Cuvee Don Signia

The Scene: Wine and Beer Westpark Our weekly Thu tasting (8/27)

After a handsome bit of pestering from our favorite Luxembourgian we opened the Benegas Don Tiburcio (Argentina, $13), decanted it, and then presented the wine blind next to the 2003 Joseph Phelps Insignia (Napa, $$$).

Now there’s no arguing that the Don Tiburcio is an exceptional value at $13, as there was no pretending this would be a survey of merit. But, we’re a curious lot, and there was something remarkable in our customer’s reactions to the pair of decanters. Naturally suspicion arose that this was some kind of test to fail, but our novice tasters provided equal curiosity. Suffice it to say, close to an even split for the preferred decanter –  some admitted under reluctance, as well.

Then we did the unthinkable – we blended the two wines together.     Shock, and awe right? :0

Well, why not? Don Tiburcio’s rich Malbec played well in the smaller Insignia bringing more fruit and cocoa notes to the front, while the overall body of the Argentine blend was subdued by a touch of Napa elegance. Cuvee Don Signia was neither original, but, instead, quite an enjoyable wine all its own.

More importantly, our experiment – which evolved from the simple question “which do you prefer?” – became a deft lesson in the rules of engagement: enjoy wine first. Take pleasure in wine.

Don’t be afraid to have fun, and don’t worry about what other people like – your mouth is always the best judge of what’s best for you! The true luxury of wine is finding gems at every price point, and that’s something you can do everyday. Oh, and don’t be afraid if you spill a blend or two of your own, if the situation calls for it.

Cheers!

The Weekly

Last tasting of the Year of Doom – celebration glasses all around.

Wine

2007 Cousino Macul Sauvignon Gris, $15

Soft lemon nose, and minerality with a balance of white peach and pepper notes are reminiscent of its Sauvignon Blanc-self, but there’s texture and structure for us geeks to discuss.

2007 MacRostie Chardonnay, $20

A Westpark classic. This wine almost stemmed my anti-Chardonnay wave on its own, but, alas, I’m still lost to SB. French inspired? Pure, with elegant delivery. Down from $27.

2006 Mercedes Eguren Shiraz-Tempranillo, $11

A new wine for our inexpensive Spanish stable. Those familiar with Protocolo may recognize the Eguren name – this wine delivers plush, juicy fruit on a mild tannic structure. An enjoyable quaffer.

2003 Phelps Insignia, $If you have to ask…

What needs to be said? The unfortunate ’03 vintage was sandwiched between the classic ’02 wine of the year and the haughty ’04. We’ll take a look to see how this is progressing.

Beer

New Beer Rules! Octoberfest beers have taken over the seasonal shelf: Flying Dog, Paulaner, Beck’s, Starr Hill, and Bell’s are available now. Buffalo Bill’s, Ichabod Pumpkin and Southern Tier Pumpking are also available.

Heavy Seas Big DIPA (double IPA), and Terrapin are on the shelves – no surprises there.

Terrapin’s Maggie’s Farmhouse we have a few bottles left.

I have 1 or 2 bottles left of Abbaye de St Bon Chien Vin Jaune 375ml ($21). This is insanely limited, and if you have an interest you need to tell me this week.

Hey Folks,

By the time you read my next email the Year of Doom will be no more – for those keeping score at home, my computer broke again and I chipped a tooth on Monday! However I digress…

Who says we can’t start the celebration while the storm is still blowing? We’ll let the fires of our Thursday tasting burn this El Niño down!

Ed, Mike, Tina, Amber – these are names in the End of Doom contestants… you have until the end of tomorrow to get me an entry. Of course, you’ll have missed all the afternoon and tasting traffic for voting, but that’s better then letting a WBW gift certificate go uncontested! Fill out your vote while checking out for 5% discount through the 31^st.

Wine

2007 Cousino Macul Sauvignon Gris, $15

Soft lemon nose, and minerality with a balance of white peach and pepper notes are reminiscent of its Sauvignon Blanc-self, but there’s texture and structure for us geeks to discuss.

2007 MacRostie Chardonnay, $20

A Westpark classic. This wine almost stemmed my anti-Chardonnay wave on its own, but, alas, I’m still lost to SB. French inspired? Pure, with elegant delivery. Down from $27.

