Integrity Wine Tasting at Le Caveau - Thursday May 22, 2014

Integrity Wine Tasting at Le Caveau - Thursday May 22, 2014
All of these wines should be decanted - yes even the white ones.

1) 2013 Dominio de Punctum 'Viento Aliseo' Viognier La Mancha  - $12.99
100% Viognier grown biodynamically
At sight, it shows a bright golden color with lime reflections.  There are Tahitian flower-like notes with soft lime and tropical fruit.  Well balanced with fresh acidity, the palate echoes the tropical flowers and citrus notes.  Great with spicy Asian dishes, richer white fish. 
This is the FIRST tasting of this wine in the state of Georgia.  It's THAT new. only 3 cases in the store.

Located in the small town of Las Pedroneras, Dominio de Punctum's estate is located at 750 meters above sea level, which together with its sandy loam soil, rich in limestone, makes it an optimum place to grow the best grapes.

2) 2012 Sepp Moser Grüner Veltliner 'Gebling' Erste Lage Kremstal - $26.99
100% Gruner Veltliner grown biodynamically
Bright yellow green.  It shows fine herbs and spices highlighted yellow apple fruit, elegant hint of tobacco, and touch of honey.  Powerful, juicy, dark spice, creamy texture, well-integrated acidity, sweet extract, and great aging potential.  Great with lobster or fish with fine spicy sauces, as well as asparagus, 
*melon and lime

The Gebling vineyard is mainly planted on terraces: it is on a steep slope located north of Rohrendorf reaching towards Krems.  The soil is one of the highest loess sediments in Europe.  The origin of the name "Gebling" is thought to mean "yellowish" referring to the soil color.

3) 2007 Mathieu Coste 'Biau!' Coteaux du Giennois - $26.99 (tonight only)
80% Gamay, 20% Pinot Noir grown organically
This wine has a complex nose of dark red fruit, forest, and pepper notes.  The palate is medium-bodied and after air turns to macerated fruit notes, spices, and a saline note.  This wine is refined and complex, with firm tannins and fresh acidity.  Pair with simple meat dishes, roasted quail, or other white meats, monkfish, and strong cheeses.
*light, could drink now or cellar up to 10 years

The soil on the property is very similar to that of Sancerre.  It is a mixture of clay, limestone, siliceaous soil from the tertiary and kimmeridgian eras.  The grapes are hand-harvested and then placed into open cement vats for whole cluster fermentation.  They only use native yeasts during the fermentation process.  After three weeks in the cement vats, they are transferred to stainless steel vats for malolactic fermentation.  Biau! (beautiful or handsome in old French)  is aged for 5 years in tank and neutral demi-muids (400 liter barrels) before release.

4) 2010 Mathieu Coste 'Têtes des Chats' (head of cats) Coteaux du Giennois - $29.99

80% Pinot Noir, 20% Gamay grown organically
The nose is intense on red berries with iodine and mineral notes.  On the palate, this wine is fine, fruity with soft tannins and a long finish with notes of strawberries and black currants.

*stainless/concrete/no oak, The cat reference refers to the Cathead stones in the soil.  Loire region, funky notes, darker than the pinot.  The Gamay in this region is DARK.

5) 2011 Château Sainte-Anne Cotes de Provence Rouge - $32.99
25% Mourvedre, 25% Grenache, 25% Cinsault, 25% Carignan grown organically
This has a nose of red fruits with herbs, spice, and a little tar that comes out with air.  The palate is savory with a little meatiness, along with concentrated red and black fruits balanced by fresh acidity and fine, but sturdy tannins.  Open or decant this wine about 30 minutes before enjoying it.

Their vineyards have been worked without chemicals since the 1960s (organically certified by Ecocert since 1976).  They are in a northeastern part of the appellation that is made up of hillsides with clay, limestone, and silica, which allows for excellent drainage.  The mourvedre slowly matures, after the early autumn rains which are quickly dried by the mistral. 
*natural yeast, no sulphites/sulfur

Spring Wine Tasting at Le Caveau - Thursday May 8th 2014

Spring Wine Tasting at Le Caveau - Thursday May 8th 2014

1) 2012 Domaine Guillot-Broux Mâcon-Villages - $19.99
100% Chardonnay farmed biodynamically (certified organic) - Natural wine
Pale straw in the glass with pretty tropical fruit and brioche scents.  The palate is elegant and rich with white citrus fruit and notes of minerality framed by a round texture and vibrant acidity.

