Author: thehappyvine@gmail.com

Domaine Besson Chablis Montmains Premier Cru

Chablis conjures images of the sea in its hyper charged movement, electricity and life – salinity, oyster shell, sea breezes and cool wet stone minerality. Domaine Besson, a fine example, dates back to 1902. Their 21ha estate is currently run by Alain Besson’s children, Adrien and Camille. This lovely is from their 5ha in the Montmains Premier Cru. Montmains refers to a medium sized mountain of Kimmeridgian soils synonymous with Chablis. Fermented on the lees for 12-18 months in stainless steel with a portion in oak for 8 months. Domaine Besson Chablis Montmains 1er Cru 2019 Pours into the glass a youthful golden green tinge. Shimmering aromas of gorgeous orchard fruit, citrus peel, beeswax surrounded by telltale oyster shell and flinty aromas of Chablis. Its a bundle of beauty with the fleshy white peach, melon and apple, quince, citrus zest and a touch of tropical fruit followed by the distinct saline and flint character always gives a sense of place. The racy acidity always carries the Chablis’s linear, clean and pure character. Perfectly perfect chiseled Chablis, a wonderful value. Chablis is such a versatile food pairing wine thanks to its high acidity and crisp minerality. Pair with fluke crudo with espelette, coquilles saint Jacques, asparagus soufflé or smoked trout terrine.

Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs

𝓢𝓪𝓼𝓼𝔂, 𝓫𝓻𝓪𝓼𝓼𝔂, 𝓼𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓵𝓮 𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝔂🥂 A pioneer of Blanc de Noirs, Schramsberg produced the first American traditional method sparkler in 1967. Sourced from small parcels in Sonoma, Mendocino, Marin, Napa. Made in the traditional method, one third is barrel fermented and aged on the lees for 10 years in the historical Diamond Mountain cellars. Disgorged late November 2021. 𝓢𝓬𝓱𝓻𝓪𝓶𝓼𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓰 𝓑𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓬 𝓭𝓮 𝓝𝓸𝓲𝓻𝓼 𝓛𝓪𝓽𝓮 𝓓𝓲𝓼𝓰𝓸𝓻𝓰𝓮𝓭 𝓑𝓻𝓾𝓽 𝓢𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓴𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓰 2010 The color is what catches your eye right off of the bat – a golden copper gleam, you know you are in for a treat. The tiny perlage lifts the sophisticated aromas of baked fruit, caramel, milk chocolate, roasted hazelnuts, layered with baking spice and blood orange cream. This evolved brut style Blanc de Noirs has a creamy rich mouthfeel and steely acidity amplified by the lively bubbles. The palate offers quince jelly, apple pie, caramel, blood orange zest, apple skin, dried strawberries accents the brioche, roasted nuts into a marzipan, candied ginger and long, luscious toffee finish. A matured wine that is for certain, but ever evolving in the glass and full of Christmas cheer. A late disgorged Blanc de Noirs is a very good friendly type of sparkling. Its rich, medium bodied style and complexity make it an ideal pairing for butter pan seared scallops with truffle butter, smoked gouda soufflé, roasted mushroom risotto, duck cherry terrine/pâté or spice it up with a family favorite butter chicken or smoked salmon roulade, goat cheese terrine with tomato coulis. I am sure I have made you crave one or all of these dishes so be sure to try a late disgorged traditional method sparkling. As Kirsten Kaeln said, “you must not be afraid to sparkle a little brighter, darling.” Go and get your sparkle on! Happy holidays🥂

Gusbourne Blanc de Blancs

Smiling faces, twinkling lights and sparkle in the glass. All the right elements of the holiday season. ɢᴜꜱʙᴏᴜʀɴᴇ ʙʟᴀɴᴄ ᴅᴇ ʙʟᴀɴᴄꜱ 2016 100% Chardonnay made in the traditional method. Predominantly fermented in stainless-steel tanks with a small amount in old oak barrels to add complexity and aged for a minimum of 42 months on the lees. Pale gold gleaming in the glass with fine persistent bubbles. Delicate aromas of orange zest, ripe green apple and pear, lemon meringue pie, white blossom, wet stone, pastry cream, raw almonds and shortbread. What hits you first is the linear acidity that keeps humming along from beginning to end. The texture has a crunchy minerality which supports the nectarine, bright lemon juice, toasted hazelnuts, brioche and lingering ginger anise fizz finish. Just wonderfully elegant and purity of an English signature style Blanc de Blancs. Happy Holidays 🥂

