Daily Drinker: Lo Nuevo Tempranillo (with a side of Opera)

On January 15, 2014 By Bob WattIn Spanish2 Comments

It’s been a while since we posted a daily drinker, but we’re off to the Seattle Opera this evening to see Rigoletto, and going to the Opera reminds me of a new wine we recently discovered that has turned out to be a great daily drinker.

Usually, we start off the evening at one of our favorite restaurants, Toulouse Petit, with a few quick bites and a glass or two of wine. Their foie gras is some of the best in town, as is their duck confit – and oh, just about everything else on their amazing menu. (If you’re in Seattle and you want to check them out, make a reservation – they can be impossible to get into!)

Over time, we’ve gotten to know Joe, the restaurant manager and wine buyer. We’ve complimented him in the past on his great, affordable wine selections, and in particular, there’s been one wine that we thought was a great little gem for the money. I actually managed to track it down, and we’ve been enjoying it on non-Opera nights now too. It’s a Tempranillo, which is one of Christina’s new favorites for the spicy, yet full-bodied flavor. She refers to it as great “pizza wine,” though it’s good enough to open for friends, for sure – we highly recommend it. And at roughly $13 a bottle, you can open plenty of them!

2009 Lo Nuevo, Tanto Monta – Old Vine Tempranillo – Spicy black fruit nose. In the mouth crushed black berries and black currants, with some spice and a little bit of earthiness (in a good way). Medium-full bodied with very good acidity and a nice long sweet black fruit finish. Tasting this blind, you would never guess you were drinking a $13 bottle of wine.

Looks like we’ll have to open a bottle tonight at home before we go. We’re especially looking forward to this Opera – we met a few members of the cast at a Christmas party in December. They had just arrived in town from New York and Florida the day before the party, and were getting settled in. The show is getting great reviews – I’m sure they’ll be spectacular.

Christina Watt with Donovan Singletary (a Bass-Barintone playing Monterone), and Nadine Sierra (singing Gilda, the lead Soprano role). — Christina Watt with Donovan Singletary (a Bass-Barintone playing Monterone), and Nadine Sierra (singing Gilda, the lead Soprano role) in Rigoletto at the Seattle Opera.

Cheers to a good night and a good show!

The Cool Cars of Bordeaux

On January 14, 2014January 14, 2014 By Bob WattIn FranceLeave a comment

Authored by Christina Watt

As we drove along in the “mystery beast” throughout Bordeaux (more on that in a minute), Bob couldn’t help but notice a couple of spectacular cars that we had to stop and admire. His dad used to race cars like these when he was growing up, so he can never resist taking a good look. I suspect you’ll admire them too.

In the village of Bages:

In the town of St. Emillion:

At Les Sources de Caudalie:

A nice Maybach. Wish the photo showed you the interior - believe me, it wouldn't suck to tour in this ride. — A nice Maybach. Wish the photo showed you the interior – believe me, it wouldn’t suck to tour in this ride.

Even these guys made us smile in Sauternes:

A fun little fleet. — A fun little fleet at Chateau Suduiraut.

But what didn’t make us smile? Our rental car. We had reserved a Mercedes, since we figured we’d be spending a lot of time in the car (and an automatic, so I could also drive it if need be), but missed the fine, fine print (Mercedes “or like model”). When we arrived, of course, there was no Mercedes to be found at Europecar, and more disturbingly, no automatics either. (Yup, I’m mentioning them by name.) Instead, we got the closest possible thing they could find for us. A manual BMW, which in theory, would have been just fine. IF it hadn’t been missing the emblems on both the front AND the back of the car, and had been an automatic.

Yup, you have to be pretty cool to drive the mystery beast – they don’t let just anyone behind the wheel of this baby…!

Day Eight: The Sweet Town of Sauternes and our Favorite Lunch at Les Sapien

On January 13, 2014January 28, 2014 By Bob WattIn FranceLeave a comment

The town of Sauternes is a charming little town right in the middle of the vineyards of Sauternes. Before lunch, we walked through the town, looking at the various buildings and shops.

