Each year as the holiday eating season rolls around we’re asked what wines to serve with the traditional Thanksgiving Day meal… and other meals before and after during this wondrous, indulgent time of year. The answer I typically give: eat & drink what you like! Avoiding the pitfalls of disaster (dessert wine with a huge normal meal, heavy tannic wine with fish and high acidic wines with steak and big red meat dishes) is pretty easy – and we will usually recommend Pinot Noir, Zin or perhaps a lighter old world style wine (Beaujolais, some Chianti and some Rioja). Again, you’re typically safe to drink a wine you enjoy with food and company that you enjoy.
Since we’re always asked what people should drink… I want to know what you DID drink! Lay it out there… give me details and reviews of the wines you enjoyed during you Holiday meal(s). At our house with company the list can get sort of long. When we have guests that don’t necessarily share our zeal for big dry reds we typically open all sorts of stuff to appease their palate… a great idea if you want to avoid sharing wine with people who won’t necessarily enjoy, share or appreciate your particular tastes.
Our line-up included:
2005 Angove’s McLaren Vale Vineyard Select Shiraz – this is a new one for us at CLG (from the same people that do the Red Belly Black Chard & Shiraz); I think this is one of the more serious and slightly less jammy Shiraz’ we’ve had in a while – and at the price (about $20 I think) it’s fantastic!
2006 Prima Mano Primitivo – a great Old World wine (Primitive Salento IGT) from Italy… the equivalent (sort of) of Zinfandel – but far from the big fruity spicy Zins we love so much. A great food oriented wine that paired well with our appetizers and cheeses (Gouda, aged Cheddar, Parmesan and Romano).
2002 Rubicon Estate Cask Cabernet – this was our dinner wine (we had traditional Thanksgiving Day steak!)… WOW! It was fantastic! Everything one could hope for in a Cali Cab paired with tenderloin fillet from the grill. I wish it were a magnum! I mean seriously… if you like Cab and you haven’t had this wine, be sure to check it out. We’ve had it a couple times and visited Rubicon on one of our Napa trips, but it’s been a while. I was really pleased… we decanted it for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and enjoyed it immensely with dinner.
2005 Dry Creek Vineyard The Mariner – a great red blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 6% Petite Verdot, 5% Malbec and 3% Cabernet Franc. This was the settling down in front of the fireplace after dinner wine. We love blends and this one did not disappoint! I’m anxious to have a glass of it tonight (we didn’t last long in front of the fireplace!).
For our sweet wine drinkers we opened a couple interesting wines from Hungary – including a Blaufrankisch and a Merlot – both light bodied reds with great fruit and touch of sweetness. We’re talking subtle fruit sweet, not luscious style dessert sweet.
All in all… I think we had a great wine night… a great food night and a fantastic family night!
So, what did you drink for Thanksgiving Dinner?
Until next time… keep drinking and thinking…
Ron
Cafe le Grand – Changing the Way You Look at Wine!
This has been a long time in the making… after pouring many bottles of wine… enjoying them to their fullest and contemplating the concept, we have finally decided to venture into wine education. Nicknamed Winoversity ( or Oenoversity ), the first session being offered is a fundamentals course comprised of four classes over four weeks. Each session will be about 2 – 2 1/2 hours long and be made up of some lecture style classroom stuff as well as tasting 4 to 6 wines each class.
The first session will begin on Sunday, January 4, 6:00 p.m. – running four consecutive Sundays. The cost of the class is $100.00 per person, which covers the classroom, wine tasting and course materials.
The basic outline of the course is as follows:
Week 1: Systematic approach to tasting, introduction to aromas and tastes, component tasting, faults
Week 3: Winemaking process (red, white, rose), affect of the process on wine
Week 4: Old World vs. New World, laws, styles and trends
There will be as much information as I can fit into about 1 – 1 1/2 hours of lecture/discussion and I’m sure there will be (actually hoping there will be) tangents based on questions, etc. Although this is the first class, it will most certainly not be the last. We anticipate further sessions on a variety of topics and perhaps an intense tasting group class for those dedicated to training their palate.
