Join us this beautiful weekend so you have plenty of good wine to toast the perfect weather and the beginning of school. Another summer has come and gone, boo hoo…  but Mora’s fantastic wine tastings never end! As always we go from 3 to 6pm, we’ll be pouring a crisp white, a dry rosé and 4 hearty reds for the red meat.  We even have a nice Pinot Noir for that beercan chicken. Here’s the line up:

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Dandelion Vineyards Wonderland of the Eden Valley Riesling 2010 

96 Points – Australian Wine Companion, 2012 Edition
“Colour: Pristine pale straw with almost fluorescent green tinges. Nose: Bursting fruit freshness, with invigorating, intense smells of lime skin, citrus blossom, green apple, ripe guavas and cinnamon spice. Palate: Opens with crisp and crunchy fruit flavours lime sorbet, stone-fruit , including apricot as well as classic mandarin citrus on the mid palate, developing into rich lemon meringue tart-like flavour but still with a refreshing steely minerality, balanced with racy, slate-like acidity.” -James Halliday 

“Pristine pale straw with almost fluorescent green tinges. Bursting fruit freshness, with invigorating, intense smells of lime skin, citrus blossom, green apple, ripe guavas and cinnamon spice. Opens with crisp and crunchy fruit flavours lime sorbet, stone-fruit , including apricot as well as classic mandarin citrus on the mid palate, developing into rich lemon meringue tart-like flavour but still with a refreshing steely minerality, balanced with racy, slate-like acidity.” -The Winery

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Shinas Estate Cabernet Sauvignon The Verdict 2007

Basque style Clams & Chorizo in Garlic Broth from Winespecator.com

Recommended wines:  Dandelion Vineyards Riesling Eden Valley Australia or Domaine de la Mordoree Cotes du Rhone Rosé. In lieu of these a good rule for matching food and wine is to drink the wine from the region of the cuisine, in this case Basque country. We happen to have a wonderful pair of wines from Getaria near San Sebastian. the wine are  called Txacolina (“cha-ko-leena”) the Txomin Etxaniz white and Txomin Etxaniz roséwith wonderful fruit and mineral notes with a brisk acidity and a touch of effervesence which blasts through the smoky garlicy seafood flavors of this dish.

Sausage and shellfish stews come in all sorts of regional permutations (think seafood gumbo, clam chowder with bacon, paella), but they don’t get much easier than this Spanish classic: clams and chorizo steamed in a garlicy white wine sauce. With a minimal amount of chopping and assemblage, this single pot dish comes together in well under 30 minutes.

A note about chorizo: There are a lot of different types out there (sweet, spicy, cooked, raw, Mexican, Spanish or Portuguese, etc. …). In this recipe, I used a mild cooked Spanish-style chorizo from specialty meat purveyor D’Artagnan. If you can’t find chorizo at all, look for andouille or a mild breakfast sausage, and then a supplemental seasoning of smoked paprika or sweet red peppers would do just fine.  Total Time: 25 minutes
1 baguette, cut into oblong rounds
2 chorizo sausages, diced (1/2 pound)
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup white wine (whatever you’re drinking will work best)
6 small Yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced
30 littleneck clams, rinsed and scrubbed
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, minced

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Brush the baguette rounds with olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Put the baking sheet in the oven and cook until the rounds have crisped and browned slightly, around 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve.

2. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of cooking oil over medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add the diced chorizo sausage and cook until browned, stirring occasionally, around 4 minutes. Remove the sausage with a slotted spoon and reserve. Add the onion to the pan and cook until soft, around 2 minutes, then add the garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds. Add the wine and stir, scraping up any brown bits that may have formed on the bottom of the pan. When the wine comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and add the potatoes. Cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes have softened.

3. Add the clams to the covered pot and continue to cook until the clams have fully opened, around 4 to 6 minutes. Turn off the heat and discard any clams that have not fully opened. Add the parsley and the cooked chorizo to the pot and stir. Adjust the seasoning of the broth with salt. Divide the clams and broth mixture into 4 bowls and serve with the crisped baguette rounds. Serves 4.

2011 Channing Daughters rosés: We are sold out. Please check with the winery on availability their site is listing 4 out of 8 as available. Channing Daughters winery and vineyard is a lonely outpost of innovation on the south fork has such a diverse line up of esoteric wines that I think of Chris Tracy as the Willy Wonka of wine. They have all manner of funky cool climate varieties, all sorts of interesting blends and even styles few people attempt like the “orange wines”, whites made with prolonged skin contact, and a ripasso/solera style red called “Over and Over”. Anyway, they produced a rainbow of rose from just  about all their red varieties in the 2011 vitage and it was so much fun to taste through them all.

