[wine] Tuscan at Arezzo, 5057 France Ave.

Greetings, Bob has arranged for us to go to Arezzo this week. Wine area of focus is Tuscany. Arezzo is a town SE of Florence. Reservation is for 10 people at 6:30 on Thursday. We're at a large round table, so we NEED TO LET THEM KNOW if we will be more than 10, less than 8. Bob has negotiated a $5 per person charge in leu of corkage. Menu is on line. Wine list is not on line.... Prices are reasonable, w/ $10-12 pizza and most entrees (Primi) under $20. Who? (mostly guesses) Bob Lori Betsy Bill Janet Russ Jim Nicolai On Friday, we're invited to Jason and Angella Kalsen's. Couples bring one sparkling and one bagged/blind pinot and a wedge of good cheese. Singles skip the sparkling. Jason Angela Kallsen 651-690-2513 1906 Palace Ave, off Prior, S. of Grand jkallsen(a)cpinternet.com Sam's new wine shop is open: NOW OPEN Greetings Wine Lover, Thanks for you interest in Sam's Washington Avenue Wine Shop. Beginning today, Monday May 23rd, at 4pm we are officially OPEN FOR BUSINESS! Please call if you have any questions. Our address is 218 Washington Avenue N. in the Minneapolis warehouse district. We hope to see you soon, Sam's Washington Avenue Wine Shop 218 Washington Avenue N., Minneapolis, MN 55401 Free Parking Available ph.612.455.1045 fx.612.455.1048 www.samswineshop.com ----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> ----- THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Friday, May 20, 2005 ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S SPONSOR: * MAISON DE LA FRANCE AND WINES OF FRANCE Win 1 of 4 trips to France! Pick your wine tour deal to France; enjoy free in-store tastings in selected US cities! http://fr.sitestat.com/mdlfr/franceguide/s?US_wineloverspage_spring05&n… ________________________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE * CAN ZIN BE TAMED? Does anybody remember Zin that's not a 14.5 percent alcohol blockbuster? * NALLE 2002 SONOMA COUNTY DRY CREEK VALLEY ZINFANDEL ($19.99) Balanced and complex, alcohol held in restraint, an exceptionally classy Zin. * PEACHY CANYON WINERY 2002 PASO ROBLES "INCREDIBLE RED" BIN 115 ZINFANDEL ($10.99) On the simple side, but rational alcohol levels, plenty of berry fruit and lemon-squirt acidity make it a very good value. * MAISON DE LA FRANCE AND WINES OF FRANCE Win 1 of 4 trips to France! Pick your wine tour deal to France; enjoy free in-store tastings in selected US cities! * ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe. ________________________________________________________________________ CAN ZIN BE TAMED? I've been spending a fair amount of time recently in wine shops, standing in front of the Zinfandel shelves and working my way along the rows, in alphabetical order, picking up one bottle after another and scrutinizing the fine print. My quixotic quest - and it has proven more difficult than I anticipated - was to find a few quality Zinfandels (not cheap industrial stuff but real, red Zin) made with less than a hefty 14 percent alcohol. Blame climate change or blame the big-name critics, but Zinfandel in recent years seems to be following much the same road that California Chardonnay went down during the '90s: Bigger and bigger, stronger and stronger, fatter and fatter ... and less and less appealing to me. I've always found Zin a little difficult to warm up to, anyway - a failing that is more mine than it is Zin's, frankly, attributable to my preference for more traditional European wine styles that balance fruit and earth and celebrate complexity and finesse. There's a lot to like in Zin's exuberant fruit, but it does tend to fall among the most "New World" of wines. And the more that Zinfandels evolved into gigantic, blockbuster "fruit bombs" with Port-like alcohol and liquorous heat, the less I liked them, except perhaps as intriguing oddities, sort of like the calf with two heads in the carnival sideshow. But this attitude wars with my natural tendency to discover as many of the world's wines as I can, and to try to appreciate them all. So, I concluded, why not look for the outliers, the maverick Zin-makers who still fashion the wine in the way their grandfathers did, taking advantage of Zin's fruit but shaping it in a wine that can still be enjoyed at the dinner table. The logical way to do this would be to seek out Zins made by quality producers in good vintages that claimed less than 14 percent alcohol on the label. To make things even more challenging, I set a price limit: No high-end, single-vineyard treasures from "cult" producers. My target wines must retail for $20 or less. It took a while, but I finally came up with two: A delightfully fresh and balanced Zin in the $20 range from NALLE in Sonoma, and a good-value number that's the low-end offering (and lightest in alcohol) from PEACHY CANYON in Paso Robles. Both reminded