Premium Napa Reds for Family Birthday Celebration

Premium Napa Reds for Family Birthday Celebration 

 Son Ryan and Michelle hosted the family for daughter/grand-daughter Mackenizie’s birthday. Ryan pulled from his cellar a flight of premium wines for the occasion.

Before dinner, they served a selection of artisan cheeses: Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue, Italian triple milk soft cheese, and 1yr aged El Trigo DOP Manchego Sheep’s Mile from Toledo, Spain.

Rogue Creamery Oregon Blue, La Tur Italian triple milk soft ripened cheese,  1yr aged El Trigo DOP Manchego Sheep’s Mile from Toledo, Spain.

Caseificio dell'Alta Langa, from the village of Bosia, in the heart of Alta Langa, a short distance from Alba, Barolo and Barbaresco. Family run since 1881, continuing the work of their grandparents passed down from generation to generation the ancient practice of local shepherds in the production of cheeses based on mixed or goat's milk. 

Ryan pulled from his cellar this wine flight - ‘08 Pierre Moncuit BtB Champaigne, 2012 Kapcsandy Yountville Cabernet, and 2013 Cliff Lede SLD Cabernet. I brought from our home cellar a 2003 vintage Integrity Shiraz by Marquis Philips. 

Pierre Moncuit Blanc de Blancs Brut Grand Cru Champagne 2008

This is from the Grand Cru village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger in the Côte des Blancs. The hamlet, one of the world’s best sites for Chardonnay with its ideal great terroir, old vines, and learned winemakers, is also home to other notable producers such as Krug, Salon, Pierre Péters and Selosse. 

The estate is run by the mother and daughter team Nicole and Valérie Moncuit. Except for a Rose’, all their labels they produce are single vintage, single estate sourced wines that represent the terroir of the village. The 2008 vintage was one of the best in this century.

The 2008 Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru was given extended time on the lees for more than ten years resulting in added complexity that developed in bottle and was disgorged in November 2020. 

It has all the racy, laser sharp acidity of the vintage, and the delicate richness we can attribute to élévage — the wine ferments in stainless steel, to preserve fruit purity, and is allowed to undergo malolactic fermentation, converting crisp, apple-y malic acid into rounder, softer lactic. There’s no oak aging, but this latest shipment of the wine spent nearly 15 years aging in the bottle, a time during which flavors meld and become something rich, toasty and deeply mineral.

Any sharp edges this wine may have had on release have softened and relaxed, leaving a complex wine with great depth. And while some 2008 vintage Champagnes (ahem, Krug, Cristal) are selling for hundreds of dollars, Moncuit’s is available for much less.

Reseller’s notes - Baked apple tart, spice, apricot, orange peel, spice, hazelnut and coffee are some of the many aromas and flavors that shape this wonderfully complex Champagne from Moncuit. 

Antonio Galloni of Vinous gave this 94 points.

“Moncuit's Extra Brut …shows a different facet of its personality in this version, with lower dosage vis-à-vis the Brut version. Here the flavors are brighter and more sculpted throughout. Hints of toastiness, almond and tangerine oil add an exotic flair that makes the Extra Brut absolutely beguiling. Lower dosage seems to exalt the minerality and bright acids of the year, while pushing the fruit a bit into the background. Both Brut and Extra Brut bottlings are terrific; choosing among them comes down to personal preference. 94 points” Antonio Galloni, Vinous.

Kapcsandy Estate Yountville State Lane Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

Ryan served from his cellar, a large format magnum, this 100 point ‘perfect’ wine (Robert M. Parker, Jr.) is from Kapcsándy (pronounced "Cup-chon-dy") Family Vineyard in Yountville, central Napa Valley, a father-son team of Lou and Louis Kapcsándy. 

Lou Kapcsándy emigrated to the U.S. from Hungary in 1956 and had a successful career in chemical engineering and manufacturing in the San Francisco Bay Area, then in Seattle. 

In 1998, Lou and his wife, Bobbie visited Bordeaux and the centuries-old estate, Leoville-Las Cases where they were inspired to retire in California and create a wine-based business in partnership with their son, Louis, Jr. There vision and goal was to produce wines of “First Growth” quality that could rival any region or winery in the world.

After a three month search they discovered the 20-acre parcel in Yountville, one the original crown jewels of Beringer Estates Private Reserve Cabernet, and acquiring the property in May 2000. They set upon a rigorous plan to redevelop the property including replanting the vineyard.

In 2002, the Kapcsándys completely replanted the vineyard site to 15 specific blocks, primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, and constructed a state-of-the-art winery in September 2005.  

Son Louis, born in Marin County, California and raised in Seattle attended the University of Washington where he played varsity football and gained a degree in economics. After graduation, he worked in Los Angeles in feature-film post-production.

Louis Jr. began his wine career in 1999 when he co-founded Grand Cru Imports LLC with his father, specializing in Bordeaux Cru Classé and Petits Chateaux wines. He moved to Bordeaux to learn the intricacies of the Place de Bordeaux (a network of chateau owners, agents, and merchants) working for negociant firm Maison Joanne.

While at Maison Joanne, Louis visited more than 100 chateaux and learned fermentation methods, then apprenticed at Jean Luc & Murielle Thunevin of Ch. Valandraud (St. Emilion). During this time, he learned both classic and cutting-edge winemaking techniques from Alain Vauthier (Ch. Ausone) and Peter Sisseck (Pingus, Ribera del Duero).

Louis (Jr) returned in 2002 to co-found Kapcsándy Family Vineyard with his father. Today, he is intimately involved in all vineyard and winemaking decisions.

In the early days, and for this release, Denis Malbec was the consulting Winemaker for Kapcsandy Family Winery. Denis was born at Latour, where he learned winemaking and vineyard management early on with his father, Jean-Noel Malbec who worked at Château Latour from 1947 to 1994, and his grandfather, Camille Malbec who worked in the vineyard from the 1920s until the late 1970s.

Denis initially studied viticulture and enology in Bordeaux and later in Reims, Champagne. He completed his studies with a “Tour de France” of the vineyards with work at Château Haut-Brion, Château Lagrange, the Pugnac Cooperative in Côte de Bourg, Léon Viollant, owner and wine merchant in Côte de Beaune, Duval Leroy, in the Côte des Blancs in Champagne and at Calvet, negociant in Bordeaux.

