Happy New Year Wine Lovers!

Travel, life events and the holidays kept me from producing a Discovery Story in recent weeks.  I hope your holidays were safe and happy.  We had a wonderful time traveling in Paris, the Loire and Bordeaux.  The food was excellent, the wine beautiful and we made new life-long friends.

Paris was a day of sightseeing.  There is so much to see in Paris it’s hard to see alot when you only have one day.  The Loire visit included a day in Orlèans and two days scouting the countryside surrounding Tours.  Orlèans is beautiful and worthy of return visits.  From Tours we visited many chateau and tasted wines of the area.  The Discovery Story “Salty Wine, What”, October 6, 2014, focused on Nantais in the western end of the Loire. Our visit to Orlèans and Tours let us see and sample wines from Touraine and Central Vineyard regions of the Loire.  Cab Franc and Chenin Blanc are readily found in these AC.

The final leg in Bordeaux was more than expected and produces some of my very favorite wines.  We crisscrossed the Bordeaux seeing chateau and tasting the wines of Pauillac, Blaye, Margaux, St. Julien, St Emillion, and Cadillac.  We even took a sojourn to Cognac to blend our own bottle with the master blender at Camus.  Pictures from the trip were posted on our Facebook site.

Looking forward to 2015, I am considering a new Discovery Stories.  Among the stories I am considering are the Cab’s of the Coonawarra, the wines of Walla Walla, and a feature on merlots.  Please be sure to let me know what you’d like to read more about.

As usual, I will send announcements on wine specials as we find them.  In that vein, we have two wines of very limited availability:  a 2012 Iuvene, Tempranillo ($6.00) and a 2011 El Pajaro Mencia ($11.00).  Please let us know if you want any, they will go quickly!

Mike

Clay Pigeon

Hello Wine Lovers

Patti and I had the pleasure of tasting Clay Pigeon’s Pinot Noir and Syrah.  Michael is a great host and quite knowledgable of wine making.  The wines are lovely showing nice balance, flavorful fruits and a long finish.  They are well worth tasting.

Clay Pigeon is an urban winery in Southeast Portland, specializing in Pinot Noir & Syrah from our great state. The share the facility with Cyril’s, their restaurant, wine bar and tasting room.

Find more out about Clay Pigeon at: http://claypigeonwinery.com/

Mike

 

New versus Old World Wines

Hello Wine Lovers,

Tonight’s tasting was an “old-world” vs “new-world” syrah competition. We tasted a 2010 Cotes Du Rhone and a 2011 Walla Walla Syrah.   There were three of us and we were challenged to compare wines that truly express the character of their AVA. The “Funk” is a Walla Walla syrah from Saviah and is Rich’s expression of a Rhone style wine which made for a tight competition.

The panel of three was split; one new world, one old world and one undecided. The first favored the richness of the new world, the second appreciated the depth of style of the old world and the third believed both have their place.

In the end, both wines are wonderful and are great representations of their terrior and both are recommended for the experience they bring to us, the wine loving public.

Recent Discoveries

Hello Wine Lovers,

Here are some favorites from a recent French Holiday Tasting.

Chateau Roustaing, Reserve Vieilles Vignes 2011

This is a lovely ready to drink fruit forward blend (45% Cab Franc, 35% Cab Sav and 20% Merlot) originating from vineyards southeast of Bordeaux in the Bordeaux appellation.

Discovery Price $11.00

Chateau Moncontour, Vouvray Demi-Sec, Loire Valley 2011

Comprised of 100% Chenin Blanc fruit, this elegant Vouvray shows ripe fruit with crisp acid and a long finish. This should pair well with seafood and asian dishes.

Discovery Price $16.00

Chateau Bourbon La Chapelle 2010

From a special selection from the Chateau Castera vineyard, this blend (65% Merlot, 25% Cab Sav, 5% Cab Franc and 5% Petit Verdot) offers a traditional flavors from the Medoc. 2010 is noteworthy for being a good year for this region.

Discovery Price $15.00

As with all Discovery wine posts, wines are available while supplies last. If a wine is no longer available we will work with you to find a comparable wine.

Mike

Salty Wine, What?

Hello Wine Lovers,

Yes, a maritime environment can add a briny or mineral flavor to wine.   The Nantais (Nantais or Pays Nantais also know as Muscadet) region of the Loire Valley in northern France is a marine environment and wines from this region can have salty notes.

