Sauvignon Blanc

Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

The Boston Wine Expo seems to have become my venue for exploring French wines.  Last year it was the 2007 Chateuneuf-de-Papes, and this year the Terroir of Burgundy and the 2009 Bordeaux.

2009 was a record year for Bordeaux, hence the seminar title, “2009 Bordeaux – A Record Setting Vintage.”  The weather produced near perfect conditions that year: sunny days and cool, dry nights, a warm and relatively dry July and August followed by rains at the end of the summer produced grapes that have all the hallmarks of the greatest vintages.

The seminar was led by Jean-Christophe Calvet, President of the Aquitaine Wine Company.  Jean-Christophe Calvet is a sixth-generation wine merchant, and Aquitaine Wine Company can trace its roots back to the 18th century.  Today the firm distributes in 47 states and focuses exclusively on the wines from the Bordeaux region.  In addition to the “Classified Growths,” the superstars of Bordeaux which command the highest prices and the greatest prestige, Aquitaine Wine Company also features the “Discovery Wines,” or as they refer to them on their website, the “challengers.”  Aquitaine has formed partnerships with more than a 100 families who produce quality wines at more affordable prices.  For this seminar, Calvet selected 14 Discovery Wines, the most expensive of which was only in the $40-$50 range (as compared to $1200-$1500 for the Classified Growths); most fell in the $10-$20 range.

Château La Freynelle 2009, AOC Bordeaux Blanc.  50% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Semillon.  This was the only white table wine of the 14 wines presented that day.  A lovely light yellow color which sparkled among the denser reds of the other glasses, the wine had a floral, lightly fruity nose with soft notes of honeysuckle and lemon.  In the mouth the light citrus notes continue, with the sauvignon blanc providing notes of grapefruit so common to the grape, and the semillon bringing a touch of honey sweetness to balance the citrus.  The wine opens up in the mouth, with the grapefruit building slightly to a sweet/tart finish.   This wine is available now and retails around $12.99/bottle.

Château La Freynelle 2009, AOC Bordeaux Rouge.  65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon.  The color was a medium garnet.  The nose quite subtle.  In the mouth however, the wine was quite fruity with lovely notes of berries and plum.  Medium-bodied, the wine felt a bit young, and while nice, I would definitely cellar it for a few years to see how it develops.  Available in March, the wine should retail for $12-$14/bottle.

Château Mylord 2009, AOC Bordeaux Rouge.  70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon.  This is a very drinkable, very nice wine.  Medium garnet color with a bright, very cherry nose.  In the mouth, the wine is fruit-forward with strong notes of cherry and soft tannins on the finish.  Aged in stainless steel, the wine has a clean, smooth mouth feel that is quite charming.  The wine is definitely a “drink now” wine, but should also age well for another few years.  Also available in March, the wine will retail for $12.99/bottle.

Costes du Château Feret Lambert 2009, AOC Bordeaux Supérieur.  90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet.  From St. Emilion, “Kingdom of the Merlot,” according to Calvet, as it was one of the first areas to cultivate Merlot grapes.  The region’s wine history dates back to the Romans in the 2nd century (Source: Wikipedia).   While predominately a Merlot, th ewinemakers add the 10% Cabernet Sauvignon to provide acidity to the wine.  A darker, yet still medium garnet color, the nose is earthy and quite subtle.  It was a distinct difference from the first three wines which had much stronger fruit and floral notes.  In the mouth, the wine has strong notes of damp earth, some light notes of blackberry and plum, and a lightly spicy finish.  The wine is available now and retails for $10-$14/bottle.

Château Haut Colombier 2009, AOC Premières Côtes de Blaye.  90% Merlot, 10% Malbec.  One of my early favorites, this is a really nice wine.  The nose has rich notes of black cherry and currants, notes which carry over onto the palate as well.  The wine has charmingly sweet notes of fruit with a nice pepper finish.  This will drink well now and also should cellar well, and I made a note to buy several bottles, some for now and some to age for a few years.  The wine was released in January and retails for $10.99/bottle.

