WTN: A few for BYO

Went to one of the few local BYOs we have in town and their latest seasonal menu had a smattering of middle eastern spices on a couple of the dishes. I thought Musar and took the 1998 red. This wine is aromatically stunning after 60mins in a decanter. Earthy, bramble, a bit feral, some red berries. Just beautiful. Super balance, very refined and resolved with acid that is totally in control. Our server's eyes lit up when she saw the bottle as she hadn't had Musar in years. She got a good pour to have after service slowed down.

We also had a lovely 2002 André Clouet Brut Millésimé. I'm so enamored with everything from Clouet and this might be the pinnacle of what I've had from them. Creamy entry, finessed mousse, red berry tinge and such elegance balance.

2008 Domaine du Moulin Cour-Cheverny Petits Acacia from Hervé Villemade was also quite nice. I've not had this before and from what I had read was expecting an r.s. level more like Cazin Renaissance but this was definitely more lean. Very easy to drink and always fun trying to say romorantin.

2007 Page Springs Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Glomski Eric Glomski is one of the pioneers of AZ winemaking and his Page Springs Cellars and Arizona Stronghold wineries make some truly representative wine for this area. Our dining companions brought this wine so I don't know all of the details but it was a limited club release blend of cab and petite verdot. The wine showed some excellent restraint, just ripe fruit with dusty minerals and good acidity. It was a bit of a schoolyard bully compared to the Musar though.

1998 Maculan Torcolato My last bottle of this dessert fave is showing some age. The richness of the apricot and fig fruit...the delicate floral notes...are a fading memory and botrytis is moving to the forefront. Drink em if you have em.

[David M. Bueker]

Clouet is good and good value!

Nice to see a wine note from you Bill.

[Jenise]

Any other Arizona wines that have impressed you, Bill? Would love to obtain some for a tasting I'm doing in November themed "They make wine THERE?"

Agree on Clouet.
Sounds like a nice Musar
The AZ wine sounds better than my limited experience was AZ wine, will keep open mind
thanks for notes

Any other Arizona wines that have impressed you, Bill? Would love to obtain some for a tasting I'm doing in November themed "They make wine THERE?"

There are a few, Jenise. I would give most anything a shot from these wineries:
Pillsbury Wine Co (New Zealand native. His wines seem to be everywhere. Easy drinking, well made, nothing that is going to make you do backflips but solid stuff),
Sand-Reckoner (I think their malvasia is an AZ benchmark. Winemaker/owner worked at St Cosme and at Hewitson before settling in AZ. Serious stuff),
Callaghan Vineyards (planted in 1990 so he is one of the first. ),
Dos Cabezas Wineworks (Callaghan was original winemaker here. Most of their grapes come from a vineyard Dick Erath planted in AZ)
all of these above are south of Tucson

Burning Tree Cellars (their neutral oak aged wines in particular...although most of their fruit is CA sourced so it doesn't count if you want to do a true AZ wine).

Others that have popular acclaim and are well made but are generally a bit heavy handed for me are: Page Springs Cellars, AZ Stronghold, Caduceus (although I have liked one of their club release chenin), Merkin (these are all north of Phoenix in the Verde Valley).

I do struggle with price point for most of the wines I seem to like from here though. While there are lots of very drinkable wines here in the $18-25 range, the ones I like the most tend to be pushing $35-50.

That Cour-Cheverny sounds as if I might like it.

I'm a fan of romorantin, Call me geek. Tasty and funky. Don't care for it with a lot of rs though. Like mine dry, a little less fatness and a streak of lean to the funkiness.

[Jenise]

Bill, thanks for the list and your thoughts. I'll check around. I never see AZ wines on the shelf here (heck, I don't see most of the best WA producers even, at least here in B-ham) but one of my distributor friends, for a time anyway, carried the wines from that guy with the funky name who was in the band Tool. Maynard?

... one of my distributor friends, for a time anyway, carried the wines from that guy with the funky name who was in the band Tool. Maynard?

Yup, Maynard does the Caduceus and Merkin labels. He used to be partner with Eric Glomski (Page Springs, AZ Stronghold) but they parted ways a couple of years ago. I haven't been a fan of most of the Caduceus wines. Very OTT extraction, lots of new oak, glossy reds made for the big and in your face crowd. If you like your syrah filled with Band-Aid aromas, you could be in luck! I like his whites better including one of his chenin blancs that was quite good.

That Cour-Cheverny sounds as if I might like it..

This was one from Selection Massale. Very drinkable stuff!