Denis started at Château Latour as one of the cellar workers in 1993 and took the position as enologist and winemaker at Château Latour in 1994 until 1999.

Denis and his wife moved to the United States in 2000, setting up base in St. Helena, working for such clients over the years as Charles Krug, Kapcsandy Wines, Respite Wines, Sodaro Estate and Medlock Ames. They also made Aliénor.

Denis worked with Kapcsandy Family from 2005 until he was tragically killed in a car accident in Yountville in 2016.

Today, winemaking duties are managed by the collaboration of consulting winemaker Tony Arcadia and Cellar Master David Sotelo. 

Tony left his well-established career in tech and engineering to follow his passion for wine after 20 years working as an engineer aboard Navy submarines and then IBM. 

He graduated from UC Davis’s oenological program and trained in France at Rhône-based Maison M. Chapoutier. Returning to the Napa Valley, he served as assistant winemaker at Nickel & Nickel in Oakville. 

In 2009, Tony joined up with renowned winemaker Heidi Peterson Barrett collaborating making wine together.

Tony’s addition to the winemaking team followed a career path parallel to Kapcsándys, from engineering background and training in France to pursue desire to cultivate vineyard-designated wines.

David Sotelo began his career in the wine industry Napa Wine Company, where he worked for 11 years before joining the Kapcsándy Family Winery team. He fondly recalls his first harvest at Kapcsándy in 2005 and the excitement of their first 100-point score from Robert Parker, Jr. for the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon-Grand Vin.

This 2012 Grand Vin Kapcsàndy release is a single vineyard designated label sourced, 100% from the State Lane Vineyard in Yountville, composed of 99% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Merlot. The wine was aged for 20 months in new French oak barrels.

This release was awarded 100 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 99 points by Int'l Wine Review, 98 by Vinous, and 97 by Antonio Galloni.

All the pundits are consistent that this wine should last several more decades at the apex of its drinking profile. 

If you’ve been fortunate to taste a 100 point ‘perfect’ wine, you might be in for a surprise … they’re not a blockbuster that knocks you over with big forward fruits, or some other highlight, rather, they’re remarkable for their lack of excessive notes, and are flawless, and seamless in their polished harmonic integration.

Dark garnet colored, medium to full bodied, complex, rich, plush polished, a symphony of ripe black currant and raspberry fruits with floral violet, cinnamon spice, graphite and hints of black olive and cedar notes on a smooth silky tannin laced lingering finish. 

RM 94 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2061913

https://www.kapcsandywines.com/

https://x.com/Kapcsandy

Cliff Lede Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 

This is the standard Estate bottled Cabernet Sauvignon with fruit sourced from the hillside terraces of the Poetry Vineyard down the road and across the Silverado Trail from the winery, from the Twin Peaks Vineyard estate surrounding the winery, and a few neighboring vineyards in the Stags Leap District.

Notably, this is just across and down the road from Kapcsàndy Family Winery and vineyards of the label above. 

One of our favorites and mainstays of both Ryan's and my cellars, the Cliff Lede Stags Leap property is just down and across the road from Kapcsàndy property geographically. We’ve visited the estate several times during our Napa Valley visits and held several private tastings/tours there. 

This is a consistent crowd pleaser from vintage to vintage. We hold about a half dozen vintages of this label and they seem to hit their stride and be in their peak after a decade of cellaring. 

The wine is composed of small lots from Lede estate vineyard best blocks, representing a diverse range of carefully selected clones and rootstocks. From Poetry’s exposed, rocky terraces that are volcanic in origin, to the ancient riverbed alluvial soils of Twin Peaks, the breadth of contributing sites translates into a wine of impressive complexity.

Robert Parker gave this release 93 points. 

Producers’ Production Notes - “Hand harvested throughout the night, the fruit was immediately subjected to rigorous selection by our three-tiered sorting process, including our cutting edge optical sorter, with a goal of retaining only perfect berries. The selected fruit was gently delivered to specially-designed truncated tanks via gravity by our crane system, minimizing disruption of berry integrity. Cold soaks lasted approximately five days, and fermentations were managed by a combination of délestage and pumpovers. Extended maceration ranging from four to five weeks fine-tuned tannin profiles, allowing us to build mouth feel and wine complexity. The wine was aged in French oak barrels, 50% of which were new, for twenty-one months.”

Winemaker Notes - “Inky purple with blood-red tinged edges, the elegant and seamless 2013 Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon's multilayered perfume fills the glass with notes of violets, lavender, and spring flowers. Intertwined with the floral notes are heady layers of plum, blackberry, and red currents. Silky, unctuous flavors of smoked cardamom, cinnamon, and black licorice lay out on the palate and finish with the taste and texture of liquefied rocks.”

Dark garnet and dense purple in color, full bodied, bright vibrant black berry and black currant fruits with tones of anise, hints of cinnamon spice and oak with firm but smooth tannins on a lingering finish.

RM 91 points. This got 93 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and 91 points from Vinous

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2394746

http://www.cliffledevineyards.com/

I brought from our home cellar this limited release premium label from Marquis Philips, predecessor to the widely popular Mollydooker brand. 

Marquis Philips Integrity Shiraz 2003 

We loved the Marquis Philips portfolio of wines and wrote about them extensively in these pages, and of course, today they’re the widely popular Mollydooker brand.

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/02/mollydooker-scooter-merlot.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2024/12/blue-eyed-boy-mclaren-vale-shiraz-2020.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2014/02/mollydooker-carnival-of-love-shiraz-2011.html

Marquis Philips was formed as a collaboration between the U.S. importer Dan Philips and Sparky and Sarah Marquis, highly-regarded Australian winemakers who brought Fox Creek to cult fame. They had a falling out between the founders in late 2005 and the Marquis started their own label, Mollydooker. (Marquis Philips wines made since about 2005 were overseen by Chris Ringland, another legendary Australian winemaker.)

While Marquis Philips wines were known for their eye-catching, often provocative labels such as the ‘roogle’, a cross between an eagle and kangaroo - representing the Aussie, American partnership. Mollydooker went on to create their own portfolio is whimsical eye-catching labels. 

