Metro Monthly

June started with a sellout crowd attending Springfield Grille’s monthly dinner tasting. Locally owned Tri-County Distributors brought in Chuck Parker, cellar master of Trinchero Family Estate Winery. Parker easily guided everyone throughout the excellent five-course dinner created by chefs B.J. Sulka, Nick Mileto and Dale Haag. I have reviewed quite a few Trinchero wines in past columns, and this tasting only reinforced my high regard for them.

Their Family Estate 2006 Chardonnay was paired to a delicious salad of fresh strawberries and feta cheese. Lightly oaked and made from sourced grapes from Santa Barbara County, it was a fine match for course no. 1. The next round featured the 2006 Vista Montone Pinot Noir. The Grille’s breast of duck and onion confit was seamless with this spicy medium-bodied Pinot. Burgundian in style, Parker’s Pinot Noir is a welcome change of pace from some of California’s “bigger must be better” style of winemaking.

For a change of pace, a homemade blueberry sorbet was coupled with Trinchero’s 2006 Family Estate Sauvignon Blanc. Made from Santa Barbara (87 percent) and Lake County (13 percent) fruit, this textbook Sauvignon Blanc provided a refreshing interlude.

Frenched rack of wild boar was paired to one of my favorite Cabs. The 2005 “Chicken Ranch” Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100 percent Napa Rutherford fruit. At $28.99, this red is a real bargain. It proved to be a great match to the wild boar. Easy drinking but with a firm backbone of silky tannins, this bottle is hard not to finish once it’s been opened.

The dessert course proved to be quite a surprise. The Grille’s chocolate coconut ganache with a Merlot dipping sauce was served with a glass of Trinchero’s 2004 Family Estate Merlot. The berry and mocha fruit flavors of this red was simply delicious with this dessert offering.

Wine Styles of Howland held their “If You Insist” tasting on June 12 to an appreciative crowd of wine lovers. This affair is proving to be one of the Mahoning Valley’s best tastings in regard to value. This tasting featured wines ranging from $41 to $123 a bottle. Their first offering was Chalk Hills 2003 Russian River Chardonnay ($50.99) intense aromas of citrusy, pear and hazelnut gave way to a finish of creamy toast. This great Chardonnay will stand with the best Burgundy has to offer. Wine Styles’ next offering was the Tenute Dei Vallarino 2003 ($56.99) “Bricco Asinari” Barbera D’Asti. This bold red from Italy’s Piedmonte region was a crowd favorite. Dark colored and lush tasting, it can easily be compared to the Piedmonte’s large scale Barolos and Barbarescos. A juicy sirloin or rack of lamb would be the perfect match for this tasty red.

Orin Swift Cellars 2006 “The Prisoner” ($40.99) from Napa Valley was also a crowd pleaser. This tasty blend of Zinfandel (51 percent) Cabernet Sauvignon (23 percent), Syrah (12 percent), Petite Sirah (6 percent), Charbona (6 percent), and a smidgen of Grenache (2 percent) just kept everyone comparing notes. I heartily recommend this wine for someone looking for a well crafted red that is unique and simply delicious.

The next two wines, also from Napa Valley, were more traditional renditions of what Napa has to offer. The Shafer 2005 One Point Five Cabernet ($54.99) from Stags Leap and the Silver Oak 2003 ($122.99) are textbook Cabernet Sauvignon in every respect. The rich and bold flavored Cabs are delicious now, but are capable of 20 years or more of cellaring. Wine Styles should be complimented for providing such great and unusual wines to sample at such a reasonable price.

Last month, I reviewed Café Cimmento’s wine dinner, and as promised, I’ll talk about another downtown Youngstown location this month, the Rosetta Stone at 110 W. Federal St. Head chef Steve Horvat prepared a table of fresh fruit, smoked salmon, imported cheeses, marinated artichokes, roasted peppers, and assorted petit fours pastries. Great wines were matched to the above delicacies by owner Greg Sop. Three wines really stood out from the rest. The first was the Peltier Station 2006 Viognier ($17.99). Made from Lodi fruit, this all-stainless-vinted white wine went well with everything available. Another white that I liked was the Karly 2007 Sauvignon Blanc ($14.99) from Amador County. Bright citrus and grapefruit flavors abound in this easy-drinking wine. The smoked salmon was a near-perfect match for this Amador Sauvignon Blanc.

