Screw the Wine Spectator Top Ten! This is our top pick for November wine. It’s perfect for the Thanksgiving table, and we don’t care of Beaujolais for the holiday is somewhat of a cliché. This is so balanced, great acidity and a fantastic bright color and red fruit core to it. It screams cranberries! And did we mention it’s just $19? Buy some Beaujolais!
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There seems to be a battle brewing online this week for the most talked about wine(s) in the blogosphere. A few weeks back, it was all about the Rockaway (just Google that, we’re too lazy to find the myriad links). Now, it’s all about two unlikely competitors: Loire Valley/Beaujolais bargains from France vs. Twisted Oak’s new River of Skulls Mourvédre, the first “mailing list” allocated wine for the much blogger-celebrated winery.
It’s not quite a West Coast vs. East Coast match-up of bloggers, but the Loire Lovers do seem to reside on the Eastern seaboard. The River-dancers are more scattered about, geographically speaking!
Go here, here and here for more on the Loire wines…and here, here and here for just a few of the many River of Skulls reviews. Click here if you want to sign up for the mailing list.
Now, we realize that Twisted Oak sent samples out to bloggers…but we know of no such effort on the part of French Gamay producers (or Louis/Dressner who imports many of the wines). We do wonder, though, if Asimov, Brooklynguy and Dr. Vino might have dined together recently!
FYI, we’ve yet to try the River of Skulls but look forward to doing so. We had a chance just yesterday to taste the ‘06 Spaniard, and it was delish. So elegant and balanced, without going overboard with oak in a Jorge Ordonez kind of way. This leaves us very excited to try the Skulls. Also, check back soon, as we’re going to be stocking up on some of the Chermette Beaujolais which we agree, for the money ($16), is pretty much an unbeatable bargain.
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
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!
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!
Just a quick note to let you know that a week from today, on Monday, March 8th, 2010, I’ll be hosting the first domaineLA wine tasting event at Susan Feniger’s Street, with the Manincor winery of Italy. The importer and winemaker will both be present to chat about the five wines being poured (including an unusual and delicious dry moscato), and the wines will be paired with light bites.
The best news is that the event will cost just $15 a person…a bargain! Swing by between 6PM and 8PM — I hope to see lots of you there!
Susan Feniger’s Street, 742 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038
Oh, and you can buy tickets in advance, online by clicking here:
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.
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!
