Bonus Bottle of the Week: 2005 Alto Moncayo Veraton
Alto Moncayo Veraton, Bonus Bottle, Campo de Borja, Chris Ringland, Garnacha, Grenache, Spain
With orders of $100, use coupon code “veraton” and receive a bottle of the 2005 Alto Moncayo Veraton as a bonus ($32 value). Alto Moncayo is one of Aussie winemaker’s Chris Ringland’s Spanish projects (in addition to the El Nido and El Nido Clio wines). It’s 100% Garnacha (that’s Grencache to us English speakers), and sees 17 months in American and French oak (not sure how much is new).
The Veraton is actually the entry level wine from the Alto Moncayo series, and we think that the QPR at $32 is not to be beaten. It may have a bit more palpable structure and grit than the next level up, the $47 Alto Moncayo, but we like the sensation of the tannins and acidity, and think that it’s built to last. Also, given the 33% discount in price from its big brother, the Veraton still proves a better value, even if silky-smooth-vanilla-oak is more your speed. The Veraton has plenty of these qualities without tipping the balance and becoming an unctuous wine. For us, that’s a good thing.
We have a limited number of bottles available so go place your orders ASAP and get this Spanish beauty as a bonus. Don’t forget to use the coupon codes…when the wine runs out, the code will stop working.
Leave a Reply
get your wine on
2007 Ponte de Lima Vinho Verde, Portugal
Bring a little “green” to your life with the Ponte de Lima Vinho Verde from Portugal. It’s actually a white wine - the green refers to its youth and freshness. It’s slightly effervescent and zippy, giving you the sense of a warm summer’s day on a cold winter’s night. This one is very easy on the wallet to boot, at just eleven buckaroos! Buy Green Wine for Wintertime.
2007 Cortes de Cima Chaminé Red Blend
Yummy Portuguese table wine that’s a blend of Aragonez (aka Tempranillo), Syrah, Touriga Nacional, Trincadeira, and a smidgen of Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s just asking to be paired with winter stews of braised meats. A great value at $19 a bottle.Buy Cortes de Cima Chaminé
2005 Amavi Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla: #42 Wine Spectator in the Top 100 of 2008!
OK, don’t screw the WS top 100! This came in at #42 and it deserves at least that. It’s the only reasonably priced domestic cab on their list, and we love it. It’s deep and rich and generous with the oaky vanilla — but not cloyingly so. Yay for #42 - just $28.
Search
freshly pressed
Cellartracker Embraces Twitter:
If you’re interested in wine and want a way to keep track of wines you’ve tasted, or bottles in your collection, a great place to do so is the site CellarTracker. Go over there and familiarize yourself with it. It’s really easy to use and offers the largest database of wines, along with a huge community of users who frequently post tasting notes.
Eric LeVine, the mastermind behind CellarTracker has recently become a Twitter user. You can follow him on Twitter here. And in a very significant feature addition to CellarTracker, Eric has just enabled Twitter functionality for all CellarTracker users, so that when you write a new tasting note, it will automatically post to Twitter with a link back to the CellarTracker data. Eric’s explanation and instructions can be found here.
This combo of two killer apps, a niche wine community with a Web 2.0 pioneer, could be a game changer.
(My apologies to Tim Elliott whose voice I seem to be parroting with this post!)
Cellartracker Embraces Twitter
The Year Ahead At domaine547
Around the Wine Web: Affordable Bubbles
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
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!
domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
Check out this blog post where they actually refer to somebody from d547 as a “wine expert.” Shocking! In any case, the Imbibe blog offers a nice recipe to go along with one of our wine recommendations. Enjoy!
Fabulous & Frugal!
domaine547 In the Blogosphere! Imbibe Magazine Unfiltered
The 89 Project
