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School House "Mescolanza"
Zinfandel-based red blend from Spring Mountain
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Greetings!
What would you get if you blended Orin Swift "The Prisoner" 2006 with
Chateau de Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2007?
Not that I've done it, but I bet it would taste like School House "Mescolanza,"
today's MONEY WINE. "Mesco" (for short) is Zinfandel-based, giving ripe spicy brambly fruit
(a la "Prisoner"), from old, dry farmed vines adding structure, complexity and earth (a la Beaucastel.) Please check out the Mescolanza story and my tasting notes, just below. You oughta get some.
WINE BAR UPDATES
Our every day wine flight is "Wines Made By Paul Hobbs."
Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, Russian River Pinot Noir, Napa Cabernet and Argentina Malbec.
Enjoy all four of these wines for $10. Served every day, all day.
Learn more about the Paul Hobbs flight and all our daily Wine Bar offerings here.
TASTING EVENTS
Our German wine tasting events are so popular, we're running it both Thursday AND Friday night this week. Details here.
I just received three of my favorite artisan cheeses to serve in the Wine Bar. - Montbriac, a soft, blue, ash-covered cheese melts in your mouth.
- 18 month-aged Gouda. I find good Gouda goes well with almost every type of wine.
- Petit Agour is a firm sheep's milk cheese from The Pyrenees, Basque Country.
It's nutty, fruity and creamy all at the same time!
Cheese plates are available every day. Come in for cheese and a flight, glass or bottle.
And ask us about taking cheese to go. We sell our cheeses retail for very good prices.
May your Tuesday be filled with sun, smiles and good wine! Dan
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Money Wine
May 11, 2010
Money Wine: a wine that anyone who loves good, rich, utterly delicious wine will enjoy A LOT, and is an EXCEPTIONAL VALUE.
From one of our favorite Napa wineries...
SCHOOL HOUSE "Mescolanza"
Venerable Field Blend
Spring Mountain,  Napa Valley 2006 $40/bottle
Forty dollars is a good chunk of change for a bottle of wine. You deserve a wine of depth, character, complexity and intensity for $40.
School House "Mescolanza" delivers the goods, with a bow on top!
Wind your way up Spring Mountain from St. Helena until you get to Langtry Road. Make the left hand turn, look to your left and you'll see School House Vineyard. Indeed, a school used to be where there are now vines, and operated during the turn of the 20th century. It's since burned down.
"Mescolanza" means "medley" in Spanish, and that's what it is: a medley of 76% Zinfandel, 17% Petite Sirah and 7% Carignane, picked and fermented together (i.e. a Field Blend). One more word on the label to define: the venerable vines. They are old: some planted back in the School Days (1890s). They are not given water. As you can imagine, the yields are low and the resulting wine is spicy, strong and very good. Not much is made either: around 240 cases.
John Gantner and Nancy Walker live on their vineyard, tend to the vines and manage every aspect of School House (the wine is made at a neighboring winery). They deliver to me, too, whenever Nancy comes to Napa for piano lessons (I hope you'll understand if you must wait a few days to ship...Nancy comes down for piano just once a week). This is Mom & Pop winemaking at its finest!
It's funny that Robert Parker and I like "Mescolanza" for many of the same reasons. I, like him, go Ga-Ga for Rhone Valley wines.
"Mescolanza" reminds me of top-notch Gigondas from a great vintage.
MY TASTING NOTES: Smell oil-cured black olives, Provence herbs and lavender swaying in your garden.
These "exotic" aromas move seamlessly to flavors of blackberry and strawberry preserves,
dark chocolate and cracked black pepper. More Rhone-ish flavors sneak through, like soy sauce, Kirsch and fried bacon. You can tell these are old, dry-farmed vines by its intensity. The youthful tannins quickly soften with air (15 minutes of decanting is perfect).
Janis, a customer in Davenport Iowa, requests more food pairing suggestions with the Money Wines. Great idea! Here you go...
"Mescolanza" food pairing suggestions: Braised beef short ribs,
pepper-crusted and grilled Ribeye steak, a good cheeseburger preferably with smoky bacon, wild mushroom raviolis with a rich tomato-based pasta sauce, Pasta Puttanesca, aged and/or smoked cheddars.
3 ways to order:
1. Buy School House "Mescolanza" 2006 ($40) here.
2. Reply to this email with your order,
3. Call us, toll-free, at 877-322-2576
Thank you!
School House makes wonderful Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from their vineyard, as well. We recommend and sell them, too. Here are my School House Chardonnay notes and Pinot Noir notes.
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TASTE FINE WINES FROM GERMANY
This Thursday
& Friday,
May 13 and 14
(both nights)
5 to 8 P.M.
Seven wines for your enjoyment.
Six Rieslings and Scheurebe.
Zingy, zippy, zesty and tasty!
Great producers, including:
J.J. Christoffel
J.J. Prum
von Richter
and more.
$15/tasting
Click here for more information
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Wine Bar Updates
Wine Flights served
7 Days a Week
Cheese & Wine pairings
BEST DEAL IN TOWN: Our complete inventory available at the Wine Bar for retail price.
Our Wine Bar page
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The latest cool place to hang in Downtown Napa is...
| C CASA at The Oxbow Public Market.
C CASA is "an innovative Taqueria" with outdoor seating along Oxbow Market's promenade. Holly and I checked it out on Sunday as the final touches were being applied. It's cool!
The dishes will have a Mexican taqueria foundation with global culinary influences. For example, a tostada with a house-made corn tortilla, black beans, chorizo, ground buffalo, microgreens and chipotle oil. I'm in.
Enjoy with a good beer or glass of wine in a casual, al fresco setting.
Grand Opening is today (Tuesday, May 11). Forgive me if the Open Sign comes down a touch before 7 P.M. tonight. Going to check it out.
Drink more Bierzo. Dan
Daniel Dawson
Owner, 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 email: daniel@backroomwines.com |
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