2019  Isle La Motte Vineyard  Marquette, Marquette Reserve, and Lucent white blend

We were up in Georgia Vt to visit our niece and her husband last weekend, and had a small window of free time so I decided to visit a friend of mine on Isle La Motte as it's not that far from their house. I had been by a 2 acre plot of vines many times on the way to his house before and kept saying " one of these days I need to stop and find out what's going on " well, my friend wasn't home and this time I noticed there was a flag out by the vines that said open along with
" wine tasting today"  that's all the invitation I needed...

Steven and Jamie Foley started this endeavor 6 years ago, and this year is the first time they've been open for tasting. It's a small tasting room indoors, and they have tables set up outside behind the winery on the lawn. It was a beautiful sunny day with a nice breeze when I stopped by, perfect for sampling wines in the shade of an umbrella.

Jamie started me off with the Marquette red wine Ruin, it has notes of cherries, blueberries and vanilla in the nose. The palate has matching flavors of the cherry and blueberries, it finishes slightly tart with the fruit notes fading pleasantly. The color is a vibrant red/purple that lingers in the glass, almost staining it.

I tried a number of foods with this at home, the best matches I had on hand were a double cream brie with a bit of ground pepper that brought out some additional flavors in the wine, green spanish and kalamata olives worked, I'm betting prosciutto and landjaegers would also pair well with it. A Sunday roast chicken dinner with gravy also comes to mind.

The Ruin Reserve was very nice, more plush in the mouth, smoother, and the influence of 6 months in French oak definitely made a difference. Similar flavors to the regular Ruin but with more elegance.... definitely worth the extra $3.00. I would try the reserve with herbed prime rib, a nice cut of beef or buffalo grilled medium and finished with a dollop of garlic herb butter. The linguine Bolognese from 3 Tomatoes in Lebanon would be very nice with this wine.

The Lucent white blend is quite tart on it's own, you definitely will need some food to go with it as it has medium high acidity. Great notes in the nose and palate of citrus and lemon, the first dish that came to mind is the Tortelloni Brunelle from Lui-Lui. This dish has a lemon cream sauce with chicken, tomatoes, capers, and black olives that would pair up well with the Lucent. I would also try this wine with chicken and broccoli in an Alfredo sauce over linguine.

If you're up in the Champlain Islands for a weekend getaway, I definitely recommend stopping by their winery to check out their wines. Steven and Jamie are good people and I had a great time talking with them about the world of wine. The tasting costs you $8 and you get to keep your glass... support a regional winery...

Cheers!

Ed

 2017  Aerena  Cabernet Sauvignon  Red Hills  Lake County  CA

I have had great luck in the last year or so with red wines from Lake County in California, they have offered surprisingly good value for the money. Currently they are not on most people's radar for wines from this Country, what you generally see in stores is from Napa or Sonoma, and wines from the Pacific northwest.

It was with anticipation that I put a bottle of this in my cart to take home, but when I first opened it last night I was not so sure I'd made a good choice. It was closed on the nose and palate, tart, out of sorts.... I tried part of another glass that I put through an aerator, and let sit for 20 minutes. Definitely better but still seemed off, so I put the cork back in it and put it on the counter for today.

This wine is made from grapes farmed at about 2400' in the Red Hills area of Lake County, grapes grown that high tend to be smaller with thicker skins, which means more tannins in the wine, which means you have to be patient and let the wines sleep for 8 to 12 years to soften the those tannins.

Today the nose has notes of black cherry, red plum, a hint of strawberry, and black raspberries. The palate has the same flavors but the plum and a hint of blueberries are more prominent. The finish is still a bit tart, but in a good way... the tannins are medium in intensity, but fine grained and fade gently on the finish.

This wine is still quite young, and has the structure to age for at least 5 more years based on the progress from yesterday to today. Right now I'd give it at least an hour in the decanter, and pair it with food that has some fat to it. A good steak with ample marbling, an oven roasted chicken dinner, slow cooked ribs with a good bbq sauce, a good pulled pork sandwich, the carnivore pizza from Ziggy's in West Lebanon.

Available at almost all of NH's Liquor outlets for $14.99 per bottle, $11 bucks off it's list price. For me it's an experiment, I think it will improve over the next 5 years so I'll lay 6 down in the cellar and pull one out in 2 years to see where it's at.

