Merry Christmas - Frozen and gala family wine dinner

Merry Christmas - Frozen and gala family wine dinner Italian Village Chicago

For our Christmas present to the kids and grandkids we got them tickets to the Broadway theatrical presentation of Frozen at the Cadillac Palace theatre in Chicago, followed by a gala family dinner at a classic historical Chicago landmark restaurant, Italian Village, Chicago. We love the city and endeavor to take advantage of all the culture, arts, history and culinary scene often. My office is in the city and I admit I get a rush feeding off the energy of the city from the moment I step off the train.

I worked a partial day in the office, attended a Board meeting and then went downstairs in the belly of my office building to meet the kids and grandkids arriving by train from the western suburbs. We went up the escalator and elevator to my office where they had lunch in the board room overlooking the cityscape. 

The grandkids had fun looking across at the heights of the Willis Tower, watching the raising of the new Salesforce tower, and looking down on the arriving Metra trains, the "L" trains traversing the river, and the people on the upper decks of the architectural boat tours passing our building on the river below. 

From there the kids and grandkids went to the theatre presentation of Frozen, the Tony®-nominated Best Musical, on the Chicago stop of their North American tour. 

Readers of this column have seen numerous blogposts  of  my leadership team business dinners at historic Italian Village Restaurant. Tonight, we took over the wine room in the Italian Village Cantina for a festive private holiday dinner.

Sons Ryan and Alec, daughter Erin and Vivianna joined me in selecting some special wines from the extensive, extraordinary wine cellar list and then we enjoyed touring the spectacular wine cellar to fetch our selections. 

 Our wine flight consisted of my favorite Italian Super Tuscan from a dozen or so dinners and visits over the last couple months. Ryan selected from the winelist a legendary Californian, and Alec found a vintage of one of our Vintner's Series collectables from Columbia Valley. We finished the entree course with America's best Sangiovese, and I finished off the evening with a vintage premium Italian dessert wine. 

Erin & Johnny Fort & Jared Gelband

Our good friend, Italian Village Wine Director Jared Gelband had already staged for us two Italian wines to start off our dinner appetizer course.

Ezio Poggio Caespes Timorasso Colli Tortonesi Terre di Libarna 2018

Interesting pleasant white wine from the Colli Tortonesi DOC Appellation in Piedmont region in the northwestern most corner of Italy. It is comprised of 100% Timorasso, a modern varietal grape indigenous to the region.

Straw colored, fully round medium bodied with vibrant green apple and pear fruits with notes of melon and stone with soft minerality, moderate acid and medium dryness. Very nice accompaniment to the salad course and shrimp and calimari starters. 

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3485962

 

Dell'Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove 2017

We discovered and enjoyed this Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove Bolgheri 2017 in a recent visit to Italian Village, I wrote about it in this blogpost of that tasting.

We then selected from the winelist several wines to accompany our dinner entrees, and dessert.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3377327

https://www.ornellaia.com/en

https://twitter.com/Ornellaia

 

Ridge Monte Bello California Proprietary Red 2002

Ryan selected from the winelist this iconic flagship label of this prolific producer. They are known for their wide portfolio of single vineyard designated labels from Napa, Sonoma and their estate site situated high at the summit of the Santa Cruz Mountains that separate Silicon Valley from Santa Cruz and the coast. 

This site is special to us as it sits above our home village of Saratoga down in the southwestern corner of Silicon Valley, where we lived out there back in the early eighties.

The Ridge estate and Monte Bello vineyard is officially in Cupertino, albeit high above the valley up at the summit.

This release was awarded 98 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, 97 points by Vinous, 96 points by Wine Spectator, 94 points by Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, and 18/20 from Jancis Robinson.   

The 2002 Monte Bello Proprietary Red is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot and 8% Petit Verdot.

Going into its twentieth year, this is very likely at the apex of its tasting window, its hard to believe that it will improve much more with further aging. Robert Parker wrote in 2012 when it was ten years,  "It tastes as if it hasn’t changed since I first sampled it in late 2003 and then again in bottle two years later. ... Extremely young and full-bodied, with some wood char still present, it is unevolved and tastes like it could be a barrel sample, except that it has been in bottle for nearly ten years! This is a blockbuster Ridge Monte Bello that still needs a minimum of another 10 years of bottle-age and should keep for 50+ years."

