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How do you top off a weekend of wine? By opening another bottle!
It has been a long weekend filled with wine. We had a wine tasting in-store on Saturday with wines of Argentina, then a dinner at Currents with Jeffrey Davies on Saturday evening, and to top it off a day chocked full of seminars and Bordeaux that some people only have a once in a lifetime chance to taste! My favorite was the Chateau Pavie seminar put on by Jeffrey Davies. We had the fortunate opportunity to taste the 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, & 2005 Pavie all in one seating with the ever entertaining Davies to guide us through them all. My favorite was the 2000 … or will be in a few years when it is ready to come back to! I was also impressed with the 2004. Its a great wine and I think its greatly underestimated. Needless to say the weekend was winenormous!So how did I wrap up the night? With a juicy steak and a bottle of the 2007 Laurel by Clos Erasmus. All I can say is ”Wow!”. I think its better than the 2006 from my recollection. Very big and velvety with blackberries and licorice. It was the perfect ending to a great wine weekend.
2007 Laurel by Clos Erasmus $49.99
Some history on Laurel:
The Laurel cuvee is produced 100% from the Clos Erasmus vineyards but from the more recent plantings and is the result of declassification of some of the barrels of Clos Erasmus. It is approx. 50% grenache, 30% syrah, and 20% cab. In 2005, Clos Erasmus was chosen by Robert Parker (the million dollar nose) to be included among the 175 estates in his book “The World’s Greatest Wine Estates”. That says a lot, especially being that only six of the estates chosen were from Spain.
- Summer Martin, B-21′s Spain & Portugal Advocate
Back label secret comes to life: Jeffrey Davies in person
2007 Chateau Rigaud $11.99
One of the tricks to sorting out unfamiliar bottles is to turn them around to see if the name of the importer in small print is a name you trust.
Like Jeffrey Davies.
If you don’t know the vineyard or the appellation, Davies does and you’re set. I first sipped with him a few years ago and realized he knew everything I needed to know. A sunny Californian AND a 20-year resident of Bordeaux, he has a nose for the underappreciated cru or the one that needs a only a small touch to elevate it.
You can find out yourself when he comes to Tarpon to host a Grand Dinner and a Tasting of 2009 barrel samples during B-21’s star-studded celebration of Bordeaux and Beyond this month.
Life has changed since 1855 and Davies knows it.
From the right bank he has revived and promoted names like Ch. Valandraud and La Gomerie and he’s found even more treasures in the lands beyond Lalande: the Cotes de Bordeaux, Blaye , Bergerac, Fitou and Minervois. All the places I wish I knew better, Davies has already explored and found the best.
There are still a few tickets left for the April 17th dinner and barrel sampling at Currents in Tarpon with Davies and two of our other star guests from France, Jean Christophe Meyrou and Francois Villars. It kicks off at 4 p.m. with twelve count ‘em, 12 barrel samples from the much-buzzed 2009 vintage, followed by a grand dinner at 5 p.m. The price for the evening is $65.
If you can’t make the dinner, come to Sunday’s tastings and seminars. If you miss them both, buy a bottle of 2007 Ch. Rigaud, a Davies prize from Faugeres, made from syrah, grenache and the help of Claude Gros. Not the usual ingredients, but unusual quality: earthy black fruit and smoke and satiny on the palate. Maybe the best of the southwest — and a taste of Davies’ imagination. ($11.99).