2011 Avanthia Rosé: This is a manly pink wine. It is not a simple sipper but rather a rich food wine that shows best taming the beast in hot curries and buffalo chicken wings. It may become my thanksgiving wine if it lasts long enough to serve with turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and gravy.

2009 Alto Moncayo Veraton: is just off the summit of the Borsao mountain range of great Spanish wines. Only Alto Moncayo Alto Moncayo and Alto Moncayo Aquilon are above it in stature but the Veraton is the old vines Garnacha from this winery that I drank the most of this summer. It is the consistency of chocolate syrup thinned with some soy sauce, very rich and savory.

Rare Wine Co. Historic Series Madeiras: I’m familiar with  the New York Malmsey and the Boston Bual, named after important cities of the American revolution While not a summery wine per se, I fell in love with it over the summer and I think its a love that will last well into fall and winter. The delicious flavors of burnt sugar, spices and candied orange peel are addictive and its a pity it isn’t served more often

2010 Pellegrini Vintner’s Pride Encore – Barrel Sample: The 2010 vintage of Long Island’s reds will be stunning and we got to taste in Pellegrini’s barrel cellar twice earlier this year. The “Encore” is amazing.

These were the wines that popped into my head first so they qualify as most memorable, but I could have easily extended this list quite a bit.

One of the most influential wine importers of the last 30 years, Jorge Ordoñez’s wines have a special place in our shop and in our hearts. Stop by Saturday to taste a great line up with lovable Mercedes our Ordoñez wine consultant for many years. here’s the line up

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Nisia Verdejo Old Vines 2011 

“Produced from 50 year old vines, this organic wine features a hint of white peach on the nose and follows through with ripe and abundant fruit that never wavers from its clearly dry style. The rich, mouth-filling texture is a smile-inducing bonus. With a clean, refreshing and complete finish this is a perfect summer white at a great price. Think of a Very Good Sauvignon Blanc but with distinct notes of Apricot.” -The Importer

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Avanthia Rose Valdeorras 2011 

“High above the village of Barco de Valderroas steep vineyards of Mencia cling to the mountainsides. From this red grape out winemaker is able to create this rose wine. Full bodied with an elegant and deep rose color, the wine lets the more delicate fruity aspects of the Mencia grape come forward while it reflects minerality of the granite of the soil from which it is grown.” -The Winery

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Alvear Pedro Ximenez de Anada 2008 375mL

The tiny apellation (only 124 acres) of Getariako,  deep in Basque country may also be one of the most beautiful and I believe the northernmost D.O. in Spain. As you can see the vineyards of Getariako come practically to the Atlantic ocean a bit west of San Sebastian were the maritime climate gives the wines a light, crisp, slightly effervescent quality. As most things Basque, they have their own style of wine, their own oddly named varieties that are produced nowhere else and a long history behind it. The Txomin Etxaniz (pronounced “Chomin Eh-chaneez”) estate run by the Txueka (“Chueka”) family in the heart of Getariako is one of the oldest producers of Txacoli with vineyard plantings dating back to 1649 though the official recognition of the D.O. (Denomination of Origin) region of Getariako Txakolina only came in 1989

About the wines:

Txomin Etxaniz Txakoli White 2011 (buy/more info) is made of 85% Hondarrabi Zuri and 15% Hondarrabi Beltza.
Tasting notes: Nice crisp green fruits like a slightly sparkling viura/macabeu with some herbal qulities along with  lime and chalky flavors. It is light bodied with refreshing acidity yet nicely concentrated, kind of like a vino verde on steroids. An excellent seafood wine.

Txomin Etxaniz Txakoli Rose 2011 (buy/more info) is made of 50% Hondarrabi Zuri and 50% Hondarrabi Beltza like the white with some red fruit overtones and a little less acidity.  It has a beautiful salmon color and is balanced and fresh, great for seafood and cold salads. very limited production.

terraced vineyards- Montsant, Spain

Jorge is at it again, ferreting out great wines from the huge range of apellations in Spain. Sometimes he represents an established winery sometimes he partners with the locals and builds one from the ground up starting with great vineyards.
Today we talk about a brand new venture in the region of Montsant in the northeast corner of  Spain. Jorge finds the great undervalued vines like his wonderful and inexpensive tempranillo from La Mancha and Mourvedre from Alicante. This time he is in another region he knows well, bordering Priorat. Priorat is beautifully situated near the Mediterranean with a wonderful terroir distinguished by its licorella slate soil and vines planted on  impossibly steeply terraced vineyards. Along with gnarly old vine grapes we have a recipe for great wine. Montsant borders Priorat with the same combination of proximity to the sea, soil, steep elevations and old vine grapes. The big difference is the value. Great Montsant wine at a fraction of the price of Priorat wine.