If you’re interested in learning more or signing up for the class feel free to e-mail The Shop at cafelegrand@verizon.net or give a call 715-849-9787.
We hope to see you in class… until then… keep thinking and drinking!
Cafe le Grand – Changing the way you look at wine!
Friday night in Chicago: great company… wine… dinner and more wine!
We had an awsome night at Bin 36 ( www.bin36.com) starting with a fairly intimate pre-dinner wine reception – tasting fantastic Pinot and chatting with winemakes and owners. Then a three course dinner, with cheese and chocolate courses!
Here’s a quick run down with links on the wines we tasted.
Mayro-Murdick ( www.mayromurdick.com) produced in a cool little custome wine facility for multiple smaller producers ( www.foliowine.com) located in Carnoros, Napa Valley. Tina Cox and her mother (who have previously lived in Chicago) were pouring the Mayro-Murdick Carneros Pinot Noir ( and on Saturday at the Grand Festival they poured the Hunterdon, Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot ). Tina and her husband Mike are having a great time and producing some great wine. I hope to be in touch with Tina to figure out how we can carry their wine at CLG… I’ll keep you posted.
Suacci Carciere ( www.suaccicarciere.com ) – this is the first vintage from John Suacci, his wife and their partner Andy Carciere & family. Producing only two wines, the 2006 Suacci Pinot Noir (a 6.5 acre vineyard planted by John as a project following retirment from ownership of a machine shop) and the 2006 Heintz Vineyard Chardonnay. Being Pinot Fest we, of course, only tried the Pinot. Fantastic! And talk about boutique… and being fortunate to have tasted it… with only 114 cases produced, you’ll only see it on their website.
Another note regarding Suacci Carciere… their winemaker is Ryan Zepaltas. If you are into Pinot be sure to watch for Ryan’s work! He has been a member of the Siduri ( http://www.siduri.com/ ) winemaking team for several years and just finished his 5th harvest under his own label Zapaltas ( http://zepaltaswines.com/ ). Ryan’s story is told several places, but I absolutely have to mention him as he is from Eau Claire, WI! Being from Wisconsin immediately tells you he’s a solid guy doing great things in the wine world and if any fellow Wisconsinites find themselves around Sonoma County you should definitely make it a point to visit. On Saturday at the Grand Festival for Pinot Days we tasted through several of the Zapaltas wines – enjoying them immensely and I’m seriously scheming to figure out how I’m going to bring them (and many other from the weekend) into Cafe le Grand… sshhh, don’t tell Loreen. Unfortunately Ryan wasn’t in Chicago as I understand he was moving into his new house and out of the house in John Suacci’s vineyard! Perhaps next time Ryan… actually, perhaps in May when we’re in Sonoma… I’ll be in touch!
Speaking of Siduri ( http://www.siduri.com/ ) – on Friday night for the Winemaker’s Table Hop Dinner one of the winemakers we had the opportunity to chat with was Adam Lee, owner and winemaker of Siduri. What a fantastic visit and super nice guy. Adam had some hillarious intern stories that I won’t repeat… and of which none were about current interns. It was fantastic chatting with him about his wines, winery and life in general. We also visited him Saturday and tasted through several of his wines. WOW! You will defintely be seeing Siduri in the Pinot section at Cafe le Grand.
During dinner we also visted with Jeff Fink, partner and co-winemaker of Tantara Winery ( http://www.tantarawinery.com/ ) while tasting the 2006 Solomon Hills, Santa Maria Valley Pinot. Excellent wine and company. Specializing, like many other Pinot producers, in single vineyard wines they produce only 6,000 cases… Pinot, Chardonnay, Syrah and Temparanillo from the Central Coast. I just wish we had known more about Tantara last January when we were visiting the area!
