Vacation Wines

Well I’m back from a wonderful month at the beach in Lavallette, NJ.  Weather for the most part was great and having our children and grandchildren with us made for a great time.  We did some cooking, visited some good restaurants and drank some good wine.

Of the restaurants we visited, Firefly American Bistro in Manasquan, NJ, a recent addition to the Jersey shore, was absolutely first rate.  Chef Lou Smith has created a terrific menu that is supported by excellent service in a lovely space.  And it is BYOB.  Our plates, each of which was superb, included Wild Mushroom Fricassee, Crab Cakes, Foie Gras, Steak House Wedge Salad, Veal Paillard and Papparadelle with seafood.

For the white wine I brought along a magnum of 2007 Poggio Dei Gorleri Pigato Albium. Pigato is a white grape planted primarily in Liguria and is one of my favorite white wines.  The wine showed great balance and acidity with a bit of viscosity on the palate and possessed a lovely lengthy finish.  Only 700 magnums are produced each year.  The wine is fermented on skins in French oak vats for 3 days, followed by a further period in tonneaux (French barrels). The wine is aged for 3 months in tonneaux, then refined for 7 months in bottle, followed by another 3 months in bottle prior to release. Available at 56º Wine, Bearnardsville, NJ.  $55 per magnum.

Another great Pigato is from Bruna. We consumed a couple of bottles of 2005 Bruna Pigato U Baccan during our month at the beach. The U Baccan is produced entirely from late harvest Pigato grapes primarily from the old vines on the Bruna Estate.  It is a sensational wine.  $45 at DeVino Wine Boutique, NYC.  For more about the Pigato grape click here.  For more about the Pigato grape click here.

For the red I bought a magnum of 2003 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape which drank very well.  This estate makes only one red and one white wine.  The wine is a bit on the modern side but has good balance and terroir.  I find it a bit pricy though at about $100 a bottle.

I am a big fan of the Gruner Veltliner white wine grape, so I brought a few bottles along.  Grown primarily in Austria, it is a very food friendly wine that drinks easily and exhibits great balance and purity on the palate, with a lovely finish.  We happily drank a 2005 Franz Hirtzberger Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Rotes Tor; 2004 FX Pichler Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Durnsteiner Kellerberg and 2005 FXPichler Gruner Veltliner Smaragd M.  Each bottle was superb.  Pichler wines come from single vineyard sites and are made in a traditional style.  If you have never tried Gruner Veltliner, treat yourself and you will be happy you did.  They cost about $40 a bottle.

A few other nice white wines we drank included Jermann Vintage Tunina, a white from Venezia Fruili that is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana and Picolit.  Made in a more modern style, the wine never disappoints.  Widely available, but a bit pricy at about $70. 

At a much more reasonable price is the 2004 Movia Ribolla Gialla at about $30.  Also from Venezia Fruili at the Slovanian border this incredible wine is made by master winemaker Ales Kristancic.  Simply delicious.

Another terrific Italian white wine grape is Trebbiano. This is the most widely planted white varietal in Italy. It is grown throughout the country, with a special focus on the wines from Abruzzo.  Mostly, they are pale, easy drinking wines, but Trebbiano from producers such as Paolo Bea, Valentini and Emidio Pepe have been known to age for 15+ years. At the shore we drank a couple of bottles of 2004 Paolo Bea Arboreus.  Bea is one of the iconic traditional producers in all of Italy.  Located in Umbria, this is a delicious wine with great purity, balance and focus.  Alas it is not easy to find, but if you do expect to pay about $60.

For red wine I brought along 2000 Bruno Giacosa Riserva; 2000 Roagna Barolo Riserva la Rocca E la Pira;  2000 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo and 2000 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Cerequio.  2000 was a warm vintage in Italy yielding wines of low acidity and therefore not wines that will have a long life.  Happily all of these drank well with the Giacosa, Roagna and Bartolo giving virtuoso performances.  The Voerzio while more modern, drank well, but was not up to the others.

2010 was an exceptional vintage in Burgundy.  The wines are spectacular and will require cellar time to reach peak drinkability. I could not resist trying a wine from this vintage so I brought along a 2010 Domaine Joseph Voillot Bourgogne Rouge Vielle Vignes (old vines) to try.  Bourgogne level wines are meant to be drunk early so I decided to give this a try. While the fruit was pure, soft and balanced on the palate, it was a bit light and thus will benefit from a couple of more years in the cellar.  At $35 a bottle a great wine to add to your cellar.  56º Wine, Bernardsville, NJ.

