VINTAGES HEADLINES:

*HIP SIPS for Summer: SCURATI Bianco & CATHERINE LE GOEUIL Cairanne
*2004 BURGUNDY from DOMAINE GROFFIER
*IN THE NEWS: Vintages in BOSTON MAGAZINE
*“Wine Dog” Whites-- Reg. $30 Now $19.99!!

*NEW! HIP SIPS FOR SUMMER
White
2005 SCURATI BIANCO $14.99 (Sicily) This outstanding Sicilian white from 100% Grecanico is our top pick for the ultimate summer wine! Beautiful silky fruit, very fresh with crisp finish. Outstanding! Eric tasted this wine in Italy with Vincenzo Melia, owner of the Ceuso estate, and was WOWED by this white. Only 70 cases were shipped to the entire U.S., and 20 of them are at VINTAGES!

Red
2004 DOM. CATHERINE LE GOEUIL CAIRANNE “Cuvee Lea Felsch” Cotes du Rhone Village  $15.99 (Southern Rhone)

Eric visited the Le Goeuil estate and selected this bottling of Cairanne, which has just arrived! “Cuvee Lea Felsch” is an amazing blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Counois. Deep, dark black fruit with big, velvety tannins. Rich flavors, chewy tannins, weighty body, boldly delicious! Great for summer grilling, or when the evening cools by the shore or at the lake.
The Catherine Le Goeuil estate is in Cairanne, at the foot of Mt. Ventoux, with 17 hectares of vines, most of which are 40-years+ in age. They use organic practices in the vineyards, and all grapes are hand-harvested.

*2004 BURGUNDY from DOMAINE ROBERT GROFFIER "One of the best winemakers in the Cote de Nuits." VINTAGES has carried red Burgundies from Domaine Groffier since we began. Truly one of the top estates in the region for their excellent grand cru and premier cru vineyards, expert vignerons and appropriately restrained vinification. It was an honor to finally visit the estate in Morey-St.-Denis last month to meet Robert and Mme. Groffier, and their son, Serge. As expected, we were very impressed by their line-up, sourced from their excellent estate vineyards in the Cote de Nuits. Here are two choice picks:

2004 ROBERT GROFFIER BONNES MARES GRAND CRU $185. ($157.25 with case discount) Exotic aromas, perfectly ripe fruit, profound length and depth, extremely long finish! Awesome! “Good deep red. Complex nose combines blueberry, mocha, espresso, licorice and pepper. Fine-grained but tightly coiled, with noteworthy energy to its brooding flavors of black fruits and dark chocolate. This offers excellent verve and firm tannins that avoid hardness... 93 points.” --Stephen Tanzer

2004 ROBERT GROFFIER Bourgogne Rouge $35 ($29.75 with case discount) Beautifully perfumed nose, gorgeous fruit, smooth, assertive tannins and great purity. “As is often the case, the Groffiers' 2004 Bourgogne was one of the best I tasted in Burgundy, and the Passetoutgrains was an outperformer as well." – Stephen Tanzer

VINTAGES IN THE NEWS: Biodynamic Wines in Boston Magazine Vintages got a plug in BOSTON MAGAZINE’s July 2006 issue in the article “Red, White and Green” (pp. 147-148) as the source for biodynamic wines featured in the article. It’s an exciting category for exploration and adventure. While some of these wines are similar in taste to their conventionally-made counterparts, other biodynamic or “radical organic” wines are quite different in appearance, flavor and character. In addition to different vineyard practices, some of these winemakers use extended maceration, and fermenting in terra cotta vessels or chestnut barrels to get more intense character and flavor. The resulting wines can be very complex and sophisticated, or simply fresh, “unadulterated", deeply flavorful, and enjoyable. Many are distinctly unconventional for the best reason– a different way to experience the possibilities of wine.  For the full article, click or paste the link below to your browser.
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/dining_food_wine/articles/liquids_biodynamic_wines

The following wines are biodynamic or “radical organic” recommendations of VINTAGES:

2004 CONTADINO II MT. ETNA ROSSO, $17.99 (Sicily)

2005 DOM. LA LOUVETRIE MUSCADET “Amphibolite Nature” $12 (Loire Valley)

2002 MOVIA PINOT GRIGIO, $24 (Slovenia/Friuli)

2004 ALAIN GUILLOT MACON CRUZILLE “CLOS DE VIGNE DU MAYNES” $24 (Burgundy)

2004 MASSA VECCHIA BIANCO VERMENTINO, $39 (Tuscany)

2001 LE DUE TERRE “SACRISASSI” BIANCO Colli Orientali del Friuli $50 (Tocai, Ribolla, Sauvignon)

2002 LE DUE TERRE MERLOT Colli Orientali del Friuli $62

2002 CASTELLO DI LISPIDA “AMPHORA” $80 (Special $60) (Veneto)

*“WINE DOG” WHITES – Reg. $30, now $19.99!!! Bow-Wow! A trio of elegant, exclusive white wines from Liguria, Lazio and New Zealand for your summer dining pleasure. Enjoy at sizzling savings!

2004 COLLE DEI BARDELLINI PIGATO “La Torretta” Reg. $30; NOW $19.99! (Liguria)
Colle de Bardellini, managed by oenologist Pino Sola, is one of the few Ligurian estates that has always done the right thing for indigenous grapes such as Pigato and Vermentino. This tiny 4-hectare estate produces a single-vineyard Pigato that is a sophisticated charmer. Straw-yellow color leads into a profusion of summer flowers, fruit and honey, lifted by notes of Mediterranean scrub. Dry, crisp, lingering; perfect with fish or seafood!

2004 CLOS HENRI MARLBOROUGH SAUVIGNON BLANC $30 NOW $19.99! (New Zealand) HENRI BOURGEOIS, one of the top producers in Sancerre, Loire Valley, also makes superb Sauvignon Blanc at his Marlborough, NZ estate. Flavors of passionfruit, ripe white pineapple and an underlying grapefruit note are set off by a distinct roundness, depth and persistence of flavor. Top class!

2001 SERGIO MOTTURA GRECHETTO “Latour a Civitella $29.99 NOW $19.99! (Orvieto) Three Glasses Winner The story of “Latour a Civitella” begins when Louis Latour, the famed Burgundy negociant, supplied a number of his proprietary barriques for vintner Sergio Mottura’s experimentation. Several vintages later, “Civitella” has won the “Three Glasses” award. “Made exclusively from Grechetto, and still aged in the small barrels from Beaune, it offers warm, silky softness shot through with complex, almost tropical fruit nuances and sustained length, which stays sweetly warm on the finish.” –Gambero Rosso. All Mottura’s wines are organically grown.

Enjoy the summer!

Eric & Carolyn
VINTAGES-Adventures in Wine
53 Commonwealth Ave. West Concord, MA
978-369-2545
open Mon-Fri 10-8; Sat 10-7
info@vintagesonline.com
© 2005 Vintages - Adventures in Wine