From 10-80 year old vines, all the grapes are harvested and sorted by hand in the vineyard before going to the winery.  The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in oak.  Only native yeasts are used.  The wine rests in oak for 6 months and spends 5 months in enamal lined vats before it is bottled.  It was the first vineyard converted to organic farming in Burgundy in 1954.

*we were the first people in GA to taste this wine, they only had 4 cases of this wine.

2) 2012 Dönnhoff Estate Riesling Trocken Nahe - $22.99
100% Riesling farmed sustainably
This wine has a floral nose with ripe citrus and fresh herbs.  The palate is precise, with tart lime and a strong mineral core of structure to complement its elegant dry finish.

This wine comes from the steeply sloping vineyards of the middle Nahe region.  The vines grow in stony, weathered volcanic soils of porphyry and melaphyr with small amounts of slate and quartzite, producing some of the more notably smoky and stony Rieslings.  Sourced mostly from the Grand Cru sites of Felsenberg (90%) Hermannshohle, and Leistenberg.  The grapes are hand harvested, fermented with native yeasts, and matured in stainless steel vats and large oak barrels.

3) 2013 Calstar Cellars Pinot Meunier Rosé Russian River Valley - $19.99
100% Pinot Meunier farmed sustainably
This wine shows notes of peach, golden delicious apple, strawberry and mango with rosewater and undertones of warm cinnamon and vanilla.  Secondary notes of banana, fresh hay, and papaya round out the ripe, fruit-forward nose.  Medium bodied, with some dry extract and fresh strawberry-like tannins filling out the mouth.

This is the first time this Pinot Meunier Rose from Christinia's Vineyard in the Russian River Valley was made, and only 83 cases were produced.  Fruit was crushed and the juice was left in contact with the skins for 4 hours then pressed.  Fermentation with native yeast was 80% tank (to preserve the fruit) and 20% neutral barrel (for mouth feel).

4) 2012 Domaine Rimbert 'Les Travers de Marceau' Saint-Chinian - $16.99
40% Carignan, 30% Syrah, 25% Cinsault, 5% Mourvedre farmed sustainably
Ruby in the glass with purple highlights.  The nose is packed with crushed red berry, plum, blueberry and notes of saddle leather backed by crushed stones.  The palate is supple as it delivers red and black fruit flavors backed by silken minerality and a deft touch of acidity.  
*deceptively light

From 60 year old vines, the grapes are hand-harvested and de-stemmed before they are gently pressed.  Only indigenous yeasts are used, the varietals are fermented separately in tanks before the final wine is blended.  The wine is bottled using gravity and undergoes a slight filtration.

5) 2012 Olivier Cousin 'Pur Breton' Rouge (Anjou) - $24.99
100% Cabernet Franc farmed biodynamically (certified)
Ripe plum, juicy cherry, red apple core and chalk tones dominate the nose.  Crushed strawberries mixed with invigoratingly fresh Bing cherry and red apple flavors explode on the palate.

From 40 year old fines, the grapes are hand-harvested, brought to the winery by a horse, de-stemmed, and gently pressed.  Only natural yeasts are used and the juice undergoes an extended maceration.  Aged in old oak barrels.

Thursday April 24th, 2014 - Tomfoolery Tasting - hosted by Ms.Jackie &Mr. Santiago

Thursday April 24th, 2014 - Tomfoolery Tasting - hosted by Ms.Jackie & Mr. Santiago

Theme: Tomfoolery Tasting (grocery store wines) - a play on April Fools for wine
The Rules:
1)  Purchase a wine from your average grocery store (ex: Trader Joes, Kroger, Publix)
   *specialty grocery stores or the "Kro-Gay" (Kroger) in Ansley area are not allowed
   *no "Three-Buck-Chuck" - try to step it up a little bit.
2)  Pick out a wine that you know is decent, or that you have enjoyed in the past.  If you are not sure, pick one at random.  If you can, stay in the usual TWITs price range (aka: up to $20 for singles, up to $40 for couples).
3)  Bring the wine to TWITs, in a paper bag, for blind tasting

We will be blind tasting these wines, for fun.  Then at the end we will unveil them, and see what wines we ended up with.  You may be surprised which ones you liked.  The wines can be red or white or sparkling or rose, it does not matter.  The point of this tomfoolery is to try to pick something "good" from a "grocery store".

