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Happy New Year 2024!
And just like that another year became history.
I wish you a healthy and peaceful New Year 2024, filled with smiles, love, laughter, great wines, and memorable experiences!
Beautiful Lights, 2023 Edition
While I don’t celebrate Christmas, I still love the lights. I grew up celebrating the arrival of the New Year, and while this was borrowed from the Christmas traditions, there was always a tree for the New Year, ornaments, and lights.
It might be just me, but it seems that the holiday light displays are becoming more widespread, for sure when made as attractions. Or maybe it was always around and I just never took my time to notice them – but I definitely do now.
Newport Rhode Island is one of our favorite travel destinations in general, and particularly during Christmas. We visited Newport back in 2017 to see Christmas decorations, and thinking about that visit, I couldn’t believe that that visit took place 6 years ago. This year, we also decided to visit the Sparkling Lights display which was shown in the evening at the Breakers. As you can imagine, I have a bunch of pictures to share with you. But before we visit Newport, I would like to mention my hometown – Stamford, Connecticut.
Stamford always has some beautifully decorated houses we loved to visit over the years. But this year, we had a “notch up” experience. Driving back from our local supermarket, my wife said “hey, wait, I want you to turn around”. When I asked why, she said that she saw a glimpse of a nicely decorated house on a parallel street, and we should go see it. When we got there 2 minutes later, the view greatly exceeded my expectations – might be the best Christmas lights display I ever saw at a private house – and the best part was that we could park the car and just walk around the decorations. So let me start my inundating display with these pictures:
And now, here are the pictures from the Breakers, the Sparkling Lights display:
Here are a few pictures from the Elms:
And probably my favorite of the whole Newport trip – the Marble House:
Hope you enjoyed!
No Tricks, Only Treats
Halloween is almost here – are you excited? Did you start planning your Halloween party already? I’m here to help you take it to the next level.
How? Easy. You know that on these pages, wine is the answer, but what is the question?
Well, let’s just clear something up – if you are looking for the wine to pair with candy or deliver a candy-equal amount of sugar in every sip, I can’t help you. But if you believe that your Halloween plans call for a simply delicious sip all of your guests will enjoy, I have something for you.
But first, let’s talk about ghosts. What can be more Halloween-y than a ghost? Ghosts are scary, as they are nowhere and everywhere. Same as with people, ghosts can be mean, but they also can be friendly. And anything and everything can be a ghost. How about a winery? Can a winery be a ghost? If a winery is a ghost, does it mean it is haunted and you should be scared walking into it?
Okay, okay, there is nothing to be afraid of. At the end of the 19th century, there were close to 800 wineries in California. Prohibition, which started in 1920, assisted by the phylloxera epidemic had a dramatic impact on the striving wine business. In the 1933, when prohibition was repealed, only 40 wineries survived. Many of those that didn’t became ghostly encampments, giving birth to the term “ghost winery”.
Flora Springs Winery was founded in 1978 by Flora and Jerry Komes in Napa Valley. Winery’s property included such “ghost winery” – Charles Brockhoff Winery, originally constructed in 1885. That winery was abandoned by the family after prohibition. John Komes, son of Jerry and Flora, completely renovated the old winery which became his family home to this day.
The ghostly past plays an important role at Flora Springs, especially at the time of Halloween, the only time of the year when ghosts are allowed to roam freely. With or without ghosts Halloween has been the subject of special attention at Flora Springs for the past 14 years. Throughout all these years, Flora Springs Winery always released special bottles, produced just for Halloween. Every Halloween bottle has a special label, different every year, designed by different artists. It is not only the label, it is also the grapes – for example, this year’s Halloween wines are made from Cabernet Franc and Malbec, and Flora Springs doesn’t produce any other single grape Cab Franc or Malbec wines. So yes, you can entertain your guests in a unique style.
I was lucky enough to taste samples of both Halloween wines Flora Springs has to offer this year.
