Blue Eye'd Boy and CDP for Italian Beef Dinner

Blue Eye'd Boy and CDP for Italian Beef Dinner

Son Alec (our blue eye'd boy) came over for Friday night dinner with Vivianna, new mom, and new baby daughter/grand-daughter, Marylin. So, we whimsically opened one of our favorite labels, a signature label for son Alec, Blue Eye'd Boy Syrah from Mollydooker, and a Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This was in remembrance of our visit to the Rhone wine region together. 

This is one of two of what we consider our signature wines for our son Alec, along with Alec's Blend from Napa Lewis Cellars. 

For the get-together, Linda also picked up some artisan Murray's cheeses from the legendary NYC cheese purveyor. Murray's wine and cheese bistro in Greenwich Village was a favorite eatery with Alec when we visited on numerous occasions during the years he and Viv lived in Manhattan. How ironic or fortuitous that Murray's was acquired by the parent of our local grocer/marketer Marianno's and is now available here locally!

With our wine tasting, Linda served two of our favorite Murray's Cheeses, Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog and Murray's Delice de Bourgogne along with her own pimento cheese spread. 

From Murray's Cheese site: "Humboldt Fog is perhaps the most recognizable American original cheese. Handmade at Cypress Grove's Northern California creamery from local goat's milk and lightly aged, Humboldt Fog boasts a fudgy texture and tangy flavor. The creamline develops into unctuous bliss, and the rind is paper-thin and brimming with minerality. You'll know it's the Fog by the characteristic line of ash running through the center"”creamery founder Mary Keehn's nod to the French classic Morbier"” and by its birthday cake-like shape."

From the Murray's Cheese Blog, "Many people commonly mistake the dark line running through and around Humboldt Fog as blue mold. In fact, it is an edible ash made from vegetables. The fresh curd is pressed half-way into a cheesecloth-lined mold and then the powdered ash is sprinkled on top. The molds are filled the rest of the way with curd and then the outside is generously coated with ash before they begin aging.'

"Cypress Grove’s amazing goat cheeses–Humboldt Fog, with its bright white, cakey paste and gorgeous line of gray ash through the middle tops many people’s Favorite Cheese List–and if you haven’t: get to it. Based in Arcata, California, they’ve been making cheese since the early 1980s. With Mary Keehn at the heart of the operation, the company became one of the country’s foremost artisanal cheesemakers."

As seen in Town and Country Magazine December 2012 

We first discovered Delice de Bourgogne at the French Market in Delray Beach Florida. We were delighted to find it available through cheese purveyor, Murray's. 

"Murray's Delice de Bourgogne is a tribute to small scale industrial French cheese-making, a pasteurized triple creme (75% butterfat in dry matter) that marries full-fat cow milk with fresh cream, producing an unapologetically rich, whipped delight. Unlike many straightforward triple-cremes, this one has a thin, pungent mold rind that imparts straw and mushroom aromas, complementing the buttery yellow, sweet cream interior. Makes a dreamy breakfast, lunch or dessert - just add champagne!" 

While Champagne might have been in order, we had already selected the wines to pair with our dinner - some of our favorites, that we enjoy with almost anything, including these artisan cheeses.

Mollydooker Blue Eye'd Boy Syrah 2013

I pulled this from the cellar at Linda's request as it is one of her favorite labels and winestyles, and was especially appropriate with son Alec joining us for dinner as noted above, it is one of our signature wines we collect and enjoy in tribute to him. 

This is one of several labels from this prolific producer that we collect. Producer Mollydooker offer a brand and portfolio of whimsical labels, each featuring a cartoonish character on the label. Even the brand name, Mollydooker, which is Australian lingo for a left-handed person, is a comical play on words, named for the two left handed owner/producers/founders Sarah and Sparky Marquis.  I chronicled Mollydooker brand and portfolio in a recent blogpost. 

As I wrote in that blogpost, the Mollydooker "Family Series" labels features photos of  Sara Marquis' two children. The 'Blue Eyed Boy' label shows Sarah’s son Luke, shown stomping grapes as a kid, who now heads up the Mollydooker Sales Team.

