Brane-Cantenac Part II

After my tour of the property, I was invited to have lunch at the Chateau. Keep in mind that (as I am sure you all are aware) I'm nobody. I am not a buyer and while I write about Bordeaux a lot on this site a good day for me is 100 visits, so I have no influence in the wine world whatsoever and yet Henri, Corinne and Maria took time out of their day to have lunch with me.

This is one thing that stood out during my trip to Bordeaux: just about everywhere I went I was met with warmth and openness. Everyone was friendly and accommodating - which was especially nice considering how bad/non-existent my French is. In America, we often see French people portrayed as snotty and stand-offish. That may be true in some parts of France, but it was definitely not true in Bordeaux and the surrounding regions.




Lunch started off with hours hors d'oeuvres served with Champagne. This was followed by a 4 course meal, each course paired with a vintage of Chateau Brane Cantenac, selected by Henri. It was excellent, and by far the best meal I had while I was in Bordeaux (i didn't have any bad meals while I was there, this was just the best :)).

Aside from the great food and superb wine what made the meal great was how quickly the conversation ramped up. Very quickly it felt like I had known these people for years and the two hours I had set aside for lunch passed so quickly that I almost missed my appointment at Chateau Margaux.

One of the advantages of being a blogger and not a wine journalist is that I get to show my love for wine properties that I think do everything right. You read that here in my constant posts about Breaux Vineyards, Fabbioli Cellars and when I write about Chateau Brane Cantenac. To me, these wineries not only make great wine but do a tremendous job of taking care of their fans and I have no problem repeatedly telling the world how great they are :).

Fabbioli Open House

Fabbioli Cellars held an open house on the 6th of December where they presented Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

The tasting room was nicely decorated for the holidays, as was the sun deck, where Doug did the tasting.



Doug is one of my favorite winemakers. He is absolutely passionate about the process, and not afraid to experiment. This shows in his wines, which are uniformly excellent and often unique.

The open house tasting included the 2005 Tre Sorelle (his Bordeaux style blend), 2006 Chambourcin and 2006 Cabernet Franc. The Ghosts of Christmas Present were the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2008 Cabernet Franc Reserve. The Ghost of Christmas future was a barrel tasting of the Tannat.

There were two particular standouts of the tasting. The first was the 2005 Tre Sorelle. I reviewed this wine in 2008; it was great then and it has gotten even better with the additional year of aging. This is one of the tragedies of a small winery, like Fabbioli, it is very hard for Doug to let wine sit in a bottle for 2-3 years before releasing it because there are bills to pay. So, while the wine was good when it was first released it hadn't reached its full potential. I purchased a few bottles to lay down until next year, when it should be fully mature.

The other standout was the barrel tasting of the Tannat. You can see the color of this wine in picture below, it is a deep, rich purple color to it. It also had strong tannins. This is a grape winemakers in Virginia flirt with, it grows well here, but can be finicky, especially trying to release it as a stand alone wine. I think Doug has gotten this vintage right and the wine could be released as a standalone, or perhaps blended with just a bit of Merlot.

Either way, I am anxious to see what he does.

Weekend Wine Activities

I haven't done a WWA post in a while, but there is so much going on this weekend, I figured you all should know about them:

1. Fabbioli is having an open house this weekend. Lots of good food, good wine and even some barrel tastings.


2. Breaux is also having an open house...and there are some special treats for cellar club members.


3. Loudoun Valley continues with their soup weekends on Saturday.


4. Corcoran Vineyards has two events happening on Saturday. First they are having an open house, then they are doing a Sparkling wine tasting with Mary Watson.


5. Veramar is continuing their Deck the Halls Event...pick up Christmas wreaths ornaments and drink mulled wine!!
   

These are just some of the events, definitely check out your favorite winery to see what is going on!

Fabbioli Blending

This is something that Doug at Fabbioli Cellars does every year and it is a lot of fun. Doug lets his customers come up with the blending for this Tre Sorelle.

This year he broke us up into three teams of 4 people and he handed us a list of the wines available to use (I won't reproduce the list here). The list was broken down by varietal, vineyard, and how much was available. Our goal was to blend a wine that everyone would like and would still allow him to meet his target number of cases. So, for example, let's say he wanted to produce 500 cases of the wine and he only had two barrels of Cabernet Franc, that limits the amount of Cabernet Franc that can be used in the blend to about 5%.

