Rose Rose’ with grilled shrimp and scallops

Rose Rose’ with grilled shrimp and scallops 

We hosted several of Linda’s dear friends, Kay, Marilou and Pat, at our Destin (FL) vacation rental home this week. 

Linda prepared grilled shrimp and sea scallops with mixed grilled vegetables and sticky rice and salad for a festive dinner. 

I opened a couple of Rose’ wines I brought from our home cellar for the occasion. We’ve had fun exploring Rose’ wines this summer, partly spurred on by reading about Frances’ love of this wine as a summer libation as highlighted by my favorite author’s books about life in Provence of Southern France. 

In addition to just having finished reading two of Peter Mayles’ classic books about Provence, I was also inspired to imbibe in some traditional Rose’ by the visit of our French friend, Phillipe, who hails from the area and hosted us on our trip there a couple years ago. I wrote about this and those books in an earlier blogpost - Château d’Aqueria Tavel Southern Côtes du Rhône Rose’.

We drove through the region and Côtes de Provence along the Cote d’ Azur during our Four days in Provence - Aix - Meyrargues trip in 2019. The area is featured in a separate blogpost about that trip - Red Wine with Chili? Bandol.

I took a Provençal Rose’ to dinner and wrote about it in this post - BYOB Fine Wines and Live Jazz at Suzette’s Creperie Wheaton - Caves d'Esclans “The Palm” Whispering Angel Côtes de Provence, Rose’ Blend 2024.

We drank a Rose’ wine of one the producers we visited that trip and wrote about it in this post - La Nerthe Côtes du Rhône Les Cassagnes Rose.

My appreciation for Rose’ as a serious wine drinking was piqued when it was included as a pairing with a course at three Michelin Star restaurant Alinea last year. That entire dinner and wine flight are featured in this blogpost - Magnificent Dinner at Alinea Kitchen Table.  We drank and wrote about that producer’s wine in a follow on tasting and blogpost - Domaines Ott Château de Selle Côtes de Provence Mourvedre Blend Rose' 2020. From that experience, son Ryan acquired this producer’s wine and brought to our Memorial Day afternoon cook-out dinner on the deck for casual summer sipping.

We enjoyed a couple other Rose’ labels as featured in these posts - one from Southern France Cotes’ du Rossilion -  Domaine Lafage Bastide Miraflors, and a Napa Valley label - Summer wine for summer outdoor grill dinner.

So it was that I brought from home two diverse Rose’ labels - one from the Languedoc in the south of France, and one from, of all plaees, Illinois! Both wines were delightful and exceeded my expectations for a wonderful food wine pairing accompaniment, and the ladies loved them as well. As I’ve often written in these pages, an optimal food/wine pairing amplifies and ameliorates the enjoyment of both! 

Gérard Bertrand Cote des Roses 2023

This is from Domaine Lafage in the Côtes du Roussillon appellation in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the furthest southeast corner of France. The appellation of Côtes du Roussillon was created in 1977 and covers the eastern half of the Pyrénées-Orientales (the eastern side of the Pyrenees Mountains) and lower lands of Roussillon along the Mediterranean coast. 

The Languedoc region spans the Mediterranean coast from the Pyrenees mountains of Roussillon all the way to the Rhône Valley confluence with the sea near Marseille. Languedoc’s terrain is generally flat coastal plains, with a warm Mediterranean climate and frequent risk of drought. 

The extensive appellation produces a diverse selection of good quality and great value wines. 

Virtually every style of wine is made in this expansive region. Most dry wines are blends with varietal choice strongly influenced by the neighboring Rhône Valley. For reds and rosés, the primary grapes include Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault and Mourvèdre. White varieties include Grenache Blanc, Muscat, Ugni Blanc, Vermentino, Macabéo, Clairette, Piquepoul and Bourbelenc.

There are also some International varieties planted in large numbers there, in particular Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The region also produces sparkling wines is Limoux, where Blanquette de Limoux is believed to have been the first sparkling wine made in France, even before Champagne. Crémant de Limouxis produced in a more modern style.

The terroir of Côtes du Roussillon includes complex soils of schist, limestone, gneiss and granite and climatic conditions that support a broad range of grape varieties. Côtes du Roussillon red wines are blends made from Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and smaller amounts of Carignan, Cinsault and the lesser known, Lledoner Pelut. 

Côtes du Roussillon Rosé wines come from the same varieties, as well as may include Grenache Gris and Macabeo. White wines from Côtes du Roussillon are Grenache Blanc and Macabeo with small amounts of Marsanne, Roussanne and Rolle (aka Vermentino).

This label is a blend of classic Côtes du Roussillon any Rhône Valley varietals Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault. 

Producer’s tasting notes: It is fresh and intense on the nose, revealing aromas of citrus and exotic fruits, flowers and a few notes of candy, pear and pineapple. The fresh, flavorsome palate is lively, precise and pure thanks to the clear mineral backdrop and a certain opulence. Côte des Roses celebrates the Mediterranean lifestyle. The Languedoc appellation stretches along the Mediterranean coast from the Spanish border as far as the city of Nîmes, along the foothills of the Montagne Noire and the Cévennes. The bottle is original with its base in the shape of a rose, created by a young designer from the Ecole Boulle. A wine to be given in the same way you would offer a bunch of roses!

