In 1797 Napoleon smashed the remnants of the Austrian army in Friuli and by forced treaty ended the Republic of Venice, creating for himself an Italian playground known as The Kingdom of Italy.

Kingdoms require armies and armies require provisions and if those armies are French then wine is a fundamental provision.  But bottled wine is heavy and ammunition is more important, particularly if you are about to invade Russia.  So Napoleon came prepared with vines – small shoots wrapped in wet gauze – by the thousands.  And considering he just enlarged his territory by a third he had the land to plant them in.

So he did.  The vast plains that stretch from Lombardi to Slovenia are covered in Napoleon’s (or his general’s) vineyards.  It’s not that Napoleon invented Italian wine: he didn’t.  Rather, it’s that his legacy survives in grapes.

So it is that the Maculan family cultivates Sauvignon Blanc in Ferrata, outside of Venice, near the Italian Alps.  When people ask why they make Sauvignon Blanc the explanation is easy: first, history.  Sauvignon Blanc’s roots in Ferrata are longer than California’s, Chile’s and even New Zealand’s.  Second, Napoleon wasn’t dumb.  He may have been short, feisty, and the kind of guy who’ll eat your share of the Ziggy Pig ice cream bowl, but he did know wine.  In Ferrata, Sauvignon Blanc works, and delightfully so.

Most American’s now know Sauvignon Blanc best from its New Zealand (NZ) connection.  Maculan’s will resemble a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, yet reveal subtle but important differences.  Instead of NZ’s almost overwhelming herbaceous green aromas the Ferrata region reveals a smoother, lusher quality to Sauvignon: aromas of white peaches, stone fruits and orange blossom greet the nose upon the first glass.  Many don’t realize it but NZ’s wines are extremely acidic, almost forcefully so.  But with the Maculan the acidity is toned down a notch, lifting up the silky textures of bosc pear, honeydew mellow and hints of exotic spices.

With these richer textures and broader flavors Maculan’s Sauvignon Blanc makes the perfect match to almost any Italian food, all the way from roasted cherry tomatoes shaved with aged Asiago to grilled shrimp with fava beans and fresh olive oil.

For generations the Maculan family has been striving to put Ferrata onto the international wine map.  Come taste what all the fuss is about!

2009 Maculan Sauvignon Blanc

Release Price:  $19.99

Sale Price:  $14.99

And… come join us at:

A Celebration in Pink: The Rosé (and Loire) Festival!

Saturday, May 19, Noon – 4 pm, Open House Format

$20 per guest – credited against purchase of six bottles or more

You have been waiting for it all year long!  The Rosé Festival!

This year we thought we would “spice” up the tasting a little bit.  In addition to sampling all of our rosés, we will also be taking a tour of the Loire Valley.  The Loire is home to many of France’s most profound rosés but its contribution to the modern wine vernacular doesn’t stop there – Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and many other wines call the Loire Valley home.

In a fun-spirited, open house format, this tasting explores all the rosé wines that we have on offer this year as well as delicious selections from the Loire.

For more information (and the list of wines): http://www.waterfordwine.com/tasting/

All orders must be secured with a name, credit card number, and phone number.  All orders will be available at the time of purchase.

When the wine is ordered your credit card will be charged.  The wine will be held in climate controlled conditions until you are ready to pick it up, free of charge.  Offer is good while supplies last.

Ben Christiansen wrote this article and Tim Hansen edited it.

Moonshine, White-Dog, Water of Life – call it what you will – all whiskey begins as crystal clear, fiery-potent spirit.  Yet we associate bottled whiskey, particularly high quality scotch, with rich amber hues reminiscent of caramel and smooth lingering flavors of vanilla and honey. 

This change, from fresh, fiery new-make spirit into rich, drinkable libation is not due some sorcerer’s magic but rather, the barrel.  That’s right – the wooden staves of oak that are bent into cylindrical shape, bound with iron, and then charred inside: the barrel.

In fact, most scotch distilleries estimate that approximately 80% of the entire flavor of the finished spirit comes from the barrel.  So where that wood comes from, how it is coopered, and what seasoned the wood is vitally important to the flavor of the scotch.  And no distillery has put more effort into their barrel program than Glenmorangie.

