Wine of the Week, Wednesday Seminar, Fabulous New Priorat

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