Tasting

Thanksgiving Day recommendations…. 

We are tasting these right now at Forsyth until 4pm today - Saturday (11/19)

2010 Le Cirque Grenache Gris....$15.99

The Le Cirque 2010 Grenache Gris - which I tasted just after its winter bottling - smells alluringly of iris and honeysuckle atop ripe melons and pineapple. Luscious and infectiously juicy, it saturates the palate with watermelon, Persian melon, and pineapple, mingled with walnut oil, peat, crushed stone, and saliva-liberating salinity, all of which collaborate on an exuberant finish, delivering an amazing value that will certainly continue to satisfy for at least a couple of years. 

Rated 90/100 The Wine Advocate

2010 WeinKeller Erbach Flonheimer Adelberg Silvaner....$14.99 / liter 

The fruity, mouthwatering wine has a nice acidity-sugar balance and comes from the so called 'Rheinhessen-Switzerland', the heartland of Rheinhessen. It has a floral bouquet and smells like yellow fruit, lemon-grass and green tea.  This is a bargain wine packaged in a liter bottle.

2010 Trois Freres Chardonnay....$13.99

Rich and fruity with a nice malolactic mouthfeel. This wine is basically "unoaked", but 8% of the wine sees used oak barrels. This just adds another dimension of complexity to the wine with out tasting any noticeable oak. This is just a beautiful wine that will surprise you with its minerality and freshness. This wine will go with a wide variety of food from seafood to chicken dishes.

2009 Beringer Chardonnay Private Reserve...$29.99 

"The 2009 Chardonnay Private Reserve, which comes primarily from Napa’s Gamble Ranch site, is a bigger, richer, more nutty-styled Chardonnay revealing tropical fruit, butter, brioche and hazelnut characteristics. They backed off the oak in this cuvee, which results in more fruit, interest and personality." 

Rated 93/100 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate 

2009 Mongeard Mugneret Fixin….$39.99

100% Pinot Noir

A subtle touch of wood spice frames pretty red and blue fruit aromas that are surprisingly elegant and pure for the appellation, leading to earthy and sweet middle weight flavors that are also unusually refined for what this is and wrapped in a moderately austere but not aggressive finish.

2006 Chateau St. Jean Cabernet Sauvignon…$15.99

Compare to $27 at the winery

Inviting aromas of blackberry, black tea and hints of leather begin the nose of this Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is concentrated and structured with a ripe fruit core of dark berry fruit. The palate is round and full and leads to a lingering finish.

2009 Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet…$19.99

To maintain the unique characteristics of the different lots from varying areas of the vineyard, Laurie kept them all separate through vinification and aging. Extended maceration created larger tannins to enhance the lush mouthfeel of the blend and extracted a maximum of color, aromas and flavors. The wines were then aged in small French Nevers oak barrels for roughly a year. After aging, Laurie blended the lots of Cabernet Sauvignon to highlight Knights Valley's characteristically bright black cherry fruit. A bit of Merlot was added to round out the mid-palate, and a touch of Cabernet Franc lifts the aromatics of the wine and delivers an elegant finish.

2009 Château de Ségriès Lirac Rouge Cuvée Réservée....$19.99

50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, 5% Mourvèdre, 5% Carignan.

"More serious, structured, and meaty (than the CDR) is the 2009 Lirac Cuvee Reservee. Fifty percent Grenache, 30% Syrah and the rest Cinsault, Mourvedre and Carignan, this has more earthy, foresty notes, an opaque ruby/purple color, hints of incense, blue and black fruits, medium body and light to moderate tannin in the finish. It is just becoming drinkable yet should age reasonably well for 5-7 years. The new releases from proprietor Henri de Lanzac are all impressive." - Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate 

2009 Rubus Zinfandel Lodi…$15.99

Ruby red in color, with red fruit, raspberry, and spice on the nose. This wine is medium in body, with notes of ripe cherry, cedar box, cinnamon, anise, black pepper, and hint of smoke on the palate. It has a long, silky finish.