Robert Parker wrote - Perhaps another way to think of these wines is that they are XXX-rated stuff. They’re not exactly wines for those wanting finesse, lightness, restraint, or intellectual challenge. These are totally decadent homages to joy and yumminess. Or. As a friend of mine said, they are ‘fragrantly delicious.'"

Because of Marquis Philips’ tumultuous history, the affordable wines are highly sought-after and difficult to obtain in the current market. We acquired a couple vintages of this, their ultra-premium flagship label at auction. This was our last bottle, I was saving for a special occasion.

Of course, the saga continues and becomes more interesting. The turmoil in the house of Philips continued as Sarah and Sparky then had a falling out of their own, and winemaker Sarah bought out Sparky. Sparky it turns out was a friend of my Australian employee representative when I was still running a software company! I had plans to visit Aussie wine country and meet Sparky, then Covid, and I never made the trip. 

Marquis Philips "Integrity" Shiraz McLaren Vale South Australia 2003 

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/02/mollydooker-scooter-merlot.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2024/12/blue-eyed-boy-mclaren-vale-shiraz-2020.html

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2014/02/mollydooker-carnival-of-love-shiraz-2011.html

Notably, we drank an earlier vintage release of this label at another special occasion - taking it to a highly acclaimed restaurant BYOB for our anniversary celebration dinner five years ago - as covered in this blogpost - Goosefoot Chicago Anniversary Celebration Dinner, excerpted below.

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2019/08/goosefoot-chicago-anniversary.html

Marquis Philips 'Integrity' Mclaren Vale Shiraz 2001

This is the premium release from Marquis Philips, precursor to Mollydooker. and their Velvet Glove premium label. We acquired this at auction a decade ago ... packaged in special gift box - awaiting a suitable occasion for gifting or serving ... OTBN - Open That Bottle toNight! 

This (2001) got over-the-top 99 and 97 point ratings from Parker who called it 'virtually perfect'. 

Back in the day, winemaker and producers Sarah and Sparky Marquis considered this the finest they had ever produced. 

We hold a couple dozen bottles of their wines dating back two decades. 

Ironically, we hosted Aussie colleague Peter F this weekend in Chicago and it turns out he is a personal friend of Sparky back in Adelaide South Central Australia! 

That Integrity packed a walloping 16.2% alcohol but didn't come across as the least bit overpowering. Parker cited the anticipated maturity out to 2020 so it was supposedly still at but nearing the end of its apex. 

Similar to and consistent with that earlier release … 

Inky dark garnet purple color, full bodied, big rich concentrated and multi-dimensional, but not as big, forward or unctuously rich as some that we have had, the fruit was also a bit more subdued than expected, black berry fruits accented by white floral, cassis, leather, tobacco, tea and hints of vanilla with fine smooth silky tannins on a long finish. Perhaps the fruit has subsided over the almost two decades. 

At the time I gave the 2001 RM 93 points, tonight I give the 2003 92 points. 

The 2001 release … https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=738 

Ths 2003 release … https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=70707

https://mollydookerwines.com.au/

https://twitter.com/MollydookerWine

https://twitter.com/unwindwine

Robert Parker writings about Marquis Philips …

“Marquis Philips is the most exciting wine project to emerge from Australia, and perhaps the New World, in the last year. Run, don't walk to a client of The Grateful Palate and secure as much as you can of these wines. This must be the most exciting development that has occurred in the Southern Hemisphere over the last several years. Marquis Philips is a partnership between highly talented winemakers Sarah and Sparky Marquis and their American importer, Dan Philips (of The Grateful Palate). I favorably reviewed the stunning debut values of the Marquis Philips range in the 2000 vintage. Remarkably, the 2001s are even more amazing, and probably for the price, the greatest red wine values in existence ... anywhere! Robert Parker, Wine Advocate #143 (Oct 2002”

Robert Parker 93 - “The flagship offering, the 2003 Shiraz Integrity, is a slightly down-sized version of the massive 2002 and 2001. Nevertheless, it is an amazing, modern-styled wine. It boasts a dense purple color, a big, sweet nose of chocolate, espresso roast, blackberries, creme de cassis, Asian spices, and new saddle leather, full body, an opulent texture, and tremendous length. Drink this seductive, rich Shiraz over the next decade.”

“The highly respected South Australian viticulturists/winemakers, Sarah and Sparky Marquis, in partnership with their importer, Dan Philips of the Grateful Palate, successfully launched the inexpensive line of Marquis Philips wines several years ago, creating something of a monster because of their enormous crowd appeal. While 2003 is a lighter vintage than its predecessors, these offerings have turned out nicely. The handful of consumers who deemed 2002 too concentrated for such inexpensive wines will be delighted to learn that the 2003s are slightly lighter, but still loaded with character as well as flavor. They possess heavy duty, exuberant fruit, ripeness, and considerable personality.”
94 - Wine AdvocateReview Date: 02/2013

Pizza and Fleury Napa Cab Hawaiian Sunset

Pizza and Fleury Napa Cab Hawaiian Sunset

Another night in paradise, the family gathered on the lawn to watch the Hawaiian sunset with pizza and a bottle of fine wine. Somewhat of a son Ryan’s family tradition, on their last night at the south island resort, they watched the sunset together on the lawn with pizza dinner. 

Ryan brought from his home cellar this bottle of ultra-premium Napa Valley Cabernet. 

Fleury Estate Winery Howell Mtn Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Ryan obtained this rare highly allocated label as a member of the Fleury wine club and has amassed a vertical and horizontal collection of their various labels. We first met Brian and Claudia Fleury at a Del Dotto event in their earliest days when they were just starting Fleury Estate back in 2000.

The Fleury Estate lies just south of St. Helena in Rutherford with a tasting room, winemaking facilities and a 11 acre estate vineyard. Fleury Estate Winery also owns 50 acres of premium vineyard land in the key locations of Napa Valley with vineyards in different appellations and elevations which enables them to craft consistent, high quality Napa Valley wines year after year. 

I featured Brian and Claudia Fleury and their Fleury Napa Valley estate wines in thess pages back in 2018 in the blogpost Fleury Estate Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Duo. I wrote about when we first met Brian and Claudia Fleury at a Del Dotto Estate Winery event (see below) back in 2002. From that meeting we acquired some Fleury Estate Lauren Bryce Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from what I believe was their inaugural vintage release. How surprising then and what fun to hear son Ryan speaking of this wine and about he and some of his buddy's acquiring some of the highly allocated select wine for their cellars. Fleury Estate Napa Cab is a favorite of him and several of his colleagues who have extensive collections of numerous releases of this label.

