Special Wine Tastings Coming Up Around Town

In addition to the usual Friday and Saturday tastings around town this week there are a couple of special ones at some of the shops I frequent.

 

Tonight – Bella Vino Stony Point 7:00 – 8:00

Come taste some Swiss Wines and meet the winemaker for Delea 19. Talk it up, enjoy 4 of his wines and some Fondue.

 

Tomorrow – Barrel Thief at 5:00

If you can’t make it out to Bella Vino tonight, the winemaker from Delea will also be at Barrel Thief.

 

Two great chances to taste Swiss wines, I know I haven’t had any and figure most people probably haven’t.

 

Thursday – The Wine Cellar in Midlothian 5:30-7:30

From Jeff: “COME MEET ERINN BENZIGER FROM THE BENZIGER FAMILY WINERY AND TASTE THEIR WINES. BENZIGER WINERY IS LOCATED IN SONOMA, CALIFORNIA AND IS OWNED BY ERINN PARENTS, MIKE & MARY BENZIGER. WE WILL TASTE MOST OF THEIR WINE THAT NIGHT. DO NOT MISS THE FUN!”

 

Also, Next Thursday Bella Vino will be having another special wine tasting event, unfortunately it isn’t free but it sounds like a great time and $15 is still a steal.

 

From Brad: “The wines of Oregon and Washington State have slowly begun to emerge from the shadow cast by California. On September 25th John Cheski of Free Run Wine Merchants will guide us through a tasting of some fantastic wines from small producers of the region. In addition, we’ll celebrate the end of summer with live music and great food paired with the wines. Reserve a space to party with some great wines!”Menu:
Left Coast Chardonnay 2005
Brandborg “Or” Blanc 2006
Left Coast Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2005
Brandborg Umpqua Valley Pinot Noir 2006
Palate cleanser: L. Mawby “Us” Sparkling Wine
Dr. Wolfe’s Family Red 2006
Terra Blanca Red Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon 2001
Terra Blanca Red Mountain Reserve Merlot 2002

PLUS:
Live music
Smoked Salmon, BBQ Ribs, and assorted cheeses

Tickets: $15 for one; $25 for a pair
($5 discount with Bella Vino Amanti tag)
(Further $5 discount if you attended the previous tasting)

 

 

Also, all next week Barrel Thief will be celebrating their one year anniversary to be sure to check out their events website for details on the happenings.

 

Get out and taste! Cheers

PS You’re So Seductive…with your dark fruit flavors

My internet search to get some background on this North Coast Petite Sirah was quite unsuccessful, to the point I couldn’t find one drip of information. The only tidbit I did learn was that “armen” is the Swedish word for arm. So I’ll jump right into my tasting notes for the 2005 Armen Petite Sirah that we picked up from a wine tasting at The Wine Cellar here in Midlothian. A note on the 2005 North Coast vintage – it was preceded by a late warm winter, a cool wet spring and a generally even mild summer.

Nose – Raisin, fig, blackberry jam, campfire

Taste – Blueberry jam, black cherry

Mouthfeel – Medium to full body, a bit of heat at first but that calmed down after being open for a bit, firm dusty tannins

Finish – Long and fruity

All in all a typical fruit forward Petite Sirah and for $16 – $18 not a bad deal. New world all the way, the jammy fruit forward style that was Zinfandel in nature was a pleasurable drink but fairly one (1 ½) dimensional, although the length of the finish was quite surprising.  I will say the one to one and a half dimensions of fruit were all very real, nothing fake tasting or over extracted, very well done for this style of wine.

Not sure, but I think Roanoke Valley is the only distributor bringing this in, at least to Virginia, so I am not sure of the distribution.

If you want a good dark fruit, jammy wine, that isn’t too over the top, give this one a whirl. Not sure if I can use “whirl”, has Gary Vee trademarked that yet!!

Cheers!

Two Wine Tastings at the Wine Cellar This Week

Jeff and his Wine Cellar crew are treating us to two tastings again this week.

Thursday – Beaujolais Nouveau Tasting

Jeff will pit the Nouveau against 3 Cru Beaujolais from 2005 for an unofficial taste off.

The Beaujolais tasting will only be from 5:30 – 7:30.

Friday – Thanksgiving Dinner Wines

1. TORRES VINA ESMERALDA CATALUNYA WHITE $15.45
2. CHATEAU STE MICHELLE EROICA DRY RIESLING $25.45
3. BYRON SANTA MARIA VALLEY PINOT NOIR $27.45
4. FOREFATHERS McLAREN VALE SHIRAZ $28.45
5. FONSECA BIN 27 RUBY PORT $19.45

The Friday tasting is the normal time of 5:00 – 8:00 and both tastings are FREE as usual.

Hope to see you all there.

Friday Night Wine Tasting at the Wine Cellar – Nov. 9th

 

Here are this weeks wines that Jeff will be serving at the Wine Cellar tomorrow night November 9th.

1. BISHOP’S PEAK CHARDONNAY EDNA VALLEY $14.95

2. BISHOP’S PEAK ROCK SOLID RED $12.95

3. BISHOP’S PEAK CABERNET PASO ROBLES $17.95

4. LIBERTY SCHOOL CABERNET PASO ROBLES $16.95

5. SIN ZIN ALEXANDER VALLEY ZINFANDEL $21.95

See you all there from 5:00 to 8:00, and FREE as always. 

Don’t forget about the Special Tasting the Wine Cellar is having Saturday from 1-4.

Other tastings going on around town:

River City Cellars – Friday – 5:00-7:00

Corks and Kegs – Friday – 5:30 – 7:30

Private Stock Cigar and Wine – Every Friday and Saturday

Bella Vino (Midlothian) – Friday – 6:00-8:00 

And also make sure to check out Can Can Mondays from 6-7

Let me know if I have missed any, because I am sure there are others I don’t know about.