Zerran Tinto 2010 (buy/more info) is made from Syrah and very old vines Garnatxa (aka Garnacha or Grenache) and Carignan (aka Mazuelo) aged 16 months in French oak. Ask me after the tasting on Saturday Aug 25, 2012 how the red is

Zerran Blanco 2011 (buy/more info) is made of 100% Garntxa Blanc (Grenache Blanc) grown in licorella like the red grape.
50% of the wine is stainless steel fermented and aged for 6 months in stainless steel. The remaining 50% is barrel fermented and then aged
in French oak for 6 month.  I tried this one this week. Its delicious with the the full mouthfeel and fruit (apple and pear) with strong mineral notes of chalk and a little spice. Only 500 cases for the US.

I would jump on this limited production. This project has Jorge’s name on it and you know he will make sure the first release knocks your sock off!

Gary Farrell winery has appointed Theresa Heredia as Winemaker on the Gary Farrell Winery team. The long-time winemaker at Freestone Vineyards in Sonoma County, Heredia brings extensive experience with cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well as small-lot, single-vineyard wines. Gary Farrell Winery specializes in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from some of the top vineyard sites in the Russian River Valley.

At Freestone, Heredia’s Pinot Noir and Chardonnay brought the Joseph Phelps-owned winery significant critical acclaim. She made the first vintage of Freestone wines in 2002 when it was still an experimental project at Phelps, and she later moved to the Sonoma Coast to open the new Freestone winery in 2007. In early 2012 she was named “Winemaker to Watch” by the San Francisco Chronicle, reflecting her interest in wines that offer a pure expression of their vineyard site and her willingness to experiment with different winemaking techniques.

Heredia brings a hands-on Burgundian perspective to Gary Farrell Winery, having worked in France at Domaine de Montille. She trained with renowned winemaker Craig Williams at Joseph Phelps Vineyards in the Napa Valley, after starting her career as an enologist for Saintsbury. Heredia was a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry with an emphasis on enology at U.C. Davis, before leaving to follow her calling as a hands-on winemaker. She has a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

“Theresa is a visionary leader who brings us a spirit of innovation in winemaking and an impressive background in cool-climate, single-vineyard wines,” noted Nancy Bailey, general manager for Gary Farrell Winery. “She has a keen appreciation for our house style, which emphasizes elegance and balance in the wines. Theresa’s experience and interest in exploration, both in the vineyards and in the winery, make her an ideal person to carry on on our strong legacy, while adding her own signature to Gary Farrell Winery.”

Mora’s Fine Wines is proud to stock:  Gary Farrell Chardonnay Carneros Selection 2009, very yummy and balanced  and the Gary Farrell Chardonnay Russian River 2009 with a 93 Point rating from Winespectator!

Besides being the home to historic baseball teams, much of the history of our nation’s founding was made in the great cities of New York and Boston. And back then, during the colonial era the colonists were not drinking beer or whiskey they drank fine Madeira, one of the worlds great fortified wines. America has historically been the greatest consumer though presently the closest most people come to consuming Madeira is in dishes and their sauces. The Rare Wine Co. is re introducing us to our own traditional drink through their Historic Series of Madeira named after historically important US cities.

Rare Wine Co Historic Series Madeira New York Malmsey

Tasting notes: Medium amber. Powerfully scented bouquet combines cherry compote, cola, molasses, pipe tobacco and brown sugar. Lush and expansive in the mouth, offering sweet pit fruit and orange marmalade flavors and a deeper note of espresso. Clings tenaciously on the finish, which leaves notes of bitter cherry and candied flowers behind. – Josh Raynolds

Ratings:

Wine Spectator Rating: 89 Points

International Wine Cellar Rating: 92 Points

Medium amber. Powerfully scented bouquet combines cherry compote, cola, molasses, pipe tobacco and brown sugar. Lush and expansive in the mouth, offering sweet pit fruit and orange marmalade flavors and a deeper note of espresso. Clings tenaciously on the finish, which leaves notes of bitter cherry and candied flowers behind.

Rare Wine Co Historic Series Madeira Boston Bual

Tasting notes: Light, bright amber. Deep aromas of cherry pit, candied orange, toffee and molasses, lifted by a note of dried rose. Chewy in texture, with dry-edged nut and burnt orange flavors, a touch of molasses sugar and good back-end grip. Quite sweet but the wine’s acidity adds focus, nerve and finishing bite. – Josh Raynolds

Ratings:

Wine Spectator Rating: 90 Points

International Wine Cellar Rating: 92 Points

Light, bright amber. Deep aromas of cherry pit, candied orange, toffee and molasses, lifted by a note of dried rose. Chewy in texture, with dry-edged nut and burnt orange flavors, a touch of molasses sugar and good back-end grip. Quite sweet but the wine’s acidity adds focus, nerve and finishing bite.

