Miner Napa Valley Chardonnay 2014 Following a number of years spent working in the software industry, Dave Miner got his start in wine in 1993 as President of Oakville Ranch Vineyards, owned by his late uncle, Robert Miner. Having spent years as an enthusiastic wine consumer and collector, Dave had a natural affinity for the business. In 1998 Dave and Emily Miner, founded Miner Family Winery tucked along the eastern hills of the Oakville appellation in the heart of Napa Valley Aged for 10 Months, 30% New French Oak, sunshine yellow with full concentrated stone fruit aromas. On the palate crisp apple, melon and citrus flavors with gentle toasty oak…
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Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2009 & Chateau Corton Grancey Domaine Latour 2009 I recently went to a private wine tasting where Louis Latour’s Northeast Regional Manager, Andy Fruzzetti, opened TEN wines, 5 red and 5 white, as well as providing some awesome in depth commentary on the wines and winery, picture with yours truly below. These are the last two of the 10 wines tasted, they were all great! Check out the March 31, 2017, April 4, 2017, April 7, 2017 and April 11, 2017 posts for additional pictures. Many thanks Andy for sharing your wine and wine knowledge. After the ravages of the phylloxera epidemic at the…
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Louis Latour Montagny “La Grande Roche” 1er Cru 2015 & Chassagne-Montrachet “Morgeots” 1er Cru 2012 I recently went to a private wine tasting where Louis Latour’s Northeast Regional Manager, Andy Fruzzetti, opened TEN wines, 5 red and 5 white, as well as providing some awesome in depth commentary on the wines and winery. I will review these wines over the next several posts with some history and observations, stay tuned! Check out the March 31, 2017 post for additional pictures. The appellation of Montagny lies approximately 30 kilometres to the south of Beaune in the rolling folds and hills of the southern part of the Côte Chalonnaise. Montagny is…
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Louis Latour – Puligny-Montrachet AC 2014 & Puligny-Montrachet Sous Le Puits 2014 I recently went to a private wine tasting where Louis Latour’s Northeast Regional Manager, Andy Fruzzetti, opened TEN wines, 5 red and 5 white, as well as providing some awesome in depth commentary on the wines and winery. I will review these wines over the next several posts with some history and observations, stay tuned! Pictured below is yours truly with Andy after the tasting. The Louis Latour family first bought vines in the Cote de Beaune in 1731, with land in some of the top Burgundy vineyards. Cooperage was already at that period a family occupation.…
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Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay 2012 Shafer Vineyards traces its beginnings to 1972 when John Shafer left a 23-year career in the publishing industry and, with his family, moved to the Napa Valley to pursue a second career in wine. After purchasing a 210-acre estate in Napa Valley’s Stags Leap District, the Shafer family faced the arduous task of replanting the existing vineyards, which dated to the 1920s, and terracing the steep and rocky hillsides, eventually expanding vineyard acreage to its current 50 acres. From a modest beginning of 1,000 cases in 1978, the winery has grown steadily until reaching its present size of 32,000 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,…
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Taittinger Brut Champagne NV When Pierre Taittinger first discovered the Champagne region, he was a young liaison officer during the first World War. It was thanks to his passion for wine and gastronomy that he returned several years later and, with his brother-in-law, invested all his energy into the development of a burgeoning champagne business. Since 1932 Champagne Taittinger has grown and taken its place among the great Champagne houses, commanding a bold innovative style particularly influenced by Chardonnay. Having bought back the family business in 2006, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger has surrounded himself with a team that is both young and bound together by a spirit of attainment and permanence. His…
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Champagne Taittinger Prestige Rosé NV When Pierre Taittinger first discovered the Champagne region, he was a young liaison officer during the first World War. It was thanks to his passion for wine and gastronomy that he returned several years later and, with his brother-in-law, invested all his energy into the development of a burgeoning champagne business. Since 1932 Champagne Taittinger has grown and taken its place among the great Champagne houses, commanding a bold innovative style particularly influenced by Chardonnay. Having bought back the family business in 2006, Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger has surrounded himself with a team that is both young and bound together by a spirit of attainment and permanence.…
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Fess Parker Sta. Rita Hills 2014 Parker West Chardonnay The final installment of my recent trip to CA to visit my first born child and celebrating her birthday. We wanted to taste some great wines that cannot readily be obtained back east, so we visited Fess Parker Vineyards. Family run winery established in 1989 by the late Fess Parker. Fess is best known for his portrayal of the frontiersmen Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone during the 1950’s and 1960’s and made him a legion among millions of adoring fans. Fess Parker was originally from Texas, attended the University of Texas and did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy…
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Landmark Vineyards 2013 Overlook Chardonnay Sonoma County Landmark Vineyards was founded in 1974 in Windsor, California, by a group that included Damaris Deere Ford, the great-great-granddaughter of John Deere, inventor of the first steel plow and founder of the world’s largest tractor manufacturer. In 1989, Damaris Deere Ford, became sole proprietor and relocated the winery to Sonoma Valley. Landmark Vineyards is located at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain in Sonoma Valley. In 1993, world-renowned consulting enologist Helen Turley was hired to work with former winemaker, Eric Stern. In addition to the estate vineyard, Landmark sources grapes from a range of different vineyards and those selected are the finest in the…
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Stags’ Leap Winery 2014 Napa Chardonnay Stags’ Leap Winery, (note the placement of the apostrophe), produces the Chardonnay I will discuss today. The use of “Stags Leap” may be confusing. Another nearby winery named, “Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars” produces excellent wines as well, also note the placement of that apostrophe. Lastly, there is the Stags Leap District, which is the name of the appellation where the two aforementioned wineries are located. The Stags Leap District (no apostrophe) is renowned for producing outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, is located between the Napa River and the Stags Leap Palisades. One of California’s earliest wine estates, a unique terroir and ideal microclimate support…