We received a review sample of the 2009 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc a few months ago, and although we tried it after a week or so of letting it rest up from its cross-country journey, I’ve been rather slow in posting said review. It turns out that this isn’t a totally bad thing, because a few weeks ago, we were also sent a bottle of the ’09 Rouge to try, thereby allowing me to combine our impressions on both selections. If you’ve followed our rants and raves for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed that we’re big fans of Tablas Creek, and these two only serve to reinforce our admiration for this fine producer. Click images to enlarge.

The grapes for both the white and red Esprit de Beaucastel bottlings are grown on Tablas Creek’s 120-acre certified organic estate vineyard.

2009 Tablas Creek Vineyard Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc Paso Robles, 62% Roussanne, 26% Grenache Blanc, 12% Picpoul Blanc, 13.5% alc., $40.00 SRP: Clean medium straw to pale gold in color; expressive aromas of white tree fruit, especially peaches, with some apricot in support. Generous flavors echo with some underlying minerality. Full-bodied, rich, ripe and slightly oily, with excellent acids and length. As stated, this is quite approachable, but really, it would be a shame not to give it several years in the cellar to develop into all it can be, which is to say, a very fine white Rhone blend. Find this wine
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Alan Kerr (aka Canadian Zinfan) and this taster got it into our heads that it might be interesting, not to mention fun, to try a small group of Cabernet Franc bottlings from Michigan and Niagara for comparisons sake. It wasn’t hard for us to round up four, and we gathered one evening not long ago to see what they had to offer. We dismissed with formalities, other than my taking notes, and simply enjoyed them for what each had to offer; we didn’t score them or even pick a favorite. We got things started with a Michigan white. Click images to enlarge.

2002 Wyncroft Lake Michigan Shore Chardonnay Avonlea Vineyard, $35, 14.8% alc.: The years have not been kind to this wine since we first tasted it in 2006, if this bottle is any indication. Rich golden color; full bodied, with good acids and length, but the pineapple, pear and butterscotch flavors and aromas are overwhelmed by way too much oak (1/3 new, 1/3 one year and 1/3 two year old Allier). This was actually better in ’06, but the oak is so out of balance that we didn’t finish the bottle. Hopefully, this was an off bottle, as we’ve had other Wyncroft Chards of similar age that performed MUCH better than this one. Find this wine

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Recently, our friends at Vineyard Brands sent us samples from three Argentine producers whose wines they have introduced into the U.S. market. All eight of these proved to be some of the most enjoyable selections we’ve tried from South America in some time, and we would recommend any and all of them. Included here with our notes are links to pages giving background information on each of these wineries.  Click label images to enlarge.

Altos de San Isidro from the very northern Cafayate:

2011 Altos de San Isidro Torrontes Cafayate, 13.5% alc., $16 SRP: Clean medium color, with the typical orange blossom and honeysuckle nose, though perhaps not as effusive as with some models; still, it’s very pretty and follows through on the palate in a restrained manner, with a core of ripe red and green apple flavors and a note of mineral underneath it all. Medium-full bodied, rich and almost oily, not unlike Gewurztraminer in that regard; ripe, but not excessively so. Enough acidity to work well with food, and nice length on the finish; a pleasure to sip on while playing the old 12-string. 8 hour cold maceration and the cool temperature fermentation at 22° C.; no malolactic fermentation, no oak aging. Find this wine
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We happened upon these two delightful wines last Friday, whilst perusing the selection in a department I once managed in a previous lifetime. (It seems so long ago!) We’ve reported on them in the past, and indeed, I may have brought them into that department myself. Their presence seems to illustrate a problem that winemaker Steve Edmunds had in Michigan in that the last two distributors that carried his wines didn’t seem to know how to market them, and the buying public has been generally indifferent towards them here. (I put them in as many hands as I could, but I was just one simple country wine retailer…) Because of this, Edmunds doesn’t bother with our state anymore, which is a real shame, because his wines are wonderful. We enjoyed both of these with Kim’s birthday dinner, and they paired quite nicely with the no-hormone/antibiotic Delmonico steak and shrimp stir fry with fresh mushrooms and snow peas that we shared. It had been a little more than five years since we’d had the first selection.
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Jim Cowan Photo by Chris Witkowski - click to enlarge

The 2011 archive part 2 is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Part 1 may be found here. Prior year’s tasting notes may be found here.

December 10, 2011

A very nice dinner with friends included the following:

2006 Overnoy, Arbois Pupillin:
Crisp, clean and deep – perhaps not typical descriptors for Overnoy but in this vintage, certainly appropriate. A unique flavor profile to any other poulsard I have tasted and a wine I never tire of. Lovely. Find this wine

2006 Allemand, Cornas both the Chaillot and Reynard:
The Chaillot is pretty open and forthcoming for being so young and it is complex, even now. The Reynard is a coiled spring and made of sterner stuff; clearly we are too early to this bottle, but its promise is evident. Both are obviously Cornas and obviously Allemand. And both accompanied my steak very well indeed. Thanks Justin. Find Allemand Cornas Chaillot and Find Allemand Cornas Reynard

I have given up writing any notes on my wines except those not yet released. There are only about 15 cases of the 2008 Skin-Fermented Sauvignon Blanc and I tried a bottle recently.

