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Dear Wine Friend!,
I practiced the enunciation for a few days, until I felt confident enough to exclaim to my mother that the restaurant I was working in had "Cabernet Sauvignon" on the wine list. I was 20 years old, and I was anxious to impress her. "Oh dear! That's nice honey", she replied. It was 1969, and wines like the best Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon were always marketed as pure driven 100% varietal. Blending was hush hush, and for a winery to admit to adulterate with another varietal (or two) was very unusual, as most consumers were taught to believe blending lessened the quality of the wine by diluting it with a filler. All one needs to do is look at the history of winemaking in Bordeaux to understand the dynamics of blending varietals, and why the sum of the parts should be greater than the whole.
In present day 2011, IT'S NOT UNUSUAL TO HAVE UNUSUAL BLENDS, which brings us to our tasting theme for this Saturday. A group of white and red wines with three things in common.....There are no rules. The wines are unorthodox blends, showcasing creative winemaking styles. And they are DELICIOUS! One taste of 29 year old Andrew Jones' new 09 Field Recordings "Fiction - 2nd Edition" ($19.95), and you can see the germination of what might possibly be this decade's "The Prisoner".
Then I had to make ONE EXCEPTION because next Saturday is our Italian Bon Voyage tasting! And this discovery needs to be tasted now while it's 145 cases are still available.... not April 23rd when the Saturday tasting bar is back in business after we have returned from Italy.
Produced by 28 year old Sacramentan Denis Hoey, an assistant winemaker at Santa Cruz Mountain Winery, the riveting 08 Odonata is a 100% pure, purple-black charcoal looking Syrah from the cold climes of the Santa Cruz Mountains. If you like an intensely concentrated wine, with intoxicating aromas, and a soft, but still penetrating palate, then this "cut-to-the-chase" elixir of ground spicy white and black peppercorns, violets, crushed stones, and blackberry juiciness is your brew!
Denis Hoey is a rising star winemaker to watch!
Should be $28.50 a bottle. ORDER NOW at just $24.50 a bottle.
HERE IS THE COMPLETE TASTING LINEUP
CLICK ON THE LINKS FOR TASTING NOTES AND RATINGS.
The following wines will be available to sample at the tasting bar this coming Saturday from Noon until 4 pm. A $10 tasting fee per person is waived with a $20 in store wine purchase. Reservations are not required. This is a casual event to intrigue and diversify one's palate.
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$29.50
