Wine Tips - Cupcake Sauv Blanc and Viognier-Chard Blend

Greetings from Vintage Connections!

This week's wine tips.


Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc 2009 from Marlborough, NZ.

Yes, ANOTHER sauvignon blanc from New Zealand.  If you get the idea we like Marlborough sauvignon blancs you’d be right!

This crisp refreshing sauvignon blanc is lightly tart with fresh herbal aromas.  It has flavors of lemon grass and limes.  Acidity is a little high, but served well-chilled it is a delicious summer sipper.  It has a long and pleasant finish.  Pairs well with goat cheeses and especially delicious with seafood.  Try it with lobster tails on the grill.

Alcohol is 13% by volume.  PLCB product code is 3003 and is available at most PA Wine and Spirit stores for $11.99.


Zuccardi Series A Chardonnay-Viognier 2008 from Mendoza, Argentina.

Now that summer is quickly approaching we thought we’d highlight more refreshing white wines that we feel would be good to sit out on the patio and sip.

We found this to be an interesting blend of 50% chardonnay from the Tupungato region and 50% viognier from the Santa Rose vineyards.  The aroma is all viognier, but the taste is predominantly chardonnay.  It has a crisp refreshing flavor with fresh peach aromas.  The wine exhibits good balanced acidity with a long-lasting finish.  It has a light sweetness with 2.6% residual sugar.

The chardonnay was fermented and aged for 6 months in French oak barrels while the viognier was fermented in stainless steel.  The slight sweetness makes this very easy to drink all by itself while sitting out on the porch or deck, or paired with chicken on the grill.

Alcohol is 13% by volume.  PLCB product code is 22764 and is available at most PA Wine and Spirit Stores for $11.99.

Up-coming Events

If you know of an up-coming local wine event, let us know and we will add it to our calendar.

Summer Solstice Festival at Manatawny Creek Winery  on June 19.

Bottle Shock Revisited!

Saturday September 18, 6:30 - 9:30 PM 
Seen the movie? Read the book?  
Now try it yourself!
 
Blind tasting of USA vs. French wines. Appetizers included.
Benefits the American Wine Society Educational Foundation

$49 per person, $90 per couple, $350 per group of eight.

Perkiomen Valley Library, Schwenksville
See more about the Perkiomen Chapter of AWS.

 

Mom's House
Benefit Wine Dinner

Saturday, October 23

Five course dinner, each course paired with a different wine.  

Kimberton Arts Center  6:30 PM, $75 per person or $525 for a table of 8.  

For more information about Mom's House, click HERE

This Week’s Fun Fact.  The corkscrew was invented when wine was just starting to be stored in bottles rather than terra cotta amphoras and then oak barrels. 

Once a narrow-necked bottle was created, wine could finally be safely stored for longer periods with the help of a cork.  The earliest known patent for the corkscrew was in England in 1795.  (From “History of the Corkscrew” by Mary Bellis).

Artesa Chardonnay and Barren Ridge Petit Verdot

Cheers from Vintage Connections!

Artesa Chardonnay
From the Carneros area of CA, Artesa Chardonnay is 100% hand-harvested chardonnay.  Fifty percent of the juice was barrel-fermented with sur lees stirring and aging and partially stainless steel fermented.  Half of the wine also underwent a secondary malolactic fermentation, giving it the buttery smoothness characteristic of malolactic fermentation.  It has aromas of lemon flowers, pineapple and green apple with a crisp fruitiness, vanilla, butter and toasted oak flavors.  There is a “tingle of crisp acid” on the finish.  

Artesa Winery is owned by the Ravent family originally from Spain.  The winery’s name means “handcrafted” in Catalan.  The winery itself, built in the early 1990’s, is situated on 350 acres and nestled in the hillside.  “With architecture that captures a series of Mediterranean themes, including water flowing along narrow channels, audible and silent fountains and the interplay of light and shade, Artesa is a reflection of the proud Spanish heritage upon which it was founded.” (from Artesa’ website).