Winegrower’s note - Cote des Roses celebrates the Mediterranean lifestyle. The Languedoc appellation stretches alongside the Mediterranean coast The soils vary, mainly with hard limestone and schist, but also gravel transported from the rivers of the Languedoc region 

The wine is packaged in a unique custom designed bottle with its base in the shape of a rose, created by a young designer from the Ecole Boulle The producer notes - “A wine to be given in the same way you would offer a bunch of roses!”

Further winemaker’s notes - “The various grape varieties are harvested separately when each of them is just at the right ripeness level. The winemaking process is managed to respect the specific characteristics of the grape varieties and the qualities of the soil. The grapes are harvested mechanically with a built in sorting system The grapes are de stemmed, cooled down to 8 C and transferred to the press to extract the rosé wine must. Particular attention is paid to the pressing to ensure that only the first, highest quality juice is kept The juice is then left to settle according to the precise aromatic profile that is being targeted. The fermentation lasts between 15 and over 30 days, depending on the degree of clarification and the temperature. Finally, after a light fining, the wine is bottled quite early to preserve the fresh, fruity character of the wines.”

We served this wine from a large format magnum bottle. 

The winemaker’s tasting notes on this wine - the color is “Brilliant pink colored, with bluish tints developing over time towards more orangey nuances.” 

“The bouquet releases aromas of summer fruits, cassis and redcurrant Floral notes of rose along with hints of grapefruit complete the picture. On the palate the impression is fresh and full, with great aromatic persistence and balance The finish is fresh, offering notes of candy.”

This release was rated 90 points by Wine Enthusiast.

Bright Pink colored with an orange hue, medium bodied, full round bright vibrant flavors of cranberry, strawberry and cherry fruits with notes of floral, mineral and rose hips on a wholesome weighty crisp acidic finish. 

RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4921720

https://www.gerard-bertrand.com/

We then opened this bigger darker Red Rose’ from Lavender Crest Winery which we Tasted and acquired at the winery during a recent visit featured in this blogpost. 

Lavender Crest Winery NV “Soirée” Marquette Rosé

This is a semi-sweet blush wine made with gently pressed, locally grown Marquette grapes. 

Winemaker’s notes - Sweet and tangy notes of strawberry and ripe red fruits create a celebratory dance of flavors. Served chilled as recommended.’

Darker golden burnt orange colored, medium bodied, this was very nice, and in-line with many Rose’ from California or even the Languedoc in Provence. 

RM 88 points 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5469560

https://lavendercrest.com/

Sepia Curated Wine Pairing Dinner

Sepia Curated Wine Pairing Dinner 

Celebrating a recent real estate transaction, we dined with our broker/advisor/agents at Michelin Star Sepia Restaurant in the trendy West (of) Loop district of Chicago. 

We dined there last summer for a spectacular wine and dinner experience that was featured in these pages in this blogpost - Sepia Michelin Star Restaurant Chicago. 

Despite their Wine Spectator Best Award wine list, we opted for the wine pairing with the price fixe dinner in which the chef and wine director pair a wine with each dinner course. This allows one to not only taste numerous wines with dinner, but also to experience both the Chef’s, and Wine Director Somellier’s interpretation of the applicable wine pairings with each food course of the dinner. 

The Sepia Wine List is extraordinarily broad, 36 pages in all, with diverse range of selections from the usual old world and new world regions as well as selections from lesser producers such as Austria, Croatia, Lebanon, Greece, Armenia, Mexico and Morocco. 

As a refresher we had Champagne as a starter wine - 

Telmont Reserve Brut 2020

This is a blend of 35%, Chardonnay, 36% Muniere and 26% Pinot Noir.

From the first course, we selected from the price fixe menu each of the offerings available: 

• Smoked beef carpaccio, sweet mustard, sourdough, and onion consomme’,
• leek & popcorn veloute, délice de bourgogne, black truffle, brioche, and the 
• hiramasa crudo, blood orange ponzu, cumquat, cilantro,
• king crab & sea urchin, koshihikari, gochujang consommé, sesame.

leek & popcorn veloute, délice de bourgogne, black truffle, brioche

hiramasa crudo, apple-yuzu ponzu, lime leaf, fingerlime - this was delicious, especially the caviar highlight …

king crab & sea urchin, koshihikari, gochujang consommé, sesame

Smoked beef carpaccio, sweet mustard, sourdough, and onion consomme’

The first course dishes were paired two different sweet dessert aperitifs - Roûmieu-Lacoste Sauternes and Travignoli Vin Santo del Chianti Rùfina, and Fabbricca Newton Rosso Toscana

Château Roûmieu-Lacoste Sauternes Haut Barzac 2022

A classic Sauternes that has been in the same family for six generations on the mother’s side of producer Hervé Dubourdieu dating back to 1890. He who also owns highly acclaimed and well known Château Graville-Lacoste and Château Ducasse. 

