Dinner and then Overnight at the Hospital

Posted on July 6, 2026 by thewineraconteur

I don’t want anyone to think that the two subjects in the title were a cause and an effect.  Actually, I had an appointment at a Sleep Clinic at a huge hospital campus that I believe was in Ann Arbor but also had some property in Ypsilanti according to the people that did the scheduling.  I don’t know where you live, but here in Michigan you can’t get there, from here with all the road construction especially on Federal Roads, so I decided on finding a restaurant in Ypsilanti, rather than fight all the construction in Ann Arbor.

I chose a new restaurant, even though my Bride had her heart set on a restaurant that she liked, I know that I am such a mean guy.  I chose a restaurant at the edge of the historic Depot Town section, and we went to Thompson & Co.  A very historic building and located across the street from the old train depot, and in another direction the Hudson Motor Car Company Museum which is housed in an old showroom and dealership.   Constructed in 1861, the Thompson Block started as a hotel and storefront. Soon after completion, it became a barracks for Civil War enlistees, including the First Michigan Colored Volunteer Infantry. The building was purchased by the Thompson family in the 1880s and housed a variety of family businesses until 1950. Different businesses came and went, but it was eventually left to rot.  Its path back was long and tragic. A 2009 arson fire gutted the building, and only the exterior wall and two interior walls remain of the original brick structure.  Now 160 years after it opened, the Thomson Block is once again a vital part of Depot Town.

The restaurant leaned towards local New Orleans cuisine and that sounded great to me.   My Bride, naturally, had to try their take on a Caesar Salad on Romain, with flash fried Cajun anchovies, Parmesan Cheese, cornbread croutons and a Smoky Lemon Caesar Dressing topped with Sautéed Shrimp.  I had the Bayou Pasta on mini penne, with Sautéed Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, roasted red peppers, spinach with a White Wine Cream Sauce and a grilled baguette.  We then shared their version of Bananas Foster and coffee, but they don’t offer a chicory blended coffee.  I selected a wine that was new to me, the waitress said it was a bit sweet, and I said that would probably work with the spices of my dish.  The wine was Haut Roche & Vigne Cellars Summit Legacy Blanc El Dorado 2024.  “Haut Roche & Vigne Cellars was created as an artisan expression within the historic Sierra Vista Vineyards and Winery.  Specifically crafted for discerning wine lovers who seek both authenticity and exceptional value.  Our Summit Legacy Blanc combines crisp vibrancy, rich aromatic depth and a soft rounded elegant finish.  Bright citrus and green apple notes lead to a balanced creamy palate with a clean lingering finish.”  I did a Google search on the label which led to a local distributor, they do not have the wine listed, though I found this old “tech sheet.”  The restaurant doesn’t list the wine anymore either.  I have no idea what grapes were used or any production values.  The funny thing is that this was not a bad wine that I ordered and I would have had it again, but I guess that is not possible.

I was checking into a Sleep Apnea clinic and it was like checking into a hotel, and if the staff had told me, I could have had my Bride stay on another bed in the suite, but as Michaleen Oge Flynn would have said “no paddy-fingers” as the suite was wired for video, sound and computer calibrations.  I was told to bring pajamas to make my night more comfortable, and for the first hour, I was subjected to about eight different styles of CPAP therapy masks.  CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) that keeps the airways open during sleep, because Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a condition where the airway becomes blocked, leading to interruptions in breathing.  Needless to say, I felt like Alex in A Clockwork Orange for a lack of a better analogy.  When I settled on a comfortable mask, it was basically time for me to fall asleep around ten in the evening, because they were going to wake me up at five in the morning, so that I could shower and shave and get dressed; my poor Bride had to get up around 4:30 in the morning to come and get me.  As I was monitored all evening, the technician told me that I didn’t snore that evening, but that the pressure was adjusted at times to keep me sleeping without any incidents.  I am waiting for the CPAP Mask that I used to be calibrated and then we both will go for instructions on usage and care of the equipment that I can travel with.  I have to say that the next day I had plenty of energy, considering what time I was woken up at, and I really am waiting to get my mask.          

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Father’s Day and Again

Posted on July 3, 2026 by thewineraconteur

This year, because of scheduling dates, I actually got to celebrate Father’s Day, two days in a row.  The first day was at a restaurant that coincided with a joint Father’s Day and a birthday.  The second day, my Bride wanted to make a dinner at home with our other son.

