2024 LXV Blanc De Franc – An Elegant and Layered Beauty With a Subtle Message
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Background
Our Friday Night Wine & Dine group met last Thursday evening to enjoy a meal at Verona18. Their special this evening was a blackened salmon, and I decided to pair it with this wine.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
First on the eyes, a pale light-yellow color. On the nose, floral aromas that changed throughout the wine temperature. On the palate, flavors of white peach and pear were dominant. Secondary flavors of minerality and a touch of vanilla. Most notable was the weightiness of this wine in the mouth due to being aged 10 months on lees with constant stirring in French oak barrels. The finish was a bit abbreviated, which only beckoned another sip. Each sip was contemplative trying to unlock the secret code to this graceful and delicate wine.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Besides the wine being mysterious and hiding nuances of subtle enjoyment, so the label is similar. Notice the label has writings in Sanskrit references sections of the Bhagavad Gita. The answer is straightforward with the upper portion referencing “earth, water, fire, ether, mind, intellect and ego” referencing components of material matter. For LXV, Neeta explained that this “speaks beautifully to terroir” the elements that give wine its character.
The second reference, being the lower portion, states “the one who knows the truth thinks I do nothing at all”. This about the ego-less actor referencing the winemaker who as Neeta states “is fully engaged in the world yet knows the true self is untouched and the winemaker acts, but nature does the work”.
Truly both reference the wine grounded in terroir, the elements of earth, and speaks to effortless ego-fee creation (minimal intervention) that LXV strives for in their winemaking.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Had chosen this wine assuming raspberry and strawberry flavors would counterbalance the blackened salmon with its flavors and the acidity cut through the salmon. Upon reflection the blackened salmon flavor was a bit too much for this refined wine, nevertheless the food and wine were both tremendously enjoyable.
LXV Wines and Wine Tasting Experience
LXV provides a unique tasting experience located at 1306-B Pine Street, Paso Robles. They were rated one of the Top 10 tasting experiences as rated by USA Today. LXV, besides holding regular wine tastings, also provide an optional spice pairing. The spice pairings are far reaching with Peruvian, Mystic Orient, Smolder Notes, Turkish Shores, Shmeli Suneli and many more spice packets. One is whisked away with their varietal and proprietary blends to capture the adventures of different cultures and culinary treats.
Photo of Neeta Mittal from their website
The idea of exotic spices started with Neeta’s mother in a town south of Mumbai. Her mother would regularly visit the spice markets to purchase fragrant herbs and spices to go with their handmade Tandoori Masala. One of the goals of spice tasting is to open the confined discussion of pH and acidity of wine to a broad horizon of international flavors. Today they offer besides a variety of “Bordeaux influenced wines”, others like Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Syrah and many more. Their wines receive ratings from 97 points to 99 points!!
Kunal and Neeta Mittal are the driving force behind their love affair with Cabernet Franc offerings. Currently they offer Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from France, Saint Émilion and their Willow Creek estate in Paso Robles. As they state “Maison Mittal, exists where Bordeaux and Paso conspire – two continents speaking one language of stone, discipline and time. We arrive not as a luxury, but as a reminder that wine can still be a practice of place, spoken with global fluency and crafted with unapologetic precision. The wines we leave behind will outlast the moment they were made.”
Photo of Kunal Mittal from their website
To read more about their journey, how they found Paso Robles and they quest to make Paso Robles the Cabernet Franc capital in California read the following links:
https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2023/12/26/lxv-wines-presented-cab-franc-day-paso-robles/
and
and
A few other wines were enjoyed this evening with each person or couple bringing a wine of choice from their home.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Sláinte,
Michael Kelly