Vin’Tij SanDestin Food and Wine Dinner

Vin’Tij SanDestin Food and Wine Dinner 

After a fun-filled afternoon of wine paired with foods at Vin’Tij Food & Wine, we booked a table for a follow-on Saturday night dinner. I wrote about that wine tasting in this blogpost - Wine tasting at Vin’Tij Grand Boulevard (San)Destin.

The plan was to drink BYOB one of the ultra-premium bottles we purchased in the Vin’Tij Wine Boutique for the occasion.

I write often in these pages about the price charged by restaurants for their wines, often expressed as a function of the retail price of the wine. It is customary that a restaurant charges 2 times the retail price of a wine. Often the restaurant price is 2.5 times or more. 

Establishments that combine a restaurant with a wine retailer provide the best and most economical scenario for the consumer whereby the restaurant price equals near the retail price - a 1:1 ratio. In this scenario, the restaurant is relying solely on the gross margin uplift between the wholesale price paid and the retail price charged the diner. 

Two such establishments exist in Destin, Vin’Tij and also Chan’s Wine World that is connected to and associated with the adjoining Wine Bar restaurants. Diners seeking a food and wine experience can leverage these policies for great value dining. And, they can take the opportunity to upgrade their wine choices with higher premium or ultra-premium wines they otherwise not be able to afford or justify for wine experimentation or appreciation!   

For our Saturday Night Vint’Tij dinner, we were joined by Richard and Victoria, friends and neighbors in our Destin residential community. 

Planning to order grilled beefsteaks for our entrees, I took BYOB a Washington State Columbia Valley Red Bordeaux Blend from Force Majeure. 

This is from Force Majeure Vineyards, originally called Grand Reve, founded in Woodinville, near Seattle, in 2004, a collaboration between businessman Paul McBride and vineyard manager Ryan Johnson who spent a decade managing vineyards in Eastern Washington’s prestigious Red Mountain AVA. 

McBride and his wife Susan then changed the winery name to Force Majeure, and hired winemaker Todd Alexander to oversee winemaking. Alexander was previously winemaker at Bryant Family Vineyard in Napa Valley. 

Jeb Dunnick of Wine Advocate has called Force Majeure “One of my favorite estates in Washington…”

We tasted and acquired this wine during our Force Majeure Vineyards Site Visit and Tasting back in 2018 as featured in these pages, and excerpted below.

One of the inspirations for and objectives of that Walla Walla Wine Experience 2018 was to visit Force Majeure vineyards. We first met Force Majeure winemaker Todd Alexander and marketing, distribution and branding exec Carrie Alexander during the Chicago stop of their promotion tour in 2016 when we hosted them at Italian Village in Chicago. Since then we've acquired a respectable collection of Force Majeure wines, hence, they were one of our shortlist priority visits when we planned our Washington State, Columbia Valley wine trip.

Force Majeure Carrie Alexander and Linda

Following our Woodinville (Washington) tasting experience where we tasted several fabulous  Red Mountain AVA wines, we were targeting there for our first Washington State wine appellation visit. Carrie convinced us to visit Walla Walla and we followed her guidance and were amply rewarded as it was a spectacular wine travel experience. Our Walla Walla AVA visit provided the opportunity to visit a vibrant wine region, meet some legendary winemakers on the Washington wine scene, and still experience the best of Red Mountain appellation wines as well!

Force Majeure have vineyards in the Red Mountain AVA where they grow Rhone varietals on the upper slopes and Bordeaux varietals on the lower blocks of the site. According to Carrie, the varietal blocks are based on the selection and matching of the grape varieties to the appropriate soil composition in the eight different soil types on the site.

The Red Mountain site was the very first vineyard on the steep, rocky upper slopes of Red Mountain. Developing the Red Mountain estate vineyards involved carefully matching varietal and clonal selections and vineyard trellising and irrigation to the eight distinct soil types in the vineyard.