The first day of celebration was at a restaurant that was a halfway point between their house and ours, and the dinner tab was going to be divided in half as well.  They don’t drink and my Bride didn’t feel like drinking, so I was the only ne’er-do-well.  My Bride had the Blackened Salmon Salad with mixed greens, shaved Brussels Sprouts and Fennel, strawberries, avocado, goat cheese, candied pecans and a homemade honey vinaigrette.  I went with their special for the day, as it sounded like a classic “Detroit” dish of Two Coney Dogs; and as a side note our son ordered Four Sliders and he opined that he thinks the dish was created from jumbo bun containing two patties, that was dissected into eight “sliders.”  I was very low key and from the limited wine list, I just ordered a split of Famiglia Zonin Prosecco DOC NV.  Famiglia Zonin Prosecco DOC NV. Casa Vinicola Zonin SPA is based in the Veneto region of Italy with wineries across Italy and the USA.  They were founded in 1821, and in the 1960’s began an expansion starting in Friuli and Chianti Classico and finally the Barboursville Vineyards in the State of Virginia.  There was not much to find about this wine, but it probably is marketed to food establishments.  It is Prosecco DOC, so it is Prosecco and not Glera and probably made in the Charmat Methode.  A straw-yellow sparkling wine with medium-size, continuous bubbles that offered notes of lemons and green apples and herbs and spices.  On the palate this light-to-medium bodied, well-balanced sparkling wine displayed tones of citrus, green apples with a prominent mousse with good acidity and ending with a short-count but pleasing finish of fruit, salinity and zest.  I usually only see this wine offered at restaurants, especially in splits and it is a crowd-pleaser for popular priced establishments.

The next day, my Bride was in the kitchen and ready to make a big dinner, which she doesn’t do that often, so she was eager.  We started with appetizers of Water Crackers and Smoked Whitefish Pate.  She also made her version of Coquilles St. Jacques al crème de Xeres, which is a fancy way of saying Sea Scallops sautéed with mushrooms and garlic, pan sauced with Sherry and cream and served with Armenian Rice Pilaf.  Before I get into the wine I may mention that so many people are intimidated by a bottle with a wax cork seal, I was tutored by Korbin Kameron to take my thumb and rub the entire top surface of the wax for about a minute and then use my corkscrew and the seal doesn’t crumble and comes out as the same size as the top of the cork.  I also selected Korbin Kameron Semillon Moon Mountain District 2018 which is an Estate Grown wine for the appetizers. Semillon is probably one of the least known major varietals in the wine industry.  It makes some of the greatest sweet wines and it also makes some of the greatest dry wines.  Its home is Bordeaux, though it is done extremely well in parts of Australia and among a few wineries in California.  A wine that begins fermentation in Stainless Steel and finishes in oak.  There was only one barrel made of this wine or twenty-five cases or three-hundred bottles, so I am glad that we got some, and I consider it a rare coup for us. This organically made wine uses native yeasts.  This golden colored wine offered notes of plush florals and citrus, with a hint of earthiness.  On the palate this medium-to-full bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones citrus and ripe pear with a touch of acidity that ended with a long-count finish of fruit and terroir.

The star of the meal were these ten-ounce filets that we picked up at the butcher shop.  She always complains that I don’t cook, but that I tell her how to cook, because I watch these seminars on social media sites, especially about basting with butter, rosemary and garlic.  She tells me the menu, but I like to surprise her with the wine, and I had to dust off a bottle and open it with my Durand, before our company arrived.  We were going to enjoy a bottle of Opus One Red Wine Napa Valley 1991 and the first wine from this partnership was the sublime 1986.  Much has been written about this great wine that was created by a partnership between Robert Mondavi of Napa Valley fame and Baron Philippe de Rothschild, proprietress of Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux.  Two fine firms with traditions of wine making and innovations for a singular goal to create an exceptional wine in Napa Valley and one of the original Napa Valley cult wines.  This wine is made from their estate vineyards in Oakville, including the famed To Kalen Vineyard. The wine is a blend of ninety-three percent Cabernet Sauvignon, six percent Cabernet Franc and one percent Merlot.  The fruit is hand harvested, with gravity flow to take the juice from the destemmer into Stainless Steel tanks for fermentation, while the juice has skin contact for thirty-three days.  Then the wine was aged for fifteen months in new French Oak and then spends an additional eighteen months resting in the bottle before release.  At thirty-five years of age the wine was still a deep garnet in color with no signs of aging and offered notes of black fruit, mellowing with distinct notes of sous-bois, tobacco, smoke, cedar, truffles and old leather.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed complex layers of fruit, terroir, truffles, with traces of iodine and eucalyptus blending so maturely with still present acidity that it ended with a deliciously long-count finish of black fruits, spices and terroir.  Even though my son and his wife don’t usually drink, I told them, they better have some for a truly unique wine experience.