Vinous wrote in 2016, "The 2002 Monte Bello is just starting to enter the early plateau of its maturity."

Wine Spectator wrote in 2019: "Fully in its secondary phase now..."

Such highly acclaimed and rated wines are almost harder to describe because they are conspicuous in their lack of obvious or obtuse high notes, seemingly subdued, but not so, rather, they harmoniously polished and balanced, a symphony of complex flavors, and notably without flaws. Like a well orchestrated symphony the sum of the parts is greater than their individual totality, but no instrument or note stands out from the rest. Garnet colored, medium-full-bodied, expansive, deep and penetrating yet elegant, polished and superbly balanced and harmonious, Vinous wrote, 'it is all about understatement', layered, perfume, expressive flavors of raspberry, blackcurrants, notes of crème de cassis, bitter dark chocolate, spices and tobacco, framed by ripe, plush tannins, concluding with a lingering finish.

RM 95 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=9782

https://www.ridgewine.com/wines/2002-monte-bello/

Sequel Columbia Valley Shiraz 2004 

Alec caught this in the Italian Village wine book list. We couldn't believe they have this aged vintage release of this label. This special collection feature was crafted by notable winemaker John Duvall who was winemaker for fifteen years for Penfold's Grange, one of Australia's most iconic celebrated wines.

Duvall is a participating winemaker in the Longshadows Vintners Collection of world famous winemakers, each recruited to produce their specialty varietal based labels. We visited and wrote about the Long Shadows tasting room in Woodinville during our Seattle Culinary and Washington Wine Tour back in 2017.

This was the second vintage release of this label.

We collect this label as part of our club allocation but this vintage release predates the current Long Shadows branding and packaging, sporting a painted bottle rather than a customary paper label. As we collect this label, had to try this vintage release from the earliest days of this offering. 

Winemaker's Tasting Notes: Darkly-hued with cherry and cassis aromas to match, this is a focused Syrah loaded with black fruit, spice and a hint of vanilla across a supple frame. Give it time in the glass to fully reveal the wine’s layers of fruit and concentration.

This was rated 93 points by Wine Advocate and Stephen Tanzer, and 92 points by Wine Spectator. 

This was sourced from numerous Columbia Valley Vineyards. Working with a broad varied selection of top Syrah vineyards gives Sequel complexity and layers: Yakima Valley’s Boushey Vineyard (35%) gives the wine its elegance and balance; Alder Ridge (24%) and Wallula Vineyard (7%) in the Horse Heaven Hills combines with Red Mountain vineyards (32%) to add black fruit and richness. A small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon from Sagemoor’s Dionysus Vineyard on a southwest facing slope in Pasco adds complexity and more layers.

This was dark deep purple colored, full bodied with complex plum and blackberry fruits with notes of game, dark chocolate, spices and herbs, pepper and hints of cedar with a moderate tannin and acidic lingering finish. 

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=264802

https://longshadows.com/

Leonetti Walla Walla Valley Sangiovese 2003 

Gary Figgins' Leonetti Cellar winery sits just on the outskirts of the town of Walla Walla, the wine producing center of south eastern Washington. We visited the area with our Walla Walla AVA Wine Experience in 2018.

Leonetti Cellar was founded by Gary's parents, Gary and Nancy Figgins, in 1977 as Walla Walla’s first commercial winery. The history of Leonetti dates back a century to Francesco and Rosa Leonetti, who immigrated from Italy in 1901 and 1902 and settled in the area and established the Leonetti farm in 1906. Virginia Leonetti married Berle Figgins (Gary’s father) in 1943 and Gary Figgins was born five years later. Gary toured the California wine country while serving in the Army and begins winemaking.
Gary along with his two uncles, George and Bill Leonetti planted the first commercial vineyard in the area in 1974. 

 

Gary and wife Nancy established the current winery property and winery in 1975, bonded at Leonetti Cellar winery, Walla Walla’s first winery in 1977. Leonetti Cellar’s first commercial vintage of Cabernet Sauvignon & Riesling produced from estate grapes the next year. The first Leonetti Sangiovese was produced in 1995. Chris Figgins, Gary and Nancy’s son, graduated from Washington State University with a degree in horticulture and joined the family business in 1996. He took over the reins as head winemaker in 2001. 

