Summer White Tasting at Café Maxx

"Never, never trust anyone who asks for white wine. It means they're phonies."  - Bette Davis

The summer is heating up and we have an incredible line-up of events for next week including a ten year vertical of one of the first growths of Napa Valley- Joseph Phelps Insignia back to 1993.  And then one of the first growths of Bordeaux with a 10 vintage vertical tasting of Chateau Cheval Blanc - cause that's how we roll at the Wine Watch.  Only the best will do!!

Hey, we still have time for some light refreshing summer wines with our subject of study next week at Cafe Maxx being white wines for the summer time to start the week’s events off with our bi-weekly tastings that cover a different subject in the wine world every other week in the back room.

These tastings at the Cafe Maxx for $35 are the best value of any event that we do. You get to try 8 different wines at the same time, pre-poured so they have a chance to open up and so you can go back through the line-up to get a second and third look at everything. This is how you learn about wine and with master chef Oliver Saucy sending out a few small courses to accompany the wines, you get a taste of Cafe Maxx and an education in wine all at the same time. A great way to spend happy hour.

Tonight we will feature wines that are refreshing and just in time for summer.   This is a pre-poured sit down tasting and is limited to 25 tasters, the fee for this tasting is $35 + Gratuity + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463.

Summer White Tasting at Café Maxx

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

6:30 PM

Catherine & Breton Vouvray Sec “La Dilettante’’ 2012  

Price: $24.50       Sale $21.56          Case $250.00

The Bretons farm vineyards on varied soil types, including gravel, limestone, clay, schist, and yellow tuffeau. Their wines are made primarily from Cabernet Franc (known in the Loire, curiously, as “Breton”) with small quantities of Chenin Blanc for their Vouvray. Though Pierre is the principal cellar master, Catherine makes a series of cuvées under the label “La Dilettante,” or the Dabbler. Together, they divide their wines into three categories: Natural Wines (for easy consumption), Classic Wines (that represent the typicity of the appellations), and Wines of Terroir (vinified individually by parcel). The Wines of Terroir from Chinon and Bourgueil are destined for long life in your cellar. A 1964 made for unforgettable drinking in 2008! Each of the Breton cuvées is unique, with differences in soil, vinification, and élévage all playing a role while still demonstrating a familial resemblance. Catherine and Pierre are fighting the good fight in a competitive market, adding work to their busy days all in the name of authenticity. Their artistic labels are a bonus.

Cep Sauvignon Blanc 2013 

Price: $25.50       Sale $22.44          Case $260

Nick and Vanessa met Bob Hopkins a few years ago at an Integrated Pest Management class. As organic farmers you attend these classes to know how to attract beneficial pests that will combat nasty insects in the vineyard. That way you can avoid pesticides. Nick took a shine to Bob and mentioned that his brother wanted to make crisp, minerally, zippy Sauvignon Blanc, but, of course, we cannot grow Sauvignon Blanc at our very cold estate vineyard. Bob was kind enough to offer us Sauvignon Blanc from his blocks of 40 year old vines. And the result is delicious. This is not the Bordeaux style of Sauvignon Blanc that Vanessa made when she was winemaker at Peter Michael. On the contrary, the grapes are picked to capture the citrus and chalky side of Sauvignon Blanc. It is tank fermented to retain acidity and freshness and bottled in the January following the vintage.

Daniel Chotard Sancerre 2012 

Price: $28.25       Sale $24.86          Case $289

The terroir of Sancerre is widely regarded as producing one of the greatest expressions of the Sauvignon Blanc grape. Sancerre was once more celebrated for its red wine, a Parisian bistro favorite. The Chotards grow Pinot Noir as well, used to make both red wine and rosé. The hilltop town of Sancerre is surrounded by a commune of villages that collectively make up its eponymous appellation, and each village is blessed with varieties of a distinct limestone that imbues a lengthy mineral component to its wines. Daniel and his son Simon farm the slopes of the village Crezancy-en-Sancerre, where flint meets clay and the famous Kimmeridgian limestone. He practices sustainable farming, and uses organic composts to treat the vines. Typically, he harvests his grapes later than his neighbors which results in less of the acidity that is so typical of the appellation. Aging the wine on its lees further rounds the mid-palate. Like his jazz, Daniel’s wines are luscious and complex with deep notes and long, satisfying finales.