We love this full-throttle shiraz and collect it as part of our Mollydooker portfolio and as part of our Alec collection of labels we keep on hand to toast son Alec. We served an earlier vintage release of this wine at a graduation celebration for Alec back in his college apartment.

Winemaker Notes for this label release - "The delicious berry fruit and spice flavors of the cooler climate wine from the Joppich Vineyard in Langhorne Creek gives the Blue Eyed Boy its crowd appeal. We blend it with McLaren Vale Shiraz to add intensity, vibrancy and richness. This Shiraz is bursting with generous with amounts of fresh plum and blueberry, accompanied by spice and licorice all sorts. Supple texture and a creamy finish features layers of biscuit cream and espresso coffee. A well weighted wine with a truly elegant finish."

This was awarded 92 points by Wine Spectator.

This is a full throttle powerful high octane Shiraz. If you think that is over the top with the superlatives, try this wine. It's sometimes over the top for my liking and I like big bold style wine. Linda actually likes this style. 

Some Cellartrackers talked about using the Mollydooker Shake on this wine. No wonder the producer introduced the Mollydooker 'shake' where they actually prescribe shaking the bottle before opening to awaken or to settle the fruit! We own and drink a lot of their wine and I have never gotten into the habit of doing so, perhaps tonight we should have!

Reading up on the Mollydooker Shake, it is prescribed only for still red wines of two years of age or less. It is to release the nitrogen in the bottle that they use instead of the normal sulphites commonly used to preserve wines.  Sulphites can cause an allergic asthma type reaction in some people and Mollydooker realise a lot of people are sensitive to them. So, wherever they can, they use nitrogen to protect the wine so that they can reduce the amount of sulphites.

Dark blackish garnet purple colored, full bodied, dense, rich, spicy, concentrated blackberry, blueberry and raspberry fruits accented by notes of tar, leather, tobacco and notes of oak. 

RM 91 points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1897876

I also pulled this Châteauneuf-du-Pape in remembrance of our trip with Alec and Vivianna to the region. 

Domaine Ferrand Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005

We visited Châteauneuf-du-Pape with Alec and Vivianna during our Rhone Southern France region tour in 2019, so I pulled a blend to accompany our Italian beef dinner. 

At seventeen years, this was likely at the apex of its drinking window and profile, not likely to improve with any further aging, but showing no sign of diminution whatsoever. The fill level, foil, label, and importantly, the cork were all in perfect condition. 

This release was awarded 95 points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, and 94 points *Highly Recommended* by Wine Spectator.

Classic Châteauneuf du Pape blend of the GSM requisite grape varietals, 94% Grenache and the remainder Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault.

Dark garnet colored, full bodied, complex, concentrated blackberry and plum fruits with notes of anise, herbs, tobacco, spice, and a bit of graphite anise with moderate tannins on the finish. 

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=324980

 

 

Murrays Cheese - Ultimate Wine Cheese Experience

Cheese Murray Cheese - Ultimate Wine Cheese Experience

For the ultimate cheese and wine experience, Murray's Cheese Bar on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village offers an extensive cheese selection from Murray's Cheese shop a few doors down. Artisan cheeses are selected and served as learned and imaginative pairings with meats, beer, wine or even aperitifs- select your own or let their 'Cheesemonger' prepare a flight for you. Visiting son Alec for a NYC getaway weekend, he took us to Murray's, one of his favorite haunts for dinner.

Cheese and or meat selections are available ala carte, in pairs of three, four, five or eight different selections. All this in combination with an imaginative list of wines or craft beers, the cheese course can be the pre-dinner starter, the dinner main course, or the after dinner option. Tonight, thirty four cheeses and eight meats were available from which to choose on the daily menu.

Murray's Cheese, name for founder Murray Greenberg, has been a fixture on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village since 1940. In the early ‘90s, Rob Kaufelt bought Murray’s and transformed the downtown flagship store into a destination for food lovers. He sourced rare cheeses from around the world, built cheese caves to age and ripen them, and started cheese classes for foodies and professional alike in Murray's own classroom.  

