Archive for the Tasting Notes from the Underground Category

Nobody does a better job of promoting Michigan wine online than our very good friends Cortney and Shannon Casey (pictured below), with their Michigan By The Bottle blog.

Nobody.

The State of Michigan should give these two a stipend for their tireless promotion of our wine industry here in the Mitten State, but since that ain’t gonna happen, these two bloggers-turned-entrepreneurs took a big leap when they partnered with six Michigan wineries a little over two years ago and opened their first Michigan By The Bottle Tasting Room in Shelby Twp. The plan was to sell customers flights of three and five two ounce tastes, with light snacks, from a generous selection from said partners (Chateau Aeronautique, Chateau de Leelanau, Domaine Berrien Cellars, Gill’s Pier Vineyard & Winery, who are closing their doors as of April 15th, but have a good deal of inventory still available at MBTBTR, Peninsula Cellars and Sandhill Crane Vineyards), and it has succeeded brilliantly, so much so, that they’ve recently added a second location in Royal Oak, and partnered with two more wineries for that location, 2 Lads Winery and Verterra Winery. Both locations also offer a wide range of Michigan food products from producers such as Beau Bien Fine Foods of Detroit and Leelanau Cheese from Suttons Bay. (Click images to enlarge.)

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It had been almost a year and a half since I last attended one of Plum Market’s Thursday night wine events, and more than four years since my last J et R Selections tasting. J et R specializes in importing some of our very favorite wines in the world, those being from the southern Rhône Valley, and I was a big fan of their portfolio long before I interviewed head honcho J. C. Mathes back in 2003. Mathes retired several years ago, and his place was taken by Dan Farley, who has continued to shepherd these excellent wines to the U.S. They have been distributed here in Michigan for years by Wines of Distinction, located in Troy, and during my time in wine retail, they were one of my favorite vendors. The business changed its name to Woodberry Wines a few years ago; not long after that, there was a change of ownership as well, but the high quality of their products and staff has remained consistent. (Click images to enlarge.)

So it was that when I caught wind of the “Complete Southern Rhône” tasting scheduled for April 2nd at Plum’s West Bloomfield location, with Farley himself on hand to talk about the ten wines being poured, I blocked out the time on my schedule to make sure I didn’t miss it. It was great to reconnect with Dan; I also enjoyed renewing acquaintances with Michael Korn, who has not only been with Wines of Distinction and Woodberry for many years, but is also a musical colleague of mine. Best of all, it was a pleasure to taste through the selections presented on this evening, as all but one of the wines being poured were from producers that feel like old friends to me. Here are my snapshot impressions of what I tasted.
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It’s been two years since I named Charlie Edson’s Bel Lago Auxerrois as one of my two favorite Michigan wines, along with Left Foot Charley’s Island View Pinot Blanc, and I promised to file a follow-up report on the Auxerrois at that time. I didn’t promise how long it would take me to get around to filing said report, and while I wish I would have gotten to it sooner, I do feel that this blog entry is a “better-late-then-never” kind o’ review. (Click image to enlarge.)

(Disclaimer: My original statement should now be amended to these two being my favorite still wines, given my recent revelations as to just how fine our northern Michigan sparkling wines are, and I doubt that Charlie or Charley aka Bryan Ulbrich will take issue with that.)

I first learned to love Bel Lago Auxerrois back in 2009, during a remarkable November tour of Leelanau Peninsula vineyards and wineries. You can see what Charlie had to say about his version of the variety in the following video that Kim recorded and edited at that time:

I had originally intended to do a comparison tasting of the 2011 and 2012 vintages, and, in fact, we did so about four or five months ago, and what stuck with me then was the contrast between those two vintages. The 2011 was in a prime drinking window, being very mineral-driven, with perfectly balanced acids; it would make a good “ringer” in any number of blind Alsatian (or perhaps even Loire) white wine tastings. The 2012 was racier, with a little less mineral and a big hit of lime that differentiated it from the earlier vintage. It was a great demonstration of how both different vintage conditions and an extra year in the bottle can impact this consistently fine wine.
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April is Michigan Wine Month, and I can’t think of a better way to start the celebration than with a dandy sparkling wine from up north. Michigan is probably best known for the fine Riesling produced here (although one observer has proposed that Pinot Blanc “could be the wine that provides Northern Michigan with an opportunity to create a global brand name”), but I was struck by the following thought as I prepared this blog entry: Michigan could very well make as much a name for its wine industry with sparkling wine as with Riesling. I wonder if Larry Mawby would agree with that?