Fleury Estate Winery owns 50 acres of premium vineyard land in different appellations and elevations that they note allow them to "craft consistent, high quality Napa Valley wines year after year". Their primary Fleury Estate Vineyard located in the heart of Napa Valley just south of St. Helena in Rutherford, is also home to the Fleury tasting room, winemaking facilities and 11 acre estate vineyard.

They also own and manage 30 acres in the St Helena Vineyard, and six acre Howell Mountain Vineyard high up in Deerpark.

Their vineyards are planted to all the Bordeaux Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot and Malbec.

Dark garnet inky purple colored, full bodied, dense, concentrated yet elegant and refined, tongue coating blackberry and hints of blueberry fruits, notes of cassis, black tea, cedar and graphite with tangy acidity and velvety smooth tannins on a long lasting finish. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?2519948

https://www.fleurywinery.com/

Sesta di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese

Sesta di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese with tangy homemade spaghetti

With Linda’s homemade spaghetti and tangy marinara bolognese sauce, I pulled from the cellar a premium Brunello di Montalcino for a wine accompaniment. Readers of these pages know this wine has become one of our favorite ‘go-to’ wines, especially for this particular food-wine pairing.  I’ve written in several of those posts what makes Brunello di Montalcino special. 

This is from the Spina family who in 1980 acquired the 110 acre estate Sesta di Sopra in Abate, located southwest of Montalcino and about four kilometers from Castelnuovo dell. 

Sesta di Sopra is located in an area ideally suited for viticulture, situated near the river Orcia, the calcareous soil and the microclimate are favourable for the vines to thrive. 

They set upon to renovate the property, first the main house, an old lookout tower, amidst a six acre area covered with olive trees. Vines were first planted on six adjoining acres and beyond in the  vineyards located in the upper part of the Sesta zone. 

Ettore Spina took great care planting and operating the vineyards according to the latest viticulture practices. The total of fifteen acres of vineyards were planted in the early 1990s with different clones of the Sangiovese grosso variety. The first vintage of aristocratic wine was pressed in 1999. While not highly productive, they produced very high-quality grapes reflecting their terroir.

In the planting and viticulture management, as well as the production of Brunello and Rosso, Ettore Spina was aided by the professional advice of his good friend Giancarlo Pacenti, until recently Vice President of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino. Today, owner Enrica Bandirola is assisted by Oenologist  Giancarlo Pacenti.

Over the next decade, Sesta di Sopra, while small and little-known became a leading Brunello producer who Vilnius says rates among the best. 

After they have been harvested, the grapes are placed in crates to protect them from damage. Arrived at the tiny winery, the grapes are fermented in temperature-controlled steel tanks according to traditional methods. The Brunello is aged in traditional Slavonian oak barrels with a capacity of 30 hectolitres. The Rosso is matured in French oak barrels.

The branding features labels with an Ethhruscan symbol of the sun found on the farm, a trademark along with the name of the country estate dating back to the 13th century. 

Sesta di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese 2013

This release was rated 95 points by Vinpous and Wine Enthusiast, 94 by James Suckling, and 93 by Wine Spectator. 

Annual production is approximately 7,000 bottles. 

Deep garnet red colored, medium full bodied, dense by refined and elegant, plum, raspberry and black cherry fruits with notes of licorice, leather, tobacco leaf, spice and hints of tar with firm but approachable tannins on the lingering spicy, underbrush aftertaste. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2129586

https://www.sestadisopra.it/

Bedrock Heritage Sonoma County Red with Gia Mia Pizzas

Bedrock Heritage Sonoma County Red Blend with Gia Mia Pizzas

Monday night is pizza night with special pricing at Gia Mia Restaurant in Naperville with their Southern Italian Neapolitan wood fired pizza, so we ordered individual personal pizzas. To pair with the pizza I pulled from the cellar a hearty robust fruit filled Big Red Blend ‘pizza wine’. 

My personal favorite GiaMia pizza is The Bruno - tomato sauce, basil, mozzarella, Italian sausage and meatballs, pepperoni and spicy soppressato (which I usually exclude) (shown right), and Linda’s is their Margarita - tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, EVOO and parmesan with sea salt.  She typically enhances her’s with additional garden fresh basil and cheeses.

For a ‘pizza wine’ we opened a robust American Zinfandel based red blend. I recently picked up the latest release of this label at Binny’s Beverage Depot, our wine superstore, which served to replace this vintage of the label from a decade ago. As part of cellar inventory management, we opened the oldest vintage in our collection.

Bedrock Wine Company "Bedrock Vineyard - Heritage Wine" Sonoma Valley Red Blend 2013 

This is from Morgan Twain Peterson, son of Joel Peterson of Ravenswood Vineyards, a well known accomplished producer known for Zinfandel wines. 

Morgan grew up working harvests at the family Ravenswood winery before moving to Australia in 2005 where he worked Hardy’s facility of Tintara and with Drew Noon at Noon Wine Cellars. He then moved to Bordeaux for a time at Chateau Lynch Bages. 

Returning home, Morgan founded Bedrock Wine Co. in 2007, on the outskirts of  Sonoma, sourcing fruit from his family’s Bedrock Vineyard and Teldeschi Ranch, following in subsequent years with several other vineyards.

His Bedrock wines have been featured in the New York Times, L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. The wines have made Wine Spectator’s Top 100 List four times placing as high as number 9 and have received a score of 90 points or higher from them over a hundred times. 

In 2014, Morgan, alongside friend Tegan Passalacqua, was named the San Francisco Chronicle Co-Winemaker of the Year by Jon Bonné. 

In 2017, Morgan became a Master of Wine, making him one of a handful of winemakers in the United States to gain the heralded certification. 

In 2020, Bedrock was named Winery of the Year by Antonio Galloni.

Morgan produces a portfolio of interesting unique wines crafted from old vine sites throughout California. 

