Lafage Tessellae Old Vines GSM 2015

Domaine Lafage Tessellae Old Vines GSM 2015

Since we're heading to the south of France to visit friends and the wine country in a couple of weeks, I am exploring wines from the region in preparation for our trip there. We opened this Red Rhone Blend in the style of South Australian "GSM" - Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre from the Côtes du Roussillon appellation which lies in the far southwestern corner of France, between Spain and the Mediterranean. There is abundant sun which is ideal for grape varietals Carignan, Grenache and Cinsault, the region’s traditional varieties, and there are increasingly abundant plantings of Syrah and Mourvèdre.

Within Côtes du Roussillon, select terraced hillsides above the Agly, Verdouble and du Maury rivers, in the foothills of the Pyrenees, produce the more complex and barrel-aged Côtes du Roussillon-Villages red wines. The better wines are normally produced from vines on the slopes, not in the valley floors.

Appellation rules required blended red wines - the blend allowed is: Carignan (maximum 60%), Syrah, Mourvèdre (minimum 30% combined), Grenache noir, Lladoner. A minimum of three varieties are allowed in the blend.

Roussillon still regards itself as part of Catalonia across the border in Spain, and in wine styles. Whereas the Languedoc region in France is almost entirely dependent on vine-growing, the farmers in Roussillon's fertile valleys, overlooked by the Pyrenees, grow all sorts of fruits. The climate is almost Spanish, and is particularly suitable for growing cherries, plums, peaches, apricots and nectarines.

Domaine Lafage "Tessellae - Old Vines GSM" Côtes du Roussillon 2015

This is a blend of  50% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 10% Mourvedre. It is from a popular producer, Jean-Marc Lafage who is known for producing wines with robust expressive fruit in the GSM varietals (Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre). This is from Old Vines - 70-year-old vines and brought up all in concrete tank. This has great QPR - Quality Price Ratio of about $15 at Binny's locally around Chicagoland.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate gave this wine 93 points and wrote,"A ripe, expansive, full-bodied and undeniably sexy red that has beautiful notes of kirsch liqueur, blueberries, pepper and violets, it has ripe and present tannin, straight up fabulous purity and a great finish. This is another one of those wines where you just have to tell yourself you spent more than you actually did. The wine really is this good. (JD)  (4/2017)"

The folks at K&L Wines in Redwood City, one of my favorite wineshops anywhere, love this wine.

From Keith Mabry | K&L Staff Member | Review Date: 1/30/2018 

Like all Lafage wines, there is no shortage of fruit in the GSM. The wine has the sensation of warm raspberry coulis drizzled over a berry compote. It almost sounds like a little much but Lafage excels at creating finesse where fruit lingers. Great acidity, plush velvety tannins and glycerol richness lead you to believe this is a much more expensive wine and gives you the balance you desire. The name Jean-Marc Lafage has become synonymous with cost to quality in our stores. Every wine is inflected with his joyously exuberant style. For wines that you can drink every day that show pure pleasure in the glass, you need look no further than Lafage's harmonious Grenache Syrah Mourvedre blend.

Thomas Smith, K&L Staff Member says, "Seriously, Jean-Marc Larfage is just killing it right now. In addition to being one of the most in-demand consulting winemakers in France, he continues to put out unbelievable values from his region of specialty: the Languedoc and Roussillon. Take for instance the 2015 Tessellae. Farmed from over 100 year-old-vines, this wine is utterly delicious, displaying flavors of raspberry coulis and bing cherries above a darker, medium bodied blackberry fruit. Hints of charcoal, smoke, and well-integrated spice contribute to a nuanced aroma. It is warm, upfront, fruity and an incredibly well-made wine that will work with plenty of different types of cuisines and is good for any night of the week. I would argue that at this moment, Lafage is producing the best value wines anywhere in the world. If you’ve loved the Kerbuccio, Bastide Miraflors, or Arqueta from Domaine Lafage, you should definitely pick up the Tessellae."  K&L Staffer Alex Pross says, "This is my favorite Lafage release to date! The 2015 Tessellae Old Vines GSM has a hauntingly beautiful nose of red cherries, licorice, white pepper and garrigue. On the palate the wine is fresh and lively with great energy and drive. There is copious fruit notes as well as spice with a layered and complex palate. The wine shows excellent integration of its tannins, fruit and alcohol which gives this full-bodied wine a deceptively light on its feet feel. Top Value! Drink from 2018 to 2022 This was dark garnet colored, medium-full bodied, expressive forward black fruits with a bit of that Spanish effect coming through, a bit hot smokey, peppery creosote note accented by spice and hint of cassis.

