Archive for the ‘Champagne’ Category

Swim against the flow.

Lightning glimpsed through water;

Sustain the species!

WOW! An impressive selection of wines that shows dedication, passion and love for the wine making at a great prices. The Headwaters 2005 just tasted by R. Parker few months ago, got a 95 point rating, in a week ‘SOLD OUT’ in New York.

So don’t miss the chance to try one or two:

-Coho Stanly Ranch Pinot Noir 2007

Elegant, with aromas of violet and vanilla while in your mouth develops plum and black cherry. This is a wine that will grow in your glass 90 Pts. SP

-Coho Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2007

Only 357 cases were produced, this means it will sell out fast! 90 Pts SP

-Coho Summit Vine Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

A mouthful, medium-full dark and rich with well balanced fruit. 90 Pts. SP

-Coho Michael Black Vineyard Napa Valley Merlot 2005

This perhaps the best MERLOT ever, you will need another bottle around. 92 Pts SP

COHO Wines

Coho is the shared aspiration of Brooks Painter and Gary Lipp to produce flavorful, balanced wines. Grown in select cool-climate vineyards, Coho wines emphasize fruit purity and vitality. Our combined experience working for California wineries totals almost fifty years: both of us involved in all aspects of our craft, acquiring the skills to bottle our passion.

Our choice of Coho as the name of our brand might seem curious as it doesn't invoke images of vineyards or wine, but to us the salmon embodies an innate wisdom so essential to understanding ourselves and our environment. As stewards of the land winemakers must strive to sustain our habitat and the species that share it. And like the salmon we need the steadfast will to keep going no matter how difficult the journey.

My wine ratings are (OK, Liked it, Really Liked it, Loved it and OMG Amazing)   Lucky you, wine enthusiasts’ we just returned from tasting well over 300 wines in Bordeaux at a Grand Cru tasting. We found some real winners. Below is the schedule of events, I’ll follow it up with a play by play with vineyard and winemaker videos and photos. I’ll do one at a time so not to bombard you. If you want to jump ahead and watch the videos you can check out our Channel on YouTube, but the videos will not have the complete write up just yet. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7tuLCusMF4

We landed in Paris and hit the town, having dinner at Roland Durand’s Passiflore, restaurantpassiflore.com and enjoyed a Rosé wine.   Roland came out to greet us and we asked for him to choose for us. The dinner rocked. One thing that stood out in Paris was a very small grocery store sort of like a bodega that had 15 Rose wines, that’s more than most wine shops in NY. People were enjoying Rose wine all over Paris. Then we worked our way over to Le Dokhan’s, which has the 1st Champagne bar in Paris. They specialize in small production Champagnes (Like

us ) We tried a small producer, Ynnick Doyard. (Liked it)

Then it was off to Bordeaux, landing Friday in what is now one of our favorite Cities in the World, right next to Firenze, Italy.  We signed up for a tour with the help of Refined Journeys in Bronxville and the first stop was a dinner at Peche where we tasted some great wines to start out the weekend. They opened the dinner w/ Amuse bouche (which are chefs choice appetizers that are not on the menu) And a Cremant de Bordeaux, Paulian (OK) Next was shellfish and Chateau La Brulleau, 2005 Pessac Leognan (Liked it) Then Foie gras… with a Chateau Le Bruilleau 2005 Pessac Leognan (Liked it) Next was filet of Beef at low temperature with veal juice… Served with Chateau Saint Pierre 2001, St. julien 2001 (Loved it) and Chateau Beau Sejour 2004, St. Emilion (Liked it).   Dessert was served with a Chateau Fayau 2005, Cadillac (sweet wine) (Loved it).   Saturday was the Grand Cru Tasting with over 300 wines.  We gave it a good shot and have some “must try” wines that we’ll share with you.

Saturday night was off tohttp://www.pichonlongueville.com/#/en/saisons/ Chateau Pichon Longueville in Paullac for a Chateau Tasting Dinner. They started with a, get this: 2001 Sautern from Sigalas Ribaud (Really Liked it) along with sweet and spicey bread with blue cheese. It was an amazing pairing, something I plan on doing soon. The wine line up was: 2007 Latour Martillac (OK) 2004 Chateau Petit Village (Liked it) 2001 Magnum of Ch Latour Martillac (Liked it) 1998 Troplong Mandot (Loved it) 2000 Ch Pichol Longueville in a Magnum (Loved it) Then they closed with a 1998 Chateau Saduiraut Sautern (Loved it) We got home from Pullac at 1:30 am after the feast. Sunday’s tour started at 9:30. It was off to 3 vineyards and a lunch at one. (Videos, photos and write ups to follow) Chin Chin Kevin

This is an amazing Cognac. The aroma filled the room and gave me the feeling it was a holiday or the feeling of smoking a nice cigar under a palm tree on a hot summer night.  This is what Rober Parker had to say about it in the Hedonist's Gazette:

"We finished with the new release of Tesseron’s Cognac. The Tesseron family (currently the proprietors of St.-Estèphe’s Lafon-Rochet and Pauillac’s Pontet-Canet) made its fortune in the Cognac business, and it is one of the few families to possess ancient stocks of great vintages that have not been diluted with water or manipulated in any manner. They released small quantities of Lot 29 (1929), which remains the most ethereal Cognac I have ever tasted. I’m no expert, but their newest release, the 1953, seems close in quality to the 1929. Slightly darker than the 1929, the 1953 is pure silk, which at this alcohol level is very dangerous indeed. The complex aromatics can fill a room."

100 points: Cognac Tesseron Lot No. 29 XO Exception Cognac

What better way to say “I Love You” than a bottle of Pink Bubbly?   We mean REAL CHAMPAGNE! Station Plaza Wine is having a real Champagne BLOWOUT.   Pannier Rose Champagne for under $25 –  We also have ½ bottles for $10.31 both Rose and Brut. Happy Valentine’s Day from your friends at Station Plaza Wine!