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Wine Tastings Around Town


cjsadler

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I don't think we have a thread like this for short alerts about tastings around town, so I figured I'd start one, as it seems like I find out about a lot of interesting tastings after the fact.

Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon is going to be doing a tasting at Calvert-Woodley this Wednesday from 4-6. From some stories I've heard (and the humorous text on his bottles) he seems like quite a character.

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There is a Children's Hospital fund raiser on Saturday at the Madison Hotel called a Vintage Affair. There are two tastings, the first has some very prestigious labels (last year they poured four first growths, Premier Cru Burgundies, some very highly allocated Cali Cabs, Penfold’s Grange and many more), while the second tasting is much more broad with wines that are easier to find. In addition to the tasting they will have some auctions, there are some steals to be found in the silent auction and some jaw dropping packages in the non-silent auction.

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Mexican wines... could be interesting.

--------------------------------

March 17, 2006 at 7:30 p.m.

Cultural Institute of Mexico

2829 16th Street, NW

Washington, D.C.

General Admission $ 10.00

Members $ 5.00

Reservations only with payed admission (202) 728 1675

or e-mail institutomexicodc@sre.gob.mx

BAJA CALIFORNIA:

WINE TASTING AND HIDDEN TREASURES

*Taste the best wines of a blessed Country with the ideal Mediterranean climate for growing grapes.

*Chardonnay, chenin blanc, sauvignon blanc, barbera, cabernet, syrah, tempranillo, merlot and cabernet franc grapes are cultivated for making excellent wines.

*An interesting getaway, a journey through the tourist sites of Baja California, Mexico.

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From The Vineyard, in McLean:

Friday Tasting and Specials

(Tasting from 4-7 PM)

Rex Hill Pinot Gris Oregon Reserve 2002

This is a revelation in an aged Pinot Gris. Perfect, very ripe fruit yielded a wine of power and grace. Aromas of papaya, wet stone, acacia and hawthorn flower, white peach and lime, give way to a very big, bright wine, with lots of weight, expression and length. This big bodied wine is perfect with Thai cuisine, lobster, cream based soups, or seafood with spice. Offered at $21.99 the bottle.

Bouchard Finlayson Chardonnay Missionvale Walker Bay 2003

Clear, pale straw Nose: Yeasty, mineral tones. Underlying citrus & pear drop. Organic in flavor with teasing yeasty complexity. The structure is strong, and long on the after taste with exciting balance. In keeping with our philosophy, this wine is best enjoyed at the table. Delicious with scallops, crustaceans, monkfish and other rich flavored fish. Also delicious with soft cheeses at the end of a meal. Offered at $18.99 the bottle.

Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir Carneros 2002

2002 Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir is complex and elegant with rich fruit tones of black cherry, cassis and violets overlaid with notes of chocolate, smoke and East Indian spices. Round forward fruit on the nose is followed by an extraordinarily balanced palate adding richness, body and a long velvety finish to this wine. Enjoy with salmon off the grill, rare tuna, pork dishes, or veal any of these should be simply prepared. Offered at $17.99 the bottle.

Testarossa Pinot Noir Palazzio Central Coast 2002

Palazzio Pinot Noir is a blend of several vineyards which combines more forward “California style” fruit from Santa Barbara, with more “old world style” Pinot Noir from Monterey to create a blend that combines rich forward, sweet red fruit flavors, with an underlying backbone of minerals and firm acidity. It is a wine that is praised not only for its exceptional quality but also its great value. Offered at $24.99 the bottle.

Patricia Green Cellars Pinot Noir Whistling Ridge Yamhill County 2003

This is an especially big wine yet it has a balance and style that really pleases. The vineyard, on the same hillside as Beaux Freres, is organically farmed and the low yields produces a big spicy Pinot Noir with dark red fruits, lots of oriental spice and hints of savory tea and leather. Enjoy with lamb or beef as well as roasted turkey or pork and brown veal dishes. Offered at $27.99 the bottle.

Tori Mor Pinot Noir Seven Springs Vineyard Polk County 2002

Rich red fruit and vanilla spice are out front here with eathy, peaty aromas. The palate is well balanced and very complex with bottle bouquet just beginning to show through. This outstanding Pinot shows lots of texture with bitter sweet chocolate, coffee grounds, and smoked spice showing through the finish that lasts for a long time. Enjoy with sauced meat dishes, roasted birds, lamb, and braised beef. Offered at $39.99 the bottle.

Saturday Tasting and Specials

(Tasting from 1-4 PM)

Noted Importer and Sommelier Jocelyn Cambier will join us for insights into French Pinots of note.

