The Heritage Club - June 2020
We’re back! Well, we’ve always been here, but we are more than ecstatic to return with our farm to fork dine-in experience so you can discover what’s growing and what’s going on with our delicious summer eats. To celebrate being back we are bringing back some familiar wines, albeit new vintages.
Who doesn’t want a little more of something familiar, especially when ya know it’s so gosh darn good? That was rhetorical, I know we all do.
Eagles’ Landing Winery “From Rosati with Love” Rosé 2019
Region: Missouri, Ozark Highlands
Grape Varietal(s): 50% St. Vincent, 50% Chambourcin
Viticulture: Saignee method with minimal skin contact, aged in stainless steel
Method: Saignee method with minimal skin contact, aged in stainless steel
Age: Drink away all summer long (or even next year)
Tasting notes: Light and crisp, with fleshy strawberry and watermelon Jolly-Rancher
About Eagles’ Landing Winery
I know the cat is out of the bag, but I’ll fill you in anyway: Eagles’ Landing Winery is the lovechild of Eric and Casey’s extensive research of wine and chemistry, respectively. Before Just A Taste and the Heritage Club, Eric and Casey sought to create a winery focused on crafting wine with Missouri hybrid varietals, emphasizing on fruit sourced from the Ozark Mountain AVA, and vineyards run by multi-generational grape growers such as the very sites once planted by and tended by Eric’s family. Their handcrafted approach to winemaking, with an emphasis on the heritage varietals and regional terroir, pose an opportunity to highlight a sincere effort to showcase our state’s determination to produce quality wine.
About “From Rosati with Love”
For our club veterans, you’re probably accustomed to our yearly offering of Domaine de Cristia Rosé. For those worn and weary of my fervent ramblings over my love of rosé, I’ve probably jawed your ear off about Cristia’s “From Riviera with Love”. When we released our first vintage of rosé in 2017, there was no debate over the perfect name: an homage to an honorable rosé, and the township where we produce every hand crafted bottle with love.
Why I’m excited about this wine
Let’s begin with St. Vincent. This wine grape is so closely related to Pinot Noir that scientists haven’t been able to tell us for sure that it isn’t Pinot Noir. There are roughly 400 planted acres across Missouri, mostly stretching between St. James and Augusta. It’s so akin to Pinot Noir, that the name is derived from the patron saint of the Cote d’Or in Burgundy, known worldwide for its Pinot. With it’s thin skin and high acidity, St. Vin makes a perfect base for a light and crisp rosé. Then, the addition of Chambourcin brings some oomph to the body and fleshy fruits to the party. Delicious, fresh, zingy, crisp, and refreshing. ‘Nuff said.
G.D. Vajra “CLARÉ J.C.” Nebbiolo 2019
Winemakers: Giuseppe Vaijra & the Vaijra family
Region: Italy, Piedmont, Langhe
Grape Varietal(s): 100% Nebbiolo
Viticulture: fruit sourced from several of Vaijra’s younger vineyards
Method: Approximately 20% whole cluster fermentation with short aging in stainless steel
Serving Suggestion: Serve slightly chilled during the warmer days, or pair with apertivos and BBQ.
Age: Drink now through 2022
Tasting Notes: Vibrant ruby with clean transparency, cherry and candied strawberries, rose petals, and even more spice than 2018. Silky tannins, lively acidity, and a smooth finish.
About G.D. Vajra
G.D. Vajra is located in Piedmont in the Northwest of Italy where Italian classics such as Barolo and Barbaresco reign supreme. In a village called Vergne, Vajra resides on some of the highest elevation land within the commune of Barolo. These higher elevation vineyards produce smaller yields, and the grapes themselves are thicker skinned while being smaller in size. Together, these factors combine to produce wines capable of great tannin and intense acidity (the trademark of quality for these local Italian wines). Vineyard plantings still in use date back to 1947, while the winery in its current iteration began operation in 1972. The first estate bottling took place in 1978, and the fourth familial generations of winemakers and grape growers still produces quality wine to this day.
About “CLARÉ J.C.”
Wine is not always what it used to be. For many reasons, that is a good thing. The Romans sweetened wine with lead. The Germans only figured out how to achieve ripeness in Riesling by accident. For a time, the plague on Crete was better than the vino. However, sometimes a snapshot into the past can bring up old “recipes” and styles of wine from a different time. This is what “CLARÉ J.C.” aims to be. Nebbiolo did not always have a reputation for brash tannins and eye-watering acidity. A note unearthed from 1606 from the House of Savoia’s jeweler Gian Battista Croce gave insight to a wine made from Nebbiolo that was fresh, light, and crisp. Vajra hopes to capture this style and reimagine wine from another time. The name “CLARÉ J.C.” pays homage to the great American wine pioneer Thomas Jefferson, the same namesake for our downstairs cellar at Just A Taste, who upon visiting Piedmont in 1787 found Nebbiolo as “dry as Claret (the original wines of Bordeaux, think hearty rosé), sweet and lingering as Madeira, brisk as Champagne”.
Why I’m excited about this wine
I was fortunate enough to join Eric at a wine distributor’s tasting event in April 2018, where over 50 wineries and importers were in attendance. One stellar standout that we couldn’t stop babbling about was this fun and frisky newcomer (2017, their first vintage) Nebbiolo from G.D. Vajra. We were fortunate enough to bring in two cases that summer and quickly sold out. After returning to the same event in the spring of 2019, “CLARÉ J.C.” again called out to us from the 200 wines being poured. Now, due to the quarantine and gathering restrictions placed upon us from COVID-19, many of the spring distribution events have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. However, the wine world works on much larger cycles, and we bring this wine back to the club due to our inundate love. We hope you love it too!