Additional restaurants that we enjoyed and you might want to check out were:

Runners Seafood Restaurant andMarket, Lavallette, NJ.  Fresh seafood, properly cooked.  BYOB

Xina, Toms River, NJ.  A new addition to the shore this is a great spot for sushi, oysters and Chinese food.  Courteous service, reasonable prices and good food.  BYOB

Labrador Lounge, Normandy Beach, NJ.  Eclectic menu featuring Asian, Mexican and American dishes prepared very well.  BYOB

Via Veneto Ristorante, Brick, NJ.  Good Italian food, but service can be a problem.

Mia’s Pizzeria, Ortley Beach,NJ is a great take-out spot (dinning in also available) for pizza, pasta and veal parm.

Saluté

  

The Back of the Bottle

As a wine lover I buy a lot of wine. As I have learned a lot more about the wines I like over the past few years, purchasing wine is rarely hit or miss for me.  On the contrary, it is usually an exhilarating adventure as I continue to discover new grapes, new producers and new regions that delight my palate.  How do I discover them you ask?  I was hoping you’d ask that question.  In addition to learning about them in cyberspace, from wine journalists and from a number of learned wine shop proprietors, I pay attention to the back of the wine bottle.  That is usually where the label of the importer of the wine is listed.  Almost all have websites that talk of their origins, philosophy and wine producer portfolio.  It is a wealth of information and insight.  I have learned that there is a difference in philosophy amongst this group.  I have found that there are a number of importers that share my passion for wines that are an expression of the grape, climate and soil of the area, and thus import wines made by winemakers concerned with the end result of each vintage as opposed to how many points it may earn from wine critics.  As you can guess this group have become my heroes and I constantly seek out their wines.

Check out their portfolios by clicking on their name and visiting their web sites.

For my money at the top of this list is Louis/Dressner Selections, NYC.  Sadly Mr. Dressner passed away a few months ago, but his family carries on the tradition of maintaining a spectacular portfolio of artisan wine makers from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, Slovenia & Chile.  I have yet to taste a wine from his portfolio that did not bring a smile to my face and delight to my palate.  Most of the wines I have tasted are in the $20 to $40 range and as such are incredible values.  The wines are magnificent expressions of the grape and terroir of the area.  Wines in my cellar include:

Domaine Pepiere Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie.  Propieter and wine maker Marc Ollivier is one of the resident genius winemakers in the overlooked Loire Valley of France.  Made from the Melon de Bourgogne grape, this is a beautifully pure & delicious white wine that is absolutely the perfect accompaniment to fresh, ice-cold oysters on the half shell or simply by itself.  $13.50 at Chambers Street Wines, NYC, and Wine Legend, Livingston, NJ. This is a ridiculous price for a wine this good.

Arianna Occhipinti is a 20 something year old wine making super star on the rise.  From Sicily, she has only been making wine with indigenous Sicilian grapes since 2004.  Her wines, such as her Siccagno Nero D’Avola is simply one of the greatest expressions of the Nero D'Avola grape you will find.  I opened a magnum of the 2008 last week and it was magnificent.  The wine was a spectacular expression of pure fruit with an impeccable balance of acidity and minerality and a simply gorgeous finish.  Talk about soul, this wine has it in spades.  $37 per 750ml at Chambers Street Wines, NYC.

One of the most recent additions to the Dressner portfolio is the magnificent old world Barolo from Giovanni Canonica.  With only 1.5 hectares of vines, Giovanni only began selling his wines a couple of years ago.  I began buying them, starting with the 2005 vintage.  While I have only tasted the 2005 so far, it is in a class with Mascarello, Conterno, Rinaldi & Cappellano.  It is a beautiful expression of the Nebbiolo grape and at about $70 a bottle a bargain compared to what you pay for the “bigger name” wines.  Also at Chambers Street Wines, NYC.  Thanks Jamie, for turning me on to this producer.

Poloner Selections, Mt Kisco, NY is another importer I pay attention to when I see his label on a bottle.  Like Dressner, he seeks out the artisan winemaker.  An like Dressner wines, Poloner wines take up a fair amount of space in my cellar.  They include:

Gaston Huet, the standard for Chenin Blanc from Vouvray in the Loire Valley of France.  I have written about these wines on many occasions.  Buy them young when they are in the $20 - $30 dollar range and let them age for 10, 20 or 30 years or more.  Whenever you open them they will leave you spellbound.  If you want to experience how good white wine can be, start here. 

