Sometimes, the back story of a wine is as tasty as the finished product. This week, we’re taking a look at two such tales and offering up a couple places to go to experience a few stories first-hand.
Not so long ago, I was handed a glass of 2009 Rouge L’Artolie by Bordeaux wine producer Château Suau. The wine stopped me in my tracks. Blackberries, plum and blueberries everywhere – on the palate, on the nose. It was elegant and lush, and I savored every single sip. L’Artolie is made from a parcel planted primarily with merlot grapes, some cabernet sauvignon and roughly 10-percent cabernet Franc. The hand-harvested grapes are de-stemmed, fermented in open 400-liter French oak barrels, and aged in the same barrels for 15 months. I didn’t know any of this before chatting with winemaker Monique Bonnet; all I knew was that the wine tasted exquisite. I soon came to find out that Bonnet, one of the few female winemakers in a male-dominated profession, has been making wine at her family-owned Château Suau for the last 20 years, having taken over the trade from her father. I also learned that L’Artolie is not made yearly. Rather, the condition of the grapes dictates whether they will live up to a wine of L’Artolie standards. In fact, 2005 marks the most previous vintage. The 2009 has arrived on the market; a 2010 will be released next year. Buy the $57 bottle at The Wine and Cheese Place (Clayton location only) and have your own little French love affair.
The Puzzle from Newton Vineyard in Napa Valley is a wine for those who appreciate challenges. It’s the job of Newton winemaker Chris Millard to hand-select the Bordeaux red varieties from 112 distinct parcels on the 120-acre estate and craft them into this opulent wine. The Puzzle bursts with intense black fruit – black cherry and plum – plus vanilla and oak from 20 months of aging. Then there’s that lingering espresso note during a don’t-let-it-end, long finish. The pieces of the 2008 vintage have come together nicely. Get it at The Wine Merchant, where it retails for $73 a bottle.
Thirsty for more wine stories? Tomorrow, Saturday, June 23, from 4 to 6 p.m., Mike Bee, the co-owner of Falcor Winery, will be on hand at Wines of Wildwood to discuss how his winery selects its fruit from some of the primo vineyards in Napa Valley and crafts it into fine wines. Among the five wines to be tasted at this free event are an award-winning Chardonnay from Durell Vineyard, a Bordeaux blend from Napa and an old clone vine Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley.
Stone Hill Winery in Hermann, Mo., has more than 160 years of winemaking history. How much do you know about one of Missouri’s top tourists attractions and Stone Hill’s award-winning wines? Find out at the winery’s monthly Grapes to Glass tour and tasting. Here’s your chance to visit the Norton vineyard, cellars, tank building and press house. You can sample some wine and cheese and even take home a free souvenir wine glass. The tour begins at 2:45 p.m., and lasts about 2 hours. The next event is on July 21. Convinced? Make a reservation (or just drink up some more info) here.
This article appears in June 2012.