Although we’re not normally big fans of California Chardonnays.  We found this chardonnay to be extremely drinkable and not too oaky.  Its crisp flavors, toasty aroma and balanced acid made it great to drink with food.  Next time you cook chicken on the grill you might want to try a bottle of Artesa Chardonnay.

PLCB product code is 8036 and is available for $19.99 at most PA Wine and Spirit Stores.  Alcohol is 14.3% by volume.

Barren Ridge Vineyards  Petit Verdot

Once again it's time for another road trip south.  This time not as far as Shelton Vineyards in NC, but an easy overnight trip into the beautiful mountains of Virginia.  There are over 150 wineries in Virginia.  We thought we’d introduce you to some of our favorites starting with Barren Ridge.  Barren Ridge Vineyards is located in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, just a few minutes from Interstate 81.

This Petit Verdot is a rich, deep purple almost black wine made from 100% petit verdot grapes.  It has rich aromas of ripe dark red fruits.  The flavor is full-bodied with hints of violets and leather.  The tannins are light and drinkable, though strong enough to lay this wine down for a few years to allow it to completely mature and become more complex.

Barren Ridge winery was originally the family apple farm.  Located in Fishersville, VA, the winery is owned and operated by John and Shelby Higgs.  The tasting room looks out over the gently rolling hills of Virginia and has only been open since 2008. 

Though Barren Ridge Petit Verdot is only available at the winery, we felt this wine was worth talking about.  It sells for $25 a bottle at the winery.  Alcohol is 13% by volume.

Up-coming Events

If you know of an up-coming local wine event, let us know and we will add it to our calendar.

Summer Solstice Festival at Manatawny Creek Winery  on June 19.

Bottle Shock Revisited!

Saturday September 18, 6:30 - 9:30 PMSeen the movie? Read the book?  Now try it yourself!
Blind tasting of USA vs. French wines. Appetizers included.


Benefits the American Wine Society Educational Foundation

$49 per person, $90 per couple, $350 per group of eight.

Perkiomen Valley Library, Schwenksville
See more about the Perkiomen Chapter of AWS.


Mom's House
Benefit Wine Dinner

Saturday, October 23

Five course dinner, each course paired with a different wine.  

Kimberton Arts Center  6:30 PM, $75 per person or $525 for a table of 8.  

For more information about Mom's House, click HERE

This Week’s Fun Fact  -Petit Verdot was originally used as one of France’s Bordeaux blend wine grapes.  It was used to add dark color and complexity to the wine.  Since it ripens a good deal later than the other Bordeaux grapes, winemakers have stopped using it so that their wine can be made that much sooner. 

Wine Tip - Carmenere and Viognier

Santa Helena Gran Reserva Carmenere 2007 from the Colchagua Valley in Chile, this dark red, full-bodied 100% Carmenere has rich aromas of ripe dark red fruits and a pleasant complexity with tannins that are still a little young.  We found it best to open this wine at least an hour before serving allowing the wine to open up and release the excellent flavors to help soften the tannins.  It has a long lasting finish.

The juice is kept in contact with the skins for a total of 25 days which explains the deep red color and tannins.  It is placed in oak barrels to undergo malolactic fermentation.  It is aged in both French and American oak barrels for one year then placed in bottles where it is aged for 6 months before being placed on the market.

This wine is great with hearty dishes and red meats.   Alcohol is 14% by volume. PLCB product code is 28775 and is available at many PA Wine and Spirit Stores for $11.99 a bottle.


Tabali Reserva Viognier 2008 from the Limari` Valley in Chile, this 100% Viognier is very light yellow in color.  It has “scents of vanilla, melon and pear” (the Denver Wine Press).  With light acidity it shows flavors of apricot and honey with just a hint of ginger.

The Tabali winery is located at the edge of the Valle de Encanto (the Enchanted Valley) where the area “owes a great deal of its mystical heritage to the”…“Molle and Daguta tribes.”  This area has weather very similar to the Mediterranean with cool summer temperatures that make it an excellent wine growing area.
The Tabali Reserva Viognier is unoaked and off-dry.  It is refreshing and a great “patio” wine for the summer.

