in the kitchen and then the desserts are brought in.  I am no longer a big dessert fan, as I seem to have lost my sweet tooth, but there was some Pomegranate Macaroons that one of the younger cousins made and it was delicious, and a very popular fruit in Armenia.  For the dinner I had brought Celani Family Vineyards Tenacious Estate Napa Valley Red Wine Unfiltered 2016.  When I first had the wine, I was told that it was created in the image of Le Pin and Chateau Petrus, and quite a lofty goal.  The wine is a blend of seventy percent Merlot and thirty percent Cabernet Franc.  The wine is aged in new French Oak for twenty-two months and has become their affordable signature wine.  This had a big nose of black fruit and strawberries, with a taste that was dominated originally by the black cherry, and finishing with some rich terroir and some great acidity for cellaring.  Yes, while my Bride was still waddling while wearing her orthopedic “boot,” I think I was waddling just from all of the food that I had consumed and I was very happy. 

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Happy New Year 2021/2022

Posted on January 1, 2022 by thewineraconteur

“Only the unimaginative can fail to find a reason for drinking champagne.” –Oscar Wilde

“Inventory:

“Four be the things I am wiser to know:
Idleness, sorrow, a friend, and a foe.
Four be the things I’d been better without:
Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt.
Three be the things I shall never attain:
Envy, content, and sufficient champagne.
Three be the things I shall have till I die:
Laughter and hope and a sock in the eye.”
― Dorothy Parker

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Christmas Eve 2021

Posted on December 30, 2021 by thewineraconteur

It is always a wonderful time of the year to spend time with family and we do, even if it is frowned upon in this era.  All of my life, the Christmas season is about family, food and good times and I intend to maintain that tradition.  Earlier in the week we had transported a carload of gifts to their house, because we couldn’t have brought the gifts and all the catering.  I also have to say that the “boot” that my Bride has been saddled with has not deterred her from running around and going up and down staircases.  The funny thing is that this year, we got off easy, as we didn’t host any of the two meals, we only catered noshes and wine, which we can do quite well, in my humble opinion. 

My Bride got a new toy for herself, a food processor, I am sure that there may be another one in the basement, but who cares; because we may never find it.  Any ways she was going to do appetizers and her Caesar Salad.  Among the appetizers, and the reason we opened up the new processor was that she wanted to try a new recipe for a Spinach and Artichoke Dip.  I watched her getting no where with the processor and suggested that she try feeding the ingredients in gradually and that worked, another reason I stay out of the kitchen.  The dip was a hit, but at first, everyone thought it was Guacamole, as the processor really pureed the ingredients.   I decided that the evening belonged to my Bride and I took among the wines for the evening her favorite “go-to” wine Famille Sichel Bordeaux Blanc 2017 was the wine that was poured.  Famille Sichel is a family owned negocient firm from 1883 in Bordeaux, as they were in the procurement process for their locations in Mainz, London and New York.  In 1938 they even bought Chateau Palmer, which at the time had fallen on bad times and have since brought it back to all of its glory.  The family does not believe in resting on their laurels as in 2001 they even built a completely new bottling and storage facility in the Bordeaux region.  This particular bottle of wine is a blend of the two leading white grapes of Bordeaux, namely Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc.  I don’t think that I would be amiss to opine that this wine was aged in Stainless Steel as there was plenty of fruit and very refreshing.  It starts off with a nose of citrus fruits and finishes with some terroir with a decent finish.