Francesco Rinaldi is one of Barolo’s top producers of Barolo.  The wines are beautiful examples of the Nebbiolo grape.  They are round, balanced and elegant on the palate. The 2006, a terrific vintage, is available at $52 at Wine Legend, Livingston, NJ.

Robert Chadderon, owner of Robert Chadderon Selections in NYC is considered by many to have the finest palate in the wine business.  He is also, so I have been told, a rather unique individual who only sells the wine he imports to select customers.  To each his own.  However if you see his name on a bottle, buy it.  You will not be disappointed.  Some of the producers from his portfolio that are in my cellar and I suggest you consider are Giuseppe Quintarelli (Amarone & Valpolicella); Albert Boxler (Riesling); Alessandro E Gian Natale Fantino (Barolo).  DeVino Wine Boutique in NYC carries a large portion of the Chadderdon portfolio.  Mr. Chadderdon does not have a website.

Other importers worthy of consideration and a website visit include:

Kermit LynchWine Merchant

Rosenthal WineMerchant

Michael Skurnik Wines

Vias Imports,Ltd.

Domain SelectWine Estates

Michael Skurnik also imports the wines from the Terry Thiese portfolio, which specializes in German, Austrian and Champagne Estate Selections.

This is by no means an all inclusive list.  The message is simple... when you find a wine you like, check out who imported it.  Chances are there are other wines in the portfolio that will fit you palate and budget.  Venture out, it is worth the trip!!!

Saluté

MY 67th Birthday

This past Sunday was my 67th birthday. My children, grandkids, sister, mother, mother-in-law and of course my wife were all on hand to celebrate the day with me at the beach house we rented for the month of August in Lavallette, NJ. Mother nature obliged us with perfect weather to enjoy the special day.

Naturally we ate and drank very well the entire day.  A magnum each of 2010 Clos Sainte Magdeleine Cassis Rosé and 2010 Domaine Terrebrune Bandol Rosé were the perfect quaffs to beat the 90º heat.  Simply delicious, they were enjoyed by even the red wine drinkers in the group.  I wrote about these two gorgeous wines in my last two posts, so if you would like more information, please refer to them.  They are usually available at 56º Wine in Bearnardsville, NJ and Chambers Street Wines, NYC.

Diane's Taralli

Alas, the food was the real star of the day however.  Prior do dinner we enjoyed freshly baked Taralli that my sister Diane made. Taralli, an Italian snack food, common all over the southern half of the Italian Peninsula, they are similar in texture to a semi hard biscuit or a breadstick.  They are usually oval in shape and can be made with various condiments. My family family is partial to those made with ground black pepper fennel seeds. They are the perfect accompaniment to wine, either dunked in it or eaten alone.  Using my mom’s recipe, Diane has mastered this “betcha can’t eat just one” biscuit.

Shrimp cocktail and Maui Coconut Fried Shrimp from Runners Seafood Restaurant in Lavalette were served alongside the Taralli.  

Joe Leone Ravioli, my gravy

The main course was pasta of course.  No Sunday or birthday is complete without it.  My absolute favorite pasta is the homemade cheese Ravioli my grandmother Michelina DeRosa, rest her soul, used to make.  Large in size, yet light as a feather they simply had no peer in the ravioli world.  They key to this heavenly dumpling was the creaminess of the filling, which was made with fresh ricotta cheese, grated Pecorino Romano cheese, fresh parsley, eggs, salt and pepper.  Try as I might, my attempts to duplicate them have been less than successful.  Fortunately a couple of years ago I discovered the homemade cheese ravioli from Joe Leone’s in Point Pleasant, NJ.  They are as close to grandma’s in every respect.  They went perfect with the pot of gravy, meatballs, and gravy meat that I made.  

With the ravioli the ladies continued to drink the Rosé, while the guys enjoyed a 1997 Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo Riserva Monprivato Ca’ d’Morisso.  From one of Italy's top traditionalists this is the estate's top wine and is only made in top vintages and from a special parcel within the heart of the Monprivato vineyard.  I wrote about the difficulty of the 1997 vintage in Barolo in my last post as well as this particular wine.  It was the best of the wines from the vintage I opened last month, and was once again today.  A classic Nebbiolo with a great sense of place, a focused balance and elegant finish.    

