Thames River Wine & Spirits - 860-443-9463
Thames River Greenery - 860-443-6817
Brie & Bleu - 860-437-2474
IMPORT - 860-443-6817
www.ThamesRiver.com
A great line up of wine for Friday night - the list is just below a couple of items of interest.
• It was a lot of fun this past week - dinners and tastings, visitors from other lands, and it was all topped off by the kind of weather that gives people that live on the Connectricut shoreline bragging rights. Thanks to everyone that was a part of it.
• We have to start this week by saying thank you to everyone that attended the Taste of Chesapeake Maryland Cuisine Dinner -
And especially to Chef Buddy Suek - it was a night to remember. Buddy was able to preside over the evening with panache and skill and has ruined any chance of finding crab cakes that will match what he served that night without driving to Maryland. Thanks.
• This time of year brings a lot of change with it - for us it means changing menus, new portfolio tastings, and new faces, and New London offers a variety of activities for everyone with events like Boats, Books, Brushes, Jazz & Blues - for details go here: http://newlondonmainstreet.org/events/bbjb2007.php
• Our Wednesday dinners welcome back Anne Haviland
starting this week -
Endless Summer Wine Dinners -
The Search For The Perfect Wine.
Anne sources all of the fruits, vegetables, and deserts from local farms and markets and of course there is wine served with each course.
Seating is limited - $50 plus tax and service -
please reserve early - 8 6 0 - 4 4 3 - 9 4 6 3
Here are a few highlights:
8/22 - Herb Rubbed Sirloin
With local Farmers Market greens for the salad with roasted hazelnuts, bing cherries, and St Marcellin cheese.
The steak is local from Old Lyme's Four Mile River Farm, and native peaches grilled with Mascarpone for dessert.
9/5 - Grilled Veal Chops with fresh basil gremolata.
9/12 - Butterflied Leg of Lamb with tomato fennel vinaigrette
9/19 - Grilled Salmon with green olive relish and capers.
August 29 - Cult Wine Dinner Series - Pinot Noir - Sold Out - Thank you.
Dave's Fave - Monday Tasting
Domaine Monpertuis Cotes du Rhone 2005 $16
Dave Says:
"I know your first question - how can a bass player afford to drink wine from one of the most prestigious houses in France? And the second: "You mean I too can taste the 2005 vintage already?"
Answer one: We tasted the Monpertuis Chateauneuf du Pape and it blew us away. Just a bit out of my price range though... Luckily, they make sub-$20 table wine - when I saw this Cotes du Rhone I jumped all over it and it's AWESOME.
Answer two: that's right - the big 2005 guns haven't been released yet, but judging by their little brother here, the vintage should live up to the hype!
Wine Tasting Please Join Us Friday August 24 - 6-9 p.m. - No Charge
1 - Valdivieso reserve Chardonnay 2004 $15
Viña Valdivieso dates back to 1879 when Alberto Valdivieso founded Champagne Valdivieso, the first company in Chile and South America to make sparkling wine. More than a hundred years later in the late 1980s, the company expanded in a new direction when it began commercial production of still wines, as Viña Valdivieso, in their Curicó Valley winery in Lontué. This wine puts the potential of the Casablanca Valley on display, with the complex and intense flavor and structure from the slow ripening that is possible in the coastal climate. This is a nice, full bodied New World Chardonnay with appley/lemony fruit and a touch of spice and a bite of acidity.
Great value for money - try it on Friday - even if you always say "I don't like chardonnay."
2 - Ostertag Pinot Blanc 2004 $20
This particular wine has routinely been rated in the high 80's and it is a Kermit Lynch selection - I would have to say that we routinely rate the Kermit Lynch wines at the top of our charts. The back story: Andre Ostertag studied in Burgundy and on his return decided to cut the yield on the estate from 120 hectolitres of wine per hectare to a mere 50! Since 1998 the 13-hectare estate has been run along biodynamic principles and the grapes are hand-harvested. The low yields and care taken in the vineyard make for fantastic wine quality.
"Since young Andre Ostertag took over his family's vineyards, he has done everything except shoot the directore of CIVA. (Committee Interprofessionnel du Vins d'Alsace.) He is both admired and avoided within Alsace itself for his open-minded, green-minded quality-conscious philosophy, which results in wines that range from sensational to positively bizarre. I cannot remember ever having an ordinary or uninteresting wine from this producer, although not a few have shocked me, for even his failures are extraordinary. I have never had an Ostertag wine that lacked richness, but in his search for the ultimate style by using only the most natural of means and through the severe restriction of yield, his efforts have occasionally created wines that have been curiously balanced, over opulent or excessively oaky." - Kermit Lynch. - - This is really a great example of handcrafted quality. Please try it on Friday night.
3 - Lucien Crochet Sancerre Rouge " La Croix du Roy" 2004 $35
The Crochet domaine evolved through the marriage of the Crochet and Picard families, and began vineyards in the Sancerre district as early as 1765.
It was the great-grandfather of Lucien Crochet who first installed that part of the family in the region and it was in 1934 that the first bottling of wines occurred at the domaine. The domaine now is under the direction of Lucien Crochet and his son, Gilles. The 2001 Lucien Crochet Sancerre La Croix du Roy was rated 89 points by Steven Tanzer - "Bright, pale color. Highly complex, musky nose hints at quinine, underripe peach and flowers. Pure and penetrating; very dry but nicely ripe and not at all rigid. Shows a strong grapefruit flavor - Classic Sancerre."
This is imported in very small numbers, something like 1500 cases for the entire country - we have it, and I hope you will try it this week.
4 - Penfolds RWT 2002 $85 Red Winemaking Trial www.penfolds.com
The name of Penfolds brings people out of the woodwork. The vineyard holds so many awards and high scoring numbers that it is almost impossible to list them all. And they deserve the accolades. This is one of the wines that has made Australian wine production famous and a world leader. This is a lot of money for a bottle of wine - however, it is still a bargain. They have been making wine for over 160 years and you can taste the expertise in every glass.
This will go quickly, don't wait until the last minute to try it.
Thanks for all of the support - we appreciate it.
This is a great time of year - remember, you can always set your TiVo to record that marathon of Ice Road Truckers - get out of the house, and come into town.
Please join us. It's fun, informal, and a great way to start your weekend.
Please say hello the next time you are in the store.
AAA.
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