Before we talk about wines, I would like to quote the description of the 2021 vintage from the Flora Springs website:
“The 2021 vintage in Napa Valley will be remembered for a smooth, uneventful growing season and harvest that produced low yields of intensely-flavored, small-sized grape clusters. The season started off with very little rain and continued as a dry, sunny summer led to a relatively cool fall with weeks of lovely weather. 2021 represented the second drought year in a row, and while concerning in the long term, the dry weather resulted in a more natural crop load on the vines, requiring less pruning and dropping of fruit. The resulting grapes were packed full of flavor leading to powerful, concentrated wines. ”
Now, let’s talk about Cab Franc.
The label for 2021 All Hallows Eve Cabernet Franc was produced by Steve Ellis, an artist who created illustrations for Marvel, DC, and many other franchises. This label is a perfect embodiment of the Halloween spirit, and it perfectly extends the collection of unique Halloween labels Flora Springs amassed over the year – take a look here, it is really fun. Here are my tasting notes for the wine:
2021 Flora Springs All Hallows Eve Cabernet Franc Napa Valley (14.2% ABV, $75, 18 months in French oak barrels, 350 cases produced)
Dark purple with a bright purple hue on the rim. And then it’s black
Inviting nose of sweet cherry and blueberry pie
More of the fresh blueberry pie profile with good acidity in the aftertaste, velvety, seductive, layered, smooth, very smooth – I guess luscious is a better word.
This is how California producers like to see Cabernet Franc. I’m missing pyrazines, my beloved bell peppers.
It shows a little bit lighter on the second day than on the first. 3rd day didn’t change much compared to the 2nd day. And then the bottle was empty
Drinkability: 8-/8, overall very good
And then there was Malbec. Napa Valley Malbec is quite rare and unique, and this wine didn’t disappoint – I also love the artistic rendering of the ghost winery on the label – it is simple and incredibly attractive at the same time.
2021 Flora Springs Ghost Winery Malbec Napa Valley (14.2% ABV, $60, 18 months in 60% French and 40% American oak barrels, 350 cases produced)
Dark garnet, practically black, but when low in the glass offers a beautiful dark purple hue
Succulent black raspberries on the nose
Inky, sweet cherries and cherry pit, a touch of sweet basil, beautiful textural presence, dark, concentrated, perfectly balanced.
Drinkability: 8+
There you are, my friends. A perfect set of wines to celebrate Halloween in style. Both wines are available at the Flora Springs website, and if you buy 3 bottles, you will get a $15 shipping – check the website for the details. And even if you don’t care about Halloween, these are just tasty wines for any occasion – and they will last for the next 10-20 years (the official winery recommendation is 10 years, but I believe they will easily last much longer).
Don’t be afraid of no ghost, especially if this ghost brings wine. Cheers!
A Hidden Obsession
I made an interesting realization today – I have a hidden obsession.
Obsession doesn’t seem to be a good thing, especially when directed at someone. If this is an obsession for something, this is usually a different story.
Can obsession be hidden? Can you not realize that you have an obsession? Does obsession clearly manifest itself, or do we need to engage in a deep self-analysis to realize that we’ve been obsessed?
Okay, please worry not – first, I’m not engaged in obsession research while working on a degree in psychology. Second, we are only talking about my basic, simple, well-known obsession with wine. Nevertheless, today I realized that I had an obsession (a mini obsession? a sub-obsession? you will decide) that was literally hiding in plain sight.
Ten days ago we celebrated the arrival of the Jewish New Year (year 5784 in case you are wondering) – Rosh Hashanah. I always prefer to celebrate Jewish holidays with Israeli wines, but I almost never have any on hand, so I had to take a trip to a wine store. Long story short, I came back with two bottles of wine produced by Shiloh Winery, one of my favorite producers out of Israel.
