A good friend of ours, Brendan McLaughlin, is one of those guys who just looks right with a glass of wine in his hand. The main news anchor at WFTS-TV, the ABC television station in Tampa, Florida, Brendan’s a great guy and an experienced wine traveler. When we asked Vinitrekers to send in some favorite shots from tasting rooms around the world, Brendan sent in one of his favorites–from France, with the story behind it. (And if you’ve got photos to share, send ‘em our way!)
Mark,
This pic is a little dated, but still memorable for Sandy and me.
July 2003 brought record high temperatures throughout France, just as we were touring the Provence and Rhone regions. Being from Tampa, we were well accustomed to the heat, so we enjoyed light traffic on the roads and short lines at the wineries. This is a tasting room in the venerable Chateauneuf Du Pape commune. I don’t recall the name of our guide on the right, but Luc is a good guess. I’ll confess to photoshopping out the profuse sweat stains on my shirt. The laughter and obvious enjoyment of GSM wines are unretouched.
Cheers,
Brendan McLaughlin
Mrs. Vinitrek and I had a chance to visit Justin in Paso Robles, California last year and we really enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere and approachable wine.
Now, Justin’s got something new to share: SAVANT (all caps). As the winery describes the bold name:
First, let’s decipher the name: “SAVANT”. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, savant means “a person of learning; especially: one with detailed knowledge in some specialized field.”
Why is this wine entitled to a name meaning “expert”? Well, for starters, we “expertly” marry juice from two of our best known varietals: cabernet sauvignon and syrah.
Now we haven’t tasted tasted it (c’mon, feel free to send a bottle along with your news items!), but others have. The 2005 SAVANT (sounds a bit like a car, no?) won double gold, best of California and best of class at the California State Fair, 91 Points from Wine Enthusiast (06 SAVANT) and 90 Points from The Wine Advocate (04 SAVANT). So maybe they’re on to something. Again, not to belabor the point, but we haven’t tasted it ourselves. Sigh.
If you open a bottle, let us know what you think!
WINE NOTES:
Tasting Notes: The 2007 Savant is dark ruby in color with a slight crimson hue. Aromas of dried flowers, wet earth, cocoa and caramel surround plum and black cherry in this barrel fermented red blend. The entry is soft and supple, filled with sweet fruit that layers your mouth. The mid palate balances the bright fruit of Syrah with the power and acidity of Cabernet Sauvignon. Structured, integrated tannins from the 68% new oak evolve into a lush velvety finish garnished with flavors of coffee, vanilla and butterscotch.
Vineyard Notes: The 2007 growing season began with a cold, dry winter, resulting in an early bud break. Spring remained dry and warm, providing a consistent climate for canopy growth. In early summer, the soils were depleted of their water holding capacity, naturally reducing yields by 30%. A mild, early summer eventually turned hot. Consistent temperatures in the mid 90’s ripened fruit consistently throughout the harvest season.
Production Notes: Our winemaking team began sampling the ripening grapes on a regular basis in early September. During the last few weeks before the grapes were picked, we tasted the skins, juice and seeds two to three times per week. We evaluated color, flavor and tannin ripeness to determine the exact harvest date. A skilled crew handpicked the grapes into ½ ton picking bins. Once at the winery, a sorting area removed any less than perfect clusters. Our crusher-destemmer removed all of the stems and lightly crushed the grapes. The must (crushed grapes) was then placed in a stainless steel tank for the Cabernet portion, and small, brand new 59 gallon French oak barrels for the Syrah portion. UV-43 yeast, a strain known for its intense cherry and berry characteristics, then fermented the wine to dryness over a twelve-day period. During fermentation, the tank fermenting wine was pumped over for about 35 minutes up to four times daily to extract the ripe tannins and intense flavors from the skins. The barrels were punched down four times daily to control temperature and enhance extraction from both skins and wood. Free run juice from both lots was used for the final blend. Malolactic fermentation took place in barrel to help incorporate the oak faster. 18 months in 68% new French Oak helped soften the tannins and lengthen the mid palate. We blended the wine in August and put it back into barrel for ten months to ensure the wine was integrated before bottling. A small amount of Malbec (4%) was blended in to brighten the fruit in this rich, concentrated wine.
Price: $45.00
To Purchase: click here.
Enjoying the Wine in the Tasting Room at Stag's Leap Wine Cellars
We’ve said it before and we’ll certainly say it again: we love us a good tasting room. Mrs. Vinitrek’s currently off wine as she’s now visibly pregnant, and our regular deliveries of delicious sparkling wine and Pinot Noir from Domaine Carneros doesn’t help her situation. So we definitely won’t be getting into any tasting rooms for a few more months.
Still… we miss them!
Could you do us a favor and share some stories and pictures of the rooms you all have been visiting? From our experience, there’s always an interesting person you end up talking to–or a tasting room staffer who makes an unplanned visit feel like it was meant to be–and we want to hear about it! Let us hit wine country with you.
Send your stories and pictures to mark@standupkid.com and we’ll share the best of them right here on Vinitrek!
The Last Tasting of the Night at Peju
The folks in the mighty chateau at Domaine Carneros have a new release–and a “white hot” party set for January 22nd to kick it off. The DC pinot clair is a white wine made from black skinned Pinot Noir grapes, which the winery says “offers the opportunity to view Pinot Noir from a new angle.”
The $48.00 limited release ships on January 25th, and 162 cases were produced. DC says the final product allows you to “taste the purity of the stone fruit profile, feel the elegant texture of the juice unemcumbered by the phenolic burden of the skins, or (to) view the Carneros soil through this eminently more transparent vehicle.”
It sounds very intriguing…as does the idea of sipping a glass in one of our favorite wine venues in the world: the Domaine Carneros patio overlooking the vineyard.
If someone gets their hands on a bottle…or goes to the launch party at DC…please report back!
WINE NOTES:
Tasting Notes: Stone fruit profile with elegant texture.
Vineyard Notes: Two promising Clonal selections, “Pommard” and “Beba”, were selected from the 12 grown on Domaine Carneros Estate ranches. Night picking insured that the grapes could arrive early at the winery (still cold!), and be gently pressed so as not extract any color from the skins.
Production Notes: A total of Seven barrels were selected for the final blend, and of those seven, four were made of Stainless steel (to preserve clarity, transparency, and freshness), two were older wooden vessels (to offer roundness), and one single new French oak barrel (to delicately spice the fruit without daring to overpower it).
To Pre-Order: click here.
Long Island’s fast-growing (and increasingly well-respected) wine country is turning out some fantastic, significant wines… and the phrase “world class” is spoken along the North Fork in ever more serious tones.
Some of the boutique vineyards on Long Island have only been producing for a few years, and many of them lack the full infrastructure of older, larger wineries. So they turn to a custom crush facility to turn their lovingly grown grapes into carefully crafted wines.
Vinitrek’s Mark Joyella, in his role as a contributor to WPIX-TV/New York’s Toni On! New York visited the Premium Wine Group to see how the new, recently-expanded facility’s become a key player in the growth of winemaking on Long Island.
Learn more about the Premium Wine Group here. And if you’re in New York, don’t forget to watch the food, wine and travel-friendly Toni On! Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday mornings at 11:30 a.m.
