Dependable White, Languedoc, France

40% Piquepoul / 30% Rousanne / 15% Chardonnay / 15% - Sauvignon Blanc

Aroma is subtle, compounded mainly of light citrus and faint floral notes. Wine offers clean and lively lime, lemon and apricot flavors with green apples and and a kiss of butterscotch in the finish. Amazing complex and subtle value

Dependable, named in honor of a Citroen dating to 1955 that the winery, at least, considers France's most reliable car.

Outdoor Wino, Oregon "Pool Water, Perfected!"

Rambling Red
Cabernet / Merlot / Splash of Syrah
Cabernet and Merlot with a touch of spice goes perfectly with all of your outside activities from hot tubing, relaxing, or to the pool pool. 



Picnic Table Pink
Pinot Noir / With the Tiniest Nip of Riesling
Hot days pair perfectly with cold Rosé. Cherry flavors from Pinot Noir make for juicy but not to sweet pink that loves to hang out with lazy afternoon.




Wanderlust White
Chardonnay / Riesling / Splash of Viognier
Cantaloupe hits the mouth first followed by lingering flavors of cookie batter, apples and wild flowers. Finishes with balanced acidity that leaves a smooth and refreshing mouth feel.


Portable wine in a light plastic bottle ...let's go! At 1/6 the weight of glass, this wine is ready for your next outdoor adventure. EnVino PET Bottles.  Shatterproof, recyclable, reusable, light-weight bottles.

Wines "Big Word" of the Week! What the Heck is Balanced?

Balance—When a wine is well-balanced, all its components—fruit, acid, alcohol, tannins, body—are in harmony, with no one component dominating the others. Now more than ever, wines are being produced "in balance" and fewer wines need aging!

Domaine du Pioch d'Or, Coteaux du Languedoc

100% Picpoul de Pinet

Offers aromas of peach, pear and ruby-red grapefruit, with a crisp, refreshing acidity on the palate.
The perfect complement to seafood’s of all types, especially Mediterranean-inspired preparations such as bouillabaisse and rock fish soup. Produced from old vines (35+ years old) yielding 3.33 tons/acre, in stainless steel tanks.

Misfit Wine Company “Brujeria”

66% Shiraz - 17% Cab - 11% - Garnacha - 8% Tempranillo

Brujeria is "old school" Ribera del Duero, Spanish style, hence the Cab, Grenache and Temp with an Australian twist (insert witty remark about Shiraz here), retaining the funk. All four components were kept separate up until blending. I’m not saying that if you drink this you’ll become a Brujos. However with that it mind, this is suppose to be a kick ass out there style, with shades of the label gripping your palate with fear of more flavor, more grip, more excitement... striking fear into the hearts of critter labels nationwide.

A mix of exotic spices and red ripe berries.
Production: 1400 cases “Collaring:” 3-5 years

Brujería is the Spanish word for witchcraft. Brujeria also refers to a mystical sect of male witches in the southernmost part of Argentina. Both men and women can be witches, brujos and brujas respectively. Brujos is the plural term that can mean either a group of male witches or both male and female witches.

M. Plouzeau Chinon " Rive Gauche "

100% Cabernet Franc

 

This wine produced from the flinty clay soils of the Chinon plains is characterised by its delectable bouquet of blackberry married with raspberry and liquorice. On the palate, the tannin is full and silky. The overall taste lasts and is harmonious. Of its type, it is a very agreable wine and its aroma is extremely pleasing. It is best served at a temperature of 57°F with grilled meat.

Wines "Big Word" of the Week! What the Heck is a Punt?

A punt is the concave bottom of "better" wine bottles.  Origins of the punt are unknown but likely existed either for strength of the bottom of the bottle (especially with sparkling wine) or in order to form a stable (non-rocking) bottom in the hand-blown bottles. Today a punt is unnecessary and exists only for the customer perception of quality.

And sadly no, it is not for "holding" the bottle!

Moonlighters Red Blend, South Australia, Red Heads Studio

Dark, almost opaque colored wine has nice aromas of blackberry and licorice. The juicy, full-throttle flavors hold true to the nose with blackberry, espresso, licorice and pepper on the medium length finish.

Englishman Tony Laithwaite (you could call him the British equivalent of Dan Philips) bought an old bar called Red Heads in McLaren Vale, Australia and renamed it Red Heads Studio. He outfitted it with wine making equipment and invited young, fresh out of college winemakers to try their hand at making small batches of wine with grapes that are usually very ripe from various sources in the region. The attraction is that these new winemakers usual starting jobs are working in wineries as "Barrel Monkeys" whose job is to move hoses and barrels around in a winery. The Studio gives them the opportunity to make wine which is what they really went to school for! This is one of those wines, which also has a completely irreverent label sort of explaining the whole Barrel Monkey job. We can only say that these Barrel Monkeys produced a wine that fans of in your face fruit bombs will enjoy!

JaM Red Blend

Petite Syrah and Petite Verdot

Ripe plum and dark berry aromas kissed by a spicy hint of oak. 

Layered blackberry and ripe Rainer cherry flavors greet the palate while subtle vanilla and rich spiced plum envelope the tongue. Fruit is balanced by refreshing tannins and lively acidity. 

Perfect for grilled meats.
 

From the good people John and Michelle (JaM) Truchard

Jam Cellars "Butter" Chardonnay

 

Non-oak California Chardonnay that exhibits buttery aromas and flavors with a buttery feel. Not old school “full-blown,” but a more balanced, food-friendly version that does not overwhelm. 

Great with roasted, certain pastas and fish.