2006 Mercedes Eguren Shiraz-Tempranillo, $11

A new wine for our inexpensive Spanish stable. Those familiar with Protocolo may recognize the Eguren name – this wine delivers plush, juicy fruit on a mild tannic structure. An enjoyable quaffer.

2003 Phelps Insignia, $If you have to ask…

What needs to be said? The unfortunate ’03 vintage was sandwiched between the classic ’02 wine of the year and the haughty ’04. We’ll take a look to see how this is progressing.

Ratings here -> http://www.wineandbeerwestpark.

Beer

New Beer Rules! Octoberfest beers have taken over the seasonal shelf: Flying Dog, Paulaner, Beck’s, Starr Hill, and Bell’s are available now. Buffalo Bill’s, Ichabod Pumpkin and Southern Tier Pumpking are also available.

Heavy Seas Big DIPA (double IPA), and Terrapin are on the shelves – no surprises there.

Terrapin’s Maggie’s Farmhouse we have a few bottles left.

I have 1 or 2 bottles left of Abbaye de St Bon Chien Vin Jaune 375ml ($21). This is insanely limited, and if you have an interest you need to tell me this week.

Calendar!

Sun Sep 6^th & Mon Sep 7^th – Wine and Beer Westpark will be closed for Labor Day.

Thu Sep 17^th – Wine and Beer Westpark is proud to announce winemaker Paul Cluver will join us to pour and discuss his South African wines!

Cheers,

Matt

Find us on Facebook! Become a fan of Wine and Beer Westpark for flash coupons and a more descriptve calendar of events.

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The “End of Doom” promotional contest celebrates You and the completion of the “Year of Doom.”

The contest is simple: email me or post on our wall “Why you love shopping at Wine and Beer Westpark.” Each week (Wed- Tues) we’ll pick 4 quotations and post them at the store. Then, from Wed. Aug 26^th through Mon. the 31^st when you stop in the store for a regular purchse, vote and receive an instant discount.

1^st place will be a $50 gift certificate second place $15 and third $10!

Why you should do this…1) you really do love us. 2) there’s a chance to win a free boozy gift certificate, and honestly, who can afford to pass that up 3) you wouldn’t want us to end the “Year of Doom” with a failed promotion!?! 4) you may not love us, but you’re not afraid to lie creatively for a boozy gift certificate.

Weekly Update

Wine
2008 Yalumba Y Series Riesling, $15
After a few weeks of some heady tasting material I’m happy to say that Y Series from Yalumba is designed for your more carefree, everyday celebrations. The Riesling is bright with citrus, lime notes, and refreshing acidity.

2008 Jip Jip Chardonnay, $14
There’s been some stirring on Unwooded Chardonnay’s lately and this one has received some spritely recommendations. Having enjoyed the Terra Barossa Eden Chard so much, I have high hopes for this as well.

2008 Thorn Clake Shotfire Shiraz, $18
It’s a been a tough couple of years for the Aussies (heat/drought) and we’ve seen our regular selection shrink as quality has declined. Despite challenges, the Shotfire prevails yet again. I won’t say this is the richest, most jammy Shotfire I’ve had, but the production is well executed and the resulting wine is a fine example of the rich Thorn Clarke style overcoming adversity.

Beer
Don’t forget we’ll have John Cochran pouring through some Terrapin beers next Wednesday the 19th from 5:30 – 6:30.

The “End of Doom” promotional contest celebrates You and the completion of the “Year of Doom.”

The contest is simple: email me or post on our wall “Why you love shopping at Wine and Beer Westpark.” Each week (Wed- Tues) we’ll pick 4 quotations and post them at the store. Then, from Wed. Aug 26th through Mon. the 31st when you stop in the store for a regular purchse, vote and receive an instant discount.

1st place will be a $50 gift certificate second place $15 and third $10!

Why you should do this…1) you really do love us. 2) there’s a chance to win a free boozy gift certificate, and honestly, who can afford to pass that up 3) you wouldn’t want us to end the “Year of Doom” with a failed promotion!?! 4) you may not love us, but you’re not afraid to lie creatively for a boozy gift certificate.

Terrapin on the way

Terrapin brewery of Athens Georgia will be arriving the third week in August – just before Octoberfest beers, can you believe it! I tasted through a few beers last night and thought I’d share my thoughts.