Let me know what you think....

Cheers!
Ed

 

2016 Circle 66 Cabernet Sauvignon  Horse Heaven Hills  WA

I have a soft spot for Washington State wines, in particular the reds. I've reviewed several of them over the years, and across the board they generally offer a great price to quality ratio. I would like to see more of them on restaurant wine lists, but if they were, then people would know about them, and availability would go down and prices would go up.... so let's keep the status quo...

I couldn't find any data online about who makes this wine, there's no website, or much data at all about it. So I'm guessing that this is a second label for a bigger winery, who has juice left over that maybe doesn't make the cut for the primary label but is still pretty tasty.

The wine opens with notes of bright red fruit, plum, and a hint of raspberry or black raspberry in the nose. The palate mirrors the nose with fine grained tannins, and just right acidity to balance the fruit flavors on the medium length finish which fade pleasantly.

Day two allowed the wine to open up more, there is also a hint of blackberries and spicy oak in the nose now, and it has a slightly thick mouthfeel. The fruit has blended together on the palate, it's like taking a bite of mixed berry pie... there's a hint of blueberry also.

This is quite pleasant to sip on by itself, but would pair well with grilled meats, lasagna, a Sunday roast chicken dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, and of course a classic 1.5" Porterhouse steak grilled medium with a dollop of garlic herb butter.

Available at most of the southern tier NH Liquor outlets, and in the West Lebanon Liquor outlet's powerbuy  section for $19.99 per bottle (regular price $40). It's not an everyday wine at that price, but definitely worth buying a few bottles to keep on hand for a special occasion. I know I'll be putting half a dozen in my cellar for future enjoyment.

Cheers!

Ed

 

2015  The Lost Chapters  White Meritage  California

This is another wine in the Powerbuy section whose label caught my eye, I figured if they cared enough to put a beautiful label like this on their bottle it must be good. It didn't hurt that I recognized one of the names on the back label, Mitch Cosentino. He had his own winery and produced many wines that had won numerous awards, hmm I said, and the bottle went into my cart.

The wine is produced by J. McClelland cellars, owned by the Scotto family, who were friends for years of Mr McClelland during which time he advised them on all aspects of making and marketing wine. When the opportunity to purchase the Steele Canyon Winery came in 2012, they jumped on it and asked Mitch Cosentino to consult with the winemaking.

This wine is a blend of 54% Sauvignon blanc, and 46% Semillon. The Sauvignon blanc was fermented in Stainless steel (preserves fruit flavors) and aged in used neutral oak barrels, the Semillon was also fermented in Stainless steel, and then aged in French oak barrels especially made for the grape. The lees (yeast sediment) were stirred weekly in the barrels which translates into a creamy mouthfeel in the wine.

This wine opens with the familar note of white grapefruit/citrus from the Sauvignon blanc, and a mix of stone fruit notes that remind me of peach, apricot, along with a hint of honeydew melon in the nose. The palate has all of the above flavors, just right acidity, with a slight spice flavor that I can't quite pinpoint. It finishes smoothly with the fruit flavors fading nicely, not completely dry but not sweet either.... it makes me want to take another sip to experience the flavors again.

This wine is fun to sip by itself, but I think it could accompany a cheese fondue, Caprese salad, Chicken Marbella, or a 3 cheese white pizza with cherry tomatoes and artichokes. This wine has enough backbone to stand up to a roast pork dinner, or a Veal dish also.

Only available at about a dozen of the NH Liquor outlets for $11.99 per bottle, if it sounds interesting to you I would get one soon. I bought 6 of them on Saturday at the West Lebanon Liquor store, they have about 45 left as of this writing.

Cheers!

Ed

 2018  Gabrielle Ashley  Cabernet Sauvignon   Alexander Valley CA 

This wine is a blend of 95 Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc. I found it in the powerbuy section of the West Lebanon Liquor outlet, along with a number of other wines. What caught my eye was that it was from Alexander Valley, one of my favorite wine growing regions in the world.

Precision Wine Co has a number of labels under their umbrella, and seems to focus on small lots of bottlings. I get the feeling from reading the website that the winemaker has relationships with growers and other wineries that allow him to purchase grapes from selected plots.