My personal favorite of the evening was the 2006 Peirano Estate Heritage Collection Merlot ($12.99). This affordable red was stunning. Super bright berry and dark fruit flavors were followed by a long finish tinged with mocha and leather that went on forever. This was Rosetta Stone’s first tasting, and Sop told me that they’re planning on holding them on a regular basis. I wish them good luck, and look forward to more of the same.

Let’s move along to our monthly store tastings. My first stop of the month was the Five Points Wine and Bar tasting featuring Cutting Edge distributors’ Spanish selection of wines. The first wine I sampled was the 2002 Marques de Galida Brut-Cava. This estate-grown Spanish sparkler is a blend of 35 percent native Macabeo, 30 percent Xarello, 20 percent Parellada grapes with 15 percent Chardonnay in for the balance. Crisp and yeasty fruit flavors are followed by a long textured finish. This inexpensive bubbly was the perfect accompaniment to the music of Stan Miller, who sang and played his saxophone throughout the tasting.

My next pick was the 2006 Campo de Borja “Atteca.” This 100 percent old vine Grenache (80- to 120-year-old vines) is a deeply colored red with upfront berry and dark fruit flavors, followed by a finish of cherries and mocha tinged with vanilla.
My last pick was the 2004 Altos de Luzon from Jumilla, Spain, a delectable cuvee of 50 percent Monastrell, 25 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 25 percent Tempranillo. I have sampled this wine for several vintages, and can easily say it gets better every year. Sweet dark fruit flavors and a spicy textured finish make this a hard glass of wine to put down.

Vintage Estate Wine and Beer’s Saturday afternoon tasting was my next destination. Once again, the wine lineup was super. The Rock Point River White NV (non-vintage) from Oregon was very appealing. I found this blend of 62 percent early Muscat and 38 percent Viognier very easy drinking, with crisp aromas of orange and honeysuckle. At $10.99 a bottle, it’s a real steal.

My next selection was the Red counterpoint to the Rock Point River White. Their non-vintage blend of Syrah (65 percent) and Cabernet Sauvignon (37 percent) produces a deeply colored red wine with tons of red fruit and plum flavors followed by a long spice-tinged finish – and like the white, it’s also $10.99.
My next wine was the crowd favorite. The Sonoma Vineyards 2004 Merlot ($11.99) had tons of flavorful wild berry fruit flavors and a rich clean finish that went on forever. This is an enjoyable red wine that everyone can enjoy.

On June 22, I was invited to Mastropietro Winery’s inaugural Jazzfest at 14558 Ellsworth Road, Berlin Center. With food catered by the Fifth Season Restaurant and music provided by Jeff Green and Players Express Entertainment, it started out to be an enjoyable afternoon of music, wine and fun. When I arrived, the Teddy Pantelas trio was onstage, and I secured a bottle of Mastropietro’s fine American Chardonnay. Unfortunately, by the time we finished our bottle, the heavens opened up and a downpour ensued. We retired to the winery’s tasting room and sampled a tray of all of Mastropietro’s wines before settling on his Chambourcin Red. This slightly off-dry red was just great. Sharp but sweet red fruit flavors and a juicy crisp finish made us forget the weather outside. I am looking forward to next year’s Jazzfest and will keep my fingers crossed for better weather.

While I’m on the subject of summertime weather – our recent hot spell in particular – at outdoor parties, not everyone is a wine or beer drinker. Recently I had a chance to sample Bacardi’s Classic Mojito. This ready-to-drink cocktail (just add ice to the glass) was very refreshing and easy to pour. It comes in a 1.5 liter bottle and should satisfy most non-wine or -beer drinkers in the crowd.

I look forward to seeing my readers at upcoming wine events in the Valley. Wine Styles: Wine Guy Discovery Series, Friday, July 11; Women Gone Wine, Wednesday, July 30. Vintage Wine and Estate Tasting: Saturday, July 19. Springfield Grille monthly tasting – call restaurant for date and details. If you have a wine event you would like listed in this column, please send it to thewineguy@metromonthly.net.