2024 Belles d'Eguilles Coteaux d'Aix en Provence Rosé

Happy Wine Wednesday!  I have to confess that I've been completely ignoring rosé season, as I think I may have only enjoyed one bottle this entire summer.  Well, now it's time to make up for my oversight, so tonight I've opened a bottle of 2024 Belles d'Eguilles Coteaux d'Aix en Provence Rosé that I bought last month from Wines Till Sold Out.  I have previously reviewed the 2021 vintage and thought it was all right, but still a good value.  This vintage is a blend of Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan, so let's see how this wine is tasting!

The wine is a very pale peach color in the glass, signaling something crisp and refreshing is on the way for these last few days of summer.  The nose is a refreshing array of summer citrus and tropical fruit, grapefruit, apple and mango with hints of honey and some minerality.  The first sip is delightfully crisp and refreshing, with a cascade of citrus, honeydew, and mango, with hints of red berry and some mineral notes midpalate.  The finish is dry and crisp, a perfect ending for a wine destined for patio sipping.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it impressed me much more than the 2021 vintage.  This wine would be perfect for summer patio sipping (we have 4 more days of summer!) and would also pair well with barbecue, burgers and brats or fajita tacos.  Tonight, I am enjoying this wine with some crispy skin salmon, steamed rice and asparagus.  Cheers!

2020 Château Haut-Therón Malbec Cahors

Happy Saturday!  I started the day rather mellow, heading to the farmers market and then home to do yard work and that's where the trouble started!  I finished raking all the small sticks from winter and then began my annual war with the dandelions, bending over and digging up three gallon buckets of them, I'm sure I will feel it tomorrow!  In any case, it's time for a nice dinner and bottle of wine.  Tonight, I've opened a bottle of 2020 Château Haut-Therón Malbec Cahors that I picked up in a $150 case sale from Wines Till Sold Out.  So, let's see how this wine is tasting!

I'll admit, I'm a fan of Argentine Malbec, but I am approaching this French version with an open mind.  The wine is a deep ruby color in the glass, just as you would expect from a nice Malbec.  The nose presents aromas of leather, smoky charred oak, spicy pepper and bright red berries.  The first sip is a rather surprising rush of red fruit, cherry, currant and raspberry that transition easily to notes of mint and peppery spice midpalate.  The tannins are very mellow, providing for a classic French smooth dry finish, that will have you forgetting that you are drinking wine at all.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it's a very classic Malbec, but not as bold as it's long, lost cousins from Mendoza.  This wine would pair well with a variety of hard cheeses, smoked meat or a classic steak.  Tonight, I am enjoying this wine with a rare grilled bone-in ribeye, mashed sweet potatoes and oven roasted broccoli rabe.  Cheers!

2016 Forgeron Primitivo

Happy Friday!  It's been a busy week and I finished work a bit early today, only to do more work in the yard to prepare for a cookout I'm hosting tomorrow.  It seems my labor never ends!  At least tonight as I am cooking some food ahead for tomorrow, I can enjoy a nice glass of wine and a decent dinner.  Tonight I've opened a recent wine club shipment from Forgeron Cellars, the 2016 Primitivo, from the Stone Tree Vineyard in the Wahluke Slope AVA of Washington.  So let's see how this wine is tasting!

The wine is a wonderful bright ruby color in the glass with great clarity.  The nose is a cascade of black tea, dried herbs and notes of red berries overlaid with some earthy notes of leather and graphite.  The taste is a rush of ripe red berries, strawberry, raspberry, currant and cherry that subside to usher in some notes of cherry cola and dark chocolate midpalate.  The finish is quite nice, with well structured tannins supporting a long, smooth and dry finish, that still features a mild reprise of red berry jam.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8, as it's just a very pleasant, easy drinking wine that I could easily sip on a summer evening like tonight!  This wine would pair very well with Italian pasta dishes, particularly with an spicy red sauce, but tonight I've taken a different route.  I am enjoying this wine with a pan seared halibut filet that I picked up yesterday at Costco, along with some farro with porcini mushrooms and oven roasted root vegetables.  Cheers!

