Normally Ivy would be stuck in the Grapewise section of our blog, but given her long absence we’re giving her prime real estate up here in Freshly Pressed. We’re thankful for her return to the world of wine blogging, and we urge you to heed her advice: tight finances aren’t a reason to give up on wine, but you might have to change your buying and drinking habits…take it away Ivy: Read more…
If we were singing it, the lyircs of that Sam Cooke song might as well go like this…”don’t know much about Germany, don’t know much Enology…”. We’re trying to correct the various gaps in our knowledge, and this is what d547 is really all about. So when we attended a tasting about two months ago featuring German and Austrian wines from the Terry Theise portfolio, we were ecstatic to have the experience, but still a little bit intimidated. We’re getting over the intimidation — but are happy to report our excitement is only growing. Read more…
Simon from Larchmont Wine & Spirits comes to the rescue, giving us temporary relief from the slight blogger’s block we’ve been experiencing this week. This wine sounds delicious. Think we’ll go pick up a bottle right now to go with our dinner tonight. See ya later! (Oh, it’s $15.99 and call Simon to order at 323-856-8699…)
Simon says:
Another fantastic summer-friendly wine gets the nod this month. At first glance you may wonder why a sparkling red should receive such a designation, but this luscious, yet dry Lambrusco is a wonderful companion to almost any picnic/barbeque fare or pastas one can imagine. Salumi, prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano, burgers, tagliatelle alla bolognese etc. all seem so much more delicious while you slurp down some of this refreshing, frothy red.*
It’s low in alchohol, really only slightly sparkling, so definitely not to be feared…
Once a wine regarded with what might be charitably characterized as disdain, Lambrusco is occasionally sublime when in the hands of the right producer. The Lini family from the Po Valley in Emilia Romagna in north central Italy has been fashioning wines from this area since 1910, and their experience shows here. The wine is stuffed with ripe fruit, has ample bright acidity which lends the wine its refreshing character and is just simply delicious.
*Remember, for best results, Chill this down…
Well, not quite the full Mollydooker shake…but they did survive their first earthquake earlier today. Seems that most of our shelves held up fairly well, especially the ones designed by genius Sam Moyer. But by most, we mean not all…the GORM unit we have from IKEA, upon which rests various bin ends and odd bottles, was about as stable as Dave Chappelle circa 2005.
We’ll be back tomorrow, with regularly scheduled programming.
Our first ‘domaine547 selection’ is a deep, brooding and delicious Syrah, made by the fine folks at Stolpman Vineyards. It’s due to arrive very soon, and is on special at a mere $20 a bottle. Get some, open it up and drink it in. We’re super-excited to share it with you. What’s that? Whatsit!
Gary Vaynerchuk called this one of the best Moscatos he’s tasted on today’s show. You know where to go to see his videos. But it you’re looking for a west coast source of the wine, look no further than us. We love it too and have had it in stock since the day we opened. On sale while supplies (11 bottles left) last$17 bucks in honor of Vaynerchuk
We have a knack for picking Italian wines that score really horribly in the press. This one gets an 82 from the Wine Spectator — but we love it nonetheless. It’s a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Syrah that hails from a biodynamic estate outside of Lucca. It couldn’t be from anywhere else, unlike the 98 point yielding Super Tuscan blends that we’ve on occsasion mistaken for California iterations of Bordeaux varieties. This will probably end up in our six-pack prize of wines that will not make the Spectator top 100…$37 for 82 points (how’s that for transparency?)
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.
The 89 Project
We’ve joined a group of bloggers (wannabe critics, some have said!) as part of “The 89 Project,” an effort to explore the complicated matter of the 100 point system of evaluating wine. Go take a peek at the 89 Project blog, which has apparently already started a bit of controversy (and we’ve yet to make a post!). It’s interesting stuff.
d547 In the News! Pasadena Star
Just a quick link to another article about our little biz. This one is small scale but sweet. Thanks Pasadena Star!
