Pour Boys Summer Wine Dinner

Pour Boys Summer Wine Dinner 

Dr Dan and Linda hosted our Pour Boys Wine Group (sans Bill and Beth C who were traveling in St Julien, Bordeaux this week) for a gala summer dinner. 

As is customary, we each brought a couple bottles of wines to share and compare for pairing with the food. 

The ‘three amigos’ were reunited with Bob and Gloria flying in from Miami for the occasion. 

Besides Linda and I and Bob and Gloria, we were joined by Dan’s friends, Joe and Linda, and Linda S, as well as our Pour Boys Wine Group regulars, Ernie, Eric and Cathy and Lyle and Terry. 

Dan laid out his usual selection of artisan cheeses, nuts, chocolates, crackers and smoked salmon. 

The dinner feature theme this evening was ‘Sausage’ and there were five different sausages for the entree course, accompanied by corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad, bean salad, quiche casserole and accoutrements. 

The sausages included Joe’s homemade Italian Sausage with cheese, Sheboygan Bratwurst, Polish Sausage, Chicken Sausage, and Dan’s legendary family favorite, Cavapcici. 

After dinner there was a dessert sundae bar with ice cream and toppings, and a broad selection of Linda M’s home baked cookies, brownies, pierogis and assorted artisan chocolates, nuts, fresh berries, melon and pineapple with yogurt.

The collective group brought a wide selection of white and red wines as well as sparkling wine and champagne before dinner, and after dinner ‘sticky’ dessert wines and a vintage port. 

The White Wine flight included  …

Domaine Wachau Ried Traunthal Gruner Veltliner Federspiel 

Dr Loosen Erdenner Treppchen Mosel Riesling Ausliese 2019 

Darioush Napa Valley Viognier 2010 

Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay 2020   

Sea Smoke Sta Rita Hills Chardonnay 2018

The Red Wine flight included …

Le Fonti Poggino Gran Selzione Chianti Classico 2018

Nino Negri Valtelina Superiore Inferno Ca’ Guicciardi (Nebbiolo) 2020

Sea Smoke Southing Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2018

Peter Michel “Les Pavots” Knights Valley Red Wine 2012 

Chateau Magdeleine St Emilion Premiere Grand Cru Classe 2011 

Hickinbotham “Brook’s Road”  McLaren Vale Clarendon Shiraz 2020 

After Dinner dessert wines … 

Chateau d’Yquem 2013 

Far Niente Dolce Napa Valley Late Harvest 2014

Graham’s Vintage Port 1991 

Unlike our typical wine dinners, that most often feature red meats and customary pairings of sophisticated Red Wines, tonight’s entree theme offered the chance to showcase and focus on White Wines as select food/wine pairings. 

The White Wines … 

Domaine Wachau Ried Traunthal Gruner Veltliner Federspiel 

Eric brought this classic Austrian Gruner Veltliner that he and Cathy tasted and acquired at the winery during their trip to the region last summer. 

Dr. Loosen Erdenner Mosel River Valley Treppchen Riesling Auslese 2019 

I brought from our cellar this highly rated premium Mosel Treppchen Riesling Auslese from a classic legendary producer.  Only the finest most select grapes are used in the “Auslese” (outstanding) bottling. This release was rated 95 points by both Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate and James Suckling. 

Darioush Napa Valley Viognier 2010 

I also brought this interesting Viognier from ultra-premium Napa Valley producer Darioush, tasted and acquired at the winery during our Pour Boy’s Napa Valley Wine Experience 2017 - Darioush Napa Valley Estate Winery Visit & Tasting. 

This was the favorite wine of Dan’s daughter, Lauren, who accompanied us on that trip, which was also Linda A’s first Napa Valley wine experience. Darioush was also the featured producer at the first wine dinner we had with Bill and Beth C, which was the beginnings of what became our Pour Boys Wine Group. 

Also, Dan was our guest at a special Darioush Winemaker dinner at Everest Restaurant in Chicago hosted by owner producer Darioush and Shaptar Khaledi celebrating their collaboration with Olivier Bernard and Domaine de Chevalier in Pesaac Leognan Bordeaux. This was held back in 2004.shortly after Linda and I visited the winery and did a barrel tasting with winemaker Steve McDevitt during the construction of their magnificent hospitality center.

We had two wonderful ultra/premium Chardonnay’s …. Both offered great pairings with the sausage selections.

Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay 2020   

Joe brought this classic, legendary Napa Valley crowd pleaser from Chateau Montelena. Of course, this was the label that put American wine on the map having won the historic blind tasting “Judgement of Paris”, chronicled and recreated in the wonderful entertaining wine movie, “Bottle Shock” - (Trailer).

 

Sea Smoke Sta Rita Hills Chardonnay 2018

Dan opened from his cellar collection, wine club allocation, Sea Smoke, a great comparison tasting to the Montelena. 

The Red Wines … 

Le Fonti Poggino Gran Selzione Chianti Classico 2018

Eric brought this Italian Sangiovese blend, acquired by one of his partners at the producer during a visit to the Chianti region in Northern Italy. 

https://www.lefontipoggibonsi.it/

Nino Negri Valtelina Superiore Inferno Ca’ Guicciardi (Nebbiolo) 2020

We tasted and Dan acquired this premium Nebbiolo at one of the Italian Village featured producer wine dinners. We’ve dined together at several Italian Village producer wine dinners, the most notably arguably being the memorable Sassicaia Owner Dinner and Vivere Vertical Tasting.

Peter Michel “Les Pavots” Knights Valley Red Wine 2012

Ernie brought from his home cellar one of my favorites, this vintage aged highly allocated ultra-premium Alexander Valley Bordeaux Blend from Peter Michel.

Chateau Magdeleine St Emilion Premiere Grand Cru Classe 2011

Dan contributed from his cellar this vintage aged Bordeaux.  

Hickinbotham “Brook’s Road”  McLaren Vale Clarendon Shiraz 2020 

Lyle brought from his home cellar this highly rated allocated limited release Aussie Shiraz. It received 95 points by Wine enthusiast. 

After 40 years of Hickinbotham family ownership, the property was purchased by the Jackson family in 2012. The pedigree of the Hickinbotham Vineyards was long established in that prior to the change of ownership, grapes from the 85-hectare vineyard were only sold to an esteemed list of winemakers including including Penfolds, Clarendon Hills and Hardys. Hickinbotham grapes were credited to legendary flagship wines like Penfolds Grange and Eileen Hardy Shiraz. Only Clarendon Hills released vineyard-designate wines bearing the “Hickinbotham” name.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4365339

https://www.hickinbothamwines.com/wines/brooks-road-shiraz

Sea Smoke Southing Sta Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2018

Dan opened his cellar to share this wine club acquisition ultra-premium Sta Rita Hills Pinot. 

After dinner there was a dessert sundae bar with ice cream and toppings, and a broad selection of Linda M’s home baked cookies, brownies, pierogis and assorted artisan chocolates, nuts, fresh berries, melon and pineapple with yogurt. 

The dessert wine flight …

Chateau d’Yquem 2013 

Far Niente Dolce Napa Valley Late Harvest 2014

Graham’s Vintage Port 1991

Lyle brought from his cellar collection this premium Vintage Port. This is one of the last remaining bottles of the four cases he acquired of this label upon release. We’ve enjoyed tasting this wine over the last three decades as it has aged gracefully. 

At 30 plus years, the label, foil and most importantly the fill level were ideal for the age. Lyle was able to extract the cork using an ahso two pronged cork puller, necessary as the aged cork was starting to crumble and would’ve most likely disintegrated using a customary corkscrew. 

Vintage Port is only produced in ‘declared’ vintages, those of sufficient quality to warrant the designation.The 1991 vintage was the first ‘Declared Vintage’ for six years – the longest gap between declarations for decades. (The previous declared vintage, 1985 was son Sean’s birthyear, in which we acquired and still hold a broad horizontal collection of labels commemorating such.) 

At thirty-four years, this is entering another stage of its tasting profile, perhaps, some would argue, now reaching the apex, but, the last stage of its optimal tasting window.

Chateau d’Yquem 2013 

Ernie brought from his home cellar, multi-decade vertical collection, this ultra-premium classic Sauternes Chateau D’Yquem, considered a ‘first growth’ by many, always a special treat! We’ve enjoyed this label in several of our wine dinners including D'Yquem, Quintessa, Saxum Highlight OTBN 2016 - Three tastings flights.

Far Niente Dolce Napa Valley Late Harvest 2014

Linda S brought this imaginative, rare, ‘new world’ late harvest Sauternes style ‘botritized’ dessert wine, Dolce - a wonderful comparison to the classic ‘old world’ legend Chateau d’YQuem. Ironically, I pulled from our cellar and considered bringing this same label, albeit a different (older) vintage. It was great that Linda brought this for a special comparison and pairing. It also allowed me the opportunity to witness the aging of my vintage bottle (s). 

