The Rugby Grille

Posted on July 23, 2021 by thewineraconteur

We were still aimlessly wandering in downtown Birmingham, albeit shopping in the summer sun.  While Noel Coward may not have coined the expression, it still rings true when one is shopping in a downtown setting “Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.”  You stop at a couple of stores, and then you have to walk over to the parking garage to drop off your shopping bags, so that you can continue on. There is just something more traditional and comforting shopping at small independent retail establishments, instead of giant behemoth shopping malls with more loiterers than shoppers. 

We walked over to the Townsend Hotel, where we have even stayed because of board meetings in the past, and went to the Rugby Grille.  You can tell that the Townsend is a traditional location with a bar by that name, and it fits in perfectly in the city of Birmingham. I am a creature of comfort, so I prefer to go and drink at the bar, rather than sit outside at a table especially on a hot afternoon and breath in exhaust fumes from cars driving by or idling.  Plus, it is the type of establishment that has bartenders of the Old School that can regale you with tales of days of yore, of past exploits of watering holes across the country, some that are still around and others that are now part of history.  I guess I just like colorful tales of three martini lunches, and dinner parties where the host and his guests eventually have to be dragged out, because the bar was either closing or had closed.  Those were wonderful days and as the legendary Bernard “Toots” Shor said when the blackouts of WWII affected the night life of Manhattan “any guy that can’t get drunk by midnight, aint trying.”

As we were cooling off at the bar, and I even think that my Bride enjoys sitting at some bars, we had to get something to cool off with.  My Bride had a glass of Domaine des Cassagnoles Blanc Cotes de Gascogne IGP 2019.  If she hadn’t chose it, I would, because of the famous Gascon in literature D’Artagnan.  Gilles Baumann and Janine Cardeillac Baumann moved into the family farm called Cassagnoles in Gascony back in 1974.  Originally the farm produced grapes for the production of Armagnac.  In 1978, they created their first bottle of wine commercially. In 1980 they created the first bottle of Le Domaine des Cassagnoles which was pure Colombard.  In 2010, the parents retired and their daughter took over, and she began instituting best agriculture practices as well as introducing more varietals.  The sixty-hectare estate continues to win more and more accreditations in the wine industry for good husbandry. Cotes de Gascogne IGP wines are basically white and made from the local varieties of Courbu, Gros Manseng, Colombard and Arrufiac and there is about ten percent red wine production.  Originally it was a Vin de Pays rating or Table Wine, and about sixty percent of the wine is exported.  Colombard is one of the two main wines used to make Armagnac, which is also part of the Cotes de Gascogne IGP, and the characteristics of this grape is high acidity, low alcohol and a rather neutral flavor.  This wine was just bright and crisp, not a lot of character, with a flinty terroir finish, but a winner on a hot day.

I went out of character a bit and tried a glass of Weingut St. Urbans-Hoff Riesling Estate Bottled from Old Vines Mosel 2019.  Weingut St Urbans-Hof is a family-owned estate founded in 1947 and they are now in their third generation.  The winery was founded by Nicolaus Weis and since 1997 it is managed by Nik Weis.  They became part of the VDP in 2000.  Some of their vineyards have ungrafted vines that are over one-hundred years of age.  They use white labels for their dry wines and black labels for their sweet wines. This wine is made from vines that are forty to sixty years of age, and they use indigenous yeasts to make this wine in Stainless Steel.  Even though it is on a black label, the wine was very crisp with floral notes, offering the taste of stone fruits and a nice mineral terroir finish, with just a reminder of sweetness to me.  If we were ordering food, this would have been terrific with pork. Then we went back out for more walking and some more shopping.  We like to get about five miles a day in walking and we accomplished that goal.   

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The Daxton Hotel

Posted on July 21, 2021 by thewineraconteur

The other day we were out shopping in the city of Birmingham.  Which has a charming downtown area, and one could walk around, shop, dine and drink.  My perfect environment for a leisurely day out.  We even did some shopping for me, who according to my Bride, is a big pain to shop for, something about high maintenance and expensive tastes (who knew?).  I got a chance to reminisce with another old war horse about the glory days of men’s wear, much to my Bride’s chagrin.  It was a hot day, and we were wondering around and saw a new hotel.  I had read that there was a new hotel opening in the downtown, and it was very sleek and ultramodern.  At first, I didn’t think that they were open yet, and as we walked around the corner, I saw a bar and better yet, activity at the bar.  We decided to go in and get out of the sun.

