[wine] Free Loire Wine Tasting - Sorella - Thursday

FYI Loire wine tasting this Thursday. Free parking. C, J ----- Forwarded message from Sorella Wine & Spirits <info(a)sorellawines.com> ----- Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2008 20:00:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Sorella Wine & Spirits <info(a)sorellawines.com> Reply-To: info(a)sorellawines.com To: james(a)brewingnews.com Subject: {Disarmed} Wine News, French Wine Tasting... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A peek at the wine shelves [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LA6qbuzPdjdOegzzizRUDKCjm8Ew5VAuymLfEpOKyncpRGcx…] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sorella Wine News August 12, 2008 Vol 1, Issue 8 In This Issue Wine Tastings Wine Friendly Recipe Winebuyer's Picks New Arrivals Snail Mail List ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quick Links Our Website [http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001LA6qbuzPdjdOegzzizRUDKCjm8Ew5VAuymLfEpOKyncpRGcx…] - Click to see what else is going on at the store including our Summer Beer Sale, which runs thru August 23rd. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Join Our Mailing List! [http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1102036493414] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Greetings! Has anyone else noticed those hints of Fall in the air? We know it isn't even State Fair time yet, but we're starting to get the fever for big bold red wines, maybe even a glass of port. O.K., that may be a bit premature, but we can no longer survive on Sauvignon Blanc and dry rose alone. It is time to try one of those wines colored like the contents of a fountain pen. This Thursday would be a great opportunity to do so when our old friend Chris Osgood visits the store (see tastings below). If you haven't tried a Cahors (pronounced kah-OR), the so called "Black Wine" of Southwest France, made from Malbec blended with Tannat and Merlot, you don't know what you're missing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hours Weekday hours are 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. We are now open 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wine Tastings This Thursday, August 14th, 5:30-7:30 p.m. Rock Star French Wine Importer Chris Osgood will be on in our store pouring the latest vintages of his outstanding, hand-chosen selections from the Loire Valley and Southwest France. A variety of wine styles and price ranges will be represented. Special pricing will be offered for those in attendance at the tasting. Don't miss out on this one! Here is the tentative list of items we will be tasting: Whites: Grande Reserve des Bastides Gaillac Blanc 2005 Chateau Jolys Jurancon Sec 2005 Cave de Saumur, Saumur Blanc 2006 Reds: Chateau d'Aydie Madiran Ode d'Aydie 2004 Chateau d'Aydie Madiran Estate 2004 Chateau Eugenie Cahors Tradition 2002 Chateau Eugenie Cahors Reserve Aieul 2004 Dessert: Chateau Jolys Jurancon Cuvee Jean 2003 Every Friday after 2:00 p.m. & Saturday, beginning at noon - ending? A variety of new arrivals and favorites (usually at least 5 wines) All samples are poured in Riedel crystal glasses - no plastic medicine cups here! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steve's Wine Friendly Recipe of the Month Hello Foodies, As we start our slide towards the fall season, I thought the best thing to do would be to get one more grill-friendly item in that I love. I realize this will be two poultry recipes in a row, but this is a much better outdoor dish than indoor. This a very elegant dinner treat and buying the Hens at one of the basic grocery stores keeps the cost down(about 4 bucks each). I'm listing 2-3 birds, depending on appetite size. Also, you may be able to find porcini already ground if you don't own a spice/coffee grinder. Grilled Porcini Cornish Game Hens with Vegetables 2-3 Cornish Game Hens(halved, backbones removed) 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms(ground in a spice grinder) kosher salt fresh ground pepper 2 red bell peppers, seeded and quartered 3 zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick rectangles 1 large red onion, sliced 1/2-inch thick 12 cremini(baby portabellos) mushrooms 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil kosher salt fresh ground pepper flat-leaf parsley, medium chop With a poultry shears, cut along side the backbone from one end to the other and then down the other side discarding the backbone. Flip over and cut down the center of the breast area into two equal halves. Rinse the halves and pat dry with paper towels. Brush the inner/bone side of birds with olive oil to prevent sticking. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the skin sides all over with the porcini 'dust'. Brush the veggies with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the bird halves bone side down over indirect heat about 20-25 minutes until the juice runs clear on the bone side. If you like, do skin side down over direct heat at the end for 3-5 minutes for more char on skin. Let them rest for 6-8 minutes while you grill the veggies. When you bring the veggies inside, toss with the parsley. Serves 4 For chasing down these juicy birds... 2005 Domaine Chene Bourgogne Pinot Noir $12.49 A well made light to medium-bodied Pinot from a great vintage in Burgundy. A pretty cherry/brown spice nose and flavors with just enough earthiness to marry well with the game hens. Finding Pinot Noir in this price range and quality level is an amazing accomplishment these days. 2005 Forchini Papa Nonno 'Tuscan style red wine' $17.49 This is a small family-owned winery in the Dry Creek Valley northwest of Healdsburg in Sonoma County. A total of 3000 cases made annually of six different wines. The Papa Nonno if a field blend of mostly Zinfandel, then Cabernet, some Carignan and some mix of whites they won't let on to. A well-balanced palate of cherry/berry flavors and light wood spice that is also very applicable to Italian food. 1999 Torreoria Reserva Tempranillo $16.29 Much like a aged rioja, this wine from southeast Spain, inland of Valencia, is a great poultry, pork and even meatier fish accompaniment. From an old, but up-and-coming region called Utiel-Requena this wine spends 16 months in American oak and 24 months in bottle. Smokey and spicy aromas give way to feminine cherry/incense taste that are fully developed and very silky. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Winebuyer's "Get 'em before they're gone" Picks I'm going to try to make this a regular feature. Great deals come our way in limited quantities fairly often, but they generally don't stick around forever. Here's what's hot now: Pine Ridge Encantado, Napa Valley Rose 2006 While we're stocking mostly 2007 roses these days, this particular 2006 is still drinking exceptionally well due to the Bordeaux varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon & Cabernet Franc) used to produce it. I've always found it to be well worth the winery's asking price of $18, but at our sale price of $9.97/btl it is an absolute steal. 1 case remaining at press time. Sneakers Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford Bench 2005 Rutherford Bench is where many of Napa Valley's big boys source the fruit for their Cabs typically retailing in the $75-$200 range. The "Sneakers" name is meant to hint at this once prominent winemaker's sneaking around the valley, buying up lots of wine from his old friends, the aforementioned big boys of Napa. This wine's regular retail is about $23; we're selling it for $12.97. We started with twelve cases, there are about two and a half left as of this mailing. Contadi Castaldi Franciacorta Brut Non-Vintage This is Italy's answer to Champagne. Made in the traditional Champagne method using classic bubbly varieties Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with a dollop of Pinot Bianco added in. The Contadi Castaldi is a perfect example of the style with the classic aromas of fresh baked bread and a pure apple fruit palate finishing crisp and dry. Was $25.99, Sale $15.97. 5 six packs remaining. Chateau Menaut Bordeaux Blanc, Pessac-Leognan 2005 This newer appelation in the northern part of the "Graves" region of Bordeaux produces many of the area's best white wines. This one is 100% Sauvignon Blanc making it a tad crisper than the wines from here that are blended with Semillon and Muscadelle. It displays great citrus tones with a touch of minerallity. Reg. $16.99, Sale $11.97. About 3 cases remained as of this mailing. Craneford Grenache John Zilm 2005 We've noticed that people's resistance to Grenache is finally breaking down, and all we can say is - it's about time. Afterall Grenache is the principle grape in one of the world's greatest wines - Chateauneuf du Pape. We recently blew through 10 six packs of D'Arenberg's Derelict Grenache at about $16/bottle. This wine is of similar style and quality and also a bargain on sale at just $17.97. Regular price was $28.99, but another distributor found themselves overstocked on Aussies and we bought it all up. 2 cases remaining. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New Arrivals - Milestone Reached? If you've read the past few newsletters, you know that we have been on the verge 3000 wines in stock. The dust hasn't completely settled, but after adding these items to the database and deleting items that have recently sold out, my spreadsheet read 3004 columns. But don't think that we'll be resting on our laurels; we plan to keep searching for the best wines and the best values from around the globe. Here's some of the progress we've made in the last 2 weeks: Bernardus Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Castle Rock Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2007 Duband Haut Cotes de Nuits 2005 Fillaboa Albarino 2007 Flora Springs Trilogy 2005 Hana Sparkling Sake Hawley Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek 2002 Karantes Carignan 2005 Kasumi Sake Kim XD KO In Cot We Trust 2005 Kroara Barbera 2007 Kroara Cortese 2007 La Vendimia Rioja 2006 Karl Lawerence Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Luchador Shiraz 2006 Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Estate 2004, 1.5 Liter Bottle Noellat Fixin 2005 Peller Estate Icewine 2006 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Evenstad 2005 SchichiHon Sake Yari Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 Wieninger Gruner Veltliner 2006 Andrew Will Two Blondes 2005 And certainly a dozen more that we are forgetting. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Snail Mail We will be sending out our Fall Wine Sale Catalog in early-to-mid September. The catalog will be available for download then off our website, but if you would like to recieve a hard copy via the U.S. Mail, please e-mail your name and mailing address to info(a)sorellawines.com [mailto:info@sorellawines.com] Please use the subject "Add to Mailing List." We only use this mailing list 3 or 4 times a year for our biggest sales/events, and we do not share the list with anyone else. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Save 15% Try Something New at Sorella We like to encourage people (including ourselves) to bust out of their shells, so we'll be offering incentives like this only to our E-newsletter subscribers: Mix and Match just 3 bottles (or more) of any regular priced wines in these underappreciated categories for a 15% discount. * Sherry * Washington (State) Wines * Half-Bottles (375ml) Our resident cork-dorks would be happy to recommend a few if you find these categories daunting. Offer Expires: 8/30/08 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks again for reading. Please share this e-mail with your friends who enjoy wine and bring them along to one of the tastings. Hope to see you soon. Sincerely, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Everyone at Sorella Wine & Spirits ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward email http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?m=1102036493414&ea=james@brew… This email was sent to james(a)brewingnews.com by info(a)sorellawines.com. 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