Wine Review: Cecchi La Mora Vermentino 2014

Vermentino is big on the island of Sardinia but also has plantings here and there on the Italian mainland and southern France. This one is from the Maremma subregion of Tuscany, and it's by the famous Cecchi winery.

The Cecchi family got into the winemaking business in 1893 with Luigi Cecchi, and the first bottles of Cecchi labeled wines were produced in the early 1900's. However, the land that their winery and estate vineyards are on has been making wine for over a thousand years. Today it's run by Andrea and Cesare Cecchi, and they pride themselves on their practice of sustainability.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were written in February (this one in March, actually) and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.

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Wine Review: THP Montepulciano 2014 by Llano Estacado

This is the final wine of five that I've reviewed for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! I started with the 2016 Pinot Grigio, then 2015 Viognier, 2015 Signature Red, now 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay and finally 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 993.

The 2014 THP Montepulciano is 76% Montepulciano, 12% Aglianico, 5% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Syrah. So this Texas wine takes two varietals whose vines normally don't venture far from their homes in southern Italy, and blends them with three French international varietals. THP stands for Texas High Plains, and that's where the vineyards are located. The wine spends 18 months in 59 gallon French and American oak barrels.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.

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Wine Review: Llano Estacado Cellar Reserve Chardonnay 2015

This is the fourth of five wines that I'll be reviewing for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! I started with the 2016 Pinot Grigio, then 2015 Viognier, 2015 Signature Red, now 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay and finally 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 1993.

The 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay is 100% Chardonnay, mostly from the Mont Sec Vineyard. It was cold fermented in stainless steel before spending 318 days on the lees in neutral French oak. It saw complete malolactic fermentation and has a 13.2% ABV.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.

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Heroes of Wine: Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

There have been so many great minds throughout history that changed the course of mankind with their discoveries and innovations, but none may be as important to the lives of the people in the modern world today than Louis Pasteur, one of the founding fathers of microbiology.

LOUIS PASTEUR
IMAGE CREDIT: clccharter.org

Because of Louis Pasteur, your ancestors were able to receive a rabies vaccination instead of dying horribly from rabies after 1885. His rabies vaccine would lead to other vaccines that save lives, like the 1955 polio vaccine by Jonas Stalk. And most importantly of all, because of Louis Pasteur, you are able to enjoy your favorite wines and beers today.

So let's learn about a legend. And to help me with this article on the life of Louis Pasteur, I've asked Lori Budd of Dracaena Wines to contribute. Lori is a winemaker with a history in biology, and there is nobody else that I would rather see do the honors.

(LORI) As a child, Louis Pasteur asked his father “What makes a wolf or a dog mad, and why do people die when mad dogs bite them?” Obviously, this question was asked because Louis Pasteur had unfortunately seen this occur in his childhood. Now, I am not going to say that these deaths totally traumatized him, but if we take a look at his life’s achievements, these deaths did make a lasting effect on him, whether he consciously recognized it or not. 

As a scientist, I admire the predecessors and applaud how well they achieved their goals in the time that they did. Louis Pasteur ranks as one of my all time favorites. In all honesty, if you are familiar with his life, he was a pompous son of a bitch, but sometimes that’s what you need to be in order to be successful. He started his scientific career looking at crystals under a microscope. He was a chemist not an immunologist- that didn’t come until later. At the age of 26, he discovered there were four distinct kinds of tartaric acid. This discovery gave him a taste of fame, and he not only liked it, he craved it! (/LORI)

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Wine Review: Llano Estacado Signature Red Meritage 2015

This is the third of five wines that I'll be reviewing for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! I started with the 2016 Pinot Grigio, then 2015 Viognier, now we're on 2015 Signature Red, followed by 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay and finally 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 1993.

The fruit used in this blend are from the Mont Sec and Carpenter Vineyards of Far West Texas and the Reddy and Newsom Vineyards of the Texas High Plains. It is vegan friendly and has a 13.3% ABV.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.
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Wine Review: Llano Estacado Viognier 2015

This is the second of five wines that I'll be reviewing for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! I started with the 2016 Pinot Grigio and now we're on the 2015 Viognier, followed by the 2015 Signature Red, 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay, and finally the 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 1993.

The Llano Estacado Viognier 2015 is 99% Viognier from the Mont Sec Vineyard and 1% Roussanne from Reddy Vineyards on the Texas High Plains. There was no oak aging and it has an ABV of 12.5%.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.

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Wine Review: Llano Estacado Pinot Grigio 2016

This is the first of five wines that I'll be reviewing for Llano Estacado out of TEXAS! Yes, TEXAS! It's the 2016 Pinot Grigio followed by the 2015 Viognier, 2015 Signature Red, 2015 Cellar Reserve Chardonnay, and finally the 2014 THP Montepulciano.

Spanish monks made Texas and New Mexico the first of the would-be-states in today's USA to grow vineyards and make their own wine in the 1620's. Llano Estacado was established in Western Texas in 1976, and has become the best selling premium winery in the state. Their current winemaker Greg Bruni took over that position in 1993.

The 2016 Pinot Grigio is 77% Pinot Grigio from Reddy Vineyards on the Texas High Plain and 23% Sauvignon Blanc, fermented in stainless steel, and saw no oak aging. It's vegan friendly and has an ABV of 13.5%.

NOTE: In advance of moving to a new house and the arrival of a new baby, the reviews for March, April and May were all written in February and may be much quicker and to the point than you expect from this blog. Foolishness will return this summer.

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April "Wine" Pick: Dogfish Head Red & White (Beer)

This "WINE" PICK of the month was written for the Luke's of Cape Cod website.

It's the second annual "switch-your-picks April" at the Dennisport Luke's and this year the fine wine guy's got beer! Of course, you know that I've just got to tie it to wine somehow. I'm a wine guy, I can't help it. I'm also an enormous fan of wheat beer so the stars aligned for this one.

Dogfish Head is one of my favorite breweries. That's not just because they love to reanimate ancient beers that warm the heart of the history geek inside me, but also because they love to do cool stuff like this. Their Red & White is an Imperial Wit that was brewed with coriander and orange peel, then fermented with the must of Pinot Noir and aged in oak.

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