Wine Club Newsletter - October 2013
A Wine for Ages: Chenin Blanc
Winesearcher.com
For those of you in The Gary Parker Collection, you may be surprised to see not only a white wine, but a Chenin Blanc as one of this month’s selections. We are in the club to find special wines that I would put in my cellar to age so we can reap the benefits of fine, mature wine later in our lives.
Well, this Chenin Blanc is just such a wine. The owners of Foxen winery dropped into the WineSellar a couple weeks ago to pour us this year’s releases from the winery. After pouring the Chenin (the one before you), I was quite excited about the wine. As we talked about the wine, I was told that the winery keeps a vertical selection of their Chenin Blanc going back nearly twenty years.
They said their older Chenin Blancs were amazing and holding up very well. So, I thought this would be a great chance to try something different without a big financial commitment. Please let me know your thoughts.
In the meantime, I am including some information about Chenin Blanc from around the world. There are a number of great producers who are famous for how their wines age in the bottle.
Chenin Blanc is a versatile white wine grape variety known for its high acidity and aging potential. Most commonly associated with the Loire Valley, Chenin Blanc has been cultivated in France for nearly 1300 years; official French documents first mention Chenin Blanc as early as 845. It is only since the 1980s, however, that renewed interest has reinvigorated Chenin Blanc's position as a classic and noble grape variety.
South Africa is the largest grower and producer of Chenin Blanc. It is also the nation’s most planted wine grape. It arrived in South Africa in the mid-17th Century, and was immediately popular for its productivity and its ability to generate high acidity, even in hot conditions. Then, Chenin Blanc was used to create a base spirit for the brandy trade, and for much of its viticultural career thereafter it was consigned to bulk wine production, often blended with other white varieties. The late 20th Century saw a shift in attitudes towards Chenin Blanc in both France and South Africa, toward more varietal, terroir-focused wines.
Chenin Blanc may be crafted to any level of sweetness, ranging from bone-dry, crisp and sparkling, through to sweet dessert wines. This is reflected in the number of winemaking techniques and styles employed in Chenin production, such as stainless steel, extended-lees contact and barrel maturation.
Chenin Blanc from the Loire tend to be more mineral in flavor, while those highly regarded wines from the Stellenbosch lean more towards the tropical fruit flavors of pineapple, melon, guava and banana. Virtually all Chenins made in a dry or even off-dry style will show the variety’s distinctive green-apple flavors in their youth. While malolactic fermentation is not popular, as it can compromise the wine’s crispness, certain appellations such as Montlouis and Vouvray are more likely to use the technique to create richer, more textured wines.
Botrytis-affected Chenin wines are less weighty than their counterparts in Sauternes, but capable of aging as long as the Bordeaux sweet wines, sometimes for longer. Good sweet Vouvray requires a decade to hit its peak but can be cellared for more than a century. The appellations Quarts de Chaume and Bonnezeaux have the highest instance of Botrytis as the autumn mists in the Loire’s cool side valleys produce the required conditions for noble rot, resulting in wines with baked-apple, ripe peach and quince flavors.
The sparkling Cremant de Loire wines of Anjou, Saumur and Touraine are largely based on Chenin Blanc and Chenin blends. These lean, racy wines often have a more floral nose and a nuttiness that comes from the lees contact required by the appellation. Non-sparkling Chenin wines from Anjou and Saumur are allowed to have up to 20% Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.
California grows more Chenin Blanc than all of France, but most of these grapes are used in generic white blends. Argentina also has a significant number of Chenin Blanc vines, where it is often blended with Chardonnay or Torrontes to create acidic white wines, but which typically lack any distinction.
Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Israel all produce a small amount of Chenin Blanc wines, with New Zealand and Canada showing particular promise with the variety. There are also scattered plantings of Chenin in Latin America, where the grape is known as Pinot Blanco.