Robert Parker and other critics have said Leonetti produce the finest Sangiovese outside of Tuscany. Leonetti say that while it is most challenging grape to farm, it ais also their favorite.

This 2003 Leonetti Sangiovese is produced from fruit sourced from the Figgins’s Mill Creek Upland Vineyard as well as the Seven Hills and Pepper Bridge Vineyards. It is 78% Sangiovese blended with 22% Syrah. 

This release was awarded 92 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar.

Winemaker's Tasting Notes: This is our darkest Sangiovese to date – gorgeous, saturated magenta to the rim. The razor-precise fruit nose is loaded with bright, dense red fruits and high-tone floral notes. The wine is refreshing on the pallet with bright acidity, while providing rich crème cassis and other red fruit flavors and excellent length.

Bright garnet colored, medium full bodied, vibrant intense concentrated but nicely balanced spicy blackberry, black cherry and plum fruits are accented by anise, tar notes of cedar with bright tangy acidity on a tongue puckering long polished tannin finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=87895 

https://leonetticellar.com/index.html

Livio Felluga Picolit Rosazzo del Friuli Riserva 2001

With the Italian Village chocoloate mousse and biscotti I selected from the winelist this premium Italian dessert wine.  

Livio Felluga's family have been producing wine for six generations. He moved to Friuli in the late 1930s and made his home on the foothills of Rosazzo in the region of Fruili. Friuli Venezia Giulia is Italy's north-easternmost region. It borders Austria to the north and Slovenia to the east. To the south it faces the Adriatic Sea and to the west the Veneto region.

The artistic wine labels feature a signature historic Geographical Map of Friuli’s hillsides, a symbol of the connection between the land and its history, which has appeared on the wine labels since 1956. 

Livio Felluga is now operated by the next generation children. The family estate spans over 550 acres of which 159 planted to vineyards in a complex ecosystem with the Alps in the background and a view that reaches to the sea. 

Livio Felluga is one of the largest wine estates in the Friuli hills. The vineyards are interspersed with woodlands, grassy hillsides, olive groves, paths, streams and groves of mulberry and fruit trees. The vineyards are planted with 14 grape varieties in 320 individual plots that extend across over 550 kilometres of rows of vines. 

The portfolio of Livio Felluga wines now spans eighteen different labels of red, white and rose wines, and this dessert wine.

Livio Felluga Picolit is Friuli’s noblest wine, a unique distinctive dessert wine of historic noble Friuli Venezia Giulia fruit with origins that date back to 1750.

This was awarded 94 points by Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar.

At twenty years, this has darkened from the color of straw to butter to weak tea to honey color. Medium full bodied, concentrated rich complex sweet unctuous fruit flavors of peach and dried apricot are accented by notes of raisiny fig, nutmeg, honey and smokey roasted nuts with a long tongue coating finish. 

RM 93 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=202083

https://www.liviofelluga.com/

http://www.italianvillage-chicago.com/

https://italianvillage-chicago.com/wine-cellar/  

https://twitter.com/italianvlg

 

Long Shadows Sequel Syrah 2016

Long Shadows Sequel Syrah 2016

 

With son Alec and Vivianna over for dinner to watch the Indiana Hoosiers compete in the NCAA National Championship, we grilled ribeye steaks with home grown seasonal asparagus tips and sweet potato fries. As with the other evening, Linda prepared a perfect Pittsburgh style char, served over French Bread and topped with the asparagus and homemade Hollandaise Sauce. 

 

Alec and Viv brought over some classic selections of Murray's Cheese from Greenwich Village, New York City, Murray's Blue and Murray's Moliterno Al Tartufo pecorino, aged for six months before earthy black truffle is added, that they served at their hosted dinner last week. 

 

We opened this classic Long Shadows Syrah from our club allocation cellar collection.

 

This is part of the Long Shadows Vintners Collection - a portfolio of wines, each crafted by a world renowned winemaker, noted for each particular varietal selection. We gained appreciation for the Long Shadows program during out visit to their tasting room during our our Seattle Culinary and Washington Wine Tour back in 2018 -  https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2018/08/long-shadows-cellars-feature-world.html.

