This Week’s Feature is the 2007 Roogle Shiraz $11.99

“R Wines is a new company founded by importer and marketing genius, Dan Philips, along with co-owner, renowned winemaker, Chris Ringland. Needless to say, the packaging of these wines is amazingly creative but, more importantly, what is in the bottle consistently over-delivers from low-end to high-end.. Consumers owe it to themselves to read the witty back labels. The Marquis Philips wines have established a six year track record of delivering a big bang for the buck. The wines are now made by a team put together by Dan Philips and Chris Ringland with absolutely no change in quality.” Robert Parker

This wine is a steal from down under.  90 Points Parker last year and this year may even score higher.  If you have been a fan of Pillar Box, Marquis Phillips, or Three Rings this is right up your ally.  Here is the 06 review from Parker for a benchmark.

“The 2006 Roogle Shiraz was aged for 12 months in seasoned French and American oak. It is purple-colored and offers up a big whiff of cedar, blueberry, blackberry, and chocolate aromas. Full-bodied, ripe and sweet, it has enough structure to improve for 2-3 years in the bottle but who is going to defer their gratification?”

This always sells out fast.  Call or email to reserve a case.

Third Time is a Charm

This is the third and last time we will mention the 2007 De La Garrigue CDR because this is your last chance to snatch some up before it is gone, gone, gone.  We have twenty cases coming in to sell and then there will be no more to be had.  Buy them before it is too late.  $14.99 per bottle

“The 2007 Cotes du Rhone Cuvee Romaine, a custom cuvee for importer Eric Solomon made from 60 to 90-year old vines, is a joint project of Solomon and the Bernard family that owns the wonderful Gigondas restaurant, Les Florets, and the brilliant oenologist, Philippe Cambie. A sensational blend of 65% Grenache, 25% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah, it boasts a dense purple color along with a gorgeous nose of creosote, kirsch, blackberries, licorice, and hints of smoked herbs and roasted meats. The wine possesses fabulous ripeness, fresh acidity, full body, and layers of both flavor and depth. It is a remarkable effort.” 92 Points

Thursday Night Wine Tasting

Come one come all and taste some excellent wine from Tuscany.  I’ll be chatting about the region’s wines starting at 6:00pm.  Drop in before 7:30 and try a sampling of some of the best Italy has to offer.  $15

Hugh’s twenty-five buck prix fixe

January 15^th to January 21^st  

menu a 

1. 

watercress salad with bistro vinaigrette, poached leeks,

orange and fried capers

2.

English pea risotto with crisp bacon, mint, fried shallots, pecorino, and leek cream

3. 

chess pie with huckleberry compote and whipped cream 
 

menu b 

1. 

farro and lamb soup with mint salsa verde

2.

corned beef with grain mustard, "not my mother's" brussel sprouts, fork mashed fingerlings with horseradish, creme fraiche, dill and toasted caraway

3. 

vanilla crème brulee with pecan sandies 
 

$25 per person… no substitutions... eat your vegetables. 

Introducing the Monday Mixer……

Folks, on Mondays from here forward we will be offering 15% off on mixed cases….call it the recession buster discount.  Life is tough enough without suffering through drinking unpalatable swill.  Take advantage of our amazing selection and already low prices with the added incentive of 15% off.  

The discount will not be applicable to…

1)     Special orders

2)     Cases we are holding from our email offers

Pass this along to your friends and don’t forget to mention our ever changing selection of wines under $12.  We stock roughly one hundred wines in the category and they all beat the heck out of grocery store wines. 

Short on time?  Call ahead and let us mix up a case for you.  Pull up front, pay, and we’ll put it in your car for you.

Double white wine of the week buy a bottle of each one and get 10 percent off!

e double vin blanc de l'achat de semaine une bouteille de chacun et descendent de 10 pour cent

2005  Trevor Jones Boots $9.99
Dry  White Table wine from Eden Valley,South Australia,Australia  

This wine is a tank-fermented and aged blend of Muscat and Riesling. It is incredibly floral with focused flavors of peaches, lemons and sandy stone soils of weathered mica-schist that quench the palate clean.  It is an ideal wine for grilled chicken and those early tomatoes.

2005  Francois Chidaine, “Les Tuffeaux” Montlouis $23.99
A Chenin Blanc from Montlouis,Touraine,Loire Valley,France  

Review by David Schildknecht of the Wine Advocate

 “Assembled from numerous parcels and only discretely sweet (even if surprisingly high in residual sugar), the Chidaine 2005 Montlouis Les Tuffeaux is a marvel and the most youthfully expressive wine in Chidaine’s current collection. With an ethereal aroma that alone is worth the price of a bottle, this fills the nostrils and imagination with myriad flowers, pit fruits, citrus, tropical fruits. Waxy rather than creamy in texture, and almost nobly rich in its honeyed way, with effusive ripe quince, banana and pink grapefruit tinged with salt and chalk, this cuvee finishes with purity, penetration, and remarkable persistence.”  Rating: 94 points

Seminar tonight will be a mixed bag of tricks sure to delight where Ben and Taylor juggle  tasty bottles of juice! 5 dollars for 5 tastes. drop in between 6-8pm.

