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The retailers listed below have been provided the current
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July 13th, 2006
Wines Around the Pool
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Sure is hot out there.
You want to entertain, but not with a bunch of effort, especially
if the project requires much use of the oven. Even with air
conditioning, it's a good thought to keep the use of the oven
down to a minimum. Look for dishes that may require no cooking,
such as ceviche, salads, turkey tonnato (a version of the
classic vitello tonnato that uses a thick slice of turkey
breast in place of veal), cold soups (you can make a great
yogurt/cucumber/dill soup in the blender), and so on.
For simple patio dining, we want wines that don't present
a bunch of complications. Remember that wine-loving countries
tend to drink their daily quaff out of label-less bottles
with plastic stoppers. My best memory of a Bardolino came
in Cremona, Italy, near Milan, about a decade and a half ago
in a truck stop, where the food, arranged in a self-service
line, was fabulous, and the wine flowed into your personal
single-serving carafe from a spigot. What a truck stop!!!
You ever see prosciutto and melon in a truck stop around here?
Simple fare; uncomplicated flavors; easy drinking wines. They
go together like, well, melon and prosciutto. Italians, French
in their bistros, and Argentines in bars serve wine in stemless
tumblers, what the Italians call bicchieri. Perfectly
fine on the patio, although stemware in an informal setting
also is fun, a bit quirky, and certainly shows the wine to
better advantage. You can get acrylic ones that are quite
serviceable so that breakage around a pool area isn't an issue.
Jane Garvey
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Wyndham Estate
Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc
"Bin 777" 2005
South Australia
Score: 88 Points
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied
dry white wine; pale greenish straw. Clean delicate scent of
lemongrass, canned peas (a typical and frequent in Australian/New
Zealand Sauvignon Blanc) and herbs; flavors pick up passion
fruit, with a zesty kick of good acidity (7.3% TA) adding length
to the finish.
Food Pairings: White pizza
with pesto; chicken salad with tarragon or poulet à l'estragon;
Asian dishes with lemongrass; Koean dumplings dipped in ponzu
sauce; crab cakes; sautßed soft-shell crab; raw or steamed
oysters with lemon; mussels vinaigrette or cold with mayonnaise
Price: $9
Wholesaler: National Distributing Co.
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Cline Cellars
White Truck Pinot Grigio 2004
California
Score: 87 Points
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied
off-dry white wine; slightly coppery pale yellow. Exotic aromas
suggest honeysuckle and white peach blossom; white peach flavors
with the merest suggestion of aromatic brown spices. Pretty
mid-palate with ripe white peach flavors, with lots of Pinot
Noir flavors. Classic of Pinot Grigio, thanks to . Grapes: Pinot
Grigio (92%); Muscat Canellil (8%). Moderately chilled, about
60 degrees, and yuo'll keep fruit coming. Very important, in
my view, not to get this one too cold., so keep to about 60
degrees. Food Pairings: Paella
or paella salad; cous cous or cous cous salad; wild salmon
salad with olive and fresh roasted roasted vegetables; salads
with exotic dressings, such as curry mayonnaise with poached
breast of chicken sliced and arranged on a bed of salad greens;
grilled chicken and yellow stone fruit *peaches sliced), and
the whole arranged on a bed of greens.
Price: $11
Wholesaler: Atlanta Wholesale Wine |
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French Rabbit
Chardonnay 2004
Vin de Pays d'Oc, France
Score: 86 Points
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied
dry white wine; medium pale yellow. Aromas suggest pear and
a bit of almond; simple white fruit flavors--pear and white
melon--with a clean, pleasant finish. Easy to enjoy. Full liter
Tetra pak bottle with a screw cap. Refrigerator friendly, unlike
many such cartons, and doesn't get mushy when set in ice. Can
be recycled. Serve well chilled as a quaffer.
Food Pairings: Simple picnic
fare, best as an aperitif: But will work with some foods,
such as mayonnaise dressed potato salad (really good), dishes
with exotic seasonings, such as curried chicken or shrimp
salad with bell peppers; salmon ceviche with citrus juices
and red onion; cous cous salad; paella salad. Does not like
hefty garlic.
Price: $14/litre
Wholesaler: Empire Distributing
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Shoofly White
2005
South Australia
Score: 90 Points
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied
dry white wine; medium pale straw. Clean, fruit-filled aromas
melding grapefruit and lime, while flavors uphold a complex
arrangement of grapefruit, peach, lime and a touch of passion
fruit. Good mid-palate, with flavors that take the complexity
all the way to the crisp, long finish. Grapes: Verdelho leads
(55%), followed by Viognier (22%), Sauvignon Blanc (18%) and
Riesling.(5%), and you can taste all of their roles in this
wine. Very well done. Stelvin screw cap closure for easy picnic
pouring. Food Pairings: Very
food friendly: Lightly salted potato chips and French onion
dip; fish salads; soft-shell crab; white pizza; dishes with
pesto; herb/garlic Boursin on angel-hair pasta with a dab
of olive oil; poached fish on greens with aïoli, steamed chilled
mussels with home-made mayonnaise; chicken tarragon salad;
pasta salad with fresh herbs and garlic dressing; pasta tossed
with garlic/herb Boursin; Korean dumplings with pnzu dipping
sauce
Price: $13
Wholesaler: United Distributing |
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Domaine
Houchart Rosé 2005
Côtes de Provence, France
Score: 90 Points
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied
dry rosé wine; medium reddish pink. Fine aromas of
red fruits, well integrated, with no single element dominant.
Refreshing red fruit flavors, raspberry especially prominent,
touches of candied apple and cotton candy (the flavor, not
the sweetness). Very long finish. Good acidity. Extremely
well structured and balanced. Also an extremely good value.
Grapes: A veritable fruit salad, including Grenache (35%),
Syrah (25%), Cinsault (20%), Cabernet Sauvignon (10%), Mourvedre
(5%) and others (5%). Serve moderately chilled, about 55 degrees.
Food Pairings: Aperitif wine,
with light appetizers, such as salmon mousse, sushi and sashimi,
Chinese barbecued spare ribs or pork barbecue buns; spring
rolls, ham salad or ham croquettes. Also fried chicken (especially
if it has a little spice to it); cold smoked salmon (awesome),
grilled ham steak, barbecued chicken, smoked breast of lamb
with mild barbecue sauce
Price: $10
Wholesaler: Atlanta Wholesale Wine
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Cellier des
Dauphins Rouge 2003
Côtes du Rhône, France
Score: 88 Points
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied
dry red wine; medium deep ruby red. Aromas of black fruits,
black raspberry prominent, evolves dried cherry note; flavors
settle on black fruits with a good hit of black pepper, signaling
the presence of Syrah perhaps in the blend. Finish seems a bit
hot, so foods with some richness are needed. Firm but not aggressive
tannins. Excellent value. Intriguing recycling of a traditional
bottle shape. Don't fear to cool down to about 60 degrees, cellar
temperature.
Food Pairings: Smoked liverwurst
(Patak); fried or grilled chicken, grilled lamb, hanger or
flank steak sliced and laid across greens, red wine Dijon
mustard vinaigrette or with brie cheese drizzle; grilled vegetables;
smoked beef ribs, asado de tira (cross-cut flanken) with chimichurri
sauce (don't make it too spicy hot), grilled pork tenderloin,
burgers and pizza
Price: $9
Wholesaler: Atlanta Wholesale Wine
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