When we walked in, I had to ask for the name of the hotel, and they made us feel very comfortable.  My Bride went up to the bar, and I kind of bellied up to the bar, as we used to say, when none of my contemporaries had bellies.  We looked at a wine carte and selected a couple of glasses of wine, to cool off, before we went back out in the sun and some more shopping.  We also looked over at the dining room, which was just off, from the bar area.  Another time for dining.  Of course, little did we know, that we were attending their soft opening, and when we called for our tab, there wasn’t one, so our bartender really enjoyed his tip (that I am sure of).  We will have to go back there and actually pay for the experience. 

My Bride has had a thing recently for bubbles and she had a glass of Bortolotti Brut Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG NV from Cantine Umberto Bortolotti.  Umberto Bortolotti graduated from Scuola Enologica di Conegliano in 1947 and founded his own winery in the aftermath of the war.  In 1954, he moved to his present location and has been constantly updating and restoring his property and estate.  He now has his son and a nephew who are now managing the company.  They also have contract growers in Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, some going back for seventy years.  The winery has also been getting certified for all of the modern wine making standards of the new era.  Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG is given to the prestigious zone for Prosecco wines in the Veneto, made from the Glera grape.  The appellation was created in 1969 and forty years later it became DOCG.  The Superiore designation just means that the wine has a higher proof rating than the normal wines made and only for the sparkling wines.   The grapes are hand harvested from vineyards in clay and sandstone grounds. The wine is made using the Charmat Method and they used autoclaves to ensure the hygiene and is aged for around four months in the bottle.  It has a pretty straw color with greenish tints, and a nice flowery nose, well balanced and very easy to drink, especially on such a hot day.  I went with a glass of Bernard Fouquet Domaine des Aubuisieres Cuvee de Silex Vouvray 2019 from the Loire Valley of France.  Vouvray is probably the most respected and most known region of the Loire Valley and all types of wines are made in the district.  Bernard Fouquet has thirty hectares of vineyards in the Vouvray region of Touraine. The wines he produces are all made with Chenin Blanc and the wines are aged on fine lees in a mix of new and once or twice used barrels.  This was a beautiful dry wine with a very soft golden-straw color with a nose of orange blossoms, the taste was more of ripe pears, but not sweet and a nice finish of terroir.  This is a very easy drinking wine, what some of us call quaffable.  A wonderful way for the both of us to cool off for a while and then go back out shopping and getting our daily allotment of walking.   

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Domaine la Sobilane Rivesaltes

Posted on July 19, 2021 by thewineraconteur

At my local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source, I encountered a wonderful treat on one of my visits.  You may have noticed that I stop there frequently, but I am used to the concept of customer service, an idea that seems to be antiquated and quaint to the new consumers.  As I grew up in retailing, where one tried on a garment to see if it fits, at The Fine Wine Source I have a chance to taste some wines on occasion.  The owner asked me, if I would like to try a seventy-year-old wine and I didn’t pause at all, to answer him in the affirmative. 

Rivesaltes is an appellation for the historic sweet wines of eastern Roussillon, part of the Languedoc-Roussillon that is becoming much more popular, in the deep south of France. The sweet “vin doux naturel” wines produced in this area have been famous and reported on since at least the 14th Century. The technique used to make them is one of several employed for sweet wines. Unlike botrytized wines or ice wines, “vin doux naturel” wines are made by mutage, a process of stopping the must fermenting while there is still a high level of natural sweetness. With their high levels of residual sugar and alcohol these wines are sweet and a bit syrupy, which is an easy way to describe it.  Rivesaltes wines are often confused with Muscat de Rivesaltes wines, which are similar in style and come from the same area, except that it is made from Muscat grapes, while Rivesaltes is made from Grenache of all three forms, that is Noir, Blanc and Gris.  There are a couple of different designations for this wine, depending on its age.

We were tasting Domaine la Sobilane Rivesaltes 1951.  The Forties and the Fifties were considered the Golden Age for Rivesaltes. Domaine la Sobilane are known for oxidizing their Grenache Noir for three years in demijohns and demi-muids, which are glass bottles also called bonbonnes.  While the wine is in these sealed bottles, they are may be left outside in the elements and exposed to sun, rain, temperature swings and extreme weather, which allows the wine to maderise.  Then the wine matures in barrels for a minimum of four years.  It reminds one of a Tawny Port, but the Grenache delvers a different twist to the experience.  This wine was just a delight with layers of flavors.  For its age, I was amazed at how crisp and balanced the wine was, a little bit of honey, notes of almonds or marzipan (an old addiction of mine, but only for quality marzipan made by the old confectioners) and a finish that had a very long count.  A beautiful wine that really needs to be at the tail end of an exquisite dinner, and with only people that can really appreciate a sublime wine to finish off the night.

