Happy Holidays!

from Vintage Connections 
Dean and Lisa Foster 

Wine Educators and Consultants  

TWO MORE OF OUR TOP TEN OF 2011

 Trapiche Oak Cask Pinot Noir 2009

If you enjoy a good French Burgundy, you will enjoy this pinot noir from Mendoza, Argentina. 

It is a light, clear ruby red in color with aromas of black cherries.  The flavor of fruit is light and subtle with notes of toasted bread and vanilla.  Aged for nine months in French oak barrels, this wine is well-balanced with a pleasant finish. 

Alcohol is 13% by volume.  The Trapiche Oak Cask pinot noir is available at many PA Wine and Spirit stores sells for $11.99.   PLCB product code is 5439.

Trapiche Winery is located in the foothills of the Andes Mountains.  Grapes for the Oak Cask pinot noir are gathered from various vineyards at different elevations creating a more complex wine.   

  

2007 M. Cosentino Cabernet Franc

This excellent dry red wine comes from the Napa Valley in California.  This cabernet franc is actually a blend of 83% cabernet franc and 17% merlot.  It is garnet red in color, softening to almost pinkish at the edges.  It has great aromas of red fruit and green pepper, so characteristic of cabernet francs. 

Though high in alcohol (winemaker says 15.5% by volume), it did not taste hot as so many California wines do, but was pleasantly balanced. 

We felt the addition of the merlot helped to give this wine a roundness that perhaps a California cabernet franc may otherwise be missing.  We were pleasantly surprised by this wine.  We tasted it at an Indian Valley Chapter of AWS tasting.  We also felt that it was exceptional when paired with the homemade cream of mushroom soup. 

Unfortunately, this is still not available in PA, except by ordering it through Wine Access or Wine Express, but we felt it was such an exceptional wine that it deserved to be brought to your attention. 

Fun Fact
Pinot Noir wines should be served slightly chilled (around 50 degrees) for younger Pinots to cool (around 60 degrees) for older Pinots.  

Up-coming Events

We're not purposefully scouring winery newsletters, websites, etc. to find events, but we opened Blair's recent newsletter and wanted to share these up-coming events with you.

Blair Vineyards Winemaker's Dinner Sunday January 15th, 6pm This four course meal prepared by Chef Ben Smith is priced at $60 per person.  Seating is limited.  Contact the winery at 610-683-8463 for menu details and to make your reservation.  . Happy Hour & Tapas Friday, January 20th 5:30 to 8:30 pm Join the chefs from Divine Dining for another fabulous Happy Hour. Reservations are required, so please contact the winery for details and to save your spot. Music. Tapas plate $25.  Wine may be purchased by the glass or by the bottle.  Please no tastings during the event.  2010 Syrah Release!  January 28th & 29th We are releasing our  2010 Syrah at the end of January!  We will be offering tastes of our 2010 Syrah, as well as a French Rhone & California Syrah side by side to compare the wines across the regions.  For $15, you will receive 2 ounces pours of each of the three Syrahs, as well as chocolate pairings.  Reservations are not needed for this event.  However our 2010 Syrah will only be available for tasting and purchase this weekend if you take part in this event.  The release for the general public will take place the following weekend.

If you would like an up-coming (wine-related) event listed in our Vintage Connections Wine E-newsletter and Grapevine blog in the Pottstown Mercury, please email a short summary of the event including the name of your event, name of your winery or organization, short description of the event, date, time, location and cost, at least two weeks in advance to us at

Vintageconnections@Comcast.net 

 

We will copy and paste your information into our newsletter and blog.  We reserve the right to edit as we deem necessary and to not list or publish information at our own discretion.

We plan to publish our newsletter and blog two times a month but may do so more or less often, so be sure to send information to us as far in advance of the event as possible. 

Links

These are a few of our favorite wine-related businesses and organizations.

 

Wine Trails

Berks County Wine Trail
Lehigh Valley Wine Trail

Wineries 

Pinnacle Ridge 

Manatawny Creek 

Blair
Calvaresi
Vynecrest

Galen Glen 

Wine Bars (and restaurants)

Winedown

Seasonal Harvest Grill

 

Happy Holidays!
from Vintage Connections
Dean and Lisa Foster
Wine Educators and Consultants

TWO MORE OF OUR TOP TEN OF 2011

Clos LaChance Hummingbird Series Cabernet Sauvignon 2007



This dry red wine from the Central Coast of California is a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 16% Merlot and small amounts of Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot to make up the last 7% of this Bordeaux style blend.


