Try Something New!
Artazu “Artazuri” Garnacha Rose - $9.99Summertime is truly the perfect time for Rose, a pink-colored wine that results from a partial amount of red-grape skin contact at the time of fermentation, allowing just a splash of color into the resulting wine. In America, most of us expect to taste a sweet wine like White Zinfandel when we see “pink” in a glass, but Rose is traditionally dry, and in many cases, too dry. The key is balance! Artazuri is produced in Navarra, the North Central Spanish region that is one of the world's most notable places for Rose and for the grape Garnacha, or as most of us call it, Grenache. This gorgeous rose sports an inviting bouquet of rose petals and strawberries, red fresh-picked red raspbberries and more strawberries in the flavor, and a pleasing “roundness” in the overall mouth feel, Serve this with a bit of chill, and it will compliment any of the huge diversity of outdoor foods. One of our managers loves it on its own, but also suggests creating a Sangria cocktail by the glass: rim your glass with some course sugar, pour in the Artazuri Rose, drop in a slice of orange and a couple of red raspberries, then add a splash of triple sec...now THAT sounds good!
Hangtime Arroyo Seco Central Coast Chardonnay - $12.99This is such a great area for a uniquely fresh expression of this vastly popular grape. The name Hangtime refers to the time that the fruit stays on the vine before harvest...the longer grapes can stay on the vine without getting too ripe, the more flavor and complexity they can achieve. The Arroyo Seco, located near the cool Santa Lucia Mountains, boasts on of California's longest growing seasons. This Chardonnay is just EASY, with delicious tropical fruit essence in the upfront aroma and more of the same, as promised, in the flavor. There is the slightest hint of spice from a small bit of oak contact during fermentation, but this wine would be perfect both for the Chardonnay lover and for the Chardonnay fan who is tired of too much woodiness in the many overly-oaked versions. With its delicateness of body and refreshing character, we think you'll have the Pinot Grigio crowd swooning for this one!
Franco Amoroso Barbera d'Alba - $11.99Alba is in the area of Italy known as Piedmont, in the far Northwest, bordering on 3 sides with the Alps, influencing the climate with very cool temperatures. The most famous wine of this area is Barolo, which has typically out-competed Barbera for attention. Lately, Barbera is gaining great notice for offering a delightful bright fruit, a soft tannin and the lively acidity to balance flavorful food dishes, not to mention a price point that is typically a quarter-the-price of good, “aged-enough-to-enjoy” Barolo. If you ask thePiedmont winemakers, they'll tell you that this is the wine they have on their table every night, while they wait for their prized Barolo and Barbaresco to mature. This savory red has a slightly earthy and rustic bouquet, with some juicy pomegranate and cranberry notes in the flavor, finished off with a bit of cinnamon spice. Pair this with a smoked game bird, like wild pheasant...if you have a hankering for a light Summer stew, this is a perfect match!
Franco Amoroso Moscato d'Asti - $11.99Moscato, the same grape they use to make Asti Spumante, but this style has much less bubble to it. True Moscato d'Asti has 5 to 8 percent alcohol, a delicate sweet flavor of white peaches and lycee fruit and the type of bubble that you feel more on your tongue than you see in the glass. A full spumante, whether dry or sweet, achieves its bubble from a longer fermentation that is enclosed, trapping the carbonation in the wine. The frizzante-styled wines undergo a shorter closed fermentation, locking in a smaller amount of carbonation, producing a lighter concentration of alcohol, and also leaving some residual sugar that did 't get eaten up by the yeast. What does that add up to? The perfect wine to “Beat the Heat”...easy to quaff, delicate sweetness, and enough tartness on the after taste to balance that whipped cream on those fresh strawberries you just served in a bowl!
Hangtime Arroyo Seco Central Coast Chardonnay - $12.99This is such a great area for a uniquely fresh expression of this vastly popular grape. The name Hangtime refers to the time that the fruit stays on the vine before harvest...the longer grapes can stay on the vine without getting too ripe, the more flavor and complexity they can achieve. The Arroyo Seco, located near the cool Santa Lucia Mountains, boasts on of California's longest growing seasons. This Chardonnay is just EASY, with delicious tropical fruit essence in the upfront aroma and more of the same, as promised, in the flavor. There is the slightest hint of spice from a small bit of oak contact during fermentation, but this wine would be perfect both for the Chardonnay lover and for the Chardonnay fan who is tired of too much woodiness in the many overly-oaked versions. With its delicateness of body and refreshing character, we think you'll have the Pinot Grigio crowd swooning for this one!
Franco Amoroso Barbera d'Alba - $11.99Alba is in the area of Italy known as Piedmont, in the far Northwest, bordering on 3 sides with the Alps, influencing the climate with very cool temperatures. The most famous wine of this area is Barolo, which has typically out-competed Barbera for attention. Lately, Barbera is gaining great notice for offering a delightful bright fruit, a soft tannin and the lively acidity to balance flavorful food dishes, not to mention a price point that is typically a quarter-the-price of good, “aged-enough-to-enjoy” Barolo. If you ask thePiedmont winemakers, they'll tell you that this is the wine they have on their table every night, while they wait for their prized Barolo and Barbaresco to mature. This savory red has a slightly earthy and rustic bouquet, with some juicy pomegranate and cranberry notes in the flavor, finished off with a bit of cinnamon spice. Pair this with a smoked game bird, like wild pheasant...if you have a hankering for a light Summer stew, this is a perfect match!
Franco Amoroso Moscato d'Asti - $11.99Moscato, the same grape they use to make Asti Spumante, but this style has much less bubble to it. True Moscato d'Asti has 5 to 8 percent alcohol, a delicate sweet flavor of white peaches and lycee fruit and the type of bubble that you feel more on your tongue than you see in the glass. A full spumante, whether dry or sweet, achieves its bubble from a longer fermentation that is enclosed, trapping the carbonation in the wine. The frizzante-styled wines undergo a shorter closed fermentation, locking in a smaller amount of carbonation, producing a lighter concentration of alcohol, and also leaving some residual sugar that did 't get eaten up by the yeast. What does that add up to? The perfect wine to “Beat the Heat”...easy to quaff, delicate sweetness, and enough tartness on the after taste to balance that whipped cream on those fresh strawberries you just served in a bowl!
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