Our Brother-in-Law and his wife were the hosts and they went all out for the dinner menu.  He cooked a stuffed turkey in a gas-fryer on his front porch (I will add that my Bride also made stuffing and Armenian Pilaf) as sides for the main courses.  He also cooked Apple-stuffed Pork Tenderloins in an oversized electric oven (my Brother-in-Law loves gadgets) and he also prepared a classic rendition of a Standing Rib Roast.  One of the wines I brought for the evening and to pair with the Standing Rib Roast was also for my Bride, as we enjoyed Cain Vineyard and Winery Cain Concept Napa Valley 1996.  The Cain Vineyard is located at the crest of Mayacamas Range that overlooks the Napa Valley and Saint Helena.  While Cain Concept, is from vineyards lower down the mountain side going from Yountville to Oakville to Rutherford to St. Helena; known as the Benchland and all very special real estate of its own.  This wine is a blend of seventy-eight percent Cabernet Sauvignon, seventeen percent Merlot, and five percent Cabernet Franc.  Cain Concept is handled by the winery the same way as they produce Cain Five (which is the mountain vineyard) and it takes a total of just over three years of production.  There are no notes, but I do know the wine is barreled as I have seen them stacked.  The wine had a beautiful deep color for a twenty-five-year-old.  The nose had softened and didn’t have bright fruit notes.  On the palate the wine was layered and tasted more like an aged Medoc, which is not surprising and it had a nice long finish of terroir.  I did notice that some were a bit surprised at what an older aged wine tastes like, because they are used to having big jammy fruit bombs from California and this wine was much more elegant.   

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A Taste of Monterey-December 2021

Posted on December 28, 2021 by thewineraconteur

It is that time of the year that we received our wine club shipment from A Taste of Monterey and 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.  This shipment featured three wineries that we have enjoyed wines from in past shipments.

Big Sur Vineyards Grenache Arroyo Seco 2018 is from a winery whose first vintage was Big Sur Red 2013 and was a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Petite Sirah.  The winery began as a hobby and they planted vines along with olive groves and lavender.  In the beginning they made soaps as well as slowly making wines and it was a family project, with the kids originally stomping the grapes.  They still make the Big Sur Red and they also produce individual offerings of the original three varietals and some others as well, as they continue to expand.  This is their second offering of the Grenache and their tasting notes says that this wine is as graceful as a Pinot Noir with notes of pomegranate, wild plum and briar picked raspberries, along with pepper and sage, balance and a nice lingering finish of mineral terroir.  As a side note, they had just opened a tasting room in the Carmel Valley in 2016 and three months later the Soberanes fire destroyed their home, vineyards and olive grove, and they are bouncing back with energy.

Pot Belly Vintners Monterey County NV, this wine is a blend of four different vintages from a three-acre plot that only grows the Souzao varietal.  As in most traditional Port wines the fermentation has been arrested by the fortification with brandy which brings the alcohol content up to 18.5%.  The aging potential for this wine is up to twenty years.  This wine calls itself a Port wine, though the classic Port wines come from Porto in Portugal.  The Portuguese government and the winemakers have gotten a ruling that only wines from the Douro Valley can now be called Port, similar to the laws governing the usage of the word Champagne.  Though wineries that were making classic port-style wines prior to this ruling have been grandfathered in, and may continue using the word Port on the label.  The tasting notes remark about the deep purple color, that this wine is jammy with a concentration of black cherry, blueberry, raspberry and licorice, offering layered flavors of chocolate covered cherries, pepper and hints of tobacco and clove.  Perfectly balanced with a velvety texture and a long finish.  The aging potential for this wine is fifteen to twenty years.

Wrath Estate Wines Swan/828 Pinot Noir Monterey County 2018 is Estate Grown fruit and is part of their Winemakers Series.  Over the years we have received and enjoyed many wines from Wrath.  Wrath Estate Winery is located in Soledad, California and they are a winery where production is limited, but not the quality, and since we have been there, they have opened a satellite tasting room in downtown Carmel.  The winery produces Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Falanghina and Sauvignon Blanc from their estate vineyard and some very respected private vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands.  This is among the top ten most highly rated Monterey wines by Wine Spectator and based on critic scores and price, this wine represents great value.  It is from their San Saba Vineyards which is just below the Santa Lucia Highlands.  This clonal blend offers dark cherry, raspberries and earth to the nose, a balanced wine on the palate with red berry and cherry cola notes and a long finish with notes of minerals and terroir.