This is the Syrah varietal member of the collection and was crafted by legendary John Duval who was winemaker for Australia’s iconic Penfolds Grange for 16 years. John Duval came to Washington State's Columbia Valley in 2003 as the “sequel” to his life’s work with Syrah. 

 

Long Shadows Vintners Collection Columbia Valley Sequel Syrah 2016

This is a fun wine that we enjoy and started collecting, not only because of the QPR - quality price ratio of these Washington State sourced wines, but also due to the extraordinary portfolio of legendary winemakers' handicraft. Lastly, this particular wine is sourced from vineyards of a distant family connection, our niece married into the Den Hoed family, boutique producers and vineyard owners and grape growers for Long Shadows and several other leading brands and labels.   

 

Winemakers' notes: Yakima Valley’s Boushey and Den Hoed Grandview Vineyards comprise 50% of this blend and give the 2016 Sequel its bright, vibrant character. Bacchus Vineyard Syrah (25%), grown on a south-facing block planted in 1993, adds black fruit character and richness. A Shiraz clone from Sonnet Vineyard at the Benches brings blueberry notes to the wine, and a small amount of Red Mountain area Syrah adds to the wine’s dark, brooding character. Dionysus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon provides added backbone. 

 

The blend is 93% Syrah and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon.

Winemaker's notes: The 2016 Sequel Syrah has a dark, garnet color with enticing aromas of black fruits, sweet spice, fresh espresso and roasted meats. Expressive on the palate, this is a complex and layered wine with vibrant flavors of ripe figs, wild blackberries and a hint of olive tapenade that linger on the finish.

 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3096199

 

https://longshadows.com/  

https://twitter.com/longshadowswine

 

@LongShadowsWine

 

 

Coronavirus Virtual Family Dinner and Birthday Celebration

Coronavirus Virtual Family Dinner and Birthday Celebration

Its hard to believe we're entering week four of the Coronavirus shut-in. On this weekend, we were supposed to be watching NCAA March Madness.

For the third straight weekend, the dispersed shut-in family conducted another COVID shut-in virtual family dinner and wine tasting, and like we did the weekend before, sharing videos texts and photos of their selections.

Most importantly, this was son Alec's Thirtieth Birthday so we did a virtual internet celebration highlighted by a lengthy tribute video produced by Vivianna from dozens of clips submitted by family and friends widely dispersed from France, New York, Florida, Illinois to California. 

For the gala birthday celebration dinner, Vivianna and Alec, shut-in on the Conneticut seashore, prepared aged prime steaks and lobster tails.

Before dinner, there was a fabulous feast of the French Edition of Pairing Perfection, a selection of artisan cheeses from Murray's Cheese on Bleeker Street in the West Village. This is one of Alec and Viv's favorite Manhattan dining sites, within sight of brother Frankie's apartment, and a memorable site of several family dinners that we have featured in these pages.

@murrayscheese #murraysathome

The cheese selection consisted of Murray's Perfect Pairing, French Edition, Bucheron with Murray's Wildflower Honey, Morbier with Tres Petits Cornichon, Comte Sainte Antoine & Jambon Bayonne, and lastly, Murray's Forme d' Amber with Murray's Dried Cherries.

For their cheese wine accompaniment they drank Matthias et Emile Roblin Sancerre Origine Loire Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2018.

With the steak they drank Long Shadows Vintner's Collection Sequel Syrah, crafted by Penfold's Grange legendary winemaker John Duvall. 

Long Shadows Vintner's Collection Sequel Columbia Valley Syrah 2016

We source this label as Vault Key members of the wine club, but Alec found it and obtained more special order via the local wineshop there in Westport.

Back in Illinois, son Ryan and Michelle prepared Leg of Lamb, medium rare, in a homemade rosemary red wine vinegar marinade, with Turmeric Basmati Rice with fresh garlic and onion, green beans and lemon honey vinagrette and feta.

For their wine selection Ryan served FEL Donnelly Anderson Valley Creek Pinot Noir 2017 from producer Cliff Lede.

Erin and Johnny and the family ordered in Mediterranean fare from a new local restaurant in nearby LaGrange.

Lastly, Linda prepared a chicken Marsala with asparagus and fresh tomotoes, Angeli's style.

