A House Party

Posted on August 20, 2021 by thewineraconteur

Some times a party is announced, just because.  Especially after the lockdown, it doesn’t take much to get people together.  Even impromptu parties can be easy, especially during the summer months.  Most men like to barbecue, and years ago I did, but somehow, I lost that desire and ability, maybe I can coax it back, but thankfully there are others that truly enjoy it.  Of course, most impromptu parties are kind of a “pot-luck” occasion and hopefully that works out.  There have been many times when I thought we were a catering concern, with all of the multiple chaffing dishes, pots and pans, bowls, not to mention napkins and utensils.  This time we only had to bring some libations.

There really was no shortage of food, and it seems that markets have made it much easier, when I wasn’t looking.  In the old days, everything was created in the kitchen, and now so much is created at the markets and specialty food centers, without even going to a restaurant.  I was surprised the last time we went to the cheese shop, to discover that they also were purveyors of pate.  I guess I should get out in the world a bit more.  I have also learned that perhaps I am the last to know, that smoking of meats is almost as popular as barbecues.  Smokers are the antithesis of microwave ovens, in fact talking with people, smokers make “slow-cookers” look like fast food.  I am also trying to come to grips with the concept of using an “air fryer” to “bake” a potato, as my brain keeps asking me why? Though I am delighted to say that our one son has become a dedicated smoker, just of meats, and the brisket that he made for the party was exceptional.

We started of with a bottle of Elizabeth Spencer Sauvignon Blanc Mendocino 2019.  Elizabeth Spencer Winery is the realization of a dream by the husband-and-wife team of Spencer Graham and Elizabeth Pressler.  The have created a winery based on relationships with vineyards.  Their first wine was a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 1998 and they have continued producing this wine yearly.  They have since developed relationships not only in Napa Valley, but also in Sonoma and Mendocino.  In 2006 they became the stewards of the 1872 Post Office building in Rutherford for their tasting room. The fruit for this wine comes from three vineyards in Mendocino.  Primary fermentation takes place over twenty days in cool temperatures and each lot is done individually and then blended and further aging in Stainless Steel.  This wine was harvested in the first week of September and bottled in March.  The wine offered a nose of citrus and lemon rind, while the palate offered tropical fruits, bright acidity and a shorter finish with just a touch of terroir.  It is becoming the decade of Sauvignon Blanc for my Bride.

Another wine for this summer party was Daou Vineyards Chardonnay Paso Robles 2019.  George and Daniel Daou, two brothers who were originally in the IT industry purchased part of the Hoffman Mountain Ranch in 2007 and in 2012 purchased the other part of the ranch and they now had two-hundred-twelve acres.  Stanley Hoffman with help from Andre Tchelistcheff created the first modern commercial winery in Paso Robles after Prohibition.  This wine is pure Chardonnay and aged for five months in French Oak, of which thirty percent was new.  The nose offered ripe pear and apples with a touch of lemon and vanilla.  The palate offered tropical fruits and spices and perfect acidity, and a decent finish of fruit.

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Brunch at The Daxton

Posted on August 18, 2021 by thewineraconteur

We try to make a day of it, if we can, a date day.  Somehow, I ended up with the lion’s share of the shopping and that is not how it usually works out. Of course, my Bride goes shopping with her girlfriends, her sisters and sometimes just by accident.  It is also a way for us to get our daily walk in a new locale.  As we like to do a total of five miles a day, it has helped my Bride, has not done anything for me, as I will never get back to my old “fighting weight.”  While we were out shopping in Birmingham, I had made a reservation for brunch at The Daxton, which is a brand-new hotel and by luck, we were there for their “soft” opening, which I guess was for friends and family, but we ended up crashing the party at the bar and discovered that we had no tab.  I guess it was only fair and honorable for us to go back and have lunch there, especially since we never really saw the dining room, except in glimpses from the bar. 

I ended up at our table first, which is good, because it gave me a better chance to study the menu.  My Bride got side tracked before entering the bar and filled out a card for a chance to win a stay at The Daxton and she was joking that it would be a nice way to celebrate our next anniversary.  Well, the fellow that was handling the cards, must have mentioned it to the restaurant manager, who mentioned it to our waiter and the next we knew we were given a complimentary pastry basket for our anniversary and when we tried to rectify it, we were told to just accept it, as it would be too much of a hassle to change it.  The pastry basket had a strawberry-basil éclair, a sunflower biscuit and an orange cinnamon roll.  My Bride was low-maintenance and had two poached eggs, marble potatoes, heritage bacon and sourdough toast.  I had something a bit more interesting, a breakfast sandwich of heritage bacon, farm egg souffle, aged cheddar on a milk-bread bun. 