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Wine Club July 2021

Posted on July 17, 2021 by thewineraconteur

My local wine shop, The Fine Wine Source issued their two selections for the month.  I am proud to say that this fine institution probably survived during the economic upheaval of the last almost two years by our harridan’s fiats, because of their wine club.  We could make arrangements to pick up the monthly selections and also find some other gems or refill orders of our latest go-to wines.  Since they didn’t sell cigarettes, snack foods or lottery tickets, they were not considered necessary, except by their loyal customers.  They even became quite creative and one could book a tasting with all the appropriate distancing and plexiglass shields that were prevalent.  It became an adventure, and one that the loyal customers wanted to partake of, because of their tremendous customer service.  Through the entire topsy-turvy era, they still maintained the concept of having one Old World and one New World selection and they had to be affordable, great value and not to be found in every gas station, grocery store, pharmacy of corner party store. 

Thierry Delaunay “La Vignette” Rosé Touraine 2020 in the Loire Valley was the first wine in our monthly package.  The Loire is France’s longest river and many distinct wine regions are found there.  Touraine is one of the districts in the heart of the valley.  The city of Tours is halfway between Sancerre and Nantes. Touraine has its own appellation that covers white, red and rosé wines, both still and sparkling.  Whites are Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, while the reds are predominately Gamay, Cabernet Franc (known locally as Cot) and Malbec. Thierry Delaunay has twenty-one hectares of vineyards that have been in the family for five generations and he also works with additional contract growers.  This wine is thirty-four percent Gamay, thirty-three percent Cabernet Franc and thirty-three percent Malbec and the wine is age on fine lees in Stainless Steel to maintain the freshness of the fruit.  The notes on this wine are a well-balanced salmon-pink wine with notes of red currants, strawberries and raspberries, that carry over into the taste in a creamy and supple wine on the palate.  Perfect for a summer meal of roast chicken or grilled shrimp, cheese and charcuterie.

Airfield Estates “Bombshell” Red Blend, Yakima Valley 2018 of Washington State offers a label reminiscent of the nose or fuselage art that was prevalent on the bombers used by the Americans during World War Two; the term Bombshell is probably archaic and unknown to the current generation, but it was appreciated by those that survived the war.  The roots of Airfield Estates go back to 1907 and H. Lloyd Miller.  The family leased property which became a flight school for hundreds of pilots and after the war, the family ended up with the property and started the Airfield Ranch. The property was still with the family and in 1967, they experimented with three different varietals.  In 1971, they had their first commercial planting after years of testing. In 1974, Mike Miller joined the family, in the wine production.  They have eight-hundred-thirty acres of wine vineyards and three-hundred-fifty acres of Concord juice grapes.  In 2005, Airfield Estates was founded, and they stopped selling their crops to other wineries and began making their own wines. This wine is forty percent Syrah, thirty-seven percent Merlot, eighteen percent Cabernet Sauvignon and five percent Malbec.  The notes on this wine offers a nose of bramble fruit and spices, the palate continues with these notes and offers secondary notes of boysenberry and pomegranate with a medium finish and a burst of fresh fruit. This is a fruit-forward wine that would probably best pair with steaks or pork.   

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Tank Garage Dinner-Final Courses

Posted on July 15, 2021 by thewineraconteur

Tank Garage Winery sent me some four bottles to sample and to review, and some people would have just enjoyed them when they received them.  I remember doing a virtual wine tasting and at least one of the reviewers admitted to drinking the wine before the event.  I don’t want to sound boastful, but I think that I could find a few bottles of wine to drink, between the moment that I receive the wine, to the moment that we actually taste the wines.  We decided to share and get some other viewpoints, which are always interesting to hear.  It also gave us some time to ponder a menu and tweak it towards the wines.  I also didn’t want my Bride to be in the kitchen the entire time of the tasting, so that was another concern.