Didier Tripoz Macon-Charnay Clos des Tournons 2004

Very bright pale gold color, the wine exudes classic aromas of ripe Chardonnay from this region, with a good mineral content. Very well focused, and pure, the wine is light-medium bodied on the palate with flavors reminiscent of the nose. Very good balance, harmonious, and quite lengthy. Offered at $12.99 the bottle.

Claudie Jobard Rully La Folie 2002

A single parcel of 100 % Chardonnay with a South-East sun orientation located on the slopes of Rully, facing the Castle. The “terroir” is argilo-calcaire, very pebbly and rocky. The average age of the Chardonnay vines is 25 years old, coming from a qualitative selection of Pinot Noir clones, pruned in Cordon Royat. After hand harvest and serious grape selection, the clusters are de-stemmed, and stocked in cement vats with thermo-regulation. Pre-fermentation of a few days, followed by alcoholic fermentation. Cap push downs and pump-over are according to taste, for about 10 days. The wines are then pressed and placed in oak barrels until bottling. 2002 vintage stayed 13 months in oak barrels, 15% new ones, bottled un-fined and un-filtered. The 2003 vintage spent 11 months in oak barrels, 20% new ones, and was bottled after a very light filtration. Offered at $18.99 the bottle.

Domaine Girard Pinot Noir Vins de Pays d’Oc 2003

This Domaine is located in the Malepère appellation in the Languedoc, area located at the North-East of the Hauts-de-Corbières region, which protects it from the Mediterranean influence. Philippe Girard now takes care of his father’s Domaine, and has crafted an incredibly pure Pinot Noir wine from a vineyard called “Font-Cailhau” from vines that are 15 years old with a yield of 35hl/ha! No way has this kind of yield happened in Burgundy for this kind of money! The Pinot aromas lift nicely to reveal Bing cherry and strawberry aromas with earthy notes. Lovely clean flavors with medium body this is a wine to have a glass with dinner during the week when you don’t want to fuss but things would taste better with a nice glass with the chicken of the day. Juicy finish. A super value at $10.99 the bottle.

Daniel Largeot Chorey-les-Beaune Les Beaumonts 2002

These 40 year old vines produced a wine with pretty ruby color. Pinot Noir all the way in the nose. On the palate, the wine displays a variety of red fruit flavors with a hint of spice. The texture is round and tender, with soft ripe tannins, and a refreshing finish. Offered at $18.99 the bottle.

Maurice Charleux Maranges Vieilles Vignes 2003

This 100% Pinot Noir shows a dark ruby color, nose of blackberry, black cherry, blueberry, smoke, hints of red meats, and spice. The feeling on the palate is of all these flavors intertwined in a thick velvety texture, fairly full in body, with broad and complex flavors, and a sweet fruit and spicy finish. This is super red Burgundy for the money.

Make a note that this wine has been bottled un-fined and un-filtered as a result of 2 full winters in the cellar so that it clarifies naturally, and is delivered to you with its full palate of flavors and potential. Great with all kinds of red meat dishes, root vegetables, mushrooms, and potatoes in all kinds of ways. Offered at $17.99 the bottle.

Claudie Jobard Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches Domaine 2003

Claudie Jobard’s mother is the winemaker for Joseph Drouhin, hence the connection to get a few rows of vines from this famed vineyard, located right by the border and across the path from Pommard 1er Cru “les Saussilles”. Dark Color, lots of upfront black cherry fruit and spice, full body, coating the mouth and fleshy, with a great mixture of fruit, mineral tones, and spices. Generous wine with the unique character of Clos des Mouches. Offered at $32.99 the bottle.

Jim Arseneault

info@thevineyardva.com

The Vineyard

1420 Chain Bridge Rd.

McLean, VA. 22101

Phone (703) 288-2970

Fax (703) 288-2971

www.thevineyardva.com

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I just wrote an article in yesterday's Examiner about several charity related wine tastings in our area.

For the full article, check out:

Doing Good, Drinking Well Article

Here is the condensed version:

First up, on March 31st and April 1st, MacArthur Beverages presents the 21st Annual California Vintner’s Dinner and Barrel Tasting, featuring the 2004 vintage. The Vintner’s Dinner will be held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Friday, March 31st while the California Barrel Tasting will take place the next day, also at the Mandarin Oriental. There will be two sessions for the tasting on Saturday: 1-3 pm and 7-9 pm. This very popular event is special since it was the first tasting to offer California wine futures and also as raise money for the Addy and Bruce Bassin Memorial Cancer Research Fund, which honors the memory of two men for their commitment to the world of fine wines. Go to www.bassins.com/californiabarrel/index.html

