So Many Wines, So Little Time
By Steve Prati in The Tennessean
January 2012
“I feel like a kid in a candy store.” I get that a lot from our customers. They see the thousands of labels, the new vintages, the varietals they have never tried and they wonder, is there some new delight, just waiting to be discovered? Experimenting with wine is one of life’s great pleasures.
Often, that means stepping outside your comfort zone—trying a new varietal or a wine you can’t even pronounce. That’s what makes wine tasting so much fun. We taste, we compare, we learn.
Here are a few wines you might explore:
Honig Sauvignon Blanc 2010, from Rutherford in the heart of the Napa Valley, is enough to give those trendy New Zealanders pause. Napa is usually thought of as Cabernet-Central (and Honig does make a killer Cabernet) but Sauvignon Blanc is their flagship wine. It shows crisp, pure aromas and flavors.
Michael Honig, owner and 3rd generation wine maker, is no stranger to the Nashville area. He has taken part in local wine events and talks enthusiastically about sustainability and green technology. Even the elegant bottle with its virtual image of the Honig vineyards makes a striking statement about love of the land.
Verdejo (ver-DAY-ho) is not a grape most people in this country know. A great example of this classic varietal is Shaya Verdejo 2009, from the wine region of Rueda in northwest Spain. Sourced from vines 75-112 years old, these grapes produce a wine both creamy in texture and bright with acidity. A dry, aromatic wine, it pairs well with foods such tapas, smoked fish, robust cheeses.
Spain, the third largest wine producing country in the world, has an amazing diversity of soil, climate and wine styles. The Vinya Carles Priorat 2005 illustrates that diversity. This inky, dark red blend of Carignan, Grenache, and Syrah comes from the exclusive, but tiny wine region of Priorat within the Catalonia area of northeast Spain. Layers of dark fruit flavors and spice wash across the palate.
Sella & Mosca’s Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva 2007, a Grenache-based wine, is from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, one of the world’s most ancient wine producing areas. This grape keeps showing up in different guises. Here it produces a wine that is warm, dry, and full of character—rather like the rugged land its vines cling to.
Steve Prati
Senior Manager
Cool Springs Wines & Spirits
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