Yvon Mau Spring Tasting 2011 Look, Sip, Swirl and Spit.

The date, Thursday March 24, 2011 the place, Corporate Caterers 29th and Rock Road. I have to admit that I avoided Yvon Mau wines from 2003 until I Sold my store in 2011 citing quality and bottle variances as my main concern. I would occasionally bring a label or dependant upon demand and leave it at that. Seeing as it had been about seven years since I had been to an Yvon Mau portfolio tasting. I decided to revisit them and was in for a pleasant surprise. I usually like to evaluate a wine in the privacy of my own home usually with a meal or snack I think is suitable for the occasion. I like to have a glass or to during the course of the evening and contemplate the wine's qualities as it is left to aerate throughout the course of the evening.  However with sixteen wines to get through in about an hour and a half the participant's had to look, sip, swirl and spit.
Here is a quick run down of the sixteen wines and their tasting notes.
1. Seigneurs De Bergerac White 2010
    50% Sauvignon Blanc 40% Semillon 10% Muscadelle
    Color: Pale, almost translucent. Nose: Pear, Tangerine Palate:Light-bodied with citrus and lemon-lime on the palate.
2. Chateau Coustaut La Grangeottae Blanc 2010
     100% Sauvignon Blanc
     Color: pale straw color. Nose: Minerals, wet stones. Palate: Light bodied, very low acidity, light taste of citrus and fresh cut grass. Finish: Quick and fast, a bit disappointing.
3.Seigneurs De Bergerac Rose 2010
     50% Merlot, 40% Cab, 10% Cab Franc
     Color: pale pink. Nose: Nice strawberry, hint of lime. Palate: Good balance, a little reserved on the fruit, pretty delicate even for a rose. Just O.K.
4. Seigneurs De Bergerac Red 2009
     45% Cabernet 45% Merlot 10% Cabernet Franc
     Color: Dark ruby red. Noes: Dark black fruits, licorice. Palate: Earthy, somewhat restrained, tannins kick in and show the strength and longevity of the 2009 from Bordeaux. A consistent favorite among consumers year end and year out. A wine to buy by the case.
5. Chateau Boutillot Bordeaux 2009
     51% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc
     Color: Dark Ruby with tinges of purple. Nose: Hints of bramble berry, black cherry. Palate: Tannic, full-bodied. Good length on the finish.
6. Chateau Laurensanne Cotes De Bourg 2008
     50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet
     Color Dark ruby red with black licorice colored tinges.  Nose: black cherry, spices. Palate: More blackberry and black cherry with a little tightness on the mid-palate. Needs 2-3 more years in bottle.
7. Chateau Jalousie Beaulieu Bordeaux Superior 2009
    75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet
    Color: Extremely dark almost violet. Nose: Concentrated. Palate: Blackberry and other dark fruits with rich earthiness. Once again showing how the Bordeaux excelled with rich ripe fruit from 2009. One of my cheaper favorites.
8. Chateau Hoyt Cote De Castillon 2006
     60% Merlot, 20% Cabernet, 20% Cabernet Franc
     Color: Dark ruby red w/ tinges of violet. Nose: Rich nose, full of fruit. Palate: Real Merlot integration with flavors of plum, earth hint of earthiness. Warm enticing finish. Still closed a bit. I liked this one as well.
9. Chateau La Croix Blanche Montaigne St. Emilion 2009
     80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc
      Color: Dark ruby red with purple overtones.  Nose: Very faint, rustic nose. Palate: Slightly closed, tannic, very young.
10. Chateau Garderose Lalande De Pomerol 2006
       80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet
        Color: Dark reddish purple. Nose: Dark rich plums and earth. Palate: Plums, candied cherry, still very young and restrained.
11. Chateau Du Perier Medoc Cru Bourgeois 2008
       50% Merlot, 50% Cabernet
        Color: Dark ruby red with purple overtones.  Nose: Hint of earth with essence of tobacco smoke. Palate: Lots of plum, full bodied with a smooth finish and very accessible.
12. Chateau Citran Haut-Medoc 2008
       50% Cabernet 50% Merlot
      Color: Dark Ruby red. Nose: Very perfumy. Palate: Blackberry, Black Cherry, Earth, Tobacco, Oak. Long finish.
13. Chateau Pontet-Caillou Pessac-Leognan 2008
      50% Cabernet, 42% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot
      Color: Brilliant ruby purple. Nose: Earthy, rich vanilla and a hodgepodge of dark black fruits. Palate: rich and a long concentrated finish. Very impressive from Yvon Mau.
14. Chevalier De Lascombes Margaux 2006
      55% Cabernet, 45% Merlot
       Color: Rich dark red. Nose: Classic Margaux nose. Palate: Rich, ripe and concentrated, with a long elegant finish. Best Yvon Mau wine I have ever tasted.
15. Chateau Lafaurie Saint Croix Du-Mont 2007
       80% Semillon, 20% Sauvignon Blanc
        Color: Pale gold color. Nose: Hints of apricots, oranges and citrus. Palate: Great and flowing not overbearingly sweet and great balance, very nice.
16. Henri Abele Champagne Brut NV Reims.
      33% Chardonnay, 33% Pinot Noir, 33% Pinot Meurier.
      Color: Light delicate, pale straw. Nose: Light aromas of crumb cake and lemon cake. Palate: Lively acidity and rich fruit flavors.
     All in all I was overly impressed with this tasting. I ended up buying the Pontet-Caillou, the Chevalier De Lascombes and the Chateau Lafaurie. These wine will arrive at retailers who purchased them in advance
around the first couple weeks of June. Since most of the orders taken are pre-orders, some inventory may already be sold out. I also have to recommend the Seigners De Bergerac Red 2009, Chateau Boutillot 2009, the Chateau Jalousie Beaulieu 2009, along with the Chateau Hyot 2006. All are great price/value wines ready to drink now or to cellar for a few years, especially the 2009's. If you retailer has any questions in the Wichita, KS area about what wines will be availible tell them they can contact Rob Bennett of Glazer's of  Kansas for further information and when the next Yvon Mau tasting will be held.