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New Zealand:  Trinity Hill Metis Sauvignon Blanc Hawkes Bay 2010 Nicely breaks out of the Marlborough mold. Shows a bit more tropical fruit and lime and just a hint of white grapefruit with some limestone mineral notes.

89 Points – Wine Advocate, October 2011
“The 2010 Metis Sauvignon Blanc offers tropical aromas of guava and passion fruit over crushed stones and a whiff of fresh herbs. Medium bodied, crisp and dry, it has a nice suggestion of silkiness to the texture and a long fruity finish. Drinking now, it should remain fresh through 2013.” -Lisa Perrotti-Brown

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California: Gary Farrell Chardonnay Carneros Selection 2009 Buttery and balanced, very enjoyable or “hedonistic” as Parker used to say with gobs of butterscotch. I’d say a bit underrated by CGCW and Spectator.

89 Points – Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine, January 2012
“Not quite in the same league as the winery’s Keefer Ranch bottling but certainly likeable in its own right, this wine skirts the edges of full-bodiedness while finding a slightly lighter quality than many of its peers. Its ample green apple fruit is joined by notes of toast, butter and a hint of roasted grains in both its well-crafted aromas and slightly oily yet solidly structured flavors. Long and lively by virtue of its ample acidity, it is a wine to be enjoyed alongside a platter of pan-grilled trout or Sole.” 

88 Points – Wine Spectator, Web Only 2012
“Exhibits rich, focused ripe pear, citrus, spice and floral scents leading to a full body. Graceful and elegant, ending with a hint of butterscotch. Drink now through 2017. 1,721 cases made.” -James Laube

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France: Jaboulet Parallele 45 Cotes du Rhone Rouge 2009 Most popular wine of the day! Hard to beat for the quotidian pour, Nice dark berry flavors on top, a little spice box in the middle and some stone dust underneath, very balanced with lively acidity and light body. Eminently quaffable

“Jaboulet Cotes du Rhone Parallele 45 is a blend of Grenache and Syrah from vines averaging 25 years old. Sourced from vineyards throughout the Rhone valley that combine to produce a pure, clean expression of this region. The 2009 Parallele 45 Cotes du Rhone is a fresh, berry fruit driven red with loads of soft, pure plum and blackberry flavors mingling with black pepper spice.” -The Importer

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California: Amapola Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma Valley 2006

Last Saturday afternoon rosé riot was a blast, I’m really sorry I didn’t post on FB then and I hope you didn’t miss it but my hands were full of ice cold bottles of pink wines that were happily consumed by the usual gang of  wine connoisseurs that frequent our fashionable East Setauket shop. The wines were all pink and varied from bone dry to off dry. we featured wines from Long Island, France and Spain. They were all deeply discounted and under $20. They’re all great food wines and very very easy to drink. Usually at our tastings most people taste, but on a hot August afternoon these inviting pink wines caused many of our customers to take several laps around the tasting table, completely understandable. Here’s my take on the line up:

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Bodegas Borsao Borsao Rose 2011

This was the absolute bargain of the line up made of 100% Grenache from the folks that make Alto Moncayo and Veraton in the Aragon region near Zaragoza in Campo de Borja.  The wine had fresh raspberry/ strawberry flavors with a touch of mineral and spice fairly light and easy and quite dry

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L’Escargot Rose Cotes de Gascogne 2011

Many regions of France besides Provence have their own style of rose and this one is from Gascogny with ripe red berry flavors and some heft on the palate. I’d recommend with cheeses, salad and light seafood dishes

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Wolffer Rose 2011

This local wine has the pale “oeil de perdrix” hue of a Provence rose. Unlike most of the others it is made by mixing Merlot, Pinot Noir, Cab Sauvignon and Cab Franc with (quel horreur!) Chardonnay, a white wine.

This was very popular today, it is bone dry with only 0.1% residual sugar (<1% is dry), however the flavor profile plays a trick with your palate. You smell and taste the red fruit you would expect from rose, the raspberry, cherry and strawberry flavors but you also get the aroma of Chardonnay which is about 20% of the blend and not what you’d expect. To me it smells like a basket of these fruits and I expect it to be a little sweet  but it hits your palate bone dry with a nice mineral and spice quality. Very good. This one is very versatile and great for cold hors d’oeuvres, smoked salmon and grilled or steamed seafood. My consumer tip of the day is to beware with the 2011 Long Island vintage, except rose which was excellent and fairly abundant.

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Domaines Ott Les Domaniers Rose Cotes de Provence 2011

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Txomin Etxaniz Txakoli de Guetaria Rose 2011