Almost two decades ago Glenmorangie started down a revolutionary and two fold path with their cooperage program.  First, they exactly know where their barrels were coming from, right down to the forest.  Second, they embarked on a then unheard of program of extra matured scotches exploring how barrels can “finish” the taste of their scotch. 

Today, we are the beneficiaries of Glenmorangie’s pioneering efforts.  Allow me to explain: 

Glenmorangie’s Original, their 10 year old, shows the great care taken with its first-fill bourbon casks as citrus and peach aromas greet the nose with hints of vanilla.  On the palate these flavors continue, being rounded out with honey and buttered toast.  The aftertaste is clean, yet still fruity.  This is not a scotch of aggressive harshness.  Rather, it is elegant, alluring, and smooth. 

The distillery uses this 10 year matured scotch to create the next three offerings.  First is Nectar d’Or, a scotch that spends the next two years of its life in a Sauternes barrel.  These barrels are first emptied of the Sauternes wine and then refilled with Glenmorangie 10 year.  The resulting spirit is a harmony of flavors with aromas of sultanas and dates joining the citrus notes of the 10 year.  Coconut, almond, ginger and warm spices linger on the palate bringing a deep white chocolate to the after taste.    

But there are two more: Quinta Ruban switches the Sauternes for Port, and Lasanta finishes the spirit in Sherry casks.  The Quinta Ruban opens with aromas of dark mint chocolate, tangerines and Seville oranges before giving way on the palate to roasted nuts, cream, and coco.  Lasanta sherry cask takes the Glenmorangie Original’s notes of citrus and melds them seamlessly with butterscotch, caramel, and toffee.  The palate is warm and complex, finish with the lingering taste of chocolate covered hazelnuts.

In short: the barrel matters.  And nobody does this better than Glenmorangie. 

But Glenmorangie doesn’t want to leave you in doubt.  They know that tasting the scotch makes all the difference (as I am feeling right now).  To that end they created their Discovery Pack – a full 750 ml of The Original followed by one 50 ml bottle of each: Nectar D’or, Quinta Ruban, and Lasanta.  Further, they have packaged them all together in a handsome Discovery Pack Case (normally I hate this sort of gift-packaging, but I have to admit that this one is kinda cool). 

My advice?  Get yourself four glasses and discover what great scotch is all about.    

Glenmorangie Discovery Pack

Release Price:  $59.99

Sale Price:  $29.99

Pack includes:

1 750 ml bottle Glenmorangie 10 Year Original

1 50 ml bottle Glenmorangie 12 Year Nectar d’Or

1 50 ml bottle Glenmorangie 12 Year Quinta Ruban

1 50 ml bottle Glenmorangie 12 Year La Santa

1 rather handsome case (perfect for all those Scotch drinkin’ Mamas for Mother’s Day)

Down the road from the great limestone and clay slope that is Pomerol is a T-intersection in no-man’s land, a place you dare not linger.  The hapless wayfarer will pause to consider which way to Fronsac, Pomerol or Saint Emilion.  And thus, they will fall right into the vagabond’s trap.  “Your money or your life!” the retinue of clochards will demand, sending the traveler to join hundreds of others who have made this same mistake. 

This story is three centuries old (and of course, this being France probably completely untrue) yet the name of the intersection harkens back: Pillebourse, or pilfer your purse.  To the modern wine drinker, however, there is something more significant about the Pillebourse intersection.

The vineyard that now surrounds the intersection is in no-man’s land.  No, thieves and pirates don’t actually inhabit the vineyard.  Rather, the vineyard sits, much like the intersection it’s named after, right between Pomerol, Saint Emilion and Fronsac. 

Why does this matter to you?  Because this wine is one of those now rare Bordeaux finds: cheap yet good. 

My explanation:  the French believe that Pomerol and Saint Emilion make some of the greatest red wine in the world because of the combination of soil, climate, and geography; i.e. terroir.  While the Pillebourse may not be right next to Petrus, it would be hard (even for a French person) to argue with its terroir:  the soil is the same as Saint Emilion’s clay and limestone mixture, the climate bears the same continental influences as Fronsac, and geographically it’s on the roadside across from Pomerol.  Overall, it’s a recipe for great wine.  But legally it’s like not having a passport – internationally nobody will recognize your existence. 