TWITs Tasting Notes:
Enjoy this hilarious video that essentially recaps our tasting.  

Welcome Wines: The Welcome Wines were not "Tomfoolery Wines", but listed here so we can recall what we tried.
Welcome Wine 1) Earl Olivier Cousin "Pur Breton" Pays an ange vin ~ $30 at Le Caveau
   12.5% alcohol
Welcome Wine 2) 2010 Domaine Galevan - Paroles de Femme - Cote Du Rhone ~ $20 at Le Caveau
   60% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 10% Cinsault, 10% Carignan, 14.5% alcohol

1) Lamarca Prosecco (Italy) ~ $17 with Kroger Plus Card
100% Prosecco, 11% Alcohol
Guesses: Marilyn and the guys all guess prosecco, Val says Cava,
golden apple nose, light, refreshing, good for a hot tub on a hot day

2) 2012 Villa Borghetti Delle Venizie Pinot Grigio $5.99 @ Trader Joes
100% Pinot Grigio, 12% alcohol
Guesses:  white wine, light refreshing, almost tastes like nothing, "like the Coors Light of Wine", Kathy guesses it might be Chateau St. Michelle?

3) 2008 Marques de Caceres Rioja - retails for $30.59, but on sale for $17.49 at Toco Hills Kroger
100% Tempranillo, 13.5% alcohol
"that's my kind of stinky, sweet stinky", dry, no transparency, Rheinallt smells Dill, Sweet Dill, "Dill and Grass" or "Dillon Grass, ha ha the name of your dealer perhaps?" Lynn says sour cream and chive, dry maybe high gravity, leather, earth, Val guesses American Oak (later we found it was French oak).

4) 2012 Sterling Vintners Collection Pinot Noir - $11.99 @ Kroger
100% Pinot Noir, 13.5% alcohol
Val guesses Pinot Noir, nose is light, chocolate notes, cheap Welch's fruit drink, Rheinallt guesses Sonoma County Pinot Noir, Marilyn guesses 12.5% alcohol, dark cherry chocolate, Jackie said she has had Sterling before, but this one is more casual than the one she had.  "There are gondolas at the winery" (aka: closed car ski lifts), in the Calistoga area, Casual wine.

5) 2011 Ghost Pines Cabernet Sauvignon - $13.99 @ Kroger
100% Cabernet Sauvignon, but blended from different vineyards
21% Napa, 30% Sonoma, 49% Lake County
13.8% alcohol
Brian says Cab Franc, I said I love the finish, but not the nose, Rhein and I said nose is like a California Syrah, white pepper, Santi says it smells like Chinese food, the finish is great, squid ink, looks like I suffered a gunshot wound, I would eat some lamb with this, Lynn guesses Cab.

6) 2010 7 Deadly Zins - $15 @ Kroger
100% Zinfandel 15% alcohol
opaque, dark bitter coffee, slow broad legs, Marilyn guesses at least 14% alcohol, petrol nose, Santi says fresh rain on a hot road, Matt says Asphalt, Rhein says it smells like I-285, Australian Shiraz? Kathy says you thought you were smelling I-285 but that's Lodi (low-dye).

7) 2009 The Federalist Dueling Pistols - Dry Creek Valley - retails for $40.59 but was on sale for $32.48 at Kroger, according to the winemaker's website, this was bottled on April 1st, 2011 (fitting for this tasting's theme)
50% Zinfandel, 50% Syrah 15% alcohol
more asphalt, burnt smell, guessing Zin, worse than the 7 Deadly Zins

8) 2007 Campo Viejo Gran Reserva - $25 @ Fresh Market
85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, 5% Mazuelo, 13.5% alcohol
Jamie says tastes like 4 Deadly Zins, Santi says "a good C+ student, I thought the finish was not impressive

Brian joked "Worst TWITs Ever!"  I think we agreed, but we still had fun trying out these wines.  We have definitely grown our palate beyond the Grocery Store Wines though.

Sake Tasting at Le Caveau - April 23rd, 2014

Sake Tasting with Savannah Distributing at Le Caveau Fine Wines

Timothy Sullivan is the founder of UrbanSake.com, the 2007 Sake Samurai (Japan Sake Brewer’s Association) and an International Sake Sommelier (Sake Service Institute|SSI). He is also the Official Brand Ambassador of Hakkaisan Sake Brewery.  Timothy used to be a web developer for Barnes & Noble, but one night at dinner, he tasted a sake that changed his life.

