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hat latter – day Bacchus, Jim Lester himself stopped in recently with one of his and wife Rae Lee’s newest children, their ’03 Avonlea Pinot Noir.  We’re always up for tasting Jim and Rae Lee’s wines here at Adams, Heritier and Associates, since there is nothing else from Michigan that we’ve encountered that comes even close to their quality.  They achieve a level usually associated with such wine producing regions as California, Oregon, Washington, and, dare I say it, France.  We wasted no time pulling glasses out of the cabinet while Jim pulled the cork and began to pour.  Here’s what we found:

2003 Wyncroft Lake Michigan Shore Pinot Noir Avonlea Vineyard: Smoky ruby garnet in color, being sleek and medium full bodied, with a silky smooth texture that belies its excellent acidity; very “Burgundian” in character, offering smoky plums and black cherries, shaded with what Kim describes as “dusty earth, some mint in the mouth and high-toned purple flowers on the high end.”  Jim observes that the “mid-palate is quite tight yet,” and yet this gradually opens in the glass, evolving continuously as the mint morphs into Christmas spice after an hour and a half, while a hint of toasty maple syrup emerges, along with an ever-more-apparent tannic backbone that bodes well for cellaring prospects.  Jim claims that the tannins “will melt with time and fatten up in the middle,” and based on his earlier efforts, I have no reason to doubt his word.  A lingering finish tops off the package here making for a wine that few would ever name as having come from Michigan if tasted blind, unless perhaps they’ve been Wyncroft clients for a while. 

Sold out at the winery, but available at such fine Michigan restaurants like The Lark, Coach Insignia, Morel's, Northern Lakes Seafood Co., Five Lakes Grill, No.VI Chop House, Rattlesnake Club, Capital Grill, McKinnon's, Cameron's Steak House, Pampas, Tapawingo and Latitude. Only three barrels of this were made; one was in a 3 year-old Allier with a medium toast, while the other two were in new Allier with a medium toast.  Half of the fruit was sourced from 15 year old vines from Wadenswill and Pommard #4 clones, with the other half coming from “the front block,” comprised of younger Dijon 777, Dijon 115, Swan, Steven Zellerbach and “suitcase DRC (Hanzel)” clones.  Jim feels that a few years will turn this into “pure velvet,” and again, since no one knows these better than him and Rae Lee, I have no reason to doubt what he says.  After all, parents usually know their children pretty well.

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We got together for dinner and wine with our friends Margaret Marchak and Mark Schreier recently and compared consecutive vintages of what has become one of our favorite Tuscan wines.

1997 Monte Vertine Le Pergole Torte, 13% alc.: Slightly rusty ruby garnet in color, with a dusty cedar, old wood and dried sour cherry character; silky smooth and fairly long on the finish. Nothing “international” about this one, and that’s fine with everybody at the table; it shows more cedar as it opens, and if a 1978 model tasted a few months back gives any indication as to the age-worthiness of this, it’s already drinking so well, I’d have a hard time not opening another one tomorrow night with the kind of fine medium rare grilled lamb chops that Mark served up. Very fine indeed! Find this wine

Imported by Premium Brands, Inc., Forest Hills, NY

1998 Monte Vertine Le Pergole Torte, 13% alc.: Like the ’97, this ruby dark garnet has the dust, but it’s fresher, with a richer core of fruit, including dark berries and dried sour cherries, shaded with some cedar that becomes accentuated with air, and a hint of mahogany as it opens. Silky, yes, but more concentrated than the ’97, with a nice, long finish, and it’s still on the way up. It was already drinking well a few years ago, and it’s not too hard to see why Le Pergole Torte was one of our colleague Putnam Weekley's favorite wines three or four years before that; it’s real wine, and great stuff at that. Margaret brought this home from one of her jaunts to Italy, so we can thank her, rather than Premium Brands for it. Find this wine

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Thanksgiving dinner at Margaret and Mark’s was great, not only for the great food and fine friendship, but also the excellent wine, of course.  We started off with some fine vintage bubbly. 

1990 Delamotte Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut, $38.99, 12.5% alc.: Pale gold, with a moderate bead at best, and not much more on the nose than a hint of nuttiness that carries over on the palate to shade the yeasty, under ripe apple and pear flavors, underscored with notes of smoke and minerality.  Excellent acidity, froth, intensity and length, and as it opens and improves with air, the more I taste, the more I like. Find this wine

Imported by Wilson Daniels, Ltd., St. Helena, CA 

1996 Joseph Drouhin Charmes Chambertin, 13.5 % alc.: A smoky ruby garnet, with just a hint of rust; smoky cherry and plum flavors and aromas, with subtle overtones of violets and roses and a note of mushroom lurking in the background.  Silky texture, with medium concentration, good structure, more smoke as it opens and a nice finish.  Very well received, and still not at its peak; these poor descriptors just don't do this lovely wine justice. Find this wine

Imported by Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., New York, NY  

2002 Bruno Clair Gevrey Chambertin Clos St. Jacques, 13% alc.: Ruby garnet with a heady perfume that shows a good dose of new wood, sweet spice, candied black cherry and hints of earth and anise underneath on the nose; almost reminiscent of a Flowers Pinot Noir.  Tones down some in the mouth, but not entirely, with silky tannins, nice presence and good length; more than just approachable, despite its youth. Find this wine

Imported by Vineyard Brands, Inc., Birmingham, AL 

1970 Chateau Lafitte Premières Côtes de Bordeaux: This rusty dark garnet exudes a musty “old smell” reminiscent of nutty prunes and an old saturated sherry barrel; it’s slightly maderized, but not terribly, and tastes better than it smells.  With a low fill down to the shoulder and a crumbling cork, there’s little doubt that some oxygen exchange occurred, but there’s still fruit here, making for more than just an intellectual experience.  The wine gets better and better as it opens, but after returning to it after the next selection 45 minutes later, it’s starting to fall apart. 

