Wine’n Things
at Stonehenge Market
june 9 nee
e
In This Newsletter:
Monthly Wine Tasting Wine Regions Of France A Sample From Our Wine’n Things Blog Local Artist on Display: Cat Rudd Deciphering French And Italian Wine Labels
wine. It goes really well with grilled seafood . This is most definitely a food wine. Trileka Sauvignon Blanc, Lontué Valley ...........$7.99 Crafted by the fine folks at Korta who have been bringing us excellent values from Chile, the Trileka Sauvignon Blanc is yet another example of why savvy wine drinkers are turning more and more to South America to find great buys. Fresh and clean with lemony citrus aromas and flavors accented with just a touch of richer tropical fruits. Enjoy this well-balanced with seafood dishes or creamy soups Bodegas Perica Mi Villa Tinto .........................$10.99 Excellent Viño Joven, with fruity tones of grapes and sweet berries, powerful, long and penetrating. Clear, full and well-balanced. With body, guts and character. Flavoursome and fruity. Initial hints of carbon followed by a smooth full acid sensation with the alcohol surrounded by the perseverance of fruit and tannins. Pure and of dense colour. Clear violet-red with cherry overtones “Bold”. Fruity tones of grapes and sweet berries, powerful, long and penetrating. Balsamic twists.Clear, full and well-balanced. With body, guts and character. Flavoursome and fruity. Initial hints of carbon followed by a smooth full acid sensation with the alcohol surrounded by the perseverance of fruit and tannins Dao Mesias Tinto ................................................$8.99 Deep ruby red color. Young and fresh aroma with black cherry fruit, This red wine is slightly floral with black pepper spicy notes. This is a full bodied wine with powerful tannins, suitable to age if you can keep it that long! Lorca Malbec ........................................................$8.99 Only 1,000 cases were made of this wine, with a touch of second use French oak. Choosing to use oak here, Mauricio still doesn’t overdo it, and this is a structured, elegant blend with restrained ripe red and dark fruit and notes of plums, violets, and coffee. This wine can compete with any California Cabernet as a great full bodied red wine. ~ CONTINUED
Monthly Wine Tasting
W
e are planning to have our regular monthly tasting on Saturday June the 13th. We have a nice little line up planned and a special treat of small production locally made Chorizo (hormone, preservative & antibiotic free). Here is the start of our selection of the tasting wines we will have for Saturday June 13th from 1-5 PM.
Santola Vinho Verde .................................................................... $7.99 This Portugues wine has a clean nose exhibits aromas of limestone, cardamom and fruit spice hints, along with limeaid spritz. The sip offers a bright, tropical lime along with earthen notes in the middle, then concentrated lemon citrus in the finish. Portuguese vinho verde (VEEN-yo verd), or green wine, is made from predictably crisp, tart grapes. Match this pleasant white with shellfish, ceviche, gently cooked seafood or charcoal grilled leaks. This is as summery as wine gets,The wine is dry, crisp, acidic and light, both in body and alcohol (9 percent). It’s a knockout value, though, with flavors of lime and pineapple. Just for fun, it’s a little fizzy, too. Serve it beer-cold. Bodegas Perica Mi Villa Blanco (white rioja) ............................ $9.99 Bodegas Perica Mi Villa Blanco (2006). Hints of peach , honey dew melon and green apple come through on this refreshing white
Nazca Prieto Picudo .................. $9.99 Now is the time to try something new, new to the store anyway. This wine from Spain has not undergone the “Americanization” and is a genuine example of what Spainards drink on a daily basis. Prieto Picudo makes a “ Big Wine” with moderate tannins. It is excellent with grilled meats and veggies!
Wine Regions Of France
Have you ever wondered about the names you see on some wine labels? While most American wines are labeled with the name of the grape the wine was made from, a lot of wines from other countries are labeled with the name of the place the grapes were grown. We thought it would be of interest to present a series of short articles in our newsletter and discuss some of the wine-growing regions. We’ll start this month with one we have visited several times. It’s in the South of France and it is known as LanguedocRoussillon.
Vin de Pays
place of origin and the department (administrative region) where they were produced. In the 1970’s the French government began to seriously develop a system to give status and definition to the most identifiable of these wines. A list of authorized regions from which Vin de Pays could originate was created during that time. The largest concentration of them are in the “Midi” from near Avignon, along the Mediterranean coast, to the border with Spain. A large part of the Loire is also Vin de Pays, but there are other Vin de Pays throughout France.
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc as a wine region covers the three departments of Aude, Gard, and Hérault. Roussillon is much smaller, covering the southern part of the department of
The designation “Vin de Pays” is part of the French system for identifying a wine by the “place name of geographic origin.” It is French for “country wine,” and they are the local wines produced in the less-famous wine regions of France. Many of these wines can be quite pleasant, but they are not always exported or even bottled. The wines are labeled according to their PyrénéesOrientales from north of Perpignan south to the Spanish border. The regions are now known collectively as Languedon-Roussillon. They cover wines from the lower reaches of the Rhône spreading west to encompass the entire Mediterranean coastline from the Rhône to the Pyrènees and the Spanish border, as far north as Carcassonne, the Massif Central and Nimes.
We are trying to keep something open all the time in the shop so please ask for samples / tastings anytime!
