2004 Sean Thackrey Andromeda Pinot Noir
December 14th, 2010 | 
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That is correct, your eyes do not deceive you. The label pictured at right IS the 2006 Sean Thackrey Andromeda, and not the 2004 that is clearly indicated in the title of this entry. The bad news is that the two label shots taken of the ’04 with Kim’s otherwise incredible Droid Incredible were just not good enough to use, and since we have two bottles of the ’06 in the Cellar from Heck, and Thackrey’s Andromeda labels look exactly the same in all other ways except for that one little ’4′ and the equally minuscule ’6′ (not to mention the alcohol content), I made an executive decision to go with what we have. So there.
The good news is that the wine itself is quite nice; here are my impressions.
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Five from Andrea Oberto
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I had the opportunity recently to taste through five wines from the Piedmont producer Andrea Oberto, courtesy of our good friend Michael Korn at J&J Importers/Wines of Distinction. The wines were selected for two winemaker dinners, which have since taken place, both in the Metro Detroit area. I’d never tasted any of these before, and indeed, they were barely on my radar, but Mr. Korn assured me that they were of high quality, and not only is his word good enough for me, the wines acquitted themselves admirably. Michael describes Oberto as “a bit of a modernista,” and sustainable farming practices are employed in the vineyards.
On hand for both of those was Fabio Oberto, Andrea’s son and the man responsible for making them. Besides the five reds, also included in this tasting were an excellent, well-priced Brut Rosato Spumanti and a zippy little Moscato d’Asti. I was joined by Papa Joe’s Gourmet Market Corporate Executive Chef Tim Enfield C.E.C, who was responsible for one of the two dinners, and have included his comments and menu pairings as well.
Snooth has nice things to say about us.
Snooth, “the world’s largest and most comprehensive online wine destination, featuring millions of reviews and hundreds of thousands of wines,” gave props to the Gang of Pour and two other wine blogs in their weekly “What We’ve Been Reading” column. Subtitled “3 blogs bringing the wit as well as the wine,” Snooth editor, Gregory Dal Piaz says this about the Gang – “Gang of Pour is another group effort, with five main contributing authors at this point. This is some fine wine writing — always with a bit of cheek, which makes it that much more interesting to read. Check ’em out and see if one of these guys, and gal, has a palate, and sense of humor, that matches yours.”
The other two blogs are Another Wine Blog and Suburban Wino.
Thanks, Gregory!
Two Outstanding Reds from 2 Lads
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Up until now, much of the burgeoning Michigan wine industry’s reputation has been based on its white wine output, but little by little, quality reds have been catching up to their paler counterparts. Producers such as Wyncroft, Shady Lane, Longview and Circa have been making Pinot Noir and/or variations of the Cabernet theme that have really turned our heads, and a few nights ago, we were knocked out by two from the Old Mission Peninsula winery, 2 Lads. We’ve been impressed with pretty much everything that we’ve tasted from them previously, but Cornel Olivier and Chris Baldyga have really outdone themselves with their ’09 Pinot Noir and ’08 Cab Franc. Here are our impressions of these beauties.
Alan Kerr’s Vintage’s December 11th Release – Tasting Notes
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Back in business, and just in time for the concluding release of 2010 that is scheduled to hit the shelves on December 11th. Ouch, time does fly by, especially when one is having fun, and fun I had, as there are several great wines to be found. Those most notable are from the Golden State, Italy, Australia and Ontario. Happy holidays as we have to say now, and have a safe and wine-filled New Year.
Speaking of New Year, here is an array of fine bubblies, at all levels of pricing, which will fit the occasion nicely.
Two from Neil Ellis
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We’ve been aware of Neil Ellis since we first started investigating the wines of South Africa in the early ’90s, but we’ve actually had precious little experience with his products over the years. It was during our adventures with the varieties of the Sauvignon experience back in 2000 that we tried the only selection we’ve ever reported on (it was quite good, by the way), and then came another long drought. Happily, our friends at Vineyard Brands, Inc. rectified that oversight on our part by sending us two samples for review. It’s been 10 years and 11 vintages since we enjoyed that 1998 Neil Ellis Sauvignon Blanc, and based on this 2009 model, we may have missed some pretty fine stuff in the interim. Also included in the package was an impressive late model Cabernet Sauvignon. Here are our impressions.
Three St. Innocent Pinots at Cork Wine Pub
There’s a lot of excitement bubbling among Detroit area wine and food enthusiasts these days over a new establishment in Pleasant Ridge devoted to serving great fare in a cordial atmosphere at reasonable prices. Cork Wine Pub Proprietor Nancy Crutchfield, Executive Chef Bree Hoptman, Beverage Director Jeffrey Mar, CSW and General Manager Joel Rubin have invested a lot of proverbial blood, sweat and tears (not to mention three years dickering with the powers-that-be in Pleasant Ridge for a liquor license), and it all finally came together on Friday, November 19th, when they held a “soft opening” for friends, members of the trade and anyone else who happened to amble in. Kim and I were in attendance that evening and had such a good time, we’ve been back twice since.
Video: Wine growing on Old Mission Peninsula
VIA Chateau Grand Traverse – Origin Story: A very, cool video of Ed Sr. explaining how wine growing began on the Old Mission Peninsula.
Michigan Stories- Ed O’Keefe from Reid Ashton on Vimeo.
Tweet & Taste with Michigan By the Bottle and L. Mawby
There was a knock on our front door this morning, and, as I nursed my coffee and re-acclimated myself to what passes for reality in our corner of the universe, Kim answered and accepted a package from the nice FedEx guy.
“Were you expecting any wine?” she called out to me.
“No,” I replied, and, as the proverbial light bulb came on in my brain, followed that almost immediately with a question of my own.
“Aren’t we signed up for the Mawby Tweet & Taste?”
