Showing posts with label Chateau La Nerthe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chateau La Nerthe. Show all posts

Friday, January 7, 2022

Chateau La Nerthe CDP 2013

Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf du Pape 2013 BYOB for Angeli's Italian family dinner outing

Friday night dinner at Angelis Italian, our favorite neighborhood Italian Trattoria, with Alec and Vivianna, I took from the cellar BYOB this complex big red. 

We tasted this wine when together we visited Château La Nerthe during our Châteauneuf du Pape Wine Experience in 2019. 

I write in more detail about this producer and label in my blogpost of that event. 

Tonight, for starters we had from the Specials Menu, Meatballs with Ricotta Cheese and the Gnocci Gorgonzola. For my entree selection I had the special Pork Loin with Port Wine with Artichokes, Portabella Mushrooms and roasted potatoes (shown), great pairings with our Rhone blend. 

As I wrote in my blogpost about our visit to the Château La Nerthe estate, Château La Nerthe is one of the oldest estates in Châteauneuf du Pape dating back to 1560. The historic chateau was built in 1736. Château La Nerthe was one of the first estates to bottle their own wine. 

The owners of La Nerthe are the Richard family in a partnership with negociants David and Foillard took over the property in 1986. They completely renovated the estate and replanted much of the vineyards.  In 1991, Château La Nerthe expanded their holdings with the purchase of 22 hectares of vines, which helped to create one of the largest estates in the Southern Rhone with 90 hectares under vine.

Starting with the 2015 vintage, Ralph Garcin was placed in charge of the estate and its winemaking. Previously Ralph Garcin was working for Jaboulet in Hermitage.

The 90 hectare vineyard of Château La Nerthe has a terroir of rock, sand, clay and loam soils. Much of the vineyards and the chateau are located at the estate southeast of the village, sixty hectares of the vineyards in two large blocks adjacent and in front of the Chateau.

The remaining 30 hectares are behind the chateau and abut the plateau of La Crau (shown right), has the classic Rhone valley rocks and stones, known as galets in the region. 

The vineyards of Château La Nerthe are planted with all 13 types of grapes allowed in the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation.

While the property has plantings of all 13 of the appellation’s permitted varietals, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah dominate the red blend. The estate has one of the highest proportions of white vines in the region and produces a special white cuvée – Clos de Beauvenir – sourced from grapes from the clos directly in front of the château. Chateau La Nerthe produces 3 red Châteauneuf du Pape wines and 2 Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc wines. 
 
We tasted the Clos de Beauvenir premium white label together at another dinner outing when we dined together last fall Al Fresco at Suzettes Creperie in nearby Wheaton (IL). 

Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf du Pape 2013

This is the flagship label of Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf du Pape. The typical blend of Chateau La Nerthe Châteauneuf du Pape is 55% Grenache, 17% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre, 7% Cinsault, 3% Counoise and the remaining 3% is a blend of the other varietals planted in the vineyard.

Close to 15,000 cases are produced each year.

At nine years of age, this is likely at or nearing the apex of its drinkability, the fill level, label, foil and cork were in perfect condition. 

This was a outstanding representation of the 2013 vintage. It showed deep garnet color with purple sprites, medium bodied, rich full complex but well balanced and integrated black cherry, strawberry, red and black fruits, with notes of spice, tobacco, cedar, sandalwood, and balsamic, turning to a smooth polished finish of round fine-grained delicate tannins. 

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2031809

https://www.chateaulanerthe.com/

 

Saturday, July 3, 2021

French Wine Dinner Al Fresco at Suzettes Creperie Wheaton

French Wine Dinner Al Fresco at Suzettes Creperie Wheaton 

We booked a dinner outside on the patio at Suzette's Creperie in Wheaton. Attracted by the delectable French cuisine, thoughtful Wine Spectator Best Award winelist, and outdoor dining, we were looking forward to a delightful evening. The final component of an ideal dinner outing was the acceptance of BYOB so I pulled from the cellar a vintage St Emilion to accompany my planned pate' or foie gras. 

We were joined by son Alec and daughter-in-law Vivianna. This was a special outing, partially in light of our fond memories of our spectacular trip together to Provence and the Luberon region of France two years ago. One of the highlights of that trip was a visit to the Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine appellation. Suzette's wine list featured several wines from the estates we visited during that trip. 

We dined on the quaint outdoor patio under the tent, likely a remnant of the Covid era, which had much the same feel of the patio garden under the tent as Restaurant Le Savoie where we dined in Marqaux during our trip to Bordeaux during that same trip to Provence.

I had been looking forward to ordering the Pâté and brought the Right Bank Bordeaux wine specifically for the pairing. We also ordered a selection of Appetizers that called for white wine and we chose from the winelist a very special limited release label. 

Chateau La Nerthe Clos de Beauvenir Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2009
 
One of the highlights of our visit to Chateauneuf-du-Pape was a tour and tasting at Chateau La Nerthe where we tasted the special limited release bottle Chateau La Nerthe Clos de Beauvenir. This label is only produced in select vintages with small production of fewer than 250 cases of the special white wine in a release year. 
 
This is a blend of Rhone varietals, 60% Roussanne and 40% Clairette.
 

This was rated 95 points by Robert M. Parker Jr., 94 points by Wine Spectator and 93 points by Vinous / International Wine Cellar.

Golden colored, medium full bodied, expressive complex tropical fruit with  notes of pear and melon with floral tones and hint of vanilla on the finish. 

RM 90 points  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1131991

This special bottle was a highlight to accompany the Sole Meunière entree and the appetizers: Spicy Coconut Shrimp with Red, Yellow & Poblano Peppers in a Creamy Coconut Sauce, Three Cheese Soufflé comprised of Bleu, Gruyère & Goat Cheese, and Shrimp Beignets.
 

Linda and Vivianna both ordered the Sole Meunière served in a butter-lemon Sauce with potatoes du jour & seasonal vegetables. 

Suzette Creperie Sole Meunière

I ordered the Beef Bourgogne Crêpe, made the authentic French way with a bottle or two of Red Wine, braised with mushrooms and carrots for six hours. 

Suzette Creperie Beef Bourgogne Crêpe
Suzette Creperie Beef Bourgogne Crêpe

Alec ordered the Duck Confit with rich duck jus on a bed of white and wild rice with seasonal vegetables.

Suzette Creperie Duck Confit

All the entree's were delectable, ideally prepared and presented.

Chateau L’Arrosee St Emilion Grand Cru Class 2000

I brought BYOB from our cellar this 2000 l'Arrosee, St-Emilion to pair and enjoy with the pate' and the beef bourgogne entree. 

Chateau L’Arrosee is named for an underground spring located on this Bordeaux estate in St. Emilion.

Founded back in 1868, L’Arrosee belonged to a member of the Council of Napoléon III, Pierre Magne who sold the estate to the French Ambassador to Austria. It was acquired by by the Dupuch family in the early part of the 20th century who produced the wines at the local cooperative until 1956. 

In 2002, Chateau L’Arrosee was bought by the Caille family who made extensive renovations to upgrade the vineyards and wine making facilities. They hired Gilles Pouquet as consulting winemaker who had extensive experience in St. Emilion having worked at Cheval Blanc, Figeac and several other notable Right Bank properties. 

In July, 2013, Chateau L’Arrosee was purchased by Domaine Clarence Dillon, the owners of Chateau Haut Brion in Pessac Leognan. They had recently purchased the St Emilion property Tertre Dugay, which they combined with L'Arrosee to form the renamed and re-branded Chateau Quintus.

Chateau L’Arrosee has 9.5 hectare St. Emilion vineyard planted with 60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, with vines of an average age of 35 years. The wine is aged in 100% new, French oak barrels for 12 to 18 months with an average annual production of close to 3,500 cases a year.

This was rated 92 points Wine Spectator. 

Dark ruby colored, medium bodied, red berry and black cherry fruits with notes of floral, earth, herbes de Provence, sweet tobacco leaf, smoke and dusty rose with a moderate lingering tannin finish. 

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=32904

The cork separated in half upon extraction by the server using a traditional corkscrew. It was then strained and decanted.

www.domaineclarencedillon.com 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/08/a-visit-to-chateau-la-nerthe.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/08/restaurant-le-savoie-marqaux.html 

http://suzettescreperie.com/

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Father Son wine dinner

Father and my three son's celebrate Dad's b-day wine dinner

With the ladies on the east coast for a wedding shower, I got to dine with my three sons as the men got together for a grilled steak and wine dinner. 

Son Alec hosted and broke in his new grill preparing rib-eye steaks, roasted corn, squash, grilled marinated mushrooms and carmelized grilled onions. 

We each brought an interesting bottle to share and compare. 

Beforehand, Alec served the selection of Murray's artisan cheeses as he did the other evening when we dined there christening their new townhouse

 

Son Ryan was bringing one of my historically most memorable Syrahs, Kongsgaard Napa from 2002, (which we drank at my birthday two years earlier). So, I looked for a comparative bottle from a near vintage, and pulled from our cellar a 2001 Noon Eclipse


 The wines were a spectacular accompaniment to the steaks, corn, mushrooms, onions, squash and chocolate - a fabulous dinner! 

For the dinner entree course, Alec opened a Corley Reserve Napa Cabernet

Noon Vineyards Eclipse McLaren Vale Grenache Syrah blend 2001 

This is produced by Drew Noon and his wife Raegan who carry on to the next generation this family owned small vineyard and winery in McLaren Vale, South Australia. 

Drew grew up on this property that his father David established as a family wine business in 1976. Drew took over winemaking duties from his Dad with the 1996 vintage. 

Drew writes about the vines that surround the house, "They are like old friends. I have pruned and tended them since I was a child and so the appearance of the vines themselves, the leaves and the bunches as they develop, is very familiar. I feel like I share a life experience with them and so they are close to my heart."

The Noon vineyards like many in South Australia are unique, with the old vines growing on their own roots (not grafted onto rootstocks necessitated by the presence of phylloxera like most of the rest of the world). Their native, natural 'old' vines more readily reflect their terroir and produce wines with a ‘sense of place’. This circumstance is quite rare in the world sense and gives Noon a unique advantage.

Noon specializes in limited production red wines, hand crafted to be full bodied, sourced from their estate from small vineyard blocks. They employ a minimalist approach to craft wines that optimally reflect the grapes and the site terroir.

When I pulled this from the cellar it was still wrapped in the tissue from the original release. I initially thought it was the Noon Syrah until we unwrapped it for opening at dinner. I seem to recall buying this at Gary's in Scottsdale, during one of my frequent trips there during that era.

Noon "Eclipse" Langhorne Creek South Australia Grenache-Shiraz 2001 

The 2001 Eclipse is a blend of 65% Grenache and 35% Shiraz, from 56-65 year old vines from three vineyards surrounding and adjacent to the producer's homestead house and winery in McLaren Vale. From the Winery Block they grow Grenache bush vines planted in 1934; from the Almond Block they  grow Shiraz and Graciano (bush vines) that were planted between 1998 and 2001, and from BJ’s Block, they grow another Grenache bush vine vineyard, planted in 1943.

This was rated 94 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and 93 points by Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

At twenty years, despite perfect cork, fill level and label, this is at the end of its prime drinking window and will start to diminish here forward, time to drink. 

Lighter than expected. Dark garnet color with opaque purple hues, medium bodied,  blackberry fruit accented by charcoal, smoke, bacon fat, some pepper, licorice, black tea, hints of floral and spice. 

RM 90 points.

https://noonwinery.com.au/noon-eclipse.html

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=30300

Kongsgaard Hudson Ranch Vineyard Napa Valley Syrah 2002

For my second birthday dinner in three years, Ryan opened this Kongsgaard Napa Valley Hudson Ranch Vineyard Syrah. I first tasted this label, the 2007 release, at Grange Restaurant in Sacramento. I wrote in my blogpost at the time that it was the most memorable Shiraz I had ever tasted. 

This is sourced from the Hudson Vineyard down in Carneros at the bottom of Napa Valley near the San Pablo Bay. 

Kongsgaard Hudson Ranch Vineyard Syrah 2002

Consistent with that earlier tastings, this was dark garnet colored, full bodied, complex and concentrated with notes of what Robert Parker refers to as soy, beef jerky and smoked game tones. There is a layer of bacon fat and graphite overlaying the more subdued flavors of black blackberry and raspberry with accents of of licorice and pepper. 

This was a great pairing with the Noon and a perfect complement to the artisan cheese and grilled steaks, as well as chocolate cake for dessert.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=18009

Corley Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

This is produced by the Corley family who are long time grape growers in Napa Valley that produce a small limited amount of wine of their own label, only in extraordinary vintages. 

They produced this wine at Monticello Winery on Big Ranch Road in the Oak Knoll District of south Napa Valley. We visited this winery estate back in the late nineties when it was operating as a custom crush facility and we did a tasting of boutique producer Elan Wines with producers Patrick and Linda Elliott-Smith

This was a special bottle as the boys know and are friends with one of the members of the Corley family and were able to source this special limited release bottling. 

This is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Merlot.

Ken's Wine Guide Tasting Panel summed this up perfectly when they wrote about this label, "This very dark garnet colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Corley opens with a mild black currant and black licorice bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium bodied, slightly acidic and savory. The flavor profile is a fruit forward fruit bomb featuring stewed plum and black currant with notes of graphite and toasted oak. We also detected a hint of blackberry. The finish is dry and its moderate tannins show very nice length. The Panel suggested pairing this Cab with a New York strip steak. Enjoy - KWGTP"

I echo their tasting experience and give this 92 points. Dark garnet color, medium-full body, nicely balanced and integrated blackberry and black currant fruits with notes of anise, hints of graphite and toasted oak with smooth polished moderate tannins on a lingering finish.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?Label=46&iWine=3237704

As the time of this writing, the Corley Wine website is not operating.  

Fine De Châteauneuf-du-Pape Château La Nerthe 1988 

We finished the dinner with chocolate cake and  this special aperitif. 

This is another very special bottle we tasted. We opened and christened this bottle during a special dinner at Alec and Vivianna's apartment in NYC. 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/10/parents-son-dinner-features-birth-year.html

We discovered, tasted, and Alec acquired this wine during our visit to the Château La Nerthe estate two summers ago.

La Fine de Château La Nerthe comes exclusively from the distillation of white wine in bottles of the Château. White wine is aged in bottles in the cellars before being tasted and distilled.

Château La Nerthe perform a triple distillation to obtain the finest and delicate aromas possible. They seek the spirit of their old white wines that make the reputation of Château La Nerthe. By its origin, its extraction, its requirement and its refinement of 10 years minimum in oak casks, the Fine of the Castle La Nerthe is the expression of the exceptional finest spirit of their wines.

Château La Nerthe have been producing these fine wines in the true tradition of fine wine distillation in Châteauneuf du Pape since this, their first vintage, 1988.

Tea honey colored, full bodied, delicious, smooth, harmonious, nicely balanced.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3330760

http://www.chateaulanerthe.fr/

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Parents-Son Dinner features Birth Year Wine of the Year

Parents-Son Dinner features Birth Year Wine of the Year

Visiting son Alec and his fiance' Vivianna in New York City for the weekend, we took a couple of very special wines from Alec's birth year. We drank the first bottle, Château Calon-Ségur that we took BYOB to Bobo French Wine Dine Experience on Friday night.

Tonight, Alec and Viv were preparing dinner and to celebrate their engagement and the occasion, we took from our home cellar a very special bottle that I acquired upon release for his birth year. The 1990 vintage was a very unique year in the release of vintage wines in that three times, the Wine Spectator Wine of the Year was from that vintage year.

In 1993, the WS Wine of the Year was Caymus Special Select, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 1990. In 1994, the WS Wine of the Year was Chateau Gran Vin Latour Pauillac Bordeaux, from the 1990 vintage. In 1995, the ‘Red Wine of the Year’ by Wine Spectator magazine was Penfold's Grange, 1990. 

This is testimony to the fact that 1990 was a blockbuster vintage in all three hemispheres' top wine regions - US Napa Valley, France Bordeaux and Australia. Someone want to collect a birthyear vintage wine for a given year has several options from which to select. For this year, any one of these three regions offered top rated wines!