Christina Watt in the town of Sauternes.

We came across a cute wine shop that was doing a tasting of Chateau Lamothe Sauternes.

Miriam, the delightful woman running the store, happily shared these wines with us:

2009 Chateau Lamothe – Nice bright nose of peaches and pears. In the mouth, very fresh peaches, pears and some spice, with good acids and a complex long finish. The finish of this wine stays in the mouth long after it is gone. A very nice wine and one to look for.

2005 Chateau Lamothe – Bright nose of white peaches with a little spiciness. In the mouth, white peach, hint of pineapple and a slight spicy honey note. Very good acid on the slightly spicy white fruit medium long finish.

2001 Chateau Lamothe – Subtle but very complex nose of peaches, pears, green melon and spicy honey. In the mouth, very delicate flavors of white peaches, pears, spicy young pineapple and a hint of honey. Keeps changing in the mouth. Very good acid and a very long complex finish that won’t quit. This is a very nice wine and one to look for if you can find it.

2000 Chateau Lamothe – A more mature nose of yellow peaches and some ripe pineapple. In the mouth, ripe peaches and pineapple combined with a little mango. Decent acid and a nice long finish of ripe fruit. The 2000 doesn’t have the energy of the other three vintages, but it is drinking well now.

After the tasting, we wandered across the street to Les Sapien. Honestly, if we had realized how good this lunch would be, we would have made way more time for it. We were on time for our reservation, but it was scheduled tightly, with a visit to the fabled Chateau d’Yquem looming large. What a shame it was, because this lunch was easily one of the best meals we had on our trip.

A partial patio view of the restaurant, Les Sapien.

After the starters, Christina got a pork tenderloin dish that was truly amazing, while I opted for the fish, which was also very well-prepared. If you know me, you know I’m not a dessert person – while I can tolerate the sugars in wine, I don’t typically do well with the sugar in most desserts. This dessert, however, was a rare exception. Blue cheese ice cream. I’m not sure how to describe it, except to say I can still remember how good it was – and how I had to fend off the occasional wandering spoon from Christina. We had a very nice dry white wine with our lunch, produced by Chateau Suduiraut called Suduiraut Blanc Sec.

2011 Chateau Suduiraut Blanc Sec – Very bright and crisp, with strong lemony acidity, almost like a Chablis (which I love). Very nice white fruit and green melon with just a hint of spice from oak. Nice medium-long clean and refreshing finish. I have never seen this wine in the states, but I will look to see if I can find it. It is a great summertime sipper, especially while overlooking the vineyards.

I think this is the only picture we got of the food. We were in such a hurry, That it wasn't until we were about halfway through that we realized we should have really been recording more of the meal. — I think this is the only picture we got of the food. We were in such a hurry, that it wasn’t until we were about halfway through that we realized we should have really been recording more of the meal!

We had to depart the restaurant all too soon, but we vowed to return again one day – for a leisurely dinner on their spectacular patio. If you are ever in the area, this is a must-stop restaurant. Next up – the legendary Chateau d’Yquem!

Day Eight, First Stop: Chateau Suduiraut

On January 12, 2014January 28, 2014 By Bob WattIn FranceLeave a comment

Today we visited the region of Sauternes – I think Christina was looking forward to this day of our trip more than any other. My wife used to like to share an occasional glass of port with me, until she discovered Sauternes. While Christina still does like a nice port, she absolutely loves Sauternes, hence we don’t have as much port as we used to!

Our first stop was at the venerable Chateau Suduiraut. The estate was named Chateau Suduiraut in 1580 with the marriage of Nicole d’Allard to Leonard de Suduiraut. The Chateau was looted and burned down in the Fronde insurrection of the 1640’s and then rebuilt in the late 17th century. Chateau Suduiraut was classified as a Premier Cru in the 1855 classification. Chateau Suduiraut was purchased in 1992 by the AXA Millesimes global investment and insurance company group. AXA Millesimes is headed up by Christian Seely and the company also owns other properties, such as Chateau Pichon Baron in Pauillac.

