2011 Alienor 'Le Troubadour' Lake County Red Wine

Happy Saturday!  It's the first Saturday of March, which make this Cellar Saturday, that magical time when I raid the cellar for something at least a decade in the making.  Tonight I've opened a bottle that hasn't actually been in my cellar very long, as I recently bought it from Wines Till Sold Out.  The 2011 Alienor 'Le Troubadour' Lake County Red Wine is a blend of  Merlot (41%), Syrah (32%) and  Cabernet Franc (27%) from the Lake County AVA of the North Coast of California.  So, let's see how this wine is tasting!

The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, just as you might expect from the heavy hand of these varietals.  A gentle swirl of the glass reveals aromas of blueberries, prune, dried moss and undertones of mint and anise.  Take a sip and your tastebuds surprise you with a rush of fresh ripe fruit, cherry, blackberry and plum, that transition to notes of subtle spice and earthy gravel, intertwined with a dark espresso.  The tannings are still quite robust, leading you to the smooth, dusty dry finish that lingers through your next sip.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's drinking wonderfully right now, and at just $20, you could easily sip this throughout the week.  This wine would pair well with a variety of hearty, earthy dishes, from duck to wild mushroom risotto, grilled lamb to a smoked curry.  Tonight I am taking a completely different road and enjoying this wine with some quick tacos before my second to the last performance this evening.  Cheers!

2005 Saddleback Cellars Napa Valley Merlot

TWell, it's the first Saturday of the month, so you know what that means, it's Cellar Saturday!  And not only that, it's also the 4th of July which makes opening up a well matured wine even more fun!  Tonight I've opened up a bottle of 2005 Saddleback Cellars Napa Valley Merlot, one that I've been looking forward to, as a nice quality Merlot tends to hit its stride at about the 10-year mark.  Keep in mind I've let this one breathe a bit, but I didn't decant it, so we'll see how it goes!

The color in the glass is a nice garnet with very nice clarity despite its maturity.  The nose is a lovely combination of ripe berries, red plum and macerated cherries, overlaid with a bit of leather and moss, reminiscent of some wonderful French Bordeaux.  The taste is a rush of ripe fruit up front, raspberries, blackberries and plum that transitions flawlessly to some flavors of cherry cola and mocha midpalate.  The finish is just lovely, with silky tannins and mild oak on the long, smooth and exceptionally dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as I love Merlot and this is a prime example of an expertly produced bottle that highlights the varietal.  Although this would be an ideal wine for a juicy porterhouse, tonight is the 4th of July!  How could I enjoy this with anything other than barbecued ribs, grilled corn on the cob, creamy cucumber salad and a nice grape tomato caprese salad!  The wine has such great flavors it really complements the variety of great tastes we get on holidays like these.  Cheers!

2011 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon

Well the weekend is here, I left work, went to the gym, picked up something for dinner and now I'm ready to relax with a bottle of 2011 Joseph Phelps Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.  I bought this one from G.B. Russo's up in Grand Rapids, and here is what Dave Russo had to say about the wine:

"When I visited Napa Valley a couple of months ago to taste wines in advance of release, I was very impressed with how the 2011Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon tasted.  It reminded me of the elegant, classic style Phelps Cabs used to have twenty years ago, before the production of their top wine, Insignia, was expanded.  My guess is, like other Napa wineries, they made less of the flagship wine Insignia in the difficult 2011 vintage and put a lot of that juice into the standard Phelps Cab.  This wine is drinking beautifully now.  It has a silky black-fruit character and very polished tannins, and a gently earthy finish.  I like the fact that this is a more classic style, not the high octane – sharp tannin style that so many Napa Cabs seem to have these days."

 Needless to say, I bought some for me and my boss but tonight is the first I've opened a bottle so here goes nothing!

The wine has such a rich color, dark crimson in the center leading to a bright ruby along the edges, classic of a Napa Cabernet.  The nose is at first somewhat fruity and spicy, with notes of black cherry and anise, but then it transitions to some earthy notes of leather, iron and moss.  The taste is a quick blast of dark fruit, plum, blackberry and cassis, which then transitions to some lovely warm spice notes of white pepper, dried herbs and Asian spice.  The finish was quite nice, with velvety smooth tannins supporting a long, smooth, dry finish that seems to last a minute or more.  The wine is certainly drinking very well now, and I agree with Dave, this is much more of a classically styled Cabernet.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's just a beautiful Cabernet, but it's definitely not for your everyday table wine as I bought this one on sale for $65 a bottle.  Tonight I am enjoying it with a thick Hereford ribeye grilled rare and served with some grilled zucchini (thanks Emily!) and a giant Amish baked potato (you should see these things, there were 4 potatoes in a 5-pound bag!).  Salut!