The site was formed by the ancient Missoula floods, winds and volcanic activity resulting in many small “micro-blocks,” each uniquely suited to specific grape varietals. The rocky upper-slope with shallow soil is well suited to the cultivation of Rhone varietals such as Syrah and Grenache, while the lower blocks of the vineyard are comprised of deep, well-drained Warden soils, where Bordeaux varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc excel.

This Force Majeure Épinette Right Bank Bordeaux style blend was a perfect complement to our aged prime steak dinner, including my perfectly prepared 'Pittsburgh' style, served with mashed potatoes, haricot verts and mushroom Bordelaise sauce. 

Force Majeure Épinette Columbia Valley Red Mountain Red Blend 2015

Épinette is Force Majeure's Right-bank Bordeaux-inspired blend, and was named after an avenue in Libourne that leads to Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, the home of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.

Épinette is also the name of a musical instrument akin to a piano, as well as a word for pine tree, which is a fitting nod to the locale's in Washington state.

Épinette is a Bordeaux blend in the 'Right Bank' style meaning it is primarily Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with smaller amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.

The blend for this 2014 vintage was 58%  Merlot,  22%  Cabernet Franc 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and the remaining 5% Petit Verdot.

The Merlot and Cabernet Franc are grown in the lower areas of the Red Mountain vineyard with its  deep, well-drained soils. The wine was aged for approximately 22 months in mostly new French oak.

It was rated 94 points by Jeb Dunnuck, 93-95 points by The Wine Advocate, 92 by Stephen Tanzer and 90 points by Wine Spectator.

Dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, bright vibrant forward dense black berry, ripe black raspberry and black current fruits with notes of cigar box, earthy leather, anise, graphite and spicy oak and hints of dark mocha chocolate with gripping but approachable silky tannins on the lingering finish. 

RM 94 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4507644

https://forcemajeurevineyards.com/

https://vintij.com/

Louisiana Lagniappe Destin Waterfront Dining Seafood Dinner

Louisiana Lagniappe Destin Waterfront Dining Seafood Dinner 

Our last night hosting Linda’s lady friends at The Cove, our Destin, FL vacation rental home, we took them to LOUISIANA LAGNIAPPE for dinner. Louisiana Lagniappe is a Destin institution since 1984 known for Gulf seafood with a Creole flair.  The upscale restaurant offers waterfront dining at the end of Destin Harbor. 

They also offer beachfront dining ant their two sister restaurants The Back Porch, and our favored Pompano Joes a beach walk from our vacation home. We regularly walk the beach to Pompano Joe’s for dinner or for their Happy Hour Signature PJ’s Punch. Shown below is our kids/grandkids there.

Among the hundreds of restaurants in Destin, Lagniappe is consistently ranked in the Top 10 restaurants on TripAdvisor and wins the Award of Excellence every year.  

The extensive Lagniappe menu features steaks but focuses on fresh seafood with a broad selection of “Chef’s Selections” and “Lagniappe Favorites”.

Lagniappe Chefs Selections include:

GROUPER PONTCHARTRAIN - Fresh Gulf Grouper, pan sautéed and topped with fried jumbo soft-shell crab, hollandaise sauce and honey roasted nuts 

TOURNEDOS OF BEEF - Medallions of Certified Angus Beef Filet Mignon topped with sautéed jumbo lump crab meat and shrimp and finished with béarnaise sauce

BAYOU GROUPER - Fresh Gulf Grouper, pan sautéed, topped with jumbo lump crabmeat and jumbo shrimp, then finished with meuniere sauce 

SHRIMP & GRITS - Jumbo Gulf Shrimp tossed in a smoked tasso ham cream sauce served over stone-ground cheese grits

BLACKENED REDFISH - Fresh filet of Redfish, blackened then topped with jumbo lump crabmeat, medallions of lobster and both hollandaise and garlic-beurre blanc sauce 

TWIN LOBSTER TAILS - Two Maine Lobster tails cooked to perfection

GROUPER CREVETTES - Fresh Gulf Grouper, pan sautéed and topped with grilled jumbo shrimp and hollandaise sauce

CHARGRILLED YELLOWFIN TUNA - Fresh Yellowfin Tuna topped with jumbo lump crabmeat and hollandaise sauce