Holidays With Peju Cabernet Franc

Fireside sipper, holiday gathering or just plain festive mood calls for a stellar wine from Peju Winery. Peju embodies hospitality to all, an individualist, forward thinker akin to their founder, Tony Peju. A small family run boutique winery located in the heart of Rutherford, Napa Valley, California. He is known as the Father of Custom Crush and one of the first to embrace Direct to Consumer Wine Marketing. Best known for Bordeaux varietals, they are certified organic and practice sustainable farming. Their wines crafted by @ and he top notch team are a creative expression, not harnessed by restrictions, free spirit winemaking. Their tasting room is a converted garage at their vineyard estate that is open to all. Food and lively conversations are always part of the exceptionally crafted wine tastings. Peju Cabernet Franc Reserve 2017 When we visited the winery in March we tasted a wide range of Peju wines, including MANY Cabernet Francs (which was lovely of Sara because she knew how much I adored the varietal, she pulled out a number of her private stash to share with a fellow Cabernet Franc lover). This vintage was one of my favorites. It has texture, depth, and oodles of layers. A blend of 88% Cabernet Franc and 12% Cabernet Sauvignon aged for 26 months in new French oak. It is deliciously drinkable now but can age another 5-8 years easily. Warm Christmas red color invites you to take a sip. Deeply perfumed aromas of savory herbs of thyme and oregano, chocolate covered cherry, blackberry, raspberry, vanilla bean, toffee, cedar, sweet tobacco, dusty a touch of forest floor, balsamic and fig. Full bodied with soft plush tannins, vibrant acidity and a silky smooth palate. The flavors are very ample from tart ripe cherries and raspberries lead to vanilla bean, leather, cocoa, thyme with a whisper of savory caramel into a long finish of anise and pink peppercorns that lingers well in to the night. It’s as bright are you holiday spirit and lights on the Christmas tree. It’s the kind of wine that lifts our festive spirits to new heights. To be honest, I drank this wine by the fire, reveled each and every sip, just enjoyed the moment. Stuffed portobello mushroom with thyme and parmesan, roast pork with rosemary plums or lamb skewers.

Banyuls Bliss Domaine La Tour

Banyuls is a sweet, velvety luxurious Vins Doux Naturels from the tiny region in Roussillon of France. Predominantly made from Grenache Noir, ageing and percentage amounts vary depending on AOC regulations, minimum of 50% and 13 months . It’s a sweet, fortified wine similar to Port. FYI Note these wines are not as syrupy and luscious as other dessert wines so you will want to pair this type of wine with moderately sweet or contrasting dishes. Dark chocolate is Banyuls best friend – it enlivens the macerated red fruity notes of cherry, raisins, sweet baking spice and espresso. Dried fruits are the second BFF. Banyuls also pairs very well with coffee, fruity desserts.  Domaine la Tour Vielle Rimage Banyuls 2017 Deeply rich ruby in the glass. Intensely aromatic raisins, macerated red and blue fruits, warm spice, dark chocolate and earth. Plush tannins enlivened with bright acidity and flavors of dried figs, chocolate covered cherries and blueberries, prunes, caramel, vanilla finishing on mint and cloves. Its dessert in a glass without the heaviness….. Feel free to pair it with chocolate brownies loaded with nuts, Tiramisu, Christmas fruit cake, or dare I savory pairings of foie gras, poached pears and Roquefort cheese.

