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May 2003 Collector´s Club
2000 Foley Barrel Select Santa Barabara
County Chardonnay
This mouth-filling Chardonnay is truly spectacular. It´s
the best of the best from Foley, which means it really is one of the
finest from the California Central Coast region. I´m not
normally a fan of big, buttery Chards, but I´ll happily make an
exception for this. Best drunk young, it´s ready to go.
It was originally offered at $30.00; we got miniscule quantities
(just enough for the club, actually) at $21.00. It is currently
unavailable; I´m assuming that when it comes back around,
it´ll be at its old price. Still will be worth it.
1998 Thunder Mountain Cienega Valley
Merlot
I love the current economy. While that might sound strange, I
keep finding amazing deals and closeouts, at which the wine clubs get
first crack. This is a great example: a big (think gigantic)
California Merlot from a great producer that once retailed for $45 or
so, now down to $20.00 and in the club. Terrible fate for a fine
wine. Again, I dug up just enough for the club, and this one
won´t be back anytime soon. It´s ready to drink,
preferably with something red and spicy.
2000 St. Francis Old Vines Sonoma County
Zinfandel
Well, they can´t all be closeouts! This is a gorgeous zin,
year in and year out, from a very consistent winery. It´s
ready to drink, and will go wonderfully with barbeque, and especially
nicely at that party you were planning. It´s $20.00, and
there´s a good supply.
2001 Albert Mann Cuvée Albert Riesling
One of my favorite moments at our last Thursday wine tasting was
watching people try this wine, without being told what it was.
Upon being told, the response was invariably, "but I thought
Riesling was sweet!" Not surprisingly, this wine from
Alsace (Northeast France) won some serious converts. It´s
$16.00, there´s a reasonable supply, and it´ll go well
with shellfish and spicy asian foods (try it with any Thai dish).
While it´s ready to go, it´ll also hold quite well for
several years; good Riesling will do that.
2001 Dashwood Marlborough Pinot Noir
From the northern tip of New Zealand´s South Island, these folks
are really getting a handle on the notoriously fickle Pinot Noir grape
- and at $12.00, it´s a bit of a steal. I´d
recommend decanting this wine; giving it some air definitely helps
bring out it´s rich flavors. Try it with salmon or pork
dishes.
2001 Martoretto Morellino di Scansano
This coastal Tuscan wine is made from a clone of the Sangiovese grape,
and is somewhat similar in profile (Morellino is the local name for
the grape; Scansano the town it comes from). The producer is
Cantina Bruni, which makes the Martoretto a bit of a mystery, but
that´s what makes Italian wine so interesting. As does the
relatively light price tag of $11.00. It´s ready to drink.
Pizza or Pasta, anyone?
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