Roederer-Champagne-Estate-Brut

Roederer Sparkling Wine Review from Anderson Valley,  California

 It’s true that fine winemaking that has made Roederer Champagne among the most sought-after in the world.

While many might of heard of Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne even if only be mention in the celebrity tabloids; my experience has previously been with the 1999 L’Ermitage Rosé. Roederer Estate’s second vintage of this special Tête de Cuvée Rosé had  made its debut and was a favorite when served to customers on the patio during my fine dining career at Terrapin.

Remembering that fine pink bubbly, I was happy to find the Estate Brut waiting for me.

Never Disappointing; Roederer Champagne

I had the bottle of Roederer Estate Brutwaiting on ice. My husband was returning form a trip and I was waiting for him to come back from the airport. It seemed like a nice wifely touch to welcome him home. Since,  I am also planning on serving this wine before Thanksgiving dinner, I felt it was good to get acquainted anyway!

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A Napa Valley Claret Wine  from the Ramey Winery

The term “Claret Wine” encompasses quite a few definitions over time. Ramey Winery calls this a Claret wine, rather than a simple Cabernet Blend.  This is a worthy classification and  true in the sense of traditional Claret especially if we look at the history of Claret wines.

The term Claret is commonly used to define a red wine from the Bordeaux region of France.  

The five red grapes grown in Bordeaux are: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec ; hence most Bordeaux reds are a blend of those grapes.

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Wondering what Wine goes with Turkey?

As the Thanksgiving countdown is upon us and we prepare the traditional Thanksgiving menus and shopping lists, don’t forget to add wine for Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving wines should not be a last minute afterthought, nor should you always leave the wine choices up to a guest unless they are suited to make the turkey wine pairing selections.

Thanksgiving Wine Selections can be Confusing

The traditional standards for wine and food parings change for the Thanksgiving holidays. 

While one might automatically think “white meat equals white wine”; the poultry aspect of turkey is compounded by the heaviness of the traditional Thanksgiving menu. Plus, with a range of guest, especially if you host a larger Thanksgiving meal, you need to account for the personal tastes of your dinner guests.  With our quick and easy wine paring guide here and our Thanksgiving wine recommendations; you’ll be all set even if this is your first Thanksgiving meal!

Appetizers for Thanksgiving

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Smooth Cabernet from Horse Heaven Hills, Washington State

The 2007 H3 Cabernet from Columbia Crest is a wine that is easy to love.

 The H3 label is most obviously named for the Horse Heaven Hills American Viticultural Area in which Columbia Crest planted its estate vineyards more than two decades ago. The H3’s were debuted in 2008 to good reviews.

What makes Columbia Crest’s H3 so Special?

“Vineyards in the Horse Heaven Hills are unique because they are comprised of diverse microclimates that produce different fruit structures with underlying uniform characteristics,” said Columbia Crest winemaker Ray Einberger in a press release. “For example, the cooler-climate vineyards produce fruit with mineral undertones, while fruit from the warmer climate vineyards contain slight earth and dust elements. These variances allow me to blend wines that capture the true essence of the AVA in the bottle.”

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Our Friends at BottleNotes have a great contest going on!

The Daily Sip™ is going to send the lucky winner and three friends to the Ultimate Wine Weekend in Napa Valley. The weekend includes private VIP tastings for the winner and three friends with Napa legends Arietta, Blackbird, and Spring Mountain.  Jack Cakebread will host a private tasting lunch at Cakebread Cellars.  Peter Mondavi Jr. will host a private blending session and a grill-your-own-steak lunch at Charles Krug, and Saturday night the winner will stay at the luxurious Meadowood resort.

Enter here: http://www.bottlenotes.com/contest and cross your fingers!

Loving Calera; Loving Limestone; but not the Chardonnay

First, once again, I have to preface this Chardonnay wine review by saying, I am not a huge fan of California Chardonnays. I’m just not. I don’t know why, but there is just a certain taste that comes from a Chardonnay that does not make my mouth happy under normal circumstances. Hence, you can pretty much ignore how I feel about this wine.

Really Love the Calera Winery and What They Do

The Calera Winery has been growing their own Chardonnay grapes since 1984. Winemaker Josh Jensen spent over two years hunting for the perfect limestone filled land to grow his grapevines finally deciding on acreage 90 miles south of San Francisco and about 25 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean.   In 1990 the U.S. government approved the Mt. Harlan American Viticultural Area where Calera is the only vineyards and Jensen truly became king of his own limestone mountain.   

The several million tons of limestone deposit of greatly influences not only the wine, but the whole winery as “Calera” is the Spanish world for “limekiln As limestone had been commercially quarried from the property 100 years earlier, the evidenced is proven by the  recently restored 30 foot tall masonry calera, This also serves as the winery’s symbol, name and appears on every bottle of wine. (more…)

Pure 100% Monastrell Grapes Wine Varietal

Bodegas Juan Gil is an interesting wine even before one removes the cork and pours the wine. Hailing from Spain, it’s rather unassuming when listing itself as a simple red wine from Jumilla.

Start in Jumilla

Jumilla then begins the interesting part of the story of Juan Gil. Jumilla has long been a wine-producing region in southern Spain. In 1989, long after most other Spanish wine growers had dealt with the bug, Jumilla suffered a phylloxera attack. As phylloxera spread throughout the region, grapevines succumbed and the wine growers in Jumilla lost nearly everything. There is no choice, after phylloxera, but to either replant or give up.

Monastrells  Return

Many growers chose to replant with Monastrell as it is a native grape particularly suited to the region’s continental, drought-prone climate.  Monastrell requires a Mediterranean climate to mature properly, with long, luminous summers. It has been so successful and approximately 85% of Jumilla’s vineyards are now planted in Monastrell vines.  The Monastrell grape is showing remarkable results in the hands of skilled winemakers and Jumilla wines have, therefore, begun to make an impact abroad for good reason.

With a better understanding of the grape, it was time to open up the wine. (more…)

Blind and in Bed; Eroica Wine Lives Up to its Name

I like to drink my wines blind. In other words, I don’ t often read into the tasting notes or even the labels before going in and judging a wine based on what it tells me. Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Eroica Riesling was to be no exception.

After a bit in the fridge, I reached up to retrieve a wine glass from the cupboard and dug in the silverware drawer for the corkscrew. It amazed me that after years in the food service industry, I actually had to spend time looking for a wine key, but it was true and the task took longer than I would have liked. Finally, I managed to expel the cork.

A Healthy Splash of the Chateau Ste. Michelle’s in my Wine Glass.

This is where I went black out blind. I knew I had brought home a white, but completely forgot that it was a Riesling and so, as I held the glass up to the light in my kitchen, I found the light clear color was surprising while pleasing at the same time.

As I realized that I was indeed clueless as to what I was about to drink, I checked out the bottle and reminded myself that this bottle of wine was Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Riesling. Eroica is the fruit of a winemaking collaboration between Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Bob Bertheau and famed Mosel winemaker Ernst Loosen. It was all coming back to me. (more…)