Imported by The Stacole Company, Boca Raton, FL     

2003 Domaines le Sang des Cailloux Vacqueyras Cuvée Lopy, 14% alc.: Dark garnet, fading to pink at the rim, with big earthy bramble-briar, cola, black currant and blackberry flavors and aromas; in other words, a classic Sang des Cailloux profile.  Not an over ripe mutant like some ‘03s, and of course, it needs years to show its best, at least until its 10th birthday, and probably well beyond.  The tannic grip can’t quite restrain the long finish, and the wine really opens nicely in the glass.  A great wine with a great future, and one that, perhaps surprisingly, Margaret opened, not this taster.  Find this wine

Imported by Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA  

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That wacky Kurt Wieneke stopped in at Gang Central a few weeks ago, and of course, we had to open some good wine to enjoy with some good food.  We started things off with a fine selection from one of my favorite Alsatian producers.

1994 Schlumberger Gewurztraminer Kitterle, $3.25 (!?), 14% alc.: Kurt told us that he picked up this medium gold gewurz from an Indianapolis retailer who had it ludicrously priced for closeout, and having recently read my notes on the delicious ’97 rendition, he felt it was a must-bring on this occasion.  Though not as intense as the ’97, nor as oily it still shows appealing peach, litchi, apricot and some subtle honey, with a soft creamy texture, and more than enough acidity to work really well with Kim’s excellent warm arugula, goat cheese, garlic and tomato confit salad.  Kurt remarked that it has “a hair of a bitter edge on the end, and a really pretty nose,” and I wouldn’t disagree with that assessment.  Not a great Kitterle, but certainly an enjoyable one. Find this wine

Imported by Maisons Marques and Domaines USA, Inc., Oakland, CA

1999 William Fevre Chablis Fourchaume, $29.99, 13% alc.: Medium straw color, with a reticent chalky mineral and softly herbal nose that carries over into the flavors with a solid core of green apple and pear, along with what Kurt described as a hint of pineapple rind.  While not as crisp as I would have expected, based on others we've enjoyed from this producer, it still has the cut to keep it moving right along, and if it could finish a little longer, it’s not a major complaint.  All in all, a nice middleweight Fevre Chablis that complemented a roasted Barred Rock Heritage Chicken very well.  Find this wine

Imported by Clicquot, Inc., New York, NY

1990 E&J Gallo Northern Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% alc.: This one has been a favorite of Kurt’s since it was first released, and he’s gone through a number of them in following its development over the years; he told us that it’s the only one that Julio made before his untimely death, and that in his opinion, they were never quite the same in later vintages.  Still a deep, almost inky garnet in color, it shows well-integrated oak (Kurt described it as smoky vanilla) over pretty black currants and berries on the nose, following through in the flavors with added notes of tobacco and some smooth leather.  Sleek, focused, rich and refined, with a creamy overlay of oak that becomes accentuated as it opens, and good length on the finish, it elicited such observations from Mr. Weineke as, “probably at its peak about five years ago, (but) like a long jam in an old, smoky jazz bar, it just keeps hanging around; (has) a cinnamon thing that it never had before.”  Find this wine

1998 Domaine de la Tourade Gigondas Font des Aïeusc, 14.5% alc.: Kurt’s as much a fan of J et R Selections Rhônes as we are, so he brought this one along with him, telling us that it was sourced from 80 – 100 year old vines.  Sporting a smoke tinged dark garnet robe, it explodes with big, earthy briar and bramble, along with some root beer-rock ‘n’ rye-cola lurking and just waiting to burst forth, all over a serious core of solid black fruit.  There’s plenty of structure here, this is a 15-year wine at the least; it needs hours to open, only hinting at what’s there after 30 minutes, and really smoothes out after that, with rich black and red plums and berries coming to the fore, along with what Kurt describes as “some serious cumin action.”  This would make for some great Red Wing-Red Rhône mojo, if only I could find some around here, but will be best if left to rest until 2010 to shed some of those major league tannins. Find this wine

Imported by J et R Selections, Mount Pleasant, MI 

1997 Ridge Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley, 80% Zinfandel, 15% Petite Sirah, 2% Carignan, 2% Mataro, 1% Grenache, $20, 14.9% alc.: I ran into a stash of these in the cellar of an out-of-the-way Detroit area retail outlet, and remembering our experience with it a year ago, I brought home all eleven of them at the price listed.  Such a deal, especially since it’s showing even better than it did then.  Deep, dark garnet, with soft, lovely Draper perfume over a kaleidoscope of red and black berries that bursts forth on the palate with a deeper, darker heart, but it’s all good.  Dense, yet impeccably balanced, and there’s still significant structure here; this is a young wine that opens with air to blossom into a classic Lytton Springs, probably the best one I’ve had in the last three to five years.  My final impression reads “goo-gob drippingly gorgeous,” so it’s probably not surprising that it was the wine of the night for all three of us.  Find this wine

2000 Ridge Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley, 80% Zinfandel, 20% Petite Sirah, $30, 14.8% alc.: I opened this for Kurt to try, and while it was much as we remembered it from last summer, it’s most interesting in how it contrasted with the older ’97, especially with the American oak showing much more prominently at first, as well as a certain youthful green streak.  Still, it gives big lovely black raspberry and blackberry flavors and aromas, turning sleek with air, as the green thing dissipates and morphs into “all that Draper perfume.”  It's still on the way up, so I'd advise holding for even better days.     Find this wine

Bastardo

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Wines By Gérard Bertrand

6 from Thackrey

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© George Heritier December 2005