When we shifted to the Dining Room, it was now time for the second half of the dinner.  We started off with an imposter, my Bride did a commercial Caesar Salad, and may I say “never again.”  It is alright to try a Brand X when one is out and about, but not at home.  We had a marinated Pork Tenderloin using Garlic, Rosemary and aged Balsamic and a side of sauteed diced fennel and onions as a side.  We paired this dish with Tank Garage Winery Dopamine Red Wine Sierra Foothills 2019.  Dopamine is a medication form of a substance that occurs naturally in the body, and it improves the pumping strength of the heart and improves blood flow to the kidneys, and I thought that was a unique name for a wine.  This wine was sixty-one percent Tempranillo, twenty-six percent Graciano and thirteen percent Syrah and it had a nice blood color to it, if I can interpolate.  The wine was aged for fifteen months in neutral oak and there were three-hundred-fifty cases produced.  This wine got everyone’s attention with a nose of strawberry and huckleberry mentioned by almost all.  It had a fruit forward offering of red fruits, mostly dry with a nice finish.  It paired very with the pork, but it also was delightful with the fennel and the onions. 

For the last course of the meal with had a classic version of Lamb Chops with Italian Herbs and Garlic and a course of baked potato slices with Parmesan Cheese.  Our last bottle of wine was Tank Garage Winery Wild Eyes Red Blend Napa Valley 2017, and just to clarify, I may be a mediocre photographer, but the label is printed to make it look like I had one too many.  This wine was a blend of fifty-one percent Malbec, forty-seven percent Cabernet Sauvignon and two percent Merlot.  It was aged for nineteen months in French Oak, a mix of new and once or twice used.  There were seven-hundred-forty-four cases made of this wine.  If the last wine was greeted with kudos, this wine was over the top for the evening.  The nose of dark fruits coupled with a taste of dark fruits, tinged with Blackberries, some notes of Chocolate and Vanilla.  I would definitely say that this group was more partial to big in-your-face wines, which the last two wines demonstrated.  In case, you think it ended, my Bride went and made Bananas Foster for dessert, and once again a thank you to Tank Garage Winery for their generosity.  They may be a bit more avant-garde, and we are a bit Old School, but the two worlds meshed very well for a couple hours of good food, wonderful wines and great friends.

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Tank Garage Wine Dinner-Opening Courses

Posted on July 13, 2021 by thewineraconteur

Courtesy of Tank Garage Winery, we had a dinner focused on four of their wines, I found myself surrounded by Insurance people, and thankfully I can speak “insurancese.”  With Tank Garage Winery furnishing the wines, for my honest review, my Bride and I decided on a menu that would pair with the wines.  The trick was getting a menu that would relatively time with the schedule of the tasting, and my Bride gave it her best shot and it worked out.  We had my Bride, Ms. Yoga, The Caller and the newest member, but a friend for ages The Euchre-Foodie (since everyone is a foodie, these days I had to append some other significant descriptor to his nom de plume).  The good thing is that even though I was surrounded by insurance people, no one sold life insurance.

We started in the living room having appetizers.  Our first course was Baked Brie with Caramelized Onion Jam, baked baguettes and Shrimp Cocktails with a medium-heat horseradish sauce.  We paired this with Tank Garage Winery “Boys Cry” El Dorado County 2020, their Carbonic White Wine.  Carbonic Maceration is a technique, used basically for red wines.  They take whole clusters of grapes in a covered tank and pump in carbon dioxide, which removes oxygen.  Slowly the grapes release an enzyme that converts the grape sugar in to alcohol, bursting the berries without the addition of yeast, then gravity starts removing the juice and then the clusters are pressed using a traditional press.  The wine is a blend of forty-three percent Roussanne, thirty-two percent Vermentino and twenty-five percent Petit Manseng.  Roussanne is mostly associated in the Rhone Valley, but there are a couple of wineries that have had great success with it, and it was often misidentified or assumed to be Viognier.  Vermentino is found to be successful in several countries and known by its local name, and is likened to Viognier as well.  Petit Manseng is most often found in southwest France, a thick-skinned berry that has high acidity and can handle a long growing season and the berries can actually become “raisin-like” on the vine creating intense sugar.  El Dorado County AVA was awarded in 1983 and is basically the foothills of the Sierras, and vineyards have been planted to face all four directions and many different wines are created here.  There were three-hundred-sixty-two cases made of this wine.  Several people at first thought the wine was a Vermouth, because of the floral and herb notes on the nose.  As they started to taste and dissect the wine, the common notes were apricot, peach, lemon and lime zest and acidity.  The wine was not a wine that anyone would go and buy for their own consumption.

