Charleston Food & Wine Festival

Our third annual Charleston Food and Wine. I think it's prob fair to say that the food is more dominant for us at this event, but there are a few hidden gems always in the wine (last year we tried Spottswoode for the first time).

As part of our annual tradition for Charleston we always visit with some friends who run a Burgundy Thursday. As Burgundy is not as much our jam we take to providing the bubbles and the stickie. All wines great. The squab as a dish was one of the best things I've ever eaten.

• 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon

  France, Champagne

  (3/7/2019)

  A bit more tired than I expected it to be but could just be the bottle and storage conditions. It's old Dom though which to me is always great (the young stuff I just don't understand). Lots of toast and almost a hint of bitterness to it which more makes it a bit interesting. Quite fine and an amazing pairing with fried oysters.

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• 2002 Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Champans

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  (3/7/2019)

  More of a fruit profile for burgundy which I like. And with a bit of age which also helps. Darker cherries in the glass. A bit more body. A bit spicy. Very enjoyable. Was served next to a squab confit dish which was just out of this world. Great pairing.

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• 1995 Château d'Yquem

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  (3/7/2019)

  It's D'Yquem. So of course awesome. I would say this is more of a full bodied D'Yquem than some others. Still lighter than most sauternes. Paired with an apricot bread pudding which went very well with this. The apricot flavor pulled out more fruit and the butter pulled out the sweet. Very enjoyable.

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Held at the Establishment in Charleston. This was a fun event mostly because who doesn't like starting their day with bubbles? And then to top it off we got some fun small bites from the chef. Learned some interesting stuff although I think this ended up being more of a nice opportunity to meet some other folks at our table and chat bubbles and we perhaps were less into the lecture side. The Chartogne-Taillet was a nice find fo rme. I also liked the Pouillon and always love Vilmart.

Menu

Fried Chicken Skins
herb sea salt

Sorbet
cucumber-lime

Poached Scallop
compressed cucumber, pear, chervil, verjus

Oyster
tomato water mignonette

Cheese
house ricotta, salted walnut

Meatballs
fried in brown butter and fresh oregano

• NV Famille Moussé Champagne L'Or d'Eugène Perpetuelle Blanc de Noirs

  France, Champagne

  (3/8/2019)

  2013 base. 95% Pinot Meunier and 5% PN. The acidity was pretty prevalent here. Some almost dark stone notes (a bit gravelly). Some crisp unripe apple. It's a different style which I thought was fun and kindof jumps out at you. Interesting.

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• NV Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Réserve Oubliée

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  (3/8/2019)

  It's a nice pretty standard blanc de blanc. Bubbles are very smooth. Nice amount of tart. Touch of the buttery. In between two champagnes that are a bit more vibrant and different and so this stood out for being not that. It's kindof your old reliable style, but well done in that vein.

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• NV Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Cuvée Sainte Anne

  France, Champagne

  (3/8/2019)

  This was one of my favorites of the tasting. A 50% blend between Chard and PN which ends up with that distribution just about every year. It's like baking apples and spices and a bit of nuttiness and overall a fairly interesting and different champagne. 2015 base with 2013/14 in the blend.

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• NV Gonet-Médeville Champagne Premier Cru Extra Brut Rosé

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  (3/8/2019)

  Back to back roses and for most of the table this was their favorite (I preferred the R. Pouillon). It's got nice tart red fruits and very punchy bubbles. It's a tasty champagne. The piece that makes me hesitate a bit on it is more one-dimensional in style.

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• NV Roger Pouillon et Fils Champagne Premier Cru Brut Rosé

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  (3/8/2019)

  There's a wonderful freshness to this wine. Reminds me of taking wild strawberries and leaving them in spring water for a few days. That same level of subtlety and freshness of flavor. Very refreshing. Almost a hint of the sweetness of the fruit coming through. Tasty.

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• 2007 Vilmart & Cie Champagne Premier Cru Coeur de Cuvée

  France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru

  (3/8/2019)

  Second year in a row with this at the festival. There's a freshness and an intensity that is quite appealing. Lots of spices. 80% Chard. 20% PN. 80 months on the lees and 10 months in oak. This is a wine that is built for the long haul and truth is we were probably doing a bit of baby killing. Still quite good now though.

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This was one of my most favorite events of the festival. I am not a huge Trimbach fan, but I respect what they do and the restaurant was wonderful and the whole combination was just very well done. Also loved the stories from Jean Trimbach.

Onion and Bacon Alsatian Quiche

Cassolette of Mussels en Gratin

Alsatian Beef Stew in a Pinot Noir Vine Sauce

Creme Brulee and Red Berries

• 2014 Trimbach Pinot Gris Reserve

  France, Alsace

  (3/8/2019)

  Nice start to the meal. It's very fresh with good acidity. Settles in with some time in the glass. Lots of floral notes. Some white flowers. Very flavorful and very balanced.

