The Fearrington House/Sparkman Cellars Wine Dinner – The Wine

We are going to finish our discussion of this wonderful evening by talking about the wine. Sparkman Cellars is owned by Chris Sparkman and you can’t talk about his wine without talking about the man himself. Like many winery owners, Chris is one of those larger than life characters, always having something to say, always looking for the fun in things around him. Chris is a strong family man with constant reminders of his family around him at all times. As Chris said during the dinner, “We put it first thing on our web site. Family. Good Livin'. Damn Fine Wine.”

This is the motivation that drives Chris in all that he does an you can see it reflected in his wines. None of them are out of the park home runs, but they are all very respectable wines from this Washington State winery.

• 2009 Lumière Chardonnay  - Half of this Chardonnay is aged in new French oak for 8 months while the remainder spends its time in stainless steel. The resulting wine has pear and mineral on the nose with a touch of citrus and vanilla on the finish. The wine held up to the lobster very well.
• 2007 Wilderness Red – A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this wine is donated to the Wilderness Society in an effort to help preserve the wild areas still available in the country. This is a mélange of different grape varieties (3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Cabernet Franc, 20% Merlot, 29% Syrah, 12% Petite Sirah, 18% Petit Verdot) that never really quite reached “stellar” and sat in the “nice” category for me. Lots of flavors of cherry and oak come across in this wine.
• 2007 Ruby Leigh – Named for the youngest of Chris’ two daughters, Ruby Leigh is a Bordeaux blend featuring Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Big and dark with lively notes of violets and vanilla on the nose it come through with big flavors of black cherry and tobacco.
• 2007 Stella Mae – You can’t name a wine after one and not the other so this is the wine named for the older of Chris’ two daughters. Where the Ruby Leigh is vivacious this wine is more sultry. (I hate to break the news to you Chris, but in 15 years these will be the terms used to describe your daughters. You may as well get used to it now.) This is also a Bordeaux blend but this time it is only the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot that make an appearance. Lots of black fruit on the nose with a touch of spice, this wine had rich flavors of black cherry, figs and chocolate that seemed to linger forever on the palate. My big winner of the evening.
• 2008 Ruckus Syrah – This wine is exactly what you would expect from a Syrah, rich on the nose and rich on the palate. Lots of fruit up front in the wine with black fruit being especially notable. While the Stella Mae is the better wine IMO, this one was the best pairing of the evening with the wonderful tenderness of the lamb as a beautiful backdrop to this wine.