Today,  Murray’s ships cheese across the nation to chefs and supermarkets through an extensive wholesale business. In 2012, Murray’s Cheese Bar opened nearby serving brunch, lunch, and dinner featuring the broad selection of cheeses from the cheese caves beneath Bleecker Street. 

On this evening, two flights of meat and cheese, paired with two wines, a white and a red, were our dinner, if you add in a bowl of the tomato bisque soup. We also had their Burrata Crispy artichoke & grilled bread plate.

For the wines, since we're in New York, I selected a New York State, Long Island wine, Cabernet Franc from Bedell Cellars. For the white, we had a Loire Valley Sancerre Chenin Blanc. In retrospect the white was too timid to stand up to some of the hearty cheeses and meats so next time, I'll select a heavier more robust expressive white wine - Vionier, Chardonnay, an Alsatian, or even a Riesling.

We selected two 4X4 flights (shown) - two plates of four meats and four cheeses, each accompanied by a garnish highlight such as a pistachio nut paste, a blueberry compote, natural honey paste, or cranberry glaze. Of the eight cheeses we selected, five were notable and worth repeating: my favorites were:

La Tur, from the notable Italian wine region of Piemonte, described by Murray's as "a dense, creamy blend of pasteurized cow, goat and sheep milk. Runny and oozing around the perimeter with a moist, cakey, palette-coating paste, its flavor is earthy and full, with a lingering lactic tang."

From the Vermont Cellars of Jasper Hill comes 'bacony and creamy Bayley Hazen Blue, (below right) named for a Revolutionary War road in Vermont’s Northeast Region, a raw milk, farmhouse blue. Produced by the Kehler brothers, this is a like an English Stilton with its 'dry yet dense paste, full of balanced chocolate, hazelnut, and licorice flavors".


From France comes Selles-sur-Cher (left, leftmost) goat cheese. While traditionally, fresh cheeses were dusted in wood ash to encourage the development of a molded rind with patches of blue and gray mold, Murray's imports unaged rounds so they can control the development of a perfect rind: thin and cohesive in their own aging cave. The result is "a tiny, oozing creamline atop a fluffy interior paste with the pleasant texture of damp clay. The rind delivers insistent mineral notes, while the center is all briny, goaty tang and new-mown grass."

Another French cheese, La Tremblaye Persille de Rambouillet, "an incredibly smooth, creamy goat’s milk blue from La Tremblaye dairy in the countryside surrounding Paris. Originally a grain farm, it now boasts a herd of 150 cows and 600 Alpine goats and is located on picturesque farmland, surrounded by ponds and fields, lying adjacent to Rambouillet forest. From its ashy exterior to its “parsley veined” interior, the cheese’s supple texture melts on the tongue and fully coats the mouth with nuanced, terroir-driven flavors like clean lactic notes, white pepper and sweet cream. Simple companions, such as walnuts and honey add complementary and contrasting textures".

Lastly, St Stephen from New York Hudson Valley creamery/producer, Four Fat Fowl, a cow cheese named for the "colonial rental fee charged by the last landlord of Rensselaerswyck (what’s now Rensselaer county”), which amounted to a day’s labor, including ten to twenty bushels of wheat. Their small, bloomy rounds are delicately buttery, with hints of sun-dried wheat and sweet cream beneath its pillowy rind, making St. Stephen a true expression of local terroir." This was served with local, NY honey and fresh berry compote. 


Bedell Cellars North Fork Long Island Cabernet Franc 2013

Bedell Cellars produce a range of hand-crafted wines that get the most out of the unique North Fork maritime terroir - sandy soil, warm summers moderated by sea breeze cooled nights. I visited Bedell Cellars back in 2001 and thought they were one of the highest quality producers in the area, especially of red wines.

Slight opaque ruby colored, medium bodied, smokey, slightly earthy black cherry fruits with a hint of leather and cigar box on a slightly astringent tangy finish.

