TMiW 1 ? Looking Back, Looking Forward

This is the premier episode of This Month in Wine, a monthly discussion about what is going on within the wine world from a consumer and insider perspective. Hosts: Tim Elliott and Jeff Lefevere Topics What?s up with Good Grape? Is wine blogging on the decline? Wine Trends & Predictions for 2012 Value Replaces Cheap [...]

TMiW 1 – Looking Back, Looking Forward originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Preview: Knights Bridge Wine Dinner at Blue Ginger

On Tuesday, April 24th 2012 Blue Ginger in Wellesley, MA is hosting a paired wine dinner featuring Knights Bridge Winery. The event costs $145 inclusive of tax and gratuity. Click here for details and more information.

I sat down with Knights Bridge Managing Director Timothy Carl to preview the wines slated to be poured at the dinner and learn more about the winery. I hadn't heard of Knights Bridge until recently. For some reason, when I first heard the name Knights Bridge I immediately thought of the well-regarded-as-a-value-play Beringer Knights Valley line-up. The Beringer wines are good, but a better comparison for Knights Bridge would be Peter Michael whose vineyards are a stone's throw from Knights Bridge's 120 acre estate north of Calistoga in the slopes of the Mayacamas mountain range.

Tim is one of those guys who lives in many circles. PhD in genetics. Harvard Fellow. Consulting experience at McKinsey and Putnam Associates. Quartermaster in the US Navy. Chef. UC Davis-education in winemaking. The guy loves to learn.

In 2005 he left Boston to return home to northern California and he's now bringing that experience, backed by 6 generations of winemaking, to the relatively new endeavor that is Knights Bridge. Their first officially released vintage was 2006 and they currently produce 1,200 cases.

When I asked him how he plans to get the attention of today's fickle wine consumers he said, "By making the absolute best wine possible." For him, everything comes back to that: Producing the best balanced wines they can.

We started off with a 2009 Pont de Chevalier Sauvignon Blanc. French for Knights Bridge, it's their second label. It was aged in stainless steel and neutral oak barrels (previously used, in this case for Chardonnay). I thought it was golden and sunny yet balanced nicely by racy minerality and acidity. Green apples and lemon zest. Tasty. 120 cases produced, $40. 89/100 WWP: Very Good.

Next up was the 2009 Knights Bridge West Block Chardonnay. This wine was chosen, along with wines from Screaming Eagle, Harlan, Colgin, Staglin, Peter Michael and others, to be poured at a reception at last year's G-8 summit at the Louvre. After tasting the wine I can see why it was included in this illustrious company.

The wine weighs in at 15.5% alcohol but you'd never guess it. Light golden in the glass, it's tremendously round and creamy yet beautifully clean and elegant. Complex aromas and flavors that seemed to change each time I tasted it. Most notable were roasted pear with coconut cream pie in the background. But approached from a different angle when tasted with food, zesty citrus aspects came forward. Quite a wine. 200 cases produced, $65. 93/100 WWP: Outstanding.

Timothy explained that the Knight's Valley AVA is unique in it's ability to produce both great Chardonnay and great Cabernet Sauvignon. This, he said, was due to diurnal temperature swings greater than 50F in the summer along with cooler micro climates where Chardonnay can excel.

The winemaker for both the Chardonnay and the Cabernet Sauvignon is Jeff Ames. Jeff has served as an assistant winemaker to the highly regarded Thomas Rivers Brown and has helped produce wines for Schrader, Maybach, and and Outpost as well as his own label Rudius.

The first Cabernet we tasted was a 2008 Knights Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon produced from mountain fruit from their estate vineyards in Sonoma (the Bridge in Knights Bridge is named for the "bridge" of sorts their property forms between Sonoma and Napa). The wine was aged for 28 months in 100% new French Oak and weighs in at a moderate 14.5% alcohol. The wine snuck up on me a bit. At first it presented itself as a "nice", pleasant, smooth Cab. But it built power on the mid-palate as it rested in my mouth and finished with a brawny, delicious chocolate-laced finish. 300 cases produced, $115. 92/100 WWP: Outstanding.

Next up was the 2008 Knights Bridge Beckstoffer Dr. Crane Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged for 21 months in 100% new French Oak and is 14.9% alcohol. The Dr. Crane vineyard is just west of Tre Vigne restaurant if you're familiar with the area and is known for its rocky soils which tend to produce wine with small berries and scorched earth characteristics. It was quite a bit more tannic than the Knights Bridge at this stage, but also more complex and powerful. 135 cases produced, $135. 92/100 WWP: Outstanding.

The final wine we tasted was the 2008 Knights Bridge Beckstoffer To Kalon Cabernet Sauvignon (pronoucned "tow-kuh-lawn" and Greek for "highest beauty"). To Kalon is arguably the most sought after vineyard in America - especially amongst those who sell their grapes to other producers. The only domestic wines Wine Spectator has ever rated 100 points came from this vineyard in the form of Schrader's 2007 MM-VII and CCS bottlings.

Also aged for 21 months in 100% new French Oak, the grape clusters were destemmed and cold soaked for 24 hours then fermented on skins in tank. The wine is massive with explosive notes of blackberries, mocha, cinnamon, and chocolate covered espresso beans. Chalky, mouth-filling tannins support a long flavorful finish. Quite spectacular. 110 cases produced, $135. 94/100 WWP: Outstanding.

