Month: February 2023
2020 DéTENTE Wines, Hugo Pinot Noir – Can You Decipher the Code?
Here is another wine enjoyed after I visited Paso Robles last December for the Paso Robles Cabernet Franc Day tasting and symposium. Having just two hours of free time, I asked a friend where I should go to taste some excellent wines besides their wine (Dracaena Wines) in Paso Robles. What a great recommendation going to DéTENTE Wines tasting room, which was no small chore in finding them! The tasting room is located in the alley between 12th & 13th and Park & Pine Street, in the back courtyard of Jeffry’s Wine Country BBQ. A bit tricky in finding but well worth the adventure.
The Winery
This may sound like an odd name for a winery, but in reality it is a great name for a winery in Paso Robles! It has been a long tradition of claiming that the best wines from vineyards come from either the West or East side of Highway 101 in Paso Robles. Thus calling for DéTENTE (definition being easing of hostility or strained relations) believing both sides of Highway 101 offer excellent wines! As DéTENTE Wines produces small lot boutique varietals from the best vineyards on both sides of Highway 101.
The winery is co-owned by three individuals. Chris Eberle, winemaker, has spent 15 years working in well-known wineries across the globe building on his resume and experience. From a wine cellar in Weinsberg, Germany to harvest at Hartenberg Winery in Stellebosch, South Africa, Kim Crawford in Marlborough, New Zealand, Howard Park Wines in Margaret River, Western Australia and Chateau angelus in Bordeaux, France. He also currently is the head winemaker at Eberle Winery in Paso Robles.
Another co-owner is Trevor Iba, who has an extensive background in the wine industry. He was Director of Accounting and Finance for some of the well-known wineries on the Central Coast. He also owns a mobile wine cross flow filtration company called TS Wine Services serving the Central Coast AVA’s.
The third co-owner and Creative Director belongs to Julian Caustrita. His responsibilities are to execute the brand’s expression. Julian’s focus is on design and strategy for the past 15 years, with a design background to capture the team and brand vision with cross platform design and media development. This is one label you need to read every word printed on it as there are typically double meanings behind each label.
The Wine- 2020 DéTENTE Wines, Hugo Pinot Noir
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
This is made from grapes from Mun’s Vineyard located in higher regions of the Santa Cruz AVA. The bottle design very much intrigued my curiosity. It seems like some type of code to decipher for secret agents to figure out! As it turns out it is not that complicated as Hugo is named after Chris’s son who was born in 2020 the same as the vintage….mystery solved!
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
The wine on the eyes provided bright and crisp royal purple edges and deep ruby coloring in the center. When the glass was filled to the equator of the glass, it was extremely dark and alluring. On the nose very little aromas waft upward even in a Riedel Pinot Noir glass. So was a bit disappointed that perhaps this Pinot Noir had faded. But once a sip was taken, the true nature of this fine Pinot Noir came out from the shadows with dark red fruits of strawberries and cherries. On the palate traces of smooth grandfathers pipe tobacco, cranberries and earthiness. The finish was equally impressive with smooth tannins but with just enough edges to be enjoyed. Combined with its structure of acidity, it provided a satisfying completeness to the sip. Only 48 cases of this wine was produced! Their website shows it for $45/bottle. The wine has an alcohol level of 14.6%. It was aged 10 months in second fill Hungarian oak barrels. Definitely one of the more enjoyable sipping Pinot Noir with or without food
The Food and Wine Pairing
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
The wine was pulled out of the cellar as we had an oven baked pork loin. Rubbed with various spices and sliced and plated with an apricot pepper sauce from Stewart & Jaspers Orchards. Accompanied by sautéed quartered Yukon potatoes and mushrooms with a side fresh garden salad. The DéTENTE Hugo Pinot Noir picked up the “smokiness of the spices on the rub”. The bright acidity and smooth, yet embracing tannins, complemented the pork’s lean and fatty cuts. A delicious food and wine pairing.
