Lone Oak Vineyard Estates Vin du Roi

For you faithful blog readers, you'll recall that I blogged about visiting Laurel Lake Vineyards on Long Island, NY last spring and a tasting report of their 2003 Cabernet Franc. I have the distinct pleasure of reporting on another of their wines, the 2004 Merlot.

Lone Oak Vineyard Estates Vin du roi
Country of origin: USA
Region: Michigan
Appellation: SE Michigan (not an official AVA!)
Stats: 13% ABV, dry, blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, & Petit Verdot
Cost: $25 at the winery

Appearance: Dark garnet
Aroma: Toasted oak, black pepper, green pepper, hint of dark stone fruit in the background
Taste: Overwhelming burst of vanilla, caramel, and oak. Green pepper in the quick to dissipate finish. Not a lot of fruit flavors to bind it all together.

Another entry from my back-log of tasting notes. I was a frequent taster of Lone Oak Vineyard Estates when I used to live in MI since the winery was only about 20 miles down the road outside Jackson, MI. Some wines I liked, some missed the spot. This is one that missed the spot. The oak simply overwhelmed the stone fruit flavors.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Laurel Lake Vineyards 2004 Merlot

For you faithful blog readers, you'll recall that I blogged about visiting Laurel Lake Vineyards on Long Island, NY last spring and a tasting report of their 2003 Cabernet Franc. I have the distinct pleasure of reporting on another of their wines, the 2004 Merlot.

Laurel Lake Vineyards 2004 Merlot
Country of origin: USA
Region: New York
Appellation: North Fork Long Island
Stats: 12.5% ABV, dry, aged in French oak 12 months
Cost: $18 at the winery

Appearance: Clear dark ruby red. Excellent color for a cold-climate merlot
Aroma: Dried plums with a nice smooth vanilla-filled finish.
Taste: Full bodied with a silky finish. Well balanced. Mild fruit flavors of plum, black cherry and a subtle smokey undertone. Smooth tannins.

I'll refer you to my earlier posts for information about Laurel Lake Vineyards. I am very impressed with this wine. The intense color only hints at it's cold-climate origins. This is a wine that strengthens the growing reputation of Long Island merlot. For you nay-sayers that think CA is the only place in the US to grow and make quality wine, I challenge you to take a trip to Laurel Lake and learn what all an Eastern merlot can be.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Chateau Beauchene Les Sens de Syrah 2004

Country of origin: France
Region: Rhone Valley
Appellation: Cotes de Rhone
Stats: 13 % ABV, dry, 100% syrah
Cost: $15 at Colonial Liquor Store in Acton, MA

Appearance: Deep, deep, deep red.
Aroma: Dark black cherries and currants with hints of cocoa.
Taste: Silky smooth and subtle from beginning to end. Dark fruit with currants dominating. An almost sweet finish. This wine gives meaning to the phrase "smooth as silk".


Chateau Beauchene is located just south of Orange in the Rhone Valley. There's some family history here with Bernard family buying their first vineyard in 1796 after the French Revolution made former noble's estates available. The Bernard's bought Chateau Beauchene in 1986. This wine is made from 2 different vineyards, one to north of Orange on slightly stony and clayey calcareous soils and the other in Bollène with rounded pebbles mixed with sandy red clay. The Bernard's cultivate the vineyards using the principles of "agriculture raisonnée" with eye towards sustainibility The wine is made by complete destemming and a long 20 day maceration to extract polyphenols and anthocyanins.

I like the family crest on the neck of the bottle!


Salute,
a Wine Student

Sanford 2001 Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills Sanford & Benedict Vineyards

Country of origin: USA
Region: California
Appellation: Santa Barbara County/Santa Rita Hills AVA
Vineyard: Sanford & Benedect Vineyards
Stats: 14.5 % ABV, dry
Cost: no longer available

Appearance: Ruby red, clear, big legs.
Aroma: Cherries with a raspberry finish, vanilla, and light oak.
Taste: Medium body, muted cherry fruit flavors, bright finish, slightly lingering finish of raspberries & pomegranate. High alcohol overtakes a lot of the fruit notes.

Pretty good by itself (which was how I drank it), I think this wine would probably be best when served with some fatty food to help calm the high alcohol and acidity. Something not too flavorful as the food might overpower the fruit flavors, like a creamy cheese.

Sanford Winery was the very first winery I stopped at when I first went winetasting in Santa Barbara. When the Sanford family owned and operated the winery, it definitely a laid back, hippy feel. The tasting room accommodated only about 10-12 people at a time with open windows overlooking the valley and vineyards, breezes blowing through, and lots of flies! For you "Sideways" fans, the tasting room and iconic pourer was featured in a gorgeous sunset shot and was one of the few wineries to use their real names in the film.

Richard Sanford was the first to plant pinot noir in Santa Barbara county in the Sanford & Benedict Vineyard, and made some of my favorite pinots. In the early 2000s, they tried to reach more of a mass market and teamed with Terlato Wine International. In 2005 after the partnership had a falling out, the Terlato family purchased the majority interest in the winery and assumed control of the Sanford & Benedict and Rancho La Rinconada vineyards.

