Pack the Basket!
June 07, 2007
Can you believe this gorgeous
weather? Usually by this time we have experienced some excruciating
100 degree days. I know these stifling days are just around the
corner, so seize the moment!! Make time for a picnic. It does not have to be fancy or
"gourmet". Or a big production. Leftovers can make fine
fix'ins. Or you forage for wine, so you must have your favorite
sources for good bread, charcuterie, fish, cheese, fruits and veggies, and maybe
a few sweets. A small basket and ice chest is all you
need. We try to visit "our" secret, secluded place down along the American
River at least a couple of times a year. Drinking wine outdoors
always seems to enhance the senses!! You can just feel the everyday
stress ooooze out. A post picnic cigar for me makes everything
even more idyllic.
Here are a few of our
preferred "picnic wines" at the moment
with serving ideas. Some of these wines will be
included in the selections to be poured at the tasting bar*** this
Saturday, so you can plan your picnic
for Sunday!
Let me mix you up a "picnic case", that is, any 12 bottles
of these wines and receive the bottle price in parentheses.
For more details, just click
on the highlighted link below each entry.
Riva deil Frati - Prosecco, Valdobbiadane DOC,
Veneto - Italy - $20.95 ($18.43)
Our favorite sparkling wine at the moment.
Despite 11.5% alcohol, these bubbles will lift your spirits and go with anything
in the basket.
2005 Argo de Bazan Granbazan Ambar Albarino,
Rias Baixas, Galacia, Spain - $21.95 ($19.32)
Chilled prawns with high quality olive
oil drizzled on fresh picked greens.
2006 Domaine Felines Jourdan Picpoul de Pinet,
Coteaux Languedoc, France - $12.95 (11.39)
Assertive enough to handle smoked mussels, a
spicy calamari salad, or ceviche.
2005 Mas de Bazan Rosado - Utiel-Requena, Valencia,
Spain - $11.95 ($10.52)
Perfection with chilled leftover grilled
cedar plank Copper River salmon.
2004 Clos du Prieur - Languedoc, France (50%
Syrah, 40% Grenache 10% Carignan) - $17.95 ($15.80)
Great with coarse ground, country
style pates, or grilled eggplant-vegetarian dishes.
2005 La Spinetta Il Nero di Casanova, Tuscano,
Italy - $27.95 ($24.60)
Bring on the cured and smoked deli meats, sausage,
and cheeses!!
2003 Quinta do Tedo Proprietary Red "Escado d'
Oro" - Douro, Spain - $12.95 ($11.39)
Leftover marinated tri-tip with smoked cheddar and
some crusty bread with aioli!!
Let's not forget these new
arrivals!!
05 Hirtzberger Gruner
Veltliner Rotes Tor Smaragd, Wachau,
Austria -
$48.95
Harvested November 8-10 from the steepest terraces
of the Rotes Tor (adjacent to Singerriedel), Hirtzberger's 2005 Gruner Veltliner
Smaragd Rotes Tor smells of sweet pea, citrus, and rhubarb. It comes onto the
palate with creamy texture yet loads of juicy fruit and positively shimmering
wet stone, salty mineral expression. Like its Federspeiel counterpart, this
exhibits great clarity of fruit, even though one can detect accents of honey and
brown spice attributable to botrytis. A brothy, rich meld of stone, spice, and
fruit pours itself into a long, evocative finish that outdistances all but a
handful of other Gruner Veltliner from this vintage. I would be unafraid to
stash some of this in my cellar for a decade or more indeed I would regret not
doing so, and while I was at it I would track some bottles of the Federspiel as
well. 94 points - Robert Parker's
The Wine Advocate #166 August 2006
2004 Kracher TBA #7 - Zwischen den Seen
Welschriesling - Burgenland, Austria (375 ml) - $89.95 NET
(Limited)
RIPE AND LUSCIOUS. SHOWS IMPECCABLE
BALANCE, DEPTH AND CONCENTRATION, WITH RIPE APRICOT, PEACH AND PINEAPPLE
FLAVORS. 97 POINTS (highest score) - Wine Spectator, June 15,
2007
2005 Chasseur Chardonnays from the Sonoma
Coast and Russian River Valley - both $39.95 NET (Limited)
NEW CULT STATUS SONOMA CHARDONNAY AND PINOT
NOIR PRODUCER!
2003 Zuccardi Family Wines - Zeta
(Malbec and Tempranillo) - Mendoza, Argentina -
$45.95
IT'S FINALLY HERE! ONE
OF THE STANDOUT WINES FROM OUR JANUARY TRIP! MORE
LATER!
ORDER NOW BY REPLYING TO THIS
E-MAIL. ALL ORDERS WILL BE CONFIRMED BY REPLY E-MAIL WITH INVOICE FOR YOUR
REVIEW.
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