BLACKENED SHRIMP OR SCALLOPS - Your choice of blackened jumbo shrimp or blackened bay scallops served with a pineapple-rum butter sauce, and 

SEAFOOD LAGNIAPPE - Gulf Grouper, sautéed and topped with medallions of lobster, hollandaise sauce and a light garlic-beurre blanc 

The Lagniappe Favorites include:

SNAPPER DESTIN - Gulf Snapper, stuffed with jumbo lump crabmeat, rice and cream cheese 

BARBECUE JUMBO SHRIMP - Peeled, spicy New Orleans style barbecue shrimp

JAMBALAYA - Chicken, sausage and shrimp cooked together with rice in a rich tomato sauce 

GROUPER LOUISIANNE SAUTÉED OR GRILLED - Fresh jumbo lump crabmeat in a seasoned butter atop a fresh fillet of Gulf Grouper 

GROUPER ALMONDINE - Fresh Gulf Grouper, pan sautéed and topped with toasted almonds and lemon butter

LAGNIAPPE STUFFED SHRIMP - Fresh jumbo shrimp topped with our shrimp and jumbo lump crabmeat stuffing

GROUPER MEUNIERE - Fresh Gulf Grouper, pan sautéed and finished with meuniere sauce

GROUPER PECAN - Fresh Gulf Grouper, pan sautéed and topped with toasted pecans and meuniere sauce

OYSTERS LAGNIAPPE - Baked with Lagniappe stuffing and jumbo lump crabmeat

CRESCENT CITY FETTUCCINE - Jumbo shrimp tossed in a smoked tasso ham cream sauce with fettuccine, finished with Parmesan Romano cheese

For our dinner we all selected variations of the Grouper selections … all were delicious, perfectly prepared, served hot, and included their signature twice baked potatoe and vegetable, along with their signature hush puppies starter.  

BAYOU GROUPER - Fresh Gulf Grouper, pan sautéed, topped with jumbo lump crabmeat and jumbo shrimp, then finished with meuniere sauce

Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay 2023

From the basic fundamental wine list, we ordered this standard pleasant drinking Chardonnay. Sonoma Cutrer are consistently recognized for good value Chardonnay. 

This was ideal for pleasant easy sipping pairing with our fresh seafood.  

Wine Spectator-California - Sonoma County - "Appealing for its seamlessness and texture, this white is creamy and supple, with lemon meringue pie, shortbread and peach notes at the core on an elegant frame. Accents of lemon zest and wildflower honey linger on the finish..."

https://www.sonomacutrer.com/

https://www.thelouisianalagniappe.com/destin-menu

Wine tasting at Vin’Tij Grand Boulevard (San)Destin

Wine tasting at Vin’Tij Grand Boulevard (San)Destin

Wife Linda and her visiting girlfriends went shopping at Grand Boulevard in Sandestin, leaving me to my own devices, so I spent the afternoon at Vin’Tij Restaurant and Wine Boutique/Bar. 

Vin’Tij Food & Wine has been a local favorite restaurant for over 26 years and was recently voted as the “Best Restaurant in Walton County” by Emerald Coast Magazine. 

Vin’Tij is known for their creative menus preparing fresh seafood, pasta and beefsteak entrees, and, an impressive wine boutique with an artful carefully selected collection of wines across the spectrum of varietals, styles and price points.

Most notable is a collection of rare, highly allocated ultra-premium labels. 

Vin’Tij is the fullfillment of the vision based on passion for food, wine and people of founder/owner Todd Reber. Todd worked in the food and wine trade in several highly acclaimed restaurants along the Emerald Coast starting in 1990. He opened Vin’Tij Food & Wine in 1998 building upon relationships he had developed with wine makers, purveyors and sommeliers throughout the world, and his learnings from wine educational events in California, Oregon, Germany and Spain.

Vin'Tij Food & Wine won “Best Restaurant In Walton County” in the 2023 Perfect in South Walton Awards in recognition of Todd, Chef Ignacio and the entire Vin’Tij team making it ‘one of the best overall dining experiences in the area’.