2001 Chateau Meylet Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Tonight is the first Saturday of June, and you know what that means, it's Cellar Saturday!  A time for me to open a more mature wine that I've been saving and enjoy it for no good reason at all!  And tonight's Cellar Saturday feature is a wine that my Aunt and Uncle brought back for me from their trip to French wine country last year, the 2001 Chateau Meylet Saint-Emilion Grand Cru!

The wine is a nice ruby color in the glass with just a hint of brown along the edges, with limited opacity.  The nose is interesting, with notes of rich, jammy fruit, cherries, blackberries, plums and raisins, that transitions to some Asian spice and leather with a hint of smoke.  The taste is classic Bordeaux, with a burst of ripe black fruit up front, plum, blackberry and blueberry that transitions effortlessly to some notes of green tea, dusty limestone and moss midpalate (this is what I would call classic Bordeaux "funk").  The finish is delightful, with very sophisticated and well structured tannins forming the foundation for a long, smooth and exceptionally dry finish that could only come from Gironde!

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 9, mainly because I just love classic Bordeaux and this is a prime example of their age worthiness as this one is drinking very well right now, and it's only a teenager!  Tonight I am enjoying this wine with a rare, seared Kansas City style T-bone, grilled leeks, baked potato and some fresh steamed asparagus just picked in Michigan.  A wine like this is just perfect with a great grilled steak as the dark fruit and mineral qualities are the perfect balance for the char on the meat.  Salut!

Les Bourgeois Jeunette Rouge NV

And so it begins!  I am starting to post my reviews from my "Taste My Vacation" event held last weekend, so brace yourselves, this is going to be good!  We will go in the same order we tasted them, so if you click here you can see what we tasted and the order, etc.  Since we are going in order, tonight's review is of a little wine I bought at a small winery in Missouri called Les Bourgeois, just east of Kansas City (don't ask how far, this was a distraction as I was so focused on getting barbecue!).  Oh, and for all of these reviews, please excuse my photos, I took them with my phone and even though I took them all before the tasting began, it still looks like I took most of them well into the evening festivities!

Now what's interesting about this winery and Missouri in general is a specific grape called the Norton grape, as this is apparently the only wine grape that is native to North America, all the rest have been transplanted here over the centuries from Europe.  Now the Norton grape has a long and storied history, and was cultivated and made into wine not long after the revolution, including on Thomas Jefferson's estate in Virginia.  It was made into some award-winning wines in the mid-19th century, so it has some heft behind it.  Now I tried Les Bourgeois' pure Norton wine at their tasting room, and I'll admit I was taken aback when the young lady serving the wine asked me if I liked mushrooms, and then informed me that if I liked mushrooms I'd like this wine.  Not exactly a stellar endorsement, and since I really am not a big mushroom fan, I was prepared for the worst.  I was not let down, it was pretty repugnant at least in my taste.

So, I tried the Jeunette Rouge, which was a blend that contained some Norton along with a number of other varietals, and in this case I was pleasantly surprised.  The wine has a lighter color and body, similar to a pinot noir.  The nose is full of red berries, leather and an earthy aroma of mushrooms and moss.  The taste was very fruit forward, with the berry flavors quickly giving way to flavors of fresh herbs midpalate, and then leading to some wonderfully mild tannins and a smooth, dry finish.

Overall, I would rate this one a solid 7, it wasn't spectacular, but for only $12 it was certainly well worth taking home from Missouri!  This one would pair nicely with some stronger fish dishes, or some classic southern cuisine given the earthiness and how that might accent some comfort foods.  So if you get down to Missouri and want to try some wine from the Norton grape, I highly recommend it!

1996 Château Bonalgue Pomerol

Today marks the first of what I hope will be an ongoing fun event for my wine blog, the "Cellar Saturday" which will be celebrated on the first Saturday of each month, where I will open a special bottle of wine just to celebrate being alive and blessed enough to live in a wonderful nation where you can enjoy great wines and blog about it!

