Simon’s Pick: July, 2007
2006 Chateau de Pampelonne, Cotes de Provence Rosé
Larchmont Village Wine, Spirits and Cheese’s Simon has tipped us off once again to a great wine. You can find it in Los Angeles at…ummm, Larchmont Wine (323-856-8699) for $14.99. For other purveyors near and far, check out Winesearcher (while domaine547 has an array of dry rosés, 16 in fact, this particular wine is not in our inventory).
As the demand for dry rosés shows no sign of abating, producers both domestic and alien are scrambling to release all manner of pink wines to satisfy this demand. This is without doubt a very good thing. We say the more the merrier in the new rosé wave; More choice, more divergent styles, more opportunities to banish those sickly sweet memories of Mateus Rosé, Lancers and any old White Zinfandel.
Dry rosé has long been regarded with suspicion by some customers, usually because of the wine’s very pinkness…how could it possibly be dry and refreshing if it looks like that?
We return to the traditional heart of rosé production this month and have selected a lovely example from Provence that precisely defines all that is good about dry pink wine.
This estate on the Saint Tropez peninsula has long been a favorite of ours, and the 2006 excels again. A blend of 75% Cinsault and 25% Grenache, this shows a pretty transparent salmon pink color, is elegantly scented with peach, hawthorn and wild strawberries and has a satiny texture on the palate, with plenty of ripe fruit nicely balanced with refreshing acidity.The ultimate food-friendly wine, rose will pair with just about anything, so take this to the Bowl, the Greek, a poolside chat, a boat ride, sit-down din-dins, a Hollywood Forever blanket supper, your weekly après-tennis melt-down or the next UFC pay-per-view. If bouillabaisse is being served, even better…–S.C.
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get your wine on
2003 Rocca Family Cabernet Sauvignon, Yountville
We heard that Gary V. reviewed the 2004 yesterday and loved it. We loved that wine too, but we jumped at the chance to get the 2003 which we feel is nearly as good, since it’s a bargain at under $50 a bottle. Stellar juice from Celia Masyczek, the winemaker of Scarecrow, for a fraction of the price.2003 Rocca, please!
2006 Ferraton Cotes du Rhone Blanc, “Les Samorens”
Simon says you should check this out. And so do we. Looking for a budget white for all your summer sipping? Look no farther…Fetch me some Ferraton
2006 Eric Kent Spring Releases
We love the Eric Kent labels, and we’re even more excited about the wine inside them. Okay, scratch that. We’re equally excited, since these labels are about the best wine labels we’ve ever seen (short of our own upcoming release, which you’ll hear plenty about, eventually). Go check out the Eric Kent wines and treat yourself to a sensory experience that encompasses taste, touch, smell and sight.Can I get some Kent?
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freshly pressed
Posting reviews on wine retail sites, part 2:
As a follow up to last week’s poll, which was met with overwhelming apathy, we thought we’d pose our question about reviewing wines on web retail sites in a slightly different manner. If it were really easy to do so, do you think you’d post more reviews on domaine547, or other retailer websites for that matter (like, if you didn’t have to sign in, if you could click a few stars like you do on Netflix, or something of that nature)
Please pipe in with your response to this poll!
Loading …We’re not sure what the impediment to posting reviews is. There was overwhelming response to our poll on what you use to guide your wine purchases, with Cellartracker coming in a strong 3rd with 12% of the vote. That leads us to believe that many of you probably enter notes into Cellartracker (see the article in Good Wine Under $20 from just yesterday), in addition to reading notes posted by other Cellatracker users — so we know you’re willing to write notes in a community context.
We think it probably comes down to a couple of things: the lack of ease of use, and perhaps lack of critical mass on retail sites. We’re going to try and work on a way to remedy this…someday!
Posting reviews on wine retail sites, part 2
Coming soon: bloggerpacks 5 and 6!
domaine547 events: Tablas Creek wine dinner at Campanile, June 3rd, 2008
wine jargon
Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.
Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.
grapewise
Cabernet Franc in the news
There’s a good article in this morning’s Food section of the LA Times, on Cabernet Franc. It would be better, of course, if it linked to the three included wines available through d547 (Chateau Hureau Saumur-Champigny, Chateau Vieux Clos, and the Lang & Reed). But we still think you should read the piece — and then you can come back here and buy a sampling of this fantastic and under-appreciated grape variety. And we’ll give you 10% off your entire order should it include any of these wines. Use code LATimes.
domaine547 in print: Entrepreneur Magazine, April 2008 issue
We’re thrilled to see the first print article on domaine547 hit the newsstands, in April’s issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. You can see the article online by clicking here, but we promise you it’s much better in traditional paper format with its four color photo and all! Yay.
Cabernet Franc in the news
domaine547 in print: Entrepreneur Magazine, April 2008 issue
Dubious business? Wine stores that employ critics
