Wine
Bray Vineyards Barbera Rosato Shenandoah Valley 2008
in
March 10 to March 16, 2010
Bray is located in the California Shenandoah Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) that lies in portions of Amador and El Dorado counties in California. This is an old gold prospecting area that is now home to just 2,000 vines and less than 20 wineries. Zinfandel is king here but an eclectic selection of varietals (mostly red) is planted here.
Terra D’Oro Rosé Amador County 2008
in
February 24 to March 2, 2009
This great wine offers two treats in one. First, it’s a great American born Rosé with fruit, acid, and above all balance. Second, it is made primarily from Nebbiolo, a grape variety seldom planted and used in the US.
Sonnet Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley 2006
in
February 17 to February 23, 2010
What if you could buy wines from celebrated appellations for the price of wines hailing from obscure zones? That would be a clever way to achieve the all important quality to value ratio that we seek. Luckily, we found a Washington wine that does just that. Sonnet is a great new value-oriented brand that we have recently discovered and it scores high on flavor as well as value.
Peju Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2005
in
January 13 to January 19. 2010
The Peju’s winery was born in 1982 when they purchased a 30-acre property in Rutherford between Highway 29 and the Napa River. While they were far from wine pros at the time, the Pejus did know that with real estate, location is key. Their new vineyard property had substantial location credentials being flanked by vineyards owned by Robert Mondavi, Beaulieu Vineyards, and the Rubicon Estate.
Zuccardi Malbec “Q” Mendoza 2007
in
December 30 to January 5, 2009/10
In recent years there has been an incredible upswing in the number of wineries in the Mendoza region with a large number of foreign winemakers setting up shop in Argentina’s fashionable wine zone. However, Zuccardi is hardly a new face in the crowd having been a fixture in Mendoza for more than 40 years.
Christine Andrew Zinfandel “Old Vine” Lodi 2007
in
December 23 to December 29, 2009
Who is Christine Andrew? We wanted to know the answer to this question from our first sip of their 2006 “Old Vine” Zinfandel. As it turns out, we will never meet her. Christine and Andrew are the middle names of the 4th generation of the Kautz Family, the founders of Ironstone Vineyards. The Kautz family have farmed in Lodi since 1923 and created their own wine brand in 1988.
Nord Estate Petite Sirah “Jonquil Vineyards” Napa Valley 2006
in
Decembe 9 to December 15, 2008
The Nord Estate story is a great one and hauntingly similar to other success stories that we have related to our readers in the past. The Nord family has been renowned growers in the Napa Valley for more than four decades. Winemakers have long prized their grapes as their grapes are currently being sold to more than 60 super-premium wineries.
Robert Oatley Shiraz Mudgee 2007
in
November 4 to November 10, 2009
This wine is the third in our trio of Robert Oatley wines featured as our Beverage of the Week. Shiraz is perhaps Australia’s quintessential red. For that reason we have chosen to present this wine last in the series. We wanted to show that Robert Oatley wines are Australian through and through while they are likely to make you see Australian wines in a new light.
