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Wine Recommendation
St. Julian Wine Co.
2005 Braganini Reserve Pinot Noir(Lake Michigan Shore)
Founded in 1921 by Mariano Meconi, St. Julian has been making wine in the town of Paw Paw, in southwest Michigan since 1936. This family-owned winery in Michigan's Lake Michigan Shore AVA is headed today by Meconi's grandson David Braganini, who endeavors to bring value wines to the marketplace, and sufficiently proud of this reserve Pinot Noir, he put his family name on it.
Veteran fruit growers Joe and Sue Herman, proprietors of Karma Vista Vineyards & Winery in Coloma, Michigan, grew this Pinot Noir for St. Julian. The Karma Vista website describes the vineyard location as "Somewhere between Napa and Bordeaux, yet 90 minutes or less from Chicago…" No mention of Burgundy, the home of great Pinot Noir, but this wine, with karma too boot, may change the webmaster's description soon.
Unencumbered by oak, this lighter style Pinot Noir immediately appeals with strawberry, cherry and raspberry aromas. As it develops in the glass, secondary notes of dried leaves, minerals, earthy-mushroomy characters and a brown spice mélange become evident. Serve it with grilled duck breast with either a dried Michigan cherry sauce or fresh raspberry sauce.
Reviewed August 3, 2007 by Eleanor & Ray Heald.
Other reviewed wines from St. Julian Wine Co.
The Wine
Winery: St. Julian Wine Co. |
The Reviewer
Eleanor & Ray Heald
The Healds have been writing about wine since 1978 and have focused on appellation significance in many of their world beat writings. They value recognizing site personality (terroir) within an appellation's wines. They praise balance and elegance in wines styled to pair well with food and eschew over-extraction, high alcohol and heavy-handed oak. “Delicious” is their favorite descriptor for a great, well-made wine. |