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Fine Wine Source Club – June 2025

Posted on June 30, 2026 by thewineraconteur

I have had so much wine to write about that I barely got this article under the wire.  It is the last club that we belong to, and The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan does a great job in curating two wines each month; one Old World and one New World.   They also allow case discounts to the members on less than case purchases, and the ability to taste wines before purchasing. 

The wine representing the Old World is Casa Vinicola D’Angelo Aglianico del Vulture DOC Basilicata 2019.  Casa Vinicola D’Angelo has spanned four generations and almost a century in the history of Aglianico del Vulture.  While the winery was established in the thirties, in 1924 the wines were exhibited at the IV Commercial Fair in Bari.  In 1971 Aglianico earned the DOC designation.  Mount Vulture is an extinct volcano and is part of the landscape of norther Basilicata.  The wine must be made exclusively from Aglianico, on volcanic soil, and altitude is an important factor in that it must be planted between 200m and 700m.  The fruit is manually harvested, and basic Aglianico del Vulture wines must be aged in oak barrels for at least a year, before being released.  The D’Angelo wine undergoes ten days of maceration on the skin and is aged for eighteen months in large barrels.  Their first vintage was 1960, and the average age of the vines is from 30-35 years of age.  The wine was a deep garnet color and offered notes of black fruit, Sous-bois, sage and licorice.  On the palate this medium-to-full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black cherry, earth and tar and a very chewy wine with firm tannins that ends with a medium-to-long count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.  This wine was also listed in the “Top 100 Wines” in the Wine Spectator magazine for September 2022.

The wine representing the New World is Klinker Brick “Bricks & Roses” Rosé Lodi-Mokelumne River AVA 2025.  Klinker Brick Winery is in its Sixth Generation, but they began as grape farmers and would sell their fruit originally to the home wine makers and Zinfandel was the main crop in this area. Eventually they began selling the crops in the latter part of the 1900’s to other wine makers and eventually they took the plunge themselves as there was a strong demand for their crops. They have about sixteen plots of land, mostly along what is known as the Lodi-Mokelumne River as well as some in the Clements Foothills. They produced their first bottle of Zinfandel in 2000, and their first Syrah in 2001.  The term “Klinker Brick” refers to the dense, dark-colored bricks once used in Lodi’s historic buildings; known for their strength, individuality, and durability.  The same trait that Klinker Brick Winery adheres to.  The wine is a blend of twenty-three percent Grenache, twenty-four percent Mourvèdre, twenty-nine percent Syrah and twenty-four percent Carignane.  The fruit is from their Farrah Vineyard established in 1989, and their Rauser Vineyard, which was established in 1906 and famed for ancient-vine Carignane.  The wine is made in the Provence-style with whole cluster pressing and no skin contact and a short aging period.  Three thousand cases were produced.  A pale pink colored wine that offers notes of strawberry, florals, licorice and pepper.  On the palate this light-bodied, well-balanced wine displays notes of strawberries, raspberries and traces of watermelon with minimal astringency and ending with a medium-count finish of fruits and spices.

Then I will discuss something new at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  If you have Facebook or Instagram, the owner Jim Lutfy has started a new feature called “Wine of the Week” and he starts it off with Famille Dupuy Chateau Beausejour Puisseguin-Saint Emilion 2022.  He imported this wine by himself and has already sold 450 cases and only has about a hundred bottles left.   The Dupuy family has roots in the village of Puisseguin since the Middle Ages.  The family acquired the winery in 1934, and it is still in the family.  The charterhouse was built in 1864 and houses the wines, and the estate is forty-nine acres of clay and limestone that is the soil of Saint-Emilion and all chemical free, and the vines are still grown in the traditional method.  The wine is seventy percent Merlot and thirty percent Cabernet Franc.  The fruit undergoes a forty-eight-hour cold soak, followed by almost three weeks of low-temperature natural yeast fermentation.  Then the wine is aged up to twenty-four months in oak barrels, with thirty percent being new.  The deep garnet color wine offered notes of strawberry and red cherry followed by some vanilla. On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of strawberries and cherries that have blended with tine tannins and baking spices and ending with a good medium-count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.