So every year Xavier Chassagnoux, owner of Chateau Virecourt, makes two bottles of wine.  One, Chateau Virecourt, is acclaimed (and rightfully so) because it fits into the appropriate legal structure.  The other, Chateau Virecourt Pillebourse, derives from the section of his vineyard that doesn’t fit into the legal structure.  And because of this, Pillebourse is one of those now rare finds in Bordeaux: as I said, cheap and good. 

The Chateau Virecourt Pillebourse opens with fresh and juicy aromas of dark cherries, raspberries and black currant fruit.  Like a “true” Saint Emilion this wine is velvety, elegant yet powerful.  The palate is laced with sweet spice notes, cassis and a touch of well-oiled leather.  As the French would say, it has broad shoulders – meaning it is structured to last.  From the great 2009 vintage I believe it will age at least ten more years in your cellar, gaining depth and complexity all along the way. 

At the same time I feel compelled to ask that you not tuck all of it away into your cellar.  This is great drinking “bistro” wine, a perfect Bordeaux for any table no matter if the meal is roasted chicken with morels and fava beans, grilled hamburgers, or a simple Cassoulet. 

But best of all, unlike the location it is named after (and most of the wine coming out of Bordeaux these days) Chateau Virecourt Pillebourse will not pilfer your purse! 

2009 Chateau Virecourt Pillebourse Bordeaux

Release Price:  $19.99

Sale Price:  $14.99

Friday’s Wine Tasting: Old World and New World Compared!

Friday, May 11, 3-7:00 pm, $FREE – Open House Format

This Friday, and every Friday, Waterford Wine offers up a casual, open house wine tastings.  Come in after work, stop by with friends, and enjoy the taste of some great wines!

All orders must be secured with a name, credit card number, and phone number.  All orders will be available at the time of purchase. 

When the wine is ordered your credit card will be charged.  The wine will be held in climate controlled conditions until you are ready to pick it up, free of charge.  Offer is good while supplies last. 

Ben Christiansen wrote this article and Tim Hansen edited it.

Once upon a time it was cool to be tender. 

Tendre that is, the French term for a wine that finishes with a kiss of sweetness; like grandmother shushing a well-tucked in child with a peck on the forehead. 

The vernacular term might be considered “off-dry”.  Yet off-dry does us a disservice because it lumps syrupy sweet wine like many White Zinfandels together with elegant wines such as Vouvray.  Indeed, off-dry doesn’t quite sum up the complexity, richness of flavor, age ability, and agreeability with food that tendre wines possess.  And Vouvray is THE wine that possesses all of these characteristics.

Vouvray is a wine region in the middle of France’s Loire Valley.  The wine is made from the Chenin Blanc grape but is named geographically – hence Vouvray on your wine label.  This makes sense because ultimately Vouvrays show their birthplace more than many other wines.  In cool dry years the wines are fragrant, austere and sec (dry); in warm years the wines are fruity, elegant and tendre; and in special years when conditions are right for botrytis the wines become exotic and moelleux (sweet). 

Nowadays, modern wine makers have the tools to standardize a wine year in and year out.  But in Vouvray most producers hold onto the “old” styles, each year offering what Mother Nature gave them.  Domaine Champalou is one such producer. 

This particular wine is Champalou’s Cuvee des Fondraux, a tendre wine that is raised in older, double-sized barrels (fondraux) for twelve months before release.  The nose opens with aromas of Versailles: Calla, Jasmine, Lilly of the Valley, and Camellias greet the nose as if you have just strolled onto a magnificent French Parterre.  Underneath come the hints of geography: ivory, travertine and warm hazelnuts rubbed in orange oil.  The wine is, of course, tendre, yet to most people it will not be “sweet”.  Rather, it will taste fruity, with all the charms of early autumn’s bounty: bosc pears, over-ripe honey crisp apples, and the tang of fresh water caught in the early morning by Kentucky-blue grass. 

This is the perfect cocktail wine – fresh, fruity and balanced – but please don’t stop there.  One of the greatest secrets to food pairing is that tendre wines match nearly everything.  From double and triple cream cheeses to fruits, nuts, or potato chips; all the way to grilled fish, roasted chicken, or apricot glazed ham.  If this isn’t enough inducement to drink Champalou’s Cuvee Fondraux you could also do what the French do – tuck it away for ten years or more until its flavors evolve into a blissful amaretto nougatine luxury.

