Greetings from all of us in New London,
We have a beautiful line up of wine this Friday.
We are featuring the wines of Chile - and as many of you know this part of the world is delivering huge value for your wine buying dollar. The list is just below these items of interest.
It has been a very busy week - So lets get started -
• We are now available on iTunes - all of our WineRadio interviews, special guests, and much more - now we can travel with you on your iPod. Simply go to the iTunes store - type in WineRadio for the search field and hit enter. You will see our cool green logo pop right up.
OR - Here is a direct link:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=251715986
Can you name another wine shop that is pushing the envelope this hard?
• We attended a private tasting of the Joseph Drouhn 2005 Burgundies - this is a very difficult job, and it must been done each year whether we enjoy it or not, to select the Burgundy that's just right for you. If you are interested in ordering early please call the store - supplies can be limited - 860-443-9463
• The cast & crew of "Inclusions" spent an entire day shooting scenes in our cellar -
you can see a sneak peek of the film at this address: http://crlvideo.com/inclusions3/
Cast and crew commented that this was their favorite location - Can you dig it?
• The Staglin Vineyards Cult Wine Dinner is sold out - thank you very much for your support.
• Connecticut Lyric Opera - Friday April 20, 8 pm - Presents Romeo & Juliette by Charles Gounod. Romeo and Juliet has inspired countless retellings in opera, ballet, theatre and cinema, yet none can rival Gounod’s sumptuous combination of sensual 19th-century French music and the Bard’s emotional honesty. All additional information including tickets can be found here - http://ctlyricopera.org/boxoffice/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=16
This Week At Brie & Bleu Featured Specials:
Friday - Sliced Sirloin Dijonaise
Saturday - Lamb Cassoulet
Featured Cheese This Week
Wensleydale cheese - http://www.wensleydale.co.uk/
Traditional, hard cheese made from cow's milk. It has a shape of cylinder with natural rind. Wensleydale can be used as table cheese and is very tasty with apple pie. This cheese is based on the recipe that can be traced back to the Cistercian monks who came over with William the Conqueror in the 11 century. There are two types of the British classic Wensleydale: White, a flat disc that is highly-pressed and has a honey flavor to it and Blue or Yorkshire, which has blue veins, double cream and is a cousin of Stilton - the blue variety comes in large drums. Good Wensleydale has a supple, crumbly, moist texture and resembles a young Caerphilly. The flavor suggests wild honey balanced with a fresh acidity.
Wine Tasting - Please Join Us Friday April 20th - 6-9 p.m. - No Charge The Great Wines Of Chile
1 - Penalolen Sauvignon Blanc $12
You have seen this name in our cellar before. They produce one of my favorite Cabernet's, and it comes from one of the most remarkable wine regions in the world - Chile. This part of the world is so exciting that we are planning a long overdue visit to the region in the coming months.
The Peñalolén winery was founded by vineyard owner Ricardo Peña and his wife Isabel with the objective to produce unique Chilean wines, full of personality and verve. The wines are made by winemaker Jean-Pascal Lacaze, well respected for his deft hand in producing memorable wines. All grapes are grown and hand harvested with meticulous care to guarantee the integrity of the fruit, and picked early in the morning when the weather is coolest. Peñalolén is truly a family-owned, boutique winery committed to making wines of distinction.
This Sauvignon Blanc comes from Chile's two most prestigious appellations for cool climate white grapes: the Limari and Casablanca valleys. With this wine, Penalolen demonstrates how impressive Sauvignon Blanc can be when grown in the right place and guided by a talented winemaker. The use of pure, ripe fruit gives this wine a powerfully rich and complex flavor free from oak or residual sugar. The aromas of orange and flowers, combined with good acidity, make this Sauvignon Blanc a classic partner for food. I think you will really enjoy this wine.
2 - De Martino Organic Cabernet $15 - rated 90 points Wine Enthusiast
There is a distinction between Organic & Bio-Dynamic that should be mentioned. Bio-dynamic farming is a type of organic agriculture. Both organic and biodynamic methods seek to sustain ecosystems, but biodynamic farmers adhere to unique philosophical principles, as well as to guidelines more stringent than those required by the USDA for organic certification.
According to Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar: "(Inky ruby. Primary, grapey aromas of blackberry and candied plum. Youthful and tightly wound, with pure, sweet cassis and dark cherry flavors nicely supported by solid tannic structure. This should be interesting in a year or so." (Mar/Apr 06) According to the Wine Spectator: "Solid red and dark berry fruit with loam and smoke notes on the finish. Drink now. 2,000 cases made." (12/05)
3 - Maquis Lien $17 "Silver Lizard"The Rivadeniera-Hurtado family has owned the Viña Maquis vineyard for more than a century, but it wasn’t until ten years ago that the family decided to make their own wine out of the terrific grapes in their own backyard. They built a gorgeous, state-of-the-art gravity flow winery and set out to make a “Super Chilean” blend using the vineyard’s best red grapes. In Chile's native Mapuche language, lien means “silver metal”—a reference to colonial Spanish coins that were once melted to make fine jewelry, like the lizard on the Maquis label. You may have seen this distinctive label before in our cellar.
The Maquis Lien is made from a finely tuned blend of 50% Syrah, 23% Carmenere, 12% Cabernet Franc, 8% Petit Verdot, and 7% Malbec. It is a generous red wine that reflects the character of the Hurtado family’s special plot of land. To make this fruity and concentrated blend, winemakers Ricardo Rivadeneira Hurtado and Alejandro Jofré have developed vines that bear no more than 12 bunches of grapes per vine. Only the ripest grapes are picked, then sorted by hand at the winery. The Lien is barrel aged for 12 months in French oak. This is great wine and another example of the value coming from this part of the world. Try it - it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase draining the lizard.
4 - Domus Aurea Cabernet $50
Located in the foothills of the Andes Mountain Range, Clos Quebrada de Macul is recognized as one of the finest vineyards in the Maipo Valley. It is here, on the gravelly slopes of a 45-acre single-vineyard, that owners Ricardo and Isabel Pena produce their award-winning Domus Aurea Cabernet Sauvignon. The Peña family is committed to extremely low yields. The family’s vineyards are divided into five blocks that follow the depth and stoniness of the soil, which are further divided into upper, middle and lower rows. The harvest is not determined by block or row but vine by vine. The winery also utilizes open-top fermentation and personalized oak aging cycles, selecting lots with the most character to be the first wines into French barrels. A brilliant red and a rich, berry nose. This vintage has strong, round tannins with an elegant body and vibrant flavors of blackberry and cassis.
Thanks very much for your support - we all appreciate it.
As the warm weather approaches we have some great surprises for you - they will be announced in the next couple of emails and of course on line at our website and the blog. And, our formal listing on iTunes will allow us to add all kinds of content that will travel with you - like wine lists, and perhaps hard to remember items that we have had in the store. That's in addition to all of the food, recipe and paring information that we are working on.
The best is yet to come, and we sincerely appreciate your support - it is why we are growing and why we are able to bring in the types of celebrities and other special guests and offer the kind special events we do.
Please Join Us.
It's fun, informal, and a great way to start your weekend - please say hello when you visit the store.
AAA
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