The next course of appetizers for the evening was grilled Salmon with a Bourbon glaze.  We paired this with the Tank Garage “Little Secrets” El Dorado County, Barsotti Vineyard 2020, their Carbonic Gamay wine, and one of the few wines that they make that is not a blend.  Gamay is the fruit forward grape that has found its home in Beaujolais.  This wine was aged for three months in neutral oak and four-hundred-sixty case were produced.  Rose Petals and Cherries were the notes for the nose, and blood orange and peaches were the taste that most could agree on.  The wine reminded me of Beaujolais wines of the Sixties and Seventies, before they became a gimmick in the Fall.  It paired quite well with the Salmon and this wine was appreciated and accepted.  We were now getting ready to go into the Dining Room to finish off the meal and the other two wines. 

 

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“Never Dream Alone”

Posted on July 11, 2021 by thewineraconteur

I have written and reviewed some wines from Tank Garage Winery and through social media we have an association.  On social media, I think it works best when there is give and take.  I guess they noticed that I write about a lot of different wines, including their wines.  I only follow someone, if they follow me, as I feel that it is more respectful.  One day they asked me, if I would like to review some more wines of theirs.  I thanked them and I am sure that they saw my post on “Samples.” I don’t want anyone to think that I am a rubber-stamp-approval-service, just looking for free wines.   It is not worth my integrity.  They asked me if I had any requests, and I told them to surprise me, thought I did mention what I had wrote about in the past.

Tank Garage Winery is a partnership between Napa wine veterans James Harder and Jim Regusci.  They had actually worked together earlier both at James Cole Winery and T-Vine Cellars.  They opened up what many people think is the coolest winery in Calistoga, in a former gas station, and truth be told, it may have been a gas station, the last time I was in Calistoga.  James Harder was from the Edmonton, Alberta area in Canada, worked for Vincor International, which is now part of Constellation Brands, including time at Inniskillin Winery, famed for their Ice Wines.  Jim Regusci is a fourth generation Napa Valley resident and associated with Regusci Winery on a ranch that his grandfather purchased in 1931.  In 1985, he oversaw eight acres and thirty years later he oversees twenty-three-hundred acres and Regusci Winery was formed in 1996.

They released their first vintage in 2011.  They specialize in blends, rather than pure varietal wines.  Originally aiming at productions of one-hundred-fifty cases of a particular wine.  While the tasting room is located in the gas station in Calistoga, the majority of their wines are sourced from fruit in vineyards outside of Napa Valley.  They have quite a following, almost like a cult, in a very good sense, because of the unique and fun labels, not to mention the names of the wines that they create.  They are true fans of marketing, with ancillary products and they even go out of their way to get vibrant and lively employees especially for customer service in the tasting room.  As they claim, the winery was based on a dream and not a boardroom decision.  They are also partial to the F-word, so Joe Pesci and Quintin Tarantino would have no problem working or tasting there.  With four bottles to sample, we decided to have another wine dinner and share our good fortune among our wine loving friends.   The next two articles will be about the wines and of course the dinner as well. 

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A Lunch That Ended Well

Posted on July 9, 2021 by thewineraconteur

We were meeting a friend out in Brighton for lunch the day after Independence Day.  We picked up the friend at her house and had some bubbles before we went out for the actual lunch.  We had made a reservation, because I was just happy to find a restaurant open on a Monday, since our state is still suffering from the problems incurred by the lockdown.  We got to the restaurant and I opened the door to let them enter, and this woman in a Polo Shirt Dress took advantage that I was still holding the door open and almost knocked the women over trying to get to the desk and pulled her weight as a regular to get this table overlooking the pedestrian traffic in the town.  My Bride had set her eyes upon that table and she was miffed to put it mildly.  We were taken to a nice booth and my Bride complained to our waitress, but told her that it would not affect our feelings towards her service.  Our waitress went and got one of the owners and she attempted to alleviate the problem with some comped dishes and that was not what my Bride had in mind and told the owner, that was not her goal. 

