2008 Banfi Rosa Regale

Price: $23.00
Varietal: 100% Brachetto d’Acqui
Region: Italy > Piemonte (Piedmont)
Website: www.rosaregale.com
Winemakers Notes: While it is appreciated as one of the few wines in the world that truly marries well with chocolate, especially dark or bittersweet, its charms extend across a palette of occasions and food pairings, from savory to sweet. On its own Rosa Regale is an elegant aperitif. Its fruity character beguiles the heat of spicy Asian and Latino fare, and its gentle acidity is an ideal foil to the piquant richness of goat cheese, especially in a spring mix salad with almonds and cranberries. Quiches, glazed hams, beets, vichyssoise, gazpacho, chowders and even the myriad of flavors at Thanksgiving dinner, all traditionally challenging wine matches, are enchanted by Rosa Regale. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, trifles and hazelnut tortes are all elevated by this frothy wine.

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2001 Blue Rock Syrah

Price: $40.00 (close out for $10.00)
Varietal: 100% Syrah
Region: California > Sonoma County > Alexander Valley
Website: www.bluerockvineyard.com

I really blew it on this one. The first time I had the 2001 Blue Rock Syrah, it was one of my favorite wines ever. I had been saving this wine for a time when I could share it with friends, and then blew it by not decanting this wine. This wine needs to breath for at LEAST 2 hours. Without decanting, this wine is closed and tight with very little body. But after decanting, oh boy…

The ratings listed below are based on the non-decanted 2001 Blue Rock Syrah.

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2010 Triacipedis and the Minotaurs Chalice

Price: $10.00
Varietal: 30% Riesling, 35% Sauvignon Blanc, 35% Chardonnay
Region: California
Website: wine.woot.com
Winemakers Notes: Right out of the gate this wine is Riesling dominated with the scent of flowers, especially Jasmine and Honey Suckle and the immediate flavors are green apples with a bracing acidity. Upon airing, the aromas develop grassy notes. With only 12.0% alcohol, this wine has a nice mid-weight feel on the palate.  As the wine warms closer to room temperature, the mouth feel takes on a more rich after taste.

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2003 Rotllan Torra Amadis

Price: $70.00 on close out for $20.00
Varietal: 25% Grenache, 25% Carignan, 25% Cabernet Sauvingnon, 15% Syrah, 10% Merlot
Region: Spain > Priorat
Website: www.rotllantorra.com
Winemakers Notes: The Amadis 2003 vintage ranks among internationally well-reputed wines. This wine is a pleasure for the taste and the smell as red fruits and fine vanilla fragrances successively emanate from it. Its strength, due to extremely pure tannins, perfectly makes up with strongly flavored dishes.

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2009 Ménage à Trois

Price: $6.00
Varietal: 46% Zinfandel, 31% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: California
Website: www.menageatroiswines.com
Winemakers Notes: Even if red wine is not your speed, give our Ménage à Trois Red a try. This wine exposes the fresh, ripe, jam-like fruit that is the calling card of California wine. Ménage à Trois Red brings together three strange bedfellows. On top we’ve got Zinfandel, a saucy tease that brings blackberry and raspberry jam to the relationship. Merlot, with its generous mouth feel and red fruits, fits perfectly in the middle. The rich flavors and firm tannins of Cabernet Sauvignon make it the ideal. Our 2009 Ménage à Trois exposes the fresh, ripe, jam like fruit that is the calling card of California wine. Forward, silky and soft, this delicious dalliance makes the perfect accompaniment for grilled meats or chicken.

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2005 Columbia Crest Two Vines Shiraz

Price: $6.00
Varietal: 100% Shiraz
Region: Oregon > Columbia Valley
Website: www.columbiacrest.com
Winemakers Notes: This Shiraz features New World-style ripe and jammy fruit aromas. Flavors of black cherry and white pepper are pronounced on the palate with hints of boysenberry and raspberry. The lingering finish is pleasingly supple.

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2009 Fetzer Gewurztraminer

Price: $8.00
Varietal: 100% Gewürztraminer
Region: California
Website: www.fetzer.com
Winemakers Notes: It’s often called gavurtz because it’s hard to say, and even harder to spell. This wine, though, is a secret weapon, great for taming spicy foods or sipping on its own. Enjoy the honeyed apricot and peach flavors in the glass, and breathe deeply to capture the aromas of rose petals and honeysuckle. Lots of people love this wine, even if they’ll never spell it. Just ask for gavurtz. We’ll know what you mean.

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2008 Zenato Valpolicella Classico Superiore

Price: $14.00
Varietal: 85% Corvina, 10% Rondinella, and 5% Sangiovese
Region: Italy > Veneto > Valpolicella
Website: www.zenato.it
Winemakers Notes: The nose offers supple fragrances of almonds and violets. Crisp and dry in the mouth, well structured, with a lovely, velvety texture. Ready to enjoy now, but can be cellared a few years.