RM 87 points.



https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1984796

http://www.bedellcellars.com/



http://www.murrayscheesebar.com/ 

http://www.murrayscheese.com/

Murrays Cheese Wine Dinner

Cheese Murray's Cheese ! Wine Dinner

During our NYC getaway weekend, we dined on Saturday night at one of son Alec's favorite eateries Murray's Cheese Bar on Bleaker Street down in Greenwich Village.

Legendary Murrays Cheese Shop has been at the same site on Bleecker Street since 1940. The Cheese Bar opened in 2012 to feature their selection of fine cheeses selected and arranged by expert Cheesemongers, or cooked into heir imaginative dishes by a team of seasoned chefs.

As usual, Murray's was packed, lively, bordering on boisterous, serving up imaginative cheese centered combination plates and dishes.

We chose wines from Murray's simple but succinct winelist, with its carefully selected cross section of wines to accompany the range of menu options. This time, they did not offer any New York or Long Island wines which we customarily would order for the occasion. 

We started with a Proseco Sparkling wine to sip with Murray's Kale Ceasar salad with Parmigiana-Reggiano, Radish, Anchovy and Crutons. 

Transitioning to the main courses we had Brussel Sprouts with Lardons, Pomegranate Molasses, and Smoky Bleu (cheese), and Mussels and Fries with Coconut Red Curry in a Lemonbroth sauce. 

With these courses we had a Merlot based St Emilion Grand Cru Bordeaux from Clos de la Cure.

We then dined on Murray's Lamb Meatballs with Spiced Tomato Sauce, Fennel, and Sheep Feta (cheese) (shown left).

With these hearty courses, we drank a 2013 Perbacco Vietti Nebbiolo from Langhe Piedmonte, Italy.

As is customary, we let the Murray's Cheesemonger prepare for us a selection of cheese and meats, each accompanied by a complementing fruit, puree, sauce or jam. This went well with the Nebbiolo, and from there we moved on to a Jam Jar Australian Shiraz 2016.

Chateau St Jean Malbec Reserve with Murray's Blue Cheese

Chateau St Jean Malbec Reserve with Murray's Blue Cheese

While at the local Mariano's Grocery, we picked up some artisan Murray's Blue Cheese at the cheese shop and were eager to try it with some fresh baked bread and wine. 

This Treasure Cave® brand Blue Cheese has a long and rich history as the first commercially produced blue cheese brand in the United States. In 1935, caves in Faribault, Minnesota, were renovated and turned into a cheese-making facility. The caves provided the right temperature and environment to produce authentic, cave-aged cheeses. Produced in caves, Treasure Cave cheeses today are made in a state-of-the-art facility in Almena, Wisconsin, with curing cells to finalize the production while ensuring consistent quality of the brand's blue and gorgonzola cheeses.

I've written in these pages about the irony that Murray's Cheese shop and wine and cheese bar/restaurant on Bleeker Street in New York City, Greenwich Village, one of our favorite eateries there, sold out to national retail grocer Kroger, who also took over local Chicago grocer Mariano's. Hence, the iconic New York cheese purveyor now has an in-store cheese shop in our neighborhood grocery here in Naperville. 

Previous posts featuring Murray's Cheese in these pages:

Murray's Cheese Restaurant and wine bar on Bleeker Street in the Greenwich Village - Ultimate Wine Cheese Experience

Coronavirus Virtual Family Dinner and Birthday Celebration features Murrays Cheese Pairing

Murray's Cheese - and wine too

Murray's Cheese Wine Dinner

Looking at guidance from several cheese and wine sites, several suggested Malbec as an ideal wine for pairing with Blue Cheese, so I pulled from our cellar this premium Reserve Malbec for a cheese and wine pairing. 

Chateau St Jean Sonoma County Malbec Reserve 2013

We tasted and obtained this label as part of a Reserve wine flight pairing at the Chateau St Jean estate during our Sonoma Napa Wine Experience back in 2017.  I featured that tasting in a blogpost in these pages at the time - July 30, 2017 - Chateau St Jean Sonoma Reserve Private Tasting. 