The table calmed down and it took a while to order our lunches, just because we were so busy chatting.  The two ladies eventually settled on the Blackened Salmon Salad with mixed greens, arugula, bleu cheese, red onion, pumpkin seeds, dried Michigan cherries and edamame in a Maple Vinaigrette topped with Brussel Sprout chips.  Each salad would have sufficed a party of four with shared plates, so both of the ladies immediately requested a take home box and they actually put more than half in the box and it was still over-kill for both of the ladies, especially with the nice dinner rolls.  I went with their New England Lobster Roll with Old Bay Tarragon Aioli, baby arugula and pickled red onions on a Brioche roll with a side of cracked pepper kettle chips.  When all was said and done and we were calling for our bill, the restaurant sent over a huge slab of their Carrot Cake and a Crème Brulee as well. 

During the early portion of the meal as we were getting everything ordered, I had ordered a split of wine, as it was the only way the wine was offered and it sounded it interesting.  It turned out that the bartender, who usurped the hostess and gave the table to the obnoxious impatient woman, could not find the wine and our waitress asked if I would make a second selection, which I did.  When she came back to serve the wine, she had my original selection, the owner found the wine, that the bartender could not find and I was informed that there was a second split, if we needed it, and we did eventually.  We had Terra Alpina by Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio Dolomiti 2018 from the Alto Adige region in northern Italy.  Alois Lageder is a reknowned wine producer from the Alto Adige region and the winery was established in 1823 and has been family owned ever since.  The winery has one-hundred-ten hectares of vineyards spread across the region.  The top wines are from their “Masterpieces” series, followed by their “Compositions” and then some classical grape varieties.  Then they have two collections Riff and Terra Alpina and the fruit is harvested from partner-growers in the area.  Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT designation is basically from the Trentino-Alto Adige region with a bit in the Veneto district as well and is named for the Dolomite Mountain range which is the main range. The IGT was introduced in Italy in 1997 and for this region covers red, white, rosé, blend, varietal, dry, still, sparkling and sweet wines.  The majority of the white wines are from Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay, this was a charming and easy drinking Pinot Grigio that had some character and a nice finish, so it was easy to understand why we ended up having a second bottle of the wine, as it evaporated so quickly; that really is a problem with splits.  Our final verdict is that we will go back to the restaurant as our waitress was wonderful and the owner did a great job as well and the food was delicious and plentiful.

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Two Summer Wines

Posted on July 7, 2021 by thewineraconteur

There are days when I walk into my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source and every wine is a winner.  Actually, that is every time I stop in, because they don’t carry the usual run-of-the-mill wines that are found in gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores, department stores and convenience stores.  I would have to say that close to one-hundred percent of all the wines that they carry, they have actually tasted.  Another unique aspect, is that if they really like a wine, they may try to corner the market on it, in the state.  And if that does happen, he still doesn’t try to gouge, because sometimes he can get a better price and he in-turn gives a better price to his customers. 

What a perfect wine to start the day then, having Les Maîtres Vignerons de Vidaubanaise “La Plage” Rosé du Var IGP 2020 and la plage translates to the beach.  The producer is also known as La Vidaubanaise.  The cellar was founded in 1912 in the town of Vidauban, and operates a cooperative of vineyards in the Var Department of the Cotes de Provence.  They mainly grow Syrah, Grenache, Cinsault, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon and Rolle.  They have also attained the highest level of environmental agriculture in France.  They maintain six-hundred hectares of vines which are between fifteen and thirty-five years of age, planted on soil of sand, clay and limestone.  The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Carignan and Merlot.  The wine is fermented and aged in Stainless and bottled in February after the harvest.  The nose offered ripe cherries and raspberries and delivered a bright refreshing taste that gave me watermelon and cherries with a short finish of minerals.     

I followed up with Ixsir Winery Grand Reserve Rosé Batroun, Lebanon 2020.  Ixsir Winery was founded in 2009 in the northern part of Lebanon in Batroun which is a coastal area.  They are a mountain winery, and one of the highest in elevation for the Northern Hemisphere.  The name Ixsir derives from the Arabic word “Iksir” the original Arabic word for “elixir.” History has recorded that man has searched for the perfect elixir for eternal youth and for love.  The winery is very progressive and has been named one of the greenest buildings in the world.  The winery owns one-hundred-twenty hectares in the Batroun with several different vineyards capitalizing on the terroir.  The winery grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Tempranillo, Caladoc, Cinsault, Merlot, Obeidy, Viognier, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon.  Quite impressive for a young company, as far as I am concerned. This wine was forty percent Mourvedre, forty percent Cinsault and twenty percent Syrah.  This was done in Stainless Steel for both fermentation and aging to maintain the fresh fruit of the wine.  A beautiful floral nose with flavors of red fruits, bright and firm acidity and a nice lingering finish of terroir for a lighter wine.  Perfect on a summer day with barbecued lamb, and a couple of more bottles chilling on reserve.