The pre-dinner reception found us tasting some great wines as well… including August West ( www.augustwestwine.com) from winemaker Ed Kurtzman who was also pouring Freeman Vineyard & Winery ( www.freemanwinery.com) which he also makes; bink ( www.binkwines.com) being poured by owner/winemaker Deb Schatzlein… really nice wine in a great package – hopefully we’ll see it in WI sometime soon; Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery ( www.garyferrellwines.com) being poured by Gary Archer, operations manager at Gary Farrell; Buena Vista ( www.buenavistacarneros.com) Carneros Pinot poured by Jeff Stewart (winemaker)… really nice wine and really great story ( huge winery revamped for quality over quantity… Jeff has enjoyed spending a lot of other people’s money to overhaul the way Buena Vista has been doing things – and it has obviously paid off!); Paul and Kathryn Sloan were pouring their Small Vines Wines ( www.smallvines.com ) and clearly loving the event – starting their wine life as a vineyard management company is integral to how they produce their wine – from the ground up, paying particular attention to the earth and the process – a mission shared by many quality producers of wine around the world – and it shows in their wine.
The wines Friday night… pre-dinner and dinner… were all fantastic. It’s impossible and unfair to single any of them out as better or wors… they all brought something different and meant something different to different people. I think that’s what it’s all about… tasting a lot of wine, enjoying them for what they are and experienceing the differences in the places and the people involved. What a great night!
On Saturday we made our way down to Navy Pier ( http://www.navypier.com/ ) making the VERY long walk all the down to reach the Grand Festival. We tasted an immense amount of wine this day… and this has gotten way too long… so I’ll keep it short!
Eno Wines ( http://www.enowines.com/ ) – nice guys, good wine great concept… thanks to Sasha Verhage, owner/winemaker and his graphic designer from Milwaukee!
Esterlina Vineyards & Winery ( http://www.esterlinavineyards.com/ ) – Mike Kasper, National Sales Manager – thanks and nice seeing you again… perhaps we’ll see you for an Esterlina event!
Belle Glos ( www.belleglos.com) – a name you know and recognize from CLG!
Couloir Wines ( http://www.couloirwines.com/ ) – Jon Grant, owner/winemaker, is absolutely enthusiastic and energetic about his wines – and he has reason. Jon poured two of his Pinots – both of which were great! Couloir Wines is Jon’s personal project – named for his affection of back country and extreme skiing – and as assistant winemaker at Turley Wine Cellars, he’s got some juice (just not Zin!). As Jon expands we wish him success and hope to see his wines outside of CA (specifically inside Cafe le Grand!).
Cambria Estate Vineyards & Winery ( www.cambriawines.com) – having visited Cambria in January 2008 ( scroll down a bit… http://cafelegrand.wordpress.com/paso-robles-ca-2007/), we were ecstatic to meet winemaker Denise Shurtleff at Pinot Days. Of course if you’ve perused the Pinot section at CLG Cambria is a very familar name – we carry the Julia’s Vineyard, Benchbreak Vineyard and two of their single clone bottlings – the Clone 2A and Clone 667. As Denise was quick to point out, we are one of a very small number of places that carry the Clone bottlings! She took time to chat with us about our visit, our store and her winemaking. Of course we enjoyed it immensely, and I personally HIGHLY recommend checking out all their Pinot (as well as their other wines)! I also invited Denise to visit us in Wausau if she ever makes it this far north. Thanks for your time Denise!
We also chatted with some VERY small producers making wine at CrushPad ( www.crushpadwine.com) – a custom crush facility where anyone can make wine… and be as involved or uninvolved as they would like! It’s a great concept and has been the launching pad (pud intended) for some people that are increasing production and exposure – even getting out on a national basis to sell some wine! Check out CrushPad and if you decide to make some wine… let us know… we’ll taste test it with you!
Lastly we have to thank Steve and Lisa Rigisich for organizing Pinot Days ( http://www.pinotdays.com/home.asp ) and bringing to Chicago for the second year. We can’t wait for next year, as it proves to be bigger and better – more people, more wineries and far more wine. Of course they should also be recognized for the ownership and winemaking at Ketcham Estate as well ( http://www.ketchamestate.com/home.asp ). See you again next year!
So… that’s Pinot Days Chicago… you should’ve been there…
Thanks for reading!