These days it is daring to be tendre – many drinkers will outright refuse Vouvray thinking it sweet.  But like grandma’s gentle kiss goodnight, Champalou’s Cuvee des Fondraux fills the heart with tenderness. 

2008 Champalou Vouvray La Cuvee des Fondraux

Release Price:  $24.99

Sale Price:  $16.99

All orders must be secured with a name, credit card number, and phone number.  All orders will be available at the time of purchase. 

When the wine is ordered your credit card will be charged.  The wine will be held in climate controlled conditions until you are ready to pick it up, free of charge.  Offer is good while supplies last. 

Ben Christiansen wrote this article and Tim Hansen edited it.

Love it or hate it, Pinotage is divisive.  In a word, Pinotage SMELLS. 

Those who love it find the smell a perfect pairing for the Braai – Afrikaans for Barbeque – with aromas like smoke, toast, grilled meats, sweet tomatoes, and black cherry pie wafting from their glass.  Those who hate it believe it smells like burnt rubber. 

Hybridized from Pinot Noir (the front syllable) and Cinsault (the back syllable [and mistakenly thought the grape of Hermitage]) South Africans have spent years discussing, explaining, isolating and manipulating Pinotage’s aroma trying to make it an international success.  Frustratingly, despite these efforts, Pinotage’s smell remains a mystery, and the wine a mere curiosity.  

However, a new style of Pinotage is emerging.  Instead of fighting Pinotage’s distinct smell, a few forward thinking producers decided to do something complementary with it: they oaked it.  That’s right – taking a new oak barrel, charring the inside as if it was going to be used for Bourbon, and letting the Pinotage absorb all that warm oaky richness.  The new style’s nickname says it all: “Coffee Pinotage” and it is astonishingly tasty. 

Barista, the wine (and yes, the name is a purposeful nod to the style), is one of the first pioneers of Coffee Pinotage.  Here, instead of funk and BBQ, intense aromas of coffee and chocolate flow from the glass like a rich and tasty café mocha.  Seriously – for whatever chemical reason – Pinotage mates to new oak perfectly, creating a sensational wine.  On the palate plums and maraschino cherries join the chocolate aromas in a deep and expressive harmony.  The finish demonstrates that this is a serious wine, not just some wine-making fad, with a tug of tannins and weighty finish.

If you love Pinotage don’t miss this.  It is an exciting, new style of wine.  And if you hate Pinotage you have to try this – it’s going to convince you that South Africa can make fabulously tasty wine.  

2010 Barista “Coffee Pinotage”

Release Price:  $15.99

Sale Price:  $9.99

“In unenlightened periods of warfare, before the age of half-track carriers and helicopters, when infantrymen had to march 20 miles a day with sixty pounds of equipment on their backs, I remember learning to suck pebbles on the trek in hot weather.  Meursault has an underlying touch of that taste.”  — H.W.  Yoxall.

This quote exactly describes a profound wine, Meursault, and it is a wine that you should enjoy.

To be more specific, there are two types of drinkers who MUST try it: those who only drink red wines and those refuse to drink Chardonnay.

Why Meursault?  Because Meursault is a white wine made from Chardonnay.  But it is unlike any Chardonnay, or white wine, you have ever had.  Meursault drinks like the place it is from rather than a grape or a winemaking process.  It doesn’t taste like “Chardonnay”, it tastes like Meursault.  It doesn’t taste like oak or vanilla or butter, it tastes like Meursault.

So what does Meursault taste like?  Let’s explore Charles Buisson’s Meursault Vieilles Vignes as an example.

Geographically, Meursault is a slope of limestone covered with two inches of topsoil.  In these infertile soils Buisson’s Chardonnay vines must dig deep to retrieve the water necessary for life.  The deeper they go, the more mineral, stony, elemental flavors they are thought to bring up with the water.  Buisson rightfully describes his wine as Vieilles Vignes, “Old Vines”, because some of his vines have now reached their century.  The wine made from these vines takes on aromas of toasted hazelnuts, iron enriched water, a sensation of autolysis, and Yoxall’s lingering tug of wet stones sucked on a long march.