In the vineyard, Chenin Blanc is prone to high yields, resulting in abrasive, acidic juice that unsuitable for winemaking. Lower yields allow Chenin’s flavors to concentrate and its floral bouquet to come through. The variety buds early and ripens late, making frost a risk in the cooler areas of the northern Loire.
Joseph Carr 2012 Chardonnay
Background
Joseph Carr wines are produced at Larson Family Vineyards in Carneros, bordering both Napa and Sonoma counties. A beautiful property built over a hundred years ago by Tom Larson's grandfather; it is here where we crush, barrel ferment, blend, and age our wines. Tom owns over a hundred acres of vines in Northern California, as well as managing 500 hundred acres of some of the finest boutique vineyards in the valley. It is a place where we can be creative, laugh a lot, and work together to produce handcrafted wines, unhurried, in a state of the art facility.
Appellation
Sonoma Coast
Cuvee
100% Chardonnay
Winemaking Philosophy
Growers picked the grapes by hand at the peak of ripeness. Dijon Clones 75, 76, 95, 96 were used in the selection of grapes for this blend. The grapes were harvested on September 2nd and 4th, 2009.
The winery gently pressed the grapes into juice using a membrane press. The juice was then chilled, settled, and racked into Burgundy oak barrels for fermentation. The yeast lees were hand stirred monthly to enhance the creamy finish produced by barrel fermentation and to encourage secondary malolactic fermentation.
After completion of malolactic fermentation, the wine was aged sur lie for 8 months with 100% new French oak; 100% malolactic fermentation.
Tasting Notes
This Chardonnay has bright aromas of apple, pear, vanilla, and butter. The fresh citrus and tropical fruit flavors blend smoothly with the creamy butter, vanilla, and toasty flavors of barrel fermentation. Aged on the lees in new French oak for 8 months imparts the oaky smoke vanilla flavors.
$20
2011 Michel Schlumberger Cabernet Sauvignon, La Cime
Growing Region: Dry Creek Valley, California
Varietal Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc
Suggested Retail: $25.00
WineSellar Club Case Price: $22.49
Broad Strokes:
From the winery: At Michel-Schlumberger we favor the Jackson clones of Cabernet Sauvignon (also known as #6) which thrive in the red volcanic soils of our terraced upland vineyard. This particular species takes its name from a long-lost vineyard in the Sierra foothills, maintained by the University of California, Berkeley, as an index vineyard in the 19th century, and rumored to have been abandoned following Prohibition.
The vines were re-discovered by a graduate student researching plant materials in the mid-1960s. In these “wild” vineyards, the Jackson clones are phylloxera selections; free of disease and have never had to undergo horticultural remedies such as sterilizing heat treatment. While the yields of this clone are small, the quality of flavor in the grapes is exceptional, which is why today the Jackson clones are embraced by California’s foremost Estate wineries.
Appearance:
European style label with the etched winery and vineyards scenario popular in with the labels for Bordeaux wines. The wine is medium dark in hue, with dark grey and red tones.
Nose:
It's a great bouquet with features of deep, Cabernet Sauvignon fruit, mulberry, cassis, some leather strap, spice, and sweet vanilla oak. The nose is pure, making you thoughtful. Notes of deep forest/underbrush, cherry and raspberry evolved with airtime.
Texture:
It is smooth, rich and well balanced on the palate. Good concentration without being overly dominating in the palate. Smooth. Long in the mouth, it has an excellent resolution of fruit/acid on the finish, leaving your lips smacking for more.
Flavors:
Solid Cabernet Sauvignon fruit laced with spice and herbs. Red cherry fruit, touch of wood and black pepper. A very fine Cabernet!
Serving Options:
Providing excellent value at $22.49, this is a wine to enjoy now and for the next 5 years!