The Loire traverses a 630-mile area that includes a continental climate on the eastern end all the way to a maritime climate on the western end of the Loire. If you toured the Loire from east to west you would start in the Central Vineyards, travel through the Touraine, then Anjou-Saumur and end in Nantais. The central vineyards are known for Sancerre (sauvignon blanc and pinot noir) and Pouilly-Fume’ (sauvignon blanc). Wines from the Touraine are known as Vouvray (chenin blanc), Chinon (cabernet franc) and Bourgueil (cabernet franc).   Anjou-Saumur hosts “Appellation d’Origine Controlee” or “AC” wines and main wine from Nantais is Muscadet.

Roger Voss, in his April 6, 2011 article, Decode the Wines of the Loire Valley, does a nice job of describing the region and fruit typical of wines from this region. Etty Lewensztain, in her March 28, 2011 article, The Quest for Salty Wines provides a great description of the savory element salt adds to wine offers a few wines to look for and notes that “briny accents…bring depth and complexity to a wine”.

In our own quest to discover salty wines and what they pair well with, we tasted two wines the Serve-et-Maine appellation within Nantais.   The first was a 2005 Tentation de Granite et Gabbro.  The second was a 2013 Domaine de la Tepiere sur lie.

Our assessment of the wine is shown in the table below. In general both are good wines and offer characteristics reminiscent of the Serve-et-Maine. We paired the wines with a neutral feta cheese, olive tapenade and wheat crackers.   Our pairing preference was the 2005 with the crackers and olive tapenade. While fresh and neutral in flavor and body, the feta drew from rather than contributed to a balance of flavors and textures.

Let us know about your pairing experiences and if there are areas you would like us to explore and report on.

Mike

 

Assessment

	2005 Granite	2013 Tepiere
Appearance (color)	Clear, pale gold, medium straw	Clear, light straw, pale yellow
Nose	Clean muted aroma of fruit, melon, stone	Briny, salty, yeasty, light notes of apricot and pear.
Taste	Light body, acidic finish, hint of petroleum and lemon, low-no tannin	Briny, mineral, lemon, acidic, light weight, low, no tannin
Conclusion	Good medium quality wine.	Good medium quality

References:

Roger Voss, April 6, 2011  http://www.winemag.com/Web-2011/Decoding-the-Wines-of-the-Loire-ValleyTK/

Etty Lewensztain, March 28, 2011  http://www.wineandfoodtravel.com/wine/wine-101/the-quest-for-salty-wines/

Exploring the World of Wine and Spirits, The Loire Valley, pages 73-78, Christopher Fielden, WSET Revised Edition 2009

Dedication

Hello Wine Lovers,

“Dedication” may draw you to Cougar Crest’s luscious award-winning blend.  Noteworthy for its flavors of plums, currents and cherries and the cause for which it was inspired; “dedication” is also what it takes to become a Master Sommelier.

We just watched Somm, the documentary directed by Jason Wise and while I don’t disagree with James Moleworth’s description of the film “stirring the lees with james molesworth” [http://www.winespectator.com/blogs/show/id/48960], I admire the dedication of individuals who work hard to become a Master Sommelier.

Wikipedia has a nice description for those interested in learning more about what a sommelier does http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sommelier and you can learn more about becoming a Master Sommelier at http://www.mastersommeliers.org

 

 

 

American Wine Story

On Friday September 5th, Patti and I had the pleasure of watching the premiere of American Wine Story. The movie was inspiring. Take care, you may want to start a new career!http://cstpdx.com/show/portland-premiere-american-wine-story

Recent Discoveries

At a recent wholesale tasting event we found a few wines we wanted to highlight.

St Innocent Pinot Blanc, Freedom Hill Vineyard, 2013

This pinot blanc shows a nice balance of acid and apple and pear fruit flavors. It should be an exceptional match for shellfish.

Discovery Wines price $18.00

Seven of Hearts Sauvignon Blanc, Columbia Valley, 2013

Sourced from 35-year old vines in the Stonehenge vineyard, this sauvignon blanc offers light hints of grass and flavors of melon and pear.

Discovery Wines price $17.00

Saviah Cellars Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, 2010

This yummy syrah spent 17 months in French oak (20% new) and was made from a mix of destemmed fruit and while clusters. This syrah expresses classic Walla Wall traits; a beautiful inky color, scent of black cherries, wet stones and spice. The supple tannins give way to a long delicious finish.

Discovery Wines price $27.00

Let us know if you are interested in getting any.

Mike and Patti