Archive for the Tasting Notes from the Underground Category

Continued from the article Tasting Leelanau

Kris Sterkenburg - click to enlarge

The first thing I noticed when we pulled into the parking lot at Gill’s Pier Vineyard and Winery is that the tasting room looks suspiciously like a pole barn, and a second glance quickly confirmed that.  Co-owner Kris Sterkenburg likes to point out just what can be done with a pole barn when you enter the room, and indeed, it’s an elegant, well appointed setting in which to taste the wines that she, husband Ryan and winemaker Bryan Ulbrich produce.  We arrived late in the afternoon on Tuesday for our final appointment of the day, and we were especially pleased to find stools at the tasting bar, which we immediately settled ourselves upon in order to rest our weary feet and limbs. Read the rest of this entry »

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For 30 years, from 1968 to 1998, Mariano García made the brilliant and legendary wines at Vega Sicilia, in Spain’s Ribera del Duero region.  Around 1978, he began his own side project, which his employers at Vega Sicilia frowned upon once they finally learned of it. Garcia decided to give up his day job in 1998 to focus on his own winery, dubbed Bodegas Mauro. Located in the Duero River valley at Tudela, a few miles to the east of the city of Valladolid, Mauro doesn’t qualify for the Ribera del Duero DO status, as it lies just outside of that appellation’s geographic boundaries, and therefore carries the broader Castilla y Leon designation. Mauro’s wines are heavily Tempranillo-based and earning high ratings for those who put stock in such numbers. Read the rest of this entry »

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Our friend Christina Donley was in Toledo this past week in her capacity as Midwest Regional Sales Representative for Ridge Vineyards, and she gave us a shout to see if we’d like to get together with her on her last night in town. Christina is tons of fun, and since she’d come all the way from the Left Coast, it was only right for us to take an hour’s drive south to hang out with her for a while. We met up at Mancy’s Italian Grill, which coincidentally was where our Toledo group had its first ever gathering, 10 years ago. The pizza was good, as was the ’04 Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico Riserva (sorry, I didn’t take notes), and we had a delightful time renewing acquaintances with Ms. Donley. Read the rest of this entry »

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After the Saturday nightmare in Toronto in which the Detroit Red Wings played one of their worst games in recent memory, losing to the Maple Leafs 5-1, the boys turned things around nicely last night with a good old-fashioned whooping of the Columbus Blue Jackets, winning 9-1. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the game, and quite liked the red Rhône I was sipping on throughout. Read the rest of this entry »

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A few weeks ago, our friend Todd Abrams posted a blog entry, “A Splendid Pint: Hand-pulled Two Hearted Ale,” at Swigs, a site that he operates jointly with another friend, Evan Hansen. (Swigs is devoted to “Observations on nature, drinks in all forms and the nature of drinks in all forms,” sentiments that we can surely get behind. Abrams is also a contributing writer with the Metro Times in its Food and Drink section.) In it, he explains how “hand pulled” beers and ales are manually pumped, less carbonated and less chilled than your average draft. In Great Britain (and now, at least to some extent, in the craft beer community in this country as well), these are referred to as “real ales,” another concept that we can get behind, given our penchant for “real wine.” Read the rest of this entry »

If it’s a wine laden October weekend at the Merry Meehan residence in the wilds of Ohio, it must be Fall Fest once again, when oenophiles from the Cleveland area, the greater Midwest and sometimes even farther flung regions convene to once again share good food, fine wine and great friendship. It’s a time when the virtual family that has grown close through 10 annual February weekends in Toledo renews the rituals that brought us all together in the first place. Besides many of the Toledo regulars, attendees also include members of Larry and Mary Meehan’s Cleveland area tasting group, and this year, we were once again graced with the presence of none other than the Bigdog his own bad self, Jon Cook. It’s a recipe for way too good a time, and indeed, as always, a good time was had by all. Read the rest of this entry »

A few photos from Fall Fest in the Cleve.  Click photos to enlarge.   Read the rest of this entry »

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As has been reported, I consider myself to be something of a “bubble head,” in that I would have no problem whatsoever with drinking sparkling wine on a daily basis. I love the stuff, I really do, but financial considerations, even at the best of times, are such that I can’t afford to enjoy Champagne nearly as much as I would like. No hey problemo, as there is a lot of good bubbly out there for very reasonable prices. Normally, I might be inclined to go with a good Spanish Cava rather than an Italian Prosecco, as they tend to have a little more heft and a little more minerality than their counterparts from Veneto. However, we tried a little number that we picked up at Costco a few weeks back and I like it so well (especially for so few dollars), that I’ve been bringing it home again and again. Read the rest of this entry »

Pizza and beer; it’s a natural combination, right?  Like love and marriage, law and order and Laurel and Hardy.  But truth be told, it’s been years since we’ve indulged in those particular American secular sacraments at the same time.  On the occasions that we do eat pizza, we’re more inclined to open a bottle of Sangiovese or Zinfandel, but last week, we broke away from our norm with a visit to Amici’s Pizza and Living Room in Berkeley, Michigan. (Click image to enlarge) Read the rest of this entry »

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Champagne Warrior Brad Baker had been looking for the opportunity to stage a comprehensive tasting of Jean Laurent Champagne for some time now, and he and wife Michelle finally bit the bullet and set a date to do so on October 3rd . The tasting was held at their home and by my count, no less than 24 bottles from that producer, spanning four decades, were uncorked, either by the more usual method of pulling, or with a the blunt edge of a blade. Oh yeah, there was a whole lot of sabering going on and we’ve got the videos to prove it! Read the rest of this entry »