Koji Aoto is long time resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Koji Aoto was born in Tottori Prefecture in west Japan. In 1990, Koji came to the United States as an intern teacher to teach Japanese culture to the American children in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1997, Koji joined one of the oldest liquor distributors in Georgia, Savannah Distributing Company, as one of the start-up members of its Atlanta office. At that time, Koji was the only Japanese in the industry.  To further enrich his career, he returned to Japan in 2005 and visited more than twenty sake breweries experiencing the sake making process first hand. In 2006, Koji received a visa as a sake expert from the U.S., and returned to Atlanta, Georgia. He became the Asian Account Manager of Savannah Distributing Company, where he serves the most popular Sushi bars.

  

*Not pictured is Lisa Allen of Savannah Distributing, who also helped with the tasting this evening.

Abbie from TWITs with Timothy Sullivan, Brand Ambassador of Hakkaisan Brewery

1) Hakkaisan Junmai Sparkling Nigori Sake
With refreshing acidity and gorgeous aroma, Hakkaisan Sparkling Nigori is certainly enjoyable as an aperitif, but this popular sake can be enjoyed many ways. Try pairing this beautiful brew with rich or spicy dishes as well as fruits and dessert. 

2) Hakkaisan Junmai Ginjo Sake
It’s a touch dry with tremendous balance and a crisp refreshing finish. 

3) Hakkaisan Honjyozo Sake
Delicious and slightly rich honjozo. On the dry side with plenty of body to stand up to hearty food.


4) Kotsuzumi Tokubetsu Junmai Sake
100% Kita Nishiki, a unique rice from Oku Tanba is used. Only limited breweries use this rare rice. Full bodied and clear tasting.


5) Kotsuzumi 'Draft' Junmai Ginjo Nama Sake
The softest water in Japan, locally grown rare rice Kita Nishiki and unique yeast No.10 makes this sake so elegant, fresh, lively and pure. This is a rare Nama Sake (freshly pressed sake), which is bottled un-pasteurized to maintain the original delicate flavor of “newborn sake”.


6) Amabuki Junmai Ginjo Nama Strawberry Yeast Sake
Brewed using yeast cultivated off the flowers of strawberry plants, this sake is characterized by a refreshing crispness and almost reminiscent of fresh strawberries.

*If you keep the lid on the Sake bottle, and keep it cool, the bottle could last for several days.

What is Sake?

Is it a wine, a beer, a spirit?  Actually it is none of these things.  Sake is a "brewed alcohol", it converts start to sugar and sugar to alcohol at the same time and in the same tank.

 

Sake rice is not the same as the rice we eat.  The starch in the core of the sake rice grain.  The grain is made up of starch, fat, and proteins.  the grain is milled down to the center.  When you see a milling rate for sake, the lower the number means the higher the quality, as it is a finer starch.  For example, the Hakkaisan sparkling wine from the tasting has a 60% millage rate.  The highest millage rate sake that Hakkaisan produces is 30%.

 

Elsewhere, in Japan, there's a sake called Super 8, which has an 8% millage rate and retails for around $3000 / bottle. 

 

The unfermented rice solids, called Kasu (Kah-soo) that are not needed for Sake-making, are sold and used in cooking and pickling

 

In the 1960s and 70s, when Japan sent the USA Sake, it was bottom-of-the-barrel, quality-wise.  It was cheap table sake.  A lot of people have had hot sake (typically not a good quality) as a first experience, and thus decide they do not like Sake.  However, you wouldn't give up on Wine just because you had one bad glass, would you?  I wouldn't.

 

There are 47 prefectures (like regions or states) in Japan.  All but 1 of them makes Sake.  Hakkaisan Brewery is located in the Niigata Prefecture.

Unlike wine, Sake is not terroir driven.  It is better to categorize sake by the quality and characteristics of the brewing water used to make it.  Soft water might give you a cleaner, softer, more feminine sake vs. a harder water might give you a more masculine, robust, dryer sake.

