Vol. 2 No. 12
Standard Selection - (1) Red, (1) White
1996 Pedroncelli Morris Fay Cabernet Sauvignon - California
1995 St. Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux - France
1996 Pedroncelli Morris Fay Cabernet Sauvignon:
One Family, One Place, 70 Years, Three Generations of Fine Wine
Pedroncelli Winery has come a long way since 1927, when John Pedroncelli, Sr. purchased vineyards and a small winery in Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley. Today, the vineyards are planted to premium grape varieties, the winery is filled with modern equipment, and wines bearing the Pedroncelli name grace tables from coast to coast. But two elements from 70 years ago remain unchanged: the exceptional place the Pedroncelli family grows grapes, and the family's dedication to making fine wines.
Dry Creek Valley is widely recognized as one of California's finest vineyard regions. Only 25 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the valley enjoys a climate of warm days and cool nights that enables grapes to develop generous fruit at maturity. The Pedroncelli family's 120 acres of vineyards are situated on the valley's eastern benches and hills, where well-drained, gravelly soils help concentrate varietal character. Since gaining their first wine business experience alongside their father, John and Jim Pedroncelli have been quiet innovators. John uses his unsurpassed knowledge of the valley to select the ideal grape and trellis for new plantings, and he forged strong ties with local growers. Jim has expanded distribution and updated both packaging and the product list.
The third generation of the family has begun showing its own innovative spirit in vineyard management, finance, marketing, and sales. This evolution has enabled winemakers, John and Gary Martin to fine-tune wines already widely appreciated for their consistent style. Rich with varietal fruit, subtly complex and beautifully balanced, Pedroncelli wines are made to be enjoyed on release.
In addition to the winery's fine line of premium wines, Pedroncelli introduced Single and Special Vineyard Selections in 1995, marking the beginning of an exciting new chapter at Pedroncelli Winery. Grapes from a single outstanding vineyard receive special care throughout the winemaking process, yielding limited bottlings. These wines represent Pedroncelli's finest achievement in eight decades of grape and wine growing in Dry Creek valley.
"The Single and Special Vineyard Selection wines showcase the winery's top vineyard sources," explains Winemaker John Pedroncelli. "Over the years, we've discovered that certain vineyards stand out, developing more fruit, more flavor and greater character than the rest. They are key components in our "regular" releases, but we decided to keep a few lots separate in outstanding vintages, create the best wines we could and give the growers the credit they deserve."
At the top of the Pedroncelli hierarchy sits the winery's Morris fay Cabernet Sauvignon. The Morris Fay Vineyard has been a prime Pedroncelli grape source for three decades. This family-owned vineyard in northwest Alexander Valley produces rich, full-bodied Cabernet with cassis, cedar and mint character. Other notable single vineyard selections include Pedroncelli's Dry Creek Mother Clone Zinfandel as well as a host of other special varietal offerings.
Tasting Notes: Cedar, cassis, licorice and spice combine with a hint of new leather to create the lovely aroma of the 1996 Pedroncelli Morris Fay Cabernet Sauvignon. Produced from 100% Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a full-bodied wine that exhibits both flavor and grip. In classic Alexander Valley fashion, the Morris Fay Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon is a smooth, but firm wine, warranting at least an hour's breathing time, preferably in a decanter, before serving. With a little airing, complexity and finesse emerge from this Bordeaux-like Cabernet Sauvignon; the classic cigar box scent comes to fore, as does the rich blackberry and cassis flavors that make this Cabernet Sauvignon so appealing.
Accompaniments: Beef, lamb, pork and rich, hearty, stick to your ribs kind of meals are ideal complements to Pedroncelli’s Morris Fay Cabernet Sauvignon. Several members of our tasting panel extol the virtue of this fine single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon with the ubiquitous holiday tenderloin of beef, served with pearl onions and portabella mushrooms. The mouth-filling flavors of the meat rise up to the firm, full-body of the wine, making the ‘96 Morris Fay Cabernet melt in your mouth. Grilled lamb makes for another fine marriage with this Pedroncelli Cabernet Sauvignon, as does a grilled pork tenderloin in a spicy raspberry sauce, served with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans with roasted red pepper. Duck, thick stews and highly charged bean dishes also make for excellent eating with the Morris fay Cabernet Sauvignon. Enjoy!
St. Hilaire Blanquette de Limoux
France's Oldest Sparkling Wine
It's the holidays! It's time to string the lights and light the candles. It's time for the festival and the feast, and the annual reminder that "Peace on Earth, Good will Towards Men" is the cause for rejoicing. Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or simply the birth of a New Year, the season calls for celebration. It calls for the gathering of family and friends, and the making of special holiday fare: cookie and cakes, seafood sauces and roasts. But that long, magical month between Thanksgiving and New Years also calls for a special wine. It calls for a wine of distinction, elegance and character to express the hope and festivity of the season. It calls for St. Hilaire, Blanquette de Limoux, the world's oldest sparkling wine.
Although there is the tendency in America to erroneously call any sparkling wine Champagne, all that sparkles is not Champagne. Surely, all of us have had the bad fortune of toasting a bride and groom on their wedding day with a mean, nasty potion that the caterer told us was Champagne. You can be sure it was not, nor was it the fine, delicate bubbly of Blanquette de Limoux from St. Hilaire. Both Blanquette de Limoux and real French Champagne, the only true Champagne, come from France. Both wines are also made by the same painstaking method of vinification in the bottle known as "la methode champenoise" or "methode traditionelle". Yet, Blanquette de Limoux predates Champagne by more than 100 years.
