80 Sips, Loud Music And New Grape (Treble Journey #277)
Last Friday we attended “Around The World in 80 Sips” wine tasting event in New York City, organized by Bottlenotes. The idea of the event is to present wines from all over the world, from such wine stalwarts like France, Italy and Australia to literally unknown wine producing countries such as Lebanon. There were more than 100 wines presented in the event, which was not free ($75 standard ticket price, we paid $50, courtesy of The Austrian Wines).
Overall, I found the event somewhat challenging to enjoy. No, nothing wrong with the wines – there were a number of very good wines to taste. My first issue was really (I mean, really) loud music. There was not possible to talk face to face, never mind listening to the explanations about wines. The second issue was the sheer crowd. I really like wine tastings, big and small – if I only have a chance, I attend them as much as possible – wine tastings are the best places to learn and experience. I’ve being to all kinds of events – trade only and consumers, with thousands of wines present and with the handful of wines. I never being to the event where you have to stand for 10 minutes, not even in the line, but with your arm with the glass fully extended through the crowd, in the hope that wine will make it into your glass – mind you, we are not talking about tasting Petrus or Screaming Eagle here.
Leaving all the inconveniences aside, there were a number of good wines from those I was able to reach. Particularly, there were a number of interesting wines from Austria. This is where I managed to pick up grape #277, Rotgipfler, with the wine called Stadlmann Rotgipfler Tagelstiner 2008. My particlar favorite here was Fritsch Pinot Noir 2004, which had finesse and elegance of the classic Pinot, with more pronounced earthiness, typical for Austrian wines. It is interesting to note that we went through 3 bottles to really get the beauty of this wine showing – first was so so for some reason, second one corked but the third one was shining.
My overall tasting favorites were a couple of wines from New Zealand. First, a Pinot Noir 2007 from Palliser Estate in Martinborough. There were a number of good Pinot Noir wines from New Zealand, both from Martinborough and Central Orago, from 2007 and 2008 vintages. This particular Palliser Estate Pinot Noir had the most elegance out of the group, with classic Pinot smoky nose and restrained fruitiness of the New World wine.
The other two of my favorites where two white wines from New Zealand, one of them being total surprise. 
First was Sauvignon Blanc 2008 from the same Palliser Estate. I have to honestly admit that I have a weakness towards New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs – I enjoy them very much. The Palliser Estate Sauvignon Blanc had more of everything – not that it was a fruit bomb, no, simply the fruit was a lot more pronounced, such as in-your-face-gooseberry. I would put Drinkability of this wine at 8+.
And the surprise came in the form of Riesling from New Zealand. Why the surprise? First, I never had before a Riesling from New Zealand. Second, based on the experience with neighboring Australian Rieslings, which I find too dry and not pleasant, my expectations were quite low. And the surprise was in the fact that this particular East Coast Riesling from Giesen was actually tasting like … German Riesling, only done more in the fruit forward style (not sweet at all, the Kabinett level), very nice and pleasant.
To conclude: am I grateful for the experience I had? Of course. Wine tastings are always fun. Will I attend another Bottlenotes event? As of right now – I don’t think so, but hey, you never know…
Beer Experience For The Wine Lovers
Does beer belongs to mostly a wine blog? You bet – anything which gives you a tasty experience does, and beer is no exception. It is interesting to observe feuds between beer and wine drinkers. Allegiance to one kind of drink can be almost religious, and then nobody is sparred during the “ahh, you are a [that other nasty beverage] drinker” encounters.
Yes, I would admit that beer is not a typical drink for me. One one side, I know how to preserve the leftover wine in the bottle ( vacuum pump, argon,…), and I’m really not sure what to so with the beer leftovers. Another issue for me is that once beer goes into the bottle, it doesn’t evolve anymore. The beer is valued for its freshness, and effectively for the “sameness” of the taste – any bottle of Samuel Adams Lager is expected to taste the same. Wine is a living thing, including in the bottle, so while you have an expectation of the taste, there is always an element of mystery when the wine bottle is opened.
I have to admit that the beer tasting experience we had last weekend made me think that I actually have to pay more attention to the beers! Many years ago (1993/1994, if I’m not mistaken), I was a member of “Beer Across America” club, where I was getting 2 6-packs of micro-brewed beers every month. It was very enjoyable experience for about year and a half, and then it became boring, so I stopped the membership (I wonder if this is the story with most of those “monthly clubs”). Tasting the four beers last weekend reminded me of that excitement – and I want to share the experience.
