Try Three For Free Wine Tasting this Saturday, April 23rd from 2-5 p.m. — Come experience the glories of Grenache, the grape responsible for some of the greatest wines of the Mediterranean! Stop by Table Wine in South Asheville this Saturday for Asheville’s best wine tasting. This week, you’ll get to experience Grenache/Garnacha/Garnatxa (whatever you want to call it) in it’s full glory. Grenache tends to yield wines with lots of ripe fruit and spicy notes along with soft tannin and low acidity. This Satruday, we’ll pour you a delicious white version of the grape from Catalonia in Spain, a new Cotes du Rhone from France’s Southern Rhone, and an old vine version from Spain’s northeastern Emporda region. Stop by any time between 2 and 5, taste, learn, and save up to 20% off on all of the tasting wines.
All of the featured tasting wines are on sale the day of the tasting: take 10% off if you mix any 3, 15% off if you mix any 6, or 20% off if you mix any 12.
The Wines
1. 2014 Herencia Altes Garnatxa Blanca (Terra Alta, Spain) – Nuria Altes and her family tend old vineyards in the Catalonian region of Terra Alta, just southwest of Priorat. The Altes have owned these vineyards for many years, but in 2010 Nuria decided to stop selling her grapes to the local cooperative. Today, she and her partner Rafael de Haan make red and white Garnatxa from very old vines, some over 100 years old. The resulting wine is fermented in stainless steel and foudre to create a fresh, elegant, and aromatically intriguing white wine. Lemon oil, pear, honeysuckle and mineral inform the nose and palate of this incredible white wine value.
2. 2014 La Solitude Cotes du Rhone (Southern Rhone Valley,France) – This old, family operated estate can trace its roots in the region back to 1450! In fact, the Lancon family count Pope Urban VIII and two cardinals amongst their ancestors, and they have been one of the most influential and important families when it comes to the history of Chateauneuf du Pape. Funny enough, their Cotes du Rhone comes from vineyards surrounding that prestigious appellation. Composed of 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 15% Cinsault and 5% Carignan, the wine is fermented in a traditional manner in stainless steel and older oak foudres. Showing classic Southern Rhone character with a nice mix of fruit, spice and earth, this is a great version of Cotes du Rhone from a classic estate.
3. 2013 Espelt Garnacha Old Vines (Emporda, Spain) – The Espelt family have farmed steep, hillside vineyards in the back country parts of Emporda in Northeastern Spain for centuries. Today, the lovely Anna Espelt steers the ship at this certified organic estate, and she has great “stuff” to work with in the form of 95 year old vines grown in rocky slate and granite soils. The wine is fermented in tank and aged for 3 months in French oak, and the result is what Robert Parker called “a gorgeous wine to enjoy over the next several years.” Rich, intense, seamless and flowing with ripe strawberry, briery mountain fruit, pepper and Mediterranean herbs, this qualifies as one of the great red wine values in the world.
Josh Spurling
Owner/Operator/Wine Buyer
Table Wine Asheville
828.505.8588 or josh@tablewineasheville.com