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

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

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

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

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

As usual . . . bring a friend anytime between six and eight this Wednesday night.  We’ll probably try to set up largish groups, so that Bill has more time to discuss each wine.  So, maybe you should bring just a little patience as well.  Thanks, and we’ll see you tomorrow.

Easy now . . . just because I said we had plenty of the Vieux Chêne Rouge doesn’t make it inexhaustible.  Save some for your friends, people(!).   You might ask, “What are we saving?”  What you’re saving is a delicious Rhone-style blend of Grenache and Syrah from Vaucluse that’s a perennial favorite at Gosford.  It’s easydrinking and beautifully balanced, and hence ideal for cocktail consumption; though it’s got enough class and aromatic complexity to make it a perfect dance partner for everything from cheese to roasted meats.  I acknowledge that the wine is a fabulous value at $10.99, but that’s no reason not to share . . . if you’re going to buy it all, be a friend-to-man and pour it at a party or something (they say there’s a pretty big, if not the very biggest, cocktail party this weekend).  This red wine defies its price with a flamboyant excellence that seems almost deserving of punishment, if one could discern just how to punish a wine.

Buybuybuy.  Call or e-mail ahead to reserve your bottles and/or cases.  

I don’t know if y’all heard me, so I’ll go ahead and repeat myself:

Everyone’s talking about the 2005 Chateauneuf-du-Pape . . . but until those are released (or ready to drink, for that matter), trust Gosford Wine to find the best values in ready-to-drink CDP from years past.  The 2003 Bois de Boursan CDP Rouge is a Joe Attaway selection that, in his boomingly authoritative and semi-divine tones, “stood out as an exceptionally elegant Chateauneuf in the classic style, which is all the more surprising for hailing from the typically over-ripe 2003 vintage.  Their 2003 Chateauneuf-du-Pape is a real testament to the class, restraint, and respect for tradition embodied in the wines of and personalities behind Bois de Boursan.”  Well put, buddy.  Those of you who know Joe Attaway know that he talks exactly like that.  And it was talking-like-that Joe who mandated that we’d give the wine away for $39.99/btl.  I told him that was crazy, but there was jest no stoppin’ ‘im.

Don’t forget to come to the tasting, it should be a lot of fun.

Hugh’s twenty-four buck menus

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

prix fixe October 25th through October 31st

menu A

1.  joe pearn’s carrot-jalapeno soup with cilantro creme fraiche and toasted pumpkin seeds

2.  grilled piemontese skirt steak with crisp polenta cake, swiss chard, salsa rossa, and salted capers 

3.  honey-drenched almond cake with roasted pear

menu B

1.  local butter lettuce salad with walnut oil vinaigrette, toasted walnuts, roasted butternut squash, and feta

2.  panko dusted catfish with spicy tomato chutney, crisp okra and lemon emulsion

3.  pumpkin panna cotta

$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

Before the litany of special items begins . . .

Don’t forget our Wine Seminar . . . my good friend Sarah Webb will be visiting with us this Wednesday, bringing select goodies from her already highly selective portfolio.  Her appropriately titled company, Unique World Wines, specializes in hard-to-find wines from across the globe (or: in Unique Wines from around the World).

She’s a superdear friend of mine, and I highly encourage you to come and have some fun with us.  ‘Tshould be a blast.  Bonnie, Sarah, and I will be awaiting you breathlessly.  As usual, please feel free to drop in anytime between six and eight pm any ol’ Wednesday.  No shirt, no shoes, no selfhood.

The 2006 Patricia Green line of Pinots is set to be released in a couple of weeks.  We’ve highly limited allocations of each of the following four wines.  They will not be arriving for up to two weeks.

The Patricia Green Estate Pinot Noir – $36.99/btl.

The Patricia Green Old Vine Pinot Noir - $39.99/btl.

The Patricia Green Croft Vineyard Pinot Noir –  $35.99/btl.

The Patricia Green Balcombe Vineyard Pinot Noir - $39.99/btl.

The reputation of these wines precedes them.  Please keep in mind that our quantities are extremely low.  Please act quickly if you hope to act at all.

As much as it denotes the time for red wines, cold weather also signals Riesling season, and do I have a treat for you . . . the 2003 Riesling from Canterbury House in Waipara, New Zealand; $16.99/btl.  This Riesling is made in the classic Spätlese style - off-dry with nice full weight and an expressive core of nervous acidity – with an extra kick of Southern Hemispheric earthy petrol on the nose.  As they say, Chardonnay is for drinking and Riesling is for aging.  Four years into its life, the Canterbury House Riesling is really shining.  This wine is fantastic, and if it weren’t coming from New Zealand you’d pay ten bucks more per bottle. 

I tasted some brilliant wines from Southern France last week, and I’d love to talk to y’all about them.  I saw fifteen wines from the Rhone, and I honestly could have found a home for every last one . . . but alas, what is life without choice?  These were my favorites, and I think that you will also be pleased.

The 2005 Maison Guyot “L’Alezane,” Vacqueyras, France; $24.99/btl.  This is one of the very best Rhone reds under thirty dollars that I can recall ever having tasted.  Where Gigondas of late has been given toward a sometimes overly abundant fruitiness, Vacqueyras has been making evermore elegant wines.  All of the typical old-school Rhone characters are present here, but with near-perfect balance and restraint, yielding a highly drinkable wine of obvious class and distinction.  This wine is perfect for the holidays: it’s rich enough for all Fall fare, distinctive enough to wow your wine-head buddies, and balanced enough for newbies to enjoy it painlessly.

The 2004 Maison Guyot “L’Envol” Rouge, Cotes-du-Rhone-Villages, France, and the 2004 Maison Guyot “L’Envol” Blanc, Cotes-du-Rhone-Villages, France; both are $19.99/btl.  I’ll defer in this case to the venerable Paul Bocuse.  His four ordinally named brasseries, Nord, Sud, Ouest, and Est, circumscribe the picturesque town of Lyon.  Each has been awarded the prestigious distinction of three Michelin stars.  Needless to say, the man has his pick of the litter when it comes to French wines, and he has both L’Envol Villages wines in each of the restaurants.  I concur with him that these are excellent, affordable wines that are highly versatile at table and abundantly satisfying as cocktails.  As with the Vacqueyras, the value here is tremendous.

The 2006 Maison Guyot “Domaine de Rochevine” Condrieu, France; $49.99/btl.  It’s an indisputable fact that one of the world’s greatest dry whites hails from Condrieu in the Northern Rhone valley of France.  What makes Condrieu amazing is that the high-altitude Viognier produced there has the rich, spicy, floral apricot and peach character you expect from the variety, but all expressed with a vibrance and liveliness which, in the best instances, can really boggle the mind.  You find that you’re asking yourself, “How can this wine have the richness of dried fruit, the juiciness of fresh fruit, and the intensity of preserved fruit altogether?”  It’s actually quite confusing.  Don’t be fooled by the youth of the vintage: Condrieu is the lone great white best drunk very young. 

(On a side note: this wine will absolutely dazzle your Chardonnay chugging cronies. It’s worth buying if only to see their faces when they take their first sip of this monster.)

Wine of the Week . .(!) which is the 2006 Gagliardo Fallegro, Piemonte, Italy; $12.99/btl.  The Fallegro is and has been a consummate favorite of Gosford Wine, and it’s perfectly suited to salve the wounds resultant to the reemergence of our Indian Summer.  Fallegro is made from the ‘Favorita’ grape, which takes its name from its preeminence among the vineyard hands of the Piemonte – it’s literally their ‘favorite’ from among the grapes of that land.  Melony fresh and white-flower kissed with the gentlest flush of spritz.  Call or e-mail ahead to reserve yours.

A wine by the name of Opus One has arrived in the store . . . I personally have never heard of it.  It’s a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from the 2004 vintage.  There are some names artfully written in cursive on the box: I think that they are ‘Robert Mondavi’ and ‘Baron Philippe Rothschild.’  Perhaps it’s some sort of collaboration.(?)  I feel like I’ve heard of those guys . . .  

Joe has done some research on some rare and interesting wines which we’re privileged to have around.  I’ll include that here:

2005  Artadi Vinas de Gain
A Tempranillo Dry  Red Table wine from Rioja,Spain   Review by Jay Miller
Wine Advocate # 169 (Feb 2007)
Rating: 94
Drink 2007 - 2032
Cost: $25-$35   The 2005 Vinas de Gain is produced from 100% Tempranillo with vines ranging from 40-60 years of age. The wine is aged for 12-14 months in French oak, 40% new. 2005 is a very fine vintage throughout Rioja and this entry-level wine from the superstar Bodegas Artadi is an awesome value as well as mind-boggling in quality. Purple/black in color, it offers up a killer perfume that is super-sexy. Among its elements are truffles, pencil lead, vanilla, cherry, and black raspberry jam. Full-bodied, the wine is opulent yet elegant, concentrated, and superbly balanced. There is enough structure to ensure 6-8 years of positive evolution and it should drink well through 2032. Kudos to Bodegas Artadi for this tour de force! Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565

2005  Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Mount Carmel Vineyard
A Pinot Noir Dry  Red Table wine from Santa Rita Hills,Santa Barbara,Central Coast,California,USA   Review by Robert Parker
Wine Advocate # 172 (Aug 2007)
Rating: 94
Drink 2007 - 2022
Cost: $52-$80   A dead ringer for a DRC Echezeaux, the 2005 Pinot Noir Mount Carmel exhibits a medium ruby hue as well as a big, expansive aromatic display of forest floor, sweet cherries, pomegranate, fresh mushrooms, and spring flowers. Fabulous fruit, a silky mouthfeel, a long, heady richness, full body, and moderate tannin suggest this Burgundian-styled California beauty should drink well for 12-15+ years