Sláinte,
Michael
2021 Wood Family Vineyards Chardonnay – A Must Have Valentine’s Day Wine
The Winery
Located in eastern Livermore Valley, Rhonda Wood owner & winemaker, has been producing award winning wines for over two decades at Wood Family Vineyards. You can read more on her background from airline pilot to award winning winemaker at:
https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2016/02/10/wood-family-vineyards-2/ and
Here is just a “partial listing” of her current winning wines:
- 2021 “Para Mas Amigas” Chardonnay – Gold – 2023 SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2019 Clone 30 – Gold – 2023 SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2022 “Pink Pearl” Rose – Best of Class – 2023 SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2021 Albariño – Best of Class – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2019 Cabernet Franc – Double Gold – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2019 LVVC – Gold – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2019 “Viva” Cabernet Sauvignon – Gold – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2019 Merlot – Gold – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2019 “The Captain” Red Blend – Gold – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2020 “Big Wood” Zinfandel – Gold – 2023, SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2020 “Woody’s” Cab Cabernet Sauvignon – Gold – 2023 SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2018 “Especial” Cabernet Sauvignon – Silver – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2018 Clone 30 Cabernet Sauvignon – Silver – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2019 “El Loco Rojo” Bordeaux Red Blend – Silver – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2019 GSM – Silver – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
- 2019 ‘Muy Bueno” Zinfandel – Silver – SF Chronicle Wine Competition
The Wine 2021 Wood Family Chardonnay
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
This wine has truly been one of my favorite Chardonnay’s for the last six years. While always delicious and winning awards, with caramel and full secondary malolactic fermentation creating a tinge of buttery finish, each year has a slight change. Her 2021 Chardonnay is 98% of the same “deliciousness” as her 2020. The slight changes were twofold, the first being a more “mouth filling” slightly heavier body due to more stirring of the lees during barrel fermentation. The second was a hint of an ever slight Asian Pear sweetness on the finish. The balance of the wine was almost identical in color (golden yellow), aroma (fresh brioche), taste (pear and apple) and a beautiful finish! This wine was as “comfortable and inviting” as her previous vintages once again. The bottle sells for $32.
The Food & Wine Pairing
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
Paired this evening with a new for us baked butterflied chicken breast stuffed with Swiss cheese, spices and fresh broccoli with a panko crust. Accompanied by additional broccoli, brown rice (not shown) and a fresh garden salad. The creaminess of the Swiss cheese with a slight buttery flavor of the Chardonnay was again spot on for a great meal.
Convinced that no matter what you are serving on Valentine’s Day, nothing says “Love” like Wood Family Vineyards Chardonnay!
Sláinte,
Michael
2016 Ledson Howell Mountain “Old Vine” Zinfandel
The Winery
(Picture from Ledson Winery)
The story begins in England in 1896 and is detailed out on the website https://ledson.com/discover-ledson/history/ . It is a tale of hard work, family ties and a desire to do more for the community. Steve Ledson’s history is both unique and common—unique with background and successful venture and common with family ties. His demeanor and casual manner bespeaks volumes. A couple of years ago, I had a friend come down from Oregon and had Assistant Winemaker Jerry Padilla conduct the private tasting. On the way out, Steve walked in with jeans and tee shirt having worked some aspect of the vineyard only to greet us, genuinely happy that our tasting went well.
(From a recent private tasting at Ledson Winery with friends)
The Castle is the official tasting room of Ledson Winery and the architecture and construction alone are worth the visit! Ledson Winery offers the largest premium wine portfolio of any family owned winery in the United States. Today their offering numbers more than 70 wines annually! For more information on Ledson Winery click below:
The Wine
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
First on the eyes, an extremely dark elixir and medium heavy viscosity. On the nose, a symphony of aromas coming beaming up from the glass of blackberries, plums, cherry and cranberry. On the palate, the black fruits come bursting ahead with soft vanilla, pipe tobacco, earthiness and spice notes. The finish provides a swirling memory of the aforementioned flavors and soft leather and jammy red licorice. Tannins were present but in a rounded fashion. This was one of the most bold, smooth and semi-dry Zinfandel wines I have experienced. This will make my Annual Best Wines Tasted for 2023 that will come out in December. The current vintage is 2019 and goes for $72/bottle.
The Food and Wine Pairing
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
Pulled this wine out of the cellar specifically for our meal this evening of Carne Asada. We normally seared it on the BBQ but with the rain, did on the stove with a cast iron skillet. Besides a fresh cut of flank steak, ingredients included chopped cilantro leaves, olive oil, reduced sodium soy sauce, juice from one orange, juice from one lime, minced garlic cloves, minced jalapeno pepper, cumin, kosher salt and ground black pepper. This was marinated for about 10 hours. Extra sauce was saved to drizzle on the plated meat. Accompanied by sautéed Brussel sprouts with sliced mushrooms and a fresh garden salad. The wine with its full fruit forward characteristics was excellent with the meal. Definitely a home run!