Chef Ignacio Bernal was inspired by his mother to develop an interest in and pursue a career in culinary arts. He began training under Chef Todd Misner at Stinky’s Fish Camp in 2012. Under Misner’s mentorship, Bernal’s skills and cooking techniques elevated to a new level. It was at Stinky’s Fish Camp that Chef Bernal was promoted to sous chef as he continued to fine tune his skills and continued to grow under Misner’s leadership.

In 2018, Chef Ignacio joined Vin’tij to apply his vision and knowledge of wine and food pairing as Chef de Cuisine. At Vin'Tij he has developed diversified menu with unique dishes to compliment the extensive wine selection. Chef Ignacio is Vin’Tij’s partnering Chef where he has received the “BEST CHEF AWARD” in 2025 from VIP Destin Magazine!

After trolling through their vast wine selection I assembled a mixed case of unique and interesting labels to add to our cellar collection, and for enjoying BYOB in a Vin’Tij dinner planned for later in the week. 

Meanwhile, joined by the ladies, we enjoyed a fun impromptu wine tasting with several wines paired with selections from the Vin’Tij menu; Vin’Tij’s Bread Basket with Roasted Garlic, Marinated Olives, Basil Roasted Red Peppers, and Parmesean Cheese; Oyster Crostini - fried oysters on baked bread with sauces, and Vin-Tij flatbreads with tomato and balsamic sauces and cheeses. 

Our food and wine experience was curated by Danny G, Vin’Tij day manager and wine education director. 

For pairing with the appetizers, we tasted several wines from Thompson Winery and Vineyards in Sonoma. Owner Michael Thompson is a local resident in the community and frequents Vin’Tij and partners in sourcing his wines. 

What great fun and how serendipitous to learn Michael Thompson and his wine cellar were featured in the Private Cellar column in Wine Spectator Magazine, the same column that featured this author and my cellar. 

Thompson’s cellar was featured in “A Strategy Based on Charity, by Peter D. Meltzer, in the October 31, 2010 issue, while our cellar feature. “Programmed for Wine - Rick McNees fuses his love for computers with a taste for Bordeaux”, by Joseph Robbins, was in the Wine Spectator Collecting column section on June 15, 2001.

Thompson Winery owner Michael Thompson was founder and CEO of an electronics manufacturing company. He spent a small fortune collecting wine and over time raised more than $500,000 donating wine to and purchasing wine at charity auctions. He was a patron of Emeril Lagasse's Carnivale du Vin, Nashville's L'Eté du Vin, and was a founding board member of the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation. We attended the Destin Charity Wine event with our Pour Boys wine group last year. 

Thompson started collecting in the late 1990s with an initial cellar of just more than 600 bottles.

Thompson's home cellar in his local residence grew to between 2,000 and 3,000 bottles depending on the rate and pace of his donations. Initially, Thompson focused on California vineyards, but soon expanded his interests through wine groups, tasting dinners and meeting as many strategic people in the wine world as possible, traveling to Burgundy, Tuscany, Umbria, the Rhône, and recently to Spain.

Thompson and his wife Valerie eventually acquired and developed Thompson 31Fifty Winery and Vineyards, their ‘piece of heaven’, in Sonoma. Their small, family-owned wine estate and vineyard is in the Russian River Valley and produces premium and ultra-premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines.

So, in support of this local owner producer, we tasted a flight of Thompson Winery and Vineyards Rose’, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

Our summer of Rose’ exploration of Rose’ wines from around the world continues with this Thompson 31Fifty vineyard Sonoma County Rose’.

Thompson 31Fifty Winery & Vineyard Russian River Valley Rosé of Pinot Noir 2023

Producer’s Notes - This wine has a beautiful pink hue. The nose is bursting and vibrant with bright fresh citrus and floral aromas.  Fresh picked strawberries and bright red flowers explode up front, and tropical notes bring you back home.’

“The palate is intense and concentrated but framed with lively acidity and a super clean finish.  The freshness of this wine makes it a perfect match for cheese or charcuterie.”  

Just over 100 cases of this label were produced. 