On a big scale, Israel produces world-class wines. I had been exposed to Israeli wines for more than 25 years as I had been lucky to travel to Israel for work. Lots of Israeli wines are spectacular, but same as everywhere else, you have to go by producers. Some of the best Israeli wines are either not exported at all, or exported in minuscule quantities – and many of them are pretty expensive, especially outside of Israel. So finding good Israeli wines to drink outside of Israel is not necessarily an easy task.
During a dinner at a kosher restaurant in New York 6 years ago, I tasted a red wine called Shiloh Mosaic, and I immediately fell in love with it. The wine was simply a spectacular, rich, and opulent Bordeaux blend – I loved it so much that it made it to the Top Wines of 2017 as number 14. From that moment on, Shiloh literally became my go-to solution for all the Jewish holidays – and yes, you can even say that I became obsessed with it. Another wine from Shiloh, Shiloh Secret Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon made it to my Top 20 of 2020 list as number 18.
As I was getting ready to write this post, I searched my blog for the Shiloh references, and to my surprise, I discovered that Shiloh had been a hidden obsession for a while – for sure way before I thought I “discovered” it in 2017. Shiloh Secret Reserve Shiraz was included in the September 2014 Month in Wines post with a high rating; Shiloh Legend blend was lauded even before that in the May 2014 Month in Wines post. See, nothing can be hidden without becoming apparent – this is how I discovered my hidden obsession.
For this year’s celebration, I went with two wines from Shiloh that I hadn’t seen before – both of them under the Amichai by Shiloh label. As I bought wines at the large wine store, Total Wine, I was sure I would find all the wine information online. However, Shiloh Winery’s website didn’t offer any information about this brand. The distributor’s website offered exactly the same amount of information – zilch. And all my attempts to find any information online didn’t yield any results. Yes, the back labels offered basic facts, such as grape composition and oak regimen, but I was hoping to learn more – the inspiration, why the wines are called the way they are called, you know, the story. I can only assume that the wines represent a new project by Shiloh’s self-taught winemaker, Amichai Lourie, and maybe the project is so new that information didn’t make it to the website. Oh well, at least we got the wine.
I opened these wines for the Rosh Hashanah dinner, and everyone loved them, as both wines were delicious. I managed to save just half of the drop in each bottle so I was able to write my traditional notes the next day:
2018 Amichai by Shiloh Micah Judean Hills Israel (15% ABV, $57, 91% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot, 15 months in French oak barrels)
Garnet
Currant leaf, sweet cherry, eucalyptus
Cassis, earthy undertones, tobacco, dark, powerful, delicious.
8+, outstanding, will age well for another 10-15 years.
2018 Amichai by Shiloh Solomon Judean Hills Israel (15% ABV, $57, 93% Syrah, 7% Petit Verdot, 15 months in French oak barrels)
Dark garnet, almost black
Dark cherries, blackberries, mineral undertones
Blackberries, tart cherries, firm structure, firm tannins, white pepper, peppery finish, inky and powerful, tannins on the finish. Perfectly balanced.
8+, outstanding. Will age well for another 10-15 years.
Here you are, my friends. My obsession is no longer hidden. And I’m happy to face it, any time. L’Chaim!
Mother’s Day Escapades – 2022 Edition
Sometimes, the best plan is to have no plans.
When it comes to holidays, I usually start sweating it long in advance. What wine is worthy of a celebration? What should I open to match up the holiday? What will everyone enjoy? This chain of thought usually is followed by a long process of opening wine cabinet doors and pulling shelves back and forth. Yes, I might have a loose idea of what should be available, but I still don’t remember where which wine is, so I have to really search for it. It’s a process, and more often than not I even manage to annoy myself with the “wine selection paralysis” of my own making.
Mother’s Day last Sunday was nothing like the usual. There were only 5 of us. My wife drinks very little wine as of late (or any alcohol for that matter), my mother-in-law prefers tequila, and my kids don’t like wine, so I didn’t have much to worry about in terms of the wine program. Also as spring is settling in here in Connecticut, there were lots to do outside – cleaning, building new raised beds, preparing for the soil and mulch delivery which were taking place the next day.