Roûmieu-Lacoste is in the climat of Haut Barsac, an area famous robust, powerfully styled moelleux with pronounced acidity. The vineyards are just across the road from First Growth Château Climens on a similar soil: calcareous clay on fissured rock, peppered with red iron, white limestone, and grey flint gravel. 

Hervé produces a portfolio of red and white wines with the whites being blends a high proportion of Sémillon (60%) and a splash of Muscadelle (5%) with Sauvignon Blanc (35%), creating a rich, full, aromatic mid-palate to complement the clean finish. 

Known for his charm and modest disposition, complemented by his focus and ferocious perfectionism, he is dedicated to his vineyards in the Sauternes and Graves appellations. 

A meticulous perfectionist, Hervé employs the best harvesters available, paying them double the average wage to discern between the “noble rot,” necessary to concentrate the sugars for Sauternes, and deleterious rot. Hervé is so fastidious that he will get rid of a whole basket of fruit if a single grape with the harmful rot makes it in with healthy ones to be absolutely sure to avoid even the slightest contamination. 

He sells his wines through renowned distributor Kermit Lynch,  selling them the lion’s share of his production so he can focus on the vineyards, thereby producing highest quality wine at an uncharacteristic low price.

Golden amber colored, full bodied, deeply complex, thick unctuous decadent sweetness of honey, apricot, passion fruit and lemon zest with silky smooth texture and a long and lingering finish with refreshing acidity.

RM 92 points. 

https://vignobles-hervedubourdieu.com/

The other first course wines ….

Travignoli Vin Santo del Chianti Rùfina 2015

This is another dessert wine from Villa Travignoli which is situated in the northeastern part of the Chianti region, 25 kilometers east of Florence at the meeting of the Arno and Sieve rivers. 

Travignoli, a name which means “Tra Vignoli” (between the vineyards) is located in the middle of Frescobaldi’s Nipozzano Vineyard, in the Chianti Rufina region, The site has a southern exposure, calcareous soils and an altitude ranging from 250 to 400 meters above sea level. 

Wine production at Travignoli dates all the way back to 500 BC by the Etruscans who referred to the area wines as the “Nectar of the Gods.”

The estate was acquired by Count Busi and his family in the 1800’s. They cultivate 70 hectares of the 90-hectare estate, primarily focusing on Sangiovese but also including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay. The family sold almost all of its production to private clients in demijohns until Giovanni Busi graduated from the oenology school of Conegliano in 1979. With the expert consultation of Giacomo Tachis, one of the most respected enologists in Italy, Giovanni began bottling the wine under the estate branding of Villa Travignoli.

This is sourced from the the hills of Pelago in the Chianti Rufina D.O.C.G. area in the Arno valley east of Florence. The south facing hilly terrain sits at 250 to 350 m above sea level and has a soil composition of marly, calcareous clay.

This vintage release of this dessert wines is a blend of Malvasia (70%) and Trebbiano (30%). Vinification process leaves the grapes to dry naturally after harvest on wattle shelves for four to five months before being pressed and then fermented in wooden kegs. They are then matured five years in barriques and then in bottles. 

Only 2000 bottles made. 

The producer cites an ageing potential for this wine at 30/40 years.

Travignoli Rufina shows a subtle fruitiness against a strong tannin-acid backbone even when fairly young. Travignoli Riservas do not lack any of the structure or power one would expect, but they also express a pleasant honesty of fruit.

Golden amber colour, full bodied, thick and unctuous apricot fruit with nones of raisins, honey, caramel and walnuts with smooth acidity on a long finish.

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?5319245

https://www.travignoli.com/

Fabbrica Newton Rosso Toscana IGT 2020

The smoked beef carpaccio was paired with this red Rosso Toscana (Tuscany) from Siena in Tuscany which is known for its Sangiovese varietal wines. Fabbrica has been producing a broad portfolio of wines since it was founded in 2013, a relative newcomer in for an ‘old world’ producer.

This is 100% Sangiovese sourced from estate vineyards in the Pienza, Val d’Orcia in eastern Tuscany where the soils and climates are more aligned with that of the Rhone Valley. The hilly part of the village of Pienza recalls those of the southern Rhone while the soils there are a reminder of the northern Rhone. 

This Fabbrica label is pressed and foot crushed, wild yeast fermentation, whole-cluster, long maceration in concrete tanks, then aged 15 months in concrete. Concrete is the special ingredient, with its somewhat porous nature that allows breathing of the wine without imparting notes from typical wood barrels. 

Ruby colored, medium bodied, round full fruit forward blackberry, raspberry and cranberry fruits with notes of dried figs, vanilla, allspice, caramel, floral, butterscotch, hints of spearmint and pine. 

RM 88 points. 

