LIWINEDAD

  We finally connected with Lieb Cellars on Oregon Road for our June club pick-up.  We picked up four wines, eight bottles in total, four from Lieb and four from Bridge Lane (Fig 01).  The Bridge Lane wine included a 2021 Chardonnay and a 2021 Ros é .  The 2021 Bridge Lane Chardonnay is a clean, unoaked, bright, with orchard fruit notes that should pair well with Blue Point Oysters or Steamers.  The 2021 Bridge Lane Ros é is Cabernet Franc based, perfect for sipping at a cocktail party on a deck overlooking the sound as the sun goes down.   Switching to the Lieb Cellars family of wines, the June club included two 2020 Lieb Estate Sparkling Rosé , which in history is a delicate bright, dry sparkling wine.   Lastly were two bottles of the Lieb Estate 2020 Cabernet Franc .   Traditionally the Franc is nicely oaked, with good tannins and a peppery finish.   The Cabernet Franc will pair well with a prime 28-day dry age Rib Eye.   Lieb provided some short tasting notes (Fig 02), an

  The second pick-up stop for the Mid-March pick-up expedition is at Lieb Cellars for their spring club portfolio.   Today's selection is two white and two red varietals times two for eight bottles (Figure 1).   Lieb Cellars club selection usually includes at least one wine from Bridge Lane .   The selection included two Bridge Lane 2021 White Merlot , two   Lieb Estate 2020 Chardonnay , two   Lieb Cellars 2020 Syrah (member-only), and two   Lieb Cellars 2019 Estate Merlot .   The Bridge Lane 2019 White Merlot is a light, easing-going wine that pairs well with larger gatherings and informal food.   Because it is from Bridge Lane, the White Merlot is also available in boxes and even kegs so big summer beach parties can rock on into the night.   The wine is bright, crisp, and usually, with good Grapefruit notes, reminiscent of a good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.   The Lieb 2020 Estate Chardonnay is much more of an Oaked style Chardonnay in the Napa Valley genre of Chardonnay.  

  As part of the Lieb Cellars wine club quarterly pickup, one wine included a Bridge Lane 2020 Red Blend (Figure 1).   Bridge Lane is Lieb Cellars' second label but is not second best.   The Lieb Cellars produces rich and complex wines best shared with small groups of friends and family.   However, the Bridge Lane label is better with Backyard or Beach parties.   The Bridge Lane wines come packaged in Cans , Bottles , Boxes , and Kegs . The 2020 red blend is a Bordeaux style consisting of 52% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot, 8% Malbec, and 6% Syrah(Figure 2).   The wine developed fully for six months in Hungarian Oak.   The result is a light, medium body, easy tannin, Black Cherry, and Bramble wine with a delicate hint of Oak.   It is an easy-going wine perfect for an upscale afternoon Bar-b-Que.   To that end, for dinner, we paired the wine with Beef short ribs immersed in Bar-B-Que sauce that was slow-cooked in a Dutch oven at 225 ⁰ F for over four hours (Figure