Wine Tips of the Week - Galen Glen Traminette and Spice Route Pinotage

 Cheers and Happy Holidays from Vintage Connections

Galen Glen Winery Traminette NV
(click the link above for the winery's website)

This delicious white wine is made 100% traminette grapes.  It is lightly sweet with a rich floral aroma.  The bright fruit flavors with light floral hints makes this wine delicious with spicy foods.  It is very pale yellow in color.  Alcohol content is approximately 12% by volume. 

The traminette grape is a hybrid grape made from a cross of the French American hybrid grape Joannes Seyve 23.416 and the German grape Gewurtztraminer.  The grape itself is actually lightly pink.  It was first released in Geneva, New York in 1996.  This grape does well in the Eastern US.

Fall Colors at Galen Glen

We recently purchased Indian "take-out" for dinner and forgot to ask for "mild".  Drinking the traminette with the very spicy Indian dish was a treat!  It cooled the mouth while retaining it's excellent flavor.

Galen Glen Traminette is available only at the winery for $10 a bottle, we feel this one's definitely well worth the trip to the winery.

Spice Route Winery Pinotage 2007

This medium to full-bodied, dry red wine comes from Swartland, South Africa.  It has rich aromas of plums with hints of spice.  The spice aroma carries over into the flavor added to dark red berries.  It's tannins and fruit flavors are beautifully balanced giving a long and lingering finish.  The wine was aged in new and used American oak barrels for 14 months. 

The pinotage grape is a hybrid cross of Pinot Noir and Cinsault. 

Great with barbecue!  Alcohol is 14.65% by volume.  It is currently a Chairman's Selection, though may be hard to find.  We feel this wine is well worth looking for.  PLCB product code is 30919. 

Spring 2011 Wine Classes and Gift Certificates

Wine Classes

We are changing locations and reducing the cost of our Wine Classes to $35 per person for the classes below.

Open Enrollment Classes Spring 2010
$35 per person, includes wine, cheese, crackers
Thursdays, 6:30-9:00 PM - Location to-be-determined

March 24 - Wine Blending Bordeaux Style - Learn about and taste Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc individually, then blend them and experience how they complement each other and how blending produces a more complicated aroma and flavor.

March 31 - Wines of the Finger Lakes II - Learn about and taste wines from the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. Famous for Reisling, the Finger Lakes region also produces other excellent whites and in good years, excellent bold reds.

April 7 - Surprising Wines under $15 - It's often difficult to find a good wine priced under $15, but some are very good and reliable in this price range.  Learn about very affordable wines and taste a few of our favorites.

April 14 - Wine Gems from Our Cellar - "Someday we're going to drink this!"    Tonight's the night!  We'll pull some of our favorites from our cellar, taste them and talk about wines that should be aged or not, and the effects of time in the bottle. 

Home Schoolin'
Wine Classes and Educational Tastings
·    In your home, at your business (within 15 miles of Pottstown**)
·    $250 for up to 8 people.  Includes wine, cheese, and crackers
·    Add $200 for an additional 8 people*
*  Additional discounts available for more than 16 people.
** Additional distance may require a travel charge.

Sample classes - Many other options are available.

Wine for Beginners      Basic Red and White        Wines of the World
                  Wines of the USA             Wines of the Finger Lakes    
          Wines of Pennsylvania                       What's in a Name     
Blending Wine Bordeaux Style             Surprising Wines under $15
              
OR - We'll design a CUSTOMIZED CLASS FOR YOU (costs may vary)

Gift Certificates for Spring 2011 Wine Classes

What a unique and fun gift!  Give the gift of a wine class.

$35 for a seat in any of our open enrollment Vintage Connections Wine Classes listed above.

$250 for a Home Schoolin' Wine Class as described above, for up to 8 people, provided in your home, business or other appropriate location (within 15 miles of Pottstown  - other locations may require a travel charge).

For more information or to purchase a gift certificate, email us at  Vintageconnections@comcast.net or call us (Dean or Lisa) us at 610-469-6164 or 610-310-9942.

Checks and cash only.


Fun Facts

"Body" refers to the mixture of fruit and alcohol and the "feel" of the wine in your mouth.  A full-bodied wine is alcoholic and fruity, a light bodied wine is crisp and low in alcohol. 

There will be another quiz someday!