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Mondoro Asti

Price: $19.00
Varietal: 100% Muscat Blanc À Petits Grains
Region: Italy > Piemonte
Website: www.mondoroasti.com

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2005 Chateau Peyraud

Price: $13.00
Varietal: Chateau Peyraud
Region: France > Bordeaux

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Fâmega Vinho Verde

Price: $8.00
Varietal: Avesso, Azal and Pedernã
Region: Portugal > Vinho Verde
Notes: Refreshing, crisp with a tingly sparkle taste of apple tartness, It has a delicate citrus flavor like the fragrance of a summer garden. Pleasant and mellow, this young white wine will be the perfect accompaniment to all kinds of seafood, salads, mild cheeses, as an aperitif, or just by itself.

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2003 Chateau Mont-Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Price: $50.00
Varietal: 65% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, 5% Mourvèdre, 5% Counoise-Muscardin-Vaccarèsez
Region: France > Rhône > Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Website: www.chateaumontredon.fr/index%20an.htm
Winemakers Notes: A powerful and intense vintage which develops charming aromas of black fruits and garrigue under a dark colour. The whole is enveloped by a taste of wood still present. A beautiful material supported by an impressive tannic structure which will require to fade during the two or three coming years.

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Morgan Creek Vineyards Zeitgeist

Price: $14.00
Varietal: 100% La Cresent
Region: Minnesota
Website: www.morgancreekvineyards.com
Winemakers Notes: Our second vintage of the new LaCresent grape developed by the University of Minnesota. This season offers rich apricot and muscat aromas and an appealing late harvest style.

Note: The wine tasted “off” and did not live up to our previous experiences. We will be revisiting the wine soon and rendering a final rating at that time.

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2005 Banfi Chianti Classico Riserva

Price: $12.00
Varietal: Sangiovese, Canaiolo Nero, Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Italy > Chianti
Website: www.castellobanfi.com
Winemakers Notes: Celebrating the best Tuscan tradition Banfi offers a family of Chianti wines varied and complementary, unique in style. Chianti Riserva is produced from grapes grown in the “Classico” region of Chianti between Siena and Firenze. It is elegant, well-balanced, full-bodied with a vary long aging potential.

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Winehaven Honeywine (Mead)

Price: $10.00
Varietal: 100% Mead
Region: Minnesota
Website: www.winehaven.com
Winemakers Notes: A smooth, nicely balanced wine with a crisp, delicious finish that boasts a spectacular perfume of honey which is accompanied by an intriguing array of floral scents.

Allison’s Rating:

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Episode 31: 2005 & 2008 Marqués de Cáceres Satinela

Price: $11.00
Varietal: 100% Malvasia Bianca
Region: Spain > Rioja
Website: www.marquesdecaceres.com

2005 Marqués de Cáceres Satinela

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2008 Marqués de Cáceres Satinela

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2008 Quady Winery Electra Orange Muscat

Price: $10.00
Varietal: 100% Orange Muscat
Region: California
Website: www.quadywinery.com
Winemakers Notes: With the first sip you feel the wine-light as springtime, delicately sweet, refreshingly crisp, a bouquet of flowers with the taste of peach and melon. Electra is electricity for the mouth!

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Episode 29: 2006 Greg Norman Estates Limestone Coast Shiraz

Price: $16.00
Varietal: 100% Shiraz
Region: Australia > Limestone Coast
Website: www.gregnormanestateswine.com
Winemakers Notes: The 2006 Greg Norman Estates Limestone Coast Shiraz is a vibrant dark crimson color. Perfumed dark plum, cherry and blueberry aromas are balanced with light cedar and vanillin oak nuances, and a touch of spice. A rounded, soft, silky textured palate with slightly savoury tannins and good length. Finishes with rich dark berry fruit and delicate spearmint and herbs. A beautifully textured, generous Australian Shiraz with rich berry fruit, a firm but rounded structure and pleasant persistence of flavors on the finish.

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2009 Hogue Late Harvest Riesling

Price: $11.00
Varietal: 100% Riesling
Region: Washington > Columbia Valley
Website: www.hoguecellars.com
Winemakers Notes: The Hogue Cellars has developed a style of late harvest Riesling that is crisp yet moderately sweet. Zesty aromas of orange, lemon-lime, and peach are followed by flavors of tangerine, apricot, and a trace of mineral.

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2006 La Storia Cabernet Sauvignon

Price: $25.00
Varietal: 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petite Verdot, 8% Malbec, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Merlot
Region: California > Sonoma County > Alexander Valley
Website: www.trentadue.com
Winemakers Notes: The wine is classic Alexander Valley with a nose of ripe sweet cherry and plums, developed aromas of leather, licorice and hints of cocoa powder and molasses. With more aeration, additional aromas of vanilla, brown sugar and slight earthiness complete this wine. The mouth feel is balanced and not heavy with a long and pleasant finish. The wine should be age well with proper cellaring for another six to nine years.

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