Coming back into the house after a few hours of work outside I realized that I’m craving a glass of white wine. The first bottle which grabbed my attention was unpretentious 2020 Domaine René Malleron La Vauvelle Sancerre. Sancerre is a rare guest in the house, as it is usually a more expensive version of Sauvignon Blanc than the others, and for my personal preferences, I find that I like a generic Loire Sauvignon more than a typical Sancerre. I’m not even sure how I got this bottle, I’m assuming it was something I found through a WTSO offer.
Never mind this “not liking of Sancerre” – this bottle was superb. Fresh, floral, and a touch grassy on the nose, it delivered exactly the same profile on the palate – bright, elegant, round, crisp, clean, thirst-quenching, and delicious.
I was thinking about opening the bottle of Syrah for dinner. While looking for a particular bottle to open, I came across this 2004 Vaucher Père et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin. Of course, this is Burgundy and not a Syrah, but there is nothing wrong with celebrating with Burgundian Pinot Noir instead of Californian or Washington Syrah, especially considering that I was looking at this bottle for a while.
This happened to be another successful choice for a few reasons – it was at its peak, probably about to start the journey down. While it tasted good at the moment, it was also a timely decision as I’m not sure it would be still enjoyable a few years down the road. The wine had smoked plums and cherries on the nose, and more of the same darker fruit profile on the palate, introducing the notes of dried fruit, but still having enough freshness to be enjoyed. The wine also well complemented the burgers, which were our main dish. Those were good burgers – Peter Luger burgers from our local Darien Butcher Shop (DBS for short), and good burgers are well worthy of a good glass of wine.
As a surprise, my daughter requested a Mimosa while dinner was in the making. I don’t have a lot of bubbles in the house, so at the moment I didn’t have any Prosecco or a Cava which would be my preferred choice for this purpose. I opened a bottle of one of my favorite everyday Champagne – NV André Chemin Brut Tradition Champagne, which is made with 100% Pinot Noir. While the girls enjoyed their Mimosas, I was happy to have a few glasses of this delicious wine – a perfect combination of freshly toasted bread and yeasty notes, crisp, refreshing, and satisfying.
Here it is, a full account of a celebration in the wine terms. It was definitely unusual for this household to drink only French wines, and also classic French wines – Burgundy, Champagne, and Sancerre – in one sitting. Interestingly enough I believe all three wines were procured through WTSO, which is simply a fun fact I would like to mention.
Father’s Day is coming in about a month – it might be the time to start worrying about my wine choices…
A Perfect Perfection
Yes, I know. “Perfect Perfection”. The English language offers more than 170,000 words, and this “writer” can’t even come up with a decent title for the post. Shame on me.
And nevertheless, I insist on my choice of words. Let me tell my tale to see if this will make sense to you too.
Valentine’s Day is a very personable holiday, loved by some, and hated by others. Many years ago, we decided that it will be simply a family holiday for us (no restaurant Prix Fix menus and back to back sitting), which translates into an opportunity to cook and – it is a special holiday, after all – open a special bottle of wine.
A special bottle of wine means a special selection process. “Special selection process” usually means trouble – going from a wine fridge to a wine fridge, opening the door, pulling the shelf, looking at the bottles, pulling another shelf out, still not finding anything appropriate, and repeating until full exhaustion. For this dinner, however, a choice of the main dish greatly simplified the process.
In this house, special dinners are often associated with the steak. Such was this Valentine’s Day – New York strip was acquired and ready to be cooked. Many wines can play well with the steak, but in simple terms, steak needs Cabernet Sauvignon or a Cabernet Sauvignon blend. With that in mind, choosing the wine was almost easy and straightforward – California Bordeaux-style blend with a nice age almost popped into my hand on its own.
