May Wine Club
Wine Club, May 2023
Domaine du Pégau, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 2020
Archery Summit, Dundee Hills Pinot Noir 2021
WINES
2020 Domaine du Pégau, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée, France
2021 Archery Summit, Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon
DOMAINE DU PEGAU
2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Cuvée Réservée
Grenache (80%) / Syrah (6%) / Mourvèdre (4%) / Other (10%)
Of all the world’s fine wines, my longest obsession has been with this of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Powerful, spicy, elegant, and decadent, these wines are among the most captivating in the world. While living in New York in 2002, the wines from this spectacular region were the very first I purchased for my own collection, and were the wines on the table at my first dates with my future wife.
The AOC of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a small area in France’s Southern Rhône Valley, and was the first French AOC established in 1936. The region is one of the most unique and historic in the world. Located just north of the Papal city of Avignon, the region’s name translates to ‘New Castle of the Pope’. In the 13th Century, the papacy moved briefly from the Vatican to Avignon, and the wines from ‘just north’ were favorites of the bishops. Today, this region covers just 10 square miles with around 7,500 acres of vines owned by just over 300 producers. Compare this with Napa Valley’s 45,000 acres of vines and you see how small and special this little area is! The wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape are primarily blends of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre, but there are actually 18 different grape varieties that are permitted for use in the region’s wines. Grenache is a dark skinned grape known for high alcohol content, and aromas of ripe red berries, plums, spices, herbs, white pepper, and leather. Syrah produces more purple-colored juice and offers black and blue fruits with notes of black pepper and chocolate. Mourvèdre, often used in smaller percentages, is another late-ripening and high-alcohol grape that adds blackberry aromas along with high tannins. The most common other grapes include Cinsault and Counoise, as well as the white grapes Grenache Blanc and Roussanne. The grapes are grown most often in so-called ‘bush vines’ where each plant acts like an individual tree with no trellising. Grapes are harvested by hand, and usually a mix of destemmed and whole-cluster fruit is used for fermentation. Aging takes place in a range of vessels from cement tanks, to small barriques, to traditional large barrels. The final blending is different from producer-to-producers and ranges from 100% Grenache in the case of the legendary Château Rayas, to blends of 3-4 grapes, to the blend of all 13 traditional varietals as is found in Château Beaucastel.
The most unique aspect of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is its legendary terroir. The soil here is a blend of dry sands, limestone and clay, and the famous galets stones—large rounded stones that cover entire vineyards with an iron-rich clay subsoil. These soils help to hold heat and moisture to allow the late-ripening varietals here to fully ripen, and force the vines to dig deep to reach the nutrient-rich sub-layers and water reserves that provide the incredible structure and minerality in the wines.
Domaine du Pegau is one of the most important producers in the region and is today operated by Laurence Féraud, the daughter of the estate’s founder. They make three distinct Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines: the classic Cuvée Réservée, aged in the traditional manner with large oak barrels and 2 years aging, a special Cuvée Laurence with 4 years aging, and their collectible cult-wine Cuvée da Capo that can cost over $1,000 per bottle and has only been produced 8 times. They also make of Côtes-du-Rhône wines and some Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. The estate is humble, and on my visit to CdP in 2011, we stumbled upon their cellar in the town of Châteauneuf which was essentially a garage on a side street. We strolled in for a tasting with a man smoking a cigarette and wearing a white tank top and were blown away at the quality of every wine—from the €4 vin de table to the Cuvée Laurence. This has been one of my favorite wine in the world ever since and I am thrilled to offer it to you!
This wine is from the tremendous 2020 vintage and features a blend of mostly Grenache (80%), with Syrah (6%), Mourvèdre (4%), and then 10% of the wine coming from the other minor grapes of CdP. The wine is whole-cluster fermented and then aged in large used foudres. A stunning Châteauneuf with tremendous power and spice, and rich, ripe red fruit and herbal notes.
Serve at 62º-65ºF
Can drink now, but will be best starting in 2025. Will be at its peak 2030-2040 and likely can be held all the way to 2050!
Food pairings: This is a big, spicy, and high alcohol wine so fatty foods are great, as is anything with a hint of grill smoke. Leaner meats when seasoned well with spicy herbs like oregano and rosemary or the full complement of herbs-de-provence. Rich stews like Boeuf Bourguignon work wonderfully as well. Big, slightly pungent cheeses also work wonderfully. The complexity of the wine requires depth and complexity in the food.
ARCHERY SUMMIT
2021 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir
100% Pinot Noir
I am very excited to offer that I will be the only place in Kansas that will carry Archery Summit for at least the next 4-6 months! I have worked very hard with the winery and the Kansas wholesaler to get the wines registered here, and have been given the entirety of the state’s small allocation for the time being, meaning just a few cases of this wine will likely be available, and I am thrilled to share these bottles with my club members!