Hugh’s twenty-four buck menus

every night for 5:30, 5:45 and 6:00 reservations

6/19/08 to 6/25/08

menu A

1.

crisp local baby sweet onions wrapped in country ham with wild mushroom jus

2.

grilled lamb lollipops with rosemary jus, olive rissole, and roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with ground lamb, oregano, and lemon zest

3.

mixed berry trifle

menu B

1.

spaghetti and clams with red chile flake, scallion, lemon, oregano, thyme, and crème fraiche

2.

crisp north Carolina trout with lemon-oregano jam, braised fennel,

roasted tomato, and pinenut couscous

3.

lemon verbena crème brulee with cookies

$24. dollars per person

no substitutions; no swapping between menus; no to-go

the menu options will change at least once a week

eat your vegetables or you don’t get dessert

The Wine of the week is 2005 El Curato, Toro, Spain (100% Tempranillo) $11.99

This amazing value is one of many gems brought to us from Aurelio Cabestrero, who imports some of the most exciting wines of Spain. It can not be matched in its everyday value. I love Tempranillo for all its many facets. This wine is filled with delicious, pure red fruit, interesting spice and a subtleness that is outstanding. There is no over-ripe or over-extracted elements, which unfortunately has become the norm, to this wine.

Check out what Aurelio Cabestrero say:

“This wine, produced by the Aragon brothers of Cillar de Silos, aims at breaking down the stereotype of Toro wines as very hard, tannic and alcoholic. The goal is to make an intensely fruity wine, pleasant and far from the traditional concept of wines from this zone. Produced from 20-40 year old vines, hand harvested with temperature controlled fermentation in stainless steel and only 4 months in a combination of American and French oak barrels.”

Wednesday Night Seminars are back and we are loving it!

It’s a six to eight thing with your hosts Ben Giacchino and Taylor Carmichael.  We will keep going with the grab bag motif  to give us game time flexibility.

Hugh’s twenty-four buck menus

every night for 5:30, 5:45 and 6:00 reservations

Jan. 24^th to Jan. 30^th

menu A

1.  garlic soup with chorizo, mirepoix, and local egg yolk

2.  grilled lamb sirloin with black olive vinaigrette, couscous with quince membrillo, and sautéed kale

3.  red wine baked pear with shaved Roncal sheep’s milk cheese

menu B

1.  Caesar salad with applesmoked bacon, romaine, garlicky croutons, real parmagiano    

2.  spaghetti with clams, mussels, squid, and shrimp… with chile flake, lemon, garlic, parsley, and crème fraiche 

3.  chocolate polenta cake with honey semifreddo

$24. dollars per person

no substitutions; no swapping between menus; no to-go

the menu options will change at least once a week

eat your vegetables or you don’t get dessert

Greetings Fellow Wine Enthusiasts,

The Wine of the Week is the 2003 Duke, Shiraz, California $9.99

It is with a great deal of skepticism that we here at Gosford approach tasting wines and doubly so when the label says Shiraz on it and the wine is from California.  Hello, It’s Syrah here in the States people.  Add to that strike the fact that the label is just downright terrible and the door is practically shut on this wine finding its way onto our shelves, but here it is the Wine of the Week.  It must be good to overcome all its labeling deficiencies and indeed it is folks.  It is a nice restrained Syrah (only 13.5% alcohol) with balance and a touch of class not readily found in the under $10 category of wines.  It is fruit forward, it is Syrah, but its not a candy coated flabby mess of a wine like many cheap Shiraz tend to be.  Even our greatest skeptic of domestic wine, Jamie was thoroughly blown away.  Even our greatest, greatest skeptic, Ben was blown away, and alas our greatest, greatest, greatest skeptic of domestic shiraz, Joe was blown away.  Actually I was first cause I bought it, but anyway, give it a go and I think you will be very pleased.  Heck, buy a case and you’ll be pleased twelve times over.

If you missed the Fontanafredda Barbera $12.99 from last week what were you thinking?  The stuff is awesome.  My feelings were reinforced over a bottle night before last.  90 Points Wine Spectator and # 74 on their top 100. 

Wednesday Night Seminars are back in Vogue

It’s a six to eight thing with your host Ben Giacchino.  Ben will be taking a look at wines of Grenache, Syrah, and Mouvedre.

Hugh’s twenty-four buck menus

every night for 5:30, 5:45 and 6:00 reservations

Jan. 17^th to Jan. 23rd

menu A

1.