For the second course we elected these entree selections: 

• bbq’d sablefish, cabbage, carolina bb’q, smoked apple cider butter, and the 
• crispy creamcheese gnudi, celery root, belper knolle, salted black pepper
• grilled lobster chawanmushi, potato fennel, boullibase  

bbq’d sablefish, cabbage, carolina bb’q, smoked apple cider butter

This was delicious, especially when the sumptuous sauce was added …

 

crispy creamcheese gnudi, celery root, belper knolle, salted black pepper

grilled lobster chawanmushi, potato fennel, boullibase

The wine accompaniments for this course were …

Malat "Hohlgraben" Palt Kremstal Grüner Veltliner 2021

The bbq’d sablefish was delicious, exceeding my expectations and was nicely accompanied by this straightforward white wine. 

This is from the estate of Gerald Malat located near Krems, in Palt, between the southern bank of the Danube and the Gottweiger Mountain. It is in the Kremstal wine growing appellation (DAC), one of the most recent DAC’s to be added in Austria. 

Founded in 2007, just east of the Wachau, the appellation is divided into three significant zones. The most western part of the valley, near Stein, is primarily rocky soils, ideal for the elegant, yet intense, Riesling varietal. 

Moving east towards the historic town of Krems, deep loess soils cover the vineyards yielding Grüner Veltliner that is expressive, highly aromatic and fresh. 

The third zone, the source of this label, Kremstal. Is located on the southern banks of the Danube River, where some of the most pleasant wine villages are found. The deep valley is protected by the northern cool winds, though the warm Pannonian winds from the east still persist, resulting in a riper style wine.

The estate is comprised of seven different vineyards, each slightly distinct and different from the others. The Hohlgraben vineyard lies at the foot of the Gottweiger Stiftsberg and is the Malat estate's most historic and probably also most important Veltliner plantation. The soil is all classic loess with south to south west exposure.

Importer’s Notes - “This wine shows extraordinarily vibrant and beautifully sculpted expression of GV - snap-pea and other kitchen-garden aromas, lovely pear and peach notes, acids nicely focused and interwoven; charming minerality and excellent balance."

Straw colored, medium bodied, crisp, modest fruits of pear and hints of peach with mineral and acid notes on the finish. 

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?4413626

https://www.malat.at/wp/

Linda’s crèamcheese gnudi was accompanied by this crisp Sauvignon Blanc. 

Arnaud & Albéric Lechat Les Silex Sauvignon Blanc 2021

For the lobster dish, this Sauvignon Blanc is from the Loire River Valley that runs west for 170 miles from the historic city of Orléans towards the Atlantic Ocean, and is one of France’s most diverse wine regions, and one of the most historic with grand riverside châteaux once inhabited by kings and nobles.

The climate in the Touraine sub-region is moderated by the Cher River, a tributary of the Loire.

For four generations, the Domaine de Beauséjour estate was run by the Trotignon family, who made it into one of the most respected names in the Touraine appellation. The Lechat brothers, Arnaud and Albéric Lechat took over in 2022 with plans to build on this foundation. 

The Les Silex estate consists of nearly fifty acres of which 40 are planted with Sauvignon Blanc – the region’s most popular white grape.

This was straw colored, light medium bodied with subdued crisp gooseberry, stone, and grapefruit citrus fruits with notes of mineral on the finish.

RM 89 points. 

For the third course we selected the Crispy skin black bass and the Rohan duck breast entrees.

Crispy skin black bass, escarole, calabrian chile, herbed pil pil

This black bass course turned out to be a disappointment with the sea foam coming across way too fishy for enjoyment. The wine accompaniment for this dish was this interesting Friulano Bianca.

Mitja Sirk Bianco Europea Friulano IGT 2022 

This unique white wine if crafted from the Tocai Friulano grape from the Venezia Giulia Appellation in the Friuli Region from the town of Cormons in Collio, Italy, in the extreme northeastern most corner of Italy, just a mile from the Slovenian border. 

The major city or town of Friuli Venezia Giulia is the regional capital of Trieste. Until recently, Friuli Venezia Giulia was divided into four provinces, each named after its principal city, however, in 2018 the system changed whereby the provinces were replaced by a series of territories known as UTIs.The largest cities are the three former provincial capitals of Udine, Gorizia and Pordenone, along with the town of Monfalcone. 

The horseshoe-shaped region of eastern Friuli is referred to simply as Collio (“hills”), lying midway between the Julian Alps and the Adriatic Sea. The climate is classic Mediterranean, warm in summer, but, as a classic Alpine area, cold and wet in winter, which are ideal conditions for the thin-skinned but early-ripening Friulano grape. WWII took a heavy toll on Collio. In the postwar period, Friuli rebuilt its economy based largely on wine, but it did not emerge as a source of notable wines until the late 1960s. 

The Sirk family, Josko and Loredana, and their grown children, are originally from Slovenia, but have been at home over the Italian border in Cormons for more than half a century. Josko ran the estate until the 1974 vintage, then moved his attention from farming to the [now Michelin-starred] restaurant and the [now world-renowned] hotel, La Subida, and became a legend in Friulian hospitality. 

For the following 30 years, the vineyards that we own were worked by Sirk family cousins. In 2003, the next generation Sirk family took them back for vinegar and wine production. Son Mitja restarted the wine production in 2016, as a project based on working exclusively with friulano, the typical variety of the region.