My Bride has been on a Sauvignon Blanc adventure, so I let it continue with Delaille Domaine du Salvard “Unique” Sauvignon Blanc Val de Loire IGP 2020.  Maurice Delaille bought “Le Salvard” around 1900 and what started as ten hectares is now forty-five hectares and has the fifth generation working at the winery.  Val de Loire is a region level IGP that roughly covers the entire Loire Valley and is one of the largest districts in France, based on area.  The majority of the wines with this IGP are single variety.  In 2009 the designation was changed from Vin du Pays to IGP.  The older designation was “Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France.” The vineyard for this wine is fifteen hectares on clay and silica sands.  Whole grape maceration for forty-eight hours and fifteen days on fine lees in Stainless Steel.  The wine has a nose of citrus, basically grapefruit and mango, with similar notes and a nice balance acidity and a medium length finish with some terroir.

I went with a little bigger wine, perhaps even over-kill for my meal, but I had the Vietti “Perbacco” Nebbiolo Langhe DOC 2018.  Vietti is a wine producer in the Piedmont, known for their single-vineyard Barolo wines, Barbera wines and the Arneis variety.  The estate produced their first wines in 1919 and they were one of the pioneers of exporting Barolo to the United States of America.  Langhe Nebbiolo is a subset of the Langhe DOC and it is generally thought of as a junior version of Barolo and Barbaresco.  The winery is also free to make the wine as they see fit, as they do not have to abide by the stricter rules of production, aging, barrel types, etc.  The vineyards used for this wine is basically from the Barolo area and some from Barbaresco on soils that is a mix of clay and limestone.  The fermentation for this wine lasts almost a month in Stainless Steel.  Each parcel is processed and aged separately, until they decide which will become Barolo and which will be used for Perbacco.  Total ageing is approximately two years, in large casks and barriques, then the wines are blended in Stainless Steel prior to bottling.  The wine was a medium ruby color with a nose of red fruit, florals and spices.  This was a medium bodied wine that offered some note of cherry, and because it was youthful the tannins were heavy with a decent length finish of terroir.  I think that if this wine had some cellaring the tannins would blend and eventually develop into a well balanced and harmonious wine.     

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A Franciscan Cab at the St. Croix Shop

Posted on August 16, 2021 by thewineraconteur

Almost my entire working career I was a clothier, not a haberdasher, but a clothier.  Over the years I have met some individuals that will always be a clerk.  There was a certain status of being a clothier and it was a respected line of work, especially to the clientele that required a gentlemen’s eye for detail and quality.  I can remember when the store that I was at, for the majority of my career, first started carrying St. Croix knits and it was a momentous occasion.  Knitcraft Corporation, the parent company began in 1960 making the finest “Old World” quality knits in Winona, Minnesota.  The founder of the company had a great statement “you cannot, at any price, from a source in the world, buy a better sweater.  You can only pay more.”

My Bride and I were having an all-day date of shopping, dining and of course some wining as well.  We were in Birmingham, Michigan a city that we often go for a myriad of reasons and we ran into the Sales Representative of St. Croix at the St. Croix Shop and he recognized me, so even with the extra weight that I acquired during retirement, I guess I still looked like me.  We had fun, for sure I did, I probably went over board with the shopping, but I don’t do it that often.  Plus, my Bride was there to make sure that I bought enough.  Well, when it was all over, I had some beautiful sweaters and cardigans, some classic Italian sport shirts, belts, hosiery, trousers and a leather jacket.  My Bride also got excited to get a Chenille scarf for herself while we were there.  I really think the real fun, was reminiscing with the Sales Rep, as he was the Sales Rep that I had basically worked with for years.  Of course, my Bride didn’t think that I would ever leave, especially when I start talking about the old days.