Roland Lavantureux Petite Chablis 2012  

Price: $24.00       Sale $21.12          Case $245

The region is best-known for the Kimmeridgian soils, a highly-prized terroir of limestone and clay infused with tiny, fossilized oysters. The intense chalk and sea-shell minerality lends deep complexity to whites, making this region an ideal home for the Chardonnay grape. The Portlandian soils in the extension of the Chablis appellation, known as Petit Chablis, may not enjoy the same reputation as the Kimmeridgian, however they imbue the wines with a crisp, lively freshness and zesty, citrus aromas that speak to the deep mineral component of northern Burgundy. There is no accounting for these imaginary boundaries, because the pedigree of his wines is palpable. As Roland once told Kermit, “I don’t know why the INAO named some vines ‘Chablis’ and others ‘Petit.’ When I stand in the middle of my vineyard, the row to my left is Chablis, to the right it is Petit Chablis, but you can’t see any difference.”  His wines display show-stopping nerve, to be enjoyed as easily before dinner as they are with a piece of grilled fish or oysters-on-the-half-shell. These wines drink as honestly as the man who makes them; they are staff favorites year after year.

Dandelion Vineyards   Wonderland of Eden Riesling McLaren Vale 2012

Price: $24.00       Sale $21.12          Case $245

Winemaker, Elena Brooks and her de facto husband, Zar Brooks have put together one of the most impressive lineups of booze in the entire country. The fruit for this wine comes from a 100-year-old Riesling vineyard. Old Vines say you? The bunches for Dandelion’s Riesling are chosen virtually one at a time to ensure perfect ripeness. This wine has the minerality and grip of the Mosel or Rhiengau.

Pristine pale straw with almost fluorescent green tinges lights on in this Wonderland, an intense late vintage of powerful jasmine, mandarin leaf and even lychee juice bursting fruit freshness, with invigorating, intense smells of lime skin, citrus blossom, green apple, ripe guavas and cinnamon spice.

Bodegas Valdedsil Montenovo Godello 

Price: $18.00       Sale $15.84          Case $184

Montenovo is produced with grapes from the youngest vineyards of the estate together with carefully selected contracted grapes from local growers in several villages, such as Rubiá, A Rúa, Larouco, Petín and O Bolo. Plots are vinified separately according to vineyard and similar soil-types. Grapes are harvested by hand with fermentation using indigenous yeasts in stainless steel vats. No malolactic fermentation.  Alcohol: 12.5%

(90 points)  “Fragrant scents of tangerine, white flowers and minerals, with a gingery topnote. Dry, racy and precise, offering tangy citrus and orchard fruit flavors and a hint of bitter quinine. Closes spicy and long, with resonating minerality and a suggestion of fennel.” -Josh Raynolds Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

Abbatucci Faustine Blanc VV  Ajaccio Corsica 2012 

Price: $41.25       Sale $36.30          Case $421

In the colorful, picturesque city of Ajaccio, capital of Corsica, you can’t get very far without seeing the name Abbatucci. There are streets, monuments and plazas that carry the name, which is normal given that General Jean-Charles Abbatucci from Ajaccio was a hero of the French Revolution and comrade in arms of another local hero, Napoléon Bonaparte. Step into a wine bar or a restaurant there, chances are these days they’ll pour you a glass of Domaine Abbatucci. The domaine is run by Jean-Charles Abbatucci, a direct descendant of the General, who has now become a local hero of another kind—for providing the local populace with its most sought-after libation.

Tour de Bon Blanc Bandol  2012

Price: $33.00       Sale $29.04          Case $337

The domaine is situated at an altitude of 150 meters above sea-level—a high point on this coastal appellation where maritime breezes cool the arid climate. Fourteen hectares of red earth, clay, sand, and gravel rest upon sturdy limestone bedrock. Brow-beating excavation and focused determination alone have built these vineyards. Agnès still has early photographs of the Mauric family, who lived here before the Hocquards, working the soil. Knee-deep into the red earth, behind heavy plows, vineyard workers toiled to bring this land to its current glory. (The tradition continues even today.) The copious rock served as sturdy material for building the house and walls that surround the property. The limestone has most importantly left its trace in the wines, instilling them with tremendous complexity, long length, and fresh elegance that makes them ideal for cellar-aging.

This wine is a blend of Clairette, Vermentino and Ugni Blanc.

This is a pre-poured sit down tasting and is limited to 25 tasters, the fee for this tasting is $35 + Gratuity + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463.