Join us this Friday, August 1st any time between 4 and 7 p.m. to “wine down” your work week and get your week end off to a good start with the best wine tasting in Asheville! This week, we’ll be pouring and talking about the art of blending red and white wines. This process of blending different grapes together to create a better whole of a wine has been used for centuries all over the world. Join us this Friday and we’ll explain the how’s and why’s of this process, and we’ll let you taste five blended wines.
We’ll start with some bubbles, the Juve Y Camps Cava Brut, a lovely Spanish sparkler composed of the classic Cava grapes (Parellada, Macabeo, Xarel-lo) and just a splash of Chardonnay. Beautifully balanced with tart citrus, apple, cream, and spice, this will get your taste buds tingling! After that, the 2013 Domaine de la Petite Cassagne Rosé from the southern part of France is a blend of 40% Grenache, 40% Cinsault, and 20% Syrah. Clean and juicy, it exhibits aromas and flavors of watermleon, peach, melon, and just a kiss of minerality.
Moving into the reds, the 2009 Pietra Santa Sangiovese from California’s Central Coast actually contains 8% Cabernet Sauvignon and you can taste it. With ripe plum, black cherry, and toasty oak notes, this one reminds us of a modern styled Super Tuscan accented by more of the plush fruit of California. The 2011 J C Cellars Smoke and Mirrors is a big old red blend from containing grapes from all over the state. Winemaker Jeff Cohn blends Zinfandel, Grenache, Syrah, and several other grapes to create a ripe, rounded and rich red wine that will remind some of The Prisoner. And to finish things up, the 2012 Seven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon is pure class and pedigree from one of Washington state’s veteran producers. Even though it is varietally labeled, it also contains Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, and it delivers classic notes of creme de cassis, black cherry, tobacco, cedar and spice box. Come on by, taste, learn, and save every Friday at Table Wine.
Tasting wines are 10% off by the bottle, 15% off if you mix six of them, and 20% off if you mix twelve of them!
The Wines
Prices range from $13 to $30 per bottle
1. N.V. Juve Y Camps Cava Brut
(Penedes, Spain)
2. 2013 Domaine de la Petite Cassagne Rosé
(Costieres de Nimes, France)
3. 2009 Pietra Santa Sangiovese
(Cinega Valley, California)
4. 2011 J C Cellars Smoke and Mirrors
(Various Regions, California)
5. 2012 Seven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon
(Columbia Valley, California)