Buttery flavors and texture of many California Chardonnays "seem" come from the oak influence that many of those wines receive. But most of the wine's mouth-feel is achieved through malolactic fermentation, 

Tart-tasting malic acid, naturally present in grape must, is converted to softer-tasting lactic acid. Malolactic fermentation tends to create a rounder, fuller mouth-feel. It has been said that malic acid tastes of green apples; and by contrast, lactic acid is richer and more buttery tasting after primary alcoholic fermentation.

From the good people John and Michelle (JaM) Truchard

Wines "Big Word" of the Week! What the Heck is "Wine Aging?

 


Only a few wines have the ability to significantly improve with age. Master of Wine Jancis Robinson notes that only around the top 10% of all red wine and top 5% of all white wines can improve significantly enough with age to make drinking more enjoyable at 5 years of age than at 1 year of age. Also, in my humble opinion, if you need to age a wine it might not be the wine for you?

Bottle sickness: One of the short-term aging needs of wine is a period where the wine is considered "sick" due to the trauma and volatility of the bottling or shipping experience. During bottling some oxygen is exposed to the wine, causing a domino effect of chemical reaction with various components of the wine. The time it takes for the wine to settle down and have the oxygen fully dissolve and integrate with the wine is considered its period of "bottle shock". During this time the wine could taste drastically different than it did prior to bottling or how it will taste after the wine has settled. While many modern bottling lines try to treat the wine as gently as possible and utilize inert gases to minimize the amount of oxygen exposure, all wine goes through some period of bottle shock. The length of this period will vary with each individual wine.

Dumb phase: During the course of aging a wine may slip into a "dumb phase" where its aromas and flavors are very muted. In Bordeaux this phase is called the age ingrat or "difficult age" and is likened to a teenager going through adolescence. The cause or length of time that this "dumb phase" will last is not yet fully understood and seems to vary from bottle to bottle.

Paso Project Red Wine Blend

37% Grenache, 16% Zinfandel, 14% Petite Sirah, 11% Mourvedre, 9% Barbera, 8% Lagrein, 3% Tempranillo, 2% Sangiovese







A variety of multi-layered aromas gush out of this distinct Paso Robles blend: intense, jammy red cherry from the Grenache, followed by white pepper and spice from the Zinfandel, darker blackberry and blueberry from the Petite Sirah and Mourvedre, and a light, floral character in the background. The berry flavors continue on the palate, led by red cherry, raspberry, and cranberry. Subtle caramel and walnut nuances from the French and American oak aging lend complexity and structure to the blend, along with cinnamon bark and warm spices. Silky and medium bodied, the balance of eight Paso Robles varietals creates a complex and easy-drinking wine that shows off Paso's signature red blends.

The fresh acidity from Barbera and Lagrein, coupled with this wine's low tannins, make wine pairing a breeze. Serve this wine with a family Bolognese recipe, or any pasta with pancetta or bacon inspired sauce. Loves grilled meats!

About the "Zork" Closure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIo0jVGyDyk

First Drop "The White One" 52% Arneis 48% Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills, Australia

 


First Drop "The White One", 52% Arneis and 48% Chardonnay, Adelaide Hills, Australia
Deep, slightly smoky green apples and hints of almonds. Deliciously different.

Arneis is the white grape of Italy's Piedmont region. It produces a lightly styled white wine with gentle citrus edged orchard fruits that recalls pear and apricot and a slightly bitter floral note that can resemble almonds on the palate.
Depending on where it's grown and how it's fermented, Chardonnay can taste semi-sweet or sour, heady or light. Typical flavors are apple, tangerine, lemon, lime, melon, and oak.

Wines "Big Word" of the Week! What the Heck is a "Appellation?"

Above is a basic Napa appellation map

 

An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown; other types of food often have appellations as well. The rules that govern appellations are dependent on the country in which the wine was produced.

The oldest references are to be found in the Bible, where wine of Samaria, wine of Carmel, wine of Jezreel, or wine of Helbon are mentioned. This tradition of appellation continued throughout the Antiquity and the Middle Ages, though without any officially sanctioned rules. Historically, the world's first exclusive (protected) vineyard zone was introduced in Chianti, Italy in 1716 and the first wine classification system in Tokaj-Hegyalja, Hungary, in 1730.

In 1935, the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO), a branch of the French Ministry of Agriculture, was created to manage wine-processing in France. In the Rhone wine region Baron Pierre Le Roy Boiseaumarié, a lawyer and winegrower from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, obtained legal recognition of the Côtes du Rhône appellation of origin in 1937. The AOC seal, or Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, was created and mandated by French laws in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

Champagne enjoyed an appellation control by virtue of legal protection as part of the Treaty of Madrid (1891). Only sparkling wine produced in Champagne and adhering to the standards defined for that name as an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée could be called champagne. This right was reaffirmed in the Treaty of Versailles after World War I.

Germany is unusual among wine-producing countries in that its most prestigious classifications, the various grades of Prädikatswein, are based on the ripeness of the grapes, though their geographical areas are also defined.

Portugal The world's third-oldest appellation control, after Chianti and Tokaj was introduced in Portugal in 1756, pertaining to port wine, which was produced in the region of the Douro valley.

 

The American Viticultural Area ("AVA") is for the United States. The only requirement to use the AVA name on the wine label is that 85% of the wine must have come from grapes grown within the geographical AVA boundaries. The first American Viticultural Area was in Augusta, Missouri, in 1980. Augusta's wine region approval was based largely on its long historical relationship with wine in the United States.