Saturday, December 22 at Table Wine, Asheville’s wine store dedicated to stocking, promoting and selling wines from family owned and operated wineries. Stop by anytime between 1:00 and 5:00 and sample 10 wines. FREE TO THE PUBLIC!!!
We’re full of holiday cheer here at Table Wine and we’d love to share some of it with you. This is your chance to try and buy some really nice wines, including some top shelf juice (aka more expensive wines) that will make your holiday celebrations in 2012 the best ever. The lineup will be a surprise, but we promise it will be a good one.
Please note that our budget allows for the opening of 2 bottles of each wine, so please limit yourself to 1 to 2 tries of each wine. We want to make sure that everyone that comes out gets to try all of these special wines. We apologize ahead of time if we run out of any of the wines, but remember that there are 10 wines, so whether you come early or late, you’ll get to try some of the good stuff. May your holidays be filled with joy and good wine this year.
The Wines
Prices range from $15 to $30
1. 2011 Salomon Undhof Gruner Veltliner “Hochterrassen” – Gruner Veltliner is Austria’s most beloved grape varietal and this one is always good. Super fresh and clean with green apple, citrus, mineral and herb notes, it should appeal to fans of Sauvignon Blanc.
2. 2011 Bodegas Valdesil Godello “Montenovo” – From one of Spain’s most revered producers of Godello, this is a wine that everyone likes. It possesses nice body and texture and offers up notes of citrus, spiced apple, peach and mineral.
3. 2011 Solena Pinot Gris – This was the best Oregon Pinot Gris we tasted from the 2011 vintage. From vineyards farmed organically/biodynamically, it is a rich, nicely textured wine oozing with peach, apricot, honeysuckle and spice.
4. 2010 Patz and Hall Chardonnay – From one of California’s top Chardonnay negociants, this is very fine Chardonnay with a little bit of something extra. Ripe and overt, the wine does maintain some refreshing acidity – flavors of spiced apple, pear and citrus greet your palate, followed by notions of vanilla, crème brulee and spice.
5. 2011 Meiomi Pinot Noir – From one of California’s first families of Cabernet Sauvignon the Wagners, who launched Caymus Cab back in 1972), Meiomi is the Wagner family’s foray into Pinot Noir. It is silken textured and ripe with creamy raspberry and cherry fruit along with toasty, vanilla accented oak.
6. 2008 Piro Varrone Primitivo “Casa Vecchia” – Piro Varrone makes some of Italy’s best Zinfandel……….oops, I mean Primitivo. No worries, they’re the same grape, but they do taste a bit different. This one is fresh and medium weight with lots of ripe berry fruit along with nuances of herb and vanilla.
7. 2011 Michel Gassier Cotes du Rhone “Cercius” – This is the top selling red wine in the store and there’s not much not to like. Ripe and generous, it is packed with raspberry and black cherry fruit, along with subtle pepper and smoke notes. 85% Grenache and 15% Syrah from organic vineyards.
8. 2009 Grochau Cellars Proprietary Red – John Grochau is one of the Pacific Northwest’s rising stars. His only Washington state offering is a Cab and Merlot heavy Meritage that shines with black cherry and currant fruit along with a dusting of herb and spice. A perfect wine for beef!
9. 2010 Chakana Malbec Estate Selection – This is just really good, 93 point rated, Mendoza Malbec. Full bodied and full flavored with lots of ripe and luscious dark fruit, warm spice and toasty oak, it is a real crowd pleaser. We’re down to our last few six packs of this one, so buy now or forever hold your peace.
10. 2010 Chappellet Proprietary Red “Cervantes” – Chappellet is one of the oldest bonded wineries on Napa’s “hill of gold”, aka Pritchard Hill. This site is home to some of Napa’s most famous and most expensive wines, but that’s not the case here. A blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, with smaller doses of Petit Verdot and Malbec, it is super classy, concentrated red wine to drink now or a few years down the road.