For our wine selection we finished the remains of the Tablas Creek Vineyard 2013 Côtes de Tablas Blanc. I featured this wine in Tablas Creek Vineyard in an earlier blogpost the other night.

Tablas Creek Vineyards Estate Grown Côtes de Tablas Blanc 2013

The Tablas Creek Vineyard 2013 Côtes de Tablas Blanc is a blend of four estate-grown white Rhône varietals - 39% Viognier, 29% Grenache Blanc and 20% Marsanne and 12% Roussanne. 

This release was awarded 90 points by Jeb Dunnuck of The Wine Advocate and Antonio Galloni of Vinous.

Winemaker notes: The wine, like most wines of the Southern Rhône, is a blend of varietals, featuring the floral aromatics and stone fruit of Viognier, the crisp acids and rich mouthfeel of Grenache Blanc, and the structure and minerality of Marsanne and Roussanne.

This was straw colored, medium bodied, creamy notes of citrus, floral, hint of lime and minerality. 

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1906632

 

https://tablascreek.com/ 
 

@TablasCreek

Long Shadows Sequel Syrah 2017

Long Shadows Sequel Syrah 2017 

We just received our Vault Key Club release allocation shipment of Long Shadows Vintners Series which included this Sequel Syrah 2017. We discovered and signed up for this during our Washington Wine Experience when we visited the winery tasting room in Woodinville last fall.
 

We discovered and acquired this wine during our Woodinville, WA wine experience last fall. This is a selection of the Long Shadows Vintners Collection, a portfolio of seven ultra-premium wines showcasing the viticulture of the Washington State Columbia Valley growing region and the artwork and expertise of internationally acclaimed winemakers who crafted them.

Also included in this shipment was our allocation shipment of Long Shadows Vintners Series Saggi Sangiovese Red Blend 2017. 

Long Shadows was founded in 2003 by Washington State wine legend Allen Shoup, former Chairman and CEO of Chateau St Michelle, one of the premiere wine producers in the State. There he evangelized Washington Wines and championed collaboration with notable winemakers from around the world. Upon retiring, he started Long Shadows with a vision to produce the best, art of the possible wines showcasing/featuring the region's grapes, each produced by a world renowned winemaker reputed for producing grapes of that varietal.  Each vintner had access to Washington State's best grapes and a winery to outfitted to accommodate a their exacting cellar specifications. The idea was a resounding success as the wines have received critical acclaim that grown with each vintage. The Long Shadow collection went on to win numerous awards, including recognition as Food & Wine magazine's "Winery of the Year."

The winemaker for Sequal Syrah is notable legendary Shiraz/Syrah winemaker John Duval, best known for his work with Penfolds’ Grange, the gold standard for Australian Shiraz. Few winemakers are as synonymous with the iconic wines of a country as John Duval and this label, arguably the most famous and well known label from Australia. 

John joined Penfolds winery in 1974 after completing his studies in agriculture and winemaking. In 1986 John was appointed Chief Winemaker, following the winemaking greats Max Schubert and Don Ditter. During his time as Chief Winemaker, John helped establish Penfolds as one of the world’s great wine brands.

While his honors and awards are too numerous to list, some of the highlights include the Robert Mondavi Trophy for Winemaker of the Year in 1989 at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in London; two-time recipient of the Red Winemaker of the Year award at the International Wine Challenge in London, first in 1991 and then again in 2000; and Wine Spectator’s “Wine of the Year” award in 1995 for the 1990 vintage of Penfolds Grange.

After 28 years, John stepped down from the company in 2002 to establish John Duval Wines, debuting with the 2003 vintage and producer today of four wines under his John Duval Wines label, all Rhone varietals, a white from Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, and three reds; one a "GSM" (Shiraz, Grenache, and Mourvedre), and two Shiraz'.

In addition to making his own wine, John also has a joint venture project with Ventisquero in the Apalta Valley, Chile. 

In 2003, John traveled to the Washington State Columbia Valley at the invitation of Long Shadows Vintners’ founder Allen Shoup to make his first U.S. wine, Sequel, a name chosen in recognition of his life’s work with Syrah.

Never one to be far from great Shiraz, he currently resides in the Barossa Valley, home to some of Australia’s oldest vines. 