Our Pour Boys 2017 Sonoma Napa Wine Experience started on the Sonoma Coast and worked east along the Russian River Valley ending up in Sonoma Valley at one of its crown jewel estates, Chateau St Jean. Bill C., a wine club member arranged for a special Reserve private tasting. 

 

The Chateau St Jean estate is one of the most picturesque and authentic in the Sonoma Valley and is more civil and hospitable than some of the garish ostentatious properties in the more highly commercialized Napa Valley. This was a perfect buffer and transition from the more relaxed Sonoma County to the Valley as we transitioned to spend the coming week in Napa (Valley).

Private tastings are held in the cottage (shown right) across the courtyard from the hospitality center. 

We've visited the estate and done tastings there numerous times over the years. Sonoma Harvest '09 - Chateau St Jean and again Sonoma Valley Wine Experience 2009 - Chateau St Jean.

This label was one of the highlights of that tasting. 

Chateau St Jean Sonoma County Reserve Malbec 2013

Malbec grapes tend to have a dark inky color and robust tannins. It is one of the six designated grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. It is added to the blend to add deep color, intensity, tannin, structure, and complexity to the wine. 

The Malbec grape is thin-skinned tends to need more sun and heat than either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot to mature. The grape became less popular in Bordeaux after a devastating frost in 1956 killed off 75% of the crop forcing replanting of the varietal. 

The grape is included in the blend to add dark color, body and structure to the wine. As the trend to robust forward wines became more popular, many producers crafted wines that were a majority, even100% Malbec. The varietal gained notoriety and become popular as one of the main varietals planted in Argentina.

This St Jean label is produced and released in very limited quantities and hence is only available to wine club members at the winery.

Winemaker's notes: The Reserve Malbec was blended with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon (6%) to round out the final vintage. Individual lots of each variety were aged separately for 28 months exclusively in small French oak barrels with only 5% being new barrels. Barrel by barrel, each lot was tasted and the most outstanding Malbec barrels were selected and then blended with specific lots of Cabernet Sauvignon to complete the final wine.

This 2013 Reserve Malbec offers bright aromas of boysenberry and blackberry fruit, subtle clove spice and a high-tone violet floral note. The inviting nose leads to a full, plush palate with powerful yet well-integrated and smooth tannins. Flavors of boysenberry jam, black cherry and spice are distinct on the palate. The wine is round with balanced acidity leading to a lengthy and flavorful finish.

Winemaker Margo Van Staaveren has championed Malbec and believes the variety flourishes in Sonoma at selected sites. It has become one of her favorite wines to bottle as a varietal. The Malbec for this wine comes from the Asti Vineyard in Alexander Valley at the northern end of Sonoma County as well as the St. Jean Estate vineyard in the heart of Sonoma Valley. The beautiful 2013 growing season resulted in wines with great depth of flavor, intense color and excellent balance. The Malbec consistently ripened with a concentrated core of fruit balanced by bright acidity.

 

This was a nice pairing with it's robust full flavors standing up to the hearty cheese.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2455397

https://www.chateaustjean.com/

https://twitter.com/chateaustjean1

https://twitter.com/MurraysCheese 

Coronavirus Virtual Family Dinner and Birthday Celebration

Coronavirus Virtual Family Dinner and Birthday Celebration

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

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

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

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

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

@murrayscheese #murraysathome

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

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

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

Long Shadows Vintner's Collection Sequel Columbia Valley Syrah 2016

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tablas Creek Vineyards Estate Grown Côtes de Tablas Blanc 2013

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

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

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

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

RM 88 points. 

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

 

https://tablascreek.com/ 
 

@TablasCreek

Venge and Beau Vigne wines with intimate family dinner

Venge and Beau Vigne wines with intimate family dinner - Venge Napa Syrah with Vodka Cream Sauce Pasta

We were invited to son Alec's and Vivianna's house for dinner to watch IU Hoosier Big Ten Basketball. Alec prepared a delicious vodka cream sauce with penne pasta, baked bread and a delightful Cesar Salad. 