We had total of 4 different beers. The word “different” doesn’t even come close to explain how diversely those beers tasted. The most “standard” (only in terms of previous experience) was beer called La Chouffe, unfiltered Blond Ale, produced by Brasserie D’Achouffe from Belgium. Very fruity and pleasant beer, with lots of sweet notes on the palate. This was a very good example of Belgium Blonde Ale, completely adhering to its distinct style.
The next one was beer called Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer from Scotland. I would highly recommend this beer for any scotch-lover, as after smooth and round palate comes perfect finish with hint of single malt scotch (Highland or Speyside in style). Oak also imparts some interesting honey and vanilla notes on the palate, all in all making Innis & Gunn a very enjoyable beer.
The next beer should really be designated as “wine, masquerading as beer”. Rodenbach Grand Cru, another beer from Belgium, had probably the most unexpected taste from this group (polarizing too, as my friends Kfir and Hadas didn’t 
like it at all, so it is two against one). To make wine parallel even more visible, you have to know that this beer undergoes double fermentation and resulting beer is produced as a mix of one-third of young beer and two-thirds of the beer aged in the oak casks for two ( Sic!) years! Therefore it is no wonder that liquid in your glass tastes “vinous” and has a great balance of acidity and fruits, with acidity being extremely noticeable, quite similar to any good wine. This beer should be experienced in order to truly believe it…
Now last, but not least – Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, the original smokebeer from Germany. Not sure if I should be ashamed or not, but I definitely missed whole group of smoke beers – I discovered Belgium beers long time ago, but never heard of the smoke beers, which seems to be a category with good amount of offerings, considering that Wine Enthusiast has the whole section covering them. This particular beer which is called Schlenkerla, is brewed over the smoke of the burning beechwood logs, and then matured in the cellars. The resulting beer offers smooth taste with pronounced smokiness, which all together creates very delicious experience.
That’s all the experience I wanted to share, but if I can give you an advice – go find those beers and experience them for yourself. If you think you don’t like beer, give one of those a try – you might learn something new about yourself…
Let’s Talk About Breakfast Again
As you probably expect from the title of this post, it is not going to be about wine (don’t know about you, but at 7:30 in the morning I need coffee…). So this is somewhat of a sequel post to the one about our experience at Hotel Fauchere in Milford.
From time to time, my travel takes me to San Ramon in California. In general, California is a right place for food. But then we all have our special places, where we want to return. Katy’s Korner is my special place for breakfast, something to look forward to. Why? Great food, great service and simply the fun place to be at. It has all the great traits of American Diner, the place to come to with the family and feel like home.
My staple on the menu is Eggs Benedict. There are at least 10 versions of Eggs Benedict on the menu, so you always have options. My choice during the last visit was Sonora Eggs Benedict, which includes guacamole and Canadian bacon.
Yummy!
And then the next part of the experience is… fun! It is a great fun to be in a classic American Diner, and look around at the walls (promise to self – carry good camera around, all the time…). These are some of the things which you will see:
and this:
and this:
then this:
and this:
and my favorite:
All in all, if your travel will take you anywhere close to San Ramon – find this place, and – enjoy your breakfast!
Katy’s Korner
2550 San Ramon Valley Blvd # L
San Ramon, CA 94583
(925) 831-2145
Treble Journey: Sciccarellu, Barbarossa and Niellucciu, #274 – #276
So, you can not pronounce the name of the first grape? Google doesn’t help? Don’t feel bad. The owner of the wine store in Paris, where I bough these two wines, had troubles with pronouncing “Sciccarellu”. I guess another way to write the name of the same grape is Sciacarello, or at least this is the closest on Wikipedia, but it doesn’t make it better known grape, at least for me.
As with any journey, there are ups and downs. Once you get off the well known path, you are in for the surprises, good and bad (luckily, it is wine, so the worst surprise is “here is something I don’t ever want to taste again”). When you open a wine made from obscure, maybe almost extinct grape, you really don’t know what to expect. There are cases where you really wish you never tasted that wine (did you have lately any Retsina wines from Greece?). Then there are those when you say “ok, doesn’t taste like anything, really”. Good surprises don’t come as often as one might wish. But – here we go. Two wines from Corsica, 3 new grapes for the Treble Journey, great experience and lots of pleasure – to give you a short summary.
To start with Rose, behind hardly pronounceable grape names hides an excellent wine. Domaine de Granajolo Corse Porto-Vecchio 2009 is a blend of Sciccarellu, Barbarossa and Syrah. Now, I have to tell you something very honestly. Despite the fact that I’m “practicing” an art of describing the wine taste for more than 7 years now, I still have a very difficult time to provide description in terms of individual components, and often I have equally hard time to find such detailed descriptions useful. What you taste depends on your mood, state of your mind, state of your palate and many other things, it is really personal – but this should be a subject of another post. So I prefer to talk in the terms of “full package” about this particular Rose – it has a lightness of a crispy white wine, but the substance, structure, body and weight of an elegant red wine (nice Burgundy or Pinot Noir from Central Otago comes to mind). And it definitely gives you pleasure. To me, this is perfect everyday wine, no matter if it is hot or cold outside. In the Drinkability terms this is 9- wine.
And if the Rose was great, Niellucciu 2009 from Domaine de Torraccia, also from Corse Porto-Vecchio was even better. The very first sip immediately solicited “Wow”. Earthiness and smokiness of the elegant Burgundy, spices, leather and tobacco of the classic Chateauneuf du Pape all complemented by the depth and structure of the great Barolo (after it is well decanted). Am I exaggerating? Always possible – but I’m honestly just trying to convey my personal perception. If your palate is aligned with mine (I know that is true for some of my friends), I’m sure you will also enjoy this wine immensely. In the Drinkability terms it is definitely a 9.
Now, with all this excitement, comes a sobering thought – I don’t think this wines are available in US… And if someone can prove me wrong – I will be really really really thankful…
Daily Glass: Iron Horse, Opus One and First Taste of 2009 Bordeaux
And again great folks from Stew Leonard’s Wines in Norwalk, Connecticut, helped many of us to learn and experience, and even with the new twist.
The twist was the fact that Iron Horse tasting was set as “SIP and TWIT” event – you can tweet about wines you are tasting, and as long as everybody adding #stewswines at the end of the twits, all twits can be easily found in social media channels. Besides, you can sign up for winetwits.com and become part of the information-sharing (“twitting”) network about the wines.
While this is all fun, let’s talk a bit about wines. There were 4 different wines from Iron Horse in the tasting. Sparkling Wedding Cuvee, Sparkling Brut, Pinot Noir, and unoaked Chardonnay. All four were good wines, but they didn’t stand out.
The next wine from the same tasting definitely belongs to the “experiences” group. Opus One, the product of joint venture between Napa legend Robert Mondavi and Bordeaux superpower Baron Rothschild, this wine was created to achieve the maximum potential of Napa Valley signature grape, Cabernet Sauvignon. Opus One is quite expensive, rare and collectible, and 2007 was a great year for California’s Cabernet wines, with very high ratings across the board from all different wine publications – this two factors combined promise a great experience.
The wine had a magnificent smell of Cabernet Sauvignon, with licorice, eucalyptus and black currant on the nose, very smooth and powerful on the palate, with balanced tannins. Finish left to be desired more, somehow subsiding to the greenish, a bit underripe grape. It is a very good wine – however, in my book, the QPR is a king, as soon as we are done talking about tannins and finish. And at $149, it is absolutely not a bargain. There are so many equally well made Cabernet Sauvignon wines, at a fourth, fifth or even sixth part of the price, that it immediately changes the whole picture. It is a great experience, but not the one where you feel that you have to make the next step and actually own a bottle.
Last, but not least for this post is the first taste of 2009 Bordeaux. 
Just a regular Bordeaux, Chateau du Colombier, $11.99 at Bottle King – but from the 2009 vintage. 2009 vintage is compared to the greatest Bordeaux vintages of all times, such as 1949, 1982, 2000 and 2005. Of course, Bordeaux requires aging, from 10 to 30 years (or longer), in order to really shine. And getting aged Bordeaux is becoming impossible, as it skyrockets in price and becomes extremely scarce. But the good thing is that in a great year, even the simplest Bordeaux bottlings will deliver great value and will age very well, so you will be able to enjoy aged Bordeaux after all.
This particular wine had a very nice nose and palate of dark fruits, with good acidity and tannins. No, it was not an amazing wine – yet. This is the time to experiment. Get a few bottles of Bordeaux 2009, stash it in the far most corner of your cellar, and don’t touch it for 5-7 years. And after that – reach out, get that bottle opened – you might be on the way to discover greatness…
Honora Winery
Guest Post by Celine Labarre
Honora vineyard and estate is located in Southern Vermont’s Green Mountains of West Halifax, only 2 ½ hours from Boston and 3 ½ hours from Manhattan and are within minutes of Mount Snow Ski Resort, Molly Stark State Park and the Harriman Reservoir.
Avigliano at Honora Winery is a very unique and unforgettable setting for your wedding, civil union, special event or corporate gathering.
Our beautiful 6,000 square foot Napa Style event center is nestled in between two of our vineyards. The French doors that surround the building allow beautiful views from every direction. It is also complete with 2 hand crafted mahogany bars, 6 wrought iron chandeliers and to enhance the ambiance of any event there is a four-sided stone cut fireplace in the center of the space.
On the grounds there are 3 traditional white gazebos or a more rustic wooden arbor on a Belgium block patio that make great locations for ceremony or cocktail areas.
Our facility will be able to accommodate parties up to 200 guests between the hours of 10am and 9pm.
We at Honora Winery & Vineyard will strive to make your event extra special and memorable by providing you with an experience that is unique to your needs. Whether it is traditional, casual or black tie we will be there to surround your guests with our family hospitality … a mix of elegance and warm familiarity.
For more information about having your event at Honora please contact:
Celine Labarre at Celine@honorawinery.com
Experiences: Chef’s Tasting Dinner at Hotel Fauchere
This is the last post in the series about our experiences at Hotel Fauchere in Milford, PA ( previous two posts can be found here and here). Have to warn you upfront – if you thought that there are too many photos in my posts, this one will be extreme – there are way too many pictures I want to share. Here we go…
Culmination point of our weekend getaway was chef’s tasting dinner, long anticipated and planned for. The dinner took place at The Delmonico Room at Hotel Fauchere – for historic reference behind the name and relationship with The Delmonico Room in New York, you can click here. Anticipated is fine, but what’s up with planning? Considering love of wine in the group, we decided to take upon the pairing of the tasting menu by ourselves. For the tasting and pairing experience, this was a good decision, for the service part – not so much. Not that I can really complain about service, all the plates, decanters, glasses and silverware were flying around properly, but the service was delivered in the stark contrast with “everybody smiling” (if you read my previous posts), I would say it was delivered with the stone face. There can be some objective reasons to that ( we brought our own wine, therefore I guess we questioned the level of wine service)… Anyway, let’s talk about food and wine
So we had 7 course tasting menu with two very small “single byte” dishes at the beginning and in the middle of the dinner. Menu focus was on the local, seasonal and fresh ingredients, and I think mission was accomplished quite well. We selected 7 different wines to pair with the dishes – 4 whites, 3 reds.
Here are the four whites:
2009 Domaine Eugene Carrel & Fils Rousette de Savoie Altesse, France
2007 Staglin Family Vineyards ‘Salus’ Estate Chardonnay, Napa Valley
2009 Jorge Ordoñez Málaga Botani Sierras de Màlaga
1995 Domain Cazes Ambré Riversaltes Languedoc-Roussillon
We made a lot of good decisions with this set – but more about it later.
And here are the three reds:
2007 Mara Pinot Noir Laughlin Road Ranch, Russian River Valley
2005 Bradford Mountain Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley
2005 Chateau La Grange Clinet Premier Cotes de Bordeaux
This was also a great selection, all worked very well with food – so lets get some details.
The first dish in tasting was Tortelloni A La Zucca (Seared Diver Scallop, Black Walnut, Sage Butter). Wine pairing – Rousette de Savoie Altesse.
I would honestly question composition of the dish, as pumpkin tortelloni didn’t do anything to the scallop, tortelloni looked almost as a presentation piece. At the same time, wine worked very well with all of the components in the dish – apple, leeches and earthiness worked well with pumpkin filling, and wine had enough fruit and acidity to complement scallop. One important thing to mention here – with this wine I was able to make a progress in the treble journey, as Altesse is a grape from Savoie which I never tasted before. Color me happy – 273.
The next dish was Foie Gras De Canard (Porcini Mushroom, Brussles, Pear, Pomme Maxim). Wine pairing – Staglin Salus Chardonnay.
As we didn’t miss a single pairing ( pat on the shoulder), at least in my opinion, I will omit redundant [great pairing] in front of each description.
Salus is produced by Staglin Family, one of California cult wine producers from Napa Valley (Staglin Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 just got WS 98 rating). Salus was one of the most beautiful chardonnays I tasted lately. Vanilla, butter, caramel, toasted oak and acidity of the wine worked perfectly with heavy but creamy texture of the foie gras.
Next dish was Roasted Black Sea Bass (Caramelized Sunchoke, Garden Chard, Cabernet Franc Emulsion). Wine pairing – Mara Pinot Noir.
In case you wonder, there are actually two reasons why there is a wine label above instead of picture of the dish:
1. It was one of the best versions of Roasted Sea Bass I ever had. So, by the time I realized that I didn’t get a picture of the dish, it was too late.
2. And I guess it was also too late because everybody got carried away after taking a sip of Mara Pinot Noir.
Mara Pinot Noir was really a centerpiece of the tasting. “Oh my god” was major phrase at the table after the first sip of the wine. I don’t think that wine should be described in terms of color, fruit and acidity. This wine should be described in terms of opulence and decadence it cast upon the table. “Total and absolute balance” would be the right way to put it. Anyway, if you can find a bottle, you should experience it for yourself ( about 250 cases total production). In my “drinkability” ratings it is defnitely a 9+.
Next dish: Sautéed Squab (Confir Potatoes, Red Peppers, Serrano Ham). Wine pairing – Bradford Mountain Zinfandel.
Deep earthy and gamey flavors of the dish ( tasted almost like a fried liver), were complimented well by spices and acidity of the wine. This was definitely a good combination.
Following on, major entree: Duo of Farm Raised Rabbit (Bacon Wrapped Loin, Rabbit Scrapple, Chestnut, Garden Carrots, Natural Jus). Wine pairing – Chateau La Grange Clinet Premier Cotes de Bordeaux.
Bordeaux had being nicely decanted, so it was open enough in time for this dish being served. Coming from magnificent 2005 vintage, this wine can be drunk right now, but will improve with some time in the cellar. The wine worked well with the flavors of the dish – combination of tender, a bit gamey loin and fresh garden vegetables was well complemented by dark fruit flavors in the Bordeaux.
And now it is time for desserts: Cheese Soufflé (Pinot Noir Must, Grape Aspic, Rose Champagne Granite). Wine pairing – Botani Sierras de Màlaga.
I discovered Botani Muscat at the dinner at The Capital Grille. This wine delivers incredibly bright acidity and fruit combination, every sip feels like it is full of live. That acidity was instrumental in this pairing. The wine worked quite well with both Granite and Souffle components of the dessert.
And last, but not least, one more dessert: Gala Apple and Granola (Apple Jack Caramel, Foraged Crabapple Confit, Cinnamon Gel, Pecan Brittle, Mulled Cider Ice Cream). Wine pairing: Ambré Riversaltes.
If Mara Pinot Noir was best of tasting, then this was the most interesting wine. This wine, made out of White Grenache, is made in the Solera style – it spent 7 years in the open tubs, developing delicate flavors. Ambré Riversaltes exhibited fresh and balanced flavors of toasted apple and caramel, which perfectly worked with “apple many styles” flavors of the dessert.
That’ s all, folks – it is time to conclude the report on the Hotel Fauchere experience. All in all, we had a great time, and will gladly do it again. The life journey continues…
Hotel Fauchère
401 Broad St
Milford, PA 18337
(570) 409-1212
http://www.hotelfauchere.com
Experiences: Bar Louis at Hotel Fauchere
Continuing the subject of experiences at Hotel Fauchere (previous post can be found here). Can bar deliver an experience worth talking about? You bet. Experiences are personal, they are not universal. Things which are total routine for someone, can be a source of a great excitement for another person. My case is very simple – but I have to tell you a secret about myself. I’m very intimidated in the bar. I’m usually at total loss. I can never remember names of the cocktails, never mind citing the ingredients. Those which I remember by name, like Manhattan or Rusty Nails, I usually have no desire to drink. So I have to ask. And then there is a person, very intimidating one – a bartender. When I start mumbling my order, I usually get a look which says: ” such a low life shouldn’t exist”. And so I retreat saying “I guess I’m fine for now” or “what beer do you have on top”.
Luckily, experience at Bar Louis at Hotel Fauchere was totally different. The atmosphere was casual and nice. The bar itself was beautifully set and lit up, with bottles literally filled with light. The selection was good. Of course Norma Jean in Tel-Aviv has much bigger selection of scotches – but shelves and content at Bar Louis are more presentable:
To put things in perspective, literally the he most important part of experience for me is service. Generally, I have a habit of asking people for their first name and then use it when talking with them. I was really disappointed with myself, forgetting to ask our bartender for the name. She was impeccable – knowing what she is doing, smiling and having enough patience to deal with someone who is at a complete loss in the bar (should I also mention generous pours?). Great service – nothing more, nothing less – and this is what translates into a great experience.
