The company is led by the husband and wife team of Marc and Katherine Lazar.  With their expertise in wine valuations, appraisals, acquisitions and liquidations honed at Cellar Advisors, they opened their first facility in St. Louis in 2005.  Facilities in Chicago and New York followed, as the couple and their team proved that the defining element in the storage business is first-class service and amenities.  Last year Domaine acquired The Noble Vine, a wine consulting firm in the DC area.  The owner of The Noble Vine, Justin Connor, joined the firm as a partner and will oversee all of Domaine’s facilities.  I had the pleasure of tasting an assortment of exceptional wines with Justin last week at the Heart’s Delight Wine Tasting and Auction.  He is a refreshingly gracious and energetic young man who also has the knowledge of someone who has been collecting wine for a lifetime.

Katherine Lazar spoke with me about  the range of services they plan to offer DC oenophiles, and I am convinced they will be able to satisfy even the most discerning collector.  “Even if you are not a Domaine client we can help to make your wine life easier by assisting with its associated logistics.  We manage hundreds of shipments/thousands of cases of wine per year in refrigerated trucks across the country.  This includes consolidation with others on the west coast before shipping to the east, moving a few cases to your home or storage facility after an auction or sale, or moving an entire collection.   If needed, we can even send a team out with boxes to pack the shipment so that the client does not have to worry about it,” said Katherine.

The facility will offer state-of-the-art environmental controls, including redundant cooling and back-up power systems to ensure ideal conditions for collections of all shapes and sizes.  The experienced staff will incorporate CellarTracker for inventory management, allowing members to view acquisitions in real time via web and smartphone apps.  Larger collections will be kept in lockers, and clients will have options for different racking systems which can be completely customized.

Though the weather has been phenomenal so far this year in DC, the dog days of summer are soon upon us.  If your wine is facing another summer in a warm basement, Domaine is offering pre-opening storage at their New York site and the shipping is complimentary.  They are also offering discounted rates for contracts signed before their doors open.

This fall, author and wine expert Dick Rosano and Chef Stephen Sands will lead a small group of food and wine adventurerers on a tour through the Piemonte region of Italy.  Want to join them?  Here are the highlights of the 10-day boondoggle:

• Numerous degustazioni wine sampler lunches and cantina visits with local hosts under Dick’s stewardship.
• Cooking demonstrations, and exhibitions of local traditions and techniques under the wing of Stephen
• Daily hotel breakfasts ‐plus gourmet lunches & dinners as per the itinerary
• Participation in the Alba Truffle Festival with interesting medieval crafts
• Multilingual travel escort
• 3– and 4– star hotels, carefully selected for authenticity and charm
• See this brochure for full details and itinerary

About The Hosts:

Dick Rosano has been writing about wine, food, and travel for many years. His columns have appeared in The Washington Post, Wine News, Wine Enthusiast, Country Inns Magazine, Chile Pepper, and many other nationally distributed publications. His weekly wine-food pairing column first ran in The Washington Post and Wine Enthusiast online and now appears in The Tasting Panel magazine. Dick’s book, Wine Heritage, traces the influence of Italians in the American wine industry over the last century. A new novel, A Death in Tuscany, is due out this summer. Having traveled Italy, US, and South American wine growing regions extensively, Dick has lectured on the subject at the Smithsonian Institution, Johns Hopkins University, and at many conferences throughout the United States. In addition, Dick currently teaches wine and wine-food pairing classes at L’Academie de Cuisine, and at Culinaria.

Culinaria Cooking School Founder & CEO Stephen Sands learned to love the art of cooking from his Italian nonna (grandmother), and began his culinary career in 1989 with Francois Dionot, the founder of L’Academie de Cuisine in Bethesda. Stephen was instrumental in developing curricula and original recipes for participatory classes and for guest chefs. In 2004, Stephen formed Capital Food Partners, LLC, a cooking school and catering company, along with his business partner Pete Snaith. Retired from a notable engineering career, Stephen now directs Culinaria.
 