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=2658658

https://www.klwines.com/

https://www.domaine-lafage.com/en/?___from_store=fr

Chiarello Family Vineyards Petite Sirah Roux Old Vine 2003

Chiarello Family Vineyards Petite Sirah Roux Old Vine 2003

For a quiet relaxing evening watching Christmas movies with Linda over pizza, I pulled this aged Chiarello Vineyards Petit Shirah from the cellar as a literal and classic 'pizza wine' - aka moderately priced 'every day' wine for drinking with pizza. Based on the price I paid nearly a decade and half ago, this exceeded both of our expectations being big, fruit-filled, forward and complex. Researching it further I see I got a good deal on this wine at $20 as the ASP, average selling price today is $60 and $65 for later vintages. What a nice surprise to find this gem in the cellar!

I admit that prior to opening and tasting, and subsequently researching this label further to produce this blogpost, I don't recall having prior knowledge of this producer or winemaker.

This wine is produced by Michael Chiarello, noted Napa Valley chef, Emmy-winning TV personality, author, founder of NapaStyle, who applied his culinary skills and personal flair for layering flavors to a new challenge—making small productions of handcrafted estate wines. His small winery, Chiarello Family Vineyards, makes five estate grown wines from 20-acres  around his home in the central Napa Valley. This wine is from his 4-acre parcel of 96 year-old vines that yield a mere 100 cases of wine.

Chiarello is collaborating with Thomas Brown, one of the top "old vine" winemakers in Napa Valley, known for crafting rich, dynamic wines from the ultra-ripe fruit of from the 94-year-old Petite Sirah and Zinfandel vines on the Estate.  Thomas Brown was "2010 Winemaker of the Year," by Food & Wine Magazine.

Chiarello Family Vineyards and their wines have consistently been recognized with 90+ ratings and accolades - named Editors Pick, Top Scoring California Sirah (Wine Spectator) with a 92 Rating; Editors Pick, Top Scoring California Zinfandel (Wine Spectator) with a 90 Rating; Top Ten Bottle From Napa (Food & Wine Magazine) and In Napa, Zinfandels Show Off Their Grace, (New York Times, Frank Prial, 11/13/02).

Thomas Rivers Brown hails originally from South Carolina. After graduation from the University of Virginia he traveled the wine regions of France, and eventually made his way to Napa Valley in the mid-1990's. He worked with and earned the craft as cellar hand and lab enologist for notable winemakers Ehren Jordan and Larry Turley of Turley Wine Cellars. In 2000, Thomas got his chance to produce his own wines when he was appointed winemaker for the new winery project Chiarello Vineyards. 

Since then, in addition to Chiarello, Thomas has overseen winemaking operations or consulted for many well known Napa Valley wineries including Schrader, Outpost, Maybach, Revana, TOR, C. Mondavi, Jones Family, Harris Estate, Hestan, Seaver, Black Sears, and Casa Piena. He also has his own wine label, Rivers-Marie, where Thomas Brown focuses his efforts on Pinot Noir.
 
Thomas Brown has been called "the nation's hottest winemaker." by David White of The Terroirist Wine Journal., He is one of but a few winemakers globally to have received multiple 100-point wine scores from the penultimate wine critic Robert Parker Jr. of The Wine Advocate, as well as from wine noted critic, James Laube of The Wine Spectator. It was in 2010 that Thomas was honored as Food & Wine Magazine "Winemaker of the Year."

Chiarello Family Vineyards Petite Sirah Roux Old Vine 2003  

This was dark inky black/purple colored, big full bodied, rich, concentrated but nicely balanced and polished blackberry and black cherry fruits with layers of mineral, licorice, Asian spices, hints of smokey creosote with nicely integrated oak on the lingering clinging tannin finish.

At fourteen years of age, this 2003 was drinking well and seemingly still at the apex of its drinking window, although certainly not likely to improve any with further aging.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=146614

http://www.chiarellovineyards.com/

Bogle Vineyards Phantom Zinfandel Blend 2009

Bogle Vineyards Phantom Zinfandel Blend 2009

For quiet Saturday evening at home after babysitting a grandson, we opened this bold red blend with fresh fruits and cheeses in front of a winter fire and movie.

This is the type of wine that should be held in every cellar for BBQ, pizza, pasta, hearty cheeses or casual but serious sipping. Not for the feint of heart, this is an interesting unique blend of old vine Zinfandel (52%) from Lodi, Petite Sirah (46%) from Clarksburg, with a small amount of Mourvèdre, all from the Central Valley of California.

According to the inscription on the cork (shown below), Bogle is Scottish for a 'friendly spirit, a phantom". 

Dark blackish garnet colored, full bodied, aromatic, concentrated forward chewy briary ripe blueberry and black raspberry fruits with tones of smoke and hints of vanilla, dark chocolate, graphite, spicy oak and cedar.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1288036

http://www.boglewinery.com/ 

Davis Family Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel

Davis Family Vineyards Russian River Valley Old Vine Zinfandel 2002

Thin crust pizza with sausage, pepperoni and spicy sauce and a plate of hearty cheese calls for fruit forward bold expressive pizza wine. Davis Family Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel from the Russian River Valley answers the call - not complex or sophisticated but easy drinking, single dimensional and focused.

The fact this was a small format 375ml bottle may have contributed to its aging to the point of being in the last stage of its drinking window for this twelve year old. Lasting that long speaks well for this label, indicates a pretty robust and stable wine, and appropriate cellar conditions. Glad I pulled this from the cellar and caught it in time, appropriately for a weeknight wine and pizza experience.

Dark inky purple colored, medium bodied, at twelve years of age the fruit has turned to bramble black berry accented raisin tones with a layer of leather and tobacco.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=32211  

http://www.davisfamilyvineyards.com/

Bogle Zinfandel Blends for Bar-B-Q

Bogle Zinfandel Blends for Bar-B-Q Dinner

For son Ryan's birthday we ordered bar-b-q from Q Bar-b-q in Naperville - slabs of ribs and pulled pork. We prepared our own sides, mac and cheese, corn, and brussel sprouts in a cranberry sauce. To compliment the meal we pulled from the cellar two Bogle Zinfandels - Phantom and Essential Red. Zinfandel was the perfect compliment to the tangy, sweet and spicy bar-b-q variations.

Bogle Vineyards "Phantom" Red Wine Blend 2009 

We rediscovered this wine a couple years ago at the Saturday afternoon tasting at Main Street Liquors in Lagrange, IL. They were serving it because it was the highlight of an earlier tasting they conducted. I was looking for a Zinfandel or Rhone style blend for our Thanksgiving dinner at the time and picked this up. Its always good to have a few Zins in the cellar for bar-b-q. This is a unique blend of Zinfandel and Rhone varietals sourced from the California central valley and Sierra foothills - 52% Zinfandel from Lodi, 46% Petite Sirah from Clarksburg, and 2% Mourvedre from Amador County. This is a lot of wine for the money rendering a high QPR - Quality to Price Ratio for this wine that is available between $15 and $20.

This is dark garnet colored, full-bodied mid palate with a firm finish, the winemaker's notes say this wine showcases the best of these three unique varietals. While it lacks the backbone and tannic structure of a Cabernet, that is why it is approachable easy drinking and suitable for a Thanksgiving dinner offering with Turkey, dressing and so on.

This was complex cacophony of full forward fruits of blackberry, black raspberry and briary boysenberries giving way to layers of black licorice, tones of creosote, black pepper and hints of dark chocolate, juniper and cedar on the finish. It needs a big food to balance its bold forward fruits and lively acidity.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1288036


http://www.boglewinery.com/

Bogle 'Essential Red' Zinfandel Blend 2012

A blend of Old Vine Zinfandel, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah, this wine would be a great blind tasting candidate with its bright, lively forward complex fruits.Dark purple/garnet colored, the fruits are vibrant but nicely balanced, smooth and approachable. I felt the polish and approachability of this wine actually overshadowed the bigger, more complex more expensive Phantom. 

Ripe intense flavors of boysenberries, cherry and black raspberry, with tones of vanilla and mocha, black licorice and spicy pipe tobacco on the moderate oaky tannin finish. This is currently widely available at under $14 and offers fabulous QPR - Quality-to-Price-Ratio. Go out and pick up a bunch for beef, bar-b-que, pasta and pizza. While it has forward fruits, it has a nice polish and balance suitable for many combinations. Great for every day drinking.

RM 89 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1811326

http://www.boglewinery.com/moments/#

David Arthur Napa Valley Estate Vineyards and Winery

David Arthur Napa Valley Estate Vineyards and Winery

The vista view overlooking
Napa Valley

A highlight and targeted visit of our Napa Wine Experience 2013 was our visit to David Arthur Napa Valley Estate Vineyards and Winery. As mentioned in a recent blogpost, we've been collecting and enjoying David Arthur wines since the late nineties since the 1997 vintage but have been pacing our consumption as we watch this wine age and achieve its true potential. The property is situated up at the end of Long Ranch Road up atop Pritchard Hill in the Vaca Mountain range. The drive up offers some spectacular vineyard views and vistas of the Napa Valley below. The adjoining vineyards represent some of the premier producers of Napa Valley wines - Brand, Bryant, Colgin, Continuum, Montagna, the new Del Dotto property Villa Del Lago, and Ovid. Not (yet) designated an appellation, never-the-less, it is fast becoming one of the premiere wine growing areas of Napa Valley. 

We visited the other side of Pritchard Hill during our Pritchard Hill, Napa Valley Experience - Autumn '09 with our visit to long time resident/producer Chappellet Vineyards.

David Arthur wines represent the unique terroir of the mountain with its rough rocky terrain. They have 21 acres on their Pritchard Hill estate (left) planted in the Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petite Verdot, as well as Sangiovese and Nebbiolo which go into their unique Meritaggio.

We first discovered this wine when we purchased a case back of the 1997 vintage release and still hold about half of those bottles, but we quickly turned and became fans of their Cabernet Sauvignon and their flagship wine Elevation 1147, creatively names for the vineyard site situated 1200 feet above the valley floor. All are crafted 100% from estate grown grapes. This visit offered us the opportunity to experience (and acquire) their latest vintage releases as well as their new Three Acre and Old Vines labels Estate bottled Cabernet Sauvignons and a new release bottling of David Arthur Napa Valley Cabernet Franc.

Long girls and husbands R *& R (l),
Clan Connelly (rt)

David Arthur, named for the grandfather of the owner/producer, is a family affair consisting of three generations of the Long family, who over the years acquired the mountain land to raise cattle. Today it is operated by brothers David and Bob along with Joye Long are co-owners, with David acting as General Manager and his daughter Laura runs the office and daily operations.  


A point of interest and fun part of this trip was the fact that Linda (nee) Long and Pat (nee) Long, daughters of Indiana farmer Ned Long would be

Farmer Ned Long's daughters at
David Arthur Long Ranch

with us. My wife Linda and I were joined on this Napa trip by sister/sister-in-law Pat (Long), so it's only fitting we saved our David Arthur visit and this Long reunion for this trip together. More aspects of a family reunion this trip as our usual wine tasting and travel companions, Bill and Beth C, were joined by son Will and wife Kate. Furthermore, the family reunion continued with a visit from Pat and Linda's niece Becky (nee) Long who lives near Napa and brought her family down to join us for a day of our trip.

