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This week at The Savvy Wine Cellar is all about
France...the Tour de France...French wines. Here's what's going
on.
French Wine Class
There is still room in tonight's (July 15) class: "You Think You
Don't Know French Wines, But You Really Do..." Neil Miller
explains varietals, regions and styles of the beautiful wines from
France.
Class begins at 7 and will last approximately 45 minutes. You
won't want to miss this! Click
Here to Sign Up.
This Week at the Tasting Bar
Are you following the Tour de France with us? As we
write this newsletter, Lance Armstrong is still in third place and
announced that he would return, yet again, in 2010. The Tour is in
France now, so this week we're going to feature French wines at our
weekly wine tastings on Thursday and Saturday. Take a peek at
what we've got lined up:
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Domaine
du Tariquet Classic Ugni-Blanc Colombard, 2008, France (Southwest France)
The Ugni Blanc-Colombard is fresh and zesty with lots of melon and peach
flavors and an incredible finish. It has a magnificent intensity,
for a fruity wine, and lots of floral and citrus aromas with a touch of
tasty exotic fruit. We like it chilled as an aperitif or with fish
or shellfish.
Louis Jadot
Bourgogne Chardonnay, 2007, France (Burgundy) This wine is
fresh and supple; a classic expression of the varietal. This wine
is classically structured and is sourced from the Côte d'Or and the
Chalonnais. It's blended and shows pure, ripe tropical fruit
flavors, which are balanced by a touch of oak. There is a lovely, elegant
Chardonnay nose with a hint of vanilla. The aroma carries into
excellent balance of medium-full fruit and acidity on the palate and a
lingering finish. We like it...a lot!
Heritiers Dubois
Rosé D'Anjou, 2008, France (Loire) When we tasted this at the
shop, we said C'est très bon! There are lush aromas of strawberry, red
raspberry and watermelon in the nose that follow through on the
palate. The finish is amazing and will leave your mouth watering
for more!
Domaine Dupeuble
Pere et Fils Beaujolais, 2008, France (Beaujolais, Burgundy)
The Dupeuble family is making some of the finest wine in all of
Beaujolais, even though it is not a Grand Cru. This is classic
Beaujolais from Beaujolais, Burgundy (not to be confused with noveau
Beaujolais). Made from the Gamay grape, this wine is concentrated in
texture and flavor. It is bright, forward and fruit filled brimming
with purple flower aromatics. Absolutely delicious, you are going
to want to hurry into The Savvy Wine Cellar to taste this!
Domaine De
Pierredon, Côtes du Rhone Non-Filtered, 2007, France (Southern Rhone
Valley)
This wine is opaque black and crimson mauve in color with a black
purplish tint. The nose has hints of licorice, raspberry and
spice. This is a full-bodied wine with big flavors of spice and
raspberry. There are some nice light, dusty tannins making the
finish extremely nice. This is a beautiful wine from the Côtes du
Rhone and sure to become one of your favorites!
See you Thursday
from 5-8 or Saturday 1-5 p.m.
"Pick of the Week"
This week's pick is one of Dale's favorite "under-appreciated"
Italian white wines: Gavi. So, we're featuring Araldica Gavi La
Luciana from the Piedmont region of Italy. This beautiful 2007
vintage, made from 100% Cortese grapes, was hand harvested from September
22 to 30 and then aged three months in stainless steel. It is light
straw yellow in color and has delightful aromas of grapefruit, green
apple and lemon. And all of these balance with flavors of citrus and
green fruit. The lovely mineral overtones of this
light-to-medium-bodied wine end in a refreshingly dry finish.
Perfect as an aperitif, it is ideal accompaniment with shellfish.
It also pairs well with fish, veal and grilled chicken, as well as the
delicate flavor variations of Japanese cuisine. È perfetto! Wine
Advocate scores at 87 points. And since it's the "Pick of the
Week," we're selling it at a reduced price of $10.99/bottle (regular
price: $12.99/bottle). Stop by Thursday-Saturday for a taste and you'll
be sure to take one or two home with you.
Upcoming Events
July 24: Visit Dale and Allison at the Northeast Jazz & Wine Festival
in Clinton Square, Syracuse. We'll be "guest pourers" on
Friday, July 24, from 5-10 p.m. Formerly known as "Jazz in the
Square," the festival features music on three stages, a late night
pub crawl, jam sessions, strolling musicians and more. We'll be
pouring wines in the Wines of the World Atrium. The festival runs
Thursday, July 23-Saturday, July 25. For wine passes and more information,
visit www.nejazzwine.org
July 29: Forrest Harpur of Southern Wines and Spirits returns to The
Savvy Wine Cellar to present his class on "Tiny Bubbles."
Class begins at 7 p.m. and will last approximately one hour. There's
still room left so sign up now - click here to sign up.
"How Savvy Are You?"
How did you fare last week with our questions? Did we
stump you; or, are you more-savvy than you thought? Here are
the answers to last week's questions:
From
what grape is the Italian wine, Amarone, made?
Answer: Amarone (ah-mah-rone-a) is made primarily from the Corvina
grape.
What
gives Amarone its distinctive flavor? Answer: The
grapes for Amarone go through a very unusual drying process called
appassimento or rasinate (to dry and shrivel) in Italian. This process
concentrates the remaining sugars and flavors and accounts for the
distinctively beautiful, concentrated flavor found in this wine.
What
does Côte mean? Answer: Côte is French word
that means "slope." Grapevines are climbing plants, need a lot
of water and tend to grow wild on slopes above water, and often near
rivers. That's why many French wines get take their name from a
nearby valley or river.
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