The range of wines incorporate extremely old vine fruit, and, in some cases, virtually unknown grapes, such as Aubun, Teredalgo, Trousseau Noir, Le Noir, Mission, Trousseau Gris, Grand Noir and Abouriou, as well as Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Grenache, Carignan, Alicante Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Tempranillo. 

Many of these sites are heritage terroirs from the ancient past which, until Peterson's arrival, were largely ignored or were co-mingled into some innocuous industrial blend, hence the “Heritage” label in their branding. 

The vineyards were often planted in a "field blend" of which Zinfandel comprises a large portion, but sometimes not as much as the 75% required to label the wine for the varietal. Morgan typically choses to include all 22 varietals into his estate field blend, often taking the extra effort to specifically identify all 22 cultivars selected from the historic 120-year-old Bedrock vineyard. 

On the other hand, Ravenswood notable Zinfandel labels, such as the select bottling from their Old Hill vineyard, have to be picked with great care to select 75% Zinfandel grapes for the bottlings that will be varietal designated labels. 

The 2013 Bedrock Heritage comes from the Peterson family’s estate old vines that were planted as far back as between 1888 and 1895. Amazingly, there are over 22 different varieties of grapes interplanted across their vineyards.

It is labeled a ‘field blend’, containing just about every variety out there, sourced from Bedrock estate vineyards, since it only contains 55% Zinfandel, then 30% Carignane, with the remaining 15% composed of the other 20 varietals. 

Vinous says “The 2013 Bedrock Heritage Wine is one of the most intriguing wines in the range. This is by far the most polished and refined wine I have tasted from the Bedrock Vineyard, where the wines have often been much riper and bigger.“

Somehow, the winemaker manages to avoid the disjointed cacophony of flavors from such a complex and diverse blend, producing a wine that is balanced and approachable for pleasant drinking. 

Zinfandel is known to be America’s varietal grape that is uniquely American. Its big full round robust profile is ideally suited for hearty bbq or pizza so I like to keep a collection of such wines for occasions such as this. 

There were just nine barrels or 750 cases of this wine produced. 

This release was awarded 93-95 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 94 points by Vinous, 93 points from Jeb Dunnuck, and 91 points from Wine Spectator.

Dark ruby/purple colored, full bodied, complex, firmly structured, broad, intense and expansive with dense blackberry, plum and black raspberries, accented by herbs, pepper and notes of smoke, cedar, and tobacco with firm tannins on the finish. 

RM 90 points.  

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?1891673

https://www.bedrockwineco.com/

Calera Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir

Calera Mount Harlan Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir with Cheese, Berries and Chocolates

Following our selection of Pinot Noirs tasted over the last week and a half, we continued the hit parade with another Pinot from another favorite producer and label from our cellar collection.

As featured in these pages, we had the Belle Glos Clark & Telephone Pinot Noir at the Beach Walk Café, Henderson Park Inn, in Destin FL, then the Belle Glos Las Alturas Pinot Noir at Firefly Grill Effingham, IL, then the Belle Glos RRV Dairyman Vineyard Pinot Noir upon our return home. 

So, tonight I was eager to try another Pinot from our cellar collection to continue the comparison tastings of select Pinot Noirs. As I wrote in the earlier posts, in the midst of summer, its was a nice departure from the big bold hearty Syrah's/Shiraz's we enjoy, and the robust Bordeaux varietals to the finer, more refined, less bold and burdensome Pinot Noirs. Each of these tastings were delightful and frankly, exceeded our expectations for a ideal accompaniment to our various entrees. 

 For casual sipping and pairing with food, we started with a cheese plate with assorted crackers, fresh berries, honey and chocolate. 

Linda then prepared an imaginative cheese bread baked with fresh berry compote and fresh blueberries. The combination with the paired Pinot Noir was spectacular for an extraordinary, fabulous food and wine tasting experience.

I write often in the pages about the importance of pairing the food and wine, and how it can often multiply the enjoyment of both when done properly. 

Calera Mt. Harlan Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir 2013

With a single designated Vineyard bearing the name of our eldest son, we typically reserve this wine for a family gathering or tasting when he is with us. But, tonight's tasting was special considering the odyssey we've been on the last two weeks, with the multitude of wine and food pairings. And this is a special signature wine we collect in light it being our son's namesake vineyard.

I love telling the story about the discovery of this producer and wine. 

As featured in earlier posts in these pages:

The Calera story was chronicled in the book, "The Heart Break Grape" back in the early nineties, about the challenges and turmoils of growing the finicky grape varietal Pinot Noir. Producer Josh Jensen pioneered growing Pinot in the 'new world' starting with his search of the perfect place to grow his grapes. During college he took time off to work in the cellars in the great domaines of Burgundy and then came back to his home state California to apply what he had learned. At the time, prevailing view was that Pinot Noir could not be grown successfully in California. He set out to prove that notion wrong.

He started with the search for the perfect place starting with limestone soil, and other elements of terroir to produce wines in the style of the greatest Pinots, the Burgundy wines of France. Josh Jensen's winemaker mentors in Burgundy emphasized the importance of limestone-rich soils, as present in the Côtes d’Or, to make great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay based wines. 

He returned from France in 1971 and spent two years searching throughout California to find suitable limestone soils. He settled on the site of an old magnificently preserved 30 foot tall masonry limekiln in the Gavilan Mountains of Central California, purchasing the site in 1974, a high-elevation parcel with a limestone deposit of several million tons. Limestone had been commercially quarried there on the Jensen Mt. Harlan property a hundred years earlier. 

To this day, the kiln on the site is the centerpiece of Calera branding, featured prominently on the lables, the name “Calera” being the Spanish world for “limekiln,”

Mt Harlan is near the town of Hollister, about ninety miles south of San Fransisco, twenty five miles inland from Monterey Bay on the Pacific Coast. Mt Harlan gained the distinction of its own AVA (American Viticultural Area) in 1990, in response to the petition to the Department of the Treasury Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau by Josh Jensen and the Calera Wine Company, the only commercial winery in the appellation. The appellation, the legally defined and protected geographical boundaries, also stipulates what grapes may be grown, maximum grape yields, alcohol level, and other quality factors that apply before the appellation name may legally appear on a wine bottle label. The Mt Harlan AVA is 7700 acres of which just 100 are planted in vines.