Château Roland La Garde 2009, AOC Premières Côtes de Blaye.  67% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon.  Another favorite – I have the word “gorgeous” circled next to my tasting notes – this is another lovely, very drinkable now wine.  The color is a ruby-garnet, and the nose is earthy with lovely notes of cherry.  In the mouth the wine is supple, rich and surprisingly robust with notes of black cherry and light notes of spice on the finish.   The tannins give the wine a nice bite of acid on the finish which gives the wine a bit of a kick that balances the velvety smoothness of the mouthfeel.  Calvet recommends bottle aging this wine an additional 3-5 years, although it is quite lovely now.  Available today and retailing for $13-$15/bottle, this is a wine that I will definitely add to the cellar.

Château Saint Andre Corbin 2009, AOC St Georges St. Emilion.  75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc.  Another favorite – this time I have three stars next to my notes, as well as notes to buy a case!  The nose is deep and rich with lovely notes of cherry.  In the mouth the wine is rich and velvety with soft tannins and rich, complex, but not sweet notes of cherry and dark berries.  The finish is soft and lingering.  The wine is produced by one of the oldest estates in Bordeaux, dating back to the 4th century.   Calvet recommends cellaring this wine for an additional 5-6 years.  The wine will be released in May 2011 and should retail for $20-$28/bottle.  Definitely one of the pricier of the wines featured this afternoon, but it is worth it.  I’m already making plans to order a half-case, if not a full case for myself.

Coming Thursday, 2.24 – the second half of the seminar wine list.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

Marguerite isn’t the only person who gets to drink Bordeaux!  While she got to go to the Boston Wine Expo to experience her tasting, I got to do mine in front of the fire in my own living room.  I have always loved Bordeaux for their respect to tradition.  Unfortunately Bordeaux wines have gotten the reputation of being expensive and frou frou and I frankly take exception to this.  I have been finding good bordeaux starting at $10 in the shops that I frequent and for $20?  Well, you can great wines.  So don’t avoid Bordeaux just because you think you have to spend a fortune.  You don’t.

Tonight, I am drinking the 2009 Axel Des Vignes Bordeaux Blanc a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon grown in clay and limestone soils and produced at Les Lèves winery near Sainte-Foy-la-Grand in Gironde France.  The wine was crisp with enough minerality to leave my tongue tingling (which makes me happy).  It opens with a fresh burst of the Sauvignon Blanc then lingers with the butteriness of the Sémillon.  Perfect for a pre-Valentine’s evening at home.

Disclaimer:  I received this wine as a sample from Planète-Bordeaux.

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

There were probably a good 20-30 people already there when I arrived, hence the lack of available parking.  The wine bar was full with roughly 15 people across, and there were several groups ranged around the wine barrels serving as bar tables scattered throughout the loft area.  Rather than fight my way to the bar, I wandered out onto the deck and enjoyed the views and wait for a space to clear at the bar.   As Saltwater only produces five wines, the wait was less than ten minutes.

Saltwater Farm sits on farmland that dates back to 1653 when Walter Palmer, originally a member of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, established a 230-acre farm in what is now southeast Connecticut.  Portions of the original farm, including the land encompassing the vineyards, continued to be farmed into the 20th century, until the 1930s when a small airport was opened on the site.  By the early 1950s the airport had closed and the land sat unused until it was purchased in 2001 by Michael Connery, a former partner in Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.  Connery restored the airport hangar turning it into the winery and tasting room, and planted 6 varieties of grape, including Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, on 15 of the farm’s 108 acres.  The winery produces about 20,000 bottles or 1,600 cases a year  split between Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

On the afternoon of my visit, there were five wines available on the tasting menu:

Sauvignon Blanc This is a light, crisp, fruity wine, perfect for a warm summer evening or paired with salads or light pasta dishes.  Straw-colored with a lightly fruit, citrusy nose, the wine is very smooth in the mouth with a nice bit of acid on the finish.  Fruity, but not sweet, the predominant notes are citrus, a hint of grapefruit and lemon, but nothing overpowering.

2006 Chardonnay The tasting menu featured back-to-back tastings of both the 2006 and the 2007 Chardonnay.  The 2006 is a nice wine, more floral than fruity.   Also straw colored, although a bit deeper in color than the Sauvignon Blanc, the nose on the Chardonnay is bright and clean, with floral notes that evoked Spring.  In the mouth, the wine has notes of grass and green pepper.  The descriptor I kept coming back to as I sipped the wine was “clean.”  The earthy notes of grass and green pepper are light and bordering on the floral rather than on the stronger dusky earthiness one sometimes finds.  Also, if the wine is oaked, a question that for some reason either wasn’t answered or I didn’t jot down in my notes, the oak is extremely faint.  The finish is very smooth, with very low acid.