Sláinte,
Michael
2012 Paoletti Estates Winery, Nero d’Avola
The Winery
(Photo from Paoletti website)
Paoletti Estates Winery is located in Calistoga on the Silverado Trail. They have 36 acres planted featuring wines to make premium Bordeaux blends, Italian varieties and Super Tuscan blends. Their first release was in 1994. Their varietal wines include Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Nero d’Avola. All their wines are made in small lots by winemaker Gabriella Gazzarno. They have consistently won Gold and Double Gold medals from the SF Chronicle Wine Competition.
(Photo from Paoletti website)
To visit their caves is a fascinating experience with statues of many great people in history. They are unique and made from Carrara marble. It is both a functional cave for barrel ageing and a museum. I can’t recall the exact year I visited them, but many years ago and definitely need to put them back on my list of wineries to visit.
The Wine
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
Their Nero d’Avola is “almost black” in color and considered one of the most important grapes grown in Sicily. The name comes from the town of Avola in the far south of Sicily. It is also known in Italy as Calabrese. This is a blend mostly of Nero d’Avola varietal with 15% being Cabernet Sauvignon. The vines were brought in from Sicily almost 18 years ago and planted in Calistoga. On the eyes, this is a dark almost black sea of delight with medium heavy viscosity. On the nose and palate, it parlays one back to old world Italy/Sicily with a dusty and rustic taste with blackberries, plum, cherries and dark chocolate. The finish is long lasting with the tannins and acidity in perfect balance with a semi-sweet vanilla. The wine was aged for 18 months with 40% new French oak and 60% neutral French oak barrels. Only 112 cases were produced. This wine was so “realistic old world” and the taste fabulous, it will make my Annual Best Wines Tasted in 2023 which is published in December yearly. BTW, the picture on the bottle label is Giuseppe Garibaldi, (1807-1882) who was an Italian General and patriot. He contributed to the unification of Italy and the Kingdom of Italy. Known as one of the “fathers of the fatherland”.
The Food & Wine Pairing
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
Pulled from the cellar last night to have with dinner as the bold, acidic flavor of the wine allows it to cut through the fats, oils and richness of the Bolognese sauce. The sauce is a recipe from our friend Darlene Besst and started at 10 am and left simmering all day on the stove. Ingredients included chopped celery, chopped carrot, minced garlic cloves, olive oil, chopped onions, chopped fresh thyme, ground veal, ground pork, red wine, bay leaves, beef broth and tomato puree. Served with whole wheat penne pasta and topped with fresh Parmesan cheese. The good news, it was an exquisite meal combining both Sicily and Italy!! The bad news is I only have one bottle of it left is the cellar.
Sláinte,
Michael
2018 Cliff Lede Sauvignon Blanc
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
The Wine
A light straw color on the eyes and medium viscosity. On the nose, citrus aromas waft into the olfactory senses along with grapefruit and lemon zest. On the palate, lemon meringue, brioche and ripe apricots abound in the mouth. The texture is big and bold, filling the mouth. The finish is mid lasting and developed a beautiful ending for this wine with crisp acidity. The mouth filling texture was most likely caused by the lees being stirred daily during fermentation initially and then weekly. The wine is 87% Sauvignon Blanc, the balance being 10% Sémillon and a small amount 3% being Sauvignon Vert. The alcohol is 14.2%. The juice was fermented in 67% French oak barrels, and 29% in stainless steel tanks and 4% in concrete eggs. Production was 10,420 cases. Today the vintage being released is the 2021 and sell for $32/bottle.
The Food and Wine Pairing
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
Paired with seared Ahi with wasabi, ponzu sauce, sesame seeds and roasted black seaweed at Verona18 with our Friday Night Wine & Dine group. The Sauvignon Blanc is always a favorite with seared Ahi and tonight was no exception! A great food and wine pairing.
(Photo ©Michael Kelly)
Also tried a red wine with the meal, a 2019 Blue Victorian Mourvedre. While the wine was delicious, and recently their 2020 vintage winning Best of Class in the SF Chronicle Wine Competition, preferred the Sauvignon Blanc with the meal.
Sláinte,
Michael
https://californiawinesandwineries.com
https://cliffledevineyards.com/
https://www.coppervalleygolf.com/homepage/current-operations
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