We stayed a little longer, because my old friend the Sales Rep brought out a bottle of wine and he started to apologize, thinking that I must only drink First Growths, I corrected that misconception.  Franciscan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Monterey County 2018 was the wine that we were drinking.  Franciscan Estate was established in 1973 in Oakville and their first vintage was in 1975 by Justin Meyer, who was the winemaker at Silver Oak Winery.  The winery is now owned by E&J Gallo and the wines produced are now beyond Napa Valley, as this wine is from Monterey County.  Even with the wine being poured into plastic glasses the nose offered dark fruit and spice, so even with no winemaking notes, I have to presume that the wine did some time in oak.  The wine itself offered notes of cherry and plum, with hints of vanilla and pepper and some integrated tannins noted on the finish.  A very easy drinking wine and perfect for offering to customers in the shop.  My Bride and I had such a great time shopping, that after lunch, we loaded up the car with our purchases, and since we were going to a party later in the day, we had a cooler in the trunk filled with ice and wines, we took two different Vinho Verde bottles of wine to the store before we left Birmingham. 

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Cuvee Kristin and Sweet Isla

Posted on August 14, 2021 by thewineraconteur

The first official winetasting at The Fine Wine Source was coming to an end for us, but it was going on for another day at the shop.  Korbin Ming did an excellent job, even with his flying in that morning on the “Red Eye.”  The Fine Wine Source had contacted all of their wine club members and tried to book times for everyone, so that there would not be a problem with “social distancing” and there wouldn’t be a mob at any given moment.  My Bride always says that she doesn’t enjoy the tastings as much as I do, but when she does attend with me, she always has a great time.

We had two different bottles of Korbin Kameron Proprietary Red Wine Cuvee Kristin Moon Mountain District 2012 and 2015 and both were Estate Grown.  While the winery at Moonridge Vineyards was named after the sons, the daughter has the special blend.  The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.  The wine is aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which seventy-five percent is new.  There were two-hundred cases produced of the 2012 and one-hundred-twenty-four cases of the 2015.  The 2012 vintage offered a nose of bramble fruit, florals and spice, and delivered black cherries, good tannins and a medium finish, for this wine, I thought it was a bit light in the chewy-ness factor, my non-technical term for big wines, because I like to chew the wine when I am tasting it.  The 2015 had a nose of blueberries and vanilla beans, and rich dark cherries, silk tannins and a longer count on the finish.  This wine was rich and full and very chewy, a delightful wine.

Then we had Korbin Kameron Late Harvest “Sweet Isla” Moon Mountain District 2018 and it is Estate Grown.  The last wine of the tasting and it was getting rather hectic in the shop, so I didn’t ask any questions about the wine, in anticipation of checking technical notes or trade notes on this wine at their website. I was able to get in touch with Korbin Ming and he was able to give me some information. The wine is late harvested Sauvingnon Blanc with an addition of fifteen percent Botrytised Semillon. One week cold soak and fermented on the skins for an additional two weeks to pick up extra color and flavors, called phenolics, which was a really long and cool fermentation for intense aromatics. The wine was aged for eight months in neutral oak. .  A beautiful wine that was just magnificent and reminded me of a French Sauternes with a nose of honeysuckle, a silky texture offering notes of sweet lemons, apricots and marmalade with a nice long count in the finish. Is it any wonder that we had to take advantage of this wine, it was perfect and I am sure that it will age nicely in the cellar.  Now alas, the first official winetasting is now part of history, but it was a great adventure.

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Five Cabs from Korbin Kameron

Posted on August 12, 2021 by thewineraconteur

I was about midway in the first official winetasting after some eighteen months at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source.  The tasting was held by Korbin Ming, the winemaker at Korbin Kameron at Moonridge Vineyards.  The nineteen-acre estate was planted in 2000 and it sits on the ridge of Mt. Veeder on Mayacamas Mountain Range and straddles the Napa/Sonoma County line at 2,300 feet in elevation.  The majority of the estate is in Sonoma County and they can look out and see Santa Rosa, Sonoma Mountain and on a clear day the Pacific Ocean.  Then if you turn around you are looking at Oakville and Rutherford, below the fog line.  That is the beauty of a mountain winery and one of the added benefits is a couple of hours of extra sunlight for the vines.

We had a nice vertical of three different Korbin Kameron Cabernet Sauvignon Moon Mountain District wines of 2010, 2011 and 2015.  It was interesting to match my notes, because back in 2020, I had a chance to taste a vertical run of this wine of the vintages of 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2015 and true to form, we ended up with the 2006, because I just enjoy a mellow aged wine over a feisty youth.  All the wines from both tastings averaged about eighteen months of aging in French Oak with half of the barrels new, and about six-hundred cases of each vintage was produced.  This time as we tasted and took notes, we found the 2010 vintage to be very subtle, almost shy for a Cabernet Sauvignon.  The 2011 vintage was alive and kicking and was what everyone would expect from a Cabernet Sauvignon.  The 2015 vintage was perfect, the color was beautiful, the nose offered the dark fruit, the notes of black cherries and spice was wonderful and it ended with a nice long count of terroir.