2005  Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay Mount Carmel Vineyard
A Chardonnay Dry  White Table wine from Santa Ynez Valley,Santa Barbara,Central Coast,California,USA   Review by Robert Parker
Wine Advocate # 172 (Aug 2007)
Rating: 94
Drink -
Cost: $52-$70   The 2005 Chardonnay Mount Carmel (a site which Brewer-Clifton now farms exclusively) exhibits honeysuckle, lemon butter, a hint of popcorn, and orange rind in a full-bodied, deep, chewy style that reminds me of some of the old Batard-Montrachets made by Domaine Michel Niellon in the late seventies and eighties.

2005  Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Rio Vista Vineyard
A Pinot Noir Dry  Red Table wine from Santa Rita Hills,Santa Barbara,Central Coast,California,USA   Review by Robert Parker
Wine Advocate # 172 (Aug 2007)
Rating: 93
Drink 2007 - 2017
Cost: $48-$60   The sexy, medium ruby-colored 2005 Pinot Noir Rio Vista reveals earthy, Allspice, raspberry, and black cherry notes, a broad, textural mouthfeel, full body, and a 7-10 year window of drinkability

2005  Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Cargasacchi
A Pinot Noir Dry  Red Table wine from Santa Rita Hills,Santa Barbara,Central Coast,California,USA   Review by Robert Parker
Wine Advocate # 172 (Aug 2007)
Rating: 92
Drink 2008 - 2023
Cost: $55-$75   Fresh mushrooms, forest floor, pomegranate, sweet cherry, and pepper characteristics are found in the deep ruby-hued, medium to full-bodied 2005 Pinot Noir Cargasacchi. Its earthy, peppery, black fruited character is reminiscent of a premier cru from Nuits St.-Georges. Give it 1-3 years of cellaring and enjoy it over the following 10-15.

Don’t forget our wine seminar . . . this week, we’ll be featuring awesome stuff that Bonnie and I like.  We look forward to seeing you all there.

As usual, drop in anytime between six and eight pm on Wednesdays.  Bring your $5 and your friends. 

Our Wine of the Week . . . is the 2005 Puerto Viejo Carménère, Curicó Valley, Chile; $9.99/btl.  For all those unfamiliar with the Carménère grape, the Puerto Viejo offers a nice chance to catch a glimpse of one of the wine world’s hidden treasures.  It was originally one of the six noble red grapes of Bordeaux (along with the Cabernets, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Malbec).  Its Bordelaise heritage is immediately obvious on the nose – it’s got that indescribable melange of mint, herbs, green pepper, red fruit acidity, and subdued caramel and butterscotch which so readily characterize the best in Bordeaux.  The wine is very expressive on the nose, while the palate is nicely soft, fruity, and plush.  The finish features a resurgence of the aromatics first noticed on the nose, which are now underpinned by a pleasantly dark register of licorice, bitter cherry, and charcoal.  It finishes as smoothly as you please, with nice aromatic length . . . very tasty.

Call or e-mail ahead to reserve your cases and/or bottles.

Don’t forget about our Wednesday Seminar . . . we’ll be featuring Spanish wines this week, with regions like Priorat, Bierzo, and the little known Rioja all making appearances.  We will be pouring the 2005 Artadi “Viñas de Gain” from Rioja, which is one of the early favorites for ‘Winepress Darling of the Year’ honors, and is therefore certainly not something to be missed.  The near-miracle is that the Artadi won’t even be the highlight of the show. . . .

As usual, drop in anytime between six and eight on Wednesday evening; bring your own casual self, a measly $5, and a thirst for – ahem – knowledge.  (I’m still cultivating the art of understatement. . . . I’m off to a very slow start.)

Though I wish it weren’t so, our . . .

Wine of the Week . . . again makes a perfect pair for temperatures in the mid 90s.  We celebrate the return of the Pierre Boniface Apremont from Savoie, France; $15.99/btl.  Made from the Jacquerre grape (check that one of the list), the Apremont is an even-tempered and almost voluptuously soft wine.  Eminently drinkable, the Apremont has been a genuine crowd-pleaser at Gosford in the past, and we expect it to be so again.  As cool and clean as the daintiest brook idling through the most quaint of dewkissed and beflowered dales, the Apremont will make the fairest company for all occasions.  If you can conjure, all-together, ripely sweet apples and pears and supple melons and white wild flowers and polished stones and sunshine sneaking past towering peaks of Alpine splendor, then you may just have the perfect associative analog to our delicious Apremont.  Get yours soon.

