Cudgee
Creek Chardonnay, 2008 (Southeast Australia)
Tasting Bar price $8.09/bottle (regular price $8.99/bottle)
The Cudgee Creek Chardonnay is made from fruit grown in the estate's own
Murray Darling vineyards near Mildura. The wine shows the full
fruit flavor and easy to drink style that this exciting region is
becoming famous for! Made from 100% Chardonnay grapes, this wine is
harvested in February/March and cool fermented until dry. The wine
is matured in French Oak for three months and maintains a fresh, lively
palate that is well rounded, with a perfect balance of flavors.
Pair this lightly oaked Chardonnay with light seafood, pork tenderloin or
chicken to enhance the fruit forward style of the wine. It is also
excellent chilled as an aperitif or for sharing with friends!! We
love it and rate it Four Corks
R Wines Bitch
Grenache, 2008 (Barossa Valley)
Tasting Bar price $11.69/bottle (regular price $12.99/bottle)
Bitch Grenache is made from 100% Grenache grapes. Don't let the
provocative name of this wine mislead you into thinking that this wine is
a lightweight. This difficult to grow varietal achieves the full
potential that Grenache can be. Fleshy and round, with tons of
jammy strawberry and raspberry fruit, this is neither shy nor light in
the alcohol department, but it's so darn hard to complain about the heat,
when there is so much lip-smacking food fruit. The nose and palate
are a delicate mix of fruit characters; perfumed raspberries, peach and
poached quince. The palate extends to a juicy, fleshy texture with
confectionary flavors of strawberries and cream and finishes with spicy,
cloves and nutmeg The Savvy Wine Cellar loves this wine and scores it
Four Plus Corks!
Piping Shrike Shiraz,
2006 (Barossa Valley)
Tasting Bar price $12.59/bottle (regular price $13.99/bottle)
Piping Shrike Shiraz is named for the Australian Magpie whose territorial
diligence ensures the protection of the Barossa Shiraz grapes from
thieving blackbirds. This Shiraz is purple in color and aromatic
with hints of cinnamon, violets and blueberry. All this leads to a
lengthy full-bodied wine with tons of fruit and flavor. Wine Advocate
likes this wine and scores it a t 89 points. The Savvy Wine Cellar
gives it a rating of Four Plus Corks!
R Wines Strong Arms
Shiraz, 2007 (McClaren Vale 50%, Riverland 40%, Barossa
Valley 10%)
Tasting Bar price $11.24/bottle (regular price $12.49/bottle)
Strong Arms is a McClaren Vale Shiraz, soft, easy drinking and modest yet
stylish. It is named after a work of art by a talented artist named
Mel Kadel, whose work captures the trials, tribulations and triumphs of
everyday life. Strong Arm Shiraz has a sweet-fruited nose of
fragrant violets, plus, cherry and musk. The palae has rich
blackberry, raspberry, licorice and tar. It finishes with a creamy
vanilla oak and slightly smoky character. Wine Advocate scored Strong Arm
Shiraz 89 points. The Save Wine Cellar gave it a rating of Four
Plus Corks.
Pick of the Week
This week's Pick of the Week comes highly recommended by
Allison and Dale. It is the Dry Creek Fumé Blanc. At first swirl,
the 2007 vintage of this Sonoma County Fumé Blanc presents intense aromas
of lemon-lime, ruby grapefruit and fresh cut grass. After a couple of
minutes in the glass, more subtle hints of kiwi and guava begin to reveal
a complex wine. On the palate it is truly delicious with excellent
viscosity and length showing more fresh fruit flavors and very balanced
acidity. The 2007 vintage was excellent and this wine shows just how good
the Sauvignon Blanc varietal can be. And we've given it a special Pick of
the Week price of $10.99/bottle
Savvy Cooking
This year's crop of tomatoes is looking really fine and the basil we've
been cooking with is some of the best we've seen in years. So why
not, we thought, make a pizza Margherita-a pizza with fresh tomatoes,
fresh basil and beautifully fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese. We
liked this one that we found on Epicurious.com and wanted to share it
with you. Click
here to see the recipe.
Here are our suggestions for wine to enjoy with your pizza:
Valle Reale Vigne
Nuove Montepulciano D'Abruzzo, 2007, $12.99/bottle
Colosi Nero D'Avola,
2007, $15.99/bottle
Cline Cellars
Zinfandel, California Series, 2007 $12.49/bottle
Savvy Samplers
Next time you're in the shop, make sure you check out our new,
reconstituted Mixed Wine Savvy Summer Sampler. We have kept a few old
favorites and added a bunch of customer favorites to this popular
sampler. These cases of mixed white and red wines are perfect for
deck, pool, patio or to take along on your summer vacation. We've
also had several customers purchase our samplers to give as gifts.
What a great idea!
Gift Cards
And speaking of gift cards... If you need a gift for someone who enjoys
wine, why not give them a gift card from The Savvy Wine Cellar? It's
fast, easy and a perfect gift for wine lovers. The cards can be
used to purchase wine, accessories, stemware and makes a great gift for
anyone who enjoys wine.
