Posts
Hello Wine Lovers!
I hope all the Mothers out there had a great day! What a beautiful day you had in Chicago! I hope by now you have lifted a glass of champagne for Mom and I am quite sure you shared a nice dinner. Maybe you made breakfast for her, a bottle of her favorite perfume, flowers, chocolate or even a gift certificate to her favorite spa. Whatever you did for her, she deserves it all!
Now, down to the wine. I am writing about two reds that are both outstanding values and I believe you will find them outstanding as well. The first one is a little obscure blend called Reds, A Wine for the People, from Lodi California. It is a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignan (You see, I did call it obscure...) You will find this wine to be a mouthful of dark berry flavors and plums with spice, a few tannins and a nice long, smooth finish. At $8.49 a bottle at the Wine Discount Center you can't beat it with a stick! Now a little info about that grape you haven't heard of before...
Carignan is believed to have originated in Spain in the Aragon region and was historically a component of neighboring Rioja's red wine blend. From Spain it gained prominence in Algeria and fed that country's export production to France. Upon Algeria's independence in 1962, the French supply of Carignan wine was cut off and growers in Southern France began to plant the vine for their own production. The grape's prominence in France hit a high point in 1988 when it accounted for 167,000 hectares and was France's most widely planted grape. That year, in a drive to increase the overall quality of European wine and to reduce the growing wine lake phenomenon, the European Union started an aggressive vine pull scheme where vineyard owners were offered cash subsidies in exchange for pulling up their vines. Out of all the French wine varieties, Carignan was the most widely affected dropping by 2000 to 95,700 ha (236,000 acres) and being surpassed by Merlot as the most widely planted grape.In winemaking the grape is often used as a deep coloring component in blends, rather than being made in a varietal form with some exception. The grape is a difficult one for winemakers to work with being naturally high in acidity, tannins and astringency which requires a lot of skill to produce a wine of finesse and elegance. I believe you will find this winemaker did his homework!
The second wine for today's entry is a wine from Washington, Columbia Crest's Amitage. This wine is a blend of 64% Merlot, 19% Syrah, 7% Cabernet Franc, 5.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5.5% Malbec. It has been aged in both American oak and French oak for 16 months. When it is all said and done, this wine delivers layers of dark fruit, soft tannins and a silky mouth feel with a nice long elegant finish. At $7.99 at the Wine Discount Center or at Binny's, this is well worth the money!
Cheers!
J
I hope all the Mothers out there had a great day! What a beautiful day you had in Chicago! I hope by now you have lifted a glass of champagne for Mom and I am quite sure you shared a nice dinner. Maybe you made breakfast for her, a bottle of her favorite perfume, flowers, chocolate or even a gift certificate to her favorite spa. Whatever you did for her, she deserves it all!
Now, down to the wine. I am writing about two reds that are both outstanding values and I believe you will find them outstanding as well. The first one is a little obscure blend called Reds, A Wine for the People, from Lodi California. It is a blend of Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Carignan (You see, I did call it obscure...) You will find this wine to be a mouthful of dark berry flavors and plums with spice, a few tannins and a nice long, smooth finish. At $8.49 a bottle at the Wine Discount Center you can't beat it with a stick! Now a little info about that grape you haven't heard of before...
Carignan is believed to have originated in Spain in the Aragon region and was historically a component of neighboring Rioja's red wine blend. From Spain it gained prominence in Algeria and fed that country's export production to France. Upon Algeria's independence in 1962, the French supply of Carignan wine was cut off and growers in Southern France began to plant the vine for their own production. The grape's prominence in France hit a high point in 1988 when it accounted for 167,000 hectares and was France's most widely planted grape. That year, in a drive to increase the overall quality of European wine and to reduce the growing wine lake phenomenon, the European Union started an aggressive vine pull scheme where vineyard owners were offered cash subsidies in exchange for pulling up their vines. Out of all the French wine varieties, Carignan was the most widely affected dropping by 2000 to 95,700 ha (236,000 acres) and being surpassed by Merlot as the most widely planted grape.In winemaking the grape is often used as a deep coloring component in blends, rather than being made in a varietal form with some exception. The grape is a difficult one for winemakers to work with being naturally high in acidity, tannins and astringency which requires a lot of skill to produce a wine of finesse and elegance. I believe you will find this winemaker did his homework!
The second wine for today's entry is a wine from Washington, Columbia Crest's Amitage. This wine is a blend of 64% Merlot, 19% Syrah, 7% Cabernet Franc, 5.5% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5.5% Malbec. It has been aged in both American oak and French oak for 16 months. When it is all said and done, this wine delivers layers of dark fruit, soft tannins and a silky mouth feel with a nice long elegant finish. At $7.99 at the Wine Discount Center or at Binny's, this is well worth the money!
Cheers!
J
No comments:
Post a Comment