me of Zin the way I remember it: Fruity, of course, even jammy in the case of the Peachy Canyon, but both enjoyable and approachable and, best of all, good dinner wines that enhanced but didn't overwhelm the food on the table. ________________________________________________________________________ PRINT OUT TODAY'S ARTICLE Here's a simply formatted copy of today's Wine Advisor, designed to be printed out for your scrapbook or file or downloaded to your PDA or other wireless device. http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/print050520.html ________________________________________________________________________ TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE If you'd like to ask a question or comment on today's topic (or any other wine-related subject), you'll find a round-table online discussion in our interactive Wine Lovers' Discussion Group, where you're always welcome to join in the conversations about wine. http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=1&tid=61616&mi… If you prefer to comment privately, feel free to send me E-mail at wine(a)wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit. ________________________________________________________________________ NALLE 2002 SONOMA COUNTY DRY CREEK VALLEY ZINFANDEL ($19.99) This very dark reddish-purple wine breathes luscious, typically Zin "bramble fruit" aromas of blackberries and raspberries, with a faint, pleasantly herbal back note that adds complexity. Fresh and juicy berry fruit flavors are well balanced by zippy acidity. Mouth-filling but no blockbuster, it's made at a relatively rational 13.5 percent alcohol, a moderate level by Zin standards and an approach that, in my opinion, makes it a better table wine. (May 17, 2005) FOOD MATCH: Works very well indeed with rare steak heavily crusted with black pepper and touched with a soy-based Asian-style sauce. VALUE: A bit above everyday price ranges for Zinfandel, but balance and finesse make it a good-value Zin for me. WHEN TO DRINK: Cellaring Zinfandel is a controversial topic. I'm in the drink-it-young camp and would advise finishing it off by its fifth birthday. WEB LINK The Nalle Website includes details about the wines; online ordering is available where the law allows. http://www.nallewinery.com/ FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Search the Wine-Searcher.com databases for Nalle Zinfandels: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Nalle%2bZinfandel/-/-/USD/A?referring_sit… ________________________________________________________________________ PEACHY CANYON WINERY 2002 PASO ROBLES "INCREDIBLE RED" BIN 115 ZINFANDEL ($10.99) Very dark purple with bright reddish-violet glints. Although it's on the simple side, its fresh mixed-berry scent is natural and appealing. Very ripe and jammy berry flavors are built on acidity sufficient to hold it together; in fact, it tightens up nicely with a good tangy squirt of lemon in the finish. Not too big to marry well with food, but its lush, exuberant fruit makes it a natural for sipping as an aperitif. (May 19, 2005) FOOD MATCH: It's not Italian, but it might as well have been for its amiable pairing with spaghetti and ground-buffalo meatballs in Italian- American "gravy." VALUE: One of the better Zin buys around in the $10 range. WHEN TO DRINK: This is one to enjoy while it's fruity and fresh. No rush, but I'd slurp it up over the next year or two. WEB LINK The Peachy Canyon Website offers in-depth information about the winery and its wines, including wine club and online sales where the law allows. http://www.peachycanyon.com/ FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Look up vendors and check prices for Peachy Canyon on Wine-Searcher.com: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Peachy%2bCanyon/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=… ________________________________________________________________________ MAISON DE LA FRANCE AND WINES OF FRANCE CLICK http://fr.sitestat.com/mdlfr/franceguide/s?US_wineloverspage_spring05&n… & Spring Over to France with Maison de la France and Wines of France! This is your chance to win one of four trips to the Rhone-Alps or Provence regions with Air France! Experience French Wine in the US! - Enjoy free in-store wine tastings in your area - Meet Sheri Sauter, Master of Wine and new spokesperson for Wines of France. - Discover Sheri's Top 40 French wine picks - Choose Yours!� Planning your trip to France? Put the wine country in your itinerary! - Pick your wine tour deals to France! - Learn the latest news from the French Vineyards - Explore the French Vineyards http://fr.sitestat.com/mdlfr/franceguide/s?US_wineloverspage_spring05&n… All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry. Friday, May 20, 2005 Copyright 2005 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *