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A Weekend In Wines #4
Here we go again – another attempt at a series (I kind of question my mental health at the moment, as the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again, each time expecting a different result – I’m so glad I’m not a doctor, whew).
Some time ago, I wrote a post called Weekend in Wines. Then there was A Weekend In Unique Wines. And also A Weekend in [Great] Wines. That makes it 3 attempts at the Weekend in Wines theme, hence the #4 in the title. Oh yes, and countless posts under the same name, which never left my head, never materialized in the form of letters and pictures on the screen. But those don’t count, don’t they? Okay, number 4 it is.
It is not every weekend that I experience the wines I feel an urge to talk about. But from time to time, the “weekend wines” turn out truly special, especially if we are meeting with friends or traveling somewhere just for a weekend. The name “Weekend in Wines” feels appropriate, so let’s see how far I will be able to get with this.
There is another interesting question: when does the wine weekend start? Well, it is not all that important, but sometimes I open an interesting bottle on Thursday, knowing that I will finish it on Friday, just to see how the wine will “age”. But then again, let’s not bother ourselves with small details.
The weekend in wines #4 actually started on Thursday, with 2022 Pazac Le Pigeonnier Costières de Nîmes AOP (14.5% ABV). Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of the Southern Rhone wines, I find them flat for my palate. So I had no expectations opening this bottle – and then was pleasantly surprised with a generous fruit, medium+ body and nicely contrasting acidity. Well drinkable and offering a good amount of pleasure (Drinkability: 8-). I pumped the air out and left the bottle on the counter until the next day – and on the next day, the wine started losing its “umph”, simply confirming that Southern Rhone wines are not built for ageing.
I needed something else to drink on Friday, then, and I pulled 2021 Field Recordings Nolan Alisos Canyon AVA (13.9% ABV, 100% Alicante Bouschet, Nolsn Ranch vineyard) from the wine fridge. I was first introduced to the Alicante Bouschet grape more than 20 years ago, in the guided tasting of Spanish wines at the Barcelona restaurant in Connecticut. Ever since, I had many pleasant encounters with wines made from this unique Teinturier grape. A quick explanation, if I may – Teinturier grapes have red skin and red flesh/juice, which is very unique – only about 20 grapes are Teinturier out of many thousands used in the winemaking (Georgian Saperavi is another good example of Teinturier grape). The absolute majority of the red-skinned grapes have clear juice. While coming originally from Spain, Alicante Bouschet is a popular grape in California, more as a blending grape, but also used in the single varietal wines by the likes of Carlisle and Turley. This wine was powerful and brooding, almost black in color, with cherries, roasted meat, and a bit of funk, well within the “pleasure boundaries for my palate. (Drinkability: 8)
On Saturday, we were visiting our friends Francesca and Stefano, and of course, I had the pleasure nightmare of selecting a couple of special bottles to bring over. After a prolonged, painful back and forth, I finally settled on two bottles of Turley. First, 2022 Turley Sauvignon Blanc Estate Napa Valley (13.2% ABV). Turley Sauvignon Blanc is one of my perennial favorites. I had multiple vintages of this wine, and I have to say that Turley Sauvignon Blanc is always in a league of its own. You can’t provide a simple frame of reference, such as “oh, it is so much like Sancerre”, or “Similar to New Zealand”, and so on. The wine has great energy, it is round, it is silky, it is polished, it offers white stone fruit with good mid-palate weight, and a perfect balance. Always a treat. (Drinkability: 8+).
The next wine was an amazing treat. I recently got this 1995 Turley Petite Syrah Aida Vineyard Napa Valley (13.5% ABV) directly from Turley via the last mailing list offering. I’m on the Turley’s list probably for the past 15 years, I love Petite Sirah (Turley uses the spelling of Petite Syrah for some reason), but I never saw Petite Sirah from Aida Vineyard on any of the offers. We had to decant the wine as we were not careful pulling out a 31-year-old cork. I know that Larry Turley, the founder of Turley Winery, often said that Zinfandel is the wine Cab lovers actually want to drink. I know that this is Petite Sirah and not Zinfandel, but this 1995 Petite Sirah was truly mesmerizing – and Cabernet-like. In a blind tasting, I would not doubt that I’m drinking California Cabernet Sauvignon even for a second. The wine had a beautiful, succulent berry profile, with cedar box, eucalyptus, and mint, a fresh, zippy, and joyous palate. The tannins were perfectly integrated but still present, acidity was in check, ensuring the absolute freshness, and overall impeccable balance. A gem. (Drinkability: 9-/9).
Ahh, and one more interesting tidbit – the delicious pairing of this Turley Petite Sirah with Pasta Bolognese we had as a first dish. I would never think of pairing Petite Sirah with a pasta dish, as generally it would overpower it. However, this 30-year-old Petite Sirah mellowed and evolved enough to create a delicious pairing, complementing and enhancing the flavor. Love good surprises!
I asked Stefano if he had any Valtellina Sfursat in his cellar, as I was all of a sudden craving this expression of Nebbiolo after an earlier conversation on Twitter. He didn’t have the Sfursat, but he came back with 2001 ArPePe Sassella Rocce Rosse Reserva Valtellina DOCG (13% ABV). I love ArPePe wines, but they are generally not easy to find in the US. Interestingly enough, this wine literally showed no signs of age. It looked like it was just made, with cherries, sandalwood, violets and a touch of sapidity. To be entirely honest, I literally wanted this wine to show some age, maybe with some dried fruit notes, and it didn’t. I guess it would take another 20 years for it to reach its peak. Oh well, it was still tasty. (Drinkability: 8/8+).
And the last one for today – 2009 Carole Bouquet Sangue d’Oro Passito di Pantelleria, Sicily (14.5%). Once again, I was obnoxious enough to ask for Vin Santo to have with dessert. Stefano didn’t have any Vin Santo on hand, so he came back with this wine. I never heard of the producer, but the appellation is well-known for producing dessert wines from the Muscat of Alexandria grape, locally known as Zibibbo, with Donnafugata Ben Ryé being the most exemplatory specimen. It appears that this wine is produced by the famous French actress, Carole Bouquet, and it is not easy to find in the US. As the name of the appellation says, the wine is produced using the “passito” method, where the grapes are dried for a number of months before they are pressed into the wine, greatly increasing the concentration of flavors. The wine was delicious, loaded with succulent, ripe apricots with perfect acidity. Seductive, round, voluptuous – a perfect finish to a great evening with friends (Dinkability: 8/8+).
There you are, my friends. A weekend in wines. A weekend in great wines. A weekend in unique wines.
To more great wine weekends – cheers!
Daily Glass: Memorable Wines
Wine = Memories. Well, okay, we need to correct that statement. Great Wines = Memories, now that is better. Of course we remember the wines we drink, and this is how the opinions are formed and this is how the wine list in the restaurant doesn’t look that intimidating anymore. But this should be characterized more as a general knowledge, not specifically as “memories”. Great wines, on the other hand (I’m not going to define the term “great wine” – this is highly personal, you define it for yourself), become memory anchors. We remember when, why and how, we remember who we shared it with, and we can retrieve those memories on the moment’s notice. That is what “great wine” can do to you.
Case in point – a great evening with friends, which had all three elements at its perfection – the wine, the food and the company. An evening, when the time flies so fast, you don’t understand how late it is already. And the wines – stunning, each one in its own right. We started with Gosset Grand Réserve Brut Champagne – a non-vintage Champagne from one of the old and classic producers. I have to honestly admit that I was never impressed with other Gosset wines in the past, but this Grand Réserve, poured from the magnum, was outstanding – round, creamy, yeasty just enough, with a touch of apple and fresh bread on the palate – an excellent start of the evening.
Then the awe inspiring, almost 50 years old 1967 Gaja Barbaresco was gently uncorked. It was not simple, as cork did crumble – but this is nothing which strainer and decanter can’t fix. The first whiff – nothing smells off, which is a great sign of relief. While we put the wine aside to let it breathe a bit, we reached out for another white – 2007 François Cazin Le Petit Chambord Cour-Cheverny AOC.
This is a rare French white wine made from 100% Romorantin grape. I remember a few years back trying this wine at a 10 years of age – and I remember been simply blown away by the exuberant beauty of this seemingly unassuming wine (new vintages retail at around $15 – the QPR is through the roof on this). The nose of that 2007 was amazing, with fresh white fruit, guava, mango, honeysuckle, lemon and lemon zest. On the palate, behind the first wave of Riesling-like appearance with touch of sweetness and tropical fruit notes, there were layers and layers of acidity and minerality. After about 10 minutes of breathing time, the wine was almost bone dry, very crisp and refreshing. I still have 3 bottles of the 2007, and now the trick will be to keep my hands away from them, as they still benefit from time.
Time to get back to that 1967 Barbaresco. We were somewhat waiting for the main course to start drinking it, and I was concerned that as it happens with many older wines, this wine might also succumb to the neverland if not consumed within that short window of time. Silly me. The wine kept going and opening for the next 2 hours. It had all those sweet plums, sapidity of the onion peel, minerality, all weaved around a well defined structure with perfect acidity and perfect balance. The “wows’ kept flowing until there was nothing left in the decanter – this was definitely a treat. And a perfect memory anchor, an experience which stays forever.
Our next wine was also very interesting and delicious in its own right, by fate or the accident made from the exact same grape as the Barbaresco, the Nebbiolo –2004 Ar.Pe.Pe Rocce Rosse Riserva, Valtellina Superiore Sassella DOCG, Italy. Valtellina red wines are typically made in the way similar to Amarone – with the grapes drying out after the harvest for about 120 days, and only then pressed and vinified. The Sassella Rocce Rosse from Ar.Pe.Pe stands apart, with Nebbiola grapes (locally known as Chiavennasca) left on the vine to raisin, and then pressed. Fresh, succulent plums and cherries on the nose and palate, together with effervescent lightness and firm structure (this might not make sense right away, but this is the way I perceive it), which I always find in Ar Pe Pe wines. Again, a delicious red.
Our last wine was 2003 Sella & Mosca Anghelu Ruju Rosso Passito Riserva Alghero DOC, Sardinia, Italy – very unique and interesting fortified wine, made out of partially sun-dried Grenache, locally known as Cannonau. This wine was mostly resembling the Port, with a hint of dried fruit on the nose, supported by perfectly balanced, soft body of plums and sweet oak, with perfect amount of sugar to make it a light dessert wine, but not an overbearing sweet monster.
Here we are – a perfect set of very memorable wines, compliments of dear friend Stefano (Clicks & Corks/Flora’s Table), and an evening with friends which will stay in memory, anchored by that 1967 Barbaresco. Considering that I’m finishing this post right on the Open That Bottle Night, I hope you increased your memory bank with some spectacular experiences, both of wines and the company – and I will be glad to hear about them. To the great life experiences! Cheers!
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