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Wine recommendations and comments from Dean and Lisa Foster, Vintage Connections Wine Educators and Consultants. Most wines are available in Southeastern Pennsylvania and are priced between $10 and $20. Up-coming "wine events" available in the Pottstown Tri-county area are listed.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Wine Tips - Manatawny Chardonnay and Giesen Sauvignon Blanc

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Wine Tips of the Week

Manatawny Creek Winery Chardonnay 2008

This is a delicious and satisfying chardonnay.  It is light straw yellow in color with wonderful aromas of fruit and oak.  The flavor is buttery and toasty with flavors of apple and hints of vanilla.  (This is an older image of the label.  Sorry about that.) 

Many of you know that Manatawny Creek Winery is one of our favorite Pennsylvania wineries.  Their consistant dedication to quality wines makes this one of our "go to" wineries.  This Chardonnay demonstrates their quality.  All the grapes for this wine were grown in Berks County, PA.  Great when paired with crab (we know because that was our dinner pairing last night!)  Alcohol is 13% by volume and is available at the winery for $13.95 a bottle.


Giesen Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Yes, friends, another Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.  But what can we say?  We happen to really like Marlborough Sauvignon Blancs.  Giesen is one of our favorites.   

We purchased a bottle of Giesen Sauvignon Blanc a few years ago in the south and fell in love with it.  Unfortunately it was then unavailable in PA.  Then, to our delight, we found it in a PA Wine and Spirit Store!  We quickly purchased a bottle, hoping that we still liked it as much as we had those years ago.  No problem, it was just a tasty as our first bottle.   

Giesen Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc is pale yellow in color with lots of fresh fruit aromas like grapefruit and lime and just a hint of minerals.  The flavor is crisp and refreshing with tropical fruits, herbs and a slight minerality.  It has a firm acidity that makes it possible to age for a short time.  Alcohol is 13% by volume and is available at most PA Wine and Spirit stores.  PLCB product code is 4987 and is on sale for $12.99 a bottle, regularly $15.99 a bottle.

Fun Fact
There are more than 400 varieties of oak trees but only about 20 are suitable for making oak wine barrels.  White oak is generally used  over red oak as red oak is too porous for wine barrels.


UPCOMING EVENTS

March and April are BUSY "wine months"   

Vintage Connections Spring Wine Classes 


March 24
Wine Blending Bordeaux Style

REGISTRATION CLOSES Sunday March 20 at Midnight.
 
More Vintage Connections Spring
Wine Classes

March 31
Wines of the Finger Lakes II

April 7
Surprising Wines Under $15

Date TBD  
(Change from April 14)
Gems from our Cellar

Each class is $35 per person.    

Buy a passport and visit any or all Lehigh Valley wineries every weekend in March.
   
Taste wine from the barrel!  If you've never tried it, now's your chance!  Every weekend in March

Wine and Food Pairing on the Berks County Wine Trail
April 16-17 

Call us at 610.469.6164
or email us to register for classes,  to schedule a wine class or wine event in your home, at your business, or for your organization, or to buy a gift certificate.




posted by Dean and Lisa Foster at 9:40 AM

1 Comments:

Blogger Dean and Lisa Foster said...

One of our readers pointed out something we knew, but forgot to mention in this week's blog. Manatawny Creek Winery may not make green wine (not even for St. Patty's Day), but they are "green" insofar as they generate a significant amount of electricity with their solar panels.

March 18, 2011 at 4:35 PM 

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