Andrea Sartori leads one of Verona’s great wine estates, a generations-old family business that serves up some of the region’s best bottles. Since Veneto is renowned for its Amarone, the delicious full-bodied red wine, it would be sacrilegious not to follow suit – which Sartori does eminently well – with production decisions left to the masterful judgment of enology consultant Franco Bernabei. And it would be equally sacrilegious to not broaden the portfolio to include other wines.

At a recent lunch at Café Milano (Prospect Street, NW), we began with a 2009 Ferdi ($15), a sumptuous and richly textured white wine made from Garganega. Unlike many lighter styled white wines, the grapes for Ferdi are first dried to concentrate the sugars and intensify the flavors, then vinified into a bolder wine fit for creamy dishes and even red meat. I tested it against Café Milano’s Asparagus Soup, an impossible combination for a thinner wine, and the pairing worked perfectly.

On to the Tagliatelle Ragu with Mushrooms and the three red wines from the estate, all made from varying combinations of the region’s hallmark grapes, Corvina and Rondinella. First, we sampled the 2007 Regolo ($20), a medium-bodied wine serving well with its relative young age. This would have been perfect for pre-prandial sipping and struggled only a bit against the savory ragu.

The 2008 Amarone ($45), a medium- to full-bodied wine – softer on the approach than many blockbuster Amarones – was the match of the day with the dish. It was stylish and forward, and the deep red fruit flavors and earth tones worked nicely with the ragu. The 2006 Corte Bra ($55) was undoubtedly the standout wine for the afternoon. As good as it was with the dish, the flavors were so distinctive and rich that they deserved attention without food, and the wine seemed even better after the lunch was concluded.

Sartori has been making some of the most remarkable wines from Verona for decades, and its name is familiar enough that most Americans have sampled its wines over the years. My only regret in recent times is that these extraordinary wines have slipped out of notice of the American wine-buying public.

It’s time to fix that error and return Sartori to the wine cellar and the dinner table.

Or it could refer to non-indigenous grapes like Cabernet and Merlot that Italian vintners have incorporated into their ever-growing portfolio of fine wines. “Rare” not because some bespectacled judge intoned on the subject, but because they present a new version of Italian wines, a new style that is still working its magic and creating its market.

These two grapes – Cabernet and Merlot – migrated only a short distance from France, after helping that country establish its centuries-old reputation for elegant wines. In Italy, the oft-labeled “French varietals” such as Cab and Merlot offer a chance to spin the local wines in a new direction, or create something totally different.

Such is the case with Castello di Gabbiano Alleanza, a Tuscan beauty that uses Merlot as its base (83%) and adds 12% of Sangiovese – the grape of Chianti – and rounds it out with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. I tasted the 2008 last night, planning a pork roast for dinner, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the wine scored high points both in my first tasting (without food) and then with the black olive tapenade that I used to quiet the insistent grumblings of a stomach too long ignored. And I hadn’t even gotten to the pork roast yet, the featured entrée and what I thought was the goal of opening this bottle in the first place.

Allenza offers a mouthful of black cherries and plums, with rich textures and full body. It’s light only in the way a Merlot can be light, but otherwise is plush and full of flavor. At $35, it’s not an everyday wine but if you want to impress your friends with a pork roast – or perhaps anything else, from what I found – store a half dozen of these bottles for future feasts.

Although Alleanza is Castello di Gabbiano’s flagship wine, the estate also has other wines that deserve more study, all at lower prices, like the Chianti Classico at $12 and the Chianti Classico Riserva at just $22. In fact, Gabbiano is primary evidence of the adage: Buy the estate, not the vintage. Vintage variation still exists and is an important part of wine buying. But if you find an estate whose wine style you like, keep buying their wines and you’ll not be disappointed.