2007 Chardonnay Of the two Chardonnays, my preference was very definitely the 2007.  Similar in color to the 2006, the nose is brighter, earthier, and more interesting.  In the mouth, rather than the grassy, green pepper notes of the 2006, the wine is more citrusy, with bright notes of lemon, and a soft, subtle tartness of grapefruit.  The citrus is not overpowering, and there is still an element of the grass I found in the 2006.   Also “clean” with no, or very low oaking, the 2007 also has a bit more body, which I found I preferred.

Cabernet Franc 100% Cabernet Franc grapes, this is a very nice member of the Connecticut Cabernet Franc family, and my favorite wine of that visit.  A medium garnet color with a lovely, rich, jammy nose, the wine is smooth and earthy.  Despite the jamminess of the nose, the predominant notes on the palate are earthy, although I found myself struggling to identify particular notes.   Underneath the earthiness, however, are very subtle notes of soft dark berries, the presence of which gives the wine depth and richness.   The wine is medium-bodied and while it never really opens in the mouth, it does layer with each subsequent sip and should become a rather interesting wine if one takes the opportunity to drink more than the standard 1oz tasting.  This would pair well with lamb and veal.

Merlot The tasting concluded with the Merlot.  I’ve never been won over by any Northeast Merlot I’ve found.  Even when the vintner is bringing in grapes from California or Oregon, I find the Merlots to be “thinner” and less complex than their Western US or European counterparts.  Saltwater Farm’s Merlot is pretty good for a Northeastern Merlot, but it didn’t win me over either.  A medium purple color with another “jammy” nose, the wine is both earthy and fruity.  The earthiness comes through in an almost dusty way, tempered by notes of black cherry that linger on the roof of the mouth.  Medium-bodied with nice tannins, the wine feels a little sharp, or young, in the mouth.  I suspect some of that will soften with age, and perhaps with extended breathing, but even with that, my preference remains the Cabernet Franc, a much more interesting wine overall.

That concluded the tasting for the afternoon.  I spent a few minutes enjoying the peace of the Zen garden before calling it a day and heading home.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

I hate this time of year. I can’t hit the road and explore the way I would like to as there are too many things going on here. (Birthdays, Superbowls, etc.) So, instead? I make plans and dream of hitting the road.

And with a trip to Washington State coming up at the end of the June that gives me some time to think about where I will be going. Washington is full of viticultural areas that are mostly part of the larger Columbia Valley AVA. I am working on exploring the smaller viticultural areas first.. and began with Walla Walla since that is where I will be visiting.

This time, I am exploring the Yakima Valley. Years ago, Kevin and I drove around parts of Washington State and got pretty close to Yakima. It was an amazing place. Highly irrigated, the area is a fruit belt. Orchards of apples, peaches and even a town called Apricot (which we passed). The rest of the area not being irrigated looks like a moonscape. It is dry and desolate and I was amazed by the difference between the lush valleys and bleak hills.

That being said, the area is home to nearly 50 wineries and has cultivated wine grapes since 1869. The main varietals planted are Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Lemberger, Sangiovese, Malbec, Chardonnay, Riesling, Semillion, Sauvignon Blanc, Gewürztraminer, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Gris and Viognier.

Hopefully, I will be able see some of these wineries on my trip west. Oh, and like my map of of the Central Delaware Valley AVA, I find a recognizable shape in this map. Instead of a dragon, today, I see a whale. In fact, given that I grew up on the East Coast, I see Fudgie The Whale, the beloved ice cream cake shape from Carvel. I won’t test this theory by inverting the shape to see if I can identify the equally beloved Cookie Puss. But you East Coasters will understand my drift….

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Marguerite Barrett
Contributing Writer

Newport Vineyards has an extensive menu of wines, 31 in total; one of the largest selections that I’ve seen yet from a Northeastern regional winery.   The menu begins with 13 whites divided into four categories: dry, no-oak (2), dry, oaked (1), Alsatian Style (6), and the semi-dry (4), before moving into the Rosés (4), the Reds (8), the Dessert Wines, which include a Port and an Ice Wine (4), and finishing with a Brut sparkling wine and a hard apple cider.