A quick tour of their website http://www.terrapinbeer.com, provides the historical context for the four beers I’ve got: Sunray Wheat, Rye Pale, Indian Style Brown, and Rye Squared. I’ve heard great things about their seasonals as well. I know Jonathan at TJ’s in the Jefferson is planning a Terrapin beer dinner in August, so we’ll keep you posted.

Sunray Summer Wheat – notably brewed with honey with a German hefe presentation. Solid for our kind of summer – appropriately (hefe) fruity with a honey lending to a plumper mouth-feel and richer finish. Session.

Rye Pale – the flagship ale – and theme? I was excited to try this because I adore Founders Rye PA and other Rye ales I’ve tried, but, alas, the bottle was not in top shape (not uncommon for samples), so I’ll pass on commentary.

Indian Style Brown – Pleasant bouquet, good balance, and not quite the mouthful of Dogfish Head’s Indian Brown, which isn’t a bad thing. I like this style, and I’m excited to see more breweries making it a core item.

Rye Squared Imperial Pale Ale – quite remarkable. Great arromatic nose without being a citrus bomb, lovely color and most importantly, for me the right malt structure for balance. Loved the caramel mid palate (swoosh it around your mouth a bit) and the depth of flavor through the finish (another tasty byproduct of the well balanced beer).

Look for a steady dose of the Sunray this summer, some shelf time for the Indian Style, and Rye Squared whenever we can get our paws on it.

Cheers!

Spencer’s Spotlight

A Few Notes on Picolit

Our Thursday tasting this week features the wines of Giorgio Colutta as presented by Lauren Tompkins of Grappoli Imports. The Colutta farm and winery is located in the farthest reaches of northeast Italy, in the rolling hills of the Colli Orientali. This area is closer to Austria and Germany stylistically than to the rest of Italy, and it’s no surprise that white wine grapes flourish here. However, the most highly prized white grape in the Colli Orientali, Picolit, produces lightly honeyed, sweet wines, but struggles annually and challenges growers:

-The grape itself is small, but with large pips (seeds).
-The vine is extremely vigorous, requiring time in the vineyard to restrain it.
-Early, sparse flowering, and late ripening combine for a long growing season, and exposure to unwelcome rain and hail.
-Picolit suffers from a genetic mutation that aborts flowers before pollination, resulting in precious few berries per bunch.
-Because of its flowering habits, late ripening and vigor, the vine requires some of the best hillside vineyard sites- those with excellent sun exposure, poor soils, and good ventilation.
-Many producers, including Colutta, dry the grapes to further concentrate sugars (the vine has already done a lot of the work in this respect).

The above challenges present themselves even in the best vintages. Growing and producing Picolit requires lots of time, attention and resources, and as a result, many producers have abandoned production. Total production is around 150,000 bottles, most of which are 375 or 500ml.- that’s 12,000 cases, in mostly small bottles!

Join us Thursday for a rare opportunity to try Picolit.

Beer Theater the drama behind the drama…

Why call it the Beer Theater? Originally, we planned on having an amphitheater like beer diplay where we could have different beers fight to the death in the center ring of the “Beeriseum.” However, the recent dip in the economy didn’t call for more of an expansion in our malty real estate, so we shelved the idea for the time being.

Enter the spring and our winemaker videos (two of which aren’t even up because of my novice video mistake of shooting sideways) and our burgeoning interest in mulitmedia. As with the winemaker videos I expected to shoot discussions on style, flavor, and quirky stories; perhaps, even include the occasional beer brawl.

I’m sure many people would enjoy us talking about the nuances of lagering versus ales and the specifics of style, but wouldn’t it be better to hear it from the brewers themselves?

This is not a particularly challenging question. Instead, let’s ask what never get’s asked – within the craft world, where is the deeper discussion of beer’s place and purpose?

Consider the legions of beer drinkers who also homebrew, and understand the process intrinsically. Given the opportunity people who are even modestly educated in wine will graduate from taste and flavor profile to food pairing, regional significance, cellaring, stylistic comparisons to other available examples. One has to wonder what’s next?

Certainly there’s a host of culturally significant topics to discuss when we move past beer tastes good… so where’s the discussion? More importantly, how do we find out what’s on the minds of the people who make it?

Now we have an interesting situation. Here, we get to speak to people who make what we love – leaders in the field, in fact. So what will you ask?

While I enjoy the flavor of the “Beeriseum,” pitting ale on ale in a flavor grudge match for supremacy, I think it would be at the cost of a more intriguing and impactful debate – both of which, would make good theater.

