Today's SponsorsThe California Wine Club De Long's Wine Maps |
Wine Focus - Offbeat whites
As a charter member of The Wine Century Club, I get a good-size chunk of my wine-tasting pleasure from discovering and tasting wines made from unusual grapes and grown in unexpected places.
I'm not such a hard-core varietal geek that I'll ever reject a good Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay or what-have-you. But there's something particularly enjoyable about tasting a wine made from grapes that hardly anybody ever heard of, and in the process offering your nose, your taste buds and even your mind a happy change of pace.
If you join me in this quest for the wine roads less traveled, remembering that "offbeat" literally means "off the beaten path," then I think you'll enjoy this month's feature - Offbeat Whites - in Wine Focus in our WineLovers Discussion Groups.
The field of white grapes is wide-open to participants, and "offbeat" is left to your own definition. It's assumed that we'll reach beyond the most popular varieties, but if someone comes up with notes on, say, a late-harvest, botrytized Chardonnay, I doubt that any of us will challenge that.
I started off the month with a Grillo, a relatively unfamiliar white grape from Sicily that, at least at my local wine shop, also qualifies as a first-rate recession-buster. At a mere $7.99, Arancio 2007 Sicilia Grillo offers a real mouth full of value, perhaps one of the most interesting and well-structured single-digit wines I've opened so far this year.
I hope you'll join us in Wine Focus this month, posting online your tasting reports, comments and questions about your favorite little-known whites. You'll find Wine Focus in our WineLovers Discussion Groups at this link:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewforum.php?f=18
The discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post. Registration is free and easy; we ask only that you join following our Real Names Real Format system, using your real name in the format "John Doe" or "John D".
Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly, you'll be able to participate in all our online wine, food and travel forums.
Today's Sponsors
The California Wine Club: Finally! Some news to feel good about
The California Wine Club is a trusted name among wine consumers and California's small "mom & pop" wineries. Every wine featured by CWC is hand-selected by club owners, Bruce and Pam Boring, and every wine comes with their 100 percent satisfaction guarantee.
Club highlights include:
* A different artisan winery each month.
* Two bottles of limited production, award-winning wine.
* Entertaining 12 page, full color magazine Uncorked. Uncorked offers an up-close and personal look at the family making the wine, tasting notes, recipes and much more.
* No membership fees, cancel any time (so if you're not happy you're not
stuck).
Plus - and this is the really great news - if you taste a wine you want more of, you can reorder directly from the club and save up to 50 percent off normal retail prices.
Each month is $34.95 plus shipping. Choose to receive shipments monthly, every other month or quarterly.
Visit www.cawineclub.com or call 1-800-777-4443. Use promo code: Advisor and get the first month for just the cost of shipping!
Quick 20 percent discount on De Long's Wine Maps
Speaking of The Wine Century Club, its founders Steve and Deborah De Long, who produce the popular The Wine Grape Varietal Table, have now published two beautiful, informative poster-size maps featuring the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and the entire state of California, depicting up-to-date information about wine regions in bright colors.
Each map measures 24 x 36 inches and is printed on heavyweight acid-free archival paper." They're rolled, not folded, for shipping in sturdy tubes. The maps are $29.95 each plus shipping, but 30 Second Wine Advisor readers who move quickly may enjoy a 20 percent discount for the next two days. To get the discount, which ends Wednesday, July 8, 2009, simply click De Long's Wine Maps, select the map or maps of your choice, and enter "garr30" (all lowercase) in the Discount Code box when you check out.
Today's Tasting Report
Arancio 2007 Sicilia Grillo ($7.99)
Ripe tropical-fruit flavors, mango and papaya, emerge as soon as the slick, flesh-colored plastic "cork" is pulled. Pale gold in color, tropical fruit and subtle floral scents add a whiff of chalk. Bright and juicy fruit carries over on the palate with lip-smacking acidity. An attractive hint of peach-pit bitterness joins tart white fruit in a very long finish. Balanced and complex, a truly remarkable value at this recession-buster price. U.S. importer: Prestige Wine Imports, NYC. (July 1, 2009)
FOOD MATCH: Good with pork or seafood and not a bad choice with spicy fare, it was a very good match indeed Fiedler Farm bratwurst made from naturally produced Indiana pork, served on seeded rye with Zatarain's New Orleans mustard.
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Arancio Grillo on Wine-Searcher.com:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Arancio%2bGrillo/-/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=WLP
Talk About Wine Online
If you have questions, comments or ideas to share about today's article or wine in general, you're always welcome to drop by our online WineLovers Discussion Group, the Internet's first and still the most civil online community. To find our forums, click:
http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village
Discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post. Registration is free and easy; we ask only that you join following our Real Names Real Format system, using your real name in the format "John Doe" or "John D". Anonymous, cryptic or first-name-only registrations are discarded without notice.
Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly, you'll be able to participate in all our online wine, food and travel forums.
To contact me by E-mail, write wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit.
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