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Wine Shop at Foxcroft Newsletter Weekly Newsletter of Upcoming Events
Tuesday September 15, 2009
7824 Fairview Road Charlotte, North Carolina 28226
704-365-6550
"At the Wine Shop at Foxcroft we are committed to bringing you Charlotte's very
best selection of artisanal, small production, and naturally made wines
the world has to offer in a relaxed and inviting atmosphere."
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| 15% OFF CASES!
Thursday - Sunday |
During our Labor Day sale a lot of you guys said you were out of town and didn't get a chance to take advantage of the savings.We heard you loud and clear. Not ones to turn down business here's what we're going to do for you...
15% Off All Case Orders...
Thursday September 17th through Sunday September 20th. |
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| Wine Shop Staff Favorites |
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Le Ragnaie Rosso di Montalcino
2007
2007
$29.99 bottle
Riccardo Campinoti was in our shop a few weeks ago on a Saturday pouring his wines and we fell in love with both his Brunello and Rosso. A truly nice guy and his wines reflected that character. They were well made and solid. At the time the Rosso was still in Italy and awaiting shipment. Well last week it arrived at the shop and pleased to offer it to you.
The Ragnaie Winery in Montalcino is situated in the Tuscan countryside south of Siena. Their wines are produced organically and are top notch in quality. Cherry and cassis with a judicious amount of oak and enough acidity to keep things interesting.
(Mas Cal Demoura "Qu'es Aquo" Rosé
(Coteaux du Languedoc)
20 05
$18.99 BOTTLE
Jean-Pierre Jullien named his domaine "Cal Demoura", which in Occitan means "one must remain" after a mass exodus from the Languedoc in the 1970s. With only 5 hectares of vineyard he produces wine of regal regal dimensions that helped to lead the qualitative revolution in the Languedoc. If you're in the market for a serious dry rose then you should give this one a shot. A rich and expressive rosé, bolder and deeper pink than the Commanderie de Peyrassol, this wine is fleshy and spicy with wild strawberry and fennel aromas. The rosé is saignée and vinified like a white wine to emphasize its aromatics It combines richness and finesse with the great minerality that all the Rosenthal wines possess. Try this one with grilled meats and broiled fish specialties
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| FREE SATURDAY TASTING
1:00 - 400PM |
Come join us every Saturday...
Come join us for lunch and try a great assortment of wines.
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| RECESSION WINE TASTINGS
Continuing
On
Tuesdays... |
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5:00 - 7:00 PM - Every Tuesday
Cost: FREE!
Come join us at the Wine Shop at Foxcroft this Winter every Tuesday evening for a free wine tasting from some of our favorite wine distributors. We'll be tasting an incredible array of wines from all over the world. Stop in on your way home from work. It's free and a lot of fun. As always there's special pricing on the wines of the evening.
TONIGHT:
Tuesday Sept 15th -
James Corbin with
Wines of the Pacific Northwest
Sept 22nd - Neal Rosenthal Tutored Tasting Wines of Italy and France
Tuesday, September 1st - Gene Casey from Mutual Distributors | |
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Greetings!
By the time you're reading this week's newsletter I should have landed at LaGuardia and be in Midtown Manhattan heading for my first tasting. I'll be attending several large trade tastings in the city this week, looking for great new wines to bring to Charlotte. It's a lot of fun for me but it's also the only way to find the truly meaningful and unique wines that I want in my shop. It's just too costly to take an importer's entire portfolio on the road so I'm in NYC where all the big tastings go down. As a retailer is too easy to get trapped inside your business, waiting on sales reps to bring by things they think you might like. Over the years I've learned to trust my own palate as the best guide for what's great and what's not and so here I am working hard for you and for me. I know it's a crappy job but someone has to do it right??? Please come by and see Crystal and Alex while I'm gone. They're both have great palates and are there to help you.When I get back I'll be ordering lots of great new things for the Fall. I'll be back next week and coincidentally I'll be hosting a tasting with Uber-Terroirist New York City wine importer Neil Rosenthal's portfolio the following Tuesday, September 22nd at the shop. His portfolio is the best and if you're a fan of authentic estate bottled wines from France and Italy you don't want to miss this one...
You know the sheer size New York City is always overwhelms me every time I fly into her. The city is a lady you know? So much concrete and human density... It reminds me how powerful we humans can be when we put our collective energy into it. New York also reminds me of Julia Fordham, the talented British songstress. I always think of the song "Manhattan Skyline" from her 1988 debut album when I come back to the city. (Well that and Greshwin's "Rhapsody in Blue") I've been coming up here since my early twenties and almost moved here back then to further my music career. It never came to pass but all those sounds and images are tied together in my mind forever. As I fly into Manhattan check out Julia's song and think of me...