I am pleased with where this has gone; it’s darker than when first bottled (think burnished copper), softer and has developed some ginger and sauvage notes while maintaining its balance and skin-fermented character. Starting, I think, to tend into Gravner-esque territory. I do hope our 2010 Isa does this with age.

Beautiful with squash soup.

I also recently tasted the as yet unreleased 2009 Calluna Vineyards, Merlot Aux Raynauds and was surprised by how European it came across. This one needs several years in the bottle but promises to be the kind of merlot I actually like, that is to say, merlot without the chocolate, oak signature so many CA merlots have. No “booty” here, just a focused and layered wine. Impressive and dandy with beef stroganoff. Thanks David. Find this wine

Calluna is located in the Chalk Hill AVA here in Sonoma County.

The 2008 Occipinti, Frappato is a thing of beauty; smells a bit like gamay but reminds me more of something from the Jura when tasted. I have never had this grape before so I apologize for the comparisons but it was excellent wine with good grip and sustain. Thanks Garrett. Find this wine

And one last comment; for those of you in the Oakland area, do not miss the wine bar called Punchdown at 2212 Broadway. They have two wine lists; one by the bottle or carafe, and one by the glass. Both are extraordinarily well chosen, filled with things esoteric and unusual, and loaded with quality. The service is provided by the owners (always a good thing) and the noshes are delicious. Finally, a good reason to go to Oakland.

Best, Jim
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Our friends at Pernod Ricard sent us some things to try recently, and as we are always up to try new things, we gave them a go. (Actually, I’ve enjoyed Mumm Napa Brut Prestige on more than a few occasions, but it’s always a good thing to collect the latest data points, eh?)

While New Zealand’s Stoneleigh has been on my radar for at least a few years now, I’d only tasted their Sauvignon Blanc on one previous occasion, and didn’t take notes at that time. My general impression was favorable then, so I expected wines of good quality, and that’s what we found with these two.

2010 Stoneleigh Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, 13% alc.: Clean color, pale to medium straw; mineral, moss and gooseberry nose follows through on the palate, where the moss fades, the mineral steps forward and the tart gooseberry holds its ground. Medium body, good intensity and varietal character, and the requisite acids that should be expected from the variety, no matter where it’s produced. Nothing flashy here, just a straightforward Sauvignon that performs well with a variety of foods and as an aperitif. I like this at a price point anywhere between $9.97 and $13.99, but when it starts to creep above that ($17.99 at Wine.com ?!), I’ll pass. Find this wine
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Maury Tawse and Pascal Marchand

Pascal Marchand, a Canadian from Montreal, has been making wine in Burgundy since the mid 1980’s, learning his art at such highly esteemed properties as Domaines Bruno Clair, Comte Armand and Domaine de la Vougeraie.

Marchand’s has also consulted with producers in Australia, Argentina, Greece, the United States and Ontario. His tenure here in Niagara has been spent working with mostly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay while consulting with Tawse Winery.

He is presently the winemaker for Domaine Jean Féry in Burgundy while his own portfolio of Burgundies, under Pascal Marchand label, debuted in 2006. These wines are soon to be available, thanks to a project with winery owner and life long friend Maury Tawse.

Marchand’s wines in 2006 were from seven different appellations in the Cote de Nuit and totaled a mere 1000 cases. Currently, production is up to 6000 cases from thirty six sites including some whites from the Cote de Beaune. All Marchand’s wines are produced from vineyards with a minimum of 35 years of age, most of which are certified organic.

Toronto’s Le Select Bistro recently played host to a tasting of several of Marchand’s 2009 Burgundies. The vintage, once again, is being touted as one of the best in recent memory. I tried and tasted and I was impressed, the only downside being the prices are high and the wines are only available in six packs. On the upside, these are bloody tasty wines with impeccable balance, and although enjoyable now, they are built to last.
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The wines of Sonoma take centre stage in the release slotted for Saturday October 29th. I don’t have a lot of notes as so few wines were shipped, but those I tasted were, for the most part very good.

Once again congratulations are in order for the team at Tawse winery, which has, for the second year in a row, been bestowed as the Canadian winery of the year. This is a combination of an owner who strives for the best, a deftly skilled winemaker and a team that truly believes they have a wining formula. Well done.

Wines of Sonoma.

944843 KENWOOD JACK LONDON VINEYARD CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2007
Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma Valley, California $34.95
Rich and chewy, lots of sweet, but balanced dark fruit, black licorice, dried herbs and plenty of spice. It rolls over the palate boasting a core of blackcurrant, anise and despite the hefty tannins, it is one big juicy and enjoyable wine. Find this wine

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Periodically, we dig into our stash of Sean Thackrey wines here at Adams, Heritier and Associates to find out how this or that is coming along. The latest items on our agenda were two vintages of Mr. Thackrey’s flagship bottling, Orion. These are wines that have a track record for cellaring a decade or more, but sometimes, you just have to pull the cork on one or two to see where they’re at in their evolution. These were the first Orions we’ve had since our visit with Sean back in May, 2010. Here’s our report on what we tasted.

2004 Sean Thackrey Orion California Native Red Wine, Rossi Vineyard, St. Helena, 14.4% alc. Find this wine
2005 Sean Thackrey Orion California Native Red Wine, Rossi Vineyard, St. Helena, 14.9% alc. Find this wine
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