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En Primeur Reds – Part Two

Posted on July 5, 2021 by thewineraconteur

If I was this excited just tasting a selective sample group of En Primeur wines, if and when the world opens up again properly, those lucky souls that will be there, will be in Seventh Heaven.  I have read and lived vicariously through some of the other En Primeur seasons by writers that I admire.  To be even this close, through the generosity of my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source, is a trip to Heaven for me.  As you may have surmised from plenty of my articles, The Fine Wine Source is not a corner store, it is a destination trip for me and the majority of the customers. 

This tasting of wines was over the top for me, and while I have never learned the fine art of “spitting,” partly because so many of the wines that I taste as a lay-person are just too good, not to savor.  I also apologize for my lack of descriptors when faced with great wines.  I grew up and was mentored when one didn’t need Roget’s Thesaurus to describe wines.  They would educate me, by saying this is a classic example of a Pauillac, or they would say this Saint-Julien is too young and needs another ten years in the cellar.  I would like to appear erudite and sophisticated in discussing these wines, but it would never sound like me, and I think a couple of words can truly suffice when talking about quality, because I can certainly ramble on, about other subjects.  I guess that I will always be the Damon Runyon of wine writers, so without further ado, here are the last six wines that I had the good fortune to taste.

Blason d’Issan Margaux 2020, the second label and the younger vines of Chateau d’Issan Margaux, a Third Growth.  This is a blend of forty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, thirty-seven percent Merlot, three percent Petit Verdot and the balance is Cabernet Franc and Malbec.  I have a six pack of an earlier vintage of this wine, that I am cellaring.  This is a perfect example of younger vines, more fruit and a wonderful youthful Margaux; and I have had the good fortune of probably having more Chateau Margaux vintages, as well as other wines from this famed commune than any other commune.

Chateau Ferriere Margaux Third Growth 2020, one of the smallest vineyards of the Classified Growth and bought by the Villas family (Chateau Haut-Bages Liberal in Pauillac) in 1988 and they did major renovations in the winemaking side in 2013.  A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  This wine even though it is still aging in the barrel has some very sensuous and serious tannins and I feel that after a few years in the cellar it will be excellent, as the tannins mature and the wine develops more layers of interest.

Chateau Pape Clement Rouge Pessac-Leognan 2020 a Classified Wine from Graves and part of the Bernard Magrez group of estates.  It is one of the oldest estates in Bordeaux.  It is basically fifty/fifty of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but they do add a touch of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc into the mix.  James Suckling gave this wine a score of 97-98.  Right from the start without any fuss, this wine was big and chewy with a great finish of terroir. 

Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion Pessac-Leognan 2020 was once part of Chateau Haut-Brion, but in 1584 gave this land to the Carmelite Order, hence Les Carmes.  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, with just a touch of Cabernet Sauvignon, and a rather unique blend for Graves.  James Suckling awarded this wine 92-93.  I only wrote one word, and my partner in the tasting agreed, when I wrote “delicious.”  I don’t think I could expand on it, at all.

Domaine de Chevalier Rouge Pessac-Leognan 2020 is one of the Classified Growths of Graves and owned by Oliver Bernard.  Through the course of centuries, they have been able to maintain the name Domaine instead of Chateau, even though it sounds like it should be in the Burgundy region.  A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  James Suckling gave it a score of 96-97.  The first impression was that this was a sweeter and riper wine compared to the others, there was also less oak, it was very fresh, and I would definitely give this wine some time in the cellar to mature.

Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Pessac-Leognan 2020 is a Classified Wine of the Graves and presently owned by Florence and Daniel Cathiard.  This wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot plus a dash of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.  James Suckling gave this wine a rating of 99-100, and I only saw these numbers that I am listing after the tasting. The two of us doing the tasting were joined by the owner to repeat this wine that he had just the night before.  I have had another vintage of this wine, but all I can say and it was concurred by my tasting partners is that wine is “BIG” and hit all the notes for what makes a Bordeaux wine stellar.  After tasting these sixteen wines, I was more than satisfied and I didn’t need another wine, as I was savoring the memory. 

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