May 9, 2024 - Comparison of Old World & New World Rhône Varietals

What is That Wine Supposed to Taste Like?  A Comparison of “Old World” and “New World” Rhône Varietals.

Have you ever wondered about the difference between Old World and New World?  The WAC Wine Club is proud to present for our May tasting a side by side tasting of recent releases of Mourvèdre, Syrah, and a GSM blend from Washington State and the Rhône Valley.

Old World:

2019 Château de Pibarnon Bandol Rouge Les Restanques (Mourvèdre) :

Château de Pibarnon’s estate’s vineyards overlook the Mediterranean Sea in the Bandol appellation in Provence.  A thick-skinned black grape, Mourvèdre has found its favorite soils in the sunny Bandol appellation. Some 3,000 hours of sunshine a year perfectly suit this slow-ripening grape. Rarely found in other cooler French vineyards, Mourvèdre brings harmony, elegance and an amazing ageing capacity to the red wines of sunny Bandol.  This wine is a selection of younger vines. Aromas suggest black pepper and Provencal garrigue.  Moderate tannins, full bodied red and black fruit flavors.  Try with roasted pork or grilled lamb with spring vegetables.   70% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache.

2020 Domaine la Bouissière Gigondas (GSM) 

The vineyards of Domaine la Bouissiere are mountain terroir, with cooler weather and demanding soils, a mix of limestone and clay. The family's Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre vines are mostly older and are very low yielding. Because of the ideal conditions here, the combination of exposure and altitude allows grapes to ripen slowly and evenly. What this means for the wine is more elegance and freshness. Offers aromas of black fruits, pink and white peppers.  On the palate flavors of blackberries and blue plums and unctuous texture with silky tannins.  Round and velvety, this has an intensity that builds with bitter cherry, smoke and violet on the finish.  75% Grenache, 21% Syrah, 4% Mourvèdre.

Cuilleron Crozes-Hermitage Lieux-Dit-les Chassis 

Cuilleron Estates is a producer in the northern Rhône. The estate has been in the Cuilleron family for three generations, but it is the estate’s current owner and winemaker, Yves Cuilleron, who has expanded the size, scope, and scale of the vineyard, land holdings, and winery.  The wine is made from a single plot in the town of Mercurol.  The color is a deep and intense red.  The nose is complex and powerful with notes of spices and licorice. The palate is round, delicious and powerful, the tannins are spicy and subtle.  100% Syrah.

New World :

Rotie Cellars

Rotie Cellars is owned by Sean Boyd, who is also the winemaker.  He spent 10 years doing oil and gas exploration before making the leap to wine – so he really knows his geology.  The point of Rotie Cellars is to make traditional Rhône Blends with Washington State fruit.  To start with, it means lower alcohol, less ripe, less wood, balanced, finesse-driven, mouth coating wines.

2021 Rotie Dre

From the cliffs of Wallula this beast returns. Dark blackberry and black currant - including all the brambles - lead into a massive and layered finish of Herbs de Provence, anise, and graphite.  100% Mourvèdre

2020 Rotie Homage

Sourced from the uplifted ancient riverbed of Snipes Mountain, this vintage is focused and exudes concentrated flavors of red fruits and duck confit with hints of iron and salinity coursing throughout. A savory beauty.  65% Mourvèdre, 20% Grenache, 15% Syrah

2021 Rotie Love Rocks Tab

Ruby red.  Pure and fresh red fruits, raspberry and red currants, on the nose.  The same purity of red fruits leading into well-lived dark and savory components of traditional Rocks District Syrah.  Medium to full-bodied, silky tannin structure and great length. 100% Estate Syrah

March 14, 2024 - Burgundy

The WAC Wine Club is proud to present for our March tasting an exciting exploration of French wines, from southern Champagne, heading east to Chablis and then to the Côte d’Or in Burgundy, specifically Côte de Beaune.

Pierre Gerbais Champagne Brut Nature L’Audace NV

A truly unique Champagne, the NV L’Audace Brut Nature is 100% Pinot Noir showing hints of exotic fruits, slight lemon peel bitterness and dried herbs. and opening fresh and mineral on the nose. This wine is bright and tightly crisp, yet these Pinot Noir wines from this southern region of Champagne show a remarkable complexity of flavors, are full-bodied, very pure and salty on the palate. The soils are Kimmeridgian, though there’s a sector where the limestone-clay mix is nearly identical to what you find in the Côte d’Or. Sometimes we forget how close Beaune is to Champagne, especially the Aube. If you grow up in the Aube, you actually live closer to Beaune than to Reims.

2013 Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru "La Forest"

Carefully crafted by Vincent Dauvissat who ages this wine in Nevers oak in less than 10 percent new barrels, its beautiful form is apparent from the moment it’s poured-- bright, pale yellow with hints of dried yellow orchard fruit, flavors of chamomile, fennel seed, almond, and distinctly cool with stony tension. It tastes umami-rich and feels perfectly balanced, hinting at oyster shells on the nose - sappy, chewy and concentrated but quite dry.

2014 Domaine Vincent Dauvissat Chablis 1er Cru “La Forest” 

Premier Cru Chablis from the region’s left bank does not get much better than this. These wines are bright, pale yellow with a lovely perfumed lift to aromas, very Les Clos-like with flavors of pear, apple, anise, dried flowers, flinty minerality, citrus peel and a gently smoky top note. On the palate, it’s medium to full-bodied, elegantly textural and racy, with a deep but tight-knit core, tangy balancing acids and a long, searingly saline, mineral finish.