2015 Stolen Horse Walla Walla Valley Syrah

Happy Friday!  For those who've had a long week, the weekend is here, for others, it's still a reason to celebrate.  Today I have a special reason to celebrate as the Fedex man delivered my Fall wine club shipment from the Bledsoe Family Winery, the first such shipment from this new, more approachable spin-off from Doubleback, Drew Bledsoe's first effort in Walla Walla.  So tonight I've decided to open a bottle of the 2015 Stolen Horse Walla Walla Valley Syrah, a blend of fruit from the Loess (60%) and Les Collines Vineyards (40%) made from Syrah (95%) co-fermented with Viognier (5%).  The wine is from an interesting vintage, 2015 being quite warm, and as I recall from my vacation to Walla Walla that year, quite smoky from the many forest fires that were going on around the state.  So I'm interested to see how these wines developed.

The wine is a lovely, deep purple color in the glass.  The nose is a wonderful combination of green grass, with hints of smoke, mint and red berries.  The taste is just lovely with a subdued array of raspberry, cherry and red currant up front that transitions to some some heart smoked meat and tobacco notes midpalate.  The finish is marked by youth, with the lush tannins providing for a lovely and long, dry finish that's countered by a bit of bright acidity to bring some balance.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5 as I think it will mature a bit with some age to be more in line with the 2013 vintage I've tried in the past (see here).  This is one of those very versatile, food friendly red wines that I could see pairing with anything from barbecue to hearty steaks, to roasted beet salad, but tonight I am enoying it with some classic comfort food of stuffed peppers topped with aged parmesan and asiago cheese.  Cheers!

2007 Louis Boillot Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Chapelle

Happy April Fools Day!  No, I'm not joking on this post, but at least it's the first Saturday of the month, which means it's Cellar Saturday!  That fun day when I open a bottle that's at least a decade old that's been waiting to be tried.  Today was a day of spreading mulch around the yard, so full of earthy aromas, which means it's probably appropriate to enjoy a nice earthy pinot noir from Burgundy tonight!  And for this Cellar Saturday, I've opened a bottle of 2007 Louis Boillot Volnay 1er Cru from Clos de la Chapelle, one of the 30 premier crus from Volnay.  I believe I may have received this wine as a gift from my boss, so let's see how it tastes!

The wine is very light in color, almost appearing like a rose.  The nose is a lovely combination of bright red berries, floral notes and a heaping helping of earthy goodness.  The taste is interesting, as you have a good bit of ripe red fruit, raspberry, cherry, mulberry, that has a nice balance of acidity, before you transition to some wonderful earthy mineral notes.  The finish is quite dry but very elegant, with a reprise of mild acidity from the very well integrated tannins.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8, it's a very nice Burgundy, but unfortunately I'm not the biggest fan of pinot noir.  This wine would be fantastic with lamb, mushroom risotto or about any hearty, earthy dish.  Tonight I am enjoying this with some classic comfort food, stuffed cabbage!  I used to love my mom's stuffed cabbage, but I put on a little twist simmering it with some arrabiata sauce and top with a bit of shaved parmesan.  Cheers!

2008 Reininger Mr. Owl's Red Wine

And now we have another great Walla Walla wine from the "Taste My Vacation" wine tasting, the 2008 Reininger Mr. Owl's Red wine! Now you might wonder about the funny name, and when you hear the story, you'll probably fall in love with the winery and the family that owns it, as it's quite endearing.  This wine is named for Reininger's cellar master Raul, but unfortunately when the winery owners' children were young, that had a difficult time pronouncing his name, so they ended up calling him "Mr. Owl"!  And thus when they wanted to craft a wine and name it after him, they choice of "Mr. Owl's Red" was perfectly logical!

The wine itself is a blend of mainly Merlot (88%), Syrah (7%) and Sangiovese (5%), and it's that latter that I believe provides some lovely differentiation to this wine.  The color is a lovely deep purple in the glass, and the nose exudes leather, oak and plum.  The taste is fruit forward as you might expect with a blend dominated by Merlot, but the initial burst of red berries and plum, give way to a spiciness, of cinnamon and anise, which is not surprising with the addition of some Sangiovese into the blend.  I found the tannins to be somewhat subtle and earthy, which gave this wine a long, mellow finish.

Overall, I would rate this wine a solid 8.5, as it was a really lovely wine, but the only thing holding it back was the price, which at $30 might preclude this from everyday drinking, but perfect for a special occasion.  The wine paired very nicely with some of the soft cheeses we had at the tasting as well as the green olives, but it would also pair well with a rare grilled steak as well!  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!