Meursault has a relatively cool, continental climate which forces winemakers to exploit the sun to the fullest extent possible.  Vines are planted and trained towards the south-east, maximizing what warmth and solar power there is to be had.  This combination results in a tension in the wine between the possibilities of ripe and rounded fruit aromas and the stinging acidity of a cool climate.  In Buisson’s Meursault this tension is resolved into a silky, succulent sense of power.  Power because the vines’ tendency to ripe fruit has been constrained, forcing it to build mass and depth rather than the flab of buttery fruit.  Indeed, this wine’s power slowly uncoils on day one, two and three as you explore it from the bottle.  If mass can be defined as a force directed towards the center then this is the character of fruit of Buisson’s Meursault – a coiling inward of strength.

These factors – soil, slope, climate, and vine – all combine to make Meursault what it is: a unique wine that is beyond Chardonnay, beyond the categories of red and white.  Indeed, Charles Buisson could have named his wine “Chardonnay from France.”  And for many people that would make it easier to understand.  But that understanding would be false – Meursault is a wine like no other, and further, it is a wine that everyone should try.

2009 Domaine Charles Buisson

Meursault Vieilles Vignes

Release Price:  $59.99

Sale Price:  $33.99

Friday’s Wine Tasting: Tapas Wines!

Friday, April 20, 3-7:00 pm, $FREE – Open House Format

This Friday, and every Friday, Waterford Wine offers up a casual, open house wine tastings.  Come in after work, stop by with friends, and enjoy the taste of some great wines!

This Friday, in addition to pouring our weekly special(s), we will be tasting a collection of wines to drink with Tapas.  Tapas are a Spanish style of feasting via a series of small plates.  Friday night we will pour a diverse collection of Spanish wines that pair well with everything from grilled sausage to calamari!

Wines to be tasted:

2008 Pontecilla Tempranillo $9.99

2010 Tridente Mencia $14.99

2009 Juan Gil Monstrell $14.99

Germain Gilabert Cava $15.99

& the weekly specials!

All orders must be secured with a name, credit card number, and phone number.  All orders will be available at the time of purchase.

When the wine is ordered your credit card will be charged.  The wine will be held in climate controlled conditions until you are ready to pick it up, free of charge.  Offer is good while supplies last.

Ben Christiansen wrote this article and Tim Hansen edited it.

Don’t mind the umlauts – this is Grüner Veltliner, the perfect wine for spring!  Veltliner (for short) is one of Austria’s native white grape varieties where it is highly prized.  If you haven’t heard of it, don’t worry.  Very little of it makes it out of Austria, and what does gets sucked up by the Germans, Italians and Swiss.

Why the fever for the flavor that results in this Hapsburg Hoover?  Because if you haven’t had it before, Veltliner has a kind of magic – it takes the aromatic vibrancy of Sauvignon Blanc and mates it with the sensual palate weight of White Burgundy.

No, Veltliner isn’t exactly either of these two things.  But, if you drink Sauvignon Blanc or White Burgundy and want to try something, Veltliner isn’t going to disappoint!

Unfortunately, the last couple of vintages in Austria have been short.  Meaning Mother Nature had her way with Austria: inclement weather (frost at flowering and hail just before harvest) dramatically lower crop yields, greatly reducing the quantity of wine available.  So this year, the hunt was on for great GruVee (another nickname – this grape is so charming it needs at least three nicknames to contain itself).

But (as if you can’t tell), I love Veltliner and I want to spread the joy around.  This led me to the Burgenland, a wine growing region about 65 miles south of Vienna and surrounding the shallow lake Neusidel.  Here, the young Christof Höpler makes Veltliner that is different from our known favorites and all the tastier for it.

To tell the truth: I have known Christof and his wines since 2007 (ok, so I didn’t exactly break a sweat in my “hunt” for Great GruVee) and early on was not blown away.  The back-handed compliment from industry insiders was that his wines “solid at their price”.  But I have also always known that Christof isn’t dumb, and watching him refine his Veltliners through the years has been exciting.  With the 2010 vintage he has hit a home run.

The harlequin green-yellow color of Hopler’s 2010 Gruner Veltliner simply laughs with the joy of spring.  Just looking at a bottle makes the weather seem warmer, the afternoon longer, and the taste buds salivate.  So there is no reason to wait.  Crack open a bottle and on the palate its juicy Bartlett and Starkrimson pear flavors will dance with kaffir, tropical fruits and a subtle touch of basil.  There is a bit of lasciviousness in it, like it wants to tell you dirty jokes to make you smile.  The finish is creamy and fleshy and leaves you with an exotic touch of arugula.  For anyone who loves Sauvignon Blanc, or is tired of oaky-Chardonnay, this Veltliner is everything you need to enjoy spring.

In a word – it’s delicious.

2010 Hopler Gruner Veltliner

Release Price:  $14.99

Sale Price:  $9.99

All orders must be secured with a name, credit card number, and phone number.  All orders will be available at the time of purchase.

When the wine is ordered your credit card will be charged.  The wine will be held in climate controlled conditions until you are ready to pick it up, free of charge.  Offer is good while supplies last.

Ben Christiansen wrote this article and Tim Hansen edited it.

Yes Rosé – that pink wine from France that the uninitiated fear will be sweet but in fact is dry, rosy colored, and delicious.

While many regions in France (and now the US as well) make rosé, it is Provence that can rightfully claim to be the homeland of this style of wine.  There, dry rosé is prized, and rightfully so.  Here is how it works:

When black grapes are brought into the winery they are crushed, creating white grape juice and a mass of black skins.  To get a wine deep and dark, like a robust Napa Cabernet, the skins are recombined with the juice, bleeding in color, usually for days, sometimes even longer.  This process is called “maceration”.

But for rosés the maceration time is much shorter, sometimes as short as two hours.  The result is a wine made with red wine grapes that tastes like red wine, but of a salmon, coppery hue and slightly lighter body.  And this, of course, makes rosés perfect for the spring and summer – they drink like a red wine but are as refreshing as a white.  And Charles Bieler’s Provence rosé is no exception!

Charles and his sister Mira got their start making rosé in the 1990s with their Dad.  At that time they spent most of their trips to the US explaining that pink wine doesn’t necessarily mean sweet wine.  But during all that time they also persevered in the winery, ultimately making what some commentators (not just me!) have called one of the best values in France.

This vintage of Bieler rose opens with aromas of wild strawberries, watermelon and hints of orange peel.  Serve it just a touch chilled (or not, you choice!) and the underlying goût de terroir of garrigue, savory spices and herbs de Provence will shine through.  On the palate Bieler’s rose is essentially a red wine – broader than you would expect with a crisp, zippy finish.  Drink it with the wild abandonment of a joyous spring!  Cheers!

2011 Bieler Pere et Fils Provence Rose

Release Price:  $12.99

Sale Price:  $9.99

Sadly, the Champagne Cocktail typically suffers from two maladroit flaws, correctable instantly with the administration of Waterford’s Apricot Bellini.  To explicate the flaws and dénouement:

First, most Champagne Cocktails have about as much impact as a four-year old’s practice sky-diving session on the family couch while watching MacGyver.  Yes, they get you started on the hair-of-the-dog but with the mansuetude of a ladykin.

Second, most Champagne Cocktails rely on juice (fresh squeezed, of course).  “Fresh-squeezing” is a post-meridian activity.  While some may find the application of a pronated brachioradialis upon the common citrus fruit enchanting in the morning I do not.  In fact, I hate “the morning”.  Further, I deny its existence.  If you are one of those eldritch souls whose puerile agnosticism allows for life before 11 am, keep your beliefs to yourself.

All of these flaws are easily correctable, and here is how:

Get some sekt.  Good sekt.  Most people don’t get enough sekt in their lives and now is your chance – the Austrians have bottled it as “Punkt Genau” and made it street legal (On the Dot, as they say).  It’s tasty, its bubby, and it comes in a screw cap (which is funny on so many levels).

Don’t squeeze anything.  Austrians, in addition to having a lot of great sekt, make amazing liqueurs.  Maybe the two are related?  Instead of all that fussy-fresh squeezing just pour in some Klosterneuberger apricot liqueur and kiss “the morning” good-bye.  Which leads to the next point:

Now your cocktail has enough alcohol kick that the doddering autochthons of the Depends crowd may parachute gracefully into the Easter table, inebriated yet none the wiser, exaggerating the hardships of walking up paradoxical inclines, mellowed to a plane slightly lower than the table and spinning yarns of antediluvian nonage.