A tasting, which runs $9, includes your choice of five wines and allows you to join one of the two daily tours of the winery (1 and 3 pm).  Unfortunately, if you elect not to take the tour or arrive after the tours have finished for the day (as we did), the price still remains $9.  Tastings of the Ice Wine and the Brut will run you an additional $1 each.  Individual glasses of wine can be purchased for $6, although a handful of the premium wines run $8 per glass.

Christy and I took our time studying the menu and selecting our wines, while listening to our hosts explain ad nauseum to a group at the other end of the bar that tastings work best if you start with the whites and move on to the reds.  I’m always amused, and often exasperated, by the people who don’t know what they’re doing – but desperately and often pretentiously pretend that they do.   The winery staff had my sympathy that day; I can only imagine how frustrating it is to watch someone select a fuller-bodied wine like a cabernet franc as their first wine, follow it up with a light-bodied white, and then have to listen to them complain about how the “white tastes funny” – all the while keeping a polite smile on your face.

But eventually the group settled down, and our host wandered over to pour our tasting.  I elected to begin with the one dry, oak-aged white, the

2007 Newport Chardonnay A nice wine, but not one that blew me away.  The color is a very pale yellow, and the nose has light grassy notes with a very light touch of citrus.  A light-bodied wine, in the mouth the flavors are light, clean and smooth with light sweet notes of pear and a touch of lemon on the finish.  The citrus is crisp and balances the smoother, deeper flavors of the pear, and the oak provides a light toastiness.   The tasting notes indicate this would pair well with grilled fish and poultry as well as light cheeses.

2008 Tranquility Next up for me was one of the Alsatian-style wines, a blend of gewurztraminer (34%), muscat ottonel (34%), pinot gris (22%), and riesling (10%).  Like the Newport Chardonnay, Tranquility is also a pale yellow color.  The nose is bright with lovely floral notes and a hint of sweetness from the muscat.  A light-bodied wine, yet fuller than the Chardonnay, Tranquility is a soft dry-style wine with floral notes, low oak, and a touch of sweetness that provides depth and character.  It’s an interesting wine and my favorite of the wines I tasted that afternoon.  Tranquility is a gold medal winner for Best Vinifera Blend at the Atlantic Wine Competition.

2006 Rochambeau Named in honor of Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the French General who fought with George Washington and helped defeat the British at the Battle of Yorktown (1781),  Newport Vineyard’s Rochambeau is a blend  of Cabernet Sauvignon and Landot Noir.   Made in the Bordeaux-style, the wine is medium-bodied, bright and tangy.  The nose has interesting notes of pepper and berries.  In the mouth, the wine is young with a tangy “back” taste and strong berry notes, particularly on the finish.  I tend to prefer stronger, deeper reds, but I was intrigued by this wine and will definitely be giving this another try on my next visit.

2007 Cabernet Franc I have become a real fan of Cabernet Franc, finding it one of the richest most satisfying reds produced here in the Northeast, and even when not touring local wineries am finding myself gravitating towards cabernet francs and zinfandels over my former favorites pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon.  Newport Vineyards’ Cabernet Franc didn’t disappoint, but I didn’t find it as strong as the Cabernet Francs from Chamard or Gouveia.  The color is a lovely jewel-tone medium garnet that subtly sparkles in the glass.  The nose is deep and soft with light notes of earth and fruit and just a hint of spice.  A medium-bodied wine, there are soft notes of fruit in the mouth – I detected dark berries and just a hint of cherry brightness.  The finish is clean with lingering notes of pepper that give the wine an interesting character.  Perhaps I had a tasting from a recently opened bottle, but I did feel that the wine needed to breathe longer to display it’s full potential.

2006 Newport Jazz I finished out the afternoon with a dessert wine, a Sauterne-style, late harvest Sauvignon Blanc.  Despite my general fondness for dessert wines, this was my least favorite of the afternoon.  A lovely dark gold color, the nose was rich and sweet and held a lot of promise that unfortunately the wine didn’t deliver.  Surprisingly, in the mouth the wine was slightly dry with a sharp finish.  The mouth feel had that silky smoothness that one expects from a dessert wine, but the balance was somehow just “off.”  It may that I had a tasting from a bad bottle, so I will definitely give this another try before writing it off altogether.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

A party so wild, I have NO incriminating photos. Truth be told, I got tired of carrying around all the stuff. I was sweaty, it was 9:00pm and I was going out to party!

