Greetings,
We have (and we had) a standing invitation to do eclectic grapes
and food to match at Lee and Melisa's place. Thursday at 6:30
(Bob's calling Dave T to check on the status of
the great Chinese adventure.)
Many of you have been there. I'll plan on tracking down an address by
Thursday. It's the highrise apt building just north of Ford Parkway on
East River Road. Lee Short. 14th floor?
Focus is on lesser known grapes and food to match.
Please coordinate the food w/ Lee/Melisa blackcat@pro-ns.net
Lee/Melisa
Bob Cheese??
Betsy
Dave
Ruth
Jim Breads
Cheers,
Jim
----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine@wineloverspage.com> -----
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Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 17:12:35 -0400 (EDT)
To: jellings@me.umn.edu
Subject: 30SecWineAdvisor: Offbeat grapes and wines - Ruché
From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine@wineloverspage.com>
THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Monday, Sept. 19, 2005
________________________________________________________________________
TODAY'S SPONSORS
* CHÂTEAU PALMER Harvest begins this week at Château Palmer.
http://blog.chateau-palmer.com* CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB Biggest Sale Event of the Year is Going on Now!
http://www.cawineclub.com?Partner_ID=winelovers________________________________________________________________________
IN THIS ISSUE
* WINE ADVISOR PREMIUM EDITION Subscribe now to receive tomorrow's
annual high-end new releases tasting report.
* OFFBEAT GRAPES AND WINES - RUCHÉ An unusual Italian red from Randall
Grahm's "Il Circo" collection offers a rare taste of the Ruché grape.
* BONNY DOON 2003 "IL CIRCO" RUCHÉ DI CASTAGNOLE MONFERRATO ($18.99) A
blend of red fruit and outrageously spicy character signal this unusual
Northern Italian variety.
* CHÂTEAU PALMER Harvest begins this week at Château Palmer.
* CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB Biggest Sale Event of the Year is Going on Now!
* THIS WEEK ON WINELOVERSPAGE.COM Virtual visits to Zaca Mesa in Santa
Barbara and Chateau de Malle in Sauternes, and a quick poll on how many
countries are in your wine collection.
* LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX The Wine Advisor archives.
* ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe.
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WINE ADVISOR'S PREMIUM EDITION: HIGH-END NEW RELEASES REPORT
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OFFBEAT GRAPES AND WINES - RUCHÉ
Come join me on another our occasional excursions down the wine roads
less taken, as we enjoy a quick look at Ruché ("Roo-kay"), an Italian
red grape so obscure that it's only grown in a few small villages in the
Castagnole Monferrato hills northeast of Asti in Piemonte.
Long available only to tourists visiting the area, Ruché has started
turning up occasionally in the world market, especially after Ruché di
Castagnole Monferrato was legally designated a D.O.C. under Italian wine
law a few years ago.
It's such a rustic oddity, indeed, that the Italian Trade Commission's
informative ItalianMade.com Website declares that almost nothing is
known about the grape's history, which was never written down but exists
only as an oral tradition.
Even the name of the grape is under debate. I've read that it comes from
a dialect word for "rock," but this may reflect confusion with the
French Roche. ItalianMade.com speculates that the Piemontese name boasts
of the vine's resistance to roncet, a local term for "a degenerative
infection of viral origin to which the variety is more resistant than
others cultivated in the district, particularly Barbera and Grignolino."
Whatever it means, it makes a wine with a memorable aroma and flavor
profile that offers a significant change of pace from the usual
suspects. Put Ruché in your glass, and you certainly won't mistake it
for Merlot. Pinot Noir, maybe.
I've reported previously on an excellent example from the importer John
Given, Cantine Sant'Agata "Na Vita" Ruché di Castagnole Monferrato.
Today's tasting features an import from the colorfully labeled "Il
Circo" line of unusual Italian varieties from Bonny Doon Vineyards.
________________________________________________________________________
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
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BONNY DOON 2003 "IL CIRCO" RUCHÉ DI CASTAGNOLE MONFERRATO ($18.99)
This is a very dark purple wine with a bright reddish-violet edge.
Luscious aromas offer a benchmark example of Ruché with a heady, rosy
floral scent accented with warm brown spice. Rich and full in flavor,
tart red fruit and spice, mouth-filling and plushy on first impression,
but a firm core of acidity carries it into a clean, medium-long finish,
with an unusual, intriguing hint of caraway seed and light tannic
bitterness lingering. U.S. importer: Bonny Doon Vineyard, Santa Cruz,
Calif. (July 16, 2005)
FOOD MATCH: It went very well with a light summer dinner of spaghetti
with salsa cruda, hot pasta tossed with chopped fresh garden tomatoes,
sweet onions, diced fresh whole-milk mozzarella and basil.