A salad made with fresh Jersey tomatoes from my friend Gregorio’s garden, basil and cucumbers from my garden and red onions was the classic way to end this classic meal.

We finished with two homemade desserts.  My lovely wife Carol made one of my favorites, Banana Cream Pie.  It was fabulous.  My sister made a marble cake that was made with ricotta that was simply amazing.  It was moist, light and delicious.

It was a great birthday.  I am very fortunate to have such a great family to enjoy this special day with, for it is they who make it so special.  My thanks and love to each of them.

Saluté

Recent Wines

While I have not been very active in blogging about wine lately, I certainly have been active in enjoying a number of terrific wines so far this month.  Here are some highlights.

2001 Radikon Oslavje.  From Friuli-Venezia at the Slovanian border, Stanislao Radikon is one of Italy’s iconic producers. He pursues a deceptively simple philosophy—the production of wines that are wholly natural. These wines are singly devoted to the grape and the grape alone. His white or “orange wines” such as Ribolla Gialla & Oslavje (white blend) are stunningly pure and balanced on the palate and provide a remarkable drinking experience.  The 2001 Oslavje is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Sauvignon Blanc.  At 11 years of age the wine continues to drink beautifully.  These wines should be drunk like a red wine, i.e. at room temperature, to be properly appreciated and enjoyed.  They exhibit a slight oxidation on the palate and as such you will either love the wine or hate it.  It is a unique drinking experience. The 2005 vintage is currently available at Chambers Street Wines, NYC for $47. The Ribolla Gialla is also delicious and sells for the same price.

Antonio Galloni of The Wine Advocate once told me that Enzo Pontoni, owner/wine maker of Miani Winery in Friuli-Venezia, Italy is a genius when it comes to making both red and white wine.  Pricey and very difficult to acquire, a recent bottle of 2009 Miani Friulano Tocai Buri gave me every cause to agree with Mr. Galloni. The wine was absolutely stunning.  Pure, balanced and focused on the palate with an enticing bit of viscosity.  The wine continued to evolve in the glass with each sip and finished with elegance and soul.  One of the best white wines I have ever tasted.  I was able to locate some a while back at Zachy’s.  

My good friend Gabrio Tosti, owner of De-Vino Wine Boutique, NYC, reminded me at a lunch a while back about the problems of the 1997 vintage in Italy.  He especially recommended drinking up all Barolos, Barbarescos and Valpolicellas from the Veneto in short order.  I am glad we had the lunch, as unfortunately he was right.

When first released, the 1997 Barolos were highly praised by most wine critics.  Today, with the exception of Wine Spectator, which scored the vintage 99 points (numbers, ugh), most knowledgeable wine writers and sommeliers will tell you they were wrong about the vintage and that 1996 has in fact turned out to be a much, much better vintage. 

The 1997 growing season in the Barolo region in Piedmont, Italy was hot and dry. As a result of the weather the Nebbiolo grapes had uncharacteristic low acidity and high sugar levels that produced atypical Barolos that are not for long aging. 

I opened close to a dozen bottles of 1997 Italian wines this month from Barolo and the Veneto and was extremely disappointed and unimpressed with all but one of them.  I found that they had become "tired" and had lost their vitality in most cases.  The fruit was waning and the complexity was gone.  These wines were not much fun to drink.

The Barolos I drank were from three of the region’s top producers.  1997 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino Riserva (5 bottles); 1997 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo (4 bottles) and 1997 Giuseppe Mascarello Barolo Riserva Monprivato Ca’ d’Morisso (1 bottle).

While each of the Conterno bottles had that signature Conterno traditional earthy bouquet and purity of fruit, the wine was old, tired and on the boring side.

Of the 4 bottles of Bartolo Mascarello, 3 were undrinkable.  They were oxidized and insipid.  The other bottle while drinkable was similar to the Conterno.  Fortunately the wine shop I purchased them from took back my remaining unopened bottles.

The Ca’ d”Morisso was by far the best of the lot.  Fruit and vitality were still in tact and the wine drank very nicely.  I plan on finishing my last 5 bottles in the near future as I am afraid they will undergo the same fate as the others.