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A Different Wine Tasting – Part Seven

Posted on June 27, 2026 by thewineraconteur

We finally loaded up our plates of food and to sit at a table to relax and discuss the wines that we had tasted at Our Lady of Redemption Melchite Catholic Church sponsored by The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, Michigan.  All of a sudden my Bride got up and disappeared and then returned and said that we had one more table to visit, after we finished the food.

She told me that we missed the dessert wines on a table off the beaten track from the other wine tables.  There were five wines and I will discuss three of them.  The first wine that we had was Chateau Les Roques Loupiac 2016.  Loupiac is one of three dessert wine appellations on the other side of the Garonne River, from Barsac and Sauternes.  It is part of the much larger, dry white wine Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux appellation.  Loupiac has around three-hundred-forty-four-hectares of vineyards, and the best are from the slopes above the banks of the Garonne; which also has the benefit of night-time and morning mists, that encourage botrytis to develop.  The winery is owned by Vivianne Fertal from Chateau du Pavillon.  The vineyard began in the Thirteenth Century, when two noblemen, the brothers Jean and Guillaume de la Roque planted on the slopes.  The estate has three hectares of forty-year-old vines planted on a clay-limestone soil.  The wine is a blend of eighty percent Semillon, eighteen percent Sauvignon Blanc and two percent Muscadelle and fermentation and aging are done in Stainless Steel vats.  This amber colored wine offered notes of candied fruits, figs, honey and flowers.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed notes of tropical fruits, figs, prunes, and currants in a fine honey-texture with good acidity that ended with a nice long finish of fruit and some terroir.

We then had Chateau Doisey-Vedrines Sauternes 2004, a Second Growth (Deuxieme Cru Classe in 1855) done at the same time as the Medoc.  It was once part of the large Doisy holdings and estate which also had Chateau Doisy-Daene and Chateau Dubroca.  A curious side note is that the property is in Barsac, but the wines can use Sauternes; Chateau Doisy-Vedrines uses Sauternes, and the other two estates use Barsac.  The original property founded in 1704 was divided into three parts in 1851, and the Vedrines family was one of the early owners who sold the largest of the three estates, just prior to the 1855 Classification.  The estate has twenty-seven hectares of planted vines, and they are on the average of thirty-five years of age on clay and limestone soil.  The Casteja family has owned the property since the 19th Century, and they also have Chateau Batailly in Pauillac and Chateau Trotte Vielle in Saint-Emilion.  The vineyard is planted with eighty percent Semillon, fifteen percent Sauvignon Blanc and five percent Muscadelle.  The fruit is hand harvested in successive waves or tries to only select the most botrytis-affected bunches each time.  After fermentation, the wine spends about eighteen months in French Oak, of which sixty percent is new.   A deep amber colored wine that offered notes of orange and peach marmalade, dried apricots and raisins and a trace of orange rind and lemon zest.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of orange marmalade, dried apricots and raisins, candied pineapple followed by vanilla and citrus blending with some acidity ending with a medium-to-long-count finish of rich fruits, honey and fruit rinds.

The last of the dessert wines and the one that we placed an order for was Chateau Coutet Barsac 2020 and is a First (Premiere) Growth from the 1855 Classification of Sauternes and Barsac. Chateau Coutet is one of the oldest producers in Sauternes and they are known for having the longest cellar in the region.  The word “coutet” is a Gascon term for “knife” and suggests the wine’s crisp acidity.  The chateau is an English fortress that was built in the 13th Century.  In 1787, Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that it was the best Sauternes from Barsac.  During the French Revolution, the estate was seized by the state, and the owner was beheaded.  It has changed hands many times over the years and has now been owned by the Baly family since 1977.  The wine is a blend of ninety-five percent Semillon, four percent Sauvignon Blanc and one percent Muscadelle; planted on clay and limestone soils.  The fruit is hand-harvested over a forty-day period to ensure the grapes are at their maximum desirability.  The wine is aged for eighteen months in French Oak of which at least seventy percent is new.  A deep golden colored wine that offered notes of tropical fruits, white florals, spices and honey.  On the palate this full-bodied, bell balanced wine displayed tones of peach, mango and apricots and spices, that ended with a long-count finish of fruit, vanilla and honey.         