Prior to dinner, Alec opened a nice Napa Valley Reserve Chardonnay for sipping with some artisan cheese and with the salad course. He served a delectable Saint Andre Triple Cream cheese from Murray's Cheese that was an ideal pairing with the Chardonnay.

 I've written in these pages the irony that Murray's Cheese is now available locally from our Mariano's Grocery Store. We used to shop at Murray's Cheese Shop and dine at Murray's Cheese and Wine Bar on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village in New York with Alec and Viv when they lived in Manhatten. After they moved to Chicago, Murray's was sold to Kroger who had also acquired the Mariano's Grocery chain.

Beau Vigne Reserve Napa Valley Chardonnay 2021

Both Alec and we have collected several labels of Napa Valley wines from this producer Beau Vigne. This is the first time I have seen or tasted any of their white wines including this Reserve Chardonnay. 

 Winemaker's notes - "2021 Reserve Chardonnay -this is Napa Valley after all- and while you might expect today’s offering  to resemble the classic weighty, juicy, oaky versions, you are absolutely correct. We feel this 2021 ranks as one of the most pleasant Reserve Chardonnay's we've produced to date."

The Vineyard runs along a northern stretch of Carneros soils that are thin and rocky. As a result, these old vines struggle to produce even the most modest of crops.  

Tasting Notes: Fresh almond, apple turnover with hints of rose and lavender honey. The concentrated mouthfeel is draped in white stone fruits. The wine showcases our commitment to minimal intervention winemaking.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=4510075

https://shop.beauvigne.com/product/2021-Reserve-Chardonnay

For pairing with dinner, I took a Venge Vineyards Napa Valley Syrah. 

I've written often in these pages about the fun we have with the "V" collection of wines from Venge Vineyards with our daughter-in-law Vivianna. 

Venge Vineyards Napa Valley Stagecoach Vineyard Block 1-4 Syrah 2015

This is produced by Kirk Venge, son of legendary Nils’ and Dianna Venge, who was exposed to winemaking at an early age and has proven to be as talented a winemaker as his father.

In 2008, Kirk stepped into Nil's shoes and acquired full ownership of Venge Vineyards in 2008. To this day, Kirk continues the Napa Valley heritage, focusing on select vineyard sites that produce fruit worthy of bearing the Venge family name. 

We visited Nil's at the Penny Lane Venge Family Vineyard and Winery down in central Napa Valley, and then went up and met Kirk at his new estate near Calistoga back in 2002 as chronicled in this blogpost - Visit to Venge Vineyards and Nils and Kirk Venge.

Since then, we've acquired many Venge labels from his various brands that extend beyond the Venge name.

This is from the legendary Stagecoach Vineyard, which according to the producer, "Stagecoach is one of the Napa Valley’s largest and leading mountain vineyards located near the Atlas Peak AVA at an elevation of around 1,700 feet above sea level. The soil is very rocky and topography very steep. Temperatures are warm in the midday and cold at night. This diurnal effect makes for a balance of vibrant acidity and fruit structure that is concentrated and focuessed. “Block I-4” is referenced in this bottling because of its very high elevation relative to the rest of the Stagecoach Vineyard."  

"Stagecoach Vineyard continues to produce Syrah of unparalleled quality. The Syrahs from that mountain vineyard really shine from the steep, rocky terroir of the location."

The 2017 vintage possesses a bold, deep, dark color that opens the door to an array of black fruit aromatics. Cassis, blackberry, warm toasted bread and French Oak vanillin all fill the glass with purpose. While still young and in development, the palate shows superior promise with minerals, tongue swirling acidity, cherry and black plum.  The tannins are firm and support the back palate for several moments beyond the initial taste. If cellared correctly, this wine will continue to improve through 2029.

