Four Fun, Fruity Reds
Zinfandel, Primitivo and 2 Big Blends

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Hello ,
Business buzzes along at Back Room Wines. We're fortunate to be in a niche market, and lucky to have our loyal customers. And the days when business isn't all that, we're fortunate to have a lot of dandy wine to taste. Not to say it's all about luck-I like the line "hard work and talent makes your good fortune." Have enough of it to fill a few wine barrels.

Hope all is well, and winter's chill makes the red wine taste that much better. We continue to be dry and sunny here in California.
I've picked four super-fruity, super-smooth & silky red wines for you to try this week. One trend in the wine industry during the recession has been lower-priced bottles selling well, and higher priced bottles sitting. Here then, wine imbibers, are four big-time reds for sale at modest prices.

But first, Back Room Blow Out XXX is this Friday night, January 30, from 5 to 8 P.M.
Visit & taste with the Owners and/or Winemakers from these four wineries: Schoolhouse Vineyard (Spring Mountain),

Retro Cellars (Howell Mountain), Laurel Glen (Sonoma Mountain) and
Brick Angel (Hills east of Napa).  Didn't plan to have a TASTING OF MOUNTAIN WINES, but that's what it is: 7 of the 8 are from the mountains, in fact. How cool! The tasting fee is $15, with $5 credited back for each bottle of Blow Out wine purchased.
Here are the Blow Out XXX wines for your pleasure...

This is what it sounds like when doves cry.
Dan

Vineyard Divider Line
Four Fun & Fruity Reds
a Zin, a Primitivo and two Big Red Blends
for our first two, a recap of last Friday night's Zinfandel tasting is in order...seven Zins were poured and not a dud in the bunch. Two of them were particularly enjoyed & purchased, and I just restocked the racks with more:
VINO D'ANGELO Zinfandel "Shake Ridge Ranch"Vino D'Angelo Zinfandel Amador County 2007,
  $25
First release, made by Napa fireman Dan D'Angelo. Nose of sweet, toasty oak (40% new American), raspberry jam and one bay leaf. Tastes of raspberry & blueberry pie, vanilla, French roast coffee, allspice and dark chocolate. Velvety, friendly and persistent finish. This is a dynamite Gold Country Zinfandel. 200 cases made. Bob Biale of Biale Vineyards came to taste and called it "the Zin of the night." 2007 is a particularly good vintage for Red Zinfandel. The Vino D'Angelo shows why.

LAYER CAKE Primitivo (aka Zinfandel)
I.G.T. Puglia 2006, $18

Best seller of the night: 40 tasters and 20 bottles sold!
From Puglia, Italy's "heel of the boot," and where Primitivo is abundant. You probably know about Primitivo: same DNA as Zin, grown in Italy for centuries. Layer Cake, a Napa business, travels here to make this standard-setting, superb-value red. Impression #1 is aromatic: rose petals, framboise and cardamon. Then comes the fruit: mushy raspberries and wild strawberries. Finally the texture: silky, luscious and wonderfully long. Such a pleasure to drink - full flavored but not "too much" for any palate.

PIOCHO Red Wine "Happy Canyon Vineyards"
Santa Ynez Valley 2005, $31

Winemaker Doug Margerum came in to pour this and many others for us last week. Was not the first time I'd had this wine (in fact, we carried it last fall). This Bordeaux-style blend is 40% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. I really like the extracted, sweet berries & cherries, vanilla-cocoa-spice cake flavors, and "gooey" texture of this big-flavored, straightforward, very rich red wine from Santa Barbara County.
Atrea Old Soul Red
ATREA "Old Soul Red"
Mendocino County 2005, $22

Atrea is a byodynamic winery near Hopland in very warm southern Mendocino County! Under the wine consultation of BRW Email reader David Ramey, Atrea makes strong, sexy, delicious wines. If you haven't heard of them until now, I suggest you give them a try.
"Old Soul Red" is a "California Blend" of Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah and Grenache. Sweet oak  and black peppercorns frame a jammy, spicy, creamy, deep red wine. The concentrated, long finish gives more of the same flavors with melted tannins. If it were BBQ season I'd suggest grilled, garlicky sausages. But it ain't, so I won't. Instead, braised, spicy beef short ribs, full of garlic and onions, will do just fine. 


Mixed case, two of each:
$260
(10% discount applied)

To order, call toll free at 877-322-2576
Order online here,
Or, just reply to this email. Thank you for reading.
Vineyard Divider Line
Super Bowl Sunday
Must be careful: "Stock up for the Big Game!" is more like it, yes?

As Super Bowl Sunday is the closest thing to a national holiday without being a national holiday, Back Room Wines will be closed. My colleague Dan (we're a two Dan shop), the Sunday wine-man, a huge sports fan, and a Detroit Lions fan, is very very very very very happy that we'll be closed. We both like the Cardinals to win, by the way. Looking forward to The Boss at halftime, too!

Need to stock up for the Super Big Game Bowl, the greatest-consumption-of-Guacamole Day? 
Come in Saturday and I'll set you up. And if you're buying boxes in the office Super Bowl grid, take the box four from the left and two from the bottom. Works every time. Trust me.
Drink more Furmint.

Dan

Daniel Dawson
Back Room Wines
Corner of First & Main Streets (First Street Entrance)
Downtown Napa, California 94559
Phone: (707) 226-1378  Toll Free # is 877-322-2576
Visit our website here
email: [email protected]

Vineyard Divider Line
Back Room Blow Out XXX
This Friday
January 30

5 to 8 P.M.
Visit & taste with four local winery owners & wine-makers.
Blow Out XXX features:
School House, Brick Angel, Retro, Cimarossa and Laurel Glen wineries.

$15/tasting, with
$5 credit for each bottle of Blow Out wine purchased.
Here's the tasting line-up. Salute!
Spanish
Wine
Tasting

Next Friday, February 6,
5 to 8 P.M.

We'll meander through the old wine country and try reds & whites from all over.
$15/tasting,
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