Languedoc-Roussillon has always been known for their red The demand for chilled wines to accompany the table wines, but they also have seafood found along the Mediterranean has white table wines and dessert wines. Many wines are produced traditionally been met by rosé wines, but there from a blend of several varieties, has been increasing demand for white wines. with some appellations even specifying the grapes in the blend. But there are an increasing number of terms of the importance of viticulture to the region’s varietal wines (those which state on the label the economy. Despite its quantitative importance, howgrape variety used). The red wine wines are most ever, the area produces only about 10% of France’s often a blend of Carignan, Cinsault and Grenache, Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) wines. For with Syrah and Mourvèdre more recent additions. many years the only AOC wines were Collioure and There is also increasing interest in single varietal Fitou, but in the mid 80’s, the quality of wines wines, sold as Vin de Pays. Those most commonly improved and other areas were elevated to AOC found are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. status. Some AOC wines to look for include those The demand for chilled wines to accompany the from Corbières, Faugères, Minervois, St-Chinian, seafood found along the Mediterranean has tradiCostières de Nîmes, Coteaux du Languedoc, or Côtes tionally been met by rosé wines, but there has been du Roussillon. An attractive sparkling wine comes increasing demand for white wines. With modern from Blanquette de Limoux. This area is also famous vinification techniques and improved for their dessert wines because the climate is warm methods of viticulture, there has enough to sufficiently ripen the grapes. Vin Doux been an enormous growth in white Naturels (VDN) are produced by adding spirit to natuwine production. Chardonnay and rally sweet wine to arrest its fermentation so the natuSauvignon Blanc are the fashionable ral sweetness is retained. Dessert wines can be found white wine grapes of the moment, from the appellations of Banyuls, Frontignan, Lunel, but the traditional white varieties of Maury, Mireval, Rivesaltes or St-Jean-de-Minervois. the region are also being revamped. The majority of dessert wines are white, made from Some of the traditional white Muscat, Malvoisie, or Maccabéo. But Grenache, varieties include the following: Carignan, Cinsault, or Syrah are used in Banyuls to Marsanne, Rousanne, Picpoul, produce a dessert wine resembling Port. Bourboulenc, and Viognier. Languedoc-Roussillon is the single most important wine region in terms of volume of Donum Estate! wine produced and also i n Posted by Paul on June 4, 2009
A Note From the Wine’n Things Blog
We had a visit from Dorothe from the Donum Estate on Tuesday with some really lovely wines. Dorothe’s mom Anne is the owner / president/ grower of the Estate. This is truly a family business and as a bonus they make great wines! We have purchased some of their Robert Stemmler Pinot Noir, the texture is really nice in your mouth with very dark fruit taste going on, this bottle would kill it with Steak & Shrooms or even Grilled Lamb. The Chardonnay we purchased is awesome its got some
~ CONTINUED
known as “Appellation d’Origine Controlée,” or “AOC” for short, Local Artist on Display: Cat Rudd is sort of a consumer-protecThe World According to Cat! tion regulation. The system also Raleigh artist and color consultant, Cat Rudd, started her business in imposes strict rules govern1999. The World According to Cat! became her latest creative endeavor ing such things as how many with colorful, whimsical, fun, magical artwork. Cat has painted furniture, grapes can be grown per acre, glassware, picture frames, flower pots and more. The canvases currently on whether they can be irrigated, display at Wine ‘n Things are acrylic paintings. She is currently concentrating and how they can be harveston her color consulting business where she helps clients co-ordinate their ed. Chardonnay can be grown interior wall paint colors – a perfect inexpensive way to liven up your elsewhere in France, but it can’t environment. be labeled by its place of origin under the AOC system. Instead, it can be labeled as a “Vin de zest with a little acid, really nice apple flavours, and Pays”(country wine), abbreviated “VDP.” ripe melon. This is a very enjoyable wine. You might Italy uses a similar system, called “Denominazione think about grilled salmon or Scallops, although I di Origine Controllata,” or DOC. There is also a stricter drank it with grilled sausage and it was exceptional. standard called DOCG [the G stands for “Garantita” Got a chance to meet with our #1 French importer (guaranteed)]. Wines which are not covered by the yesterday and we worked out all of our pre-order DOC system can be labeled “Indicazione Geografica purchase prices . So we will put together some price Typica” (IGT) if they are made from the typical grapes sheets before the weekend with all of the Burgundies of the geographic region noted on the label or “Vino and Rhones that we can get our mitts on at reasondi Tavola” (table wine) if the winery wants to make its able prices! own determination of which grapes to use. Thus, most of the best wines from France and Italy will bear the AOC, DOC, or DOCG designation. A thorough search of those countries’ wines will cerFrance and Italy desigtainly turn up many wonderful wines that are nate wines’ names based on not AOC, DOC, or DOCG, but you will know geographic places of origin. more about a wine’s This is different than in the “pedigree”when you buy USA, where most wines are one with one of these labeled according to the designations. type of grape used to make For each geographic them. Whereas an American region of France or Italy wine is likely to be labeled where high-quality wines “Chardonnay,” for instance, a are made, there are certain Chardonnay from France will types of grapes which are usually not have the grape permitted in the AOC or name on its label. Instead, DOC wines. If you will just the label will state the take the time to remember region of France where the Chardonnay some of the place-grape was grown. Since Chardonnay has been combinations, then you found over the centuries to grow best in Burgundy, will be a long way toward figuring out what to buy. that is the place authorized to bottle Chardonnay You can find some examples of place-grape combiand put the place name on the label. This system, nations on our web site www.winenthings.com.
Deciphering French And Italian Wine Labels