Mitja Sirk is the winemaker for this label that bears his name. Mitja wanted to be a winemaker from the age of 11. A local winegrower Josko Gravner took him under his arm and mentored his winemaking ambition. He started by giving him one of his clay amphorae wine producing vessels, bought some grapes and produced his first wine. 

Mitja went on to study at the local viticulture and enology in high school, then traveled throughout Europe learning directly from winemakers he admired and tasting regularly with his best friend Kristian Keber, producer Edi Keber’s son. He worked at producer Isole e Olena in 2011, Dujac in 2013, Conterno in 2014, and Roulot in 2018, each contributing to his learning, experience and confidence. 

Mitja focused on the Fruilano grape, the traditional and most widely planted in Collio, prized for its aromatic delicacy pronounced mineral, floral, and sweet almond notes, with a distinctive note of bitterness at the finish.

This wine is sourced from seven select vineyards in Collio and Colli Orientali grown at 70 to 150 meters above sea level. The vines are 20-70 years in age, grown orgaincally on the stony “ponca” soils of compacted sandstone and marl. The wine’s alcoholic fermentation and elevage occurs primarily in steel tanks, with 10% done in neutral barrel. The wine was aged approx 6 months with virtually no battonage in this vintage, due to the incredibly long, slow fermentation. The wine was bottled after a very light filtration 

The result is an easy drinking wine with strong aromatic character and a sharp and clean ending. 

Mitja makes both some single-vineyard bottlings and also a “Bianco di Mitja” which is sourced from the area’s most notable sites. He’s working with vineyards on both sides of the Slovenian border, hence the Bianco is now bottled as a “Vino Bianco Europeo.” The Brda in Slovenia and Collio in Friuli are geologically the same region, and share a climate.

Straw colored, light medium bodied, soft crisp notes of honeysuckle, melon, lime peel, and crushed flowers with a stony yet refreshing acidity on the pleasant finish. 

RM 87 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?4765857

On the promotion of our server, all three gentlemen ordered the duck breast, which was delicious, as good as I remember having before in any other restaurant.

Rohan duck breast, malted sunchoke, huckleberry & duck confit pithivier

The Rohan duck breast was paired with this interested Spanish  red wine. 

Navaherreros Garnacha Tinta de Bernabeleva 2022 

Readers of these pages know I often order duck when dining out, and take BYOB or select a Rhône varietal wine for such occasions. With the duck course I predicted such and we were served this Spanish Garnacha, which is essentially Grenache, the popular grape from the southern Rhône River Valley. 

Garnacha's actual birthplace is Spain however,  it is more recognized as Grenache, the ‘G” in GSM, the popular Rhône blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, produced in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, most notably Châteauneuf-du-Pape (which by AOC rules must contain 70% of the three grapes), as well as Côtes du Rhône and its villages. It is also popular in California, primarily in the Central Coastal region of Paso Robles, Washington and Australia.

This is the entry-level red of Spanish producer Navaherreros from just north of La Mancha, Spain’s (and actually Europe’s) largest classified wine region, Vinos de Madrid DO. The large region is comprised of four subregions that start about 9 miles from the city center. Three of the subregions form a semicircle around the southern suburbs, Arganda, Navalcarnero, San Martín, and El Molar, situated directly north of the city, the newly created 4th subregion. Vinos de Madrid was granted DO status in 1990.

While Tempranillo is the most planted grape variety in the Arganda subregion in the southeast, Garnacha is the dominant grape in all other subregions, including El Molar in the north, Navalcarnero in the south, and especially San Martín de Valdeiglesias in the west.

Grenache thrives in the warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full ripeness. 

This was rated 92 points by The Wine Advocate.

Opaque ruby colored, medium bodied, wild black berry fruits with earthy, meaty notes, hints of iron and graphite with dusty tannins and a dry finish. 

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4825138 

http://www.bernabeleva.com/

For the dessert course we selected:

bay leaf crème brûlée, olive oil, satsuma mandarin, roasted vanilla

hibiscus pavlova, ginger, toasted coconut, chamoy

white sesame mont blanc, miso butterscotch, salted maple, caramelized banana. shown below.

The culinary team at Sepia consists of:

executive chef andrew zimmerman
chef de cuisine kyle cottle sous chefs brian daley & jayme cannava
pastry chef erin kobler, and, pastry sous chef melissa santiago

Our server and Jake Bennie, new wine director

https://www.sepiachicago.com/

https://x.com/SepiaChicago

Les Pallieres Racines Gigondas With Pizza

Les Pallieres Racines Gigondas with Pizza

For carry in pizza dinner, we opened what I would call a classic ‘pizza wine’ - full, round, tangy robust with good QPR, lower price point for every day sipping such as with pizza or tangy BBQ.

This southern Rhône varietal based wine is a relatively new label from one of favorite Rhône producers that we discovered during our 2019 visit with owner/producer Daniel Brunier at the Domaine Vieux Telegraph Estate. 