The party this evening was being sponsored by Vini Portugal.  Obviously, Portugese wines were being featured.  I am certainly not someone that has to be sold on Portugese wines, as I have have been drinking Vinho Verdes  (a light, crisp white wine from the Minho Region of the country in the northeast) for years and have a deep love and respect for both Port and Madeira (I recently had a taste of a 1875 Barbeito Malvasia Madeira  that was so amazing).

The wines at the party were amazing.  Ranging from Ports to less complex Vinho Verde that is supposed to be drunk within a year of making it.  I even drank some absinthe (which was ironically, Spanish and snuck into the party by the Wine Mutineers) which I am sad to report that I swigged right out of the bottle.  It did earn me a rousing cheer from the Mutineers though.

Midway through the evening I got invited along to the lobby to enjoy a brief but enthusiastic private tasting from Christophe Smith from Titus Vineyards (Thanks largely to Bill Daley).  Titus is 40 acre winery on the Silverado Trail in Napa that produces mostly red wines (and a Sauvignon Blanc!).

My earlier reports of party wildness were not exaggerated as we eventually got kicked out of the party room at around midnight (but who is counting) and worked to find a place to continue our gallivanting.  Eventually we all made our way to someone’s room, but were immediately kicked out by security.  Eventually we made our way back to the original party room and managed to get the ok to hang out until 1:00am. Dancing might have broken out.  I am a little fuzzy on that, though I am certain I did not partake.

We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and by the end meekly (sure, we’ll go with that) headed back to our rooms for the evening.

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Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

So far it has been a full day of wine. And it isn’t over yet.

After we finished our panel discussion at we head back to Bus #7 and head out to our next destination Quintessa Winery for the Grand Tasting. I have to admit that after all that Cabernet my tastebuds were a little worn out. So I decided to concentrate less on “tasting” and more on enjoying a glass or two of wine.

As we were walking up to the roof of the cave, I noticed that the facility had (in part) a green roof, specifically a roof top garden. As someone who worked on encouraging roof gardens and other forms of green roofing (please don’t get me started, it ends up being a long a boring conversation about the merits of various roofing products and colors… boring for you at least). When we reached the roof we were greated with a nice cool glass of Sauvignon Blanc (I noticed a pattern here. I Sauvignon Blanc the new Chardonnay?). Naturally I was compelled to take a look at the garden. You would have noticed me. All alone over at the far edge taking pictures of meadow grass. You would have come over, perhaps to see what I was looking at and you probably wouldn’t have noticed anything. But I was happy. And then I took a look at the other side and looked at the buses lined up ready to take us later to dinner too.

Eventually I headed down into the cave which was cool and dark and lovely after sweating all afternoon. In fact, I am ashamed to say that I was remarkably damp, but quite sober which means that I was burning through any alcohol that I had ingested. Helpful really, as I had more events to attend. The cave contained the winery operations and was almost surreally dark and stainless steel at the first level. In fact, it looked a lot like something out of Blade Runner, without Harrison Ford or any violence, which for me really works out better (the violence part that is… not the Harrison Ford part).

I descended from the mod level to where the rest of the conference folks were. This level was still very stainless steel in some parts but very wooden in others. I walked down into the show part of the barrel storage where it was even cooler. The centerpiece of this room was almost like a church. Dark, quiet and lit by candles, it inspired awed in all of us that stopped there. I learned from the Wine Bard, Karen Gurney that all of the barrel heads are marked with a series of codes that indicate the location of the forest the oak was harvested from and the amount of toasting on the inside and on the head of the barrel. On the way back, I saw a new type of “barrel” (for lack of a better word). It was steel and concrete and shaped like an egg. If the upper part of the caves was like Blade Runner, this storage unit was definitely out of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

But soon enough I joined the huddled masses, yearning to drink wine. I found that I couldn’t really drag myself to taste more than white wine. So I tried the Chardonnay at the Frank Family Vineyards where they were pouring their wine through a decanting system that looked like the Verso Vino system except that the shape of the receptacle was teardrop.  I haven’t been able to find anything similar on the internet (which is surprising because I usually can find what I mean to).  Next I tried a Schramsberg Brut.  It was lovely and bubbly and soothed my soul.  At this point, I needed to go sit down for a bit.  Since there were no chairs I sat on the ground against the wall that formed the cave and enjoyed the late afternoon sun.

Soon, it was time to depart again.  As I made my way back to Bus #7, I wondered what we would encounter next.

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Marguerite Barrett

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Marguerite Barrett

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Marguerite Barrett

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