I never had this wine before. While looking for the 1998 wines to buy (birth year of my son) at the Benchmark Wine, I came across this 1998 Reverie Special Reserve Meritage as it was described. At $30, 22 years old unknown wine from California sounds like a risk I was willing to take (so far, I didn’t miss – “knock on wood” – even a single time buying aged wines from Benchmark Wine, everything was tasty and perfectly drinkable). In the wine fridge, this wine was laying on one of the first shelves I pulled out, and the inner voice quickly said “this is it” – I decided not to argue.
I had the wine warm up a bit before opening it. About an hour and a half before our decided dinner time, I carefully pulled out the cork – I had quite a few corks crumbled almost to the dust on me lately, so was extra careful pulling this one out. To my delight, the cork came out in a perfect shape, practically intact.
The first whiff of this 1998 Reverie Special Reserve Diamond Mountain (13.5% ABV, blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petite Verdot, aged in 100% new small French oak barrels) simply suggested taking a sip immediately. The wine had aromas of cassis and mint, a pure, classic, beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon profile. The palate followed almost in the impossibly perfect way. Cassis, mint, and eucalyptus, all in pristine, perfect, form. There was nothing extra in that sip – it was perfectly round, perfectly smooth, with just enough acidity, with just enough of the tannins, with just enough of the fruit. A perfect, perfect, perfect balance, an absolute harmony which is not easy to find – the one which puts a stupid smile on your face. Yep, that’s how good the wine was.
Our impressions seemed to match perfectly with what the back label said: “we only designate the blend made from the best lots of the traditional Bordeaux varietals as Special Reserve when we believe the wine is extraordinary. We believe this wine is worthy of that designation. We are incredibly proud of this very limited release wine and know you will also enjoy it immensely. A wine this fine should be saved for a special occasion and enjoyed with the finest cuisine and good friends”. It is rare to find a back label to be spot on describing the wine – but in the case of this special Reserve, this was a complete success.
I don’t think my pan-seared steak belonged to the finest cuisine category – but at least it was not burnt and raw at the same time – and it paired very well with the wine. We also made special potatoes in the air fryer and oven-roasted asparagus came out super-tasty (from now on, this might be the only way I will cook asparagus).
This is my story of the perfect wine experience – truly at the level which will be hard to replicate. What are your “perfect wine” stories?
New Year’s Escapades – 2021 Edition
New Year is my favorite holiday. It revolves around food, wine, friends, and a good time. New Year’s Eve is always special, and then on New Year’s Day we usually get together with friends, to talk and open some special bottles.
Yes, that how it always was. But not this time – no friends in the house, except via FaceTime or zoom. Better than nothing, but all the food and wine sharing is completely virtual, and therefore, not endorphins-producing.
Obviously, this New Year’s celebration was scaled down. In terms of wines, I mean. Our family can’t scale down food, this is not in our genes, so cooking was mostly as usual, with all the appropriate holiday favorites. But the wine I had to scale down – my mother-in-law prefers tequila, my wife would only have a glass of red for the evening, and kids, while grown up, don’t care much about alcohol. So I had to mostly count on yours truly for any wine adventures.
Here is what I decided to open for the New Year’s celebration:
Let’s talk about these wines.
At first, I thought that Mailly Grand Cru would be the only bubbles I would open for the night, to drink with dinner and celebrate the arrival of 2021, as I was the primary consumer of bubbles. Then I decided last minute that I will leave that Mailly Champagne just for the midnight toast, and instead would have NV André Chemin Champagne Brut Tradition Blanc de Noir Premier Cru (12% ABV, $26.99 WTSO, RC) with dinner. I’m always curious who makes the Champagne – you know, those little letters and numbers which you can find practically on any Champagne label. Is it NM (Négociant-Manipulant, majority of the big Champagne names are in this category), or the RM (Récoltant-Manipulant), which signifies grower’s Champagne? I found the letters RC on the bottle of the André Chemin Brut, which I never saw before. With the help of this website, I was able to figure out that RC stands for Récoltant-Coopérateur – grapes are provided by the grower to Coopérative-Manipulant who makes wine on the grower’s behalf and under grower’s label but without grower’s involvement.
