It’s going to be tough to top last week’s festivities, but we’re going to try! This Friday, August 24 we’ll have 5 reds perfectly suited to the cooler evenings we’ve been experiencing here recently. Autumn is right around the corner and so is the fall harvest with all of it’s soft, earthy flavors (think butternut, sweet potatoes, etc.). These are all wines that one could enjoy with or without food, but we highly recommend you try any of these bottles with a roasted chicken accompanied by root vegetables. You won’t regret it! It’s a great lineup this Friday and the cost is just $5/person or it’s free if you’re a Grape Nut………take a look!
1. 2010 Talbott Pinot Noir “Sleepy Hollow Vineyard” – See the wine of the week notes.
2. 2006 Beronia Rioja Reserva – How can you go wrong with a good Reserva level Rioja? You can’t and wines like this possess an added value in the sense that they have been matured for you and are super smooth and complex upon release. This one displays lovely notes of complex red fruits, spices, tobacco and earth.
3. 2008 Domaine les Ondines Vacqueyras – If you like your wines spicy, you’re gonna’ love this one. From the southern Rhone Valley of France, this one is based on a cépage of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault, all fermented in stainless steel. Notes of wild berry fruit, pepper and herbs abound in this red wine built for lamb.
4. 2009 Baptiste Cuvelier “Cuvée del Maule”- A blend of 36% Cab, 30% Carmenere, 22% Merlot along with smaller portions of Carignan, Cinsault and Pais from vineyards in southern Chile, Baptiste calls this his “Earthquake Blend” as it was crafted in the teeth of a terrible earthquake that rocked the Cauquenes region of Chile in 2009. It is loaded with dense blue and black fruits, sweet currant, green olive, spice, licorice, chocolate, mesquite and cream de cassis.
5. 2010 Twenty Bench Cabernet Sauvignon – We’re all suckers for a good Napa Valley Cab and this is exactly that. Crafted by the talented Jim Regusci with fruit from prime sites throughout the valley, it offers up aromas of fresh red fruits and black currant along with flavors of cassis, blackberry and vanilla spice.