Think about it; the finest sparkling wines in the world are made in the northern-most wine region in France, Champagne. It’s a cold climate where grapes can have a hard time ripening. Sound familiar? It seems like every time I turn around, I’m trying another delicious Michigan sparkler. Mawby has been spearheading the movement for three decades, but there are other producers making fine bubbly as well. A few that come to mind are Shady Lane Cellars’ Sparkling Riesling, Left Foot Charley’s Chapter Nine Sparkling Pinot Blanc and 2 Lads Sparkling Pinot Grigio. Now, add to that list the one that I tried just this Sunday, bigLITTLE Tire Swing. (Click image to enlarge.)
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We’ve always been upfront about the fact that we receive samples for review from various wineries and importers. These are almost always shipped to us from different parts of the country, and they always go straight down to rest after their journey for at least a week in the infamous “Cellar from Hell,” which is now actually much more tidy and organized than when it was given that dubious designation. We don’t do clinical tastings when we review wines, we like to evaluate them in natural settings, enjoying them with food and/or friends. There have been more than a few occasions when some of these samples end up spending as long as a few months down there, because we like to wait for the right occasion to pull the cork or twist that stelvin enclosure, but sooner or later, the deed gets done.

Such was the case last week when we enjoyed the following two wines. Both had been sitting patiently for several weeks, when I got it in my head that it might be interesting to open them with dinner and see how they sized up against each other. We’re very familiar with Bonny Doon’s Le Cigare Blanc and Tablas Creek’s Esprit de Tablas Blanc; they’re two of the very finest white Rhône blends made in California, and we’ve had multiple vintages of each. It was a decidedly unscientific setting; the blends were somewhat similar, but from different vintages. We weren’t looking for one to show that much better than the other, it was more a case of just wanting to compare them and taste what both had to offer with some good food. (Click images to enlarge.)

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Considering the fact that this is my 4th blog entry about sparkling wine in a little over a month, one might get the impression that I’m getting somewhat obsessive about my bubbles. I don’t know that it’s gotten quite that bad (yet), but, truth be told, I am almost to the point where I prefer sparklers to still wines, even when it comes to my beloved red Rhônes or Mr. Ridge. Not quite, but almost. I will say that I’m now actively and regularly seeking out new things to try and to share impressions of here in this blog. (Click image to enlarge.)

Case in point: Last week, while perusing the wine selection at our friendly neighborhood Costco, I lamented the fact the two Rotaris I’d been so taken with for several months are no longer available there. Then, I took note of the Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut Rosé that had been waiting patiently to catch my attention during the same period, and this time I bit.

Mirabelle is Schramsberg’s non-vintage label, and this was my first time trying one. My experience with this storied producer goes back to the late ‘70s, when I enjoyed a ’76 Blanc de Noir with friends (you can see the actual label on this page). I also loved the ’99 Blanc de Blancs Brut 5 County and ’03 Brut Rosé 4 County in 2006, but have had nothing from them since, so I was quite looking forward to finding out just what was in this particular bottle. It turned out to be very nice indeed…
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Back in the late ‘90s through about 2005, while Australian wines were still quite popular hereabouts, there was a curiosity making the rounds known as “sparkling Shiraz,” which, of course, was, and still is, Shiraz with bubbles. I tried a few back then; I sold some of the stuff as well, during my time in wine retail, and if they never really caught my fancy, I didn’t actually dislike them either. As stated above, they were more a curiosity than anything else. One example that still stands out in my memory is a 1990 Lindemanns Sparkling Shiraz, which we enjoyed at our very first Toledo gathering 15 years ago. This particular “spurgle,” as the Aussies call them, had spent a decade or so in the cellar and showed similar qualities to that of an aged still Shiraz or Syrah, with secondary meaty and leathery characteristics that were quite enjoyable. (Click images to enlarge.)