Taste and See, The Place to Be.

  Thursday March 17, 2011 and after one massive snowstorm that prevented everyone from attending in January, the West Wichita Wine Connection finally made it to Jason Febres' "Taste and See." Formerly at Sabor, Jason has struck out on his own with a new unique restaurant focusing on not only on food but culinary presentation, cooking information and a fully interactive dining experience. Jason focuses on the new and trendy "Fusion Cuisine." That is the focus of blending foods of different regions and cultures to create new exciting gastronomic delights. According the "tasteandseecooking.com" website, Jason has been trained in Latin, French, Italian, Japanese and Mediterranean cuisine. The restaurant is an open kitchen style, replete with several flat panel wide screen video panels, cameras and a huge prep area centered around a huge rectangular dark granite presentation tables with high setting dining tables enough to accommodate about fifty people.
   I can't say enough about Jason's laid back, convivial approach to his audience putting them immediately at ease with open air candor about his culinary learning's and philosophy especially in regards to the history of what he had learned from his mother. What I also found refreshing is his approach to wine, in which he insists on trying lots of new wines with the variety of his menus. With that said, as we gathered we were greeted with the Adega Eidos Eidos de Padrinan Albarino 2007 which was actually meant to go with the Ceviche Shot and since I was busy taking notes, actually had some left to try with the first course. On the nose the Padrinan showed great delicate notes of pear shavings with light body and medium acidity. On the palate, the wine possessed pear and quince flavors with subtle hints of citrus on the finish. Albarinos are great to pair with virtually any type of delicate white fish or shrimp and with the Ceviche Shot this proved to be true with a great balance of flavors brought out by the hints of cilantro and passion fruit.
   Next we moved on to the Eggs in a Crate which sounded to me like a variation on a Cuban Egg recipe. It was topped with prosciutto, smoked chorizo, baby capers, chives and tomato alioli and romesco foam. It was rich hearty and a great pairing to a very young Duckhorn Decoy Red 2008 Merlot/Cabernet from Napa.  The Decoy 2008 had a nice nose of Violets, Plums and Blackberries with the same characteristics following through on the palate also being mildly tannic with hints of currant and oak on the finish, tells me it needs a few years in the cellar. My thoughts on pairings with this dish would have swayed me to look more towards a Spanish red such as a Shiraz/ Tempranillo or a Grenache/ Shiraz from Spain, I am going to buy a few bottles of the Decoy 2008 for aging and see how they turn out.
 We moved on to the Mikonos salad consisting of organic greens, smoked almond feta cheese strawberry and a guava emulsion for which I saved some Decoy for the salad, not being really sure if the Ave Malbec 2008 was to go with Mikonos salad based on the menu I read. The Decoy actually did pass but the Ave Malbec with the dark black fruit flavors and notes of Bing cherry and cassis was probably meant for the salad. 
 The paella was next on the list being served in the wok style bowls which substituted for the traditional paellera bowls due to space and fire limitations. This was a mixed paella consisting of saffron rice, rotisserie chicken, mussels, roasted peppers, petit pois and lobster jus served with Amazon consisting of snap peas, corn, sweet potatoes, mushroom melange, cilantro and sweet lime. To go with the paella, was the Evening Land Pinot Noir 2009 from California. A great classic nose replete with the traditional raspberry, Cola nut, Cherries and medium body with light tannins was a very platable choice given the variety of flavors that the paella and amazon possessed. 2009 was a difficult growing season in California and Evening Land is one of the newer producers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with both Single-Vineyard are larger area bottlings. If you have a chance I recommend checking them out at eveninglandvineyards.com. 
I have started to make it a practice to always save a little of the wines to go with whatever is offered for dessert if a dessert wine is not proffered. I'm glad I did this time as well because the dessert offering of a Belgium Chocolate Ganache Torte replete with an Espresso, cookie and walnut topping was absoluteley breathtaking. I liked the Ave Malbec with it the best with the Black Berry and Bing Cherry exploding off the layers of flavors provided by the Torte. Regrettably Jason would not reveal his recipe, but I did find a good basic one you could modify to his style at razzledazzlerecipes.com or just Google Belgian chocolate ganache torte and it should be the first one listed with the instructions for the ganache option at the bottom.
  My overall impression of "Taste and See" is that is was definitely one of the W.W.W.C.'s best tasting events yet.  Jason provides his customers with a beautiful open decor for viewing the demonstration, a vibrant atmosphere and outstanding dishes. Simply Google "Taste and See Wichita."