Simon’s Pick, July: 2007 Vinho Verde Branco Adamado, Ponte de Lima

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

Simon from Larchmont Wine offers us a refreshing white for these interminably hot summer days…pick it up from his shop, or call him at (323) 856-8699 to order — we can’t find it listed on Wine-Searcher but at $10.99 a bottle, even with shipping, this sounds like a steal.

Is this the perfect summer wine? Is such a thing possible? We think this acutely refreshing and lively white from the northwest of Portugal comes awfully close…A blend of mostly Loureiro, with a little Trajadura and Pederna, this Vinho Verde (“Green Wine”*) shows ample jasmine, ripe green melon, kiwi and green apple on the nose. It is light-bodied, nervy and fresh on the palate with plenty of citrus and tart apple flavors.

There is also a fun light effervescence which tickles the tongue nicely. A mere 10% alcohol by volume means quaffability one usually only dreams about. You could polish off a bottle with barely a backward glance…

Pair this with seafood, the finned and the shelled, especially ceviche, spicy Asian and Latin dishes, Indian food and a multitude of appetizers. It is a very adaptable food wine. $10.99 a bottle. –SC

* A clarification: the wine is NOT green, but “Verde” refers to its youthful freshness…so now you know.

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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.

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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

January 3rd, 2009

The Year Ahead At domaine547

January 1st, 2009

Around the Wine Web: Affordable Bubbles

December 23rd, 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.

Frizzante

March 29th, 2008

Scorekage

March 23rd, 2008

Rioja

March 3rd, 2008

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!

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