Julia Fordham
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Neal Rosenthal Wine Merchant
Portfolio Tasting
Tuesday September 22nd 2009
Time:7:00 PM
Cost: $20.00 |
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"The Mad Rose Group is the corporate umbrella for a close-knit group of people who understand that wine is an agricultural product and that in its best and purest form wine must reflect a specific sense of place."Neil shares the goal of communicating this concept to an ever-increasing public by presenting the finest examples of wine made in this classical tradition. I'm actually composing the newsletter this week from the Char-Meck Superior Courthouse where I'm fulfilling my civic duty as a juror and have taken the time to read his book "Reflections of a Wine Merchant." A great read and inspiration to me in how I want to conduct business in wine.The objective for Neil from the outset was to work as directly as possible with growers who were dedicated to producing limited quantities of the finest quality wines and who shared the his passion for "terroir", that ephemeral "sense of place". Over the last 30 years he has assembled an amazing portfolio of winemakers from France and Italy. He along with a handful of other importers leads the charge to restore wine to it's rightful place and away from the marketing madness the wine world has become today preferring to seek out other small sources of supply rather than work with a cooperative, negociant, or large commercial producer to keep the flow of wine coming.We're excited to bring Neil's portfolio to Charlotte with Trey Stephenson, Neil's SE Regional sales manager for a tutored tasting of the country's leading, 100% organic, 100% estate bottled wines.
Please call the shop to reserve your seats.
704.365.6550 |
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THE SEPTEMBER FAB FIVE...
Centerba Selections &
The Wines of Louis Dressner
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Receive an additional 15% off when you buy a mixed or solid case these wines - on top of the regular bottle discount!
"Louis/Dressner Selections is a portfolio of over 60 vignerons from the major wine growing regions of France and Italy.They are a partnership of Denyse Louis, a native Burgundian, Joe Dressner and Kevin McKenna. Collectively,they spend nearly nine months a year in Europe working with their growers and selecting wines for importation to America.They have no "brands." They are not looking for them. What they do have is a group of often fanatical growers who are doing their best to make wines that are original because they are honestly crafted. These might seem old-fashioned, but in the present context it is almost revolutionary....There are no gobs, no exaggerations, no over-this and over-that. We don't have fruit bombs. What we do have is a group of growers who work their vines and make their wines with honesty, passion and humor."
In that sense THE BRAND is the convergence of these crazy growers and their American importers. Working together to produce and market natural products that follow several principles:
Wild Yeasts
All wines are made with the natural yeasts on the grapes, in the vineyards and in the cellars. Cultured yeasts to rush fermentation or add "enhancing" aromas and flavors are unacceptable. They look for wines that express their terroir. No enzymes, no hormones.
Hand Harvesting
Growers harvest by hand, not machine. They want the ripest fruit to be brought carefully and lovingly into the winery.
Low Yields
The growers want low yields for greater concentration. They look for growers with holdings in old vines.
Natural Viticulture
They encourage growers to plow their vineyards to keep the soil an active eco-system, and to use natural methods in tending their vines.
No or Minimal Chaptalization
They do not want an artificially high degree of alcohol produced by adding sugar to the must. Non- or slightly chaptalized wines are more enjoyable and healthier to drink.
Non-Filtration
Wines are either not filtered or minimally filtered. We also encourage low levels of SO2.
Non-Interventionist Winemaking
They prefer a harmony, not an imposed style -wines should showcase their place of origin and varietal character. We are not looking for oak flavor, particular fruits or overly done aromatics. Minimal use of S02 is encouraged.
Quality Control
They taste at our growers several times before and after bottling before shipping wines. Where possible, we work with the vigneron to make special blends representing the very best wines in their cellar.
Enjoyment!
Lastly, their most important "principle." Because, the overblown world of overdone wines is fundamentally tiresome. they're not looking for tasting specimens, but for wines that are great fun, and a great pleasure to drink.
Clos Roche Blanche Sauvignon 2008 (Touraine, Loire Valley)
Reg. Price $20.99
Discount Price $15.99
Touraine, a Loire Valley appellation, designates a large viticultural area around the city of Tours. The vineyards of .JPG) Clos Roche Blanche were planted on the Touraine hills bordering the Cher river by the Roussel family at the end of the 19th century and have remained in the family since. They converted the vineyards to organic farming and, with the 1995 vintage, received the official "organic agriculture" accreditation. The vines are treated with copper and sulfur solutions, and plant decoctions (a mixture of nettles and other herbs) used in biodynamic viticulture. The grapes are hand-harvested and the Sauvignon Blanc is macerated for 48 hours. Neither Catherine or Didier has studied oenology or viticulture.They both learned their trade in the vineyards and the cellar, searching for methods and techniques to make wines of exceptional character in an appellation of modest reputation.The wine smells of fresh cut flower and lemon zest. The fruit is perfectly ripe without the feral aromas sometimes associated with Sauvignon Blanc, and there is a nice interplay between fruit and mineral with brisk acidity keeping everything in balance.