This is produced in a joint collaborative venture with notable wine distributor Kermit Lynch. Our visit, tour and tasting was a highlight of our visit to the Luberon and Southern Rhône that year. We also visited the Vieux Télégraphe estate during our CDP appellation tour back in 1998.

This is very similar in style and comparable in price point to another wine from this same producer, from the same vintage, that I opened for a similar occasion a few weeks back - featured in these pages in this blogpost - Brunier Family Piedlong CDP Red Blend with BBQ Ribs. Then, I pulled that wine to take to son Alec’s and Vivianna’s, since they were with us during our 2019 visit with owner/producer Daniel Brunier at the Estate.

Domaine les Pallieres “Les Racines” Gigondas 2017

This Racines label is produced from thee domaine’s oldest vines, up to 80 years old with an average age of 65 years, grown in red sandy clay, limestone, scree soils. This is one of two Les Pallières labels/bottlings, and is the one that typically is open younger in its life, being riper and more concentrated than the its peers Terrasse du Diable bottling. The profile is typically of soft tannins with fruit that dark, expressive, pure and elegant, with a savory character reminiscent of tapenade. 

It is crafted primarily with 80% Grenache in the blend, with the blend for this release is 80% Grenache 15% Syrah – Cinsault (co-planted) and 5% Clairette, all from the Gigondas Appellation. It ages in cuvees for 10 months, then in foudres for 7-9 months.

The Winemakers for this label are the proprietors of the grand vin, Vieux Telegraph: Frédéric and his brother Daniel Brunier.

This was rated 95 points by James Suckling, 93-95 by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 94 by Vinous, 92-94 by Jeb Dunnuck, and 93 by Wine Spectator. 

At seven years, this is likely at the apex of its tasting profile, but should continue to hold with age for several more years. 

Dark ruby garnet colored, full bodied, dense concentrated and tightly structured yet approachable black raspberry and black currant and black cherry fruits accented with spice, black tea, smoke, finishing with garrigue, licorice, pepper and herbs with a long moderate and slightly edgy tangy, spicy, acidic finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://go.cellartracker.com/wine/3131598

https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/

Piedlong CDP Red Blend with BBQ Ribs

Brunier Family “Piedlong” CDP Red Blend with BBQ Ribs

With the left over BBQ ribs from the other night, as noted at the time, the best ribs I’ve had in a long time, I opened a CDP (Châteauneuf-du-Pape) from Familie Brunier. We had these ribs the other night and they were spectacular, and enjoyable a couple days later to dust up the leftovers! 

I pulled this wine to take to son Alec’s last night but we arrived to find he had already opened a Big Red for pairing with our Pizza. So it was to open this for Sunday dinner with the remaining BBQ Ribs. 

This is from one of favorite Rhône producers that we visited at the Vieux Télégraphe estate during our CDP appellation tour back in 1998, and then again during our 2019 visit with Alec & Viviana with owner/producer Daniel Brunier at the Estate, which was a highlight of our visit to the Luberon and Southern Rhône that year.

Also notable, pertaining to Alec and Viv, we discovered this label during a visit to New York City to visit  when they were still living there. We discovered and enjoyed this label at Il Fiore Restaurant and Bar at the Langham Hotel in NYC back in 2018. 

Vignobles Brunier Chateauneuf-du-Pape Piedlong 2017

As I’ve written in these pages, Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe has been in the Brunier family since 1898,  it lies on the eastern edge of Châteauneuf du Pape and covers 150 acres of some of the finest terroir there on the famed “la Crau” plateau.

Famille Brunier embodies the group of holdings by the Brunier family, notably Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, Domaine La Roquète, Domaine Les Pallières (along with Kermit), and other vineyards for wines under the Brunier label. 

Henri Brunier founded the estate back in 1891. Four generations later, at the very beginning of the 80s, Frédéric and Daniel Brunier took over the destiny of the family business in tandem to farm the land in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The brothers solidify the legacy left by their father, Henri, and their great-grandfather, Hippolyte. 

In 2015 and 2016, Nicolas son of Frédéric and Edouard, son of Daniel, entered the history of the Old Telegraph, fully integrating the company in key positions. Manon, daughter of Frédéric, joined them in 2018 now extending to the sixth generation stewardship of the family business. 

The Bruniers’ vineyards in the La Crau cru of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, most notably the flagship Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, are the most pedigreed of the appellation, producing wines of exceptional quality and longevity. Since purchasing Domaine La Roquète in 1986, the family has complemented their portfolio with additional wines, offering more affordable cuvées that showcase the diversity of terroirs within their holdings. The “Pigeoulet” and “Mégaphone” are fresh, rich in fruit, pleasantly representative of their terroir, and easy to appreciate young. 

This red Châteauneuf “Piedlong”, is sourced from the famed Piélong lieu-dit with some fruit from the Pignan vineyard as well, is a deeply mineral wine that balances elegance and purity with the muscle that is commonly found in wines from this great appellation.