Christina Watt at the beautiful Chateau Suduiraut.

The grounds were very pretty - there was a lunch being set for a special event. — The grounds were very pretty – there was a lunch being set for a special event.

The wines of Sauternes and Barsac (just to the north) are made from Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, but there are a few Chateau that add a little Muscadelle to some of their wines. Chateau Suduiraut is a blend of 90% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. The wines can age for decades and even a 100 years in the great vintages. What makes the wines of Sauternes and Barsac so special is what they call “noble rot”. Noble rot is a fungus called Botrytis Cinerea, which is present on the undeveloped fruit after flowering. If the season is damp, then the Botrytis fungus develops into grey rot, which makes the grapes unusable. If there are damp mornings followed by hot days, the Botrytis fungus develops into noble rot. The noble rot shrivels the grapes, by reducing the amount of water in them and concentrating the flesh and sugars. It is this noble rot that gives the wines of Sauternes and Barsac their great sweetness balanced by wonderful acidity.

Chateau Suduiraut is a beautiful estate of 92 hectares in the middle of the Sauternes region. Our knowledgable guide, Camille, showed us around the estate. Chateau Suduiraut uses traditional wine making practices and stainless steel vats for their wines, which are aged for 18-24 months in French oak barrels. The estate will pick through the vineyard up to 5 times during harvest, to keep pace with the development of Botrytis and ensure the optimal quality of the grapes. It is this painstaking attention to detail that makes the wines of Chateau Suduiraut so wonderful – and what makes a good sauternes a very special treat.

The progress of the grapes. From here... — The progress of the grapes. From here…

To here, getting ready for harvest with the appearance of noble rot.

To here - ready for harvest. — You can easily see why they have to pick in cycles, waiting for the grapes to mature.

The wines that we tasted at the estate were:

2006 Castelnau de Suduiraut – This is the second label for Chateau Suduiraut. Sweet and spicy nose of pineapple and white fruit. In the mouth, spicy pineapple combine with sweet white peaches and good acidity. Finishes with a nice long balanced sweet fruit finish.

2006 Chateau Suduiraut – Complex subtle nose of white fruits and a hint of pineapple. Very creamy and smooth in the mouth, very delicate. This wine feels lighter in weight in the mouth than the 2nd label does, but is much more complex and very fresh tasting. The sweet white peaches and pears combine with young pineapple flavors. The wine has very good acidity and there is a noticeable spiciness from the botrytis on the very long sweet white fruit filled finish. This is an excellent Suduiraut, and one to look for.

1989 Chateau Suduiraut – Wonderful nose of peaches, ripe pineapple and orange peel. Smooth in the mouth with yellow peaches, pineapple, spicy honey and good acidity. Nice long complex spicy fruit filled finish.

Chateau Suduiraut makes some of the very best wines in Sauternes. If you are a fan of the wines from the Sauternes and Barsac region or just dessert wines in general, I would highly encourage you to try the wines of Chateau Suduiraut. These wines are wonderful drunk young after realease, but will develop so much more complexity with age if you can keep your hands off of them. (The only way I can keep my wife’s hands off of them is to bury them in the cellar!) I am very happy to have quite a bit of Suduiraut in the cellar – when she figures it out, Christina will be too.

From our at home tasting experience, I can also tell you that the 2001 Suduiraut is absolutely off the charts and will be one of the very best dessert wines that most people have ever had, definitely a wine to hunt for. 2009 is also stellar vintage for Sauternes and Barsac. If you like dessert wines, this is a vintage to buy by the case. The 2009’s have sweet fruit, great acidity and they will age a very long time (many decades), but the 2001 Suduiraut will age gracefully longer than anyone who is able to read this blog. It really is that good…

Speaking of good, we ventured next into the little town of Sauternes, which was truly, just great!