Baudry Chinon Rosé 2008
(Chinon, Loire Valley)
Reg. Price $17.99
Discount Price $14.99
Bernard Baudry is one of the newer stars of the Chinon scene. A graduate of the Lycée de Beaune, Baudry created  his 25-hectare estate out of family parcels and purchased land. He quickly rose to prominence in the appellation for precise, textured Chinon. Along with the wines of Domaine Joguet, Baudry is at the vanguard of a new approach to traditional Chinon: purity and extract. In A Wine & Food Guide to the Loire Valley (the most comprehensive guide to Loire Valley wines yet written), Jacqueline Friedrich writes, "My interest in Loire wines hadn't gone much further than the tasty "petits Chinons" I habitually drank in the wine bistros of Paris. In four days I changed my mind completely. Not only did my thirst grow for the mouth watering little Chinons, but I found the "serious' versions made by vignerons like Charles Joguet and Bernard Baudry exhilarating." Baudry's Chinon Rose is a pale salmon/orange tint with fresh stony aromas wafting from the glass. Firmly focused flavors of blood orange. "Pure, bracing and penetrating." This wine is all about minerality. Try it with shellfish or Ahi Tuna tartare.
Chateau de Oupia"Tradition" 2007
(Minervois, France)
Reg Price $13.99
Discount Price $11.99
Everyone talks about the new quality of wines from the Languedoc. For us, this doesn't mean the ubiquitous varietal bottlings from irrigated flat vineyards but the wonderful wines coming from the best hillside vineyard sites in AOCs like Minervois, Corbières and Coteaux-du-Languedoc. The Château d'Oupia is one of the best.
The Minervois Tradition is 60% Carignan (from vineyards up to 100 years old), 30% Syrah and 10% Grenache. It is aromatic, full and densely colored, with a long finish of dark fruits. The wine is elegant and balanced - it is both enjoyable to drink young and can age 5-7 years. dark berries and spicy aromas.Robert Parker has consistently praised this estate and rated the wine a "best buy." He wrote: "Château d'Oupia has produced the ideal bistro wine. Dark, ruby-colored, the wine is wonderfully clean and pure, with an exuberant personality, and gobs of rich, peppery, red and black fruit...Bravo to proprietor André Iché!"
D. Ventura Pena do Lobo 2007
(Ribeira Sacra, Galicia)
Reg Price $19.99
Discount Price $17.99
You may remember us featuring this wine a couple months back in our staff picks. With all of the hoopla in the NY Times about the Ribeira Sacra region and D. Ventura we
thought it would be fun to feature another wine from the producer. This is not a Louis Dressner Selection but it is 100% organic Mencia from Andre Tamers De Maison line, the spiritual cousin of Dressner and a damn good wine. Like the Vina Caniera except grown on granite soils. It received 90 points from Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: "Medium red. Spicy red currant and rhubarb on the nose, with a fine mineral overlay. Tangy, focused red berry flavors benefit from nervy acid lift and show no noticeable tannins. Finishes with excellent precision and mineral grip, with no excess fat. I love this wine's elegance but suspect that some will find it austere. This is the polar opposite of Mollydooker."
Eric Texier Brezeme Rouge 2006
(Rhone Valley, France)
Reg Price $20.99
Discount Price $18.99
Eric Texier became a winemaker after a first career and without any family background in vines or wines. As such, his goals and methods developed not so much from his years of schooling, but from his readings, his visiting winemakers  around the world, and working in Burgundy with Jean-Marie Guffens at Verget. Like all good winemakers, Eric strongly believes that wines are made in the vineyard, and that his work, after the harvest, consists in following the lead of the vintage, and accompanying the wines so they fulfill their potential. Exact steps in vinification vary according to the varietals, terroirs and vintages, but the goal is always to provide the grapes, musts and wines with the best environment and intervene as little as possible.Eric began using biodynamics in the vineyard in 2001, and the first properly biodynamic vintage was 2003. 'My main concern was that I didn't want to use herbicides any more, so we had to buy all the equipment to plough with. This was the main obstacle to going to organics and biodynamics.' Shifting from organics to biodynamics was almost nothing in terms of investment, so I tried it, and I'm carrying on with it, but I'm not a biodynamic ayatollah.' According to Eric the difference between organics and biodynamics is very small. 'Once you don't use herbicides any more, the difference is in the preparations, which are very simple to use', he says.. He's Demeter and Ecocert certified, but doesn't use this on his labels.Brézème is a small, and at one point nearly forgotten, viticulture area located near the town of Livron-sur-Drôme about 18 kilometers south of Valence. Like Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage, Brézème sits on the eastern bank of the Rhône and produces both red and white wine. In 1990, Éric became intrigued when reading about the little know region of Brézème in the 1880's book Les Grands Vins de France by Dr. Ramain. After exploring Brézème, Éric believed the steep, southward facing slopes of primarily limestone and clay had the potential to produce truly great Syrahs. His Brezeme Rouge is 100% Syrah and smells and tastes like a top-notch Côte-Rôtie except at a forth the price.
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At the Wine Shop at Foxcroft our goal is to provide you with Charlotte's best selection of quality wines and beers at competitive prices. Great service is what we strive for so if there's anything you're looking for: that difficult vintage, a special gift, whateve, don't hesitate to contact us with your requests. We look forward to seeing you in the shop...
Sincerely,
Conrad, Crystal, Alex and all the
Wine Shop at Foxcroft Staff
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| THE WINE SHOP AT FOXCROFT
7824 Fairview Road
Charlotte, NC 28226
704-365-6550 |
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