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A Different Wine Tasting – Part Six

Posted on June 24, 2026 by thewineraconteur

We were still at the fundraiser at Our Lady of Redemption Melchite Catholic Church sponsored by The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, Michigan.  While I was stopping everywhere to talk shop, my Bride was going around and taking photos and listening to people talk from behind the tables.

When we got to the American wine table, she was very excited.  There were eight different wineries featured and twelve different wines.  Most of the wines she had already tasted, but she had heard that Celani Family Vineyards were going to cease production of their Robusto label, and that was one of our go-to wines at several restaurants around town, so she wanted to taste the two wines from Celani that were being poured.  So we passed on Spelletich, Tre Son, Ocnautic, Roberts + Robers, Korbin Kameron and Mettier.  Remember “a happy wife is a happy life.”

We started with the Celani Family Vineyards Robusto Napa Valley 2021.  Her excitement was contagious, and we both forgot to take a photo of the wine, which we normally do.  So, accept my apologies as I like to show the wine and the bottle in the same photo, but she was so concerned that we wouldn’t be able to get any more of the wine that she immediately placed an order for two cases; I had to break open a case for a photo of this vintage.  This is truly a Proprietary Red Blend, as there is no information even on the trade notes, but the winery grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc and they are partial to new French Oak.   Though in talks with Tom at a couple of tastings, he told me that this vintage was pure Merlot.  This was the vintage after the disaster of 2020, and thankfully with the Robusto of that vintage I could not taste any smoke contamination, and this following vintage wine was excellent.  This deep garnet wine offered notes of black plums, black cherries, and blackberries, along with notes of vanilla, tobacco, and chocolate.  On the palate, this is a rather full-bodied wine for being affordable and the tones of the dark fruits, and traces of licorice, and orange peel; blended well with the softer tannins offering a fruit-forward, but not jammy wine that is easy to drink with or without food, and ending with a good medium-count finish of fruit and spices and graphite (terroir).

We proceeded to enjoy the Celani Family Vineyards Tenacious Red Blend Napa Valley 2022.  I had tasted and wrote about the Tenacious 2012, 2016 and 2021 and we may have a bottle or two left of them in the cellar.  When I first had the wine, I was told that it was created in the image of Le Pin and Chateau Petrus, and quite a lofty goal.  The wine is a blend of seventy-three percent Merlot and twenty-seven percent Cabernet Franc.  The fruit is from the estate, Oak Knoll and Napa Valley.  The wine is aged in new French Oak for twenty-two months and has become their affordable signature wine.  This had a big nose of black fruit, plums and currants, followed by wildflowers, tobacco, Sous-bois and graphite. On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine was dominated by the black cherry and plum finishing with some rich terroir and some great acidity for cellaring; truly evoking the Right Bank.  If I was crazy about the pure Merlot, the addition of the Cabernet Franc put it over the edge.   

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A Different Wine Tasting – Part Five

Posted on June 21, 2026 by thewineraconteur

While we were still noshing and schmoozing at a fund raiser at Our Lady of Redemption Melchite Catholic Church, sponsored by The Fine Wine Source, I was able to watch my Bride have fun.  At normal wine tastings, she is rather demure, but get her in a crowd and her personality explodes.

We went to the French wine table and there were eight different wines being offered, and I will mention three.  I shall begin with Domaine Pascal Aufranc Chenas En Remont 2023, which formerly was labeled as “Domaine Pascal Aufranc Chenas Vignes de 1939.” Pascal Aufranc began his estate with about two hectares of vines in Chenas, located on the En Remont hill which is 350 meters high.  Chenas came from the “Chene” oak trees that were planted prior to the vines in the area.  The vineyard is isolated from neighboring estates, and Pascal has made his stewardship unique and to his liking. Chenas is one of the smaller Cru appellations of Beaujolais.  The estate is an old farm; hand planted on steep slopes lost in the woods of Chenas.  He has since acquired one hectare in Fleurie and seven hectares in Julienas.  The soil found in En Remont hill is a mixture of sand and granite.  The wine is pure Gamay, and the fruit is manually harvested to take advantage of the perfect moment of maturity.  The traditional winemaking that he uses requires a minimum of ten days of maceration with full grapes in concrete vats.  Then after pressing, the wine is aged for nine months in concrete vats on fine lees.  The wine is deep ruby-red in color and offered notes of black cherry, plum, blackberries, cassis, huckleberry, thyme and dried violets.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displays tones of blueberries, cherries and cranberries along with some black tea blending with “grippy” tannins and ending with medium-count finish of fruit, spices and florals.