In the 16th century, long before the advent of technical wine equipment, temperature control or central heating, the slow fermentation of grapes in the cool, French autumn was often interrupted by winter's chill. Fermentation would stop completely and not begin again until the ambient temperature would rise anew in the spring. This delayed completion of fermentation is what is known as secondary fermentation. Consequently, the magic of sparkling wine is really the encapsulation of carbon dioxide during the final stages of fermentation, while the trick is to preserve the tiny streamers of carbon dioxide from dissipating. It is this trick that the abbots of St. Hilaire mastered, a century before their learned brothers in Champagne, by the introduction of heavy, specially blown bottles, stopped with wire-wrapped cork. Indeed, it is to St. Hilaire in Blanquette de Limoux that the 17th century Dom Perignon and his cohorts in Champagne are reputed to have traveled in order to learn the secret of containing the pressure of sparkling wine. Until that visit, the monks in Champagne sought to produce only still wine; all sparkling versions were considered an aberration and were commonly referred to as "vin diable", or the devil's wine, because of their propensity for exploding their normal bottles. Undoubtedly, it is to the good monks at the abbey of St. Hilaire in Blanquette de Limoux that Champagne and the world owe a huge debt of gratitude, a debt that seems to be largely unpaid.
Today, Blanquette de Limoux cannot legally be called Champagne because it does not come from within the confines of Champagne, an ancient provence of France that lies far to the north of Blanquette de Limoux. And even though Champagne and Blanquette de Limoux also share the same traditional method of vinification and upbringing called "methode champenoise", Blanquette de Limoux must use the alternate description "methode traditionelle." This change was enacted several years ago to appease the wealthier, more celebrated Champagne growers who had the term banned in connection to any sparkling wine other than their own, even though Blanquette de Limoux is largely responsible for developing the "champagne method", a method it still practices with aplomb.
However, if indeed every cloud has a silver lining, St. Hilaire, Blanquette de Limoux has two; it remains one of the world's finest sparkling wines, and it constitutes the highest quality value ratio of any sparkling wine in the world. Born on the undulating hills of a unique micro climate, not far from the old walled city of Carcassonne, St. Hilaire, Blanquette de Limoux is the secular, modern day legacy of an ancient art. In this picturesque corner of southern France, where southeastern facing slopes capture the perfect amount of sun, the art of the Benedictine monks comes to life in a flute.
Today, St. Hilaire is a blend of the illustrious Chardonnay and the traditional Mauzac, a grape that is celebrated for its finesse and delicate bouquet. At harvest time the grapes are cut from the vines, but remain untouched until they are pressed. After undergoing their initial fermentation in vat at a constant low temperature, the resulting wine is racked until clear.
After racking the finest vats of grapes are assembled for the final cuvee, or blend, and then placed in the bottle. The best cuvees are vintage dated. They spend several years in the bottle, gathering finesse and flavor. Prior to release, each bottle is placed in a "pupitre" or riddling desk where it will be turned by hand, one quarter turn daily until all the natural sediment rests against the tirage cork, which is then abruptly disgorged, taking with it all of the deposit and sediment. A small amount of wine is lost during the process of disgorgement, but it is replaced by a wine of the same cuvee, along with a little bit of dosage liquor which is made up of cane sugar dissolved in old fine wines from the finest vintages. It is this dosage for topping off that insures both balance and bubble. It also determines the ultimate designation of sweetness; Brut, Extra Dry, Demi Sec or Demi-Doux. Brut is the driest and finest of these designations. In its final stage of preparation, St. Hilaire receives its wire-capped cork, a reminder of its legendary contribution to all fine sparkling wines, Champagne included.
Tasting Notes: Aroma of apple, and the soft, savory scent of Chardonnay haunt the bouquet of the 1995 St. Hilaire, Blanquette de Limoux. Much like a real Champagne in its aromatic profile, the softer, more graceful flavors of St. Hilaire convince us that in many ways this is a more pleasing glass of bubbly. It leaves the senses heightened and the palate refreshed, exhibiting just a hint of the lemon twist that sometimes overpowers the sparkling wines of more northerly climates, Champagne included. Although rich and creamy in flavor, this Blanquette de Limoux retains its elegance and finesse to the last drop. We know of no better sparkler to begin an evening of fun and festivity than the 1995 Blanquette de Limoux. It captures the essence of conviviality; charming, fragrant, cool and dancing.
Accompaniments: Although Blanquette de Limoux, like Champagne, is said to complement all foods, the delicious 1995 St. Hilaire is best served with hors d’oeuvres or light meals. It is not that this splendid Blanquette de Limoux will not go with most foods, but that rich foods tend to obscure the lovely delicate scent and taste of any fine bubbly. St. Hilaire is truly at its best any time the inclination and spirit of celebration prevail. If Bordeaux and Burgundy, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay are traditionally the great wines of food and feasts, St. Hilaire, Blanquette de Limoux, like its more famous offspring, Champagne, is the undisputed libation of the festival, the belle of the ball, the bubbly, sparkling, delightful wine of carnival and celebration. Enjoy it often, any time the spirit moves you. We certainly do! "A votre sante"!
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