 This wine pairs wonderfully with butter or cream sauces, curries, roasted pork or even lobster.  Alcohol is 13.5% by volume. PLCB product code is 22495 and is available at many PA Wine and Spirit stores for $9.99 a bottle.

 Up-coming Events

If you know of an up-coming local wine event, let us know and we will add it to our calendar.

Check out the Jazz coming to Pinnacle Ridge on May 16 and the
Summer Solstice Festival at Manatawny on June 19.

American Wine Society Educational Foundation Benefit Tasting
Saturday September 18  

Wine and Appetizer Pairing, Perkiomen Valley Library, Schwenksville
Time and cost TBD
See more about the Perkiomen Chapter of AWS.

Mom's House
Benefit Wine Dinner

Saturday, October 23

Five course dinner, each course paired with a different wine.  

Kimberton Arts Center  6:30 PM, $75 per person or $525 for a table of 8.  

For more information about Mom's House, click HERE

This week’s Fun Fact  - There are more than 100 clones of Pinot Noir, more than any other grape.

Wine Tips - Herding Cats and Fume Blanc

Greetings from Vintage Connections!

This week,we feature a South African blend and a California Fume Blanc. 

Also, see our Fun Fact at the bottom of the page.

Herding Cats 2008  (red) from the western cape of South Africa.  This blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Shiraz is a deep dark red in color.  It has flavors of dark cherry, cassis, and pepper.  “Soft fine tannins give the wine an elegant and lingering finish.” (From Badger West Wine and Spirits, LLC).

We used this wine untested for our “Wines of the World” class and were happily surprised.  The balance between the rich Cabernet Sauvignon and the spicy Syrah made for a good tasting wine.  The finish lasted longer than we had expected.

There seems to be no information on the winery it comes from, so information about fermentation and aging is unavailable.

Alcohol is 13.5% by volume.  PLCB product code is 7058 and is available at most PA Wine and Spirit Stores for $9.99.

Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc from the Napa Valley, CA.   Robert Mondavi Fume` Blanc is made of barrel-aged 92% Sauvignon Blanc and 8% Semillon.   Fume Blanc has aromas of “lemongrass and lime blossoms and hints of sage and spice“, with flavors of  “crisp yellow peach”.  It has a slight minerality and a “zesty acidity” with a long finish.  It is light straw colored.

Fume Blanc was created by Robert Mondavi in 1966, when his Sauvignon Blanc wine sales plummeted.  Changing the name from Sauvignon Blanc to Fume Blanc caused sales to increase significantly.

Sixty-eight percent of the wine is fermented in French oak barrels.  The rest is fermented in stainless steel.  The entire batch is then aged for four months in French oak barrels.

Alcohol is 13.9% by volume.  PLCB product code is 8582 and sells for $17.99 at most PA Wine and Spirit Stores.

Up-coming Events

Check out Mothers' Day weekend events at PA wineries including Manatawny, Pinnacle Ridge, and other local wineries that are part of the Berks County Wine Trail and the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail.

Check out the Jazz coming to Pinnacle Ridge on May 16 and the
Summer Solstice Festival at Manatawny on June 19.

American Wine Society Educational Foundation Benefit Tasting
Saturday September 18  

Wine and Appetizer Pairing, Perkiomen Valley Library, Schwenksville
Time and cost TBD
See more about the Perkiomen Chapter of AWS.

Mom's House
Benefit Wine Dinner

Saturday, October 23

Five course dinner, each course paired with a different wine.  Kimberton Arts Center  6:30 PM, $75 per person or $525 for a table of 8.  For more information about Mom's House, click HERE

This week’s Fun Fact  -  From our winemaker friend Joe, “The Amazing Book of Useless Information,” and many other sources.

The "punt" in the bottom of sparking wine bottles adds strength so the bottle can withstand the pressure created by the fermentation in the bottle.  The punt has no practical purpose in still (non-sparkling) wines (some say it provides extra bottle strength for shipping and stacking cases of wine, but many wines are shipped and stacked without punts in the bottoms of their bottles).