Jax Vineyards Tasting.

Enjoyed the evening with the vivacious Alexis Rose, national sales manager for Jax Vineyards last week. She came by the store after hours and tasted about 25 guests on four of their wines; all brand new to the Kansas market. Aside from the luxuriously rich Chardonnay, I found most of the wines to be tight, angular and quite acidic; but in a good, food-friendly kind of way. I really wish I had been able to taste these at a restaurant or wine bar where some appropriate food would have been available.

2011 Jax Vineyards Y3 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley - A super dry, floral, citrusy take on Sauvignon Blanc. Notes of citrus pith, gardenia, green apple and melon. Quite tart and acidic, borderline bitter in the mouth. Surprisingly stark for a wine fermented and aged in neutral oak barrels. $16

2010 Jax Vineyards Y3 Chardonnay, Napa Valley - Talk about shifting gears! Yeasty, bready, bakery aromas and flavors backed up by brown sugar and red apple. Once again, turns a bit bitter on the finish. A delicious $20

2009 Jax Vineyards Y3 "Taureau," Napa Valley - A blend of primarily Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller amounts of Petit Sirah, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Loads of toast and dill in the nose (despite being aged in French oak) that turn into plum and baking spice flavors on the palate. Black and tannic with searing acidity. Really needs some barbecue or something equally substantial on the table with it. $20

2007 Jax Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley - Massive concentration. Black cherry, espresso and an interesting note of rose petal. Tight and tannic, I suspect this one will need another 5 years to really show its stuff. Marginal value at $40

2007 Dunning Meritage

2007 Dunning Vineyards Meritage, Paso Robles - Color is about as dark as a red wine can possibly be. Really big, rustic blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc. A farmer's market of black fruits on the nose and palate, but there's no sweetness here as the wine is bone dry and chalky. Lots of dry cocoa powder, Provencal herb and a pleasant green note. Nice long, chalky tannic finish. Pretty sure this could go for another decade. $30 or so.

Enjoyed with a grilled venison burger topped with crumbled feta cheese, fried green tomatoes and hot pepper relish.

And since the grill was still hot, I tried a new way of cooking okra. One of my wife's co-workers said to cut it into 3/4" slices, toss with a little EVOO and s/p and cook it on aluminum foil on the grill. It didn't quite have the decadence of fried okra that is so dear to my Southern heart, but it was very, very tasty, quick and (I suppose) healthier than deep-fried. Definitely have to try that again soon.

Two more wines from Toccata

Our garden is abundant with herbs right now so I took the opportunity to plan a meal around them. I made a large batch of pesto and tossed most of it with rotini pasta. The rest I thinned out with additional olive oil and drizzled over thick slices of tomatoes. The main course was chicken that I rubbed all over with rosemary and minced thyme, rosemary, oregano and basil before grilling over charcoal. Everything was very Mediterranean and very delicious.

2010 Toccata Pinot Grigio, Santa Barbara County - Very pale color with some light green highlights. Nose of lemon peel, green seedless grape, jasmine flower and just the faintest trace of yeasty, fermentation aromas. Crisp and clean in the mouth with tart lemon, pear peel, mineral and a pleasant bitterness. Clearly the antithesis to the sweeter "California" style of Pinot Grigio that frequently hails from the West Coast. Serious, bracing acidity is tremendous with the rotini as well as the tomatoes drizzled with pesto oil. $16

2009 Toccata Classico, Santa Barbara County - Pretty, medium ruby color. Rather monolithic nose of sweet cherry with some light "woodsy" notes of oak, hickory and vanilla. On the palate, the cherry fruit turns a bit tart with lots and lots of leathery, earthy flavors. Searing acidity begs for food and it's quite nice with tomatoes drizzled with a bit or pesto oil. Turns a bit green on the finish. Negligible tannins. A blend of 50% Sangiovese, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% each of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Freisa. Damn nice with a piece of after-dinner dark chocolate, too! $20


Disclaimer: These wines were provided free of charge from the winery and I am considering distributing these wines in Kansas.

2010 Banfi Rosso di Montalcino

One of my favorite meals is to grill up a couple of links of Italian sausages and then cover the grill with sliced zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant (baby eggplant from the garden) tossed with some olive oil and fresh Italian herbs. Tonight, I served this up over a couple of squares of toasted polenta and topped with a bit of fresh tomato sauce. Simple to prepare and absolutely delicious.