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• 2008 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile

  France, Alsace

  (3/8/2019)

  Very interesting. Some vanilla, some more citrus notes. This is a young wine and I think prob not really even in drinking window yet. There's a hint of the petrol, but not overpowering. Very dry. This producer isn't always my jam because of that bit of sourness that I get in the wines, but here it seemed to work and actually with the mussels au gratin pairing was even a bit nice. A very classy wine.

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• 2014 Trimbach Pinot Noir Reserve

  France, Alsace

  (3/8/2019)

  Reminds me a lot of the Western Canadian Pinot Noirs I had last year when I was traveling a lot in that area. I think perhaps there's something about truly cool weather pinot. The acidity is sharper. The fruit a bit thinner almost in style. It does seems to do nicely with food. Also very reasonably priced.

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• 2008 Trimbach Gewurztraminer Cuvée des Seigneurs de Ribeaupierre

  France, Alsace

  (3/8/2019)

  Ah - lovely. This is very well done. Tons of citrus again - but this time more tangerine and maybe some blood orange. It's very crisp and pulled together. Just a hint of sweet notes. Maybe some blossoms. It's really quite tasty.

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This was the outlier event of the weekend. Wines I'd say were just ok and given it was the most expensive event we had for the weekend (more than the dinners) it didn't quite live up. Not sure any of these are wines I would actively seek out.

Not extra bites here

• 2018 Pico Maccario Piemonte Barbera Lavignone Rosato

  Italy, Piedmont, Piemonte DOC

  (3/8/2019)

  Very easy drinking rose. Reminds me of crushed up sweet tarts, but slightly on the softer side. More red fruits. A hint of the sour. Totally fine, but not what I'd seek out.

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• 2015 Pico Maccario Barbera d'Asti Superiore Epico

  Italy, Piedmont, Asti, Barbera d'Asti Superiore

  (3/8/2019)

  When we were in Piedmont last year one of my takeaways was Barbera generally isn't my grape. It's fairly dark and brooding and intense and seems to get a decent amount of oak treatment. This was good compared to some others. Still has the oak, but it's not like drinking splinters. Lots of darker wood fruits. Makes me think of bbq. It's still on that intense side.

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• 2015 Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (3/8/2019)

  This is a table wine (like most chiantis). It's got some fruit - some red and some black (the later surprising me a bit). Decent tannins. Some freshness. Didn't feel like it should be at a $250 tasting.

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• 2013 Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigneto di Campolungo

  Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG

  (3/8/2019)

  It's a fine wine. Again more in the fashion of a table wine than something I would expect to see at an event with this price tag. More tannins. A bit more drying in style. Some red fruits. Alright and I'm sure better with food.

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• 2016 Pasqua Passimento

  Italy, Veneto, Veneto IGT

  (3/8/2019)

  Not my style of wine and so I struggled a bit with this. It's gloppy. And fruit forward. Overly ripe. Intense and in your face and at the same time fairly basic. I can see it appealing to a certain set of folks, but it just wasn't for me.

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• 2013 Pasqua Amarone della Valpolicella

  Italy, Veneto, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella

  (3/8/2019)

  As you might imagine as an amarone style this is again very intense. It's lots of darker fruits. Red and blue and black. Some spices. It's overall interesting. At this point I was a bit concerned about the event we'd attended (which I do think they overcharged for), but this was fine.

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Very charming presentation by a representative from Catena Zapata. She did a nice job of wrangling the troops and making it interesting and interactive and educational. Fun to try through the line-up from entry level to their more higher end offerings. I particularly liked the Nicasia Vineyard one that we tried.

• 2016 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Catena High Mountain Vines

  Argentina, Mendoza

  (3/8/2019)

  This is the entry level wine and the one that I think you tend to see on a bunch of wine lists by the glass. It's basic, but not bad for what it is. Some spic, some good fruits, a bit of vanilla. More basic, but still interesting.

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• 2016 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Paraje Altamira

  Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco, Altamira

  (3/8/2019)

  This was lots of dark fruit. There's something else going on here - maybe a bit more woodland. Totally fine I think, but not something I'd go seek out.

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• 2016 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Lunlunta

  Argentina, Mendoza, Maipú, Lunlunta

  (3/8/2019)

  Again a lot of the fresh fruits and some spices. Interesting because at this more reasonable price point I tended to prefer this a bit more than number 2 even if that was more the old world style (at the higher end I was reversed).

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• 2015 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Catena Alta Historic Rows

  Argentina, Mendoza

  (3/8/2019)

  This was more well balanced than the first set of wines that we tried. There's some good fruits (mostly red). Blend of all of the vineyards. This was perhaps not a wine that speaks to one, but it was a wine that I can see myself ordering off a by the glass list potentially. Or at a work dinner where I need something that will be appealing to a broader group at a reasonable price. Again I go back to the balance which was a major step up at this point.

