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Special Celebration????? Why Champagne, Of Course!

Special Celebration????? Why Champagne, Of Course!

Yesterday was a very special day! My husband and I became grandparents for the first time. So what did we open to celebrate? Why, Champagne of course!!!

I’m a lover of all wines sparkling, and it flows almost every day in our household.  In honor of our adorable little girl (as well as our son and daughter-in-law!), we decided to toast with REAL Champagne!

What is it about Champagne? The effervescence of the mesmerizing bubbles? The ceremony of the popping of the cork? The fabulous yeastiness from the years on its lees? Perhaps all of those things and more make Champagne the beverage associated with luxury and the parties of the royal courts and aristocracy of Europe yesterday and today.

We visited the Champagne region a little over a year ago and loved visiting the famous Champagne houses. An added bonus was bellying up to some of the Champagne bars serving “farmer fizz”. Officially known as Grower Champagne, these are sparkling wines in the Champagne region that are produced by the same estate that owns and tends the vineyards. These wines reflect their own style and their specific vineyards. Interestingly, only 5% of the Champagne imported into the United States is Grower Champagne.

We cracked open a Grower Champagne last night to celebrate our little Claire Marie. We chose the Varnier Fannière NV Grand Cru Brut, which is lovely. Made with grapes from their Côte des Blancs vineyards, this Champagne has apple, plum, zesty orange  and spices on the palate. What’s my favorite part of this wine? There is a fabulous brioche yeastiness coming through with the fruit. Ohhhh … heaven! I’ve had this bottle in my cellar for over a year, and in my opinion that bit of age on a non-vintage Champagne adds lovely complexity and enjoyment!

Sipping on this Varnier Fannière while excitedly chatting about the new joy in our lives was the perfect way to end a fabulous day, and to commence an exciting phase of our lives.

And what’s my next mission? I’ll be stocking up on nice bottles of the ’19 vintage to open with her to celebrate her 21stbirthday!

Check out more about Varnier Fannière here: http://www.varnierfanniere.com/Champagne%20Varnier%20Fanniere.htm

Romancing With Romorantin!

Romancing with Romorantin!

Have you heard of the Romorantin grape? It’s a white grape that has been grown in the Loire Valley since the 16th century. It makes a crisp wine that has great minerality and acidity. DNA profiling has determined it to be the offspring of Pinot Meunier (of Champagne fame) and Gouais Blanc (an ancient white grape rarely grown today).

The Cour-Cheverny appellation is situated within the larger Cheverny appellation, which is the most important zone in the middle Loire.  It was promoted to full Appellation Controlee status in 1993.  The wines made from Romorantin make up its own appellation (Cour-Cheverny) which is only about 48 hectare.

I’ve had wine from the Romorantin grape a few times now. Back in June of 2012, I wrote a blog about the 2007 Domaine des Huards Cour-Cheverny. At the end of that blog entry, I told you that if you had any in your cellar you should drink it up. I was wrong!!!!

A gal that works for Domaine des Huards sent me an email back in June of ’12, telling me that in fact Romorantin can be aged for 10, 15 and even 20 years without a problem and that it, in fact, gets better with age. I had one more bottle, so I held on to it. Boy, I’m glad I did. I opened it a few nights ago with my husband, and it is drinking beautifully!

In my initial blog, my tasting notes were pear, mango citrus, and almond on the nose, with some green apple and a bit of mushroom on the palate.

Fast-forward five and a half years, I now get melon rind, fresh spring pea, almond, and saline, which tells me that this wine would be a killer pairing with seafood as well as many types of cheese, salads, pasta with cream sauce, vegetarian dishes, and much more. The color is a gorgeous deep golden!

I like this wine more now than I did five years ago, and I liked it then too! So what do I wish? I wish I had a few more bottles of this wine in my cellar so that I could try it again in another five years!

If you’d like to learn more about Domaine des Huards you can check them out here: http://www.domainedeshuards.com/en

Pairing France with … France!

Tonight’s dinner was a Provençal Zucchini and Potato Gratin Casserole. I wanted to pair it with a French wine (OF COURSE!), and was looking for something from Provence. When I went into our cellar, the ’08 Domaine du Cayron from Gigondas caught my eye! Okay, it’s not from Provence, but it IS from the Southern Rhone, which is pretty darn close geographically speaking. And it was a great match!Gigondas-France

A few years ago I was fortunate to visit Gigondas, a charming village located near Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the Southern Rhone!  It is also an appellation that produces some fabulous wines, both red and rosé, with its vineyards sitting below the dramatic rock formation called the Dentelles de Montmirail.

For many decades all of the wines of Gigondas were simply Côtes-du-Rhône, but in 1966 they were elevated to Côtes-du-Rhône-Villages.  In 1971 Gigondas was deservingly awarded its own appellation.