VALUE: I'd like to see it closer to the middle teens, but considering
the strength of the Euro and the wine's artisanal status and flavor
interest, it's certainly justifiable at this price, if only to add Ruché
to your life list.
WHEN TO DRINK: Ruché is a wine made to drink young and fresh, and it
will lose flavor interest as its fruit fades with time. It should be
safe to drink it through the next year or so, though.
PRONUNCIATION:
"Ruché" = "Roo-kay"
"Il Circo" = "Eel CHEER-coe"
"Castagnole Monferrato" = "Cahs-tahn-YO-lay Mawn-fehr-RAH-toe"
WEB LINK:
The Bonny Doon Website has a page about the 2003 Il Circo Ruché in its
"Eurodoon" section,
http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/wine/view/91FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Wine-Searcher.com shows limited vendors for Il Circo Ruché, but it
should be available from the Bonny Doon Website or wherever Bonny Doon
wines are sold in the U.S., Canada and Europe:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Circo%2bRuche/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=WLP________________________________________________________________________
HARVEST BEGINS THIS WEEK AT CHÂTEAU PALMER
Want to follow the harvest of 2005 with a close-up virtual visit to one
of the great properties of Bordeaux? Château Palmer has launched its new
blog-like journal, "The Daily Palmer," just in time to provide daily
updates on the latest harvest information:
http://blog.chateau-palmer.comWhat's more, Château Palmer's main site is now online with a complete
redesign. The stylish new site is easier to read, and it has expanded
its most popular features, assuring quick access to tasting notes,
online reservations for Château visits, and information about finding
Château Palmer and Alter Ego wines in auctions, restaurants and wine
stores around the world.
There's way too much to see in a single visit. Click now to start
browsing:
http://www.chateau-palmer.com________________________________________________________________________
CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB: BIGGEST SALE EVENT OF THE YEAR IS GOING ON NOW!
The Prices Falling Autumn Wine Sale, the California Wine Club's biggest
Sale Event of the year, is now under way. Over 100 award-winning wines
discounted at up to 58 percent. Premier Club wines are just $99/Case!
International Selections and even the highly reviewed, rare wines in the
upper level club, Signature Series, are also available at incredible
savings. Stock your cellar today! 1-800-77-4443 or
http://www.cawineclub.com?Partner_ID=winelovers________________________________________________________________________
THIS WEEK ON WINELOVERSPAGE.COM
Here are links to some of our recently published articles that I think
you'll enjoy:
* SCHAEFER ON WINE: Zaca Mesa pursues the elegant course
Zaca Mesa Winery, one of the oldest wineries in Santa Barbara County,
has been through some changes over the years. It served as a de facto
Wine University to many former employees, now graduates, who are well
known in the wine world. But in recent times there is a renewed focus on
what Zaca Mesa does best.
http://www.wineloverspage.com/schaefer/zacamesa.phtml* REPORTS FROM OUR READERS: A visit to Château de Malle
For most wine lovers, "Sauternes" equals "Yquem." But of course the very
traditional areas of Sauternes and Barsac includes other estates. While
covering the giant VinExpo in Bordeaux this summer, WineLoversPage.com
correspondent Evelyne Lejeune-Resnick, a Parisian wine lover, visited
with Nancy de Bournazel, owner of the magnificent Château de Malle
estate.
http://www.wineloverspage.com/reports/malle.phtml* WINE LOVERS' DISCUSSION GROUP: How many countries are represented in
your cellar?
If you've been hesitant to participate in our online forum's interactive
discussions, here's an exceptionally easy way to make your inaugural
post: It only takes a moment to participate in this simple, poll-style
discussion and compare the number of different countries represented in
your wine collection (large or small, it doesn't matter) with those of
other wine lovers around the world. Click this link and join the fun!
http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=1&tid=66377&mid=571162________________________________________________________________________
LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX
The Wine Advisor's daily edition is usually distributed on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays (and, for those who subscribe, the FoodLetter on
Thursdays). Here's the index to last week's columns:
* Another angle on 2003 - Beaujolais (Sept. 16, 2005)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa050916.phtml* Trade tasting (Sept. 14, 2005)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa050914.phtml* Oak or noak? (Sept. 12, 2005)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa050912.phtml* Complete 30 Second Wine Advisor archive:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml* Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Butter (Sept. 15, 2005)
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tsfl050915.phtml* Wine Advisor Foodletter archive:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/foodlist.phtml________________________________________________________________________
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Monday, September 19, 2005
Copyright 2005 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved.
----- End forwarded message -----
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