LAN

You know a wine is special when you find yourself saving empty bottles of past vintages; at the very least, reminders, I guess, to get more if the opportunity presents itself.

Bodegas LAN is an estate in Rioja Alta, Spain established in 1972.  Rioja is the finest wine region of Spain and Alta is the finest region of Rioja.  Three provinces within Alta are Logorno (now La Rioja), Alava and Navarra which each lend their first letter to the winery name.

The LAN wine we are so enamored with is their Edicion Limitada which is a blend of 82% Tempranillo, 10% Mazuelo and 8% Graciano.  These grapes are handpicked from 35-40 year old vines before sorting twice over two tables in the winery for quality control.  The winery is a modern facility with a native Rioja winemaker who emphasizes lees stirring and a malolactic fermentation.  The young wine is left unfiltered and unclarified before aging in French barriques for eight months. 

What you end up with is a nose displaying black cherry, licorice, black olive and some cigar box.  On the palate you get more black fruit and spice along with soft tannins.  If this sounds good to you stop in and start your own empty bottle collection.

Blackbird Vineyards Arise

This is our hot new Napa red that seems to have found an audience here at the store.  It's a Cabernet Sauvignon blend with Cab Franc, Merlot and a little Petit Verdot so it's a Meritage blend, using California's name for Red Bordeaux.  More specifically, this property calls it a Pomerol-inspired blend.

Now here come the adjectives: lush and velvety textured; tobacco, nutmeg and clove on the nose; blackberry, plum, blueberry, cherry, licorice and cedar on the palate.  If that seems a bit much, you should know we drew from a couple critics' reports and compiled them into this one.  And, of course, it has the requisite long memorable finish any good red should have.

Now here's the backstory: Blackbird Vineyards fruit was being sold to Screaming Eagle, the most expensive wine from California.  Winemaker Aaron Potts has been with the property since 2006 so there is considerable overlap between what they sold to Screaming Eagle and what they bottled themselves and since they no longer sell their juice, it is fair to note that the expensive juice is now going into their own, by comparison, moderately-priced Arise label blend.

Wanna treat?  Pick up a bottle of Arise!

Cremant d'Alsace

The shelf with our the best values in sparkling wines was looking a little threadbare so we brought in a case of Pierre Sparr Alsatian Cremant.  Cremant is the term for Champagne quality sparkling wines made outside of the Champagne district.  In our store we stock these directly under the Champagnes.  We're not deliberately trying to trade people down pricewise from Champagne because that wouldn't make sense economically; we just like the contrast. 

On that shelf we regularly stock Cremants from Limoux, Burgundy, Loire and Alsace along with premium wines from outside of France that we feel warrant consumer attention.  A case could be made for the quality of each wine on the shelf but for us, Alsace is personal.  We love Alsatian white wines and all Alsatian Cremants are made from white grapes except the roses which are 100% Pinot Noir.

The white grapes of Alsatian Cremant include Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chardonnay, Riesling and Pinot Gris.  Pinot Blanc is the prolific workhorse grape of Alsace so it's not surprising that it is widely used in Cremant.  Auxerrois is Pinot Blanc's counterpart in Cremant and elsewhere in Alsatian white blends and on occasion can be used interchangeably with Pinot Blanc.  Both types are citrussy in flavors but Auxerrois is richer with a musky aroma.  Chardonnay adds structure to the blend and Riesling and Pinot Gris add minerality floral aromas.

It's summertime now so if any of this sounds good to you, stop in and create an occasion for some bubbly.  Pick up a bottle of still white Alsatian wine while you're here too.  We've got a lot of summer yet ahead of us.