Virtual tasting preview – getting excited!

Just completed a test run for the Virtual tasting last night and I think you’re gonna be floored!

The Salient Features:
 Friday June 5th Join us at 5:00 for a tasting with Reed Renaudin via the Internet!
We’ll see Reed on our flat screen and Reed will be able to see you all through our webcam. Reed will lead us through X’s Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Red Blend, Napa Cabermet & Merlot.
 
Please arrive at 5, as we’ll start tasting promptly at 5:15. Hopefully we’ll finish up with a short Q&A.
 
Please pass this along to anyone who might enjoy the event!
 
Wine
X Winery presents some fine classic California styles… Robert Parker had this to say after reviewing some recent wines,
 
“The most obvious question with respect to X Winery and proprietor Reed Renaudin is how can these wines be this good at these prices? Everyone is looking for good values today, and here are some exceptional bargains.”
 
Join us Friday at 5 for the Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Red Blend, Cabermet and Merlot.
 
Please Note, because of our Friday event, we’ll not have our usual Thursday tasting.
New Beer News…
Beer fans don’t fret, I have a something good in the works for you as well! In the meantime join us Wednesday June 3rd from 5:30 to 7ish for our monthly beer tasting:
 
Birrifico Montegioco Rex Grue
Birrifico Montegioco Tibir
Hitachino Classic Nest
Hitachino White
Legend Hefeweizen
Southern Tier Iniquity
St Peters Organic English Ale
 
Ran into to beer steward Eric Delia last night at An’s World War Beer, and I promised I would give a shout out. I’m happy to do it since Relentless Thirst is a well manicured and tended blog – Like beer, have time?
 
http://relentlessthirst.wordpress.com/
 
In other news, we will soon have a guest writer on the Weekly. Spencer will join us every couple of weeks for Spencer’s Spotlight – a quick update on Spencer’s newest, favorite wine and perhaps some info on the state of the Italian wine nation or cuisine pairings. Stay tuned!

Our First or Finest Hour?

I just finished posting our first Vitrual Tasting with X Winery’s Reed Renaudin on our Facebook event page; I’m excited and terrified. It’s a great feeling. Monday’s Richmond Times Dispatch article jump started the buzz – thanks Louis! – with new faces from places we’re not used to. In my first four years of ownership I’ve met many new people who undoubtedly ask the “Who are you, Where are you?” questions – so simple, yet this is the essence of our biggest obstacle. Now WBW’s firing back with, “Won’t you join us Friday June 5th to find out?”

We’ve got our prom tux on and we’re hoping our date and the limo will show…

Ironically, or friends and fans who have been with us the whole way, well, I think they’ve just been waiting for a day like this to happen. We don’t pretend to know everyting about wine and beer, but we strive to add inviting and entertaining nuances to your wine and beer experiences. We’ve got ideas and information and emotion that we’re trying to stuff into the precious few minutes we’ve captured your attention.

We’re going to keep pushing and finding new ways to enrich your experience beyond bringing you fresh ales and hot wines. And, guess what, we’re learning all the time too. If you’re just getting started with finer libations, you’re not too late to join us…

After all, you can buy wine and beer from just about anywhere – the thing is, that’s not just what we’re selling.

So this is Wine and Beer Westpark, and here’s my personal invitation to join us at perhaps your first, but our biggest event. June 5th at 5 pm.

Cheers,
Matt Lake

If you’re using Facebook, let us know if you plan on attending the event. I’ve also created a a new topic on the Discussion Board to find out what questions you would like Reed to answer, and I encourage you to begin your participation now.

We got a buzz from this Biz Buzz item in the Times Dispatch

Louis Llovio of the Times Dispatch got the inside scoop this week when we announced in his column our plans to host live, online tastings at the shop. If you’re reading our blog, you already know that we have been hosting webcasts with select wine makers. The next step is to take it live! But we couldn’t have said it better than Mr. Llovio, so check out his column here.

Calendar Updates

Just a few dates to keep in mind…

Sun- Mon May 24^th & 25^th – Wine and Beer Westpark will be closed for Memorial Day Weekend, please plan accordingly.

 Mon Jun 1^st – Wine dinner at Café Rustica!

 Wed Jun 3^rd – Beer Dinner at TJs in The Jefferson Hotel