The Wines of Pierre and Helene Seillan

Monique Seillan was in Houston recently visiting with local wine trade and media. I sat down with her at Mark's American Cuisine to sample some of the fantastic wines created by her husband, Pierre and her daughter, Helene Seillan along with Amy and Joe Power of Another Wine Blog and Denman Moody, wine writer for Houston Lifestyles and author of The Advanced Oenophile.

Monique explained that Pierre's wine making career began at his family's estate in Gascony where he focused on red Bordeaux varieties. After working at several different wineries, he began to develop his micro-cru philosophy where he attempts to preserve the unique nuances that each site can contribute based on soil type and topography. This more precise management of the vineyard allows many unique parcels to be vinified separately for more blending options. Daughter Helene joined the team over seven years ago and has worked closely with her father splitting her time between Sonoma County and Saint-Emilion, France.

We started with the 2004 and 2005 Lassegue Saint-Emilion Grand Cru. This is a right bank Bordeaux blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc with some Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2004 was from the cellar at Mark's, it was fresh and and balanced with a full-body with ripe red fruit aromas and rich flavors of cherry and plum with a bit of herbal marjoram and spice in the long finish. The 2005 was similar but the aromas and flavors were more intense while the tannins were a bit smoother. Very enjoyable.

We also tasted:

The 2009 Arcanum from Tuscany, a Cabernet Franc based blend with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine had fresh aromas and flavors of raspberry with nutmeg and white pepper with fresh acidity, smooth tannins and a lightly spicy finish.

The 2004 Helena Dakota Vineyard 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Knight's Valley had pronounced aromas and flavors of blackberry, cassis, coffee and graphite. It had a full body with velvety tannins and fresh acidity with a long mineral laced finish.

2009 Verite La Muse from Sonoma County is a Merlot based Bordeaux blend with fruity aromas and flavors of cherries, berries and plums with a touch of fennel. Full body, slightly grippy tannins with a slightly spicy finish.

The 2009 Cenyth Sonoma County Red Wine was overseen by daughter, Helene. This Cabernet Sauvignon based blend has aromas and flavors of red and black berries with chocolate mint. It had a full body, silky smooth tannins, fresh acidity and a lingering finish.

All were rich and elegant reds, all recommended and all absolutely fantastic with the bison strip steak on special that evening.

Lust Zinfandel 2007

My husband loves this wine so he purchased quite a few bottles at a recent Michael~David dinner that we had attended. Last night, I decided to open a bottle to serve with dinner. I was making a roasted southwestern pork tenderloin, sweet potato fries (w/ chipolte ketchup) and a salad consisting of baby lettuce (fresh from my garden) with strawberries, red bell peppers, red onions and walnuts tossed with a white balsamic-raspberry vinaigrette. This turned out to be a great pairing. It is a bold wine that really stood up to the strong chipolte seasoning while complementing the fruit flavors. I opened the bottle a 1/2 hour before I served it as I have found this wine to be more enjoyable when I do so. The Lust Zinfandel by Michael~David 2007 was a dark purple color with a ruby rim. It has intense aromas of very ripe mixed berries and baking spices-both allspice and ginger with hints of ...

Introducing Oltrepò Pavese - An Italian Sparkling Wine that You Should Know

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World of Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara -on location

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Wine Life - Houston

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