Tir Na N’og is back, though in fairly limited quantities.  Those who know the wine love the wine and this message is for them.  Please call or e-mail ahead to reserve your bottles and/or cases.

Our Wine Seminar tonight will cover some wines from southern France.  We’ll look at a couple of interesting whites, including the Apremont.  We’ll also have a look at a Pic Saint Loup, a Bandol Rouge, and perhaps a Chateauneuf-du-Pape. 

In a return to normalcy, please feel free to drop in anytime between six and eight tonight. 

All you’ll need is five dollars and some free time. 

Our wine of the week is . . . the 2005 Don Rodolfo Malbec from Cafayate, Argentina; $11.99/btl, $9.99/btl-case.  The vineyards at Cafayate – at 5900 feet (!) - are the highest in the world, and this wine nicely reflects the class and balance we associate with altitude.  Elegant and beautiful, the Don Rodolfo bottling reminds us that Malbec is originally a Bordelaise variety.  I was immediately impressed by this wine, and I believe that you will be also.  This is the best $11.99 you’ll spend this week.  If the first bottle tickles your fancy, consider the $9.99 case price.  We’ll have a bottle open for Thursday’s co-op drop, so come on by and try it for yourself.

week: Roberto Stucchi, visiting from Tuscany, will be at Gosford on Wednesday night. 

Italophiles that we are, we couldn’t be more excited.  Roberto is the winemaker of the vaunted Chianti house of Badia a Coltibuono, which is one of the oldest and most venerable wineries in Tuscany.  The estate itself was founded in the 11^th century by Benedictine monks, who began in that century to cultivate vines on their lands.  The property was still under monastic ownership when Napoleon (during his brief stint of Tuscan power) secularized the holding in 1810.  The monastery and lands were sold in auction to Guido Prinetti, Roberto’s great-great-grandfather.  Roberto’s family has owned the winery for nearly two centuries, and they have a deep and abiding faith in tradition.  Roberto himself is an oenologist by training who has, in addition to his work at home, substantial experience in the wineland of California, as well.  We’ll be exploring six red wines from his portfolio, including a 1995 Chianti Classico Riserva.  We should all be able to learn a great deal from Roberto and his wines.

Demand for this event should be considerable, so we’ll ask just this once that you RSVP.  We’re going to have two groups: one starting just after six, and another starting just after seven.  We’ve space for twenty people in each group, and we expect it to fill up rather quickly.  Please respond soon, though it will never be too late to ask.  Only in the event of a vacancy will we be able to accept walk-ins.  I fear that some may be turned away, and for this I sincerely apologize.    

Pleasepleaseplease call or email ahead and reserve a space for yourself, for it should be a night to remember.  I’m looking forward to the event, and I hope that you are as well.

Wines of the Week. . .(!) I couldn’t decide whether to acquiesce again to the heat and choose white, or celebrate our partial thermal liberation by choosing red . . . so I chose both.  I should add that the Silk Oak line of wines made it particularly easy to do so.  I tried the Viognier first, and was immediately impressed by its floral nose, its stone-fruit driven palate, and its refreshing finish, which shows just a touch of chalky earth.  I was further impressed by its very attractive price.  It normally sells for $10.99 - which is a steal, by the way – but we’ll give it away for $9.99 per bottle.  I had already decided to run this as a Wine of the Week when I tasted the Silk Oak Zinfandel, which was so pleasant and satisfying I couldn’t resist tacking it on, as well.  Like the Viognier, it normally sells for $10.99, but we’ll run it at $9.99 this week.  The Zin will please lovers of Spanish wine with its plump but not opulent texture and mineral-kissed finish.  It’s very tasty stuff.  Call or email ahead to let me know you’re coming.

Don’t forget our Wine Seminar this evening . . . whose theme will be “Off-Whites.”  We’ll be trying some of the more obscure white grapes this evening, including Chenin Blanc, Viognier, Gewürtztraminer, and Malvasia Bianca.  We’ll also experiment with a Provençal rosé, an Icewine from New Zealand, and a sweet Argentinian Torrontes.  Even if you prefer reds, I encourage you to come out and learn a little something new about the world of wine.  White lovers, rejoice!

As always, drop in anytime between six and eight on Wednesdays.  Bring bucks (five) and friends.    

Introducing, the Tailgater (or Kickoff Case, as you prefer) . . . Nothing stokes the varsity buzz like a rowdy red or light white wine.  If beer and bourbon are weighing you down, give the Tailgater a try.  This case of six bottles of the robustly satisfying Vina Alarba Old Vine Grenache and six bottles of the oh-so refreshing Casal Garcia Vinho Verde is the ticket-holder’s dream.  Our normal price for this case of wine would be $109.66, after tax.  We’ll let it go this weekend for $99.99, tax included.  Supplies should run short on this item, so please call or e-mail ahead to reserve yours.