Farewell (for now) to One of Our Dudes

Dude Patrick!

For more than two years a group of friends have gathered nearly every 2-3 weeks to sip wine, compare thoughts, and tell each other that they have no idea what they're talking about.

We tasted all sorts of wines at low price points, high price points, and from countries around the world. We've done dinners, blind tastings, and a couple of videos for this blog.

After all, isn't that what friends do? We dubbed ourselves "Dudes on the Porch." That's because it all started on my front porch when I lived near the center of town in grand 100-year old home. I've moved to a newer condo, Dude Mike has moved away because of his wife's career, and tonight we lose Dude Patrick for a year as his Professor Wife goes on sabbatical.

So tonight we're opening some wines. I'm going to update throughout the evening. We've sort of pledged to bring different wines but only good ones!

I'll udpate with the wines, some thoughts and a few photos as we go along. This is sort of a "live blogging" night!

We started with a wine I carried back from Wisconsin last year - Ledgestone 2009 Le Crescent. Le Crescent is an Elmer Swenson creation. Swenson was a grape-development pioneer at the University of Minnesota. He developed the slightly better known Frontenac as well.

Le Crescent combines another of Swenson's grapes, St. Pepin, along with a clone from Muscat Hamburg. What you get is a refreshingly tart white wine with strong apricot and tart citrus. It's quite refreshing. Winemaker Tim Abel talks up the varietals and this wine delivers. The $22 price point is higher than a lot of white wines but worth it to discover these unique varieties you've probably never tried nor heard of before.

Next up was a Burgundy Patrick brought along. We enjoyed a rather big Domaine Larue Saint-Aubin 2008 1st Cru Sur Le Sentier du Clou.

"This has bigger, darker fruit than you get from Burgundy," Patrick said. Indeed, the dark fruit was much bigger than most Burgundy (think bold cherry flavor) but it had great acidic balance for a great mouth feel.

Patrick snatched this $50-plus wine from Cinderella wine.com for just under $30.

Our last wine was John Bojanowski's Clos du Gravillas Lo Vielh - or 100 percent Languedoc Carignan. This wine stands out as one of my favorite finds from a week-long visit to France's Languedoc region in January.

The Lo Vielh - which means old one - is big, earthy, and bold - the perfect way to send Patrick off to Tennessee. John doesn't make much of this wine so the fact it made its way to Indiana is even more amazing. Thanks go to our friends importer Paul Chartrand and Derek Gray of Graybull imports.

The wine features grapes from 101-year old vines on John's small property in the Languedoc. Clos du Gravillas is also certified 100 percent organic by French laws. John has personally taken Carignan on as a personal cause. It's grown widely in southern France but most often used as a blending grape. It has a wonderfully stinky nose and might be off-putting to some until you tasted. If you can find the Le Vielh, because most sold out on the first shipment, expect to pay $25-$35.

All four of us present Monday night really liked this unique bottle of wine. I briefly met John at the Millesime Bio in Montpellier then had the chance to talk with him a bit during a spring visit to Indianapolis promoting his wines. The Kentucky native is an interesting guy making some really unique wines worth seeking out.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Getting the Price Right Makes a Difference

Time for a quick update. One of my great finds during a January visit to France's Languedoc wine region was Kentucky native John Bojanowski's Clos du Gravillas wines.

Bojanowski

I attended a spring tasting in Indianapolis while John was in the US to work with distributors and promote his wines. I wrote about it for an April/May newspaper column that goes out to 18 Midwestern newspapers.

I quoted the price from the wine establishment which was a mistake. I've written here numerous times about the restaurant/bar markup on wines and, frankly, should have known better.

Gravillas' signature wine is its 100 percent Carignan. I paid over $50 to take a bottle home that night and referred to the price in the $50-plus range. I heard from John today who quickly noted he was unaware of the price charged at the tasting until after the fact.

You can find his beautiful Carignan wine - something new for many wine drinkers - at a far more affordable retail price in the $25-$30 range. Obviously, you'll pay more in restaurants.

The Carignan and John's top blend 'Le Rendez Vous du Soleilis' are available in Indiana. He also wrote he just shipped more wine to the U.S. so the reception must be positive. If you haven't tried Carignan, you should.


Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Long Road Louisville to Saint-Jean-de-Minervois

It’s a long path from Louisville, Ky., to Saint-Jean-de-Minervois in Southern France. But that’s the journey Brown University graduate John Bojanowski took in transformation from literature major to Languedoc winery owner.

Bojanowski was recently in Indianapolis to promote his Clos du Gravillas wines and visit family in Kentucky. His journey is an interesting one as is the unique Languedoc wine he champions.

The wine event was at Tastings in Indianapolis at the Conrad downtown.

Bojanowski attended prestigious Brown University in Providence, RI., and wanted to travel. He landed a job in the computer industry that took him to 50 countries in five years. During that time he met Nicole who wanted to be a winemaker. They went in search of just the right property to open their winery. 

John Bojanowski at Indy's Tastings

“When my wife started she wanted white limestone gravel, which is what our soil is because you get freshness and minerality out of that to balance what the sun does to the grapes,” he explained. “But Carignan was what we started with because that’s what she was able to buy. “

Their property included Carignan planted in 1911. Carignan is an often-maligned grape. It is a dark-colored and strong flavored wine. Some will even call the nose offensive and the taste can be strong. But the old vine Carignans can produce deeply flavored and rich wines. Small amounts of Carignan is consistently found in most Languedoc blends.