So to mark this first ever Cellar Saturday, I've reached back to a bottle I bought about 10 years ago, the 1996 Château Bonalgue Pomerol.  Now I'll be the first to admit, that when it comes to Bordeaux, I have a certain set of preferences developed over the years.  My absolute favorite Bordaux is always the Margaux (who could blame me, really?), but what may be a surprise is that in second place is the Haut Medoc and Medoc, followed in no particular order by the St. Emilion, St. Estephe and Pomerol.  Now don't get me wrong, just because it's not my favorite doesn't mean a Pomerol can't be a stellar bottle of wine, it's just my personal preference.

This particular wine has aged fairly well, and exhibits most of the characteristics you'd expect from a wine that just turned old enough for driver's ed!  The color in the glass was a deep ruby, extending to a brownish tint toward the edges.  The nose was rather interesting, with serious floral notes surrounded by aromas of licorice, rose petals and grass.  The taste was very earthy, with flavors of moss combined with black pepper and raisins. 

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8, it was exactly what I would expect from a Pomerol, but there was nothing that really wowed me about it.  I have some other nicely aged and special bottles to open, so we'll see what comes next on the first Saturday of September!

2009 Château Puech-Haut Coteaux de Languedoc Prestige

So tonight I've decided to indulge my appetite for southern France, both in terms of cuisine and wine!  We'll get to the cuisine in a moment, but let's start off with the wine, the 2009 Château Puech-Haut Coteaux de Languedoc Prestige, a blend of 55% Grenache (from 60-75 year-old vines) and 45% Syrah (from 40-year-old vines).

I must admit, my first surprise with this wine was the color, given the light color on the cork, I was expecting this to be a lighter style wine, but the color in the glass was a deep purple, transitioning to a bright ruby along the edges.  The nose was a wonderful blend of leather, black currant, ripe berries, rose petals and moss.  The taste was a wonderful complexity, starting with ripe berry fruit, transitioning to vanilla and anise midpalate, which then gives way to a stunning, long-lasting finish as the lovely, vibrant tannins play off the acid and alcohol.  I could almost smell the salt breeze of the Mediterranean as I sipped this wine before dinner!

Speaking of dinner, I decided to get a bit creative with southern French cooking this evening, mixing a bit of Provence with a bit of the Mediterranean coast.  I sauteed some boneless chicken breasts with thinly sliced shallots and olive oil, and after browning the chicken, I added some sauvignon blanc for some vibrant acidity.  Once the wine reduced a bit, I added some diced plum tomatoes and capers and allowed that to simmer over low heat as the chicken finished cooking.  As the sauce reduced, I tossed the chicken with some al dente angel hair pasta for a lovely dinner to complement this wine! And yes, back to the wine, overall I would rate this one a solid 8.5, as I thought it was a lovely example the the wonderful wines of the Languedoc, at a price that wasn't too outrageous (this one was was just under $18 and will be a future office wine club selection).  Bon appetit!

2008 Nine Hats Columbia Valley Red Wine

This is another of our wines from our "Best of" wine tasting, the 2008 Nine Hats Columbia Valley Red Wine.  Washington is great at producing wonderful Bordeaux-style blends, and this is an interesting use of excess grapes from other blends in the Walla Walla/Columbia Valley region.  A product of Long Shadows Winery in Walla Walla, this wine is a blend of excess wines used in their signature wine blends from nine winemakers, hence "Nine Hats."

The wine itself is a blend of 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Petit Verdot and 2% Malbec, creating an interesting and smooth wine.  The wine exhibits a deep purple color in the glass with a good structure.  On the nose, it exhibits aromas of the forest, dominated by cedar, moss and tobacco with just the slightest floral hint.  The taste is somewhat abrupt when compared to some of the more mature wines like the Margaux or Brunello we tasted, but on it's own, this wine holds its own.  It's very fruit forward, with flavors of blackberry and cherry, with a mild acidity that holds any sweetness in check.  There is a spicy undertone of pepper and herbs.  The velvety tannins make for a luscious mouthfeel and a long, smooth finish.

For pairings, this wine would be ideal with a grilled steak, or perhaps a classic pot roast with all the classic roasted veggies.  Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, with room for improvement as the wine matures.  The 2008 Nine Hats Columbia Valley Red Wine would make a great everyday wine, particularly given the price under $20.  I bought this one in a variety pack of wines from my friends at Esquin Wine Sellers out of Seattle, so it might not be available where you live.  If you have an opportunity to buy a bottle, you should certainly try it!