Rick DeLauder brought these wines to me three or so years ago and we have bought the STEEPLE JACK wines very well since as they are balanced and well-made wines that don't forget the grapes from which they started. They taste like wine and less like lab experiments and corrections made to save the wine/vintage/crop/year - whatever you want to call it that happens after the grapes are crushed and fermented.
I am more and more unhappy with what I am tasting in the bottle and realize that in many cases the wines inside the bottle will please many customers/drinkers today. But do these wines represent well what a grape can do/ make in a wine or do they simply provide a good enough taste for many a novice that is starting their career enjoying wines that are affordable?
It's a BIG pet-peeve with me now to have as many wines available to customers/those that enjoy tasting wine and serving it along with their meals that come from indigenous grape varieties that reflect where they are from and not some international taste or style. We've got to give the variety back to the customer and let them know that it is okay to sometimes pay a bit more to get a new and stimulating experience with a regional/local wine under their belts and on their palates.
I like these wines and here with Jean Gagliolo I was able to meet the wine-maker at STEEPLE CHASE and to try his current releases. We had a wonderful impromptu tasting and we were able to share it with some of our customers at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits ( 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 Tel : 202-363-4265 sales@clevelandparkwine.com www.clevelandparkwine.com ) where I have now managed the wine department for ten years.
They came by later in the afternoon to introduce me to the wine-maker as well as to the current releases so there were already customers in the store shopping for their beers, spirits and wines and so it made perfect sense to include them and get their reactions to all of these wines including the " new " STONEMASON wines of unwooded ( no oak contact ) Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. There was also the " new " Emotion to mention and I will continue this at Cleveland Park when I get there later today where all my notes are as I am still here at home in northern Virginia. I also have many pictures to download as I must have had to stop doing this earlier.
It's now Monday morning at 9:21 AM on May 10th, 2010 and it's cool but looks to be beautiful outside and will be around sixty degrees on an average today : not bad indeed. I'll call and ask about the current availability of any of these wines as we are out of them all now and our customers do enjoy them. Cheers and stay-tuned for more. TONY
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