WBW #48 (Revisited): Not Quite Brunello But YUM!
Brunello di Montalcino, Osteria La Buca, Rosso di Montalcino, Tuscany, WBW, Wine Blogging Wednesday
I think I misstated things in the Wine Blogging Wednesday post below. See, when I spent my honeymoon in Tuscany, I drank just as many two-Euro carafes of restaurant house wine, as I did bottles of Brunello. Actually, far more. And my hubby and I truly enjoyed these unnamed, bargain wines.
Feeling guilty for not having really participated in the monthly wine meme, I rectified matters on Friday evening, by ordering a bottle of the 2006 Casanova di Neri Rosso di Casanova di Neri (formerly their Rosso di Montalcino) with dinner at Osteria La Buca. This is the perfect wine representing an in-between point from the far extremes of the two-Euro carafes and the pricier Brunellos.
On the list at La Buca, the wine cost about $60, which is not totally unreasonable (but perhaps begins to push the outer limits of fairness; more reasonable is the $90 for a bottle of the Casanova di Neri 2003 Brunello, but I decided that wine just wouldn’t be ready to drink at this point). At retail, the Rosso appears to be available for the $20 to $30 range.
More important, the wine was just lovely to drink. Very tight upon opening, it took merely twenty minutes to start showing all the red cherry, a good deal of smoke and a bit of scorched/tarry earth that I associate with Tuscan reds. Mouth watering acidity made this a great match with food. I could drink this wine all the time.
On a side note, you should all go check out Osteria La Buca for the food and atmosphere — as well as the great service of newly installed Sommelier Alessia Botturi. She has imported several of the wines on the list herself, including a sparkling Pinot Nero we can’t wait to sample.
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2008 “Bebame” Red, El Dorado County, California
Cabernet Franc (65%) and Gamay (35%) from - gasp - California! And only 13% ABV, pretty modest by California standards. If I tasted this blind I would probably have said it’s from the Loire Valley. It has pretty much nothing in common with the full bodied iterations of Cab Franc coming out of Napa. Juicy, light, delicious quaffing wine.$18 a bottle
2006 Telegramme Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge
Really balanced and smooth, this is a bargain of a Chateauneuf. Yeah, the 07s are lauded but what would I prefer to drink? This! It’s the second label of Vieux Telegraphe, from the same property but from younger vines. And it’s a deal at $33 a bottle.2006 or bust!
NV Barcino Cava: LA Times Wine of the Week!
Delicious and just in time for New Year’s Eve…this is the LA Times Wine of the Week, and we have plenty in stock. Order online, pick-up in-store!$14 a bottle!
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Wine Retail and Social Media: Yeah, I Should Be Blogging…:
But I’m not. Funny, it was pointed out to me that domaine547.com appears as a successful example of social media in wine (juxtaposed against the Wine Spectator of all things) in this recent presentation (see slide #25). I guess they haven’t looked at the blog lately; it hasn’t been updated in weeks.
Really, in my internet-only days, I never understood why Brick and Mortar retailers didn’t take the time to blog. Now I know. They don’t have the time!
Seriously. Even in the downtime when there aren’t any customers — which, let’s face it, exists in decent quantity — there’s always something to be done at the store that takes priority…from the very lowly tasks, like sweeping, to the equally tedious but still mundane paying of bills, or putting price labels on bottles, to tasting wine with reps, it all has to get done. And I am here without support staff a fair amount of the time.
Suffice it to say, to all those out there giving speeches about social media and the importance of it to branding for wineries and wine stores, people, for the most part, get it. I know I get it! But finding the time is another story. And finding a voice? Even harder.
So at the moment, what I’m doing is tweeting (@domaineLA), because tweeting is very time un-intensive. A tweet takes a few seconds, and I think I get both my voice and my point (when I have one) across in these little quick spurts. I don’t know that it’s enough, but at least it’s something.
I really hope to get back to blogging soon. I swear, I do! But right now I have something very important to do, so you’ll have to excuse me while I go empty the trash can in the bathroom…
Wine Retail and Social Media: Yeah, I Should Be Blogging…
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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.
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DomaineLA Store Contact Info
If you’re looking for our brick and mortar shop, here’s where it can be found:
(323) 932-0280
Hours are 11AM to 8PM, Monday through Saturday and noon to 5PM on Sundays.
Read more…Fabulous & Frugal!
Our friends launched a new site and domaine547 is a featured wine columnist in their premiere edition! Go check out Fabulous & Frugal for some fantastic lifestyle tips for living the good life during what, for most of us, is an economically challenging time. There’s much more than wine there, and we’re thrilled to be a small part of the start of what will surely be a successful venture. Congrats to Brandi & Steph for their achievement!
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domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