Butternut squash soup with toasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed oil, brunoise of country ham

2.
Cuban braised pork shoulder with avocado, Red Mule grits and pickled jalapenos 

3.
banana pudding with caramelized bananas

menu B

1.
roasted local carrots with mint, feta, scallion and arugula

2.
roasted mahi mahi with caper & lemon emulsion, fried green tomatoes, and a  stewed yellow steuben bean and roasted tomato

3.
mango chess pie

$24. dollars per person

no substitutions; no swapping between menus; no to-go

the menu options will change at least once a week

eat your vegetables or you don’t get dessert

Greetings Everyone,

I just wanted to share with you our Holiday Schedule…

We will be open  10am to 9pm all this week and

10am to 5pm on Christmas Eve,

We are closed Christmas Day and Dec. 26^th

The Wine of the Week is 2005 Corte alla Flora, “Podere del Giuggiolo,” Toscana, Italy $11.99

This wine is made of Prugnolo Gentile- an old clone of Sangiovese- that is great for guzzling: think, red fruits, violets, tobacco, earth with an underlying balsamic component that makes it really interesting and delicious. Because of the great acid the wine is quite applicable to an enormous amount of foods, sliced meats, steak, roasted chicken, salmon… This relatively new estate meticulously makes outstanding wines at very fair prices. enjoy!

Hugh likes wine:

Vouvray, how we love you.

When we talk about our adoration of you it's due to how you toy with our

emotions.  Sometimes you're sweet, like a Moelleux; sometimes cold-hot,

demi-sec if you will; sometimes you are dry and refreshing without being all

gushy and lovey-dovey.

The problem is that your year to year variation has me nervous...  I never

know what to expect.  But do you remember  '06 and '05?  That's when we

really found each other.  Your beauty brightened up dull holiday dinners

with your ability to chat with the ham and the turkey AT THE SAME TIME.  You

made vegans and omnivores happy.   They thought your accent was cute.  It

was two years of bliss.  Almost as good as 2002, when everyone  else was

under water but you were FANTASTIC.

Can we meet again?*  "bien sur, Hugo."

Jean Francois Merieau Vouvray, 'Fleuve Blanc', Sec, 2006

$20.99 btl

**Super young and talented producer making wines in Tours; does fantastic

Sancerre and gamay as well. **

This one is crisp and fruit laden, matching seamlessly with that turkey,

ham, tofurkey, mock-chateaubriand.

Actually if you are eating mock meat I recommend a demi-sec, maybe an aged

Huet.

There will be no seminar on Wednesday, we will focus on providing service to folks looking to buy gifts and such. Seminars will resume Jan.  9^th

Greetings, I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day. The dirty little rumor that Joe has been spreading about me (Ben Giacchino) returning to my beloved Gosford Wine is true! I am officially back on the job here three days a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)- and I hope that you all will come by and see me soon- I will be doing the seminars again as well and I am very excited. I will still be at the 5&10 on Friday nights; I love Hugh and all of my friends there too much to give it up all the way…

The selection for Wine of the Week is 2003 Domaine Magellan, “Ponant” Vin de Pays des Côtes de Thongue, France $9.99

This wine has been a mainstay here at Gosford since the day we opened. I love it- I have recommended it 500 times and now we have decided to honor it as the wine of the week. The Côtes de Thongue(located in the middle of the Languedoc) terroir is marked by irises and olive trees with most of the hillside vineyards facing southeast. The Mediterranean sea is a stones throw away, so you can imagine the flavor of this beauty- plum, dark red berry, tobacco spice and garrigue. It is a delicious red that has four years in the bottle and is really hitting a stride, as I sit here now glass in hand, sipping, I wonder why anyone would ever look anywhere other than the south of France for bargain wine. I mean- TEN CLAMS- for this wine is a crime against Sylvie Legros, the owner of Domaine Magellan.

The seminar will be a grab bag of things that I select for your ultimate tasting and drinking pleasure, it will be a ode to some of my favorite wines and regions- I will have stories and information about the wine and Lukas will be here to back me up if I need some heavy guns… you all know the drill 6pm-8pm, $5 dollars gets you in the door.

What to get the person who has everything?  It’s been on a rare occasion that I’ve heard someone lament that they have too much wine.  Who’d feel sorry for them anyway?  Let us help you pick the perfect bottles or make them happy with a gift certificate.  Happy Holidays!

Cheers,

Ben

Alright Folks,

Last week we featured the Chateau Romfort Bordeaux and it sold out, but if you didn’t try it you can have another shot at it when it comes in again on Wednesday.  This week we are upping the ante a little bit and I think you will be blown away by this beauty.