Tonight's wine of choice was the 2010 Castello Banfi Rosso di Montalcino, DOC Rosso di Montalcino. Expected brownish tint to the ruby red color; typical of Sangiovese. Rustic, rusty nose of leather, fennel seed, sour cherry and cedar. Very leathery and rustic on the palate as well, but there's a good core of sweet/tart fruit there to provide balance. The acidity is wonderful with the tomato sauce and the licorice and leather notes dance across the palate in perfect harmony with the charred notes of the grilled sausage and vegetables. About $20

2010 LWC Durell Vineyard Chardonnay

The eggplant has been streaming in from the garden at an alarming rate. We've been eating it prepared in a number of ways for the past few weeks: eggplant Parmesan, stuffed eggplant, grilled eggplant, ratatouille, etc. This morning my wife came across an Emeril Lagasse recipe for eggplant and goat cheese ravioli in a tomato cream sauce. Looked pretty good so I looked over his recipe and then set off to put my own twist on it. Great results. The kids wolfed it down and said they wanted it again tomorrow night. My wife called it "restaurant quality." I wouldn't have guessed "Chardonnay" as the recommended wine pairing (next time I think I'll go with a white Rhone-style wine), but that's what Food Network said so I played along.

Not having a whole lot of Chardonnay available in the cellar, I chose the 2010 Loring Wine Company Durell Vineyard Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast. You can tell just by looking at the deep, golden color that this is going to be a full-bodied, high octane wine. Massive nose of diacetyl, roasted peanut, brioche and baked apple. Mouth-coating richness with tropical notes and a very nice bitterness that provides balance to the sweet, buttery characteristics. I don't drink a whole lot of wine made in this style, but every once in a while you just have to indulge with a "guilty pleasure." That being said, the food and wine didn't really do anything for one another. If I get my hands on another bottle of this, I'll save it for some seared scallops or butter-poached lobster. About $40

Two Pinots and Roasted Chicken

2010 Queen of Hearts Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County - This is the entry level label from Lucas & Lewellen and it provides plenty of bang for the buck at the $15 retail level. Nice dark color. Nose offers strawberry, black cherry and a bit of resinous rosemary. Quite smooth and harmonious on the palate with black cherry and spice notes and a certain mouth-coating buttery richness. Finishes a bit leafy. I like the fact that this is a $15 wine that carries something higher than a "California" appellation.

Two steps higher in their line-up is the 2009 Lucas & Lewellen Goodchild High 9 Vineyard Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County. This one is quite a bit darker and the nose is just that much deeper with the black cherry, sweet earth and minty notes. Astonishing depth. After being open for two days, it still has considerable tannins reminiscent of black tea and leather. Long finish buoyed with nice acidity. Retails in the high-$20 range.

Dinner was a delicious roasted chicken accompanied by a red wine/mushroom pan sauce, steamed broccoli and baked sweet potatoes.

Note: These wines were provided by the producer and I am considering distributing these wines in Kansas.

2009 Lucas & Lewellen Malbec

Continuing with my reviews of Lucas & Lewellen wines from yesterday's tasting, tonight I finished up the bottle of 2009 Lucas & Lewellen Valley View Vineyard Malbec, Santa Barbara County. Beautiful ruby red color with this one. Copious quantities of black cherry in the nose with coffee grounds, chocolate and mint in a supporting role. Medium-bodied palate with surprisingly deft acidity. Moderate tannins. As the wine opens it starts to take on sweeter notes of sun-dried tomato. Unobtrusive oak. Seems a bit more alcoholic than the stated 14.0% but it doesn't detract from the wine's overall balance.

This wine was a fantastic pairing with tonight's dinner. I took poblano peppers from the garden, roasted and peeled them and then stuffed them with a combination of ground pork, ground venison, onion, garlic, chili powder and Monterey jack cheese. The little stuffed peppers were then baked in a tomato sauce from our garden-fresh tomatoes. Absolutely delicious!

Disclaimer: This sample was provided by the winery and I am considering distributing this winery in Kansas.

2009 Toccata Sangiovese

As you may or may not know by now, I'm busy working with a friend setting up a wine distributor to serve Johnson County and the southern suburbs of Kansas City, Kansas. Today I had a great luncheon with Michael Hartman, Director of Sales & Marketing for Lucas & Lewellen Winery. We spent about three hours talking about the industry, the winery he represents and tasting through eight to ten of his wines. Before Lucas & Lewellen was a winery, it was a grape growing operation supplying fruit to many well-known California wineries. Today, they sell about half of their grapes and make wine with the other half. They market their Italian varietals under the brand Toccata.

One of the wines we tasted today was the 2009 Toccata Sangiovese, Santa Barbara County. This wine was opened and tasted without food around lunchtime and finished at dinner over a couple of homemade pizzas. Very light, almost transparent color; not atypical for Sangiovese. The nose is alive with lighter red fruits including strawberry and ruby red grapefruit, tar and just a hint of cracked fennel seed. Medium-bodied in the mouth (it picked up a considerable amount of weight after 6+ hours of being open) with tea notes, firm tannins and terrific acidity. Finishes with more grapefruit-like acidity. No trace of oak. I really appreciate the fact that this was made without the influence of new oak or heavy-handed extraction. It speaks of good, entry level Italian Chianti and great with pizza. About $20.

Disclaimer: This wine was provided by the winery free-of-charge and I am considering distributing this wine.