Richard Sanford has since started a new winery, Alma Rosa, using organic certified grapes from the new La Encantada vineyard that they had planted in 2000 and their home ranch vineyard El Jabalí. I haven't had a chance to try any of his new wines, but history should repeat itself.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Candia Vineyards Noiret Vault Reserve

Continuing to dig through my pile of tasting notes that I've written over the past 6 months, I came across this gem that I had completely forgotten about. Enjoy!

Candia Vineyards Noiret Vault Reserve
Country of origin: USA
Region: New England
Appellation: New Hampshire (not an official AVA!)
Stats: 13 % ABV, dry
Cost: don't remember--$10-15 retail

Appearance: Deep, dark purple. Strong legs with maybe some gas bubbles
Aroma: Deep, dark cherries, toasted oak, and aromas of black pepper and spice.
Taste: Strong green & black pepper with an abundance of dark fruit--blackberry & currants. A tannic finish with a lingering pepper taste. Much like an Australian Shiraz

This wine comes to us from a boutique winery in Candia, New Hampshire. I stumbled across it during a visit to Abbey Cellars wine shop in Lincoln, NH and was intrigue because I had made wine from Noiret grapes in 2006. Noiret is a new hybrid grape varietal developed by the genuises at Cornell University and has only recently begun to be planted commercially for winemaking. This grape was designed to produce a robust, bold red wine in cold climate regions like New York, Pennsylvania, and other Eastern States. One would think that New Hampshire winters might be a challenge, but Candia pulls this off. They were the first to plant the grape in New Hampshire (a dubious accolade considering the paucity of wineries/vineyards in New Hampshire), and have been producing the wine from their grapes since at least 2006. The 2006 and 2007 vintanges have each won several bronze medals at various wine competitions.

Salute,
a Wine Student

Nashoba Valley Winery Chrysleton

Digging back through my stack of wine tasting notes, I came across the wine I selected for Thanksgiving Day dinner--Nashoba Valley Winery's Chrysleton. I had gotten an email update from Nashoba earlier in the week that recommended pairing the Chrysleton with turkey, so I decided to give it a try...

Nashoba Valley Winery Chrysleton
Country of origin: USA
Region: New England
Appellation: Massachusetts (OK, that's not an official AVA)
Stats: 11 % ABV, 1% residual sugar, 20% European elderberry/80% estate apple
Cost: $11 at the winery

Appearance: Light brownish-garnet (lightly brown edge).
Aroma: Vegetable berries. Hints of chocolate and tobacco with a broad apple background. A rather unique aroma.
Taste: Some vegetative berry/apple taste with some tobacco in the finish. Fruity, but also complex. Paired pretty good with dark turkey meat.

I had tasted this wine earlier in January 2008 during a tasting visit to Nashoba (read details here), so I was looking forward to a repeat/reminder. Was very pleased with how it paired with Thanksgiving dinner. The fat of the dark turkey meat added some depth to the fruity taste and it even smoothed out the acidic punch of the cranberry sauce. The fermentation notes on the Nashoba Valley website indicate that the elderberries are added to the fermenting cider until the desired color is obtained and then scooped out. If I was the winemaker, I might push the color a little to get a darker wine, but that might lead to a bigger tannic punch than he was wanting. The 6-12 months in oak barrels add a nice subtle touch. Not overly oaky, but just a little firmness in taste.

Salute,
a Wine Student

p.s. I'm stumped on the name. Is there a secret meaning to Chrysleton? Google searching turns up mainly links to the Nashoba Valley website, or other wine review websites (that review the NV Chrysleton). Is this an old English name for elderberry wine? Is this a secret code to the Masonic Order of Eastern Winemakers? Inquiring minds must know!

Laurel Lake Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Franc

I'm slowly getting around to writing up my back-log of wine tasting notes. This one comes from a couple of weeks ago when I decided to open a nice bottle of wine to accompany a steak dinner that I made for myself.

Laurel Lake Vineyards 2003 Cabernet Franc
Country of origin: USA
Region: New York
Appellation: North Fork Long Island
Stats: 12.5% ABV, dry
Cost: $20 at the winery

Appearance: Clear dark ruby red.
Aroma: Dark cherry initially, followed by black pepper, tobacco, vanilla, caramel, with a nice smooth oak finish.
Taste: Medium body with a strong fruit flavor. Cherries abound with strawberries peeking through. Hints of green and black pepper. There is an underlying greenness or herbiness. The lingering finish is a little flat without a big tannin punch.

For those of you who keep count, this wine won a Gold Medal at the NY International Wine and Grape Juice Competition (don't know the year). I had picked this bottle up during my tasting trip to Long Island this spring. I had a very nice conversation with the winemaker's wife (both were from Chile). Laurel Lake is a relatively young winery (1999), but the vineyard is one of the oldest on Long Island. I believe that it bears watching in the next few years as they grow and develop. Reasonable prices and good wine! The 2003 Cab Franc is still available at the winery, so take a trip!

Salute,
a Wine Student