This was delicious with the fresh bread, tapenade and the Oysters Crostini.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5096294

RM 89 points.

We then moved to …

Thompson 31Fifty Sonoma County Chardonnay 2021 

This is sourced from the Sonoma County Lolita Ranch Vineyard in Forestville, CA. It is farmed by the renowned grower viticulturist Lee Martinelli Jr. The vineyard lies on a steep slope in Forestville with escalating elevations. 

Forestville sits twelve miles west and slightly north of Santa Rosa, halfway between Rt 101 and the Pacific Coast. Forestville Main Street, California State Route 116, known locally as the Pocket Canyon Highway, connects the coastal community of Jenner in the west and U.S. Route 101 and the Sonoma County Airport to the east.

Forestville lies at the confluence of the Laguna de Santa Rosa and Mark West Creeks with the Russian River. 

Producers’ notes - Powerful yet balanced, this wine is beautifully structured. Plump, fleshy and full bodied with lemongrass aromas followed by Granny Apple and melon flavors. Rich and strong with an elegant finish with a touch of minerality.

RM 90 points. 

2021 Lolita Ranch Vineyard Chardonnay on Thompson 3150 Website. 

Pivoting to the pizza flatbreads, we tasted the 31Fifty Pinot Noir. 

Thompson Winery 31Fifty Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir 2019

This is sourced from two sites selected for this wine, located in the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley. Both vineyards were planted by the late grower viticulturalist Ulises Valdez. An additional Russian River Valley site was selected for this blend from an in-named ‘multi-generational Sonoma County Family’. 

Winemaker Patrick Sullivan crafted this unique style, producing an elegant Pinot Noir that reflects the best qualities of the three vineyard sites. 

This release is a blend uses grapes from site specific clones of Calera, Pommard and 667, crafted to express the traits of each clone as well as the soils and site locations. 

Winemaker notes - “This wine is silky and balanced as it opens extensively in the glass. Hints of bright raspberries, ripe cherry, dark plum, cocoa and black olive meet a long-lasting finish on the back palate.”

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4218729

2019 Thompson Winery Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir on Thompson Winery website.

We then moved to a delicious flatbread pizza with balsamic tomato sauce and multiple cheeses. With the flatbread we drank a hearty Italian Piemonte Barbera varietal wine. 

Villa Sparina Piemonte Barbera 2023

Villa Sparina Barbera del Monferrato DOC 2023

This 100% Barbera wine is from Villa Sparina, a winery in the commune of Gavi in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. It was founded by the Moccagatta family back in the 1700s. The estate lies a few kilometers in the sometimes rugged and steep hills just north of Gavi, which is about 60 miles southeast of Turin and about 30 miles north of the coastal town of Genoa. 

The vast 270 acre Villa Sparina lies in the rural hamlet of Monterotondo, in the heart of Gavi. The estate consists of a resort hotel, an extensive winery with eighteenth century cellars, and a hospitality center with gardens overlooking the nearly 170 acres of picturesque vineyards.

The vineyards are some of the prime sites for the production of the Cortese grapes, planted to native grape varieties dedicated to the production of Gavi and Barbera wines. The vineyards face mainly south and south-west, with an altitude of around 300m – 320m with clay and limestone soils.

The prime grape growing region is surrounded by the Alps to the north and northwest, and the Ligurian mountain range in the south. It is the only wine-growing region in Italy with only moderate Mediterranean influence with warm summers and cold winters. The influence of the Alps results in a continental climate  with large day/night differences.

Due to its centuries-old relationship with France, Piedmont not only has a Francophile influence, it was one of Italy's early flourishing wine-growing regions long before any of the more recent ones. It was also a Frenchman who introduced Piedmont to its most famous wine, Barolo, made from the Nebbiolo grape. 

Barbaresco is also produced in a small, exclusive region from the Nebbiolo grape variety.

In addition to Nebbiolo wines, red wines are also produced from the grape varieties Dolcetto and Barbera.

In 2000, Barbera was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy, after Sangiovese and Montepulciano. The grape is native to the region and was planted back as early as the fourteenth century. Century-old vines still exist in the regional vineyards. 