It is deep dark ruby red in color and has aromas of dark red berries and anise. Flavors of black currants and plums are gently subtle. It is best to allow this wine to sit open for about one hour previously to drinking. It has well-balanced tannins and a long-lasting finish. Alcohol is 13.5% by volume. PLCB Product code is 32236 and is currently a Chairman's Select. This is a great bargain at $7.99 a bottle. (quoted at $18.00 a bottle). This is, unfortunately nearly sold out in the area, but as of 12/21 here is 1 bottle (according to the PLCB website) at the Suburbia Shopping Center and a few in Collegeville. Someone is sure to get there before we do!

Llai Llai Chardonnay 2009



This 100% Chardonnay wine comes from the Bio Bio Valley in Chile. It is light yellow in color with light aromas of fresh flowers and delicate oak.
It is able to ripen slowly in the climate of the Bio Bio Valley which allows the fresh tropical fruit flavors to come through with a light minerality. It has a long and pleasant finish. Alcohol is 13.3% by volume and residual sugar at 2.6 g/L. PLCB product code is 18797 and sells for $12.99. There is still some of this available at area PA Wine and Spirit Stores.





Fun Fact

The tradition of toasting "to your health" originated in Greece where the host would sip the wine before his guests to prove that the wine was not poisoned or drugged and their "health" was not threatened by that particular host.

Cheers from Vintage Connections
Dean and Lisa Foster
Wine Educators and Consultants


Blackstone Reserve Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
We were recently served this Chairman Select chardonnay at our friends Steve and Lori's home as an aperitif to an evening of wine, dinner and catching up with friends. What a delightful surprise.

This California chardonnay was not the typical over-oaked chardonnay we've come to expect from California. It was deliciously smooth and buttery. Created at Blackstone's Kenwood Winery, this blend of 97% chardonnay and 3% muscat is pale yellow in color with fresh aromas of sweet apple pie and butterscotch. Flavors of lemon peel and lime along with fresh apples and pears are balanced by crisp acidity. This wine is full-bodied with a long-lasting pleasant finish. Great when paired with shrimp or salmon. Alcohol is 13.5% by volume. PLCB product code is 32349 and sells for $9.99 at most PA Wine and Spirit stores.
A GREAT VALUE!

2011 Top Ten Favorites
This year we are once again going to look back through all the wines we've tasted this year and try to pick 10 of our favorites, though it is hard to pick just ten! We will list them in no particular order.


90+ (Ninety Plus) Shiraz/Viognier Lot 4 2008
This surprising blend of shiraz and viognier comes the McLaren Vale in Australia.

Though a blend of white and red grapes, this wine is not a rose`! The addition of the viognier to shiraz adds a delightful complexity. It is medium-bodied, deep dark red in color. The shiraz and viognier are co-fermented and then aged for 14 months in French oak barrels. It has aromas of dark red fruits and just a hint of black pepper, with flavors of juicy dark berries and well integrated oak. The finish is long and savory. Alcohol is 14% by volume. PLCB product code is 3732 and sells for $13.99 a bottle. This wine is still available at some PA Wine and Spirit stores but could prove hard to find. Though a one time buy, this wine is also available as an SLO PLCB product code 510571 and sells for $14.79.




Fun Fact
The term "reserve" is often seen on a bottle of wine. But what does it really mean? If you are buying a French wine, it means you are probably getting the best that that winery has to offer. There are many rules and restrictions in France controlling the quality of a "reserve" wine. But in the US it actually doesn't mean anything. Anyone can put the term "reserve" on any wine, even the worst. Most reputable wineries though, will use

Up-coming Events
If you would like an up-coming (wine-related) event listed in our Vintage Connections Wine E-newsletter and Grapevine blog in the Pottstown Mercury, please email a short summary of the event including the name of your event, name of your winery or organization, short description of the event, date, time, location and cost, at least two weeks in advance to us at
Vintageconnections@Comcast.net
We will copy and paste your information into our newsletter and blog. We reserve the right to edit as we deem necessary and to not list or publish information at our own discretion.
We plan to publish our newsletter and blog two times a month but may do so more or less often, so be sure to send information to us as far in advance of the event as possible the term for what they feel is their best wine, or the wine-makers favorite.
advance of the event as possible.


Links
These are a few of our favorite wine-related businesses and organizations.

Wine Trails
Berks County Wine Trail
Lehigh Valley Wine Trail

Wineries
Pinnacle Ridge
Manatawny Creek
Blair
Calvaresi
Vynecrest
Galen Glen

Wine Bars (and restaurants)
Winedown
Seasonal Harvest Grill