Drink menu was short but not ordinary, and drinks tasted really authentic. Then of course there were all the single malts, cognac and tequila. But my personal favorite and personal discovery was Del Maguey Single Village Mezcal. Smokey flavor, supported by some herbs and soft alcohol, this was truly unique drink. It is described as “magical” on the web site – who knows, it might be. I would love to compare it with the Kings of smokey alcohol – single malts from Islay, such as Lagavulin, Caol Ila and others – that would be one fun tasting. I highly recommend that you will get your opinion, though – which only requires finding the same bottle and tasting it… (of course, let’s compare the notes). Whether you will like it or not, I guarantee you an experience – and this is what counts.
And then the dinner time arrived – so long until the next post…
Experiences: Hotel Fauchere, Milford, PA
This will be the first post in this blog (if I remember correctly, of course), where wine, or alcohol of any kind will not be discussed. Total surprise, right? This is talk a Vino blog after all?
Well, this post definitely will be about life and experiences. This past weekend, we went with the group of friends to the small town called Milford in Pennsylvania. The goal was to stay in the nice Hotel Fauchere, experience the special chef tasting dinner at The Delmonico Room, and to do sightseeing and enjoy beautiful fall colors of East Coast. We definitely got a complete range of experiences – enough for few blog posts, as if I will try to cram it all into one, I will lose my readers.
Let’s talk about those experiences, one by one. Hotel Fauchere is a beautiful boutique hotel, belonging to Relais & Châteaux group of luxury hotels. The interior is nice, at the same time, the rooms don’t stand out (for the same price, you can find amazing accommodations at many Bed and Breakfast). So where is the “experience” part you ask? It’s in the service. I’m traveling quite a bit, and yet I had not being at the place with so many genuinely smiling faces. The key words are “Genuine” and “Smiling” – it really puts the whole stay in the perspective. Service at Hotel Fauchere is definitely something to experience – attentive, accommodating, focused on YOUR needs.
What else is there to experience? Well, one is the Bar Louis, which we will talk about in a separate post, and another one is a continental breakfast.
Yes, you are not mistaken – continental breakfast. If you got a picture of corn flakes pack and tiny milk box, try to scare that thought away. We are talking about continental breakfast as Experience.
You start with the french press coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice at a beautifully appointed table.
Next element of experience – home made vanilla yogurt and granola. It’s too bad that picture doesn’t convey the taste – and if you like the picture, you have to trust me that the taste is few levels above:
Then comes a choice of raisin scone or lemon muffin, and it makes me a lazy photographer, but that picture I missed. And to finish, here comes a grapefruit with caramelized top:
Delicious! And if you in a mood for something different than continental breakfast, you can get a traditional omelet which comes with thick sliced country style bacon (amazing, by the way)
Or a french toast:
All in all, Hotel Fauchere is something to experience – and while I will continue to report with the next post, nothing will replace the real thing. Reach out for that GPS already…
Treble Journey: Calling All Clones, Grapes #269 – #272
Clones are looked at somewhat skeptical when it comes to wines – simply because in some cases, the origin of the grape is not easy to establish, and then all sorts of claims can be associated with particular characteristics of the grape. Well, when you on the hunch to get to the Treble level, even the clones will help – especially if they are certified by UC Davis.
This Flora Springs Sauvignon Blanc is a blend of two clones of Sauvignon Blanc: Soliloquy Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Musqué clone. It is a beautiful wine, combining finesse, the grassiness of traditional Sancerre and fruit-forward style of California wines, perfectly balanced. This is one of the very few California Sauvignon Blanc wines which I actually enjoy, as in general my preferences are on the Loire and New Zealand style Sauvignon Blanc. I will put drinkability rating on this wine as 8+, and these are the two new grapes.
Then come two more wines, which are adding two more grapes, both grapes being in the main Wine Century Club application table from the beginning. One is Petite Arvine, a grape from Switzerland, which is hard to find in the US. I got the wine directly from Switzerland with the help of my friend Patrick, and it was 2009 Valiciana Petite Arvine du Valais – simple and herbaceous, working well as an aperitif.
And the last grape for this update was Garnacha Peluda, also known as Ladoner Pelut, or Grey Grenache. And even as Wikipedia simply lists all of the clones of Grenache as one and the same grape, as we are counting clones, this is perfectly suitable grape to be counted by itself. It was a part of the blend in wine called 2007 Sexto Terra Alta from Spain – an interesting wine with some dark fruit notes showing up after the wine breathes for a while – it would be an interesting wine to try in 3-4 years.
That’s all for now – and more to follow, as the wine adventures never stop…
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