The Gavi region from the Commune Gavi also produces a rather light and neutral fruity white wine from the Cortese variety and Arneis, a variety that almost died out and has been recultivated only in the last 20 years. Also noteworthy is the light, delicate sparkling and sweet Moscato.

The Villa Sparina vines are primarily the most important local grape variety Cortese grown in a 1945-era vineyard producing fruits that display savouriness, minerality and incredible longevity. 

Villa Sparina produces an extensive portfolio of red and white wines, all of which are bottled in their unique signature bottles shaped from ancient historic glass production profile.

Gavi is in the DOCG region of Cortese di Gavi; Cortese di Gavi produced within the comune of Gavi may be labeled "Gavi di Gavi".

This wine is 100% Barbera and was partially aged in oak barrels in the historical XVIII Century cellars of the estate.

This wine provided great QPR - Quality Price Ratio for good value fun sipping and was ideally paired with the robust cheese and pizza sauce as well as the tapenade of fresh olives with balsamic oil and fresh bread. 

This wine was rated 92 points by James Suckling.

Intense bright ruby red color, full bodied, concentrated rich ripe briery dark blackberry and black cherry fruits are accented by balsamic, asphalt and slate with a a long tongue puckering flavorful gripping tannin and fresh acidic finish. 

RM 90 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=5371174

https://www.villasparinaresort.it/en/luxury-hotel-piedmont/1-0.html

https://vintij.com/

https://vintij.com/boutique

We returned Saturday night for a delicious dinner and exquisite wine pairing. 

Rose Rose’ with grilled shrimp and scallops

Rose Rose’ with grilled shrimp and scallops 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Gérard Bertrand Cote des Roses 2023

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We served this wine from a large format magnum bottle. 

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

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

This release was rated 90 points by Wine Enthusiast.

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

RM 90 points. 

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

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

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

Lavender Crest Winery NV “Soirée” Marquette Rosé

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

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

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

RM 88 points 

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

https://lavendercrest.com/

Zaca Mesa & Carpenter Creek Red Blends with BBQ Ribs

Zaca Mesa & Carpenter Creek Red Blends with BBQ Ribs 

Hosting Linda’s friends at The Cove, our vacation rental home in Destin, FL, Linda prepared BBQ Ribs with baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus and salad. 

I brought from our home cellar a couple wines for a food wine accompaniment for the occasion. 

Playing on Kay Z’s name, we brought and drank a ‘Z’ wine, a Syrah from Zaca Mesa.

Zaca Mesa Toyon Santa Ynez Valley Red Wine 2019

We tasted this wine at the winery and acquired it through our wine club allocation and wrote about receiving the shipment in an earlier blogpost - Zaca Mesa Mesa Reserve Santa Ynez Syrah. 

We just received our wine club allocation fall shipment from Zaca Mesa Winery. We visited the Zaca Mesa Estate and Vineyards in Santa Ynez Valley during our Santa Barbara County Wine Experience last spring. We joined their wine club after tasting their portfolio of Rhone varietal based wines highlighting Syrah, one of our favorite varietals.

This was one of the last bottles from that shipment, a mixed case of Zaca Mesa wines, that we had been holding to share and enjoy with our friend Kay Z. We wrote about this label in an earlier blogpost, excerpted here. 

Brambly bushes and shrubs around 
Foxen Trail Vineyards

Zaca Mesa Toyon is a red blend wine named after a native shrub found growing in the sandy hills and terraces that surround the estate vineyards. Toyon (also known as California Holly and Christmas Berry) is a native evergreen that grows into a dense 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide drought-resistant shrub. Covered in leathery leaves all year, it blooms pretty, but unspectacular, white flowers in summer.

Zaca Mesa Toyon is a unique blend comprised of a combination of Santa Ynez Valley Rhône and Bordeaux grape varietals, sourced from fruit grown on and off the estate.