2008 Stephanie Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Growing Region: Napa Valley, California
Varietal Blend: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot
Fermentation: French Chateaux Barrels
Suggested Retail: $55.00
WineSellar Club Case Price: $44.99
Consulting winemaker and grape-grower Jeff Gaffner brings more than 25 years of experience to his role at Hestan Vineyards. Jeff began his career in 1981 at Chateau St. Jean under the tutelage of legendary winemaker Richard Arrowood. At Chateau St. Jean, Jeff was part of the winemaking team responsible for the winery’s celebrated 1996 Cinq Cepages, a classic blend of all five Bordeaux varietals that was named Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator Magazine.
Over the years, Jeff has developed a reputation as a specialist both in the vineyard and cellar, receiving critical acclaim for his site-expressive winemaking and signature elegant style. The Wall Street Journal said of his the Saxon Brown Wines made from his family’s 100 year old Casa Santinamaria Vineyard, “We love his vineyard’s voice.” Wine Spectator Magazine called Jeff’s first wine for Napa Valley client Xtant (a proprietary Bordeaux blend) “outstanding” and upon its release, placed the winery on its list of “Napa’s Impressive Newcomers.”
Appearance:
Great label concept with a portion of the proceeds going to aid those with cystic fibrosis. Reminds me of Kenwood’s Artist Series beginning a decade earlier. Great looking Cabernet Sauvignon, balanced in it’s crimson coloring.
Nose:
I think the aromatics are really sexy. Full and rich, with deep, black fruits like blackberry and blueberry stand over this really cool essence of root beer or cherry coke. You’ll notice freshly crushed herbs, some smoke, toasty vanilla oak, and then, nutmeg, cinnamon and pumpkin spices. Is it too close to turkey day?
Texture:
Rich, powerful, smooth, mouth filling, almost oily like texture. This is all good, as it gives you a fine, generous burst of fruit and flavors without damaging your palate. It makes your mouth water, and wanting you to come back for more.
Flavor:
It’s as sexy in the mouth as it is on the nose. Black and red fruits dominate (wonderfully) the early palate, and then you find the black cherry fruit. Toasty vanilla oak is lovely, with yeast and butter notes I found to be similar to cinnamon toast. To that, I also detected the pumpkin/spices with nutmeg. See if you taste chestnuts, mahogany and violets.
Serving Options:
I am claiming this to be a great wine to have with your holiday Turkey. It is a crowd pleaser, and anyone and everyone who loves big Cabernet from California will totally relate to this wine.
Autumn Venison Salad With Apple, Endive, Wheat Berries and Pomegranate
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 10oz Venison Filet (Two 5oz Pieces)
- 1 Large Endive
- 2 Cups loosely packed Mesclun Salad
- 1Cup cooked Wheat Berries
- 1 Medium Pomegranate
- 1 Apple
- 4 Dried Figs cut into medium diced
- 1 teaspoon Conola Oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Dressing
- Tablespoons of Vinegar
- 2 Tablespoon of Fresh Apple Cider
- 21/2 Tablespoons of Walnut oil
- 1 Teaspoon of Mustard
- 1/4 Teaspoon of finely ground Juniper berries
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
Procedure:
Season the venison filets with salt and pepper. Place a ten-inch sauté pan on high flame. Add one teaspoon of Canola oil. Add the filets and brown them on all sides. Place in 450º oven for approximately four minutes, or until cooked rare. Remove, set aside and keep at room temperature.
Cut the core/base of the endive and discard. Thinly slice to equal one cup. Cut Macoun apple into medium diced to equal one cup. Roll the Pomegranate with the palm of your hand on top of a counter top. Cut in half and remove the seeds. Reserve one quarter of a cup of the seeds as garnish for the salad and keep the rest for other purposes.
In a medium stainless steel bowl, add mustard, apple juice, vinegar, and the juniper berries. Add salt and pepper to taste and whisk with walnut oil, set aside. In a medium size bowl add the wheat berries, mesclun salad, endive, and figs. Toss together with the vinaigrette and divide in to four plates.
Slice the venison in to 12 slices. Put three pieces of meat on top of each salad. Sprinkle with Pomegranate seeds and serve.