When the edifice first rose on Dry Creek Road, neighboring farmers and vintners winced, thinking it too ostentatious for their region. But as more wine lovers drove down the lane, visiting other wineries on their way to Ferrari-Carano, the Caranos’ neighbors came to appreciate the majestic and romantic slant the Villa Fiore offered the backroads of the Dry Creek Valley.

But what is a gorgeous property without fine wines to stake its claim? Here, again, there’s no problem. The wine regimen was established by George Bursick, winemaker at Ferrari-Carano for many years, but now is carried out masterfully by Aaron Piotter (for red wines) and Sarah Quider (for white wines). Steve Domenichelli, vineyard manager, says each vine is “touched by human hands six to eight times a season, to ensure the highest quality fruit.” He practices sustainable farming techniques and recycles organic matter to strengthen and protect the vineryards.

Here are some recent releases from one of California’s most interesting properties:

Ferrari-Carano 2011 Pinot Grigio (Russian River Valley, $17). Ripe and refreshingly acidic, made in the style of a vivacious Sauvignon Blanc, with lots of lemon/lime angles and fresh fruit. Score: 85

Ferrari-Carano 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon (Alexander Valley, $30). Warm fruit flavors, black cherry and plum dominate, soft angularity and soft tannins give it length, great with red meat entrees. Score: 87

Ferrari-Carano 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Mountain Vineyards (Alexander Valley, $42). Soft and approachable, black fruit, soft tannins, plums, cherries, slightly oaked? Score: 89

Ferrari-Carano 2009 Merlot (Sonoma County, $25). Soft red fruit, easy quaffing, gentle finish. Score: 84

Ferrari-Carano 2009 Pinot Noir Sky High Ranch (Mendocino, $46). Soft and forward, cherry plum flavors, more expressive than many PNs. Score: 90

Ferrari-Carano 2007 Prevail Back Forty (Alexander Valley, $85). Rich and stylish, deep, highly textured, dark fruit flavors, plums, black cherries, soft hint of sweet tobacco and oak. Score: 93

Ferrari-Carano 2007 Prevail West Face (Alexander Valley, $55). Ripe plush red fruit aromas, chocolate and plums on nose, rich textures, full flavors of dark fruit with hints of tobacco on finish. Score: 92

Ferrari-Carano 2009 Siena (Sonoma County, $25). Aromatic, blending dark fruit with herbs and earth aromas, soft approach, bing cherry and raspberry flavors. Score: 87

Ferrari-Carano 2008 Tresor (Sonoma County, $58). Superbly balanced, dark red fruit, chocolate and tobacco leaf aromas, black cherry, raspberry flavors. Score: 93

Ferrari-Carano 2009 Zinfandel (Dry Creek Valley, $28). soft and inconspicuous, a nice wine but without the punch that is expected of most Zins. Score: 86

Piero Antinori of the famous Tuscan winemaking house of the same name knows this perhaps better than anyone. His wines, elegant in the glass and as brilliantly colored as a Tintoretto painting, are – nevertheless – best enjoyed as an accompaniment to a fine meal.

So it makes sense that when he brought his family’s 600-year history of winemaking to California, he would want to make food-friendly wines for Americans too. In the 1980s, he bought land on the summit of Atlas Peak in Napa Valley, with spectacular views of the valley below and the sprawling vineyards that supply the raw material for his new wines. The winery was originally named after the land, Atlas Peak, but Antinori recently reconfigured the estate and renamed it Antica, a fact reported earlier on WeeklyWinePick.com.

Under the watchful eye of Marchese Antinori, and constant oversight by Glenn Salva, Antica produces some of the richest and approachable Cabernets in the Napa Valley. We met at Circa (3010 Clarendon Boulevard, Arlington, 703-522-3010) and sampled a range of vintages of the Cabernet accompanied by a serving of Wild Mushroom Ravioli. The ravioli were served with artichoke hearts, cremini mushrooms, and beurre noisette, and topped with herbs and goat cheese. The complexity of the flavors, spikes that raised the interest of the savory mushroom ravioli beneath, begged for a similarly complex red wine.