And one final note of complexity which proves your authoritative fidelity as a mixologist: grapefruit and hibiscus bitters – it perks the palate and pops the apricot.

The results are astounding to the point of stupefaction – ripe apricot and Anjou pear aromas dance and intertwine together, carried in a cascade upward via the sekt’s caressing bubbles.  Just enough delightful sweetness tantalizes and stimulates, leaving the alcohol balanced, vibrant and fresh.   A grace note of grapefruit brightens all the other fruit aromas, leaving a teasing hint of the tropical.  It is, of course, a Champagne cocktail, and leaves your taste buds – as well as the mood – lifted and lively, just as all Champagne cocktails should.

Yes, the Waterford Bellini does this all – it tastes great, it’s easy to make, and it provides a built in excuse to drink on Easter morning (and every other morning).

You need this cocktail in your life.

Waterford Apricot Bellini Champagne Cocktail

Package Includes:

1 bottle Punkt Genau Sekt

1 bottle Rothman & Winter Klosterneuberger Apricot Liqueur

1 bottle Bittercube Grapefruit bitters

Suggested List Price of Package:  $49.99

Special price via this email:  $39.99

All orders must be secured with a name, credit card number, and phone number.  All orders will be available at the time of purchase.  When the package is ordered your credit card will be charged.  The package will be held in climate controlled conditions until you are ready to pick it up, free of charge.  Offer is good while supplies last.

This piece was written by Gloria St. Julien and edited by Tim Hansen.

For this, in France, Mourvedre is prized.  So prized that many producers create “Super Cuvees” of CdP that cost hundreds of dollars and are bestowed perfect 100 point scores by the critics (think of Beaucastel’s Hommage  Jacques Perrin and you have it).

But Mourvedre’s origins are much more humble than $500 a bottle Super Cuvees.  Originally, it hails from Jumilla, at the crossroads of La Mancha, Murcia, and Valencia, in Spain.

The French would quickly point out that Jumilla is not Chateauneuf du Pape.  Yet it stands to reason that a vineyard planted to the same grape, with a similar climate and soil can produce as good a wine as its neighbors.  In fact, I would submit to you that the French may be engaged in a bit of price-protectionism.  Not only can Jumilla Mourvedre be as compelling as Chateauneuf du Pape, it is far less expensive.

Honoro Vera is one such Monastrell, the Spanish name for Mourvedre.  Made with 100% organically grown Monastrell it echoes some of the top cuvees in Chateauneuf.  Opening with aromas of crème de cassis, kirsch, and blackberries, it seamlessly melds into an incredibly layered palate of blueberries, wet stones and spice box.  Like all powerful Mourvedres it is muscular having enough brawn to support its powerful fruit character.  It drinks well now (especially with a solid decanting) or will wait up to a decade in your cellar.

No, Honoro Vera is not a Super Cuvee of Chateauneuf du Pape – it’s lacking a $500 price tag. But if you don’t mind paying less, it’s a rather delicious wine.

2010 Honoro Vera Monastrell (Mourvedre)

Release Price:  $10.99

Sale Price:  $6.99

Friday’s Wine Tasting: Wines for Easter

Friday, April 6, 3-7:00 pm, $FREE – Open House Format

This Friday, and every Friday, Waterford Wine offers up a casual, open house wine tastings.  Come in after work, stop by with friends, and enjoy the taste of some great wines!

This Friday’s we are presenting wines for Easter.  Yes, with Easter being just around the corner you know you are going to need some wine for the family.  We offer up a couple of wonderful selections (and some discounted selections) that pair perfectly with the Easter meal.  Come on in and taste!

Wines to be tasted:

Hono Vera Monastrell

d’Arenberg “The Hermit Crab”

Loosen Edner Treppechen Riesling Spatlese

Arnot Roberts Rose

& more!

All orders must be secured with a name, credit card number, and phone number.  All orders will be available at the time of purchase.

When the wine is ordered your credit card will be charged.  The wine will be held in climate controlled conditions until you are ready to pick it up, free of charge.  Offer is good while supplies last.

Ben Christiansen wrote this article and Tim Hansen edited it.