Then we had two different Korbin Kameron Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon wines.  The first was Korbin Kameron Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Moon Mountain District Sonoma County 2016 and this was a rich wine, big in the nose, taste and the finish.  The second wine was a Korbin Kameron Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Mount Veeder Napa Valley 2016 and this wine was even bigger and chewier, which is one of my favorite descriptions for a big Cabernet Sauvignon, with even more tannins and a longer finish of terroir.  The Reserve wines were aged for eighteen months, but in all new French Oak barrels and about sixty cases were made of each of the wines.  Both of the wines were great, but if I had a choice, I would go with the Mount Veeder, as the other side of the ridge was that much more striking and noticeable.     

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A Merlot and a Cabernet Franc

Posted on August 10, 2021 by thewineraconteur

We still had the good fortune to do a tasting with Korbin Ming of Korbin Kameron Vineyard at The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, my go-to wine shop.  Mitchell Ming first started drinking California wines in the Seventies and fell in love with the area after his first trip to Napa Valley.  Unlike others, that only dream, he took his family out there and settled on a homestead high up on Mount Veeder and now has one-hundred-eighty-six acres for his family endeavor.  His home over looks acres and acres of rolling hills and so high that it is sometimes above the clouds.  Out of this, he created Moonridge Vineyards and the winery is named after his two twin children Korbin and Kameron.  The third child Kristin, who is the Director of Design has also been remembered at the winery as well.

The Korbin Kameron Merlot Moon Mountain District 2015 is an Estate Grown wine and Merlots have been one of my favorites since I was a teenager.  The Moon Mountain District AVA was awarded in 2013, so it is still basically a new designation from Sonoma County.  This wine was aged for eighteen months in French Oak, of which half was new, and they produced two-hundred-ninety cases of this wine.  In 2020 I had the good fortune to try four vintages of the Korbin Kameron Merlot of 2007, 2009 2011 and 2015.  I was enraptured by the 2007, which we bought, but everyone else was in love with the 2015.  I think the extra couple of years in the bottle really changed my mind, but then I am very partial to older reds.  The 2015 was now showing me the virtues of good breeding that a Merlot needs, and it paid back with the nose of red fruits and spices, a taste of rich cherries and a charming silky tannin finish. We earmarked some of this wine to go home with us.  

The Korbin Kameron Cabernet Franc Moon Mountain District 2016 is an Estate Grown wine and my Bride’s ears perked up when she heard about this wine, as it is her favorite grape.  A mountain wine that spends eighteen months in French Oak, sounded just perfect.  It was not the finest example of Cabernet Franc that we have had.  We both thought that the wine was a bit thin, both in flavor and tannins, though the finish had some nice terroir, perhaps with some cellaring this wine will be totally different.

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Only 25 Cases Made

Posted on August 8, 2021 by thewineraconteur

Twenty-five cases of wine, is one barrel of wine, and we had a chance to try not one, but two different wines made in these numbers at the Korbin Kameron wine tasting at the Fine Wine Source.  For years, when I was just learning about wines, I would hear how some of the famed Medoc houses made a barrel or two of white wine for their own consumption.  I also heard how some of the great houses of Sauternes would make a barrel or two of dry white wine for their own personal consumption as well.  Years later, many of those wines are now being shared with the public, if one can find them.  Think of Pavillon Blanc du Chateau Margaux or Chateau d’Yquem “Y” Ygrec. 

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.  I actually had a chance to try this wine ahead of time before the actual tasting and I reserved some of the wine for my cellar, and I knew that my Bride would love it.  She did. 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.  In fact, we knew someone that was going to the tasting on the next day, and they had pulled the wine from the tasting group, as there were only three bottles left of three hundred.  We bought the three and I contacted my friend, to see if he wanted them, without a taste, and he took my word for them, and we will make arrangements for him to pick them up.  I knew that we could somehow, find room for an extra three bottles of this caliber.