The André Chemin Brut happened to be an excellent addition to the group – the wine was superb, offering warm notes of the toasted bread and fresh apple, perfect acidity, round, fresh, and delicious – pretty much the way I prefer my Champagne.
2012 Mailly L’Intemporelle Champagne Brut Grand Cru (12% ABV, $115, CM) was also a learning experience. I found letters CM on the label, which stands for Coopérative-Manipulant – this is when a group of small growers blend grapes collectively and make wine under one or more brands – with growers involved in grape growing and winemaking. I poured this wine to toast 2021, and unfortunately, it didn’t do anything for me ( my son said that he enjoyed it quite a bit). The wine had mostly Granny Smith apples without much of the roundness and creaminess – I definitely expect a lot more from the vintage Champagne and this wine didn’t deliver.
I also opened the 2014 Tiefenbrunner Turnhof Sauvignon Südtirol Alto Adige AOC (14% ABV) “just in case”. I had this wine before, and it was quite delicious and elevated. On the first night as the wine was opened, it didn’t offer much of anything, it was closed. It opened up, however, over the next few days, offering whitestone fruit, a touch of honeysuckle, and good acidity.
My choice of red wine was the 2007 Waterstone Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley (14.5% ABV) – it happened to be another perfect choice. There was a rumor (never confirmed) that this wine had some grapes coming from Harlan vineyards. Harlan or not, but this was a perfect California Cabernet – cassis all the way, mint, eucalyptus, round tannins, big but perfectly balanced body with well-integrated, smooth tannins – lots of pleasure.
Then, of course, there was food. As I said, scaling down the food is not an option in this house. The majority of dishes were the ones you would expect to find at the Russian New Year’s table, such as “shuba” (herring under the fur coat), Olivie salad, deviled eggs, and cod liver salad. We even managed to find reasonably priced black caviar – which was really a black caviar imitation, but a very tasty one.
Our entree was just one dish, stuffed chicken rolls, but it was definitely a tasty dish:
Most of these dishes are quite simple to make but really tasty – a note to self to add recipes to my food collection here – food, same as wine, is the best when you can share it.
That’s all for my New Year 2021 celebration notes. Yes, this was all scaled-down – but we still had a delightful evening to end an interesting year on a high note.
How was your 2021 celebration?
Happy New Year 2021!
Whatever doesn’t break you makes you stronger. 2020 became an ultimate test for humankind, and I hope we will all emerge in 2021 stronger and a little bit wiser.
I really appreciate each and every one of you, my readers – and I want to take a moment to wish you and your loved ones a healthy, happy, and peaceful New Year 2021!
And … needless to say … lots and lots of exciting wine discoveries.
To the new beginnings! Cheers!
Thanksgiving Day Experiences – 2020 Edition
2020. What a year.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, as it revolves around family, food, wine, and friends. Close friends, who are more a family. Friends we celebrated Thanksgiving together with for the past 29 years. And 2020 managed to put a damper on that too, among a vast array of destruction this year will leave behind. Thanksgiving 2020 was about immediate family, food, and wine.
But even in 2020, the proverbial silver lining can be found. This probably was the most relaxing Thanksgiving ever. The menu was dramatically reduced – the family of 4 doesn’t need much of the elaborate appetizers and a vast array of side dishes, so cooking was mostly stress-free. Mostly, however, is a keyword here, as the cooking of the turkey became an unintended study of the operations of our oven.