Archery Summit has been among my favorite Oregon producers for nearly two decades. Not only do they make some the most objectively delicious and special pinot in the Willamette Valley, but they were one of the first wineries in Oregon that I visited many years ago. I have had opportunities to enjoy their wines on many occasions, including bottles with more than 20 years of age, and have found them to always be exciting and energizing wines. They have a certain depth and magic that sometimes is better felt than described! They remain one of three wineries that I personally belong to their wine club.
Archery Summit is located just outside of the town of Dundee in the heart of the Willamette Valley. The property rises up above the valley with a beautiful collection of vineyards with different aspect and elevations, both surrounding the Archery Summit estate and in the prestigious Arcus vineyard in the Eastern part of Dundee Hills AVA. The most dominant soil type in the Dundee Hills is the classic volcanic Jory soil. This soil is rich in iron and clay and has a deep reddish color. It gives Dundee Hills Pinots fantastic spice, beautiful cherry notes, and lots of minerality. The second soil we find is a sandy sedimentary soil that adds power and structure. The texture is like talcum-powder and it tends to be very dry, forcing vines to go very deep for nutrients and water. Wines from sedimentary areas tend to be more austere and can take a bit of extra aging or time to open up. Making wines like the Dundee Hills Pinot with a blend of both of these soil types gives us the best of both worlds.
The vineyard management and winemaking at Archery Summit is top-tier. The vineyards are truly spectacular in their beauty and are all farmed sustainably with LIVE (Low Input Viticulture & Enology) certification. In the cellar, the Dundee Hills Pinot is fermented in a mix of stainless steel, cement, and open-top tanks. 15% of the fruit is whole-clusters. Fermentation starts after a 4-5 day cold soak which helps to extract additional polyphenols and gives the wine its beautiful color and expressive mouthfeel. During fermentation, the wine is pumped over twice a day for the first half and then a combination of pumping over and pushing down of the cap is used to continue extracting color and tannin from the grapes and encouraging phenolic expression. The wine is pressed and aged for about 8 months in mostly used barrels, and then is racked and filtered, and finally bottled.
2021 was a magical vintage in the Willamette Vally and was much needed following the Oregon fires of 2020 that eliminated almost the entire Pinot Noir production. The 2021 vintage was marked by abnormally hot weather, including days reaching as high as 116ºF in parts of the area. The heat helped intensify the ripening of the grapes, and the vines were able to source fantastic water deep underground to survive. Because of the heat and dryness, ripening was early and harvest was a bit earlier. In addition, this limited yields focusing energy into the best bunches. What resulted were wines with fantastic ripeness that were buoyed by cold nights in September that preserved the essential acidity for great Pinot Noir.
The Archery Summit Dundee Hills Pinot is a standout and features a gorgeous nose with bright maraschino cherry notes mingled with cardamum, cocoa, and blossoms. On the palate, the fruit is ripe and elegant, with excellent acidity and a tannins that are fully integrated into every drop. The hallmark minerality and spice of the Jory soil lingers in the mouth on the finish, resulting in an almost perfect expression of Oregon Pinot Noir. This wine was recently awarded 97 points from Decanter and was one of 50 wines worldwide to be named Best in Show at the Decanter World Wine Awards. This is a wine of pure pleasure that can be drunk now, or held for 10 years.
Serve at 58º-62º F
Drinking beautifully now. Will continue developing for 10 years.
Food Pairing: Soft cheeses, wild duck, roast pork or chicken, sous-vide tenderloin steaks, salmon in red wine sauce, chocolate-covered cherries.
February Wine Club
Wine Club, February 2023
Lopez de Heredia, Viña Bosconia 2011
Trombetta, ‘Gap’s Crown’ Pinot Noir 2014
Pax, Sonoma-Hillsides Syrah 2021
WINES
2011 Lopez de Heredia, Viña Bosconia, Reserva, La Rioja, Spain
2014 Trombetta Family Wines, ‘Gap’s Crown’ Pinot Noir, Petaluma Gap, Sonoma
2021 Pax, Sonoma-Hillsides Syrah, Sonoma
LOPEZ DE HEREDIA
2011 Viña Bosconia, Reserva, La Rioja, Spain
Tempranillo (80%) – Garnacho (10%) – Graciano (5%) – Mazuelo (5%)
It is not an exaggeration to say that Lopez de Heredia is among the most important and historic wine producers not only in Spain, but in the entire world. They have been the model for traditional Rioja wines for over 140 years, producing some of the most historic, age worthy, and magical wines on the planet. Founded in 1877 by Don Rafael de Heredia, the estate is now run by his great granddaughters Maria-José (who is also the winemaker) and Mercedes, and has always been family owned and operated. So many things about this producer are truly unique:
They only estate fruit for their wines (most producers in La Rioja purchase fruit from growers or lease land for their grapes).