It opens with notes of cherry, blueberries, plums, and oak in the nose. The palate tastes of plum, cherry, and black raspberries with medium tannins.... after 30 minutes of the bottle being open the tannins smooth out, with the nose and palate gaining more complexity to include blackberries along with notes of mixed berry pie.

At only 2 years of age this wine should be decanted for 45 minutes prior to enjoying, and try chilling it for 20 minutes or so to experience a different flavor profile. At this time the wine needs food with a bit of fat in it to balance the tannins, perhaps a nicely marbled steak, a meat lasagna, an oven roasted chicken dinner, prime rib, or a good brisket cooked perfectly.

Available at a bunch of the NH Liquor outlets for $12.99 per bottle, this is a great value for a well made wine from one of the premier wine growing regions in California. I liked it enough to buy 8 bottles with the thought that it will improve over the next 18 months or so....

Let me know what you think,

Cheers!

Ed

 

2017 SECOLI  Valpolicella Ripasso  DOC Veneto  Italy

While looking through the many wines currently in the Powerbuy section of the West Lebanon Liquor outlet, the label on this wine caught my eye.

I have learned to appreciate a good Ripasso while on this journey of learning about wine. Sometimes it's called the "poor man's Amarone"....

Valpolicella Ripasso is fermented twice, the first time from fresh grapes, the second time in contact with the leftover skins from the making of Amarone wine. The grapes for Amarone wine are first dried on beds of straw for 3 to 4 months at specific humidity levels. So by "passing" the Valpolicella juice with the Amarone skins it adds layers of flavor and structure to the wine.

When first opened, notes of red fruits jumped out at me, then a pleasant spicy/herbal note followed in the nose. It tastes of cherry, raspberry, with a spicy finish. The red fruit notes finish pleasantly as the fine grained tannins fade away.

The second day brought an additional note of plum in both the nose and palate, and a more plush feel in the mouth. Just a delight to sip on by itself, but a good food companion as well.

This is a very versatile wine, it would pair well with bbq, any red sauce dish, venison stew, I had it with thin sliced Charlito's dry cured Mild Chorizo (Co-op) and crumbled Parmesan cheese, and it could be sipped on by itself while sitting in a comfortable chair out on the patio during a warm summer evening.....

Available at

 Willamette Valley Vineyards  2018 Riesling  Oregon USA

Founded by Jim Bernau in 1983, the winery has grown to 500 acres plus of sustainably farmed vineyards in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. They have achieved the distinction of being named "one of America's Great Pinot Noir Producers" by Wine Enthusiast. Another unique distinction is that it's owned by more than 17,000 wine drinkers (Nasdaq: WVVI & WVVIP)

I have been a fan of their Whole Cluster Pinot Noir for years, it's a very good value bottle of wine that gives you a glimpse into how good Oregon Pinot can be. According to the website the winemaker uses the same technique for the Riesling, gently pressing the clusters then fermenting them in stainless steel to preserve the fruit flavors and freshness.

This opens with notes of Red Delicious apples, pears, tangerines, and a hint of peach in the nose, the palate tastes like you had a spoonful of fruit salad with a piece of each one of the fruits plus juice in it.... and a hint of grapefruit. It's lip smacking juiciness is addictive, tempting you to take another sip, semi-sweet at first in the mouth then finishes dry due to the good acidity balance.

This wine would be a nice match with an aged Gruyere cheese, one that has the salt crystals in it (Maxx Swiss) Or a Dutch aged cheese like the MELKBUS raw cows milk I found at the Centerra Co-op cheese counter, no bread or crackers, just the wine and cheese...

This wine will pair well with the Thanksgiving meal, spicy Asian, a charcuterie platter, grilled seafood, (garlic lime shrimp) or simply by itself at the end of the day out on the patio in a comfortable chair.....we're going to enjoy it with Düsseldorf chicken later today, which has a mustard cream sauce with scallions and Crimini mushrooms in it.

Available at most of the NH Liquor outlets on sale for $12.99 per bottle, if you like a good Riesling you should try a bottle of this, it's delicious. They also have the Whole Cluster Pinot on sale for $18.99 per bottle.....

As always, let me know what you think of these 2 wines if you decide to try them....

Cheers!  Be safe out there....

Ed