Josh planted his first 24 acres of pinot noir in 1975 in three separate parcels. In the Burgundian tradition, he named each parcel individually to recognize the terroir of each, that each would produce a distinct wine. The original vineyard designations remain to this day, the Selleck Vineyard (5 acres), Reed Vineyard (5 acres), and Jensen Vineyard (14 acres). These vineyards produced their initial tiny crop in 1978. The Ryan Vineyards, named after Jim Ryan, longtime vineyard manager were added later.  (Upper - 9.4 acres and Lower – 3.7 acres)

 Josh made Calera's first wine in 1975, 1000 cases of zinfandel, produced from purchased grapes. During his first two years as a winemaker, he made the Calera wines in a rented space in a larger nearby winery.  

Josh purchased property to build the winery in 1977, a 100 acre site on Cienega Road halfway between the vineyard and the town of Hollister. Located 1000 feet lower in elevation than the vineyard, this property had the benefits of development improvements such as a paved road,  telephone and electrical service (services which still to this day are unavailable on Mt. Harlan).

Three decades later, Calera have earned the distinction of the pioneer of American Pinot Noir. The legendary wine critic Robert Parker  has stated that: "Calera is one of the most compelling Pinot Noir specialists of not only the New World, but of Planet Earth."  

We first discovered Calera in the eighties, exploring wines from those earliest vintages. Decades later, we enjoy collecting Calera wines from the Ryan and Reed vineyards, as somewhat namesake signature wines for Son Ryan and his Reid. 

The Calera vineyards are enumerated and featured on the rear bottle label of the bottles as shown here. They are perhaps the most comprehensive and informative labels one will find anywhere on a bottle of wine. They spell out the information on the vineyard, geography, altitude, plantings, vines, the vintage and the bottling. The rear label itself makes for interesting reading, and insightful comparisons across the vineyards or vintages if one happens to have such bottles.

The Calera branding features the historic massive 30 foot tall limestone kiln that sits on the property from earlier days quarrying and processing limestone. Noting limestone in the soils of the legendary French Burgundy region, Jenson scoured the US seeking similar terroir to site his vineyards to produce Pinot Noir. He found such terroir and thoughtfully chose the property in the Central Coast region of California. The name Calera translates to 'limekiln' in in Spanish.

 So it was that we pick up releases of Calera Ryan Vineyard Pinot Noir whenever we can, and selected one for our intimate tasting this evening. 

This may be the best release of this label I have tasted, being by far the most vibrant and expressive forward fruits I can remember.

This is not a wimpy wine but powerful, yet smooth and polished, a symphony of concentrated dark berry fruit flavors with layers of black raspberry, black cherry, hints of cranberry, graphite and tones of tobacco leaf, spices of thyme, bay leaf and floral violets with a long lingering tightly wound fine grained tannins on the finish.

RM 92 points

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and Vinous both gave this 95 points Vinous; Wine Enthusiast gave it 92 points and a Cellar Selection

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2041534

http://www.calerawine.com/

The Heartbreak Grape,  A California Winemakers Search for the Perfect Pinot Noir by Marc de Villiers, 1994, Harper Collins

Calera’s Mt. Harlan Vineyards are located in the Gavilan Mountains 25 miles east of the Monterey Bay. The site was chosen for its limestone soils and ideal climate. At an average elevation of 2,200 feet it is among the highest and coolest vineyard sites in California. 

 

Winemaker Notes -Wafting aromas of bright strawberry and blueberry interweave with a deep, intense, earthy, enchanting palate of black cherry, sassafras and limestone minerality. This wine is big and taut and begs for bold cuisine. The generous tannins are firm yet smooth and continue into a provocative and long finish.

 

Production Notes - In 2013 we saw decreasing yields due to the second year of a drought with only 6.5 inches of rain for the entire season. Warm spring temperatures brought on an early bud break, but fortunately remained warm with no threats of frost. The summer months were fairly mild with abundant sunshine allowing us to pick the grapes with high acid and mature flavors. We picked the Ryan vineyard in three separate passes from September 4th to September 21st. Each lot was pressed 14 days after harvest, racked by gravity to French oak barrels, then aged without racking in those barrels, 30% new, for nineteen months. The lots were then combined and the resultant wine was bottled without filtration, as always.

Beau Vigne Napa Valley Proprietary Red

Beau Vigne Napa Valley Proprietary Red for elegant refined casual sipping on holiday

For our getway week at our Destiny East Cove vacation rental in Destin, FL, we took several wines from our cellar, along with some artisan cheeses, to enjoy during our week away including this Beau Vigne Napa Valley Proprietary Red.

We acquired this wine directly from the producer as it is not available in distribution in our hometown Chicagoland marketplace. It is available, however at Total Wine the super merchant stores on the east coast from Florida, including the nearest store in Pensacola, to Connecticut, as well as various Midwest cities including Indianapolis.

While best enjoyed with a grilled beefsteak, this was fabulous casual sipping with a selection of artisan cheeses. 

We first wrote about this wine when we received our shipment from the producer last fall in this featured blogpost - Beau Vigne Reserve Proprietary Red Wine.

Beau Vigne Reserve Proprietary Red Wine 2013

This producer first caught my attention when buddy Bob brought it to our Pour Boys OTBN - "Open-That-Bottle-Night" 2022 in Charleston and I pegged it as WOTN - Wine of the Night, my personal favorite. Bob picked up the bottle at his local Total Wine beverage superstore in Boca Raton Town Center. I saw the label when there and also at the new Total Wine in Indy.

So, when son Ryan got their wine club promotional mailing and shared it I was eager to pick up a mixed case of their Signature Series Bordeaux varietals including this aged vintage release from their library close-out. My shipment just arrived and I was eager to try this. It did not disappoint.

Beau Vigne (pronounced bo-veenya), was founded by Ed and Trish Snider with their first vintage release in 2002. Translated from French it means beautiful vineyard in French.

Ed’s family has a long history in Napa Valley dating back to his Swiss Italian grandfather Martin Garzoli who arrived in Napa in 1913. He grew up on a ranch in Carneros and worked on farms in Napa and Sonoma. Martin made his own wines at home in the evenings. His son John Garzoli played for the San Francisco 49ers in 1955 and went on to coach football at St. Helena High School in the center of Napa Valley where children of many vintners attended school. A number of Ed’s former students are now in the wine industry.