Long Shadow's Vintners Series Sequal 2017 Shiraz is sourced from Yakima Valley's Boushey Vineyard for 1/3 of the fruit, to which the winemaker attributes 'bright and elgant character', one third is from Bacchus Vineyard Syrah, grown on a south-facing block planted in 1993, adds black fruit character and richness, and Red Mountain Syrah adds to the wine's dark, brooding character and backbone. Two thousand eighty five cases were produced. 

According to the producer's, the 2017 vintage was a 'classic' much like the 2012 and 2013, with moderate temperatures and extended hang times which enabled the grapes to achieve full maturity and color. This laid the foundation for vibrant dark fruit characteristics lifted by bright and well balanced acidity.  

Long Shadow's Vintners Series Sequal Shiraz 2017

Winemaker's notes: "Deep and inky color ... aromas and flavors of fresh blueberry, vilet and a hint of cassis. Black olive tapenade and savory spice persist across the mid-palate. Multi-layered an well structured, the wine's refined texture and enticing viscosity lead to a long impressive finish. 

We opened this to try it upon receipt. It was dark inky purple colored, full bodied, bold and concentrated flavors of black raspberry and blue fruits, notes of cassis, spice and what the winemaker called black olive tapenade are apparent, turning to a long flavorful finish. Give it some time to settle and integrate the fruits for more polish and balance.

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=3545970

As of this writing, the 2017 release of Sequel is not yet announced or released to the public on their website. 

https://longshadows.com/

 
  
 

Thanksgiving Feast Features Rhone Wine Flight

Thanksgiving Feast Features Rhone Varietal Blend Wine Flight

Twenty members of immediate family and dear friends gathered for our Thanksgiving feast. . For the occasion we selected a flight of Rhone varietal wines from our cellar and from son Ryan's.

We started with a aged vintage birth year selection celebrating son Alec and partner Viv joining us from NYC, a classic Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Following the protocol of wine tasting, we moved from lighter wines to larger more complex wines. We progressed to more recent vintage Rhone Blend selections from our recent trip to Washington State Walla Walla and Red Mountain AVA, and then moved to a Rhone varietal Blend from Paso Robles.


Domaine de Beaurenard (Paul Coulon et Fils) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Boisrenard 1990

We discovered and acquired this label during our trip to Châteauneuf-du-Pape back in 1998.

Nearing thirty years of age, this is nearing the end of its drinking window but still suitable for such an occasion. This is beginning to lose clarity and taking on an slight opaque tone and the garnet color taking on a sight brownish hue. We still hold three bottles from this case acquired decades ago representing son Alec's birth year, holding them for family occasions.

Consistent with earlier tasting notes, this was medium to full bodied with slight earthiness and leather fronting layers of herbs, black and green pepper that accompany the slightly subdued black cherry and black berry fruits with a hint of spice, moderate lingering tannins.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=30341


https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2017/12/chateau-boisrenard-and-bbq-beef-brisket.html

Progressing in weight and complexity, this GSM Blend (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre) in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape style is from Washington State Red Mountain AVA. We visited the producer Force Majeure during our recent Walla Walla Wine Experience 2018.

Force Majeure Collaboration Series VI Ciel du Cheval Vineyard 2011

We acquired a collection of Force Majeure wines including this vintage after meeting and hosting Force Majeure winemaker Todd Alexander and marketing, distribution and branding exec Carrie Alexander during their Chicago visit last year.  


Bright vibrant, garnet/purple in color full bodied, concentrated complex Blackberry fruits predominate with tangy red berries, tones of pepper and tar, earth and meat, hints of expresso, anise and smoke accented by nicely integrated smooth lingering dusty tannins. Another CT'er rightly noted this 'benefitted with time and warmer than cellar temps'.

RM 92 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/notes.asp?iWine=1788937

The Collaboration Series has ended as Todd has taken over general management and winemaking duties and his handiwork is now coming on line; this historic label was made by James Mantone of Syncline Winery. This is a blend 47% Mourvedre, 42% Syrah and 11% Grenache.

We just received our current release of Force Majeure 'GSM' blend, Parata, that we tasted and acquired during our recent Force Majeure Vineyards and new winery facility site visit and tasting, and were eager to open it and compare but didn't get that far in our consumption. We will look forward to a comparison tasting in the future as we hold several bottles of each.

https://forcemajeurevineyards.com/

We continued in our flight to a bigger, heavier, more concentrated Rhone varietal blend from Paso Robles L'Aventura that Ryan brought from his cellar.