Korbin Kameron Malbec Moon Mountain District 2016 is an Estate Grown wine.  Malbec tends to be one of the forgotten grapes of Bordeaux, the important grape of Cahoors and Argentina. Here is a wine that was aged for eighteen months in French Oak and half was new. The wine was an inky dark purple, the kind that stains your teeth so easily.  The nose was a mix of dates, plums and some chocolate (which is one of the ethereal notes that I seldom notice).  It was fruit forward with flavors of dark bramble fruit and very concentrated flavors and tannins with a softer finish of terroir. This was a wine that my Bride was gushing over and usually not about a Malbec, so it is very easy, just to jot down numbers as you try to figure out your order. It is not often that I find such wonderful wines, especially in such limited production of three hundred bottles and I really can’t wait to see what some cellar time does to this wine.   

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Korbin Ming Returns for a Tasting

Posted on August 6, 2021 by thewineraconteur

At least a year and a half, some sanity has returned and my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source is helping to lead the way.  A general public winetasting was announced, because for the last eighteen months, it has been private wine tastings by appointment.  While private tastings are nice for the one-on-one attention that you receive, there is just something more wine-like of an experience when there is a crowd all enjoying the wines.  The wine shop did control the crowds by limiting the many wine tasters, so that everyone could have some space between, and I might add, the space was much greater than the space on a commercial airline.  I have to admit that the day was so special, that even my Bride came with me.

Korbin Ming returned once again to conduct the wine tasting at the shop, as he represents Korbin Kameron Winery and Moonridge Vineyards.  Korbin Ming wears many hats, as he is the General Manager, the Vineyard Manager and the Assistant Winemaker and probably wears other hats that may be required at a moment’s notice. He has a Master’s Degree from UC Davis in Viticulture and Enology.  He worked harvest in Bordeaux, Sonoma, Sierra Foothills and Napa Valley, before joining Korbin Kameron.

We began the tasting with Korbin Kameron Sauvignon Blanc Moon Mountain District 2017 and 2019.  Which immediately caught my Bride’s attention, as she has seemed to have become a huge fan of this particular grape and we always seem to have some chilling in one of the refrigerators.  Moon Mountain District AVA is a relatively new sub-region of Sonoma Valley and is distinguished by its volcanic soil, and it is one of the warmest regions in the valley, as well as having one of the longest growing seasons. As it gets more attention, you will probably see it more often, instead of the wineries using Sonoma Valley.  It was interesting to taste the two vintages, as they both began initial fermentation in Stainless Steel and then finished off for four months in oak, eighty percent neutral and twenty percent new.  They both had similar soft straw color, noses of lemongrass, with notes of lemon, honeydew and citrus and a finish of terroir.  There were three-hundred cases of wine produced for each vintage.  The 2017 vintage was softer and the 2019 vintage was much bigger.  We were there for the first day of tasting and the 2017 sold out while we were there.                                                                              

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One Fun and One Serious

Posted on August 4, 2021 by thewineraconteur

You may not have noticed, but I enjoy wine, and my range of wines is getting wider as I am trying more and more varietals and styles of winemaking.  My local wine shop and wine club, The Fine Wine Source, is always asking me, if I spot any trends or interesting wines from looking at other sites and writers.  Though, I am sure that he is way ahead of me, on all categories.  Earlier this year, he touted a Gazela Vinho Verde that has a natural petillance and I thoroughly enjoyed it, bought a case and then wondered how my Bride would take to it, and she fell in love it, as well.  Trust me, we have bought several cases of it, and the summer and hot weather are not even close to being over.  Well, I discovered in my readings and perusing, that there is a Gazela Vinho Verde Rosé, and I mentioned it to the owner of the shop and he brought some in.

Gazela Vinho Verde Rosé NV is made by Sogrape Vinhos of Portugal, and it appears as if in the future this wine will also be labeled as “Aire.” Vinho Verde has developed its own coterie of followers and I think the group gets larger every year, as it is just an easy wine that is perfect for hot weather and with water nearby, either a pool, lake or ocean.  Portugal, it is often said, has had a rather foot-loose and fancy free about grape varieties in certain areas, as even the winemakers cannot state for sure what has been planted over the decades, if not centuries.  In the Vinho Verde region there are over fifteen thousand hectares planted and seventy percent is white.  Most of the Vinho Verde Tinto is for domestic consumption, but I guess they are exporting more, since the white has become so popular.  To give you an idea about the grape varieties that may be encountered just for the Tinto, the ones recommended are: Azal-Tinto, Borracal, Brancelho, Espadeiro, Padeiro-de-Basto, Pedral, Rabo-de-Ovelha and Vinhao.  Other permitted varieties are: Alicante-Bouschet, Docal, Espadeiro-Mole, Grand-Noir, Labrusco, Pical, Touriga-Nacional, Trincadeira-Preta and Verdelho-Tinto. The wines are made in Stainless Steel and the malolactic fermentation takes place in the bottle, which causes the natural petillance or effervescence of the wine.  This wine was frothy and plenty of big bubbles appearing in the glass after pouring.  The wine had a nose and a taste of watermelon and strawberries in a raspberry color.  Very easy and definitely quaffable, in fact my Bride said that she likes this wine even more than the white. 

