Fran Kysela Wine Tasting

Last night we had over fifty guests attend the Fran Kysela wine tasting at Cherokee Country Club. It was a perfect evening as we had the tasting outdoors on the terrace overlooking the Tennessee River and the Smoky Mountains.

Fran and I go way back to the days when Fran was the national sales manager for Kermit Lynch in the late 1980's. In 1994, Fran began his own business, Kysela Pere et Fils, and his main focus was importing wines from France. I went on my first European trip with Fran in 1995, as we toured Burgundy, Alsace, the Rhone Valley, Languedoc-Roussillon, Bordeaux, the Loire Valley, and Champagne. Today, Fran's portfolio extends into Italy, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Australia. Robert Parker, Jr. has rated Fran as one of the top five importers of wine into the United States.

The tasting began with a beautifully crisp, dry Italian sparkler called Rebuli Prosecco. A great alternative to champagne, it goes down so smooth and it is such a great value. It was the perfect way to start the evening with the view, the weather, and of course the company.

We then ventured to the Adelaide Hills of Australia as we tasted the 2005 Step Rd. Sauvignon Blanc. Many people commented the similarity to the New Zealand style of Sauvignon. I personally thought it was delicious, as it had a mix of tropical and citrus fruits. Not quite the acidity that a Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc normally has. A great value Aussie Sauvignon for $16.

The next two wines were the 2005 Domaine de Regusse Vin de Pays Pinot Noir and the 2004 Corpus del Muni Semi-Crianza, Vino de la Tierra de Castilla. The Pinot Noir comes from the Vin de Pays area just outside of Provence, with an earthy, cherry and red berry characteristics. At $12, it is a very good Pinot value. But, the spanish Tempranillo blend from Corpus del Muni was outstanding. This blend of 75% Tempranillo, 20% Syrah and 5% Garnacha was silky, elegant and just beautiful to drink now. Made in the international, fruit-forward style, with four months of french barriques aging, it was one of my wines of the night. And, at $17, a great value.

We next went to the Rhone Valley and tasted two wines from Domaine Grand Veneur. The 2004 Cotes du Rhone Reserve is an excellent buy for $13, with its deep, red and black fruits and elegant structure. Ready to drink now. The just released 2004 Chateauneuf-du-Pape was another "wine of the night", as it continued to evolve in the glass as time went by. Again, very approachable now, this stunning Chateaunuef had a deeper complexity to it, with black fruits, an orange-rind character to it, along with tobacco leaf and smooth tannins. A perfect Thanksgiving wine to serve on any special occasion. As many of you know, we are big Rhone Valley fans, and this one will be a Fall feature at the Ashe!

We then made our way back to South Australia, and to an area that I just recently visited, the Barossa Valley. One of Fran's shining stars in his portfolio is Thorn-Clarke Winery, and we were the first people in East Tennessee to taste the just released 2005 Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Ridge Shiraz. This Barossa Shiraz is "the bomb", with its deep extracted black fruits, incredible richness, yet enough structure to make the wine come together without being flabby. It is a knock-down, in-your-face, fruit-bomb of a red that is one of the best wine values in the store. You can tell that I kind of like this wine, and for $19.99, it is a steal. The 2005 vintage is going to be a very special vintage in the Barossa, and this is one of the first opportunities to see why. Many of you may remember the 2002 that got all the big scores. Well, this will be the next one to soar to those heights.

But, let me not overlook it's big brother, the 2004 Thorn-Clarke William Randell Shiraz. This is probably the wine of the night! A wine that was more complex, with deeper layers of fruit, spices, licorice, vanilla oak, coffee, tobacco, etc., etc., etc. If we had had all night to let this wine truly shine, it would be incredible. On my recent trip to Australia, I tasted many "flagship wines" that will be coming to Ashe's over the next few months. And, they have the price-tag that ranges between $75 - $200 a bottle. Yet, the 2004 William Randell Shiraz would easily fit into the "flagship" category, yet it is priced at $50 a bottle. And, it is worth every penny. We received 8 cases, and we sold four cases from the dinner.

And, after all of those wonderful reds, we finishrd the night with the 2003 Chateau Hallet Sauternes. A great value for $14 a split, it is a 100% Semillon that was full of honey, citrus and candied fruits. It worked great with the blue chesse course.

Overall, this was one of the finest tastings that we have put on. The staff at Cherokee Country Club did an outstanding job, and of course chef David Pinckney once again worked his magic. And, the terrace view is the finest in Knoxville. The wines are all available at Ashe's. Come by and we will be glad to show them to you.

We have our Fall tastings on our website at www.asheswines.com. Click on the Events button to see the dates.

Thad