I’ve cooked the turkey using most of the possible ways over the years, with the exception of deep-frying – roasted, roasted in the bag, turducken, deboned and roasted, smoked (smoked was the house favorite for the past 3 years). I’m also a big fan of slow cooking when you cook low and slow for a long time, so we decided that this was the way to go this year. Turkey was all buttered up with cavity stuffed with aromatics (garlic, lemon, celery, herbs), and the turkey went into the oven at around midnight at 200°F. Or at least I thought that it was 200°F. In the morning, the thigh registered only 152°F (you really need 185°F there) – this is when we decided to check the temperature in the oven using the same meat thermometer, and found out that it was at least 20 degrees lower, barely reaching 180°F, which greatly extends cooking time. We spent the next 6-7 hours playing with that temperature until we finally reached the desired doneness. 40 minutes at 450°F uncovered rendered a beautiful bird with crispy skin. So as long as you trust your oven, slow cooking is the way to go. Added benefit – the best ever turkey gravy, made from the drippings (here is the link to the recipe in case you need one).
The rest of the food prep caused no heartburn, everything came out quite well. We did the same stuffing for the second year in a row. While the recipe is very simple (but it takes time), the result is simply a delightful dish loved by everyone. One more standout was Nantucket Cranberry Pie, which is incredibly simple to make but yet again, the result is superb.
What didn’t work well at all (every occasion needs a flap, right?) was my attempt to recreate childhood memories. I ordered black caviar from Costco (yes, guilty as charged), which came pre-packaged with Creme Fraiche and tiny blinis (a dollar-coin-sized Russian pancakes). First, the caviar itself was just so-so, both in texture and in the taste. But following the instructions and serving it with blinis was a complete disaster, as those dry nibbles resembling poorly made English muffins were, in a word, disguising, both in the taste and texture, especially the texture. Talk about disappointments… But as I said, this was the only flap.
And then there were wines. Over the years, I developed an “All-American” approach to my Thanksgiving wine selection. 2020 was not an exception, and I decided to open definitely more than we could drink, but still have fun with the wines.
Two out of four wines came as part of the mystery pack from Last Bottles which were offered during Thanksgiving. I always missed that deal, but this year I managed to grab the 12 bottles for $144, which made it a great deal. So far I tried 5 bottles out of those 12, and they were all excellent, so the white and Rosé were coming from that set. Vinum Cab Franc was a sample that I received as a preparation for the upcoming #CabFrancDay celebration. I also managed to get cellar-aged Cayuse as part of this year’s offering (directly from Cayuse), so I decided that it might make the Thanksgiving celebration quite special. And yes, it did…
For what it worth, here are my wine notes:
2017 Casino Mine Ranch Vermentino Shenandoah Valley (14.1% ABV)
Light golden
Honeysuckle, white flowers, inviting
Delicious. Whitestone fruit and tropical fruit, a touch of honey undertones, Gewurz-like spiciness, good acidity, good balance.
Should play well with food (pre-dinner notes)
8-, it was good with food
2018 Azur Rosé Napa Valley (12.5% ABV)
Gold with a copper hue
Similar to the previous wine, honeysuckle, ripe strawberries
Good acidity, strawberries all the way, fresh, vibrant, full of energy. Excellent.
8-/8, tremendous acidity on the second day. Worked well with food.
2016 Vinum Cellars The Scrapper Cabernet Franc El Dorado (15.18% ABV, $35, 26 months in 2 year French Oak)
Dark garnet
Red and black fruit, a touch of black currant
Black currant, dark chocolate, sweet cherries
8, good balance, well-made wine.
2011 Cayuse Syrah En Cerise Vineyard Walla Walla Valley (13.9% ABV)
Dark garnet, almost black
Liquid rocks, a touch of barnyard, iodine, can’t stop smelling
Liquid rock, tart cherries, tar, pepper, iodine, firm structure, layers and layers of flavor. Wow.
9-/9. Surprising pairing – worked amazingly well with Nantucket cranberry pie. Worked well with turkey as well.