Zaca Mesa Estate Vineyard adjacent the winery

Writing about the unique combination of grapes in this label's blend,   Matt Kettmann of Wine Enthusiast called it a "kitchen sink blend".  He gave the 2016 release of this label 90 points. 

The primary grape selection is akin to a Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the so named appellation in the southern Rhône River valley where the primary grapes required to be in the blend are G-S-M - Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. 

The GSM combination and so-called label is a popular blend released by many producers in Australia, California and Washington State - areas where Rhône varietals are grown. 

But Zaca Mesa take it a step further and adds the popular Bordeaux varietal grape Cabernet Sauvignon to the mix creating a complex wine that is somewhat a cacaphony of flavors, although the producer calls it a "seamless wine that is unlike anything else we produce".

Zaca Mesa Toyon Santa Ynez Valley Red Wine 2019

The actual blend consists of Shiraz/Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Cinsault grapes. Cinsault is another Rhône varietal. 

 

Toyon 2019 was aged 19 months in neutral oak 

Better than previous tasting, perhaps benefiting from a few years in bottle aging.

This was dark garnet colored, medium full bodied, complex, a cacophony of flavors with strawberry, black cherry currant and plum flavors with a layer of vanilla, accented by herbs, sweet tobacco and cinnamon spice, notes of earthy cedar and anise and a bit of pepper on a moderate tannin tangy acidic lingering finish. 

 

RM 89 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4443020

www.zacamesa.com

@zacamesawinery @zacamesa

https://unwindwine.blogspot.com/2022/11/zaca-mesa-toyon-santa-ynez-valley-red.html

Paying tribute to our shared Hoosier (Indiana) heritage, we also opened and enjoyed a wine from Northern Indiana based Carpenter Creek Cellars. 

Carpenter Creek Cellars Fence Row Red NV

We tasted and acquired this wine at the winery. We featured the producer and their wines in a detailed blogpost of that visited back in 2020,  Carpenter Creek Cellars Indiana Produced Wines, excerpted below. 

We stopped at Carpenter Creek Cellars while passing through Jasper County in Northwest Central Indiana. They're located just off Interstate 65 in Remington, Indiana halfway between Lafayette and Chicago, not far from our family farm, relatively speaking. 

We've passed this spot literally hundreds of times over the years before stopping to visit the local winery,  Carpenter Creek Cellars. Exit I65 from the North at exit SR114, or from the south at State Road 231. Follow the signs on the back country roads to the winery on Jordan Road. 

Various photos here of Carpenter Creek from visits there in December 2019 and again in 2020.  

Winemaker Randy Rottler (left) and proprietor 
partner Ed Courtright

During visits there we tasted and acquired several labels from their broad extensive portfolio - remarkable as they exceeded my expectations for Indiana produced wines. This is a testament to the craft and handiwork of partner proprietors Ed Courtright (right), who wanted to grow grapes in northern Indiana to supply wineries in the area, and winemaker Randy Rottler, who had dreams of starting a small winery.

The farm has been in the Courtright family for three generations. Ed and his son Byron planted their first grape vines in 2002, in what became Byron's vineyard. In 2011, they planted 1.1 acres of Traminette, the Midwestern grape used to produce Indiana's signature wine. After two years of building a business, and one year of restoring a barn/planting vineyards/doing paperwork ... they opened to the public in 2013. Just six months later, they won awards at the 2013 Indy (Indianapolis) International (wine festival) - a Silver Medal in Carpenter Creek labels - Gunny White, Sunset Rosé, and Sunset Red and Bronze Medals for both the Gunny Red and the Riesling. 

Carpenter Creek is a farm winery housed in a quaint picturesque renovated 1919 barn. There is the winery and a tasting room of Carpenter Creek Cellars broad portfolio of wines. The estate is actually visible from the interstate highway, I65.

They claim to produce "world-class wines which embody the best terroir and fruit the Midwest has to offer". 

While I agree that they 'produce wines that embody the best terroir and fruit the Midwest has to offer', the front of that claim leaves much to be desired. The terroir, climate and soil are not well suited to vinis vinifera (wine grapes). It’s not their fault that Indiana, and most of the Midwest for that matter, is not well suited to growing fine wine varietal grapes. Their challenge is that what makes Indiana a top producer of corn and soybeans, tomatoes and other vegetables and fruits, is precisely why it is not well suited for wine grapes. 