The estate gets its name from the history of this site. Back in the 1800's , Claude Chappe, inventor of the optical telegraph, built a signal tower on the property due to its high elevation in the region, hence the property was given the name “Vieux Télégraphe”. 

When we met with owner/producer Daniel Brunier at the Estate, during our 2019 visit with Alec & Viviana, he asked, “what do you want to know about Vieux Telegraph?” I said, “we want to meet you, see the estate, and learn the essence of your wines and how they manifest the terroir of the estate”. He emphasized the care they use in gravity feeding the grapes with minimal intervention, how they have destemmed all their grapes since 1989 and how the wines see all native ferments, with no temperature control, and aging all in older foudre. The gravity feeding was a result of the recent completion of a new state of the art winery. 

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe "Piedlong" Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rhône Valley 2017 

This Piedlong label that was first released in 2011, it is a blend of 90% Genache Noir and 10% Mourvèdre. Comprised of but two varietals of the thirteen that are allowed in the AOC sanctioned blend, its a simpler less complex wine than the flagship label which under appellation rules can contain up to thirteen different varietals. 

The 90% Grenache for the Piedlong section and 10% Mourvedre from the Pignan section, are both old-vine parcels. 

The predominant Grenache grapes are sourced from 70 year old vines on the Vieux Telegraph 27 acre site on the stony Piedlong Plateau which is in the heart of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape AOC area. 

Piedlong is north of the village at the highest point of the appellation. The Mourvèdre fruit is sourced from 50 year old vines on the 22 acre Pignan lieu-dit, east of Piedlong.

This release was awarded 94 points by Jeb Dunnuck and Wine Spectator, 93-94 by Vinous, 92-94 by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 93 by James Suckling and 92 by DC

Whether a Grenache blend from Châteauneuf–du-Pape, a Bandol Mourvédre or a rosé from Pic Saint-Loup, classic wines from the Southern Rhône, Provence or Languedoc are often described as having notes of garrigue. 

In wine, the term garrigue suggests distinctly herbaceous, peppery or smoky tones reminiscent of the low-lying vegetation that grows wild in sun-scorched limestone soils along the Mediterranean, particularly the South of France.

Rather than a single plant or scent, garrigue refers to a variety of aromatic, resinous herbs like rosemary, sage, bay leaves and thyme. It also includes shrubs like juniper and artemisia as well as lavender and mint. 

The 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Piedlong  was an ideal pairing with the tangy BBQ. I note often in these pages the importance of an effective pairing between food and wine, and how it amplifies the enjoyment of both. 

This was  dark ruby colored, medium to full-bodied, round, layered with core of ripe raspberry, red currant, cherry and plum fruits accented by herbes de Provence, roses, dried spices, licorice, with that signature garrigue and with minerality on the long smooth polished finish. 

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3187675  

https://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/

Clarendon Hills Romas Vineyard Grenache 2007

Clarendon Hills McLaren Vale Clarendon Romas Vineyard Grenache 2007

Friday night dinner, Linda prepared BBQ ribs with roasted potatoes and carrots, one of my favorite meals for pairing with full bodied, bold expressive wines. 

Following the trend of this week, for the third time I pulled from the cellar a 2007 vintage release wine to compare the relative aging of that vintage, albeit across different wine varietals and regions. 

One of our favorite varietals with BBQ is the Syrah grape from the Rhône Valley in France, Australia and parts of California. Syrah is one of a trio of grapes often paired together in blends, along with Grenache and Mourvèdre - together referred to as GSM’s. 

Generally we have favored Syrah over Grenache, but tonight, this single vineyard designated label exceeded our most lofty expectations. 

I featured this same label vintage release in an earlier blogpost in which I also featured this iconic producer in detail -  October, 2020 - Trio of Clarendon Hills labels - Astralis, Bakers Gully and Romas , excerpted below.

Clarendon Hills winery was founded in 1990 by Roman Bratasiuk in Clarendon, a town 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Adelaide, part of the McLaren Vale Wine Region in South Australia. Bratasiuk, a viticulturalist as much as a winemaker, selected Clarendon as a base because of the significant number of old vine vineyards that were planted there, vineyards of 50 to 90 years. 

The township of Clarendon was established in 1880 by European migrants, who brought with them pre-clonal, original French vine cuttings that they planted and propagated across the surrounding hilltops. Clarendon is home to hugely varied terrain with sandy, clay based soils in the lower elevated regions and contrasted with shattered shale and ironstone rich, quartz ridden soils in the highest areas. It is ideal growing conditions for traditional French Rhone varietals - Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre as well as Bordeaux varietals Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Clarendon Hills vineyards sources lie within the Clarendon, Blewitt Springs and Kangarilla districts. Using single vineyard designated fruits, Clarendon Hills seeks to express terroir driven varietal expression in its wines.

Today, there are many single vineyard wines in Australia, but when Roman started in 1990, he was a pioneer in this approach. In the early 1990s, Roman started becoming known for his Grenache, but today he has an extensive portfolio of premium and ultra premium quality wines across 19 single vineyard cuvee labels.

