Click the link to read about this month’s club!

Lismore Estate Vineyards  2021 Estate Reserve Chardonnay

(Carefully curated notes below are taken from the website)

Varietal Composition: Chardonnay

Location: Wine of Origin Greyton, Cape South Coast, South Africa

Specialty Factor: Only a few hundred cases yearly

Cellar Aging: Drink now or cellar until 2029

Accolades: 94 Neal Martin, 94 Tim Atkin

A Few More Details

Wine Made in the Soil

The vineyards are planted in decomposed shale over clay at 300 meters in the foothills of the Sonderend Mountain Range. A low mean February temperature lends to an extended ripening period that can put harvest 3-4 weeks later than traditional wine growing regions in South Africa. The intense citrus notes and the lingering finish are consistent trademarks of Lismore’s specific terroir. The restrained minerality of the Chardonnay is a clear indication of the cool climate in which it is grown.

Tasting Notes

This Reserve Chardonnay shows intense citrus, stone fruit, jasmine and walnut layered with honey and vanilla carried by a distinct minerality and crisp acidity with a lingering citrus finish.

Food Pairing Suggestions:

Delightful with warm curries which lift the aromatics or a traditional pairing of smoked salmon highlighting the fresh acidity.

About:

Tucked into the foothills of a dramatic mountain range at the bottom of Africa is Lismore Estate Vineyards. Californian Samantha O’Keefe has found paradise and the perfect terroir. Her passion combined with vines planted at 300 meters, chilled by the winter snow and nourished by the African summer sun, produce classic cool climate wines which are rich, complex and lovingly hand crafted. With one of the coolest climates in South Africa with extreme diurnal temperature shifts, her wines presents us with a very distinct sense of place. One that tells a story in the glass. Lismore is the pioneer of Wine of origin “Greyton”, it has been designated by SAWIS recognizing the unique and special terroir of this region.

–Samantha G. O’Keefe – Owner and Winemaker

Source:  https://www.lismore.co.za/ 

Rasa Vineyards QED Choice Function Cabernet Franc 2022

(Carefully curated notes below are taken from the website)

Varietal Composition: Cabernet Franc

Location: Columbia Valley

Specialty Factor: 160 cases produced

Cellar Aging: Drink now or cellar until 2032

A Few More Details

The concept of Rasa Vineyards started with a bottle of 1988 Mouton Rothschild that brothers Pinto and Billo Naravane bought at a discount in Napa Valley. That bottle of wine changed their lives. They call it their epiphany wine. That Mouton inspired them to learn all they could about wine and seriously discuss starting a winery. In 2007, with Pinto’s business plan and Billo working on a degree from the UC Davis Master’s program in Viticulture and Winemaking, the two budding winemakers quit their tech jobs and selected Walla Walla, Washington, as the home of Rasa Vineyards. In 2017, Billo joined an elite worldwide group of 498 people who have earned the title of ‘Master of Wine.’

Tasting Notes

Deep purple color with intense aromatics of violets, black cherry, huckleberry, grilled herbs, dark chocolate, and espresso. On the palate, notes of black cherry, cassis, blackberry, violets, fine cigar tobacco, smoldering incense, sage, espresso, and dark chocolate. The finish is elegant and beautifully long with notes of black cherry, cassis, huckleberry, tobacco, and violets. The fine grained, ripe tannins contribute to the silky mouthfeel.

Food Pairing Suggestions:

To complement its rich profile, consider the following food pairings:​

• Herb-Crusted Lamb Chops: The herbal notes in the wine harmonize with seasoned lamb, while its acidity balances the meat’s richness.​
• Grilled Portobello Mushrooms: The earthy flavors of mushrooms resonate with the wine’s dark fruit and herbal characteristics.

About:

QED stands for Quod Erat Demonstrandum – Latin for “which was to be demonstrated.” At the end of a mathematical proof, you typically write QED. It basically means “I’m done; I’ve proven what I set out to prove.”

When we started our winery, our family and friends would say “you guys know a lot about wines, but can you make world class wine?”

Well, the proof is in the bottle – QED.

We liked the name so much that, starting with the 2012 vintage, we extended QED into a line of wines. The packaging differentiators are the sub-names and the label colors. The original QED is now called QED Convergence. It has the original red and black label, and it continues to be a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and Viognier. We have a Cabernet Franc called QED Axiom of Choice and it has a yellow and black label. As we add more wines to the QED line, we will use different sub-names (all mathematics related like Reimann Hypothesis, taxicab numbers, Kaprekar’s constants) and different label colors to differentiate the wines.

 Source:  https://www.rasavineyards.com/