Adding to the Long legend and heritage on Pritchard Hill, adjacent to the David Arthur vineyards are Long Family Vineyards owned by Napa Valley legends Bob and Zelma Long, who gained notoriety in the 70s as chief enologist at Robert Mondavi Winery. Divorced from Bob, today, Zelma and husband Phillip produce wines in Germany and South Africa under their Zelphi label..

The wines: 

David Arthur Three Acre Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

A new label from David Arthur to expand the brand offering with further differentiation of the available fruits. This Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from three distinctive estate vineyard blocks, composed primarily of Cabernet Clone 337 noted for outstanding fruit character and bold tannins. A blend of 93 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, and 7 percent Petite Verdot, this was aged in 85 percent new French oak barrels for 23 months. Only 338 cases were produced.

Deep garnet colored, medium-full bodied, it presents blackberry, black raspberry, a layer of black cherry, and cassis with hints of flora, olive tapenade, spicy toasted oak, tones of toffee, maple, tea, tobacco and cedar turning to fine grained tannins on the finish. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1359622
 
David Arthur Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007

This standard bearer Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from three of the distinctive vineyard blocks on Pritchard Hill. Full bodied and dark inky purple, this is complex, firm and focused with layers of dense black berry and black currant fruits accented with dense cassis, spices, floral notes with a tobacco earthy tone on the intense long silky smooth tannin finish. 

The 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petite Verdot, was aged in 80 percent new French oak barrels for 23 months. 718 cases were produced.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=658746

David Arthur Old Vine Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010

A new label for the David Arthur brand, Old Vine represents select bottling of fruit from the finest selections from the mature vines on the estate. Old Vine is packaged in a heavy oversize bottle equivalent to the flagship 1147 bottling. 

Full bodied, firm, focused concentrated black berry and black currant fruits, intense cassis, vanilla and lavender tones, complex mouth feel loads the palate with a layer of creme de cassis, hints of caramel and sweet oak on a long finish of smooth silky polished tannins.

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1327749

David Arthur Elevation 1147 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 

The flagship David Arthur wine commemorating the twenty-fifth vintage anniversary release. There is a whimsical story that explains the red stripe label but I'll save that for others or another forum.  

Seeking some selective 2010 vintage wines to celebrate or commemorate our first grandchild's birthyear, this is the one of the first to present itself as a worthy candidate.
  
Medium-full bodied, big forward fruits, a symphony of deep complex concentrated flavors - black berry and black raspberry fruits, subtle floral tones, hints of cassis, lead pencil, espresso and cedar tones with a spicy silky smooth satin like long lingering finish.

RM 94 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1357694 

David Arthur Napa Valley Cabernet Franc 2010 

Wow, how can a Cab (Sauvignon) drinker not love Cab Franc?!? Historically and typically used as a blending wine to add breadth to the Bordeaux blend, by itself its tangy spicy tongue coating mouth puckering. Black inky purple, medium-full bodied, black fruits, lead pencil graphite with clove spice and hints of cedar on a silky tannin finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1468395



David Arthur Napa Valley Meritaggio 2010 

We first discovered and still hold several bottles of this wine from the 1997 vintage. It continues to show resilience and no sign of diminution with full fruit and length. 

The 2010 showed medium bodied, black raspberry and black cherry fruits, hints of black olive, leather and soft oak on a focused moderate tannin finish.

RM 90 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1357708



David Arthur Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2011

This may be the last vintage of this offering as they focus on big red wines that make the most of Pritchett Hill terroir.

David Arthur Napa Valley Nebbiollo - pre-release

We did some barrel tasting and had a preview of upcoming releases of David Arthur Nebbiolo from the 2011 and 2012 vintages. Watch for these in the years to come.

David Arthur barrel house

 

Big sky Pritchett Hill - P&R, R&L

Clan Connelly on Pritchett Hill

P&R - Long Ranch - David Arthur

Two gen Docs

Tasting toasted