Archive for December, 2018

I’ve developed a taste for good Pinot Blanc over the last decade or so, due largely to the wonderful bottlings from Island View Vineyard (Old Mission Peninsula) produced by Left Foot Charley up in Traverse City. Before then, I thought of the Blanc as a rather bland, also-ran white that was less impressive than its cousin, Pinot Gris. So it took a Michigan version of a wine that is perhaps most often associated with Alsace to show me what is possible from this grape.

I’ve tried some other Pinot Blancs out of curiosity since then to see if I could find anything else as good, or close to as good, as the Island View, and did find a pair from Alsace that were delightful (along with one that fell far short of those two, noted in the same report). Another northern Michigan bottling made from young vines some years back showed lots of promise, and those vines are probably producing excellent fruit right about now, but I haven’t had the opportunity to taste and find out. Frankly, there just isn’t a lot of this stuff out there in this market, which is why I was so pleasantly surprised and intrigued when I found this one at our friendly neighborhood Costco some weeks ago.

2016 Trimbach Pinot Blanc Alsace, 13% alc., $13.96: Full disclosure: I’m sipping on another one of these as I file this report, and quite enjoying it whilst I do. I like everything about it, from the easy-to-open Stelvin enclosure, to the satisfying, mineral-laced finish. In between, there’s a cleanly colored, nicely ripe and round glass of wine in the gravelly green apple and lime spectrum that delivers more intensity of flavor that I had expected the first time I tried it. It has good weight and the requisite acidity to move everything along nicely and complement a variety of foods, starting with critters you pull out of the water. This would do equally well with some pan seared Michigan trout or a nice smoked, grilled chicken on the Weber. Tasted five times with consistent results!

I’ve had a number of wines from Trimbach’s “Classics” lineup over several decades, and while they’ve always been more than serviceable, I’m hard-pressed to remember one that I went back for again and again, like I have with this one. It offers solid QPR (quality-price-ratio), I like it a lot, and I’ll be going back for more. Soon. Find this wine

Imported by Esprit Du Vin, Boca Raton, FL

Reporting from Day-twah,
Bastardo

The glory days of the Detroit Red Wings are long gone. The team that made the NHL playoffs for an amazing 25 years in a row has not seen post-season action in the last two campaigns, and after to a brutal 0-6-2 start in 2018-19, has rebounded to be playing .500 hockey as of this writing. No one is picking them to make post-season play, but at least they’re not “the Dead Wings” of old, and who’s to say that this mix of promising youngsters and seasoned veterans can’t overachieve and surprise the pundits.

And so, I thought it would be fun to tune into an early season game and relive some of the old “Red Wings and Red Rhones” days, complete with a fine Crozes-Hermitage, just like those days back in ‘97 when we got that tradition started here at Gang Central. Past vintages of this one, made by Maxime Graillot, son of the legendary Alain Graillot, have delivered all the goods, so I was interested in tasting what a more recent model has to offer.

2013 Domaine des Lises Crozes-Hermitage Équinoxe Maxime Graillot, 13% alc., $21.99: Deep and dark in color, and a little funky on the nose in a way that we like, with some barnyard over black plum, iodine and underbrush/garrigue. Very earthy on the palate (again, that’s a big plus in our notebook), with flavors that follow through enthusiastically on the promise of the nose. A substantial wine, well structured, as you’d expect, with plenty of tannins yet to resolve, but still approachable, especially with extended air. An hour in a decanter before pouring glasses of this is not a bad idea at all, so you can drink it now or tuck it away in the cellar for 7-10 years. This offers very good value for the price listed above, and we bought ours at Ferndale’s Western Market. Find this wine

Imported by Europvin U.S.A, Van Nuys, CA

Yes, the Red Wing’s glory days are gone, and they lost the game I watched whilst enjoying this big red. The only time you’ll see the likes of Yzerman, Federov, Shanahan, Lidstrom, Datsuk or Zetterberg will be in old-timers games. It’s kind of sad, even for a recovering sports junkie such as myself, but I’m not losing any sleep over it. We’ll have to wait to see what the future brings, with both the wine and the only team I still follow.

Reporting from Day-twah,
Bastardo