L'Aventure Côte-à-Côte Estate Paso Robles 2011

Ryan brought this Rhone Red bruiser vintage 2011 providing a mini-horizontal tasting aside the Force Majeure.

Another GSM blend, very similar in style and taste but bigger and more concentrated with a whopping 15.8% alcohol content. Amazingly approachable considering the high alcohol content.

This is the handiwork of legendary winemaker Stephan Asseo who has been making wine since 1982. After graduating from L'Ecole Oenologique de Macon, in Burgundy, France, he started his wine career when he established Domaine de Courteillac in Bordeaux, then later purchased Chateau Fleur Cardinal and Chateau Robin in the Cotes de Castillion, Bordeaux. Over the next 15 years he honed his winemaking skills there.

In 1996 he embarked on a year long global search of the world's great wine regions for a great terroir when he "fell in love" with the unique terroir of Paso Robles in Central California in the rolling hills  of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range. There, Stephan began his adventure, "L'Aventure".
 
Bright garnet colored, full bodied, rich, concentrated, firmly structured, complex but nicely balanced and integrated forward fruits of ripe blackberry and red berry fruits accented by menthol, bacon fat, tones of black olive, anise and herbs with firm but well behaved silky tannins on the long finish.

RM 93 points.

This is a blend of 40% Syrah, 38% Mourvedre and 22% Grenache, similar to above but more Syrah and less Grenache.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1578540

http://www.aventurewine.com/

Later after dinner, watching a movie, we opened this big Syrah Blend from Washington State that we discovered and acquired during our Seattle Culinary and Woodinville (Washington) Wine Tour 2018. 

Long Shadows Wineries Sequel Syrah 2015

As chronicled in my recent blogpost on the Long Shadows Vintner's Collection, this is part of the portfolio of premium wines produced by legendary winemakers from around the world who are masters for their artwork with specific varietal wines.  

This Sequel Syrah is crafted by legendary Syrah winemaker John Duval, known for the leading Syrah label from Australia, Penfold's Grange. We hold a OWC (original wood case) of the 1990 Penfold's Grange, commemorating Alec's birth year. That label was Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year for the year 1993. 

Dark inky purple colored, rich, thick concentrated ripe black berry and black raspberry fruits, black pepper, smoked meat, notes of vanilla and caramel. 

RM 93 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2777751

https://www.longshadows.com/

This could likely improve with some further aging as it could benefit from some time to settle and should improve with a couple more years to achieve more balance and harmony as it reaches the apex of its drinking window, which clearly will be another decade or more. With our deep cellar, we'd normally hold a bottle like this for a while before consuming but we tried it now since it is available still at Binny's, our local wine super store so we can go get some more to replace this bottle and stock up some more, (even though we're in the highest level of the Long Shadows wine club and will be receiving some in our shipment allocation; but that will be the next 2016 vintage and we'll want to hold the '15, as it is birthyear of two grandkids, Reid and Jessie.). 

Finally, late in the evening we opened this TBA dessert wine. Viv just returned from an extended trip across Europe that include visits to Budapest and Prague in the Danube River Valley. There they visited several wineries. So, I pulled this Kracher dessert wine from the Burgenland wine region in Eastern Austria which I visited back in the early 2000's.

Alois Kracher Chardonnay TrockenBeeren Auslese (TBA) #7 Nouvelle Vague 2001



We hold more than a dozen labels of Kracher wines from this era. Its fun to watch quality dessert wines mature and change color over time, from straw color, to butter, then weak tea, and progressing darker and darker over time. Note this color of tea at seventeen years of age.

At their most desirable (to my taste preference) these wines are rich, thick, unctuous, and voluptuous with apricot marmalade, mango, toffee/brown sugar, and caramel notes. This may have been there at some point and perhaps passed that stage of its aging profile. If so, then it is time to drink although it will no doubt continue to age gracefully for several more years. But the rich, sweet apricot fruits nectar was gone and has turned more to a smokey charcoal layer over the fruits which were more subdued. Delightful never-the-less.