All of their wines are single vineyard ‘crus’, not blends from different parts of the region.
Aging protocols go far beyond the standards for Spanish DO laws.
All of their wines, including the whites, are fermented in LARGE oak vats as old as 130 years which are continually maintained and repaired by the estates own coopers.
They age all of their wines exclusively in American oak, and for extended periods of time. All of the oak barrels are built in the estates own cooperage which produces some 30,000 new barrels each year!
While the two white wines, Tondonia and Gravonia, are among the rarest and most transcendent whites on the planet, their three red wines represent the model for traditional Rioja winemaking. These three wines, Viña Tondonia, Viña Bosconia, and Viña Cubillo, offer a deep look into the role of time in winemaking and wine enjoyment. In La Rioja, red wines are generally aged to result in one of three designations: Crianza, Reserva, and Gran Reserva. These indications are a guide to how the wines were aged, and typically explain not only pricing, but quality and longevity. The aging standards for the La Rioja DO are:
Crianza: Minimum 1 year in oak / 2 years total aging
Reserva: Minimum 1 year in oak / Minimum 6 months in bottle / 3 years total aging (typically 2 years in oak and 1 in bottle)
Gran Reserva: Minimum 2 years in oak / minimum 2 years in bottle / 5 years total aging (typically 3 years in oak and 2 in bottle)
Lopez de Heredia ages ALL of their red wines to nearly a Gran Reserva level, but the only wine they put the ‘Gran Reserva’ label on is the Viña Tondonia, and they have only done so 20 times in 140 years! This kind of quality control and desire for a recognition of the truly great vintages makes them incredibly unique in the entire wine world. The Viña Tondonia will regularly spend 5 years aging in wood before spending more time in bottle at the estate prior to release.
Last month, you received the 2014 Viña Cubillo Crianza. The 2011 Viña Bosconia is another single vineyard offering that enjoys an even longer aging in American oak (5 years). Like all of the Heredia wines, the wine is fermented in giant 140+ year-old wood barrels! As wines from Lopez de Heredia age, they take on more earthy notes and hallmark cigar box and dried flowers are present. Outstanding with smoked meat, aged cheeses, or just outside by the firepit!
Serve just above cellar temperature 58º-62ºF
Drink: will drink beautifully right now but will continue to age for at least 10 years.
Food pairings: see above
Trombetta Family Wines
2014 ‘Gap’s Crown’ Pinot Noir, Petaluma Gap AVA, Sonoma County, California
Pinot Noir (100%)
Trombetta Family Wines is a fantastic small producer run by the mother-daughter team of Rickey Trombetta and Erica Stancliff. These are wines that express the beauty of cool-climate California Pinot Noir with absolute precision and elegance. Erica Stancliff has acted as head winemaker since 2014 and is a rising star in the California wine industry. Trombetta produces wine from some of the best vineyards in the Petaluma Gap AVA which is a pristine West-East trough in the Coastal Range that draws cool air from the Pacific Ocean. The AVA was officially established in 2017 and is in the southern part of Sonoma County, just 25 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge. These cool winds help the area to have a dramatic diurnal temperature range that can swing 50º in a single day. The area is known mostly for tremendous Pinot Noir, especially at the ‘Gap’s Crown’ vineyard. This vineyard of just over 100 acres is home to some of the greatest Pinot Noirs in all of California.
Serve at 60º F
Drink now or hold for up to 10 years.
Food Pairing: delicious with salmon, duck, lamb, lean red meat, roasted carrots, mushrooms, earthy cheese
PAX
2021 Sonoma-Hillsides Syrah, Sonoma, California
Syrah (100%)
What can I say about this wine, but ‘Yay’! This has been one of my favorites since I first experienced their 100-point 2017 version. The new 2021 vintage has already garnered great praise, with 98-point reviews, and incredible press from critics and sommeliers alike. Pax Mahle makes wines that are just special. His Syrahs are new-world representation of the great Syrahs from the Northern Rhône Valley. Grapes are typically picked slightly underripe which helps to boost the acid and keep the alcohol levels lower than what might be expected from California Syrah. Entirely made with whole-cluster fermentation, and crushed using the traditional pied-de-cuvée (the foot stomp!), there is an incredible complexity to this wine. The Sonoma-Hillsides Syrah is a blend of several of Pax’s top single vineyards and produces a classic and exciting example of the grape. Rich and earthy, with notes of black olives, wild game, black pepper, leather, smoke, sweet cigar, and a gorgeous mix of blackberry, blueberry, and plum. Aromas of purple flowers round it out and the rich body is cut by the bright acid that lifts the wine as it crosses the palate. This is a delicious wine now, but will continue improving for 10-20 years.
Serve at 60ºF.
Drink: now-2040
Food pairings: pepper-crusted steak, tapenade, smoked meat, barbecue, hearty stews
