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