With Salva’s usual grace and patience, he explained not only the history of the estate but the vintage conditions of each of the wines we sampled. There was the perfectly aged 2004 Antica Cabernet Sauvignon, with scents of currant, plum, and dark fruit. A supple though austere wine braced by tannins evidently softened by age.

The 2005 Cab was richer and more complex, and opened with dark chocolate and tobacco aromas, with flavors of figs, black cherry and plum over ripe tannins. The 2006 Cab was a bit tangier and more puckery than the refined 2004 and 2005, demonstrating the impact of even a single year of additional aging on the mouthfeel of such a rich wine. Still, its black fruit flavors and vivacious acidity ensured that it will be a wine to return to later.

The 2007 Cab was exotically aromatic and carried hints of Eastern spices on the nose. With terrific intensity and multiple layers, this was my favorite of the afternoon. The big fruit and explosive approach shows evidence of future star-quality. The 2008 was also a tremendous wine, with chocolate and roasted coffee bean aromas, tinged by hints of earth and spice, with a soft finish.

The 2009 Cab, the vintage currently on the market (along with some remainders of the 2008), has heavenly aromas of violets and red fruit, featuring blueberry and black cherry flavors on a big, young frame.

With Antinori’s vision and Salva’s management of wine at Antica, the property will enjoy continued success and the buyer will enjoy many vintages of fine Cabernet Sauvignon.

Toting at least 16 bottles from his own personal cellar, Mr. Parker will host  a wine tasting dinner for the winning bidder and 9 of his/her friends at his favorite local restaurant, Charleston in Baltimore.  That shakes out to about 1.5 bottles per person, so be sure to hire a designated driver.  The auction values this opportunity at $10,000, but I think the bidding will peak far higher than that.  I am not a rich guy but I could easily get 9 of my wine-loving friends to pony-up a grand each to win this dinner (you people know who you are so get your wallets out!). 

The Man

Charleston’s Chef Cindy Wolf has received mulitple James Beard Award nominations for combining French techniques with low country southern influences.  She normally indulges her guests with a 3 to 6-course tasting menu, so she will undoubtedly pull our all this stops for this feast.  Check out photos of her dishes here, they look incredible.

Few people have gained such extraordinary influence in their industry as Mr. Parker.  Though his high profile compels him to maintain a certain elusiveness, he has selflessly supported this cause since its inception in 1999 by hosting the annual tasting panel of Bordelais winemakers.

The bidding will commence during the live auction portion of the black tie Vintner’s Dinner on Friday, May 4, at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium on Constitution Ave.  Parker’s dinner is lot #15 in the auction catalog.  Can’t make the auction in person?  Don’t worry bacuase absentee bids are being accepted (Absentee Bidder Registration Form).

Good luck, and if you win, consider me one of your nine friends!

Since there were  four of us and we ordered an array of dishes appropriate for both red and white wines, we settled on one of each.  Our white was a stunner.  A Marsanne blend from the Northern Rhone appelation of Saint-Peray, the 2007  Domaine Du Tunnel Cuvee Prestige by Stephane Robert brought smiles all around.  It had aromas of star fruit and cotton candy, and notes of coconut and schiste in the mouth.  Though it danced with showing a bit too much sugar, the structure and minerality balanced it out.  Michael Skurnik Wines imports the wines of Stephane Robert, and only brought over 25 cases of this wine.  I want to find them.

Having felt like we got a bargain paying a modest $54 for such an exceptional white, we splurged a bit on a 1991 Vina Tondonia Gran Riserva from R. Lopez de Heredia.  It was a perfect specimen of aged Rioja and exactly what I was hoping for.  It maintained a youthful appearance with light red hues and gave off hints of violet and clove on the nose.  In the mouth the juice was soft and supple with four or five delicate but distinct layers of flavor.  The wine is 75% Tempranillo with Garnacho, Graziano and Mazuelo filling in the rest.  This wine was barrel-aged for nine years and sat in the bottle at the winery for nearly another decade before release. 