By law, the red wines of Gigondas can be made of no more than eighty percent Grenache, and no less than fifteen percent Syrah and/or Mourvèdre.  The remaining blending varietal is usually Cinsault, but may be any other red Rhone varietal except Carignan. Confused yet??? One of the top producers of Gigondas is Domaine de Cayron, and I’m happy to tell you that their wines are distributed here in the U.S. Cayron-w-Glass gigondas-street

Now the 2008 vintage in Gigondas is not known to be stellar. The summer months were cool and had lots of rain, but I find this ’08 Domaine du Cayron to be fabulous. It has lovely plum, cherry and loads of licorice. There’s also a bit of garrigue, which pairs wonderfully with the Herbes de Provence I used in the casserole.

I have a 2010 (considered a great vintage) waiting for me next to the empty slot where this ’08 sat. I’m sure looking forward to pairing that with something special too!

 

Rajat Parr – A Somm & His Wines!

Rajat Parr is one of the most famous sommeliers in the U.S. He is also a very busy man! Not only is he wine director for the Michael Mina restaurant group in San Francisco, co-author of the highly respected Secrets of the Sommeliers (in fact, he won his first James Beard Award for this) he is ALSO a founding co-owner of a winery and a winemaker! I recently attended a wine dinner featuring some of these wines!

Held at the beautiful restaurant Capa, located on the top floor of the Four Seasons in Orlando, the dinner was lovely and the wines were fabulous! Considering that this is a WINE blog, not a food blog, I’m going to focus on the wines!

During the reception we were poured the 2012 Sandhi Santa Barbara County Chardonnay. This is NOT the typical California Chard.  This straw colored wine has white flowers, meyer lemon, apricots and honeydew melon on the nose. The palate is very well balanced with lively acidity, the meyer lemon, green apple and a touch of oak with butterscotch flavors.  I will seek this wine out and buy it by the case.  Yum!!!!

The first course of the meal was paired with the 2012 Sandhi Sanford & Benedict Chardonnay. On the nose is citrus and tart apple. The palate has razor sharp acidity, citrus, tart apple, lots of minerality and is very fresh. This wine tastes much more like a White Burgundy than a California Chardonnay. It actually reminds me of a Pluigny-Montrachet! Again, a delightful wine.

Next up was the 2011 Maison L’Orée Meursault Charmes.  As a white Burgundy freak, I was very excited to taste this. Rajat Parr is also a Burgundy freak! The wines of this region have always inspired him, therefore an opportunity to create a negociant house to help produce wines from this region was undoubtedly a dream come true for him. This Meursault Charmes (a Premiers Cru) has medium ++ acidity balanced by a wonderful creaminess. This wine definitely reflects it’s sense of place, while bursting with citrus flavors and finishing with baking spices.

On to the reds we went with the 2012 Domaine de la Côte Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir. I’m very picky when it comes to this varietal and oh boy, I wasn’t disappointed. On the nose are lively fresh flowers and lots of red fruit, especially strawberry, raspberry and cranberry. The palate confirms the fruit and has some good earthiness. Fermented with 50% whole cluster and 50% stem inclusion, this Pinot Noir never sees new oak. 2100 cases were bottled.

The last wine of the evening was the 2012 Domaine de la Côte Blooms Field Pinot Noir. With rose petals and ripe red fruit on the nose, the palate was quite lush with candied strawberries, dark cherries, some pepper and a touch of saline. That doesn’t surprise me considering this vineyard is located only 8 miles from the Pacific Ocean.  Fermented with 100% whole cluster and 100% stem inclusion, this is again aged in 100% neutral French oak. 500 cases were bottled.

All of the night’s wines poured were lovely. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for each of them. Rajat and his partners should be very proud, and have a very bright future in front of them!

Here are the links:

http://sandhiwines.com

http://domainedelacote.com

 

Wonderful Whites from Alsace!

Alsace is a region of France that I have yet to visit, much to my chagrin, but whose wines I absolutely adore!

I recently found a bottle of the Trimbach ’08 Gewurztraminer at Wine Watch, a great wine store in Fort Lauderdale (another blog for another day!) and grabbed it. Tonight I popped it open!

Maison Trimbach has been around a long time, since 1626 to be exact. Twelve generations have continued their viticulture history, with the family vineyard being led today by Hubert Trimbach, his nephews Jean and Pierre, and his daughter Anne. The family produces wines from all of the classic Alsace varietals, but today I’m going to tell you about this ’08 Gewurztraminer.

Alsace is a prime spot for this aromatic and lively grape. Gewurtz (as it is often called for short) thrives in this region of France, and many “pros” consider this to be the prime spot to grow this aromatic and lively grape. 

The ’08 Trimbach has a golden color with sexy aromas of peach, lychee, pear and honeysuckle. The palate has honey, ripe  (almost jammy) pear, peach and is dry with a peppery spiciness on the finish. This wine definitely benefited from being cellared for a few years and is ready to drink now.

I recently poured Trimbach’s ’13 Pinot Blanc for a corporate event, and it was the “surprise wine” of the night. People couldn’t believe how much they loved it.

Trimbach is best knows for their fabulous bottlings of Riesling, but they do a wonderful job with all of the Alsatian varietals.

Yes, there is definitely a trip to Alsace in my not too distant future. Until then, I’ll keep lots of wines from the region in my cellar, with Trimbach being at the top of my list.

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