This is from ultra-premium Napa Valley producer Far Niente who boast being “America’s only winery to specialize in a single, exquisite dessert wine crafted in the cherished Sauternes style”. 

They have fun with this wine they call Dolce, which derives it’s name from “Dolce far niente", an Italian phrase that translates to "the sweetness of doing nothing".

This is a 90-10 blend of Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc, sourced from the 20-acre Dolce Vineyard situated east of Napa in Coombsville at the foot of the Vaca Mountains. This was aged 30 months in 100% new French oak. 

We enjoyed this wine together with Dan and Linda, Bob and Gloria, and Bill and Beth, at our festive Pour Boys Wine Dinner at Del Ray Beach Wine Kitchen.

Photo (left) taken from that dinner. 

https://farniente.com/wineries/dolce

Thanks and kudos to Linda and Dan for hosting another festive gala dinner. 

Gourmet dinner and elegant wine flight

Gourmet dinner and elegant wine flight

Fellow Pour Boy, wine buddy, Dr Dan and Linda hosted us for a artfully prepared gourmet dinner with an elegant flight of wine pairings. They prepared pork chops in a brown mushroom sauce, haricot verts, an imaginative BLT - bacon and lettuce stuffed tomatos and extraordinary stuffed giant portabella mushrooms (shown below) and rosemary potatoes.

Before dinner we had a selection of artisan cheeses, stuffed peppers, and a baked shrimp casserole.

Pork-chops in mushroom sauce

After dinner, for desert featured baked apple strudel with vanilla bean ice cream. For the desert course Dan served Rosalack Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Auslese and I brought a Sonoma-Cutrer Winemaker's Release Late Harvest Chardonnay.

The wine flight:

Château François Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots 2011

  

 Château Clinet Pomerol 2005

Château Larcis Ducasse St Emilion Grand Cru Bordeaux 2004

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac Bordeaux 2011

Rosalack Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Auslese 2009

Sonoma-Cutrer Winemaker's Release Late Harvest Chardonnay 2012

Tasting notes:

Château François Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots 2011

With the cheese course of artisan cheeses, olives and cheese stuffed green peppers, Dan opened this Burgundy Pinot Noir.

Garnet colored, light medium bodied, this was elegant and refined with fresh with dusty rose violets, earthiness, red currant and plum and fruits. It showed smooth silky fine-grained tannins with excellent length on the balanced, delicious and complex finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=177948

Château Clinet Pomerol 2005

We just tasted the spectacular 2016 vintage release of this wine earlier this week at the UGCB release tour tasting with owner Ronan Laborde at the Drake in Chicago.

This 2005 was amazing, arguably the best Clinet I've experienced and is certainly at it's apex; hard to imagine this improving further with more aging.

Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, silky smooth polished, nicely balanced, dark fruits accented by tantalizing elegant floral notes of lavender and violets with subtle notes of mocha, spice and tobacco on a lingering soft tannin finish.

RM 95 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=224074

Ronan LABORDE,Owner

Château Clinet

( Pomerol )

Sea Smoke Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir Southing 2009

Cellartracker Somm David T's tasting notes sums up this wine eloquently and thoroughly.

"The nose reveals, sweet, slightly sour and ripe; blackberries, some black raspberries, dark cherries, plum, blueberries cranberries, pomegranate, candied cherries and baked strawberries. Big vanillin, soft cinnamon stick, touch of clove, dark spice, herbaceous notes, mixed berry cola, dark, rich, moist soil, dry clay, dry stone, limestone minerals with dark red, blue fresh & withering flowers.

The body medium full. Tannins nicely resolved but, still have tarry teeth. The structure and tension nicely softened. The 09 is beautifully integrated. The length and balance have hit their high point. Ripe; blackberries, some black raspberries, dark cherries, plum, mix of some purple fruits, blueberries, cranberries, pomegranate, candied cherries and juicy strawberries. Red licorice/cola, good presence of vanillin, soft cinnamon stick, touch of clove, dark spice, black licorice, herbaceous notes; bay leaf, mint, eucalyptus, dark, rich, moist, soil, clay, river stones, limestone minerals and dark red, blue fresh & withering flowers with violets. The acidity is round and like a rain shower. The finish is extremely well balanced, seamless, elegant, rich, persistent for minutes with ripe fruit, medium dark spice that brings some mild heat and haunting fragrant violets for minutes".