Evolucio Furmint

Imagine arriving at a party where you don’t know many people ….you look around the room casually, one person that catches your eye with their bright smile and twinkling eyes. Suddenly you feel welcome, at ease and are happy to be at this party…. that is Furmint grape varietal – its bright, welcoming and always puts a smile on your face. It’s the tastiest grape you’ve never heard of or weren’t aware that there are dry versions of this regal varietal. What Riesling is to Germany, Furmint is to Hungary. Considered the superstar indigenous white grape varietal of Tokaj, Hungary thanks to its luscious botrytized Tokaji dessert wine adored worldwide for centuries. The Tokaj region had one of the world’s earliest vineyard classification systems, “the first mention of Aszú grape wine is in 1571, in a property deal clearly demonstrating that the aszú grapes had been kept separate from the normal grapes in the vineyard of Mézes Mály,” writes Oz Clarke in The History of Wine in 100 Bottles.” In recent years its dry versions have become very popular and sought after. It is picked early as well as aged in stainless steel to preserve the freshness and high acidity. Reminiscent of the zingy Riesling ad the roundness of Chardonnay Evolúció Furmint 2020 Pours into the glass a gleaming lemon color. Bright aromas of fresh pear, quince, peach, grass, almost ripe pineapple as well as honeysuckle. The first sip beams with lip puckering acidity, followed by the bright lemon zest and juice, pineapple, stone fruit, leading to wet seaside pebbles and a touch of flint finishing off with cheese rind, bread dough and a hum of ginger and peperoncini. Such a lovely fruit driven white with a beautiful roundness and a zingy acidity. At 11% alcohol it’s borderline off-dry but oh so easy to drink. Pair with roasted vegetable & fresh herb couscous, coriander and cardamon spiced chicken or poached halibut with saffron beurre blanc.

Terpin Sialis Bianco

A pioneer of natural winemaking, Franco Terpin performs greatness making wines of unrestrained elegance. He believes in representing century old traditions while letting the terroir speak for itself. Note – his wines are classified under the delle Venezia IGT due to the natural winemaking methods. He doesn’t uses chemicals in the winery or the vineyard. His 12 hectares are in the communes of San Floriane & Monte Calvario of  Friuli-Venezia Giulia.  The 70 year old vines are from the Cru Sialis, planted in rich, clay soils, comprised of Ribolla Gialla, Friulano, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon but the bulk of his wines are skin contact white wines. This particular wine is from the cru Sialis. The 70 year old vines are planted in rich clay soils. Spontaneous fermentation in Slovenian oak vats with skin contact for 14 days followed by 12 months of ageing in Slovenian oak barrels and 3 years in the bottle, hence the deep cloudy amber color. Artisanal from beginning to end. Pinot GrigioFranco Terpin, ‘Sialis’ Bianco Sivi 2016 What strikes you first is the deeply amber red color with a slight haze (unfiltered).  The bouquet is deeply complex with an abundance of dried stone fruit and citrus zest, apple peel intertwined with fresh herbs, hay, sea spray, honey, spicy vanilla, mint and ginger. The power continues on the palate with fine grained tannins energized by bright acidity. It has such an intoxicating freshness and harmony. Flavors of dried peach, mango and nectarine, walnut skin, honeyed apple confit, mouthwatering minerality dominated by the citrus curd and warm clove ginger spice  This is a classic ramato full bodied style with 15% alcohol that is beautifully balanced with such ethereal presence with a very LONG finish.  The wine continued to evolve with time in the glass, like flipping pages of a riveting novel. Brilliant. Pair with grilled halloumi, zucchini and eggplant stacks, pork vindaloo or lamb apricot tagine.

Bugalugs Grenache

Tim Smith Bugalugs Grenache 2020 Barossa Valley, South Australia Tim Smith is an incredibly talented winemaker focused on the varietals that have been around Australia for 100+ years. He makes benchmark wines from Barossa from Mataro (Mourvèdre), Grenache and Shirax varietals.  Bugalugs is an Australian term of endearment for a kid, this being “younger” styled wine. The thumbprint is Tim’s and his guarantee that the wines are up to his extremely high standards. This particular wine is Grenach planted in the 1950s with a smidge of Mataro planted in 1880. Sustainable low yielding vines planted in sandy soils, natural fermentation with indigenous yeasts, a brief six month ageing in 6+ year old French oak hogsheads (which is a barrel made from the staves of a bourbon cask with new oak ends)no fining or filtering. 450 cases made. 
A rich ruby color in the glass with rich red fruit aromas along with violets, herbs, black pepper, sage, vanilla and a touch of mocha. A bright medium bodied wine with layers of fleshy strawberries, raspberries, plums and cherries, thyme blossoms & sage, eucalyptus undertones and warm clove spice. The smooth mouthfeel is balanced between the fine tannins and well integrated high alcohol. His wines have a bold character with a sense of finesse. Just plain lovely. This is great drinking my friends, well balanced and always satisfied. Pair with a slow braise pork ragu, roasted salmon cakes with a root vegetable medley or a mild Massam beef curry.

