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What Sixty Bucks Buys
Lotta good wine, a little great wine...you name it!
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Greetings!
It's the mythical first week of summer and the first day of the rest of our lives. Price of gas is going up with the average daily temperature, and BBQ Pork Ribs are in the now (had 'em last Sunday, more this Sunday). With Memorial Day in the rear view mirror and life back to normal, how about some delicious, inky-dinky production wines carrying the Back Room Wines seal of approval?
You can do a lot with sixty dollars. Or a little. I've run the gamut: stretched it two weeks, subsiding on a big pot of Prego, Pasta and Sausage (my bachelor days), and dropped it in a flash on a couple of cocktails. Today's email gives you either option and everything in between. Five yummy bottles of Zin for a pool party? A bottle of red that'll knock your socks off? It's a fun line-up of tiny-production California wines for you today.
TASTING THIS FRIDAY NIGHT: RIESLINGS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.
That said, the focus is on two places: Germany and Finger Lakes, New York.
Special guest this evening: Nancy Irelan, Owner & Winemaker of Red Tail Ridge Winery in the Finger Lakes. Taste her RED TAIL RIDGE Dry Riesling "Estate" Finger Lakes 2007 ($21) and Nancy will tell you about the region and her winemaking. As for Germany, we're loaded...so many we've run out of shelf space for them. Time to break out some of our favorites and share them with you.
Cut Up Maria, show me some of them Spanish Dances,
Pass me a bottle, _________. (fill in the blank)
Dan.
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What Sixty Bucks Buys You
Six options
FIVE BOTTLES OF BIG ZIN
GRAVITY HILLS Zinfandel "The Sherpa"
Paso Robles 2005 $12/bottle
Gravity Hills Zin is for lovers of very-jammy-bordering-on-raisiny, spicy, full-flavored reds. Gravity Hills' vineyards are high in the hills west of Highway 101, heading towards the Pacific. It's steep and remote here, thus the gravity and Sherpa references.
A very dark, brilliant color prepares you for this huge nose of jammy berry fruits and spice. In the mouth it's thick, jammy, strong and has just enough zing of acidity to make you want more. $12/bottle for this wine just doesn't make sense. It's too good for twelve. But in these times that's just the way it goes sometimes.
FOUR BOTTLES OF DELICIOUS NAPA CHARDONNAY  HOOPLA Chardonnay
Napa Valley 2007 $15/bottle
Here's a Napa Valley white that'll please Chard-only imbibers and "Anything But" wine folk. Hoopla is owned and made by Hoopes Winery (we champion they're Oakville Cabernet). All Yountville fruit. There's no butter here...Hoopla gets its richness from other avenues, like ripe fruit and lees contact (think of it as the pulp, giving caramel and biscuit flavors). Taste ripe melons, pears, spicy applesauce and nectarines. Touch of caramel on the finish. It's full of juicy fruit flavors. Hoopla is easy to drink, nicely chilled, on the porch any warm evening.
THREE BOTTLES OF SPICY SONOMA COAST SYRAHCASAEDA Syrah Sonoma Coast 2006 $20/bottleKaren Culler's second-label, Casaeda, puts many first labels to shame. This is 100% "Griffin's Lair" Syrah, much closer to the San Pablo Bay (and Carneros) than the actual coastline. Like the coast, it's cool here: perfect for making spicy, wild, bold Syrah. (See below for the spectacular Arnot Roberts "Griffin's Lair.") Northern-Rhone ("French") style in very good year (this is an important distinction). Taste framboise, fresh blueberries, bacon in the skillet, cocoa nibs and black peppercorns. Medium to full bodied, great intensity and very delicious. I think this is a wine all wine lovers should like, but the gamey side of Syrah does come through a little. There's a little acquired taste in the Casaeda.TWO BOTTLES OF BIG, THICK, OAKY NAPA CABFISTICUFFS Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2006 $30/bottleNothing wrong with "formula" wine when it's a good formula and you love it. Fisticuffs is formula Napa Cab. Meaning what? It's rich, boasts ample oak on the nose and in the mouth, loaded with cassis & black cherry preserves to support the barrel, is spicy, heady & lush. Easily identified as Napa Cab...would never guess where in Napa it's from, however. This is a hedonist's Cabernet, not one to contemplate deeply. We all have our different moods. If you're a lover of Napa Cab (as a majority of my readers are), you'll happily drink a bottle of twelve of Fisticuffs. EITHER OF THESE CANDIDATES FOR
BACK ROOM'S WINE-OF-THE-YEAR I'm not a kidder, but if I were, I'd kid you not at this moment. These two cool-climate, truly artisan, NorCal reds are as good as it gets. Worth every bit of sixty bucks! ARNOT ROBERTS Syrah "Griffin's Lair"
Sonoma Coast 2007, $60 netPerhaps you've bought Arnot Roberts from Back Room before. We've been fans of theirs since their inaugural vintage (2002?). Best 2007 vintage Syrah we've had yet and will be hard to beat. The cool "Griffin's Lair Vineyard" (see Casaeda Syrah above) is just about perfect for making Cal-meets-Rhone style of Syrah. Traditional winemaking is respected with whole clusters put in the fermenter (the grape stems add spice) and no new oak used in ageing, so the fruit and place shine through. The wine: dense and rich with teeth-staining color, black berry fruits, black olive, peppercorns, bacon and curry spice. Tasting as much as I do, I just know when I'm tasting something special. This is it. Only 140 cases.
AUTEUR Pinot Noir "Manchester Ridge"
Mendocino 2007, $60 net Our first taste of Auteur "Manchester Ridge" Pinot was at our dinner with Owner/Winemaker Ken Juhasz last year. It was a pre-release, and Ken offered us a case for the event. All the Auteur wines rocked, and continue to rock, but the "Manchester" was the star. Combining California ripeness, Pinot complexity and a crisp, maritime climate backbone, this Pinot is awesome...one of the best California Pinots we've had in don't-know-how-long. I just wish we had more.
"Manchester Ridge" is on the Mendocino Coast, just over the Sonoma Coast/County line. Like Griffin's Lair, the wines from here achieve a quality on par with any in California. Marriage of California richness and Pinot Noir elegance. Framboise & kirsch, fresh pie crust, cinnamon, rosewater, violets. This is big wine with supple tannins and a sexy, long, wonderful finish. 98 cases made and we're getting two to spread around as best we can. 3 bottle limit: one for the holidays, one for 2010, one for ???
To order, call toll free at 877-322-2576
Order online here,
Reply to this email, or COME TO THE SHOP & BUY.
Thank you for reading.
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This Thursday night from 5 to 7 P.M.
Chef's Market special: $5 Cheese plate.
Serving Quebec Vintage Cheddar, Appenzeller & Goat Cheese Gouda.
Normally $9, come enjoy a cheese plate with a glass, bottle or taste of wine for a five spot.
Drink more peppery Sauvignon Blancs.
Dan
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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: daniel@backroomwines.com
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RIESLINGS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
This Friday,
May 29,
5 to 8 P.M.
We'll taste the great Riesling grape from Germany, Austria and New York's Finger Lakes. Special Guest: Nancy Irelan of Red Tail Ridge in the Finger Lakes.
$15/tasting
Here's the Riesling Line-Up.
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Cabernet Franc
Next Friday,
June 5
5 to 8 P.M.
California and Loire Valley (mostly) Cab Francs for you to taste, compare and enjoy.
$15/tasting
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