Mommy & Daddy Day Wines
Mother's and Father's days are about getting people together and paying tribute to parents and all that it means to be one. Wine not only makes for a nice gift, but is one more way to help stimulate conversation.

>>> This Month's Column

Cru Bordeaux Wines (6 Seats Open)
Thursday, May 20th (AWS Wine Room in Roswell)

The "Cru's" are the best Bordeaux has to offer. Mostly reds, but also excellent dry whites and Sauternes will be shown. Attendees will be loaded up with freebies from the Bordeaux wine association Sopexa. >>>> More Info

Sexy, Seductive Pinot Noir (6 Seats Open)
Wednesday, May 26th (AWS Wine Room in Roswell)

Referred by many as "sex in a glass," the velvety and silky Pinot Noir-based wines are always a favorite of our guests. We'll show a bevy of Pinots from around the world. >>>> More Info

Spain is HOT! (NEW Course!)
Thursday, June 10th (AWS Wine Room, Roswell)

No one can deny the sea-change that has swept Spanish wines in the last decade. The wines are highly-rated and still a value. Your instructor will have arrived home from Spain the day before this class--and will have surprises to share! >>>> More Info

Certified Specialist of Wine Training Program (9 Seats Open)
Sunday, June 27th (AWS Wine Room in Roswell)

The CSW Credential is one of the industry's most recognized and Atlanta Wine School helped produce just shy of 25% of all CSW credentials issued in 2009. Join us and earn an expert credential in wine. >>>> More Info

Introduction to Wine, Level I (Just Posted)
Monday, July 12th (AWS Wine Room in Roswell)

Spiral-bound book & tasting guide, riveting interactive lectures, and six to twelve wines to taste per class. This course takes the wine curious and creates wine enthusiasts! >>>> More Info

• (1) Wine Position Posting (Including Housing Assistance!)
  Bradley Park Wine & Spirits of Columbus, Georgia is seeking a Wine Manager. For the right applicant, the owner will provide housing assistance if you are relocating to the Columbus area. Interested parties should contact Vijay Singh (not the golfer!) at 706-507-7600.
• Wine Shipments to Your Home is UNDER ATTACK
  Crafted by the National Beer Wholesalers Association (ironically) the bill hopes to strengthen state governments' control of alcohol sales, allowing them to protect the three-tier system of distribution while putting a much greater burden on people challenging it. If you wish to do something about it, Free the Grapes has set up this very easy way to notify your congress person. >>> More
• New International Wine Label Contest Accepting Submissions
  The first annual International Wine Label Design Competition is now accepting entries! A panel of internationally recognized judges will award Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates in various categories for wine labels from around the world. Preliminary round label submissions will be accepted until July 15.
  >>> More Information & To Enter the Competition
• Old Bridge Cellars Provides Results of 10-Year Study on Screw-Cap Closures
  This closure trial was conducted by the Australian Wine Research Institute to assess the relative
  effects of cork, plastic and screw cap closures on bottle-aged wine and has shown rather convincingly the superiority of screw caps in aging wine. >>> The Results (Adobe PDF)
• Women Wine Drinkers Overtake Men
  At 53% of wine drinkers, women take the lead on opening, serving & quaffing our delightful beverage. However, as old habits die hard, there is still an 80% chance that the wine menu will be handed to males first at fine dining establishments. >>> Read On
• Wine Writer & Master of Wine Tim Atkin Publishes his 2009 Report on Bordeaux
  An exciting vintage indeed--and your Connect With Wine publisher was there on the scene in October, 2009 watching as the juicy grapes rolled into wineries, amid wide French smiles. Tim Atkin has summed up the vintage in a very handy little document that is FREE.
  >>> View the 28-Page Summary (Adobe PDF)

Jane's Monthly Dozen: Wine with Fish
by Jane Garvey

May and June bring into focus special attention on our parents. Of course, the meal planning for Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day will depend on their individual tastes, and certainly they can’t all be lumped into one taste category. My mother called me one day in a classic maternal fury when a wine retailer had convinced her to buy a blush wine, and when she tasted it, well, let’s just say she resented having such a thing palmed off on her just because she was in her 70s and sported gray hair.

Wine and food tastes will vary not so much with age as with our tasting experiences. What we are in our 30s and 40s we tend to drag kicking and screaming with us into our later years, and that goes as much for food and wine tastes as it does for anything else. If we’re adventurous in youth; we’ll stay that way in all likelihood into our dotage, and if health permits continue to explore food and wine.

That said, I've assembled a collection of wines--white, pink and red, and still to sparkling--that will, hopefully, have something for everyone. Having quite eclectic tastes myself, I enjoy everything, but find that people are inclined to think I don’t drink sweet because, of course, I’m “sophisticated,” right? Wrong. Of course I drink sweet if it’s balanced and well made. How silly! So there are some choices here that will not only appeal to someone who prefers the sweeter wine profile, but also to someone who has an open palate-mind about wine.

And there are wines that appeal to the guys, who often like the bigger tastes in wine, both white and red. (I still say they should be balanced.) But there again, I have women friends who are much more likely to drink a big red than any white I can name. And still others who favor those big, oily California Chardonnays that I left behind a long time ago.

If Mom and Dad are collectors, now may be a good time to bestow upon them a wine worthy of the cellar (although it also drinks beautifully right now), and that’s the 2006 Cardinale Cabernet Sauvignon (United Distributors) from Napa Valley. It's pretty scarce, so you’ll have to plan this in advance, and it will set you back $200 a bottle, but it’s a wine that is at the top of the line.

And if Mom and Dad play golf, choose something good that reflects that theme, as several big name golfers--Ernie Els from South Africa (Guardian Peak, near Stellenbosch, in cooperation with Rust en Vrede), Greg Norman and Arnold Palmer--have lent their names or their influence to winemaking operations. Also check out the new Ben Hogan from JanKris in Paso Robles (Big Boat Wine Co.).

Herewith, then, is a wide-ranging selection of dry and sweet wines that should appeal to a variety of wine-consuming parents of all ages. Given that hard-working children will be buying these wines, I've chosen what I think are some excellent values, too.

Here's to your parents. May they be with you many decades.