Cantina della Volta Trentasei

“ᴡɪɴᴇ ɪꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ᴀ ᴍᴀᴛʜᴇᴍᴀᴛɪᴄᴀʟ ꜰᴏʀᴍᴜʟᴀ, ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇꜱᴜʟᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴄᴀʀᴇꜰᴜʟ ʀᴇꜱᴇᴀʀᴄʜ ᴀɴᴅ ᴜɴʀᴇꜱᴛʀᴀɪɴᴇᴅ ᴘᴀꜱꜱɪᴏɴ” Sustainable and organic both in the vineyard and winery, Cantina della Volta is 100% focused on Metodo Classico wines. Fourth generation oenologist Christian Bellei was fascinated by creativity and methods in Epernay, Champagne and wanted to apply these principals to his beloved Emilia-Romagna’s varietals. Through this inspiration Cantina della Volta was reborn in 2010. He produces ONLY traditional method sparkling utilizing modern winemaking technology. Hand harvested Lambrusco di Sorbara grapes are soft pressed followed by a 12 hour maceration with 55% of the must in order to obtain this bright ruby red color. The first fermentation is done in stainless steel tanks with a second fermentation in the bottle for a minimum of 36 months on the lees. Disgorged December 2019 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒂 ‘𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒊’ 𝑴𝒆𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒐 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒐 𝑳𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒄𝒐 𝒅𝒊 𝑺𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒂 (𝑽𝒊𝒏𝒐 𝑺𝒑𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆) 2014 Lambrusco di Sorbara pours into the glass a deep shiny ruby color full of light seen in the lively perlage. Soft floral aromas of violet and hibiscus, wild red berries, dusty minerals and bread crust aromas form the nose. The first sip brings for a juicy palate, racy acidity supports the raspberry, sour cherry jam, red currant, blood orange cream, sour cherry, rhubarb, finishes on anise, mint, toast, almond and burnt honey. This sparkling is deeply impressive, charming in complexity and oodles of finesse. Pair with a delightful classic of Prosciutto di Parma, Tortellini with Parmigiana Reggiano cream sauce or broiled garlic shrimp scampi.

Ktima Malagousia

𝕍𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕡𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 – 𝔹𝕚𝕝𝕝 ℍ𝕪𝕓𝕣𝕝𝕤 Thanks to the inventiveness and creativity of Vangelis Gerovassiliou of Ktima Gerovassiliou winery, he revived the nearly extinct Malagousia by planting vines on the slopes of Epanomi, Greece in 1981. He continues to study, research and experiment with both indigenous Greek and international varieties, always delivering consistently high quality wines of traditional and distinct characteristics of the terroir. This single vineyard 20 year old vines are surrounded on three sides by the sea with soils rich in sand rich in sea deposits, clay and calcareous rocks. After a short maceration on the skins to extract aromas and flavors, followed by vilification is done mostly in stainless steel tanks with 20% in French oak barrels. The wine undergoes 2 months of lees ageing with regular bâtonnage to add texture and body. 𝕂𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕒 𝔾𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕦 𝕄𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟙 Pours in the glass a bright golden color. An aromatic swirl gives way to exotic ripe mango, guava, pear and citrus fruits along with anise, wild herbs and juniper berries. Bone-dry beauty with prominent lemon peel, spicy guava, chalky minerality, honeysuckle and a vibrantly fresh acidity. This medium bodied wine has so much energy, verve and wildness – if you love Chardonnay I suggest you give Malagousia a try. You’re welcome. Paired with a classic Greek dish “kotopoulo skorthat” which translates to garlic lemon roasted chicken. I took it to another level and tray baked it all with potatoes which all developed a nice caramelization, added kalamata olives and capers at the end. 💥