We then enjoyed Famille Dupuy Chateau Beausejour Puisseguin-Saint Emilion 2022.  The Dupuy family has roots in the village of Puisseguin since the Middle Ages.  The family acquired the winery in 1934, and it is still in the family.  The charterhouse was built in 1864 and houses the wines, and the estate is forty-nine acres of clay and limestone that is the soil of Saint-Emilion and all chemical free, and the vines are still grown in the traditional method.  The wine is seventy percent Merlot and thirty percent Cabernet Franc.  The fruit undergoes a forty-eight-hour cold soak, followed by almost three weeks of low-temperature natural yeast fermentation.  Then the wine is aged up to twenty-four months in oak barrels, with thirty percent being new.  The deep garnet color wine offered notes of strawberry and red cherry followed by some vanilla. On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of strawberries and cherries that have blended with tine tannins and baking spices and ending with a good medium-count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.

The third wine that I will discuss is J. Denuziere Crozes-Hermitage Rouge Rhone Valley 2022.  J. Denuziere was founded in 1876 and located in the center of Condrieu.  Crozes-Hermitage is the largest appellation in the Northern Rhone Valley and is rich in terroirs and exposures.  The soil is composed of rocks and pebbles.  The wine is pure Syrah, and the fruit is hand-harvested and destemmed.  Initial Fermentation is done is Stainless Steel vats and truncated conical vats for three weeks with gentle extractions to obtain silky tannins and preserve the fruit. Malolactic Fermentation takes place in Stainless Steel vats and barrels, and the ageing continues in barrels on fine lees for about twelve months.  A deep garnet colored wine that offered notes of plums, cherries and blueberries with olives, pepper, espresso and crushed stone.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of red and black fruits, rich pepper and spices blending with silky tannins ending with a good medium-to-long finish of fruit, pepper and terroir.    

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A Different Wine Tasting – Part Four

Posted on June 18, 2026 by thewineraconteur

As you may have noticed that The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan captures plenty of my wine tasting moments.  This tasting was sponsored by the shop at a fund raiser at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church and not only had plenty of tables of wine, but a huge spread of food, for either making plates to sit down for dinner or just for grazing, and I found that I did both at times.

At the Italian Table there were seven wines, and I will mention three.  My Bride who is always the logical one, was concerned that there were too many wines to taste.  We started this table off with the Vite Colte “Tra Donne Sole” Sauvignon (Blanc) Piedmont 2023 and over the years this wine has carried both the Monferrato DOC and Piemonte DOC.  The wine “Tra Donne Sole” (The Lonely Woman) is named after a work by Cesare Pavese.  The members of Vite Colte ad their families, partners and winegrowers are the cornerstone of a modern winery with a combined goal to maintain the high standards that are part of the Piedmont tradition.  The vineyards for this wine are in two different areas with different soils and microclimates, and also low yields, and these points are used to create a complex and balanced wine, as the regions ripen at different times.  The earlier vineyards have grapes that are higher in acidity and have class aromas of Sauvignon, while the later vineyard displays tropical fruit.  Ater the grapes are pressed; the juice is allowed to ferment in temperature-controlled Stainless-Steel vats and then the wine rests on the lees for three months until bottled.  A straw-yellow colored wine offered notes of pears, apples, passion fruit, gooseberry, citrus and white florals and grass.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of grapefruit, baked apples, vanilla with a touch of mint and licorice in an unfussy and very easy drinking wine that ended with a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir.

We then followed up with a glass of Casa Vinicola D’Angelo Aglianico del Vulture DOC Basilicata 2019.  Casa Vinicola D’Angelo has spanned four generations and almost a century in the history of Aglianico del Vulture.  While the winery was established in the thirties, in 1924 the wines were exhibited at the IV Commercial Fair in Bari.  In 1971 Aglianico earned the DOC designation.  Mount Vulture is an extinct volcano and is part of the landscape of norther Basilicata.  The wine must be made exclusively from Aglianico, on volcanic soil, and altitude is an important factor in that it must be planted between 200m and 700m.  The fruit is manually harvested, and basic Aglianico del Vulture wines must be aged in oak barrels for at least a year, before being released.  The D’Angelo wine undergoes ten days of maceration on the skin and is aged for eighteen months in large barrels.  Their first vintage was 1960, and the average age of the vines is from 30-35 years of age.  The wine was a deep garnet color and offered notes of black fruit, Sous-bois, sage and licorice.  On the palate this medium-to-full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of black cherry, earth and tar and a very chewy wine with firm tannins that ends with a medium-to-long count finish of fruit, spices and terroir.

