The month of October has things moving at a brisk pace here at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits.  Upon the heels of our very first store opening in the Florida panhandle west of Tallahassee (see our Panama City Beach post on October 11^th), our team members throughout the state are busy prepping our locations in anticipation of upcoming holiday season.  It’s hard to believe that it’s that time of year already!

On the wine side we’ve received some nice new surprises recently including the latest release of Roquette & Cazes Douro Tinto ($35) from the fabulous 2011 vintage.  Roquette & Cazes is the collaboration of two legendary wine men:  the Douro’s Jorge Roquette of Quinta do Crasto and Bordeaux’s Jean-Michel Cazes of Chateau Lynch-Bages.  The wine is a blend of 60% Touriga Nacional, 15% Touriga Franca and 25% Tinta Roriz grown on the Douro’s steeply terraced schist soils and aged up to 18 months in French oak.  The result is an expressive Bordelaise take on Portugal’s top terrior.  A powerful red with a long finish, it is accessible now but will definitely reward short term aging. 

Speaking of Bordeaux, we’re also shipping some great Sauternes right now too, including the 2011 Chateau Rabaud-Promis ($35).  Now to be honest, our Bordeaux beat is the purview of my colleagues Shayne Hebert and Atanas Nechkov, so I’ll defer to them to fill you in on the many great wines coming out of this excellent dessert wine vintage.  But I happen to have a tie-in here with Chateau Rabaud-Promis.  While in Bordeaux last April for En Primeur week, I had the good fortune to sample several vintages of this Premier Grand Cru Classe Sauternes including a decadent, well-preserved bottle from 1947.  Back then the wine was simply bottled as Chateau Rabaud.  It would later be split into two estates: Chateau Rabaud-Promis and Chateau Sigalas-Rabaud. 

Furthering the Bordeaux theme of this post, I would be remiss not to thank Hugo Bernard of Domaine de Chevalier and Guillaume Casteja of Bordelaise de Grand Vins who graciously stopped by the Naples area for a visit last week.  Domaine de Chevalier is one of finest producers in the Pessac-Leognan appellation of Bordeaux.  It’s a reference point for cellar-worthy reds and dry whites.

L-R: ABC Wine Consultant Stephen Simms, Guillaume Casteja, Hugo Bernard

Hugo spent considerable time talking about his estate with our ABCFWS staff members and answering questions.  He even managed to pour a few exceptional wines for our guests at our North Naples wine tasting.  Don’t miss out on his 2010 L’Esprit de Chevalier Blanc ($33) and L’Esprit de Chevalier Rouge ($33).  

Jim Greeley, SW Florida wine supervisor

Follow me on Twitter @ABCWineJimG