On the heals of a nice little Bordeaux, this week’s Wine of the Week is the 2004 Chateau Guiot Cuvee Alex $19.99. This is a step up from the Romfort in power, body and extraction.  It is an amazing wine worth the dollar and perfect for these cold nights we have ahead. Located in the Costières de Nîmes appellation, François and Sylvia grow both beautiful grapes, and incredible fruit (apricots & cherries), in the area where the Provence, Rhône and Languedoc regions all meet around the mouth of the Rhône River. All work is done by hand with great care and skill, and their wines reflect the authentic Provençal setting. Cuvée Alex –Costières de Nîmes- is named after Bobby’s son and 2004 was its premier release. It is a blend of 55% Syrah, the same fruit that makes the other super-premium wine Numa, named after the Cornut’s eldest son. The remainder of Alex is old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon. Each of these wines is aged in barrel for up to 13 months. This is a severe selection, using only the finest grapes on the estate. The result is an enormously extracted, concentrated wine with very powerful black fruit and intense spice and wood notes. This wine is delicious now but will gain complexity over the next 10 years.

Wednesday Night’s Seminar will feature wines from southern France.  The cost is $7 and drop by anytime between 6pm and 8pm. 

Cheers,

-Joe

Midweek’s Greetings from Gosford Wine . . .

Gosford is drowning in blood . . . colored wines.  One of which is our . . .

Wine of the Week. . .(!) Which is the 2006 Guelbenzu ‘Red,’ Ribera del Queiles, Spain; $12.99/btl.  This wine hails from Aragon, and is a blend of Merlot, Syrah, Tempranillo, and Graciano.  The wine has a beautifully deep cherry hue, with excellent body and glass-staining weight.  The nose is clean and expressive, with bright berry notes and subtle spice.  The mid-palate of the wine is lush and satisfying.  There’s more berry fruit with supersoft and sweet tannins briskly approaching.  The finish flushes full with the afforementioned sweet tannins, and thanks to the wine’s low alcohol (13.5%) it lingers gently with lilting purple fruits and soft peppery goodness.  Tastytasty.

Most readers know that at Gosford we prefer to taste and evaluate our wines without knowledge of their pricing.  As many wines as we taste, we gradually acquire a ‘feel’ for how much a given wine ‘should’ cost.  In the case of the Guelbenzu ‘Red,’ I tasted it and ‘knew’ that it was a solid wine for $17.99.  We’ve several Spaniards in that price range just now, and I was ready to pass on the wine and ask to be reminded of it in a couple of months.   I didn’t even bother to check the price.  When I saw that I could sell it to you for $12.99 I pounced immediately. 

Don’t forget about our Wednesday Wine Seminar tonight . . . Bonnie and Lukas will guide you through a selection of our new fall selections.  November starts tomorrow, so we’ll be tasting and talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas wines.  Come on out! 

The Puerto Viejo Carmenere is back . . . yes, folks, former WoW and Gosford Wine Superstar Puerto Viejo is back to satisfy your taste for modernized Bordeaux-esque herbaceousness.  As before, the ‘old port’ is yours for $9.99/btl.  Check it out.

I literally had to stop the presses for this one . . . The 2003 ‘los800’ Rojo from Priorat, Spain ($17.99/btl.) is an exquisite wine for the price.  It’s a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and it’s perfectperfectperfect for fall.  It’s a lovely brick red with pale rose reflections, and it smells absolutely fantastic: apples spiced with clove and cinnamon, with just a kiss of dark chocolate and deeply subdued leather.  On the palate the wine is softly coating, with gently encroaching tannins, black pepper, and a satisfying burst of black cherry and cranberry.  On the finish, the wine shows beautiful fruit concentration, soft and slightly spicy tannins, with baking spice, orange peel, and cider lingering forever over clean black granite.  This is an awesome wine for the price, not to mention that it’s the most European Priorat that I remember having had.  Come check out this prince of feast wines, and enjoy it at the 5&10 as well, where it’s burning up the specials board. 

Call or e-mail ahead to reserve yours.  Trust me on this one.  

Hugh’s twenty-four buck menus

every night for 5:30, 5:45 and 6:00 reservations

prix fixe November 1st through November 7th

menu A

1.  chicken and gnocchi in "brodo" with sorrel and mirepoix

2.  grilled and molasses lacquered quail with puy lentils, buttered savoy cabbage with caraway, and roasted sweet onion soubise

3.  chess pie with macerated blackberries and lemon balm whipped cream


menu B

1.  marinated Georgia shrimp with chow chow vinaigrette and Woodland Gardens arugula

2.  blackened redfish with dirty rice, sauteed cucumbers and a lemon emulsion

3.  chocolate cookies with peanut ice cream, espresso chocolate sauce and peanut brittle

$24. dollars per person

no substitutions; no swapping between menus; no to-go

the menu options will change at least once a week

eat your vegetables or you don’t get dessert