As you can tell, the wine program was a complete success – and I definitely can’t complain about spending the holidays with just the closest family
That’s my Thanksgiving story. Hope you had fun too!
Seeking, Overcoming, and Finding: Amarone for the Father’s Day
Let’s take this step by step, starting with seeking. What am I seeking?
If you read this blog for some time, you know that Amarone is my pet peeve. Ever since falling in love with Le Ragoze Amarone during Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Wine School session, Amarone has a special place in this wine lover’s heart. I generally would never admit the existence of the pivotal wine in my wine journey, but if I would really think about it, this will be the one. The combination of the dried fruit on the nose with the firm, powerful, impeccably balanced palate really created an everlasting memory. I had this experience about 17 years ago, in 2003, drinking 5 years old wine (1998 vintage) – and ever since I’m trying to replicate it. Which brings us to the next step: overcoming.
We are talking wine here, so what is there to overcome, you say? Fear. Trepidation. An attempt to avoid disappointment – over and over again. While seeking to replicate the amazing experience, over the years I tried many, many Amarone. A few times I managed to get close to that magical Le Ragoze experience – but the majority was really, really far from it. Why? Lack of balance. Let’s make it more precise: severe lack of balance. Often expressed in the form of the alcohol burn.
In the last 20 years, Amarone’s alcohol level progressed from the typical 14.8% ABV to the typical 16.5% ABV. I get it. What makes Amarone an Amarone is an additional step in the winemaking process, which is rarely used with any other wines – drying of the grapes before they are pressed. After the grapes are harvested, they are placed outside (historically, on the straw mats, but now, on specially arranged shelves) to dry under the sun, to literally shrivel into the raisins before they will be pressed – this process typically takes between 3 and 4 months. Drying concentrates sugars (and dramatically lowers the yield, which explains the high prices), and thus you can expect higher alcohol in the resulting wine. Yes, I get it – but still…
At 16.5% ABV, true mastery is required to achieve balance. True mastery is rare – and the real downside here is personal self-doubt. While tasting yet another hot and biting wine, a tiny voice in your head says “what is wrong with you? You really say you like this type of wine? Are you sure you are even remotely qualified as an oenophile? Maybe water should be your drink of choice?” So yes, tasting yet another Amarone requires overcoming this fear – who wants to prove oneself wrong time and time again?
Now, let’s continue to finding.
When I was offered a sample of Zenato Amarone I said (not without fear) “of course, thank you”. Zenato, which started producing wines about 60 years ago, in the 1960s, initially white wines in Lugano, produced its first Amarone in 1988. The grapes for Zenato Amarone wines come from the Valpolicella Classico area, grown in Sant’Ambrogio township.
So what did I found in that bottle? The first sip instantly quelled all the fears and brought back happy memories. What made that Le Ragoze so memorable was the contrast. I know, I already said it – the wine had an intense nose of the dried fruit. I don’t know about you, but I love dried fruit – especially figs and raisins. But dried fruit is sweet, and this is what I expected from the wine to be – only it was not. The wine was dry, absolutely dry, massive, concentrated, and firmly structured. It was also perfectly balanced.
Those were the memories. And 2015 Zenato Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico DOCG (16.5% ABV, $60, 80% Corvina Veronese, 10% Rondinella, 10% Oseleta and Croatina, 4 months of drying, 36 months in oak) instantly brought them back with the delicate nose of the dried fruit and dry, massive, concentrated, but a perfectly balanced body. Firm structure, a touch of dried cherries, sage – just an excellent wine overall (Drinkability: 8+/9-). Wine is all about the balance. And pleasure. Zenato Amarone delivered both.
As I opened this bottle on Father’s Day, you can see in the picture a dilemma I now will be facing – I got another glass from another kid – now I will be forced to pick and chose the glass and try to avoid playing favorites… Oh well, not the worst problem to have, isn’t it?
Do you have a favorite Amarone that never disappoints? What’s your most memorable wine? Is there a wine out there you always crave?
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