“We discovered that Carignan could be more than just okay. It can be really, really good. We’ve made it our purpose to tell everybody about it.”

Clos du Gravillas is a small production winery featuring wines made from 15 different grapes. “So it’s sort of like being an artist with 15 different colors on the palette. We try to figure out what each of those grapes are best for and how we can make it the best wine.”

The Languedoc is the largest wine-producing region of France.

“The Languedoc is on the Mediterranean. It’s between the Rhone River and Spain. Our winery is three hours form Barcelona and six hours from Paris. It’s sunny, beautiful and rain free almost all summer. You find very different terrain when you go a half hour drive in any direction from sea to flatlands to plateaus to mountains. It’s a beautiful place and wine grapes have been grown there for 2,000 years.”

The warm weather, the region averages 315 days of sunshine a year, produces ripe fruit. “We pick the grapes ripe which means a certain amount of sugar, a certain amount of alcohol, so they’re not little wines. We practice very natural and organic farming and then natural non-interventionist winemaking, and fermentations.  We try not to do too much besides getting really great grapes, putting them into the tank and letting them become wine.”

Clos du Gravillas wines are available in some Indiana restaurants and fine wine shops. John’s wines are above the value price points usually featured in Grape Sense. His wines are in $30-$50 range.

Languedoc wines are widely available in the $12-$16 range. Finding a 100 percent Carignan isn’t impossible but could be difficult; it will be worth the effort.

Howard’s Picks:

Le Rendez Vous du Soleil 2007 - This is a nice extracted blend of Cabernet, Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Counoise, Tannat, Terret Gris, and Carignan. This is big rich red wine that is beautifully balanced with big dark fruit. (SRP $42)

Lo Vielh Carignan 2007 - This is the real star in John's stable and the supply alloted Indiana has already sold out. This is the 100 percent Carignan from vines planted more than 100 years ago. Its a big incredible wine that has a smoothness unlike many Carignan wines. It's outstanding fine wine. ($25-35)

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Languedoc Tasting Educational for More than Retailers

CHICAGO, IL. - Tasting Languedoc wines on the 33rd floor overlooking Lake Michigan isn't a bad way to spend a Tuesday afternoon.

Retailers sample Languedoc wines at W. Lakeshore, Chicago

That was just what I did April 3 in downtown Windy City participating in one of three U.S. L'Aventure Languedoc tastings with U.S. distributors of Languedoc wines. The event is geared mostly for retailers and other buyers but it's educational and interesting to hear what retailers are looking for and what importers, winemakers, and Languedoc leaders think retailers should be looking for when promoting Languedoc wines.

I'm starting to get more invitations of this nature but it's hard for me to justify taking a day off work, the cost of parking, the drive, hotel, etc. But meeting a good friend for dinner was enough for a little 'what the heck' trip to Chicago.

I spent a week in the Languedoc in January learning about organic wines. The wines I tasted were made almost exclusively with traditional methods and presented by 10 different distributors.

I left again convinced of the tremendous quality for value the Languedoc offers winos.

The reds are full bodied and rich, the unusual whites are crisp and often soft on the palate. The Roses, right next door to Provence, are soft but perfect for summer sipping.

I'm not a big sparking fan and left generally unimpressed with the sparklers, but one strike is a pretty good batting average.

What most impressed me, though, was the education session put on by the Benson Marketing Group which promotes Languedoc wines. Account executive David Cohn told me his company likes to include an education component and not just a wine tasting. He's right. I'm sometimes shocked how little retailers know about a given region or its wines. Now, no retailer can be an expert of all the world's wine regions but a specialty tasting like this one makes sense when it includes an education component.

Two retailers joined Frederic Jeanjean, President of the Languedoc AOC, to talk not just about the wines and the region, but also how the wines should be promoted or presented to consumers.

Languedoc wines are a great value, most drinking well above that magic $12-$16 range you'll pay.

Nice view of Lake Michigan, Navy Pier from 33rd floor.

Barbara Glunz, from one of Chicago's oldest wine shops - the House of Glunz, urged retailers to learn more. "I think people come to us because they want to learn something," she said. "People love a wine with a story. And if they learn something they'll want to come back to see what else you know."

Discussion including pronouncing the French names, the always-controversial topic of French wine labeling was part of the 45-minute session.

"We don't want to copy the other appelations," Jeanjean said. "We want to be unique. Even though we were one of the first regions of the world to produce wine with the Romans, we are young. This is our Renaissance period."

Here are some labels I tasted and thought were standouts:


Chateau des Karantas Languedoc - The Karantas wines from the La Clape region are affordably priced and really nicely-balanced, full-bodied wines. They are distributed by Carroll Distributors in Indiana.

Gerard Bertrand Wines - Bertrand was named European Winery of the Year by Wine Enthusiast and tasting a couple of the wines proved the accolades. I tasted my first-ever PicPoul wine at the Bertrand table and enjoyed the light and soft white.


Les Deux Rives Corbieres - Lex Deux Rives wines were consistently good from the white, rose through the Chateau d'Aussieres Corbieres which was the best red blend I tasted all day. This is another label widely distributed, including Indiana.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com