If you go to Ripple, and I recommend you do, take the redline Metro to Cleveland Park because parking is a bear.

That might seem like a selfish indulgence, but what part of wine enjoyment isn’t? If we take the time to find a good wine to go with the meal, why not pour a bit of Port to finish it? Okay, cost may get in the way. Most vintage Ports can be pricey, and typically they require years of aging. But there’s a way to resolve both those concerns: Tawny Port.

Textbook production of Port calls for the wine – a blend of Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Francesca and other grapes – to be halted just before fermentation is completed, leaving some unconverted sugar and a relatively low alcohol level. A dose of specially prepared brandy boosts the alcohol to the common 18% – 20% level and – voilà – an after-dinner drink that the world adores.

From there, vintage Port goes into barrel for about two years, then is bottled while its relative youth assures that this fortified wine will still be deep dark red and full-bodied. Over a period of decades, the blush of youth and the deep coloring fades, yielding a sublime flavor and head-spinning pleasure. Of course, this lengthy process of aging forces the Port house to maintain extensive cellaring space, driving up the prices, or forces the buyer of early-release vintage Port to stare at dusty, undisturbed bottles in the closet till the grandchildren are born.

Tawny Ports are easier on the palate and the wallet. These wines are fermented just like the vintage Ports, but left in barrels for the time stipulated on the label, frequently 10 or 20 years. Although this still requires the producer to maintain barrel-aging space, the Tawnies are ready for consumption as soon as they are released and, because they are made in greater quantity when the year doesn’t justify a Vintage Port declaration, Tawny Ports are far more affordable.

Here are some of the finest Tawnies I’ve tasted in recent years:

Ten-Year Tawnies
Churchill’s 10-Year Tawny ($35). Subtle flavors with hints of caramel and vanilla bean. Medium-bodied, nutty, and lightly toasted finish.

Croft 10 Year Tawny ($32). Rich, velvety, and very smooth, hints of chocolate, Eastern spice, and maple syrup.

Dow’s 10 Year Tawny ($33). Fruitier than some others, but with the fruit baked in as if in a succulent pie straight from the oven. Long and silky finish.

Fonseca 10 Year Tawny ($35). Dark hues with slight copper highlights. Deep flavors and full-bodied, suggestion of caramel and vanilla bean, with a light spin of orange peel.

Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Tawny ($29). A classically styled Tawny, with forward aromas of caramel and custard pie, palate impressions include caramel, vanilla, and toffee.

Warre’s Otima 10 Year Tawny ($22/500ml). Effusive aromas of caramel and fruit, silky textures, flavors of honey, caramel and light fruit dominate.

Twenty-Year Tawnies
Churchill’s 20-Year Tawny ($55). Fresh and fruity, yet with the baked apple pie sensation that the best Tawnies enjoy. Accents of lighter fruit bring out the personality.

Fonseca 20 Year Tawny ($52). Roasted nuts and caramel greet the nose, red fruits dominate the palate. Another sumptuous wine from Fonseca.

Graham’s 20 Year Tawny ($60). Traditional style, featuring caramel and ripe fruit on nose, baked fruit pie dominates the palate impression, with a delicate hint of chocolate on finish.

Taylor Fladgate 20 Year Tawny ($55). A rich, finely textured wine featuring a cornucopia of baked fruit flavors, suggestion of ginger and roasted almonds on finish.

True Port is from Portugal, but Prager Winery and Portworks in Napa Valley is giving the traditionalists a run for their money. Prager produces a White Port – don’t dismiss it, white Ports are serious in Portugal – and a Tomás, and a Royal Escort. All are worthy representatives of the class, and prove that the grapes don’t have to be grown in the valleys surrounding the Duoro River to produce fine wines.