Tonight's bottle was part of an OWC - Original Wood Case of the 1990 Penfold's Grange that I picked up on release back in 1993. I actually purchased it a Berry Brothers & Ruud in London during one of my very frequent monthly trips there. In those days, they had a wine shop in Terminal Three at London Heathrow Airport. I purchased and hand carried the case of wine on the plane enroute home, and have stored it in our home cellar ever since.

For dinner, Alec and Viv prepared ribeye steak with wine reduction mushroom sauce, grilled diver sea scallops, asparagus and pomme frites.


For the starter wine, they opened a Orin Swift Abstract California Red Wine 2016



Penfolds Grange Shiraz 1990

For the main beef entree course, I served the Penfolds Grange. Readers of this blog know we drink a lot of Australian Shiraz' and that we like them big and bold. This Aussie Shiraz was a totally different profile than the usual shiraz we encounter. Naturally, this is an extraordinary wine that is in a totally different class, with a totally different profile than the once a week, once-a-month, or even the once-a-year wines that we drink. This is one of those very special occasion, or even once in a lifetime wines. Of course, this wine sells for more than $500, a price-point higher than we normally spend on once a year, once a month or other wines.

Grange is arguably the most prestigious and most historic, famous wine from Australia, first released back with the experimental vintage release in 1951. For its first four decades, the label was called Penfold's Hermitage Grange. With this 1990 release, the Hermitage moniker was removed and thereafter it is simply known as Grange.



The fruit for Grange is sourced from south central Australia Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and Coonawarra. The 1990 is one of the top Granges ever produced. The vintage year was an ideal completely trouble-free growing season that enabled the grapes to ripen perfectly and to be harvested at the perfect time under ideal conditions. The producer says the 1990 Penfolds Grange is one of the best ever, with the potential to eventually rival the classic vintages of 1955, 1962 and 1971. It should be aged carefully for a minimum of ten years and preferably for 25 to thirty years.

The blend of the 1990 vintage is 95% Shiraz and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged 18 months in new American oak hogsheads.

The fill level was proper and appropriate for its age, the cork was perfect, and of course the foil and label were perfect as it was still packaged in the original tissue and OWC - original wood case. 

Dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, flawless, elegant, polished, harmonious, perfectly balanced, silky smooth flavors of concentrated black berry and black raspberry fruits with notes of vanilla, licorice, spice, black truffles and oak with hints of spice and cedar turning to fine grained tongue puckering tannins on the long lingering finish.

RM 95 points.

Wine Spectator gave this 98 points, James Halliday 97 points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 95 points, and Jancis Robinson gave it 18 out of her twenty point scale. 

James Halliday said it was 'destined to be one of the greatest Granges'. Wine Spectator called it  'magnificent, exotic, a veritable cascade of opulent flavors'. The Rewards of Patience - Fifth Edition (2004) called it Outstanding and projected its Drinking Window from now to 2040. Southcorp Wines said, 'The 1990 vintage was the kind that winemakers only expect to see once or twice in an entire career'.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=6295

https://www.penfolds.com/

https://twitter.com/penfolds

@penfolds


La Fine du Château La Nerthe Châteauneuf du Pape 1988

After dinner, Alec opened this special extremely limited release Chateau La Nerthe La Fine 1988.

We discovered, tasted, and Alec acquired this wine during our visit to the Château La Nerthe estate this summer.

La Fine de Château La Nerthe comes exclusively from the distillation of white wine in bottles of the Château. White wine is aged in bottles in the cellars before being tasted and distilled.

Château La Nerthe perform a triple distillation to obtain the finest and delicate aromas possible. They seek the spirit of their old white wines that make the reputation of Château La Nerthe. By its origin, its extraction, its requirement and its refinement of 10 years minimum in oak casks, the Fine of the Castle La Nerthe is the expression of the exceptional finest spirit of their wines.


Château La Nerthe have been producing these fine wines in the true tradition of fine wine distillation in Châteauneuf du Pape since this, their first vintage, 1988.

Tea honey colored, full bodied, delicious, smooth, harmonious, nicely balanced.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3330760

http://www.chateaulanerthe.fr/