Sake Rice shown at various millage percentages

Simple Science of Food and Wine Pairing from Wine Folly

Simple Science of Food and Wine Pairing from Wine Folly

Nice infographic
http://winefolly.com/review/simple-food-and-wine-pairing/
http://winefolly.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/AF-Poster.png#fullscreen

Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Wine Dinner at Southbound

Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Wine Dinner at Southbound - Thursday March 13, 2014

A Special dinner featuring wines from Paitin di Pasquero-Elia, with the winemaker Giovanni Pasquero-Elia, at the highly anticipated restaurant Southbound (pre-opening), with Le Caveau Fine Wines.  There was a 5 course meal prepared by Chef Matt Marcus.  

About the winemaker:  "Giovanni Pasquero-Elia and his brother Silvano run the estate that their ancestor, Benedetto Elia, purchased in the 18th century. This Barbaresco estate, includes 17.5 hectares of vineyard, mostly situated along either side of the Via Serra Boella in Bricco di Neive. Paitin has been selling wine labeled Barbaresco since 1893, making this small estate one of the historic properties of Piemonte. They are now producing some of the finest Barbaresco wines in the entire zone, especially considering the reasonable prices charged.

There has been a change of course in the winemaking recently, as the brothers had one foot in the ‘new school’ camp (using roto-fermenters, some small French oak barrels) and one foot in the ‘traditional' camp. Now they are using more traditional maceration and fermentation techniques, with the larger Slavonian oak barrels for aging. In the spring of 2010, the Pasquero-Elia brothers enlisted the services of consulting oenologist Dante Scaglione, who spent 16 years alongside the legendary Bruno Giacosa. Scaglione is a former classmate of Giovanni’s from the days when they attended the oenological school in Alba together. Dante has produced many of the most compelling Nebbiolo-based wines in the last 20 years, in both Barolo and Barbaresco, at one of the zone’s greatest estates! His soulful, classic take on the genre is legend, and people happily pay $200-$400 a bottle for Giacosa’s top bottlings, which Dante hand crafts."

Sidenote:  Brian (from Atlanta Beverage Company) and Giovanni worked together in Colorado several years ago, and then later on when Giovanni was trying to get into the Atlanta market, he found that Brian had moved here, and together they were able to bring Giovanni's wines to Atlanta.  We were among the first people in Georgia to taste these wines and have an opportunity to buy some bottles

NV Pascal Doquet Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs 

(blend of 2008 & 2009 vintages)

Amuse- White Asparagus, Meyer Lemon, Truffle, Micro Chervil, Shaved Radish

2012 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia ‘Vigna Elisa’ Langhe Arneis

(85% Arneis, 15% Riesling)

Side note: Arneis translates to "rascal" or "Difficult boy" - it is not easy to grow this white grape varietal.

Poached Scallop, Butter, Sake, Fennel and Frond 

2010 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia 'Campolive' Barbera d'Alba Superiore

92 Points: Pure and intense, this red evokes ripe plum, blackberry, spice and mineral aromas and flavors. Borders on racy, with taut structure and bracing acidity driving the long aftertaste of iron and leather. Drink now through 2020. 666 cases made. –Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, Mar 31, 2013

Roasted Venison. Preserved Tomato, Beet and Nastarium Jus, Whipped Cauliflower

2009 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia 'Serra' Barbaresco 

92 Points: The 2009 Barbaresco Serra emerges from the glass with a heady melange of sweet red berries, licorice, anise and dried herbs. Violets, roses and flowers of all sorts appear as the wine sits in the glass. Deceptively medium in body, the 2009 impresses for its deep layers of fruit and radiant, powerful personality. The tannins remain youthfully vigorous, but are nicely balanced by the creaminess of the fruit. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029. -Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate #203, Oct 2012

Scotch Egg, Fontina, Watermelon Chow-chow, Venison Demi-glace 

 

2008 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia ‘Vecchie Vigne Sorì Paitin’ Barbaresco

94 Points: The blackest of cherries, spices, incense, tar and scorched earth are some of the many nuances that emerge from the 2008 Barbaresco Sori’ Paitin Vecchie Vigne. This dark, brooding Barbaresco is all about power. The 2008 impresses for its fabulous balance and pure length. With time in the glass, the wine becomes increasingly more refined. It is a striking Barbaresco to drink now and over the next 10-15 years, perhaps longer. The 2008 was aged in 25-hectoliter cask and bottled in June 2012. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2028. -Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate #203, Oct 2012

 Kale and Sausage Orecchiette, Beurre monté, Pecorino

Late Winter Berry Mousse

Zodiac Wine Corks

Gods of the Zodiac Wine Stoppers

Set of 12 for $234

or buy singles for $22.50