Jordan Winery Releases the 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon

Written by Allison Levine on May 21, 2019

Wine

The release of the 2015 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon was not just another wine release. This release marks a shift in the winemaking that has been a dream of the winemaking team for years. And to announce this change and release the 2015 vintage, associate winemaker Maggie Kruse came to Los Angeles for a comparative tasting of Jordan wines and Chateau Pichon-Baron wines from three vintages, which I wrote about in the Napa Valley Register and share here.

The 2015 Jordan Winery Cabernet Sauvignon was released on May 1. Releasing a new vintage each year will always excite customers. But the release of the 2015 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon was more than just the release of the new vintage. The release of the 2015 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon has been a dream of the winemaking team for 15 years and it has finally come to life.

Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Irvine & Roberts 2016 Pinot Meunier

Written by Allison Levine on May 18, 2019

Wine

There are three grapes grown in Champagne but most people are aware of two of the grapes – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The third grape is Pinot Meunier, a grape that gets less acclaim. I have tasted a few Champagnes that are predominantly, or exclusively, Pinot Meunier, but I had never had a still red wine made from 100% Pinot Meunier until now. And that is why the Irvine & Roberts 2016 Pinot Meunier from the Rouge Valley in Oregon is the Please The Palate pick of the week.

Pinot Meunier is a clonal mutation of the Pinot group, which means that it is related to Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and others. Pinot Meunier is considered a quiet workhorse in Champagne and is not as challenging to grow as Pinot Noir. It is also a rather “ugly duckling” in the vineyard. The vines can look sickly at first glance as the underside of the vines’ leaves are covered with a white fur. This is what inspired the name, Meunier, which is French for “miller”. Read More +

Watch Out Champagne! British Bubbles Are Here!

Written by Allison Levine on May 16, 2019

Wine

The world of sparkling wines is vast and the king of sparkling wine is Champagne. When I sat down for a seminar at Pebble Beach Food & Wine, the glasses in front of me looked like Champagne and had some of the same mineral, citrus and brioche aromas. But, in fact, it was not Champagne in front of me. Nor was it Italian sparkling wine or California sparkling wine. It was, in fact, British sparkling wine, a category that I had been hearing about but had not had the opportunity to taste, until now. British Bubbles are a very exciting category which I wrote about in the Napa Valley Register, which you can read here, and I look forward to continuing to explore British Bubbles in the future.

I took a look at the glasses on the table. The liquid was a pale gold with a stream of small bubbles. The nose ranged from mineral and citrus to apple and brioche notes.

A simple guess was that Champagne was in front of me. But it was not. I had eight glasses of British Bubbles in front of me as I sat down for a seminar at Pebble Beach Food & Wine titled “Oysters, Pearls and British Bubbles” led by Champagne-lover Kim Beto, Sommelier Tim Smith, an American living in England, Master Sommelier Joe Spellman and English-born Master Sommelier Laura Rhys. Kim recalled a few years ago when Chef Gary Danko first asked him about English bubbles. He had no answer then but today, make no mistake that British Bubbles is a serious category of wine.