| Erick's Cheese & Wine Shop |
|
COME IN AND TASTE THESE WINES ON SATURDAY, OCT 31, 1-5 PM
Complimentary
Saturday, we feature two wines (the first two listed) from one of our favorite importers, Eric Solomon, who has built his reputation on finding wonderful wines from obscure regions of Spain and France that constantly rate 90+ points by the wine critics and sell for less than $20. Saturday's wines from this brilliant importer are from Savoie in eastern France and from Yecla in Spain. Also, we offer up the best wine we have ever opened at the tasting table. For this wine, the tasting fee is $10.
2006 Giachino Abymes Tradition (Savoie, $9.99/special case price of $8.33). In 1988, Frederic Giachino took over his family's very small estate (at the time, it only consisted of 1.5 hectares), which has now grown to 7 hectares. Although the domaine had been worked before his arrival using traditional viticultural techniques, Frederic took the big step to start the conversion toward a total organic estate. This continues today with no use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers. The entirety of the property is harvested by hand and undergoes a winery triage before crush. The wines are always fermented at a very low temperature and fermentations tend to take several days. To introduce slightly more fatness into the wine, this 100% Jacquère is aged on its fine lees for 6-8 months with some stirring, and bottled the year after harvest. This is one of the few wines made from Jacquère, and it is as clean and pure as the lakes of the Savoie and the perfect match for fresh-water fish. If you prefer low-alcohol wines (11%) and need another obscure grape variety to brag about, this is for you.
Randall's comment: At this price point it is one of the better white wines I've tasted (And I taste a lot of wine...part of my job)
2005 Bodegas Castaño "Solanera" (Spain, $18.99). One of our perennial favorites and always a good buy, this fabulous wine (65% Monastrell, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Tintorera) was rated 91 by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate and 90 by Steve Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: "Saturated purple. Smoky raspberry and cherry on the nose, with a sexy mocha quality adding complexity. Fleshy, round dark fruit liqueur flavors caress rather than pummel the palate. Gentle tannins arrive late to add structure but this is all about silky, juicy fruit."
2005 Trapiche Broquel Bonarda (Argentina, $14.99). Here's a grape that's slowly making a good name for itself in Argentina, the Bonarda. Originally from Italy, it is now carving out a niche south of the border. This wine is rated 86 points by Wine Spectator: "Structured for a Bonarda, with dark cocoa, bacony toast, currant and fig flavors followed by a smoky finish."
2007 Hope Estate Shiraz(Hunter Valley, Australia, $14.99). October is "Breast Cancer Prevention Month," with lots of events and sponsors. Hope Estate wines joins the cause by donating proceeds from the sales of its Hunter Valley Shiraz to the breast cancer research cause. Being that this coming Saturday is the last Saturday of October, we thought we'd pour tastings of this wine in an all-out effort to spur sales for this good cause. And it's a good wine for a good cause -- smooth, juicy, intense berry fruit, rich mocha and spicy plums, soft, defined oak nuances, silky tannins. Come taste. And buy!
Donation
For another good cause, we'll offer up nice pours of the following magnificent wine with proceeds from the $10 tasting fee supporting the Avery County Humane Society. 2007 Mollydooker Shiraz "Blue Eyed Boy" (Australia, $64.99).
Mollydooker is the label of the renowned winemaking team of Sparky and Sarah Marquis. This is their third vintage, one seriously affected by the drought conditions in Barossa and McLaren Vale. Their overall production was down by 50% in 2007. This wine was rated 95 points by Wine Advocate: "The opaque purple-colored 2007 Blue-Eyed Boy Shiraz spent 12 months in 80% new American oak. It offers up an enticing nose of cedar, tobacco, mineral, blueberry, and black raspberry. Opulent on the palate, this glossy effort will evolve for another 1-2 years but can be enjoyed now and over the next decade."
|
DOMAINE HOUCHART.....A GREAT WINE FOR FALL!
In searching for a mature red wine from Provence for a customer's dinner featuring Provençal cuisine, we stumbled across this wine. It was a hit at the dinner and the host and her guests have come back several times to buy more, so we thought we'd see what the fuss was all about. We were so taken by the wine and its user-friendly price tag that we cleaned out the distributor and now tout it to everyone. 2004 Domaine Houchart, Reserve (Provence, $16.99). This wine reminds us of the autumn leaves - at peak form (at the lower elevations at least!), a blend of Grenache and Syrah, this wine is smooth as silk and full of flavor, evocative of a Châteauneuf du Pape, but at a fraction of the price. If you need an autumnal wine to go with your autumnal comfort cuisine, look no farther!
|
|
FALL HOURS
We will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m.
| |
|
|
Erick's Cheese and Wine Shop, Grandfather Center, Banner Elk, NC 28604, (828) 898-9424 www.erickscheeseandwine.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