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=19086

Long Shadows Cellars feature world class winemakers and Columbia Valley fruit

Long Shadows Cellars feature world class winemakers and Columbia Valley fruit

A major highlight of our Seattle Culinary and Washington Wine Tour was a visit to the Long Shadows Wine Cellars tasting room. Long Shadows is an extraordinarily and unique concept in collaboration between world class distinguished wine makers and grape growers in the Washington Columbia Valley. 

Long Shadows was the creation of Allan Shoup, leader of Chateau St Michelle from 1983 to 2000. There he introduced Washington State grapes to winemakers from around the world in collaboration to produce quality wines. 

After retirement from Chateau St Michelle he founded Long Shadows to produce world class ultra-premium wines in Washington. He built a state of the art winery in Walla Walla and recruited a team of legendary producers to craft signature wines from the best vineyards' fruit from the Washington Columbia Valley. Three years into the new venture Long Shadows was awarded the Winery of the Year by Food and Wine Magazine. 

Shoup recruited a top winemaker with expertise and a track record producing best in class wine in each category or type of wine based on varietal grape. Marketed under the Vintners Collection, each of the Long Shadows labels in a testament to the legend of the winemaker for each label based on each varietal. The winemakers and their wine labels are:

Randy Dunn and Feather Cabernet Sauvignon - Randy has been producing Dunn Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon in the Napa Valley for three decades. 

Philip Melka and Augustin Huneeus - Noted for Napa Valley leading wine labels, they produce a Washington State Bordeaux Blend under the label Pirouette. 

Philip was named by Robert Parker as one of the Top Ten Winemaker Consultants in the World. He earned his handicraft at legendary Chateau Haut Brion and has consulted for notable Napa labels including Gemstone, Hundred Acre, Lail, Seavey, Vineyard 29, Bryant Family Vineyards, Caldwell, Cliff Lede, Dalla Valle, and with Augustin at his well known Quintessa.

 

This is the Syrah varietal member of collection and was crafted by legendary John Duval who was winemaker for Australia’s iconic Penfolds Grange for 16 years. John Duval came to Washington State's Columbia Valley in 2003 as the “sequel” to his life’s work with Syrah. 

Saggi is a Super Tuscan style blend produced by Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari, producers from one of Tuscany's leading wine families dating back to the 1700's. 

Pedestal Merlot is a Merlot produced by Michael Rolland, PhD and winemaker for or advisor to some of the world's most exclusive wineries across Bordeaux including top producers Clinet, l'Evangile, and Ausone in St Emilion and Pomerol.

Rolland's has been involved in notable projects outside of Bordeaux including some of the highly regarded Napa Valley wineries including Dalla Valle Vineyards, Jericho Canyon Vineyard, Harlan Estate, Staglin Family Vineyard, and Bryant Estate. 

Lastly, Chester Kidder, a new world blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and other Bordeaux varietals. Named after Allan Shoup's grandparents, Charles Chester and Maggie Kidder, this wine is crafted by Long Shadow's director of winemaking Gilles Nicault. Gilles is also the winemaker for the Den Hoed wine label that we tasted during this trip with one of our culinary gourmet meals.

We've known the Long Shadows brand and have collected the Pirouette and Feather labels since the earliest vintages. We're long time fans of both Randy Dunn and Phillip Melka, producer of those labels. We hold more than a dozen vintages of Randy Dunn's Napa Valley and Howell Mountain Cabernets dating back to the early 1980's. We hold nearly a dozen vintages of Philip Melka wines marketed under numerous labels. 

The tasting at Long Shadows of the most recent releases prompted us to join their highest participating level club to ensure allocation of each vintage of each of these labels going forward. 

Long Shadows Vintners Collection

Julia’s Dazzle Rose’ 2017

Long Shadows Wineries Riesling Poet's Leap 2017

Pedestal Columbia Valley Merlot 2015 by Michel Rolland
Blended w/ Cabernet sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot

Feather Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 by Randy Dunn

Pirouette Bordeaux Blend 2015 by Augustin Hunneeus, Sr and Philippe Melka
Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 21%, Petit Verdot 11%, Malbec 3%

Chester Kidder Columbia Valley Red Wine Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 by Gilles Nicault
Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot

Sequel Columbia Valley Syrah 2015 By John Duvall, renowned winemaker for Penfolds Grange

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