I also opened 3 bottles of 1997 Quintarelli Valpolicella Classico Superiore, and while each drank much better than the ’97 Baroli, the fruit in each bottle was starting to decline.  The remarkable balance between sweet and dry, acidity and fruit that gives his wines such a remarkable complexity was not up to other vintages of this wine that I have enjoyed.  It is still a good bottle of wine, but I would drink whatever you have up over the next year as I do not think it is going to last much longer.

The 2007 vintage in Chateauneuf-du-Pape is considered by every wine writer I have read to be one of the greatest vintages ever for the appellation and comparable to the fabulous 1990 vintage.  A 2007 Chateau Rayas Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Reserve certainly lived up to the accolades of the critics.  The wine had incredible depth and purity of fruit on the palate, along with a bracing acidity, complexity and roundness.  It finished with unparalleled elegance.  Alas wines of this quality will set you back more than a few dollars and are difficult to find.  Definitely a wine for that special occasion. 

While the 2001 vintage in Chablis in Burgundy is no match for the 2007 vintage in CDP, top producers such as Francois Raveneau managed to turn out superb wines such as his 2001 Raveneau Chablis Valmur.  This was a terrific bottle.  Crisp with a wonderful stony minerality on the palate, it had beautiful balance, long finish and is in its drinking window now.

The 2004 vintage in the Northern Rhone region of France was in the same category of the 2001 Burgundy vintage, good but not the stuff of which legends are made.  Many excellent wines were made in the vintage however.  I am a fan of Norhern Rhone white grapes such as Marsanne, Viognier & Roussanne.  I like their complexity and viscosity on the palate.  The 2004 Chapoutier Ermitage le Meal Blanc made from 100% Marsanne is a perfect example. The wine exhibited great depth & purity on the palate.  Its finish was lush and long.  A wine with soul!

Staying in the Norther Rhone but moving over to red, I opened a bottle of 2009 Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie Ampodium Classique that I purchased recently. Rostaing's winemaking is a mix of tradition and modernism such as total or partial destemming (100% for the Classique) and the fermentation in roto-fermenters.  A fair amount of new oak is used.

Made from 100% Syrah from 13 different plots, the wine was rich and concentrated, the oak was well integrated and hints of pepper and spice danced on the palate.  It finished a bit short however, suggesting to me that it probably needs a couple more years of cellar aging.  56º Wine, Bearnardsville, NJ. 

For my money, one of the best Sauternes you can buy is from Chateau La Tour Blanche.  The 2001 La Tour Blanche Sauternes is drinking marvelously at the moment and will continue to do so for many years.  I absolutely love the fruit, coconut and vanilla layers that soar from the glass and delight the palate.  The wine’s impeccable balance and yummy non-medicinal finish make this wine a tour-de-force in my opinion.  At $45 a bottle this is the average guy’s Chateau d’Yquem.  

Saluté

The Wines of Summer

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy wrote George Gershwin in his classic song about summer.  What better way to enjoy “easy livin” than with easy drinking wines, especially if you are lounging by the pool, on your patio or at a vacation spot.

One of the best things about these easy drinkers is that they are relatively inexpensive.  And there is certainly no shortage of these wines from topnotch producers.  Here are a few that I think would be worthy of your consideration.

The Italian sparkling wine Prosecco has become a very popular wine the past few years, and rightfully so.  Much less expensive than Champagne, Prosecco dances on the palate and goes down very easily.  Valdobbiadene is a town in the province of Treviso, Veneto, Italy. It is a picturesque wine growing area just below the Alpine areas of Veneto.  The climate of the area is ideal for cool varieties of grape such as Prosecco.  The wines are also usually widely available.  Here are three you might want to look for. 

Canella Prosecco $15
Nino Franco Prosecco Valdobbiadene Rustico $30 
Zardetto Prosecco Valdobbiadene $15.  


None of these wines possess the complexity of more expensive Champagnes, but they all are very pleasant and easy to drink and will bring a smile to your face.

NV Fontezoppa Voile Blanche Brut Verdicchio is an absolutely delicious sparkling Verdicchio wine from Marche, Italy.  It is crisp and elegant and the perfect wine for sipping by the pool.  About $14 at 56º Wine, Bearnardsville, NJ.