A cause that is near and dear to my heart (no pun intended) is Heart’s Delight, a three-day extravaganza of food and wine to benefit the American Heart Association. This marathon event, held May 11th – 13th, is an opportunity to sample some of the best wines from the 2003 vintage in Bordeaux as well as incredible cuisine from nationally acclaimed chefs. Thursday evening offers a series of intimate wine dinners in homes, restaurants and Embassies featuring a combination of chefs, winemakers and food/wine writers at each location. Friday will feature an exclusive Vintners Dinner at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium featuring the wines of Château Margeaux, a “First Growth” producer. The Chateau’s Director, Paul Pontallier, will be on hand to present some of the estate’s wines, as will Serena Sutcliffe, head of Sotheby’s International Wine Department, and Thomas Matthews, Executive Editor of The Wine Spectator. Saturday’s grand event begins with a seated tasting of thirty-plus 2003 Bordeaux wines, lead by Master of Wine Serena Sutcliffe. Chateau owners and directors will be present to comment on their wines. The evening concludes with dessert and a live auction, led by Jamie Ritchie of Sotheby’s. For information, contact Heidi Arnold at (703) 914-3720 or www.heartsdelightwineauction.org

The French Embassy is hosting the annual fundraiser for the Tourette Syndrome Association of Greater Washington on May 13th. It is an evening of regional foods from France and wines from around the world. Michael Franz, a wine writer, educator and consultant, will be on hand to lead the tasting. The gala is black tie optional. Call 866-630-5173 or visit www.tsagw.org for details.

The third annual CharityWorks “100 Point Wine Night” wine tasting and dinner will be held on May 19th at the home of Joe Roberts. This event will feature wines from all over the world rated 100 Points by Wine Spectator Magazine, which lists fewer than 75 wines that hold this rating. DC's hottest chefs, Jonathan Krinn, Fabio Trabocchi, Tony Chittum, Brenden Cox, Bryan Voltaggio, Haidar Karoum and Frank Morales, will prepare an unparalleled dinner to compliment the “100 point” wines. The evening will be lead by Thomas Matthews, Executive Editor of Wine Spectator. Proceeds will go to serve more children in the Higher Achievement Program, an outstanding, results-oriented after school program that helps transform the lives of young people in DC. For more information, email charityworks@aol.com.

Of course THE HOTTEST TICKET will be to the First Annual Legendary One Hundred Point Wine Weekend with Robert M. Parker, Jr. and Pierre-Antoine Rovani, authors of the Wine Advocate. The festivities begin Friday Evening, June 2nd, when the Ambassador of France will host a dinner at the Residence with Parker and Rovani. Chef Daniel Boulud of restaurant Daniel in New York, along with the Ambassador’s personal chef Francis Layrle, will prepare an extraordinary meal matched with wines selected personally by Mr. Parker. The event continues on June 3rd at The Halcyon House where the Parker-Rovani team will produce an evening of liquid perfection as nationally acclaimed chefs Daniel Boulud and San Francisco restaurateur Nancy Oaks, along with locally celebrated chefs, team up to prepare gastronomic delights. Proceeds will benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as well as the AppleTree Institute, a new charter school in Washington, DC dedicated to early learning and literacy for disadvantaged preschool children. For information, check out info@wineadvocatefund.org

Cheers,

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The guys from Bell's do a wine tasting at the Borders on L Street the first Wednesday of every other month.  It focuses on a different varietal each time, usually with 8-10 wines-- tonight it's Sangiovese.  Starts at 6:30.

I've gone to one or two of their Borders tastings. Get there early if you want a seat.

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Every Thursday evenings, the French Wine Society holds the The French Wine Thursdays. Tasting of 5 wines from a specific region, and in general a specific producer, presented by importers. These tastings are organized in a different restaurant every Thursday. The chef of the host restaurant prepares 5 hors d'oeuvres matching the featured wines.

I don't think we have a thread like this for short alerts about tastings around town, so I figured I'd start one, as it seems like I find out about a lot of interesting tastings after the fact. 

Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon is going to be doing a tasting at Calvert-Woodley this Wednesday from 4-6.   From some stories I've heard (and the humorous text on his bottles) he seems like quite a character.

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The Wine Specialist constantly has in-store tastings.  While I find their prices to be high, if you sign up with them for an e-mail notification they will send you announcements of sales, tastings, etc.

Do they have a website?

Thanks!

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Tomorrow from 1 to 4 at Wide World of Wines on Wisconsin Ave they will be pouring

1998 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape

1998 Domaine Raymond Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape

1998 Lucien Barrot Chateauneuf du Pape

2004 Lauverjat Perle Blanche Sancerre

There will be a fabulous woman named Malena conducting the pouring (she used to be the Hostess at Cafe Atlantico).

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