First, we tasted all of the wines and he made a point of highlighting the differences between the same varietals from different vineyards. A Cabernet Franc from one vineyard might have different properties or aged differently than a Cabernet Franc from another vineyard...even though those vineyards might only be miles apart. This depth of knowledge of each varietal was very helpful as it made it easier for us to fill in holes in our wine by drawing on more or less of a varietal.

After the tasting we got down to business, complete with beakers and test tubes. Each table sorted out which wines they wanted to include and then started the blending process. After the first one was blended everyone at the table tasted it and determined what it was lacking. A second wine was then blended, using the information Doug had given us to plug holes in our wine.

We then created a second blend. When we were completely satisfied with the second wine we passed it to Doug, who brown-bagged it and passed it around for everyone to taste (along with the finished products from the other tables). Doug let everyone vote to decide which one the room liked best, then he talked about what was good and bad in each wine.

After the first round of blind tastings we were given an opportunity to try again. Each team created a new wine, again drawing on the lessons of the previous wine. This was also passed around and voted upon.

In the end, our wine came in second place both times. The event is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it.

North Gate Vineyard

One of the nice things about a relatively small wine community like Loudoun County is that, for the most part, the wineries all look out for each other. The winery owners meet regularly, share ideas and help each other out. If you talk to just about any winemaker in Loudoun they'll have a story about how they've been advised by one of the other winemakers on any number of topics.

North Gate vineyard is no exception. I first heard about North Gate a year ago at Fabbioli and then again at Notaviva. Both tasting rooms carry a subset of the North Gate wines (Fabbioli has the Viognier and Notaviva the Chardonnay).

Unfortunately, North Gate does not have a tasting room yet, so while I enjoyed their wines, I was not able to get out and do a tasting. Fortunately, Mark and Vicki were kind enough to open their house during the Farm Tour this past weekend, so I got chance to see their operation and try some of the wines I haven't had a chance to try yet.

Visiting a winery during harvest is always interesting. It gives you a true sense of how the winery operates. As you can see from the pictures, they were very busy, but Mark still took the time to chat with me about the vineyard, answer my questions and show me around. Wile the sorting, fermenting and aging spaces were small they were clean and obviously well maintained and the white board with all the notes about the harvest demonstrates the amount of thought they put in to their harvest.

The wines were all good, I especially liked the Cabernet Franc. I was disappointed that I didn't get to try the Petit Verdot, maybe next time.

North Gate has a booth at several of the local Farmer's Markets, feel free to check them out there.

Review: 2007 Fabbioli Cellars Chambourcin

Wine: 2007 Fabbioli Cellars Chambourcin



Review:This is a light red wine, the kind of wine that is great to drink by itself. The wine had a very fruit forward aroma with strong berry scents. Very slight tannins and a nice finish. A very simple, delicious summer wine.

Price: $16

Grade: 90

Wines for BBQ

Laura Malesich has a run down of BBQ wine pairings from Natalie Mclean. Of course, what she really lists is grilled food and associated wine pairings. As usual, Natalie has excellent recommendations but its still not BBQ.

For real BBQ I usually recommend a Chambourcin, the berries and soft tannins complement the vinegar in the BBQ nicely. If you want to stick with North Carolina then you can't go wrong with the Chambourcin from Silk Hope winery, one of the oldest in North Carolina.

Sticking with Virginia wineries, I am partial to the Chambourcin at Fabbioli and Corcoran.

Wine Versus Beer

Looking for a fun way to celebrate Mardi Gras?

Breaux Vineyards and Vintage 50 are teaming up for a wine versus beer dinner (link is a PDF). Its a 5 course meal with each course paired with a Breaux wine and a Vintage 50 beer. There are only 10 slots left for the dinner, so if you are interested, give them a call. Dinner is $79.99

If you just want to stick with wine, Fabbioli is pairing up with American Flatbed in Ashburn for a wine dinner. 4 courses with 4 great wines from Fabbioli for $50.

Wine: Fabbioli Cellars 2005 Tre Sorelle



Review: In 2006, when I reviewed the 2004 vintage of this wine, Doug was just getting started with his own winery. Two and half years later Fabbioli Cellars is a must-visit on the Loudoun wine trail.

A friend of mine was having a bad day at work on Friday. I keep a small wine rack on my desk usually stocked with 3 or 4 bottles, so I called her down to split a bottle of the Tre Sorrelle and vent.