I also tried Mulderbosch Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 from South Africa.  Mulderbosch Vineyards was founded in 1989 in the Koelenhof region of Stellenbosch.  The winery makes still and sparkling wines from estate fruit, as well as with growing partners in Stellenbosch and the Coastal Region of South Africa.  They began with twenty-five hectares of vines that they converted over from a run-down fruit farm.  They began with Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay, then Chenin Blanc and then their Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon was a trailblazer in that category.  The winery was acquired by Terroir Capital in 2011.  The Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards are farmed to achieve high acidity, as they are only used for this wine style, and then when harvested, the fruit is treated like Sauvignon Blanc, using cold fermentation and natural yeasts and very short aging to maintain the fresh fruit.  The wine is a soft blush-pink color with a nose of sweet cherries, watermelons and pomegranates.  The wine had those flavors comingled in a dry crisp finish, along with notes of aromatics and a delightful finish of terroir.  A very enjoyable and much more serious wine to be enjoyed, especially with foods.

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Amore da Roma

Posted on August 2, 2021 by thewineraconteur

You have to realize that I am an old dinosaur especially about old haunts in Detroit, which has always been my stomping ground.  Some of the restaurants in Detroit were legendary and are part of the history of the town.  We have gallon bottles filled to the brim with matchbooks that we saved from almost every restaurant that we ever ate at, and plenty of them are curios of days gone by.  Of course, matchbooks are curios of days gone by, but I always thought that they were a great keepsake, especially if the restaurant was great.  There are plenty of restaurants that have not survived over the decades that I remember, and that is normal for the restaurant business.  Some have been resurrected by family members, some banking on the foggy memories of people and some have continued, even as they have changed hands. 

Amore da Roma is one that has changed hands as it was Roma Café for ever and was always found on the outskirts of the Eastern Market, where it is still found. The building was built by the Marazza family in 1888 and it served the vendors and farmers of Easter Market, and officially became the Roma Café in 1890. In 1918, it was purchased by John Battaglia and Morris Sossi, and continued with the Sossi family until 2017. The Executive Chef for four years at the Roma Café, bought the business and renamed it as Amore da Roma and continued the menu that kept people going there forever, so it seems.  There was a group of us having dinner there, that could appreciate an old Steak and Pasta joint, as I would call it.  The dishes are not pretentious or frou-frou, but you leave fully sated, as the meals have always been designed to please the hard workers at the Eastern Market and any one else that could appreciate honest Italian food. We started with dishes of Calamari and Escargot.  We followed that with soup and great breadsticks.  My Bride had Broiled Lake Superior Whitefish and I went with Shrimp Scampi, I mean one of us had to have an Italian dish. 

They had a very interesting Italian White Wine from a respected winery, but even though the computer said that they had two bottles of the wine, they could not find either one.  They offered me another wine at twenty percent off the wine carte price for the inconvenience and I agreed to it.  It was not as interesting, but it was a very sound wine.  We had a bottle of Louis Latour Pouilly-Fuisse 2018 from the Maconnais. Maison Louis Latour is a major negocient producer of red and white wines of Burgundy and was founded in 1797 and is still family owned and operated.  Not only are they a negocient, they also own seventy-two acres of Grand Cru vineyards, and also the largest holder of land in Burgundy and produce wines in all price ranges; and one of the most widely recognized names worldwide for the region.   Pouilly-Fuisse is the finest appellation for white wines in the Maconnais, and there are four communes that are part of the appellation.  There are no Premier Cru designations for the region, so one goes with the reputation of the maker.  The area was drawn around 1922, but officially recognized in 1936 and only Chardonnay grapes can be used, and the best of the wines offer a terroir showcasing limestone in the finish of this crisp wine.  The vines for this wine average about thirty years of age and the are planted in vineyards of heavy clay and limestone. The wine is aged about ten months in Stainless Steel.  It was a pretty golden color with a floral nose and notes of melon and almonds with good acidity and a decent finish offering some terroir.  Just a traditional place to still get a great meal without breaking the bank.     

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