GAYOT's Blog

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Price: $38

Rating: 15/20

Region: Russian River Valley, California

Varietal: 100 percent Pinot Meunier

Production: 866 cases

Alcohol: 13.9 percent

Tasting Notes: La Rochelle Winery is named after a town in France which Pierre Pellier sailed from in 1854 on his way to California. The founder of Mirassou Winery is known for introducing Pinot Noir to the Golden State. Fast-forward to the 2000s. Mirassou was sold to the Gallo family in 2002, and shortly after, sixth-generation descendants Daniel and Peter Mirassou started La Rochelle. In 2005, the brothers sold the brand to their cousin, Steven Kent Mirassou, who produces Continue reading “La Rochelle 2012 Saralee’s Vineyard Pinot Meunier – Wine of the Week Review” »

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Price: $22

Rating: 14.5/20

Region: Douro, Portugal

Varietals: 56 percent Touriga Nacional, 30 percent Touriga Franca, 7 percent Tinta Barroca & 7 percent Tinta Roriz

Production: 6,000 cases

Alcohol: 13.9 percent

Tasting Notes: Although the dramatic, hilly landscape of Portugal’s Douro Valley is best known for its Port, the region produces just as much table wine as it does fortified wine. In 1999, the Symington family (owners of many Port brands, including Warre’s, Dow’s and Graham’s) partnered with Bordeaux winemaker Bruno Prats (formerly of Château Cos d’Estournel) in order to improve the quality of their table wines. They launched the flagship Chryseia label with the 2000 Continue reading “Prats & Symington 2011 Post Scriptum de Chryseia – Wine of the Week Review” »

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Price: $105

Rating: 16/20

Region: Champagne, France

Varietal: 100 percent Chardonnay

Alcohol: 12.5 percent

Tasting Notes: The Cattier family have owned vineyards in Champagne since 1763, but it was not until 1918 that they began producing sparkling wines under their own name. (Since 2006, they have also produced the premium Armand de Brignac brand.) Designed as a tribute to the village of Chigny-les-Roses, where Maison Cattier is located, the Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Roses is a non-vintage offering packaged in a colorful floral bottle. On the nose, it boasts fragrant lemon and honeysuckle aromas. Dry and Continue reading “Champagne Cattier Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Roses – Wine of the Week Review” »

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Price: $100

Rating: 15.5/20

Region: Champagne, France

Varietal: 50 percent Pinot Noir & 50 percent Chardonnay

Alcohol: 12 percent

Tasting Notes: Founded in 1846 by two brothers, Jules and Auguste Devaux, the brand remained in the family until 1987. At that time, Jean-Pol Auguste Devaux ensured that the brand would continue by giving it to the Union Auboise, a cooperative of Champagne growers located mostly in the Côtes des Bar. Devaux’s portfolio comprises a variety of Champagnes, including the Classiques, the Collection D and two made entirely from Pinot Noir. The house’s finest offering, the D Millésimé 2002 is composed of equal parts Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Aged seven to eight years on Continue reading “Champagne Devaux D 2002 – Wine of the Week Review” »

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by Barnaby Hughes

The term “library wine” typically refers to a bottle that has been cellared, but I recently discovered a whole new kind of library wine. St. Helena Public Library (SHPL) in the Napa Valley has a small collection of 91 vines on its property. Planted in 2000, it is known as Barney’s Backyard, in honor of Bernard Rhodes, first President of the Wine Library Association. Barney’s Backyard complements the adjacent Library Vineyard, planted between 1880 and 1920. Turley Wine Cellars, which leases Library Vineyard, harvests and vinifies together the grapes from both vineyard plots. 

Continue reading “A True Library Wine” »

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Price: $27

Rating: 14/20

Region: Veneto, Italy

Varietal: 100 percent Glera

Alcohol: 11.5 percent

Tasting Notes: Named for Anna Altadonna, wife of winemaker Stefano Chioccioli and mother of his winemaker son Stefano, Altadonna sources grapes from top vineyards in Tuscany, Lombardy, Sicily and the Veneto. More specifically, the winery’s Prosecco Superiore DOCG comes from the prime growing region of Conegliano Valdobbiadene. Italy’s highest quality assurance label, DOCG translates as “Controlled Designation of Origin Guaranteed.” An extra dry sparkling wine, Altadonna Prosecco offers sweet lemon, apple and peach flavors with complex mineral notes Continue reading “Altadonna Prosecco Superiore DOCG – Wine of the Week Review” »

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Searching the World for the Best, the Worst, the Outrageously Cheap, the Insanely Overpriced, and the Undiscovered

By Mike Veseth

(Rowman & Littlefield, 2013)

Mike Veseth has quite a penchant for writing books with expansive subtitles, which is extreme in itself. (His 2011 book on globalization was titled Wine Wars: The Curse of the Blue Nun, the Miracle of Two Buck Chuck, and the Revenge of the Terroirists.) It should also caution the reader that Veseth, despite being a wine economist, is not writing for an academic audience. Extreme Wine is written in the same chatty, informative style that Veseth uses in his popular Wine Economist blog.

Continue reading “Extreme Wine – Book Review” »

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Price: $48

Rating: 14.5/20

Region: Russian River Valley, California

Varietals: 64 percent Chardonnay, 34 percent Pinot Noir, 2 percent Pinot Meunier

Production: 700 cases

Alcohol: 12.5 percent

Tasting Notes: Not one to live in the shadow of her father, who founded Jordan Winery, Judy Jordan struck out on her own as a specialist in sparkling wine. Her simply named J Vineyards and Winery makes fine bottles of bubbly using traditional Champagne varietals and winemaking techniques. The 2007 J Vintage Brut was aged on the lees for more than five years, giving it a soft, creamy mouthfeel. On the Continue reading “J Vineyards 2007 Vintage Brut – Wine of the Week Review” »

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by Jeff Hoyt

There is some dispute as to who first said, “No one should see how laws or sausages are made.” But there’s no dispute that seeing how Tequila is made is a fascinating experience.

Vodka can be distilled from potatoes, wheat, grapes or other substances. But Tequila is only made from blue agave, one of the 200 known types of agave.  On a recent trip to Amatitán, Jalisco, Mexico, I got to visit the Herradura estate where blue agave is grown, harvested and transformed into Mexico’s finest export. 

Continue reading “Farm-to-Tequila: A Visit to Casa Herradura” »

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by Barnaby Hughes

Mira Winery made headlines earlier this year when it aged four cases of its 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon underwater in Charleston Harbor for three months. When the wine was later brought to the surface and tasted, Mira winemaker Gustavo Gonzalez was quoted as saying, “It’s not better, it’s not worse and it is definitely different. The land wine is tighter versus Aquaoir-aged wine, which is more complex and broad, more open and relaxed. The result is proof certain that we have more to learn.”

Continue reading “A Taste of Aquaoir” »

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