The wine was managed under the Venge barrel program of 100% French oak with 60% entirely new Francois Frères from the tight grained Voges forest in both medium and heavy toast. Bottled unfiltered.

This was the latest tasting of another vintage of a mini-vertical collection of this limited release label I picked up at auction, and it was by far the best so far. 

This was awarded 93 points by Wine Enthusiast and 92 points by Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator.

This is the style and profile of wine we most enjoy - Linda's absolute favorite, big, thick, chewy full throttle full fruit Syrah.

Dark inky purple garnet colored, full bodied, powerful concentrated chewy unctuous textured black and blue fruits with a layer of vanilla and spice with notes of what Robert Parker's Wine Advocate calls "Chinese five spice, hoisin and cardamom over a core of plum preserves, violets and blackberry pie with a waft of earth", with firm, big but polished fine-grained tannins on a tongue coated long finish.

RM 94 Points. 

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=3223878

https://www.vengevineyards.com/

 

Murray's Cheese - and wine too

Cheese, Murray's Cheese ... and some wine too ...

Enjoying a get-away weekend with son Ryan and daughter-in-law Michelle, visiting son Alec in NYC, we dined at Murray's Cheese Bar in Greenwich Village, one of his favorite haunts. The eatery is a few doors down Bleecker Street, from the legendary cheese retailer and wholesaler. As in earlier adventures there, we left it to the 'Cheese Monger' to select our cheese flight - one of five and one of eight different cheeses or meats.

Each cheese meat combination is paired with a sauce, spread or associated delectable accompaniment such as a orange marmelaide or a pistachio paste, both shown below.

The presentation of the cheese plates by the Cheese Mavin servers was masterful, poetic, professional and informative, a performance deserving of more attention and respect and worthy of an ovation! Following the cheese meat plates came Mussels in white wine broth, grilled Kale sprouts, and Lamb meatballs in a tomato fennel sauce and feta cheese.

For pairing, we selected three wines from Murray's winelist, one white and two reds. For the white, there's always room for a bubbly, a sparkling wine, we selected Domaine Huet Vouvray Pétillant, a Chenin Blanc based wine from the Vouvray in the Loire Valley in Northern France.

Chenin Blanc is not normally associated with sparkling wine, the specialty and province of Champagne in France, rather the incredibly versatile grape is used across the range of dry whites, to semi-sweet to luscious sweet wines.

This version of sparkling wine is considerably less expensive than a Champagne of equivalent quality.

Domaine Huet Vouvray Pétillant Cuvée Huet Brut 2010

This was light, straw colored, crisp and minerally with a bouquet and flavors of floral, peach, ripe pear and sweet spice giving way to almond and a layer of yeast that came across as a bit pasty that diminished the fruits.

RM 87 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=1413192






Laurent Betton Saint-Joseph Syrah 2013, Rhone Valley, France

The tangy acid was a nice accompaniment to the hearty bold cheeses and meats.

Son Ryan favors and drinks a lot of these Northern Rhone Valley Syrahs. This was much lighter than those we are accustomed to drinking, from the Rhone Valley, or Syrahs we get from Australia or even California.

This was ruby colored, medium light bodied, crisp bright acidity with black berry fruits, tones of black pepper and a layer of graphite creosote with a tangy spicy finish.

RM 88 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2112330


La Poderina Brunello di Montalcino Sangiovese 2010, Tuscany, Italy 

This bigger bolder more complex and concentrated wine rounded out our flight with a different style and character that matched the boldest and most forward cheeses, and the meats in the tasting.

This was ideally paired with the Lamb meatballs in tomato fennel sauce. 

Dark blackish garnet colored, medium full bodied,  complex, concentrated layers of rather subdued dried blackberry and black cherry, tones of smoke, leather, tobacco and hints of cedar spicy oak and graphite on a smooth polished moderate tannin finish.

This was so good, we ordered a second bottle! 

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2104005

http://www.murrayscheesebar.com/

A highlight of the weekend was seeing Alec's new apartment with its spectacular views from Midtown to the financial district, shown below.

Murray Cheese Selection