Francois Pinon is considered to be one of the finest producers in Vouvray (Loire Valley, France).  I adore his wines and as I write this post I am enjoying a glass of NV Francois Pinon Vouvray Brut. This is a superb sparkling Chenin Blanc.  Crisp, fresh and focused on the palate, it has great acidity that should allow the wine to age for at least another 10 years…that is if you can keep your hands off of it.  $20 a bottle (talk about a steal) at Chambers Street Wines, NYC.

In addition to these sparklers, Rosé wines are perfect accompaniments to the heat and humidity of summer.  I have written about the amazing 2011 Clos Sainte Magdeleine Cassis Rosé in a recent post, Nick's Amazing Pizza Oven as well as a number of other Rosés in a post from last year titled Rosé. Chambers Street Wines and 56º Wine usually carry the wine.  $30.

A couple of weeks ago I was speaking with Mahesh Lekkala at his wine shop, Wine Legend in Livingston, NJ. about Rosé wines.  He asked if I had ever tasted Domaine Tempier Rosé.  While I have heard of this producer before, I had not tasted his wines.  Mahesh opened a bottle of 2011 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé for me to taste, and Mahesh's famous words "Oh my God" sprung from my lips.  My description is simple, this was crisp, fresh and delicious.  Salmon in color, it is beautifully balanced and with enough acidity to last for some time.  I quickly purchased a case at about $35 a bottle.  

Additionally, consult your wine guy (or gal) where you purchase your wine from for summer wines.  I am sure they will be able to provide you with some additional reasonably priced gems.

Enjoy the summer!

Saluté

Notre Dame Wine Dinner

For the past three years I have been involved in our parish’s wine dinner fundraiser.  This year’s event took place at Il Tulipano Ristorante in Cedar Grove, NJ last Friday evening.  Chris Cree, MW, owner of 56º Wine in Bearnardsville, NJ once again put together an amazing selection of wines for the evening, and Gregorio Polimeni and his staff did a terrific job with a delicious menu to compliment the wines. 

With a fantastic assortment of passed antipasti that included delicious homemade pizza, tender & greaseless fried calamari and a host of assorted canapés we enjoyed 2010 Domaine Terrebrune Bandol Rose (from magnum) and 2011 Robert Sinskey Abraxas "Vin de Terroir" Los Carneros.

The Domaine Terrebrune is from the magnificent portfolio of Kermit Lynch, one of the country’s top importers.  From the Bandol (Provence) region of France this terrific wine is a blend of  Mourvedre, Grenache & Cinsault grapes.  The grapes are farmed organically and reside in limestone gravel and brown clay earth.  The resulting wine is delicious, round and well balanced with good acidity for aging.  While a bit pricey for a Rosé, it does define the category.  $80 per magnum.  This is a great wine to enjoy this summer when lounging by the pool or to compliment a meal with grilled vegetables, grilled fish such as Tuna, Salmon, Bronzino or for lunch with a Salad Nicoise.

I am not a fan of California wines, especially the whites as I find them akin to drinking liquid oak, so when Chris suggested the Sinskey Abraxas "Vin de Terroir" Los Carneros my initial reaction was, “Oh no!”, until he explained the wine and winemaker this way; “Ever the contrarian, Robert Sinskey continues to blaze trails in California winemaking searching outside the norm for wines of intrigue and allure.  At a time when most winemakers are trying to grow as much Chardonnay as possible, Sinskey discontinued his delicious Three Amigos Chardonnay and is instead focusing on Alsace varietals.  The Abraxas is a blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Blanc raised entirely in stainless steel (NO OAK).  Winemaker Jeff Virnig has created an elegant, yet flavorful offering flowing with floral nectarine goodness, apples and spice.  This extremely aromatic offering is a perfect wine for Thai, sushi, and other Asian cuisine, Mexican dishes, an assortment of cheeses as well as your favorite fresh pan-seared fish simply prepared”.  After tasting the wine I understood what he meant.  The wine was delicious.   Farming is Certified Organic & Biodynamic.  $40.

With our first course, Tilapia Alla Fiorentina we enjoyed a wine from one of the world’s greatest winemakers, Gaston Huet.  The wine was 2010 Domaine Huet Sec Le Haut Lieu Vouvray.  I have written about the wines of Huet in many previous posts, as I drink them quite frequently.  This is world-class juice.  Made from 100% Chenin Blanc and vinified in stainless steel tanks the wine had a magnificent complexity and freshness on the palate with an exquisite elegant finish.  What is amazing about Huet wines is that they will age for decades and evolve into wines that will provide you with a provocative wine experience.    Upon release they are a steal at under $30 a bottle.  30 years from now this will easily be worth 10 times that price.  This bottle is $28 currently.