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Merry Christmas 2021

Posted on December 26, 2021 by thewineraconteur

My Bride and I wish you a

Merry Christmas

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Three More Reds with Korbin Ming

Posted on December 24, 2021 by thewineraconteur

It was a beautiful day and I was finishing a wine tasting that Korbin Ming was conducting at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  Korbin Ming is the Associate Winemaker at Korbin Kameron Winery, one of the many hats he wears at the winery and at Moonridge Vineyards all at Mount Veeder.   He next poured the Korbin Kameron Cabernet Sauvignon Estate Grown Sonoma Valley 2011.  This wine in newer vintages carries the Moon Mountain District AVA of Sonoma Valley.  This wine spent eighteen months of aging in French Oak, of which half of the barrels were new; and there were about six-hundred cases produced of this wine.  The earliest vintage that I have tried from the winery was their 2005 and the 2011 was big and sassy, just like that one.  For a ten-year-old wine, this wine was what a Cabernet Sauvignon can be and it shows what a mountain wine can achieve with those additional hours and days of sunlight, since they are located above the morning fog of the valleys.

We then shifted over to the Korbin Kameron Estate Blend Red Wine Cuvee Kristin Sonoma Valley 2011, and named after Korbin and Kameron’s sister Kristin, who also works for the family business.  The Korbin Kameron Estate Blend Red Wine Cuvée Kristin 2011 was thirty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twenty percent Petit Verdot, twenty percent Malbec, seventeen percent Merlot and thirteen percent Cabernet Franc.  There were two-hundred cases made of this wine and it was a big chewy red that would stain your teeth and have you wanting more.  In fact, I did have seconds, it was that good, and I knew that I was bending the rules.

The last wine of the tasting was the Korbin Kameron Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Mount Veeder Napa Valley Estate Grown 2016.  As you may notice, that while it is still an Estate Grown wine, this part of their estate has crossed the border and carries the Napa Valley sub-region of Mount Veeder AVA.  This reserve wine was aged for eighteen months, but it is entirely made with new French Oak barrels and about sixty cases were produced.  This wine was stellar, big and chewy, with delightful tannins even five years later and a nice long finish of terroir; a big selling point for me.  While amazing now, if you have the patience, a ten-year rest in the cellar would be well worth the wait. 

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An Encore Tasting with Korbin Ming

Posted on December 22, 2021 by thewineraconteur

I can’t think of a better way to spend an hour or so tasting wines at my favorite wine shop The Fine Wine Shop in Livonia, Michigan.  I know that sometimes I sound like a broken record always mentioning this shop, but I am getting spoiled by all the different wines that I have tasted and many times curated by an owner of a winery.  I mean, there are not that many shops that are interested or can make it happen.   This is now the third time that I have had a tasting conducted by Korbin Ming and he is the Associate Winemaker at Korbin Kameron Winery and he even remembered me (I guess because of my questions and my constant photographing of the wines).  Korbin Kameron wines is the brand for Moonridge Vineyards located on Mount Veeder, a curious location which separates Napa County from Sonoma County and there nineteen acres can be found on both sides of the slope.  Mitchell Ming is the proprietor along with his wife, and the winery is named after his twin children and his other daughter has a vineyard named for her.

We started off with Korbin Kameron Sauvignon Blanc Moon Mountain District 2019 and an Estate Grown wine.  Moon Mountain District is a subregion of Sonoma County.  This wine had initial fermentation in Stainless Steel and then was aged for four months in oak, of which twenty percent was new, and three-hundred cases were made.  This wine had the classic nose of lemongrass and a touch of lime, while on the palate the classic taste of grapefruit and perhaps a touch of honeydew melon, with a nice dry finish.  We then followed up with Korbin Kameron Semillon Moon Mountain District 2018 is an Estate Grown wine. Semillon is probably one of the least known, major varietals in the wine industry.  It makes some of the greatest sweet wines and it also makes some of the greatest dry wines.  Its home is Bordeaux, though it is done extremely well in parts of Australia and among a few wineries in California.  A wine that starts in Stainless Steel and finishes in oak.  There was only one barrel made of this wine or twenty-five cases or three-hundred bottles, so I am glad that we got some, and I consider it a rare coup for us. This organically made wine used native yeasts and had a nose that I would call plush floral and citrus, and it brought notes of citrus and ripe pear with a nice lingering long count finish.