I hadn’t thought much at all about “spurgles” lately, until we received a new batch of wines for review from our friends at Bonny Doon Vineyard, and, lo and behold, there was a California Sparkling Syrah included in the shipper. Now, we’re used to Randall Grahm and company coming up with off-the-wall bottlings; constant readers will remember how much we loved their Sparkling Albariño, and we found their ¿Querry? Pear Apple Quince Cider quite to our liking as well, so I was more than a little intrigued to see what this little number was all about.

“It’s my favorite Bonny Doon wine.” - Randall Grahm

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The time has finally come for this taster to right/write a great wrong. For some years now, I have referred to myself as a “bubblehead,” a term used to describe someone who so enjoys sparkling wines, they could literally drink them on a daily basis. I have also been, and continue to be a staunch supporter of the burgeoning Michigan wine industry, and yet, in all that time, only once have I reviewed anything from one of the finest sparkling wine producers in the U.S., the Leelanau Peninsula’s own L. Mawby Winery. (Click images to enlarge.)

The irony in all of this is that I’ve talked with Larry Mawby more than a few times over the last several years. He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in the wine industry. I’ve also enjoyed many of his wines, from both the L. Mawby and M. Lawrence labels. Still, I’ve only written about one of them, a delightful thing which goes by the name of “Detroit.” This protracted oversight ends now.

Mawby planted his first vines in 1973, before establishing vineyards at the current Elm Valley location in 1976. Today, the property is planted with about 20 acres of Pinot Noir, Vignoles, Pinot Gris, Regent, Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Significant amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are also purchased from other growers on the Leelanau Peninsula for the original L.Mawby line, which is made using the traditional Methode Champenoise. Larry himself has been making these since 1984.
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A few months ago, we received two late model reds from the fine folks at Tablas Creek Vineyards for review purposes, one each of the entry level and flagship bottlings. As is often the case here at Gang Central, we took our time getting to them, letting them rest for several weeks in the cellar from heck. Finally, I decided that we needed some good Red Wings & Red Rhône Ranger mojo, so we opened them both and enjoyed a few glasses of each with a good old hockey game; well, I did, anyway, Kim had other things to do, but she likes these wines every bit as much as I do. (Click image to enlarge.)

As previously reported, Tablas Creek’s Patelin de Tablas range of wines is comprised of grapes sourced mainly from the estate’s neighbors; Patelin is roughly translated from the French slang for “country neighborhood.” As you can see from the list below, some of the grapes are from Tablas clones, which is always a good thing in capable growers’ hands.
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In October of 2013, I blogged about our current house Chardonnay, the 2011 Domaine de Roally Mâcon Vire-Clesse. I’m happy to report that it is still drinking beautifully and can still be found in the Detroit area; I’m even happier to report that over the last nine months, we’ve found another Chardonnay from the Mâcon that is almost as good, and costs $7 less. We first tried it last summer, at one of our favorite eateries, Café Muse, in Royal Oak. I liked it so well, that, A. I had it there with dinner on my birthday, which is telling, given their excellent wine list, and, B. I bought a case in November to have around to augment our stash of the Domaine de Roally. (Click image to enlarge.)

Christian Collovray and Jean-Luc Terrier have been friends since childhood and shared the same passion for wines. Their friendship was further strengthened when they married sisters Brigitte and Florence, whose father was a winemaker. In 1986, they established the Domaine des Deux Roches, based in the village of Davayé in the Mâconnais; Christian takes care of the vines while Jean-Luc manages the cellar and the commercial end of the business, and Brigitte and Florence both hold administrative positions. Christian’s son Julien Collovray joined the business in 2008. The Collovray & Terrier label was established in the early ‘90s, and now focuses specifically on bottlings from Pouilly-Fuissé, Saint-Véran and Macon-Villages, the latter being the one that has caught our attention as of late. The vines that produce the Chardonnay that goes into the Mâcon-Villages ‘Tradition’ are planted in the clay and limestone soils of Charnay, Davayé, and Pierreclos.
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