As I written often in these pages, the concept of terroir embodies all the elements of a place that affect the growing of varietal grapes - climate, soil, drainage, sun exposure, slope and elevation, proximity to climate impacting bodies of water, and so on. Needless to say, the terroir of Indiana in most respects is not ideal for growing wine grapes. In any event, there are now more than a hundred Indiana wineries that span virtually all regions of the agricultural state from corner to corner. 

World class wine growing regions are in certain latitudes in areas with moderate or hot climates, in areas that are arid and possess poor rocky, well drained soils that would otherwise be harsh to the likes of corn or tomatoes. Ideal grape growing conditions - terroir - actually stress the grapes, forcing them to establish deep deep roots to strain in capturing nutrients from the sparse soil, which is largely void of sufficiency to grow extensive vines and foliage, or corn. In short, the conditions for wine varietal grapes are almost the opposite of those for the cornbelt. 

While Bordeaux varietals are suited for Napa Valley in the US, not so much in Indiana. One popular grape selected for Indiana and Illinois wines is Traminette. There are eighteen different varieties of grapes grown in Indiana on a total of 600 acres of vineyard lands. 

The concept of AVA's, American Viticultural Areas, is based on federally-recognized regions defined either by political boundaries, such as the name of a county, state or country, or by a designated area for that AVA. All the criteria for an AVA come down to terroir so that all wines from that AVA can be presumed to have the same characteristics, or from grapes grown under the same conditions. This is the same as in the old world wine producing countries, where they have rigorous grape growing and wine producing regulations subject to AOC - Appellation d'origine contrôlée regulations in France, and DOC and DOCG in Italy ((Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) is the  superior classification to DOC). 

While there are 57 official appellations in Bordeaux, and seventeen in Napa Valley. Indiana has two designated AVAs, the Indiana Uplands AVA in the center of the state at the southern border along the Ohio River, and the Ohio River Valley AVA straddling the Ohio River along the southern border of the state. 

In order for a wine to be designated with an Appellation of Origin defined by a political boundary, such as a county name for example, federal law requires that 75 percent or more of grapes used to make the wine be from that appellation, such as Napa Valley.

Carpenter Creek Cellars source many of their grapes from California regions - central coast, Sierra foothills, central valley. They also source grapes grown in the Midwest, those tend to be from the southern reaches of Indiana in the two AVAs bordering the Ohio River, or from the wine growing areas of western Michigan, straddling Lake Michigan or Ohio, along Lake Erie, where the Lakes' have significant moderating effects on the local climate. 

Carpenter Creek have planted vineyards adjacent to the winery but they lost many of their planted vines due to the harsh winters and extreme cold and deep freeze of the soil. 

All that said, partners Ed Courtright and Randy Rottler have done an admirable job crafting some pleasant drinkable wines, that most assuredly represent nearly the best achievable outcomes from the grape sources available to them.

They produce an extensive portfolio of wines that cover the range from reds and whites, along with a port-like fortified wine, a dessert wine, and a Rose'.

Carpenter Creek Cellars Fence Row Red NV

Carpenter Creek Cellars sources many of their grapes from California regions - central coast, Sierra foothills, central valley. They also source grapes grown in the Midwest, those tend to be from the southern reaches of Indiana in the two AVAs bordering the Ohio River, or from the wine growing areas of western Michigan, straddling Lake Michigan or Ohio, along Lake Erie, where the Lakes' have significant moderating effects on the local climate. 

This label is a Bordeaux style red blend of grapes sourced from the California Central Coast.

This was a nice fun tasting accompaniment to the BBQ Ribs. 

Opaque ruby colored, medium bodied, moderately dry flavors of fresh black and red berry fruits with notes of leather and black tea with a pleasant flavorful finish. 

RM 88 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2577747

https://carpentercreekcellars.com/

https://twitter.com/carpenterwines

http://IndianaWines.org