Cote du Rhone! Amazing Holiday Wine

For some of the best fruit, structure and velvety tannins, try Cote du Rhone! This has always been a standard for wine enthusiasts because of the wonderful complexity of these wines at a great price point, most under $20! One of the most fantastic I have tasted recently is the Cote du Rhone from Feraud Brunel, 2007. This is made by the same wine maker as the Famous Domaine Pegau Chateauneuf du Pape, which in recent years typically and consistently scores 94-95 points by either Parker or Wine Spectator. This wine has luscious, velvety fruit with hardly any harsh tannins what so ever. The wonderful deep cherry fruit just jumps out of the glass and finishes smooth till the end with no drop off in intensity, an extreme pleasure. Now the biggest bonus is the the price at $18 per bottle. Pick some up through Enotria. Click the online link.
http://www.enotriaretailwine.com/Ch_teau_La_Nerthe_Ch_teaunuef_du_Pape_2004_p/frn121.htm

Friday Night Flights 11.4.2009

For that special flight of wine that is themed every week, Enotria is offering a very exciting Italian flight this Friday, December 4th, for just $10! That is basically one full glass of high end wine broken up into three small tastes that are fun to compare, taste back and forth and take home retail. With this week's flight we are tasting from Jermann (some of the best whites produced in Friuli, Italy) along with an Arneis which proves to be a very adventurous, bright, exciting white! Here is the link to the flight below. Take everything home retail too, mix a case! Check it out.
http://www.enotria.com/pdf/friday-flight-12042009.pdf

Thanksgiving Wines

One of the best holidays for wine! Turkey, cranberry sauces, stuffing....sounds like Pinot, Pinot, Pinot. Actually Pinot Noir is such a versatile pairing wine with it's light cinnamon spices, bright fruit and light-bodied-ness. That being said many light to medium bodied French wines can pair well too. When I saw Pinot Noir I mean domestic, Burgundy would be France. After all France is all about wine & food, never apart! Check out my Friday Flight here at Enotria Restaurant for some great examples of perfect French wines for the holidays.
http://www.enotria.com/pdf/friday-flight-11202009.pdf

Empson Imports Italian Tasting

What is it? Just 13 of the finest high-end Italian wines Empson imports including such names and Jermann, Terrabianca, Conti Constanti.
Where? Enotria Restaurant & Wine Bar 1431 Del Paso Blvd 916-922-6792
When? This Saturday November 14th from 3pm-7pm.
This is just a $30 per person tasting/sale with special retail discounts and wonderful Italian fare including cheeses, and meats.
Please check it out and taste, compare notes, and take home some fantastic wines!

Halloween Wines

What could be more Halloween festive than an orange wine label? I have served a Spanish Tempranillo called the Cortijo III, has a super bright orange label. This wine is coincidentally perfect for the season for it's easy drinking qualities. Halloween is all about walking around, candy, fun times, so this wine doesn't need to be paired with big protein entrees and be be easlily enjoyed on it's on, no food nessasary. So happy Halloween, call me if you need any!

White Wine for Red Wine Lovers

A common occurrence for me at the restaurant is people in general lean mostly towards red wines to taste by the flight, glass, or bottle. This is of course fine with me, I just want my guests to be happy with their choice and if red is what you want, then I'm all for it! Wine is a personal preference after all and I want you to enjoy what you really want. I also like to be adventurous and offer suggestions for wines that are incredible but you might not ask for them or be thinking along those lines. Grenache Blanc, Roussane, Vermentino, Hondurabi Zurbi, Cava, Dry Riesling just to name a few. I have found on more than one occation that sampling a few of these fun whites can turn anyone who says that will never put a white wine up to their lips.....become a white wine finatic.

Allocations....Allocations

For those of us who are into the high-end, hard to find, low production wines, we know the word "allocation" like we know own own name. This game isn't always fun, sometimes you have to "take" what the winery gives you "or else." I have heard countless stories of people basically being forced to buy cases and cases of a wine they didn't even want to simply get a couple of bottles of that coveted, sacred, high scoring wine. I am not saying that is the right or wrong thing to do, but sometimes we have to pay in order to get what everyone else wants!! The problem for the winery of course is that everyone wants just one of the wines they are famous for, and will buy that one all up instantly, leaving the winery with tons of un-purchased other wine from year to year. I think the classiest way to make this work is to package these wines in a mixed case or six pack. Then the package looks nice, you get the wine you're wanting and taking some of their less popular wine home. Everyone wins, and you don't have to buy 5 cases! Look around at the big-name wineries or the culty high-scorers and see how they are packaging their product.

With Weather, Comes Wine

Time to load up on those cinnimon spicy Pinots, Barberas, and Cabernets if you're up for it. The heartier reds with more structured tanins go well with bigger, more heavy foods that we seem to enjoy in the fall months. Try some more full-bodied reds today but please do yourself a favor and taste them with food as those tanins will subside with those food proteins.

Rose....not sweet and people are getting it!

Yes we all know that White Zinfandel ruined it for a while for California Rose's. A true, international dry style Rose is delicate, gorgeous rose-petal nose, with the hints of fruit and light acidity simply "floating" away off the finish. Some of my favorites are from the south of Rhone, Cotes de Provence. Primarily Grenache or Cinsault based, these are lightly "salmon" colored and just delicious. Their fruit is not overwhelming but teasing, acidiy is just right for a summer day. I know of these fantastic wines if you would like to know, just ask! Many under $18 as well.

Time to Wine-d UP

So yes I work in the industry and yes I do sell wine. Basically I talk about wine as much as others will listen using my outrageous adjectives and descriptors. "That wine is full of rose-petal, earth, and spice." Yea, sounds like something I would say, for sure. I just wanted to introduce myself, not really to talk about me, myself, I, but to share ideas about wine. I strongly believe there is a wine or wines out there for everyone, my job is to find that right wine that you will love and be comfortable with. I do this nightly while maybe showing certain folks something new and adventurous. So yes I thought of a silly profile name to highlight one of my favorite wine regions. Let me know what you think of Chateaunuef du Pape and it's style of wine or wines. Don't forget the whites too! So let's get wine-d up, I am eager to hear what you think.