Weekly Wine Tastings April 25-26, 2008

Wines for Summer

Please join us at the i.m.Wine tasting bar every Friday and Saturday from 1-7pm; this week we are tasting:

2006 Dry Riesling, Wurtz-Weinmann (Rheinhessen, Germany)
Price: $15.99   Special: $14.39   Case: $13.59
This should be everyone’s summer party wine!  Apple blossom, lime and sweet clover aromas rise from the glass, while in the mouth, the exchange of slate and fruit acidity is positively shimmering. This sits delicately on the palate, yet saturates it with fruit, flowers, and wet stone.  The finish is so ingratiatingly crisp, fruity and invigoratingly mineral it spreads from ear to ear and simply compels the next sip -- make that “gulp”! 

2006 Sauvignon Blanc, Cliff Lede (Napa Valley, California)
Price: $24.99   Special: $22.49   Case: $21.24
Elegance personified in this wonderful Napa Sauvignon Blanc.  A perfect choice for summer drinking with enough body to go with summer fare yet light and bracing enough to quaff on those hot summer afternoons.  The wine offers up an array of aromas ranging from mandarin orange, lychee, and apricot, to fennel, mineral, and floral notes. This is a medium-bodied wine that is both crisp and flavorful with nuances of melon, grapefruit, and honeysuckle ending in a long and intense full finish. 

2006 Pinot Noir, WillaKenzie Estate (Willamette Valley, Oregon)
Price: $27.99   Special: $25.19   Case: $23.79
The Pinot Noir Willamette Valley is a blend that represents the entire estate, with grapes from many different blocks.   With a deep bright garnet-crimson color, the wine offers aromas of black cherry and cranberry, then subtle floral and cedar tones. The flavors follow the aromas with the addition of sweet blueberry, blackberry, and cherry. Intriguing hints of fig, tobacco and anise are carried on the moderately long finish. Well-integrated tannins and good acidity create balance and structure for the wine.   In a world gone mad for overpriced Pinot Noir, it’s refreshing to find a wine that actually measures up. 

2005 Animus Tinto, V. Leite de Faria (Douro, Portugal)
Price: $14.99   Special: $13.49   Case: $12.74
A blend of Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca. It is a light, refreshing summer red with a bright, sunny demeanor that makes it a pleasure to drink. There is a succulent, tasty finish, with a touch of game. This will never be anyone’s idea of a uber-complex or age-worthy wine— the tannins are very fine, even modest at best—but as a easy drinking red that will pair well with summer cuisine, it’s a keeper. 

2005 Malbec, Tomero Cellars (Mendoza, Argentina)
Price: $17.99   Special: $16.19   Case: $15.29
A richly textured & full bodied red with full on aromas of leather, tobacco and sweet red fruit followed by a weighty, yet balanced, round palate full of oak, chocolate, blueberry and leather flavours (Not quite like licking blueberry pie off your Porsche's alcantara interior, but nice).   Firm, ripe tannins brace the fruit throughout, ending with a refined and lengthy finish.

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