Regards,
Ron
Cafe le Grand – Changing the way you look at wine…
Tomorrow morning (Friday, 11/14/08) we’re off to Pinot Days in Chicago ( http://www.pinotdays.com/ ). We’ll be headed down early in the morning so Loreen can do some shoe shopping… then we’ll check into the hotel, perhaps catch a nap and then to the Pinot Days winemakers table hop dinner. We’re pretty excited about the dinner, as the winemakers will be rotating tables and we’ll be able to chat them up about what’s happening with Cali Pinot. Being able to talk wine with 17 or more producers of Pinot will be an awesome experience. As I love Pinot it’s going to be a great event.
On Saturday we’ll be headed down to Navy Pier for the trade portion of the Pinot Days Grand Festival where we’ll be tasting 50 or so Pinot Noirs from a wide variety of California wineries… again… it will be unbelievable… and we can’t wait to talk with the producers and taste the wine.
I’m gonna take notes and shoot some vids… so check back often, and if you happen to be free Saturday, make the drive and taste some great wine. I promise, it will be worth the trip!
I thought I’d drop a couple more videos onto the CLGBLOG for your viewing pleasure… they are both pretty long, but it’s a great look at the sorting/destemming and pumping to fermentation bins. I hope you enjoy them… until you get the chance to go (back) to Napa and see Chris, Bruce and Rob for yourself.
Oh… and for my new signature line… a media campaign we’re starting at Cafe le Grand:
Wow… that’s the one word I kept repeating after our visit to Madrigal Vineyards during our September 2008 trip to Napa. I just couldn’t get it out of my head. This one stop was seriously worth the price of admission! Realizing that we had a trade tour arranged and as trade guests we are often treated with a little more oomph, I think that Chris, Bruce and Rob would show anyone the same hospitality they did us. As I said… Wow!
Madrigal Vineyards started as a vineyard management company in the late 1930’s – basically a family run farming business that grew into managing vineyards for some of the amazing wines in Napa Valley (500 acres) and Alexander Valley (300 acres), including Duckhorn, Chateau Montelena, Shafer, Fife, Stag’s Leap and Clos Pegase. In 1995 Madrigal began producing wine of their own. Surrounded by 15 acres of estate vines, Madrigal is still a family run business – still managing vineyards.
Although Madrigal only produces about 5,000 to 7,000 cases of wine a year (a very small amount of wine for a commercial Napa winery), they offer a myriad of choices – a luxury of knowing who grows what and having three generations of roots in Wine Country. They engage in long term contracts which gives them the control to do what’s right in the vineyard as well as on the crushpad and in the cellar.
The visit started with a sit down tasting where Rob talked us through the wines, graciously pouring our group of six through each of the wines – each smashingly spectacular. During this time Chris Madrigal stopped in to greet us and welcome us to the winery… cool, huh? Just wait!
From there we strolled, glass in hand, to the crushpad and winery portion of the property. Here we met winemaker Bruce Regalia – who was kind enough to show us around and talk winemaking with us. We looked in on some fermenting red and drank Sauvignon Blanc freshly inoculated but not yet fermenting.
We then looked in on the Madrigal crew sorting Merlot (as I recall)… and when I say crew, I don’t just mean their employees… I mean Bruce and Chris as well! Although it’s no suprise to see an owner actually getting down and dirty on the crushpad (Loreen and I know that owners actually work in and on their business!), it was awesome to see them busting their butts and it exemplifies the pride and interest they have in the wines they produce.
Walking around the crushpad watching the process up close and enjoying the company and conversation of friends, along with our discussions with Chris, Bruce and Rob was, once again, an unbelieveble, stupendous wine country experience
I’m sure you’ve gotten the idea by now that we simply loved the visit to Madrigal… so you should know that we’re carrying their wine… just a couple to start with (Petite Sirah & Zinfandel), but watch closely… or better yet, come in and request some of the others! And seriously, if you’re ever in Napa – this is an absolute must… make an appointment and plan on spending some time… and please say hello from Cafe le Grand.
Thanks for reading… and until next time, keep thinking and drinking!