In 2018, they sold Beau Vigne to Don Dady and Jason Kyle from Arizona. Jason was a former NFL football player, a long snapper for five different teams including the San Francisco 49ers. In addition to his wine interests, Jason is co-owner of Press Coffee Roasters with locations in Arizona.  Partner Dady is co-founder of Annexus, a financial company in Scottsdale and also owns Seven Apart Winery in Napa Valley just north of the city of Napa. 

Beau Vigne sourced fruit for their estate wines from their 10 acre Stags Ridge Vineyard at the top of Soda Canyon Road on the slopes of Atlas Peak at about 1650 feet elevation. The site was planted to 8 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and an acre each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Ed sold the vineyard and it is now a part of Seven Apart Winery’s estate. Beau Vigne continues to source grapes from there and other premium vineyards in Napa Valley.

Since 2019, Beau Vigne has partnered with Appellation Trading Company to distribute Beau Vigne as part of their portfolio of brands. 

Over the years, Beau Vigne has been crafted by several highly regarded Napa Valley winemakers. Their founding winemaker was Dave Phinney who went on to develop several successful brands, most notably, Orin Swift Cellars and the Prisoner portfolio of wines. One of our favorite winemakers, Kirk Venge of Venge Vineyards has also crafted Beau Vigne wines. Today the winemaker is Julien Fayard.

Originally from France, Julien began his career as a winemaker producing quality rosé at his family’s winery in Provence. He worked at legendary Chateaux Lafite Rothschild and Smith Haut Laffite in Bordeaux before relocating to Napa Valley where he was Philippe Melka’s director of winemaking for a few years before setting out on his own.

Julien earned his Master in Agri-Business from ESA France and his Master in Winemaking from Toulouse France. In 2011, he received his MBA from UC Davis. 

Recently, Beau Vigne became part of a select collection of vintners represented at Vintner’s Collective, the city of Napa’s oldest collective tasting room. They showcase wines from an elite group of premier Napa Valley producers who do not have their own tasting rooms. Select bottlings and vintages of Beau Vigne are available for tasting and purchased there. 

Beau Vigne bottles wines under three different brands; the Legacy Series, the Signature Series and the Discovery Series.

Beau Vigne Reserve Proprietary Red Napa Valley 2013

This 2013 is a Blend of Bordeaux varietals, 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc. The producer cited it amongst the best wines Beau Vigne had made to date. That says a lot since Robert Parker awarded the 2013 Beau Vigne "Cult" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 96 points in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. He also awarded the Beau Vigne Reserve Cabernet from this vintage a stellar perfect 100 points.

Winemaker notes: "When tasted, it was still locked and loaded. Dense and dark, with notes of soil incense, violets, black cherry and black raspberry elements are also still present. The wine is full-bodied, opulent, with great vigor and delineation. This is a sensational example what happens after nine years in the bottle."

The Beau Vigne Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon from this vintage, the same fruit that forms the foundation for this blend, was awarded 100 points by Robert Parker. 

Parker wrote about that wine: "Profound, with a stunning aromatic display of blue and black fruits, charcoal, graphite, and spring flowers. The wine has a flawless entry and mouthfeel, with a full-bodied density, opulence and an incredible finish of close to a minute."

He also awarded the 2013 Beau Vigne "Cult" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 96 points in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate . That wine too contains the same Cabernet Sauvignon as in this blend. That blend contained 98:2% while this one is 70:30. Parker wrote of that wine: "Similarly styled is the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Cult, which is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc. The biggest cuvée of any of these wines, the color is blackish/purple as a moonless night. It offers fabulous fruit and incredible density and richness, with lots of camphor, blackberry and cassis fruit, hints of espresso bean and chocolate as well as some background oak. This is a big, full-throttle, savory style of wine that should age effortlessly for 20-25+ years (RP)."

As a blend of the same fruit as those wines, it has a similar profile. Dark blackish purple colored, full bodied, dense, rich concentrated black fruits accented by a layer of camphor that initially may be a bit unnerving to some, with notes of cassis, expresso and dark bitter mocha with some graphite and oak on the full lingering finish. 

RM 92 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2010086

www.beauvigne.com

https://www.destinvacation.com/rentals/unit/the-cove

Beau Vigne Proprietary Red BYOB at Herrington Inn Atwaters Restaurant Geneva

Beau Vigne Proprietary Red BYOB and Inniskillin Icewine at Herrington Inn & Spa Atwaters Restaurant Geneva

We met with friends John and Kathy McM for dinner at a mutually convenient halfway point, in Geneva, IL. We dined at Atwaters Restaurant in the chic Herrington Inn & Spa that looks over the scenic Fox River at the bridge in downtown Geneva.

John and Kath are from Scotland and I love the English or Scottish feel of Atwater's elegant intimate dining room, so fitting for the occasion, with its stone fireplace, dark wood beamed ceilings and surround glass windows, and rich warm tapestry high backed chairs.

The only drawback might be the room is a bit tight, full of tables that are minimal in size so to be a bit crowded, yet its is amazingly quiet and still has a cozy intimate feel. 

Atwater crafts farm-to-table American cuisine with a broad selection of three courses of beef, seafood, pork, duck and vegetarian selections, assortment of soups, salads and deserts. Prime steaks are cut in-house and only wild-caught seafood is served. Seasonal menus include locally sourced produce and product when available, and from the chefs garden! All desserts are handmade.

We had the butternut squash and the tomato basil bisque soups - both delicious. 

 We also shared the Atwaters salad (1/2 shown above) with tomato basel soup, which was also delicious. 

For our entree courses, we covered all the bases with the Faroe Island Salmon, the Duck Breast, the Filet of Beef and the Risotto Venison Sausage. All were delectable.

Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast Butternut Squash Puree,
Braised Sweet and Sour Cabbage,
Blood Orange and Sarsaparilla Reduction

I often order Duck Breast when in fine dining restaurants since it is something I won't get at home or at moderate restaurants. Tonight's Braised Sweet and Sour Cabbage with Blood Orange and Sarsaparilla Reduction (shown above) was spectacular, delicious, and perhaps the best Duck sauce accompaniment I've ever had!