At last check there was still some availability for the dinner Tuesday night. Give Blue Ginger a call if you're interested in attending: 781-283-5790 x18 
 
If that doesn't work out for you check out their wines at these (and other) restaurants and retailers in Massachusetts:

  • Flemings
  • L'Espelier
  • Morton's Seaport
  • Radius
  • Bauer Wine & Spirits
  • Gordon's
Next Steps:


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?Lafite is out, Conti is in.?

China pivots to Burgundy. Source: Theatlantic Via: The Atlantic Thankfully, the wine market’s sour turn could also just be a sign of changing tastes. Eighty-six of the 100 bottles Liv-ex tracks are Bordeaux, the traditional king of fine wine. But as the Financial Times wrote in May, recent auctions suggest that Hong Kong buyers, perhaps [...]

“Lafite is out, Conti is in.” originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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iTunes Now Includes All Podcast Episodes

This podcast predates iTunes so when it started only a portion of my shows appeared on the feed. After I posted my latest podcast I decided it made sense to consolidate all the shows into the iTunes feed with all future podcasts published in mp3 format. Down the feed to Winecast 33 are enhanced AAC [...]

iTunes Now Includes All Podcast Episodes originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Tasting Report: Usseglio mon Aieul Chateauneuf-du-Pape

One of the great joys of writing this blog is how it gives me justification, however bogus, for opening nicer bottles of wine. With 2010 Châteauneuf-du-Pape offers arriving in our inboxes on a daily basis (pronounced Chateau-noof-dew-pop) I thought it would be a good time to crack a highly regarded 2009: The Pierre Usselgio Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul. With an eye toward deciding whether to buy more of of this bottling in 2010 of course.

Resolving ones view on CdP pricing is tricky. On one hand it's a bargain compared to Bordeaux and Burgundy. On the other hand it's undeniably pricey. It's tough to find a bottle of Châteauneuf south of $30 to get excited about.

But no matter how you look at it, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a fantastic category to check out if you prefer fruit forward domestic wines and you're interested in getting a little more exotic with a French import. Whereas affordable Bordeaux can be harsh and graphite-laden, and entry-level Burgundy can be thin and uninspiring, CdP tends to be boldly fruity and enjoyable even at more modest price points.

But it's also age-worthy. CdP has this unique thing where in its youth it's focused, fruity, and luscious. Then enters a dormant period. Then emerges after a period of 10 years or so as a complete wine. Unfortunately I rarely have the patience to wait nearly that long.

Against this backdrop the 2009 Usseglio mon Aïeul is about what I expected.

Priced in the low hundreds retail you can catch it for less if you look around. It seems to have a hard time supporting its $100 release price stateside - the CellarTracker Community Average of the '09 is just over $60. I'd place the mon Aïeul bottling just ahead of the La Craus, Pegaus, higher end St. Preferts, and Beaucastels of the world in terms of prestige.

But the 2007 mon Aïeul scored a perfect 100 points from Rober Parker. And early CellarTracker reviews of the 2010 are trending even higher than the 2007. Parker's barrel tasting score for the 2010 was "just" 94-96. But like Olympic gymnastics this stuff is all subjective so who cares about the scores, right?

2009 Pierre Usseglio Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul
1,000 Cases Produced
15% Alcohol
$111 Release Price

About 60% opaque and lighter in color and on the palate than I'd expect from a 15% abv bruiser. On the nose this was immediately ready to go and it only transformed slightly over the course of two hours in a decanter. On the nose I get nicely ripened blackberries, strawberries, and underlying signature meaty metallic CdP aromas. On the palate the wine is seamless. And a little plump. Or plush depending on how favorably you view round wines. There's a nice sweet spice note on the backend and undeniable heat. But it keeps it all together like a powerful quick linebacker.

93/100 WWP: Outstanding

Conclusion and Recommendations

I have to say I'm torn on whether to buy the 2010 Usseglio mon Aïeul after tasting this 2009. And even after tasting the 2010 at the Boston Wine Expo (more on that here including comparisons on CdP07 v. 09 v. 10). Both the '09 and '10 Usseglio mon Aieuls are outstanding wines no doubt. But how many pricey CdPs do I need clanging around here? At the same time how can the California Pinot Noirs vying for my attention, that weren't even around 10 years ago, rightly claim to be better wines?

I say buy a bottle or two, drink one in the near term and lay one down. Still a better buy than most every sub-$100 2009 or 2010 Bordeaux. Still, I'd rather have a 2010 Donjon CdP if I could find it at similar discount levels.

Question of the Day: Are you buying 2010 CdPs? Are you a buyer of the 2010 Usseglio mon Aï</i>eul?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/5jder04JM6s/tasting-report-usseglio-mon-aieul.html

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iTunes Now Includes All Podcast Episodes

This podcast predates iTunes so when it started only a portion of my shows appeared on the feed. After I posted my latest podcast I decided it made sense to consolidate all the shows into the iTunes feed with all future podcasts published in mp3 format. Down the feed to Winecast 33 are enhanced AAC [...]

iTunes Now Includes All Podcast Episodes originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/aa6lH_SXTNY/

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