We finished our Italian wines by tasting a glass of Enrico Santini “Montepergoli” Bolgheri Superiore DOC Toscana IGT 2018.  The winery was founded in 1998 and is now a family-run business with fourteen hectares of vineyards in the heart of the Bolgheri district.  This wine is a blend of twenty-five percent Merlot, forty percent Cabernet Sauvignon, twenty percent Syrah and fifteen percent Sangiovese.  The vineyards have an East/Southwest exposure.  The fruit is manually harvested with careful selection of bunches.  The grapes go through the vinification process separately.   The Initial Fermentation takes place in a controlled temperature with indigenous yeasts and m the maceration process is for about twenty-eight days.  The wine then ages for a minimum of eighteen months in oak barrels, of which forty percent is new.  Then the wine is aged in bottles for an additional eighteen months before being released.  A deep red wine with notes of blackberries, currants, plums with smoky aromas, tanned leather, cloves, black pepper and toasted oak.  On the palate this medium-bodied wine displays tones of the dark fruits, spices and rich tannins and then a medium count finish of fruit and spices.

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A Different Wine Tasting – Part Three

Posted on June 15, 2026 by thewineraconteur

We were trying to enjoy some food, between wine tastings at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church during a fund raiser, that was partly supported by The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, Michigan.

We were still at the Ixsir Winery tasting table, though my Bride was already determined to guarantee a case of wine, before we left the table, after we finished the tasting.  I told her not to worry, as I was sure that we wouldn’t be shut out.  We were also enjoying our conversations with different people as we sat down to eat the assorted foods that we would put on our plates to accompany the wine choices.

We continued with some of the red wines and enjoyed the Ixsir Winery Altitudes Rouge Lebanon 2021.  The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Caladoc and Tempranillo.  I will mention Caladoc, first produced in 1958 and is a cross between Malbec and Grenache.  It is not sanctioned in the AOC regions of France, but it is being used for blending in several areas quite successfully, for the richness of color and with flavors and nose of wild berries, balsamic and eucalyptus.  The fruit was harvested from several plots: Kfifane, Ibeil, Basbina, Jezzine and Bechouat, all at different altitudes and all on clay and limestone soils.  This wine was aged in French Oak for six months, with fifteen percent new.  The deep rich garnet-colored wine offered notes of mulberries and black fruits and a noticeable trace of oak.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed great tones of black fruits and currants, blending with silky tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir. 

Our last wine at the Ixsir table, because my Bride wanted to make sure that she was pacing herself was to try the Ixsir Winery Grande Reserve Rouge Batroun, Lebanon 2018.   The Batroun Mountain region is in northern Lebanon, and the vineyards are spread among the various towns in the mountains overlooking the coastal city of Batroun.  Batroun is one of the oldest cities in the world, going back to the Phoenicians, dating back to the 14th Century BC.  Over the years it was important to the Romans, a Crusader Citadel, and an administrative site for the Ottoman Empire.  It is home to a small group of wineries, and the area is also a tourist destination.  The fruit for this wine is Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and is from three distinct plots that all have ferric clay and limestone soils: Ainata, Yamoune and Kab Elias.  The wine has been aged for twenty-four months in French Oak barrels, of which sixty percent is new, and forty percent was used once.  A deep garnet colored wine that offered notes of black fruits, red fruits, sous bois, smoky oak, and traces of cedar.  On the palate this full-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed beautiful tones of black currants, spices and oak blending harmoniously with tight tannins and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit and terroir. 

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A Different Wine Tasting – Part Two

Posted on June 12, 2026 by thewineraconteur

We were having a grand time at a fund raiser at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church, sponsored by The Fine Wine Source of Livonia, Michigan.  And my Bride was having a grand old time.