How Savvy Are You?
So, how are you doing answering the questions on the web
site? Here are the answers to last week's:
What is a
Claret? Answer: Though it's not a legal definition, Claret
actually is a British term that refers to red wine from Bordeaux, France.
According to
legend, what is the origin of the Chardonnay grape? Answer:
As the story goes... After he was defeated in the Crusades in 1240,
Thibaud IV of France brought the Chardonnay grapevine back to
France. He had an estate in Champagne and planted it there.
Voila!
What does letting
a wine "breathe" mean? And how does one do it? Answer:
Letting a wine "breathe" means helping it aerate which, with
many red wines, helps to improve the wine's flavor. The best way to
aerate a wine is to decant it from the bottle, through a wine aerator,
into a glass wine decanter.
Wine in Grocery Stores Round 2
Well folks, it looks like the issue of selling wine in grocery stores is
back in the news. The New York State Legislature is considering
bills that would allow grocery stores to sell wine and liquor. To
offset the protests of small retailers, like The Savvy Wine Cellar, the
bill includes provisions that would allow us to sell carbonated
beverages, water, mixers and some additional food items and accessories.
This is small compensation for the loss of jobs and business when small
retailers, like us, have to close our doors. One of the bills
also contains a provision that would allow retail liquor and wine stores
to be open between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 a.m. The bill's proponents
claim that allowing the sale of wine in supermarkets would increase
employment in the state and create more revenue. There is also a multiple
licensing provision (disguised under a "medallion" system)
which, in essence, would allow large supermarket chains and Big Box
stores to have multiple licenses, once again, creating super stores and
knocking small retailers out of the ballpark.
The Savvy Wine Cellar strongly opposes and disagrees with this latest
attempt to increase the wealth of big supermarkets and big box
stores. Here are our reasons:
Underage drinking
and driving under the influence of alcohol accidents would
increase. Statistics show that in states where wine and liquor are
sold in supermarkets and Big Box stores there are higher rates of
underage drinking problems and alcohol related accidents. In Florida,
California and Texas, three states where wine is sold everywhere, the
number of alcohol related fatalities per 100,000 is more than double that
of New York State. Even worse, alcohol related fatalities of those under
age 21 are three times higher in these states where wine is sold
everywhere, as compared to New York which has independently owned
licensees, legally responsible for preventing youth from purchasing
alcohol. No state has passed this kind of measure in 23 years. LEADD (Law
Enforcement Against Drunk Driving) feels the same and strongly opposes
the sale of wine as well as many civic and religious organizations in the
state. (To see a complete list of these click
here).
Selling wine in
supermarkets would put small retailers, like The Savvy Wine Cellar, out
of business creating an even higher unemployment rate in New York
State. This bad plan would close more than 1,000 small businesses,
which would result in the loss of more than 4,000 valuable jobs of
hardworking New Yorkers. This plan would only benefit Big Box stores and
large chain supermarkets shipping profits out of state and leaving
thousands of New Yorkers without jobs. That is bad for New York and bad
for our economy. Supermarkets would not create one new job just because
they could stock wine instead of cereal on one of their shelves. In fact,
they would put thousands of New Yorkers out of work just to boost
corporate profits.
The bill's
proponents claim that allowing the sale of wine in supermarkets would
increase the production of wine in New York State, thus, creating new
jobs. Actually just the reverse would occur. Recently, a new
study by the Distilled Spirits Council of New York revealed the dangerous
plan would not generate new revenue for the state as some have predicted,
and in fact would result in a loss of revenue. The study also found that
thousands of jobs would be lost if the plan is approved. In addition, 91
wineries from across New York have joined the opposition because this
plan would hurt their businesses as well.
Last spring thousands of New York State residents let Albany know that
selling wine in supermarkets and Big Box stores would not be good for our
state. For some reason Albany just doesn't "get it" and
is trying to force the issue. You can help stop them.
If you like coming into our store, tasting and learning about wine; if
you enjoy being helped by friendly knowledgeable staff; if you don't want
to see an increase in underage drinking and drinking related accidents,
let Albany know. Contact your state senator (in Onondaga County it
is John DeFrancisco and David Valesky) and assembly representatives
(William Barclay, William B. Magnarelli, Al Stirpe, Joan Christensen,
Brian Kolb, Bob Oak and David Townsend) and tell them "No, I do not
support the sale of wine in supermarkets and Big Box stores."
It's that simple. To find out who to contact, click on these links:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/
http://www.nysenate.gov/senators
To learn more
about this issue go to the following web site:
http://www.lastmainstreetstore.com
You can also help
by simply adding your name to a petition we have in our store.
We'll be sending it to members of the State Assembly and Senate.
As always, we appreciate your support and your comments. We look
forward to the next time we see you in our shop.
CinCin!
Allison and Dale