Grilled Filet Mignon White Truffle Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes,
Grilled  Asparagus, Green Peppercorn Demi-Glace,
Horseradish Parmesan Crisp

Venison Sausage Risotto with Rapini, Roasted Garlic,
Caramelized Cipollini Onions, Charred Red Peppers,
Grated Pecorino Romano, Arrabiata Sauce Grilled Baguette

Faroe Island Salmon Plum Glazed with Ginger Kimchi Jasmine Rice,
Cucumber Wakame Salad, Miso Broth,
Charred Snow Peas, Sweet Chile Reduction

While the winelist was not posted on-line, I was not able to plan ahead our potential selections, so, I brought BYOB a couple of wines to pair with our dinner. The Atwater winelist was largely American, imaginative and extensive, broad and deep and with several choice labels across all the wine groups to pair with every menu selection - sparkling, red, white, aperitif and after-dinner selections, all at reasonable prices - averaging 2x retail price, with several lower for good values. 

Several unique labels that caught my attention were McGaw Scarlett and several labels from the Long Shadows Vintners Collection, Cliff Lede and more.

Executive Chef Kevin Gillespie leads the culinary team with 25 years of culinary experience in the area. He is joined by Sous Chef Gianfranco Aniello who earned a culinary arts degree at local College of DuPage and trained under numerous great chefs. 

https://www.herringtoninn.com/

https://twitter.com/herringtoninn

Our server Val provided excellent, friendly, professional service and graceously served my BYOB wine selection. 

Beau Vigne Reserve Proprietary Red Napa Valley 2013

Beau Vigne, (pronounced bo-veenya), translated from French means beautiful vineyard, is the same wine I received just last week from the producer and I was eager to share it as a perfect accompaniment to our diverse dinner. 

I wrote about this wine and producer in detail the other day upon receipt of this wine. This producer first caught my attention when buddy Bob brought it to our Pour Boys OTBN - "Open-That-Bottle-Night" 2022 in Charleston and I pegged it as WOTN - Wine of the Night, my personal favorite.

Beau Vigne Reserve Proprietary Red Napa Valley 2013

This 2013 is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Cabernet Franc. The producer cited it amongst the best wines Beau Vigne had made to date. That says a lot since Robert Parker awarded the 2013 Beau Vigne "Cult" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 96 points in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. He also awarded the Beau Vigne Reserve Cabernet from this vintage a stellar perfect 100 points.

Parker wrote about that wine: "Profound, with a stunning aromatic display of blue and black fruits, charcoal, graphite, and spring flowers. The wine has a flawless entry and mouthfeel, with a full-bodied density, opulence and an incredible finish of close to a minute."

He also awarded the 2013 Beau Vigne "Cult" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 96 points in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate . That wine too contains the same Cabernet Sauvignon as in this blend. That blend contained 98:2% while this one is 70:30. Parker wrote of that wine: "Similarly styled is the 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon Cult, which is 98% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc. The biggest cuvée of any of these wines, the color is blackish/purple as a moonless night. It offers fabulous fruit and incredible density and richness, with lots of camphor, blackberry and cassis fruit, hints of espresso bean and chocolate as well as some background oak. This is a big, full-throttle, savory style of wine that should age effortlessly for 20-25+ years (RP)."

As a blend of the same fruit as those wines, it has a similar profile. Dark blackish purple colored, full bodied, dense, rich concentrated black fruits accented by a layer of camphor that initially may be a bit unnerving to some, with notes of cassis, expresso and dark bitter mocha with some graphite and oak on the full lingering finish. 

RM 93 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2010086

www.beauvigne.com

After dinner we had the Chocolate Gateaux and I ordered from the winelist a glass of sweet dessert wine. 

Inniskillin Vidal Niagara Peninsula Ontario Icewine 2019

This is a classic authentic Icewine from the Niagara Peninsula appellation which lies on the peninsula formed between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario between Buffalo, NY and Toronto, ON. 

 

We visited the Inniskillen Winery and estate vineyards back in 2016 where we met Don Zeraldo, founder and former owner/producer. We toured the estate including the cellars and wine library and did an extensive tasting of the Inniskillen portfolio.

Inniskillin has a storied history putting the Niagara Peninsula Appelation on the map, and bringing global notoriety to their classic Icewines. Winemaker, Karl Kaiser harvested the first Icewine in 1984, from Vidal grapes frozen naturally on the vine at the winery site (Brae Burn Vineyard).

Inniskillin Icewine went on to become “ONE OF THE WORLD’S GREAT WINES” as featured and coined by the title of a book published in the 1990’s that featured Inniskillin Icewine. The first attempt to make Icewine was actually in 1983 but the birds ate all the grapes from the vines that were not netted for protection.

In 1991, Inniskillin received the most prestigious award in the wine world at Vin Expo, France - the Grand Prix d'Honneur for Karl’s 1989 Vidal Icewine.  This was the major turning point thrusting Inniskillin into the international limelight clearly establishing major credibility as a serious wine producer as well as lifting the profile of Canadian wines at the same time.

 

Inniskillin produce a portfolio of Icewines from several grape varietals, Vidal, Cabernet Franc and Riesling, in still and sparkling, white and Rose variations. 

Vidal is a hybrid grape varietal, produced from Ugni Blanc and Seibel varietals, that has a thick skin suitable for harvesting late in the season. It is the most popular Icewine grape grown in Ontario. It’s noted for good natural acidity that gives great structure to the lusciousness of its tropical aromas and flavors of mango and lychee.  Inniskillin produces Vidal Icewine in two distinct styles, one without oak aging to highlight the fresh fruit emphasis, and with oak aging for added complexity.

Winemaker Notes - "This popular Inniskillin Icewine boasts a variety of tropical fruit including orange, mango, and lemons. Flavors of peach and apricot are balanced by a fresh, crisp and lively acidity. Pairs beautifully with aged cheddar, peach tart, and baked cheesecake with a peach compote."

This 2019 vintage release was awarded 93 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and 92 points by Wine Enthusiast.

 

Pearl straw colored, medium full bodied, unctuous, intensely flavored with signature notes of peach, mango and hints of apricots, with classic residual sugar and honey sweetness, and nuances of pineapple and citrus. 

 

RM 91 points. 

 

https://www.inniskillin.com/

http://twitter.com/InniskillinWine