We were still at the Ixsir Winery Table, and the name Ixsir derives from the Arabic work for Elixir, a word common to many languages; that secret potion that grants eternal youth and love.  Some background information is that Ixsir Winery was founded in 2009 in the northern part of Lebanon in Batroun which is a coastal area.  They are a mountain winery, and one of the highest in elevation for the Northern Hemisphere.  The winery is very progressive and has been named one of the greenest buildings in the world.  The winery owns one hundred-twenty hectares in the Batroun with several different vineyards capitalizing on the terroir.  A Seventeenth Century traditional Lebanese house presides over a contemporary winery with sustainability at its core; and they have been recognized many times for their “green credentials.”  The winery grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Tempranillo, Caladoc, Cinsault, Merlot, Obeidy, Viognier, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillon.  Quite impressive for a young company, as far as I am concerned.

We then proceeded to taste Ixsir Winery El Ixsir White Batroun, Lebanon 2024. The fruit for this wine comes from two plots Niha and Kab Elias with lime marl, clay and limestone soils. This wine is a blend of seventy percent Viognier and thirty percent Chardonnay and was aged on the lees for twelve months in French Oak, of which a third were new.  This was an elegant deep golden colored wine that offered notes of white florals, with tropical fruits along with citrus and saffron.  A full-bodied, well-balanced dry white wine, first offering tones of Chardonnay’s white fruits and spices, and then opening up with the passion fruit and peaches, followed by spices and minerality blending with crisp acidity of the Viognier and a nice long-count finish of fruit and terroir. A wine that would hold its own with opening courses or pairing with dinner as a stand-alone.  It offered depth and complexity, that one expects from a good white, and I have been finding that Viognier is great for cellaring as this five-year-old was totally fresh.

We then left the white wines and the Ixsir Winery Grande Reserve Rosé Batroun, Lebanon 2024.  The 2020 vintage was selected as the best Rosé by the Robb Report.  The wine is a blend of forty percent Mourvèdre, forty percent Cinsault and twenty percent Syrah and was created in Stainless Steel tanks with almost no aging time to create a fresh and lively wine.  A soft salmon-pink colored wine that offered notes of white peaches and white florals.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of white peaches, followed by pomegranate blending with some nice acidity to end with a crisp medium-count finish of fruit and terroir. 

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A Different Wine Tasting – Part One

Posted on June 9, 2026 by thewineraconteur

Most of the wine tastings that I attend, I must admit, are at The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  The Fine Wine Source was hosting a wine tasting at his church as a fund raiser with tables and tables of food.  My Bride and I had a great time.  The event was held at Our Lady of Redemption Melkite Catholic Church.

We started our tasting at the Ixsir Winery table. The first time I tried the wines of Ixsir Winery, the hosting was by Etienne Debbanne, the Co-founder and Chairman of Ixsir Winery at my local wine shop The Fine Wine Source in Livonia, Michigan.  Ixsir Winery is considered to have the finest terroirs in Lebanon from Batroun to Jezzine, and it is a mountain wine that culminates at 1,800 meters and is the highest mountain winery in the Northern Hemisphere.  The grounds are clay and limestone soil, old, respected lands only recently discovered and utilized again.  The total area of the estate is one hundred-twenty-hectares, and the winery also has contracts with other immediate vineyards, which they oversee all aspects of the land and pay them to allow Ixsir total control of the vines for their vision and products.

The first wine that we tried was Ixsir Winery Altitudes White Batroun, Lebanon 2024.   The wine is a blend of forty percent Obaideh, forty percent Muscat and twenty percent Viognier and the fruit is from the Bekkaa Valley.  The wine was aged for three months in Stainless Steel.  Obaideh is a Lebanese grape that has been used in blends, now being done as a varietal and traditionally used in the production of Arak, the famed Anise liqueur of Lebanon.  Obaideh is high in sugar, low acidity with a creamy texture with notes of honey and lemons.  A straw yellow colored wine that offered notes of white florals and grapefruit.  On the palate this light-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of fruit and florals with some nice acidity and ended with a medium-count finish of fruit, spice and minerality.  A very easy wine by itself or with food. 

We then went and tried Ixsir Winery Grand Reserve Batroun, Lebanon 2024.  This wine is grown at 1,800 meters above sea level and is one of the highest wineries in the Northern Hemisphere.  The estate is planted on lime marl, clay-limestone and clay-calcareous soils.  The wine is a blend of sixty percent Viognier, and the balance is Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.  The wine is aged for twelve months in French Oak barrels.  A soft golden colored wine that offered notes of stone fruit, honeysuckle, citrus and oak.  On the palate this medium-to-full-bodied, well- balanced wine displayed tones of pears and peaches, citrus with a silky texture and ending with a medium-count finish of fruit, white pepper and terroir.      

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