With the pasta course, Cannelloni Alla Piedmontese, we enjoyed two reds from Italy side by side. In one glass was 2005 Roagna Langhe Rosso.  This is essentially a baby Barolo.  Made from grapes produced on young vines (20 years old) Luca Roagna considers the vines too young to put into his Barolo, so he bottles them as a Langhe Rosso. This wine was stunning with fabulous purity, balance and elegance on the palate and finish.  It will age for years and at $30 a bottle is a steal.  It was for me, the wine of the night.

In the second glass was the 2010 La Crotta di Vegneron “Chambave” Val d’Aosta.  Located northwest of the Piedmont region of Italy this wine is a blend of mostly Petite Rouge with smaller amounts of Mayolet, Fumin, Cornalin & Pinot Noir.  Farmed organically, the wine sees no oak in the vinification process.  This is a friendly and easy drinking wine that goes well with pasta and at $17 a bottle hard to pass up on.  

Entrée choices were Chicken alla Forristierre or Tournedos of Beef Massena.   We enjoyed another two reds here.  The first, from Spain, was 2009 Dominio Pingus PSI Ribera de Duero.  Made from 100% Tempranillo grape, the wine is also farmed organically and biodynamically. The wine had a deep red hue and, in my opinion, highly extracted fruit.  Full-bodied and lush on the palate, it is not my kind of wine.  


Here are Chris Cree’s comments on this wine,  “Peter Sisseck, the rock star of Ribera del Duero, has crafted a gem of a wine that costs just a sliver of what his amazing Pingus does ($42 vs. $800).  All of the fruit is from the high quality vineyards of Valladolid, a sweet spot in Ribera.   Organic and biodynamically farmed vines give birth to great wine, according to Peter.  PSI, named after the 23rd letter in the Greek alphabet, is thoroughly mind-bending stuff.  Broad and rich on the palate, the dark berries, currants, lavender and gravel notes are linked together with silky fine tannins and a hint of oak.  This is clearly the best vintage of this wine I've ever tasted, so detailed and complex.  Very long finishing, this wine can stand up to more cellaring, so best to enjoy now through 2018.”  

The second wine with the entrée was 2008 Domaine de la Grange des Peres Vin de Pays de l’Herault Rouge.  From the Languedoc region of France the wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah & Mourvedre and is also farmed organically. The domaine is considered to be the best in all of the Languedoc-Rousillon area.  Chris comments, “Owner and winemaker Laurent Vaille is a former physiotherapist turned wine wizard.  His tutelage under Gerard Chave and Francois Coche-Dury gave him the tools to become the legendary figure he has now become.  Starting in 1992, this winery has gone from "on the map" to "off the charts", wowing not only the wine press, but also all who taste the wines.  They are that spectacular!  A wine that will age magnificently in a cool cellar but is truly hard to resist right now.  Should be decanted prior to enjoying”.  While a bit young this was great juice and a great wine in the making.  It was rich and pure on the palate and finished with elegance.  Alas, wines like this do not come cheap, $110.

With our dessert of assorted Italian pastries we were treated to 1985 Moulin Touchais Coteaux du Layon.  Another Chenin Blanc sweet white wine gem from the Loire Valley in France, the wine is made without botrytis (noble rot), and is aged a minimum of 10 years before release. The wines have an amazing track record for longevity, and can last 50-100 years in the great vintages. The grapes are handpicked in several stages. The real secret of the Moulin Touchais longevity and charming complexity results from this harvesting strategy: 20% of the grapes are picked around 80 days after flowering while the fruit is still underripe and loaded with acidity, the other 80% is harvested late (one hundred & twenty days after flowering) yielding fruit with high sugar levels and concentrated flavors. High acidity and sugar levels ultimately determine Moulin Touchais' opulent style: smooth and elegant.  This wine sang tonight.  The sweetness was not cloying, instead in was in beautiful harmony with the purity of the grape.  It danced on and tantalized the palate and finished with considerable length.  $65.

All wines are available from 56º Wine, Bearnardsville, NJ.

My thanks to our wine committee, Chris Cree and Il Tulipano Risotrante for making the evening such a success.

Saluté