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1025980


Château Larcis Ducasse St Emilion Grand Cru Bordeaux 2004

Like the Clinet above, we tasted the 2016 vintage release of this wine earlier this week at the UGCB release tour tasting with commercial director David Suire, so I pulled from the cellar this twelve year old vintage release to compare.

 This was dark garnet colored, with a slight brown/orange rim starting to set in, medium-full bodied, smooth polished with delightful complex aromas and flavors of plum, black currant and blackberry fruits with tones of earthy leather, black tea, cigar box and spice with hints of truffle, cedar and cassis on the smooth polished tannin finish.

RM 89 points

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=95970

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/02/larcis-ducasse-highlights-sunday-brunch.html

http://www.larcis-ducasse.com/ 

David Suire of Chateau Larcis Ducasse

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste Pauillac Bordeaux 2011

Like the Clinet and the Larcis-Ducasse above, we also tasted the 2016 vintage release of this wine earlier this week at the UGCB release tour tasting. Again we had the privilege of tasting this with sales director David Launay, (shown right with Céline Villars-FOUBET, Owner, of Château Chasse-Spleen) so I asked Dan to pull this one too from the cellar this twelve year old vintage release to compare.

If you tend to procure wines based on vintage due to a particular anniversary or birthyear, or to fill out a vertical collection, 2011 was a challenging year in Napa and Bordeaux, this seems to be average from an average vintage, but decent value since the higher end labels were not markedly demonstrably better, this won't likely improve further with aging. 

This is a blend of 75 % cabernet sauvignon, 20 % merlot and 5 % cabernet franc.

This is one of our stalwart favorite go-to wines for Bordeaux, being more reasonably priced than the 'super second' more premium labels such as Pichon Lalande and Pichon Longueville, and Lynch Bages. This is one of my favorites of this tier of labels. It was fun to see David Launay move from St Julien favorite Gruaud Larose to this label a couple years ago, and seeing him in Chicago at the UGCB each year.

Garnet colored, medium bodied, good length, some leanness, classic Bordeaux style with flavours of dark berry fruits accented by notes of . cedar, leather and a touch anise and hint of mocha, nice balance of acidity with smooth polished tannins.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1356149
 
https://www.chateau-grand-puy-lacoste.com/en/#/en/


Schloss Johannisberg Riesling Rosalack Auslese 2015

Dan served this German Auslese with the desert course.

Schloss Johannisberg, from the German Rheingau wine region, is one of the most historic wine producers in Germany. They were the first German wine estate entirely planted with riesling, in 1720. Schloss Johannisberg tends to produce powerful and spicy wines relative to other Rheingau wines. Their wines exhibit minerality and elegance which are qualities of good quality Riesling. Schloss Johannisberg use large oak barrels for their wines, which contribute to the spiciness.

Schloss Johannisberg have 35 hectares (70 acres) of vineyards, just on the fiftieth parallel. Rosalack comes from the portion directly below the castle Schloss Johannisberg. They are one of a few historical German estates that have their own official vineyard designation, without village name. The vineyard designation is therefore simply Schloss Johannisberger.

This is a quality Auslese with nice acidity and good minerality with hints of botrytis, it is fresh and crisp rather than heavy as found in many sweet wines.

Straw colored, medium bodied, medium sweetness with high acidity, this is complex with fresh scents of peach, subtle notes of dried apricot, orange, botrytis and honey, finishing with citrus, green apple, honey and mineral.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2377449


Sonoma-Cutrer Winemaker's Release Late Harvest Chardonnay 2012

We toured the Russian River Valley in remote Sonoma County with Dan and Linda during our Sonoma Napa Wine Experience 2017 last year. 

Wine and Spirits writes of this release, "This takes the ripening potential of the Russian River Valley and runs with it, melding the coolness of the region’s fog with the sunny, floral notes of honeycomb. Its plump nectarine flavors gain complexity from touches of botrytis, which took off in the vineyard after several storms in late October and early November. Winemaker Mick Schroeter can’t recall another vintage with such a complete infection of botrytis. The result is a richly textured dessert wine, balanced to drink on its own." They rated this 91 points in 12/2013.

Light honey colored, full bodied, extracted apricot fruit flavor with  hints of lemon citrus accented by notes of honey, crème brûlée and vanilla bean on a smooth lingering finish.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1737186