Asheville's best free wine tasting.

An All American Friday Winedown!

Friday, June 24 at Table Wine from 4-7pm – California Dreaming Tasting – $10 per person/$5 for Grape Nuts – includes taste of 8 wines and light palate cleansers! – Table Wine will be the Asheville wine shop to be at this Friday, as we’re really upping the ante this week with 8 awesome wines from all over California. John O’Shea of Juice Wine Purveyors will be joining us and pouring a number of limited production, boutique wines from his portfolio. We’re charging a little bit of money for this one, and I think once you see the list, it will make sense.

As always, we’ll provide cheese, crackers and some other nibblies, but we welcome you to bring your own appetizer or light bite to share with your wine loving friends. A special thanks to Betsy Metcalf and George Lowe for bringing the rum cakes and bacon jam last week……..both were awesome! See you this Friday.

2010 Anne Amie Muller Thurgau Willamette Valley, Oregon – $17.99/bottle…………….$7/glass
Ok, so I know this isn’t from California, but it’s so good I had to include it in the tasting. Muller Thurgau is a grape of German heritage, but the up and coming Anne Amie estate makes a small amount of it from vines originally planted in 1979. It is a super clean, crisp white wine with aromas and flavors of green apple, melon, passion fruit and white flowers. Great with a bowl of mussels or on the back porch with friends.

2009 Dancing Coyote Chenin Blanc Clarksburg, California – $14.99/bottle………………..$6/glass
Dancing Coyote is a family run, owned and operated vineyard located in a beautiful stretch of land in California’s Clarksburg appellation. They blend some Gewurztraminer and Muscat into their Chenin as well, creating a beautifully aromatic and fruit driven white wine. It displays ripe and zesty aromas and flavors of pear, apple and lime and is just a great all around summer wine. Just 218 cases made!

2007 De Sante Sauvignon Blanc “Old Vines” Napa Valley, California – $29.99/bottle……………..$10/glass
This is one of the best California Sauvignon Blancs I’ve ever had! It very much reminds me of Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc, a wine that consistently gets 93 to 96 point scores from Wine Spectator and that costs a lot more. It is not grassy or lean at all, but instead is very exotic, rich and full bodied with beautiful notes of honeysuckle, honeydew melon, pear and citrus. Just 240 cases made.

2008 Mellisa Kelly Chardonnay Sonoma County, California – $31.99/bottle………………..$10/glass
This is incredible Chardonnay that tastes like one of those impossible-to-get, highly rated, super expensive Chardonnays from a “cult” producer. Mellisa and Mark Kelly moved from South Carolina to California about 8 years ago, and after working for some superstar wineries, they took the leap and started their own operation. 400 cases of this wine are made and all of the fruit is from the Sangiacomo Vineyard, one of California’s unofficial “Grand Cru” sites for Chardonnay. It tastes really good and that’s all I’ve got to say about that one! Come see for yourself.

2007 Byron Kosuge Pinot Noir “Seri” Mendocino Ridge, California – $26.99/bottle…………….$9/glass
Byron Kosuge was the long time winemaker at Saintsbury, one of California’s early reference point estates for Pinot Noir. He recently started his own operation, and the wines are all ready receiving glowing praise. A whopping 125 cases of this wine were made, and it is just lovely, luscious Pinot Noir that tastes like one that would typically cost a lot more money. Layers of ripe cherry and blueberry mingle with smoky spices in this fuller bodied, richer-styled Pinot Noir. It would be perfect with filet mignon, lamb chops and other grilled meats.

2009 Clif Family Climber Red California – $14.99/bottle…………………$6/glass
This is the same Clif family that makes Clif Bars! This is an extreme California value with fruit sourced primarily from organically farmed vineyards in Lodi and Mendocino. The blend is 63% Zinfandel, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Syrah and a little bit of Petite Sirah and Merlot, and it is a boisterous, rich, spicy red wine perfect for grilled meats, bbq and the like.

2008 Odisea Veritable Quandry Red California – $20.99/bottle……………..$8/glass
Odisea is a unique operation run by industry veterans Adam Webb and Mike Kuenz. They started their operation to produce wines from varietals that they love and are truly passionate about. They love the wines of southern France and Spain’s Iberian Peninsula, and they work primarily with Mediterranean grapes. This one is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah and Tempranillo from old vines throughout the state and only 440 cases are produced. If offers up intense notes of black cherry, cassis, plum, black pepper and assorted spices. Really delicious wine!

2007 Big Vine Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley, California – $24.99/bottle……………….$9/glass
This wine tastes like it should cost $50 or more and it’s got some great credentials as well. The wine is made by Scott McCleod who carved his niche in the Napa Valley and beyond by launching, defining, and perfecting the Rubicon Estate and Francis Ford Coppola wines. Grapes are sourced from a vineyard in Rutherford right next door to Caymus, and the wine is just plain delicious with lots of creme de cassis, black cherry, cedar and spice box notes.

Table Wine offers 10% off on six mixed bottles and 15% off on mixed cases.