We then had a chance to compare two different vintages of the Korbin Kameron Merlot. Both were Estate Grown, but the 2011 vintage was Sonoma County and the 2015 vintage had the Moon Mountain District AVA. The wines are aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which half is new.  They make about three hundred cases of the Merlot each vintage.  Once again, I felt like I was out of the mainstream.  Everyone was going for the 2015 which was vibrant with Black Cherry notes both in the nose and on the palate, the concept of big fruit is the norm.  I was enthralled with the 2011 vintage which while still having the notes of Black Cherry had mellowed and was multi-layered with richness and elegance.

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Wine Club Selections – December 2021

Posted on December 20, 2021 by thewineraconteur

With everything going on in the month of December, I went to my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan to pick up our monthly wine club selections and I was going also for another wine tasting conducted by Korbin Ming of Korbin Kameron.  It was a bonus day for me, but there is always something interesting to try and to learn once you cross the threshold of this fine shop.  All for the price of zero, one can join their wine club, (of course you do have to give them permission to invoice you once a month on the charge card of your choice) and they will send you an announcement when to come and pick up the monthly selections.  Every wine in the shop has been curated by the owner and you know that you will find wines that are not carried by every gas station, pharmacy, party store, grocer and big-box wine shop.  They fill a niche, and they do it very well.  The other nice thing is that you automatically get case-discount pricing, even if you just stop and pick up a bottle or two, a beautiful perk that I truly enjoy.  The other great thing is that they are now having tastings conducted by winemakers and wine distributors, as well as their usual personalized tastings, if you are not sure, what you want to pick up. 

The first selection representing the Old World is Domaine de Fontenelles Aude-Coteaux de Miramont IGP 2018.  The Domaine has been family owned for five generations and is forty hectares of Syrah, Grenache Noir, Carignan and Mourvedre in the Corbieres AOC and the Aude-Coteaux de Miramont IGP; and they are committed to the new techniques espoused by ISO-26000.  Aude IGP is considered one of the most productive regions in the country, and is located in the South of France and parts of the region are considered Mediterranean and the other part is considered Maritime.  Coteaux de Miramont is a sub-region of Aude, east of Carcassonne on the banks of the Aude, within the larger Corbieres AOC and generally produces reds and rosés.  Le Poete is a blend of thirty percent Syrah, thirty-five percent Merlot, twenty-five percent Syrah and ten percent Carignan.  Part of the Carignan and part of the Syrah was done in Carbonic Maceration, and part of the Syrah was done with cold pre-fermentation; and the others were done in traditional fermentation methods.  This is wine to be enjoyed in its youth, so maybe four to five years cellaring at the max.  The wine is said to have a nose offering red fruit, spices and the garrigue (the scrublands), with a balance palate of fruit and soft tannins.  The wine is touted to work especially well with Asian dishes and other spicier cuisines.

The wine representing the New World is from Michigan.  Mari Vineyards Simplicissimus Sparkling Riesling Old Mission Peninsula AVA 2017.  We have been to Mari Vineyards in our travels, but alas this wine was not among the wines we tasted, nor is part of the wines that they are offering on their website.  There was a cute story on the back label: “The adventurous Simplicissimus 2017 Sparkling Riesling Old Mission Peninsula.  That is: The singular life story a heedless sparkling wine.  How it was first fermented by a most peculiar yeast/named Torulaspora Delbruckeii.  How the young wine was waylaid early in its journey by a sudden drop in temperature/and left to slumber on a bed of lees/its sweetness still intact.  Who was revived the following spring by two neighboring lads/Who bottled the wine and sequestered it in a cave.  Where it emerged a year later fully effervescent /dry/mature, ready to be riddled and disgorged/ with no want of dosage.  Simply put/a story of Brut Nature.” Even more curious the bottle is sealed with a classic beer cap closure, so instead of a corkscrew or a saber, one only needs a church key.  I think that this will be a fun wine to try in the near future with something different for dinner.  And as an added extra bonus while I was there to pick up the Club Selections, Tom Celani of Celani Family Vineyards walked in as well.       

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