Join us for Asheville’s best free wine tasting this Saturday, July 9th from 2-5 p.m.! We’ll pour an all-star batch of Mediterranean wines from importer Eric Solomon including our new Wine of the Week, the 2014 Chateau Saint-Roch Kerbuccio. When it comes to Mediterranean varietals, specifically Grenache and Syrah, Charlotte-based importer Eric Solomon can do no wrong. His portfolio includes top flight producers from the Rhone, the Languedoc-Roussillon, and Spanish Catalunya, and we’re going to let you taste some of his all time greats. Stop by, taste some classic Mediterranean wines, learn, and save big on all of the featured tasting wines.
The Wines
On all tasting wines, save 10% off by the bottle, 15% off when you mix six of them, or 20% off when you mix a case or more of them!
1. 2015 Herencia Altes Garnatxa Blanca (Terra Alta, Spain) – The beautiful Nuria Altes comes from a long line of grape growers in Terra Alta, one of the largest DO’s in Spain’s Catalunya region. After years of selling the family’s grapes to larger operations, Nuria started estate bottling her own wines in 2010 and we’re glad she did! Her White Grenache comes from vineyards that range in age from 25 to 100+ years old, and the resulting wine is fermented in stainless steel and concrete eggs. Fresh, dry, and expressing lovely old vine character in the form of lemon, pear and complex mineral notes, this is a year in and year out great value.
2. 2015 Herencia Altes Garnatxa Negra (Terra Alta, Spain) – The red wine from Herencia Altes is 100% Grenache (Garnatxa is the Catalan name) from old vines planted in sandy clay limestone soils. Fermented entirely in concrete tank, it is a wonderfully pure version of Grenache that shows the grapes true essence. Ripe cherry, raspberry, white pepper, and subtle mineral notes inform the nose and palate of this soft and supple, medium bodied red wine.
3. 2014 Chateau Saint-Roch “Kerbuccio” Maury Sec (Roussillon, France) – It’s our Wine of the Week, and it’s one of the best red wines we’ve ever encountered from this appellation. A somewhat mysterious blend of classic Southern French/Mediterranean varietals, it is nonetheless a stunning example of how good Southern French wine can be when made by an expert like Jean-Marc Lafage. Eric Solomon’s website lists the blend as being Grenache, Carignan and Mourvedre, but Jeb Dunnuck of The Wine Advocate says its Syrah, Mourvedre and Carignan. Whatever the case, it is a rich, sumptuous, and silky red wine flowing with ripe blueberry, cassis, dark raspberry and a host of other yummy notes.