With the release of the 1994 vintage. Roman hired his first employee and rebranded his $30 Clarendon Hills Shiraz as 1994 Clarendon Hills Astralis. It was the first bottle in Australia to be priced at $100. It sold out and became his signature flagship label which remains to this day.

Robert Parker has written that "Clarendon Hills is one of the world’s elite wine estates". In 1996, Parker tasted the 1994 Astralis and wrote in his newsletter, Wine Advocate issue 110: "This is the hottest wine in Australian wine circles, as it came out ahead of two great vintages of Henschke and Penfolds’ Grange in a recent tasting. If readers can believe it, it is a bigger denser, more concentrated wine than the Grange," and in issue 108 (1996) he named Roman wine producer of the year. Thereafter, Astralis became a cult wine.

Two vintages of Astralis (1996 and 1994) were recently included within the 'Greatest 1000 Wines of all time 1727-2006" as a result of 15 international MW's collaborating with Scandinavian publisher FINE.

Clarendon Hills was awarded New World Winery of the Year in 2006 by Wine Enthusiast. To date, Astralis is either the highest or equivocally scored as the best Australian Shiraz/Syrah based wine every year according to US publications Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate.

Today, Clarendon Hills produces broad portfolio of nineteen labels; eight Syrah, six Grenache, three Cabernet Sauvignon and one Merlot and Mourvedre wine. Roman exclusively produces single vineyard wines, all single vineyard, single varietal wines, produced from low yielding, dry grown old vines which are hand pruned, hand picked. All wines are aged in high quality French oak barriques.

One of Australia's iconic producers, Clarendon Hills marches confidently to its own drum, crafting deeply flavoured, profoundly structured and often rather savoury and Old Worldly reds from shiraz and grenache from a variety of sites in the higher Clarendon subregion of McLaren Vale. Each are made and bottled separately, so a new vintage tasting of Clarendon Hills wine will take more than half an hour! 

It's also home to some steadily improving cabernet sauvignons and some slightly idiosyncratic Mourvedre and Merlot. The winery's two top red wines, the Astralis Syrah and the Romas Grenache, easily justify their 5-Star status. The Domaine Clarendon Syrah is an exciting and relatively new project that should gain more standing and status as the vineyard matures. I love the ambition and attitude behind Clarendon Hills. It's pushing the envelopes of style and quality, and it's spectacular when it succeeds.

Clarendon Hills "Romas" Grenache 2007 South Australia

This is Clarendon Hill's top Grenache, single vineyard designated, sourced from the Romas Vineyard Block, in the Clarendon hills, in the tenderloin/best part of the more famous Blewitt Springs Vineyard, located just north-east of McLaren Vale, to the south of Adelaide, Australia

The vineyard was planted in 1920 and the 1940's with the 'Romas Grenache' the steepest, most elevated section. What makes this site special is its elevation of almost 1000 ft and its proximity to the ocean, which sits only a few miles away. The hillside site in some places reaches above a +40˚ slope gradient where the old vines struggle to survive on a steep rock hill face with yields a microscopic 1.2 ton to the acre.

The elevation and slope combined with the proximity to the ocean results in a cooler-climate site and not prone to producing the ‘jammy’, ‘porty’ styles of Aussie Grenache so popular from the broader area, rather, this wine is more like wines from the north side of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. 

Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.

Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. In those cases, Appellation rules require it to be included along with Syrah and Mourvèdre to be at least 70% of the blend, which can include up to thirteen specified varietals. 

Grenache is also grown on the Italian island of Sardinia where they produce bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). It is also grown in California, Washington and Australia who have all achieved found success with Grenache, both stand along single varietal bottlings and in blends.

We held several labels of Clarendon Hills in our cellar going back two and half decades, and several vintages of this one. I selected the oldest vintage, as part of cellar/inventory management, and as a continuing fun comparison of this particular vintage release this week - Garric Cellars Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and another, in a post coming soon. 

As I write often in these pages, the optimal pairing of a wine with food will greatly amplify and enhance the enjoyment of both! 

Tonight, these was extraordinary with the delicious BBQ ribs, roasted potatoes and carrots and was perhaps the best showing of a Grenache that I can remember. 

Historically, we not huge fans of Grenache, much less desired than our more favored Syrah varietal. Moreover, in the earlier blogpost review of this specific label, I gave it very low lackluster marks. 

Clarendon Hills McLaren Vale Clarendon Romas Vineyard Grenache 2007

While usually we’re not huge fans of Grenache, tonight, this showed extraordinarily well, enhanced by the ideal food pairing. I believe that the extra couple years aging in the bottle allowed this to settle further as it showed great balance and harmony. 

This label release was awarded 91 points by both Wine Enthusiast and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. 

It was matured for 18 months in 1-5 year old tightly grained French Oak.

This may have been my best tasting experience in memory for a Grenache varietal wine. 

Dark garnet purple colored, full bodied, bold and expressive, textured but balanced black berry, black currant and plum fruits were accented by savory rustic, meaty and spice tones of black tea and tobacco leaf with firm but fine approachable tannins on a long gripping finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=933956

https://clarendonhills.com.au/