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• 2014 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Nicasia Vineyard

  Argentina, Mendoza, Valle de Uco, Altamira

  (3/8/2019)

  My favorite of the tasting. It's got a bit of prettiness to it which I think just means a bit more acid. A bit more spices. Brings the word classy to mind which I don't always connect with Malbec. Overall an interesting wine and well done.

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• 2015 Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Argentino

  Argentina, Mendoza

  (3/8/2019)

  This wine started off on the tasty side and then it became clear that it was great more from a small taste but gets to be a bit much to drink the tasting amount in the glass. Lots of bright red fruits. A bit more ripe than the Nicasia. Still an interesting wine.

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Every year we've tried a new Charleston restaurant to do their signature dinner. This was a funny one to pick, but I mostly did it because I knew Spottswoode had been the wine last year and assumed they'd have a nice pairing partner and had heard the food was good. I would say it was a big day and we were pretty tired by the end, but the duck pot pie definitely stood out for me.

Menu:

HORS D'OEUVRES
Pork rind rooster
Deviled Egg
Black-eyed Pea Samosa

DINNER
Brown Butter Scallop
cocktail tomatoes, grits

Turnip Run-Ups
sorghum vinaigrette, ricotta, Tom Thumb cornbread crumbs, radish

Duck, Date & Rutabaga Pot Pie
duck fat biscuit crust

Braised Beef Short Ribs
pickled peanut salad, citrus sweet potato butter

Charleston Cream Pie
cornbread chiffon cake, sorghum honey mousse, Muscadine wine ganache, green peanut caramel, Cathead Honeysuckle whipped cream, Carolina Gold Rice Krispie

• 2017 Duckhorn Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Napa Valley

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  (3/8/2019)

  Take this note with a grain of salt. It was dinner at the end of a long day at Charleston Food & Wine festival. I am a believer in napa SB especially when they go for a bit of the honey but with some balancing acidity. This wasn't really that. Much more full bodied and missing the acidity to help balance. A little intense. I think could have worked with the scallop in terms of style, but not quite my style of wine.

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• 2015 Goldeneye Pinot Noir Anderson Valley

  USA, California, North Coast, Anderson Valley

  (3/8/2019)

  Take this note with a grain of salt. It was dinner at the end of a long day at Charleston Food & Wine festival. I think of these wines as being decent for their price point and where they are from and that continues to be true. Even from Anderson Valley this is a bit more of the heavier, fruit forward style of Pinot. It's not exactly my type of wine, but I think the word 'fine' covers it.

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• 2015 Duckhorn Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley

  USA, California, Napa Valley

  (3/8/2019)

  Take this note with a grain of salt. It was dinner at the end of a long day at Charleston Food & Wine festival. When I think of Duckhorn I actually think more of their Merlots so I was surprised that the main wine of the evening was Cabernet. Perhaps some continued aftershocks of sideways. This was alright. It's fruity Napa cab. More valley floor style. A touch more approachable than some of the '15s I've had although no idea if they decanted or perhaps had poured on the early side so it had some more air.

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• 2013 Duckhorn Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Knights Valley

  (3/8/2019)

  Take this note with a grain of salt. It was dinner at the end of a long day at Charleston Food & Wine festival. Previous note had it right. This is not exactly complex or a wine that you need to really engage with though. There's something nice about having a bit of sweet at the end of a meal or a long day and for that this hit the spot quite nicely. For the money would likely go to sauternes.

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Super cool space. Their first time running a signature dinner and I think they were still sorting through some kinks, but the food was awesome and well thought through and overall we had a fun time. Usually by this point in the weekend I can't eat so much and I found myself finishing most all of this

Astice in Panzanella
lobster, burrata, taggiasca olives, tomato bread, basil

Cherry Peppers Cavatelli
lamb ragu, borage, green peas, dill

Seared Scallops
foie gras, celery puree, blood orange, fine herb

Dry Aged Duck
leek risotto, huckleberry marmalade

Carrot Olive Oil Cake
meyer lemon custard, almond gelato

• 2017 Meeker Pink Elephant

  USA, California, North Coast, Napa / Sonoma

  (3/9/2019)

  It was one of those darker colored roses. Blend where one of the grapes was a CF (which I've enjoyed lately) so I was hopeful, but not really my still. Too intense. A wine that I think is actually meant to be the main event and less of a food pairing. Not quite laid back enough though for that evening porch sipper. More fruit and push. It worked for some folks at the table though.