The 2005 Tre Sorrele is a blend of 65% Merlot, 20% Tannat and 15% Petit Verdot. This is a spicy wine with a strong oaky taste and black currant flavors. It has aged well and has a soft finish with light tannins.

A good wine to enjoy on a bad Friday or any other time.

Price: $24

Grade: 95

Wine: 2007 8 Chains North Lo.Co. Vino



Review: A chain is a agricultural unit of measurement equal to 66 feet. 8 Chains North gets its name from the fact that it is 8 chains north of Colonel White's river fields (according to the bottle -- I can't tell you why that is significant) ;)).

This is a good summer wine and an excellent wine to enjoy with light cheeses. It is a blend of 50% Traminette and 50% Vidal Blanc. It is a light wine, very crispy with a very light aftertaste. It has hints of pears and honeysuckle. If you don't have any cheese around, it is a good sipping wine all by itself. You can pick up a bottle at Fabbioli.

Price: $18

Grade: 95

I am almost embarrassed to post this because it happened so long ago, but I cannot resist telling you about some great wines. Back in April, Doug hosted a release tasting at Fabbioli. The release did not just include his wines, but also wines from two other local vineyards and all three winemakers were on hand.

Each wine was paired with an item especially prepared by Chef Aaron Daniels. There were 4 wines released: Fabbioli's Cabernet Sauvignon, a mild wine with strong flavors of oak that lingers on the palette and a hint of pepper. Fabbioli also released their Black Raspberry Port. If you are thinking, "Black Raspberry Port, can that possibly be as good as it sounds and where can I get some?" It was fantastic, so good in fact that Doug sold out of his entire production run that day.

From North Gate Vineyards we were able to sample their newly released Merlot. The Merlot was barrel-aged in French oak for 18 months, creating a flavorful, complex wine with the taste of cherries and an earthy feel to it. A very excellent Merlot, on par with what most wineries would consider their reserve.

Furnace Mountain Vineyards (no website) introduced us to their 8 Chain's North Lo.Co. Vino an excellent blend of Traminette and Vidal Blanc -- I'll have more details on this wine in a future review.

A great day and a chance to enjoy some really good wines.

Doug Fabbioli, a local winemaker I have often mentioned is in the hospital. Please keep him in your prayers.

Looking to celebrate Mardi Gras with some Virginia wine this weekend? You are in luck, both Fabbioli Cellars and Breaux Vineyards are having Mardi Gras celebrations on Saturday (Feb. 2nd).

The wine club will be at the Fabbioli celebration, en masse, but both events look like a lot of fun!

I know this is late, but I went to Vintage Virginia on June 2nd with the wine club. I am getting more turned off by the larger festivals. While it is nice to have such a variety of vineyards to choose from, and it gives me a chance to try some of the more obscure Virginia wineries, it is hard to really enjoy the wines with so many people thronged around the tasting tents.

One highlight from the festival, and a wine I did get a chance to savor, was the 2006 Fabbioli Cabernet Franc. It has the spicy kick that I like in a Cabernet Franc, a great nose and stays on the palette for a while. It was a little young when I tasted it, but should be great in another 6 months or so.

Doug said that he has had several restaurants buy cases of it untasted. Smart move on their part, given his success with the Tre Sorelle and Raspberry Merlot.

Wine: Fabbioli Cellars 2004 Tre Sorelle



Review: Doug Fabbioli is the winemaker at Windham Winery. He also has his own winery, and produces three wines, all of which are offered for tasting at Windham. The Tre Sorelle is Bordeaux-style consisting of 65% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot.

The wine has a very deep color with strong aromas of black cherries and olives. It has a flavor that matches its strong presentation, with a spicy bite to it and a heavy taste. It is a little young, but I think in a couple of years it will be a great wine.

Price: $24

Grade: 85

My apologies again for the dearth posts, a lot of wine stuff going on, several posts coming up over the next couple of days, stay tuned.

Windham produces a lot of really good wines. Readers of this blog know that I am particularly fond of their reds. Despite my love of their wines, I have never been out to their winery. This past Sunday I finally managed to make it out to their winery to help them celebrate the Vernal Equinox (yea, yea, I know, a couple of weeks early but I will take any excuse I can to sacrifice a virgin ;)), The tasting was really good, I was poured by Doug Fabbioli, the winemaker, and so got a lot of details about the wine.







In addition to their wines, I also tried a creation from Doug's personal vineyard called Tre Sorelle -- I'll post a review of it shortly. All-in-all, a great fun time.