Domaine Vincent Dauvissat - There have been largely only two Chablis camps among collectors: Raveneau and Dauvissat. Both superb, Dauvissat is the more traditional, classic Chablis style that every new producer seems to aspire to. 

Since Vincent Dauvissat joined his father René in the 1970s, the Dauvissat label has been a beacon of quality to every drinker and collector. Blessed with enviable holdings from Petit-Chablis through to the Grand Crus of Clos and Preuses, Dauvissat crafts wines of inimitable quality and longevity. Premier Cru La Forêt, (otherwise known as “Forest”), has a similar outlay with the classic Kimmeridgian soils and cool climate, generating the same sort of density and honeyed essence that the Grand Crus possess. 

2010 Louis Latour Volnay En Chevret 1er Cru

One wine critic after tasting this wine exclaimed, “Now, this is Burgundy!” Originating in the village of Volnay, south of Beaune and next to Pommard, the “En Chevret” is a parcel of vines located below the main road through town.  The 2010 color is intense dark ruby red with a mouth-watering bouquet of plums, strawberries, licorice, peppermint and pear.  The winery recommends pairing this with game and mature cheeses and they suggest veal with cream and morel mushrooms.

 
2015 Domaine de Courcel Pommard Grand Clos des Epenots 1er Cru

The Domaine de Courcel is a 400-year-old winery producing wines from seven different locations, all based in Pommard.  Le Grand Clos des Epenots is the largest plot in the vineyard and is located north of Pommard, at the start of the slope with ~60 year-old vines.  The wine is a deep ruby red color, offering aromas of blackberry, violet, kirsch and licorice.  This red unfolds nicely, leaving a complex finish that introduces an accent of bittersweet chocolate.

January 11, 2024 - Vietti Barolo

Barolo, the Wine of Kings and King of Wines

Not often do we have the chance to taste four different wines from the same winery (Vietti), the same region (Barolo), the same vintage (2015) and the same grape (Nebbiolo)—and we’re including a special white Vietti too. The WAC Wine Club is in for a special treat to start off the new year just right.

A word about the region, wine and grape: Barolo is one of the most prestigious, age-worthy, and collectible wines in the world. Like so many of the greats, Barolo is a fascinating expression of a particular place as experienced through the lens of a consistent grape variety, Nebbiolo. All wines from the Barolo DOCG must be 100% Nebbiolo, a grape loved for its rich nose and anise aromas with mouth-drying tannin and striking acidity.  Barolo is actually the fruitiest and most full-bodied of all the Nebbiolo regions in the Langhe, which is found in the Cuneo province of Piedmont in Northwestern Italy.  

It was at the end of the 1800s when Carlo Vietti started the Vietti Winery, right in the heart of the Langhe, on the highest point of the medieval village of Castiglione Falletto, in the very place where it is located today.  The winery remained in the family until the Krause Family purchased it in 2016.  Today, Vietti counts within its heritage some of the finest and most representative vineyards of the Barolo and Barbaresco areas and is universally considered to be among the best Italian wines.

2015 Vietti Barolo Brunate 

The grapes for this wine come from the historical cru Brunate, located in La Morra, on the south side towards Barolo from old vines. The wine spent about 30 months in French oak barrels and Slovenian oak casks.  Expect an intense ruby red wine with generous body, harmoniously balanced, velvety texture with a long rich finish. The wine shows ripe red fruit, lots of spices, violet, plums and intense tar, very typical for the Brunate vineyard.

2015 Vietti Barolo Castiglione

Grapes selected from small vineyards spread around the Barolo region are vinified and aged separately with slightly different processes to underline the singular characteristics of each parcel and terroir. The wine is aged for roughly 30 months in oak and barriques; all parcels are then carefully blended before bottling.  Aromas of plum, red ripe black and sour cherries with a hint of rose petal emerge from the glass while on the palate the flavor is classic, rich and potent, with notes of alpine herbs and a leathery finish.

2015 Vietti Barolo Lazzarito 

This wine is made from the single vineyard, Lazzarito in Serralunga d’Alba, from vines that average 36 years. This small vineyard enjoys a southwest exposure with clay and limestone soil with careful attention paid in the winemaking process.   Different from the others, the wine is deep garnet red in color, richly rounded with intense aromatics hinting of figs and plums.  Soft and sweet tannins are apparent followed by a long finish.

2015 Vietti Barolo Ravera

All grapes for this wine come from the single vineyard, Ravera, in Novello where the oldest vines were planted in 1935. This vineyard also has a southwest exposure with clay and limestone soil. The wine spent over a year on fine lees without racking.  Also intensely deep garnet red in color, this wine exhibits a classical and traditional robust structure with impressive tannins.  Expect distinct cherry notes with a touch of spice and menthol on the nose finishing with a firm impression of elegant fruit.

2021 Vietti Derthona Colli Tortonesi Timorasso

This white wine is made from an ancient grape variety that was on the verge of extinction.  Dry in style wines made from the Timorasso grape tend to be full-bodied with good acidity.  Having spent some time in stainless steel tanks and large oak casks Vietti’s Derthona shows nice complexity and refinement.  On the nose notes of ripe pear and peaches along with honey come through nicely.  The wine’s flavor profile proves gentle, soft and quite rich though very well balanced, without any edges.