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• 2014 Meeker Cabernet Franc

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley

  (3/9/2019)

  Much more in the ripe form of the grape. Fruit very much there. Less of the herbs and the more woodsy notes. To me it was missing a bit of the balance and stayed a bit one dimensional. Unfortunate as I do really like CF as a grape.

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• 2016 Meeker Zinfandel Fro-Zin

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Russian River Valley

  (3/9/2019)

  Funnily enough this might have been my favorite of the wines they poured, but I have a sweet tooth and this was a very interesting pairing for a scallop with some foie as well. Prob a bit more like grape juice. Glad it was a small pour. But it was a nice bit of sweet in the middle of the meal.

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• 2014 Meeker Merlot Winemaker's Handprint

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  (3/9/2019)

  The story on these bottles is nuts - they do each of them by hand and make over a thousand cases. So that's a lot of work. The wine inside was similar to the other wines we had from this producer. Just not quite as balanced as I would have liked. Fruit dominant. And a touch alcoholic. And just generally not quite my vibe.

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• 2013 Meeker Zinfandel bessie

  USA, California, Sonoma County

  (3/9/2019)

  Last wine and I didn't try as much of this. It's your pretty intense Zin though. More fruit forward. More alcohol. And again missing some of that balance. Very much the style that people think of when they think california.

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Some random other bottles we had throughout the weekend (Culinary Village, some pre-dinner drinks, etc.)

• NV Graham Beck Brut Methode Cap Classique Chardonnay Pinot Noir

  South Africa, Coastal Region

  (3/9/2019)

  As part of a tasting at the Graham Beck booth at Charleston food and wine festival. interesting because most producers were going with the straight pour approach this created quite a line here. Went through line-up of the more standard/reasonably priced ones and then a blanc de blanc and a vintage rose.
  
  This was the standard bubbles. I won't say I was blown away by it. It's got a touch of a sour note. But for the price point it actually seems very reasonable. This is close to what I would pay for a bottle of prosecco and I think this might have been a bit better than that. Easy drinking. Something for a bigger party or similar where you want to be festive.

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• NV Graham Beck Brut Rosé

  South Africa, Western Cape

  (3/9/2019)

  As part of a tasting at the Graham Beck booth at Charleston food and wine festival. interesting because most producers were going with the straight pour approach this created quite a line here. Went through line-up of the more standard/reasonably priced ones and then a blanc de blanc and a vintage rose.
  
  Again, I'm impressed by the QPR on this wine. It's not something that totally jumps out as amazing. But it's very drinkable. Easy with nice red fruits and just the fun that comes with being pink bubbles and who doesn't like pink bubbles?

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• NV Graham Beck "Premier Cuvee" Brut Blanc de Blancs

  South Africa, Coastal Region

  (3/9/2019)

  As part of a tasting at the Graham Beck booth at Charleston food and wine festival. interesting because most producers were going with the straight pour approach this created quite a line here. Went through line-up of the more standard/reasonably priced ones and then a blanc de blanc and a vintage rose.
  
  Starting to go towards the more formal bottles now. This is a bit of the toasty and brioche and all of that. Not at the level of a champagne, but I will say again not bad given price point.

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• 2011 Graham Beck Brut Rosé Vintage

  South Africa, Western Cape

  (3/9/2019)

  As part of a tasting at the Graham Beck booth at Charleston food and wine festival. interesting because most producers were going with the straight pour approach this created quite a line here. Went through line-up of the more standard/reasonably priced ones and then a blanc de blanc and a vintage rose.
  
  Last bottle (the vintage rose). This was not bad. It's got a bit more depth of flavors than the earlier ones. Almost feels like you can taste some extra skin contact or tannin to it. Not a lot though. The fruits a touch less bright and a bit more deep. It's not an overly complex or different wine, but it's drinkable. I'd prob order off a list sometime when looking for reasonably priced bubbles.

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• 2017 Alexander Valley Vineyards Sangiovese Dry Rosé of Sangiovese

  USA, California, Sonoma County, Alexander Valley

  (3/9/2019)

  I think the provence wine style has ruined me a bit for the darker sorts. Darker fruits. Almost a black cherry note. Had this with some very spicy rice and chicken dish and it was actually a decent pairing for that. Cut through the spice a bit. The dish did make it hard to pull out many other flavors. I'd say fine, but not sure I'd seek it out from the few sips I had before I got the dish.

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• 2012 Gruet Winery Cuvée Danielle Grande Rose

  USA, New Mexico

  (3/9/2019)

  Another palate cleanser before dinner. Easy red bubbles. Not so difficult to drink. Bright strawberries. More one-dimensional. And a bit of spritz to the bubbles.

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The champagne tasting was fun as always and I really loved the opportunity to meet Jean from Trimbach. The presenter for Catena Zapata also did an excellent job. I will say the wines at Italian Stallion and the dinners a bit less exciting, but you wine some and you lose some.