We opened this Chardonnay as a bonus tasting, Scott and Zineb are choosing wedding wines. $3.49 at Manteca Grocery Outlet ~ $5.89 elsewhereĢ013 Fabio Viviani Chardonnay, California $4.99 Dry, underlying oak, good everyday chardonnay Tasting notes : Sweet honey on the nose, light mouthfeel. It paired really nicely with the spicy Mediterranean Jack cheese, which Terry called ‘earthy’. Neighbor Steve thought it was more like a Pinot Grigio than a Chardonnay. to be), also really liked this Lodi Chardonnay. Zineb, AKA: the Rockin’ Morrocan (Scott’s D.I.L. Scott didn’t find it too sweet, which many whites are too sweet for him, he liked it. Arvin thought it tasted like apricot right off the tree. Scroll to the end for the rest of these ‘bonus’ winesĢ015 Honeywell & Todd Chardonnay, Lodi $3.99Ĭonnie liked the aroma of apricot and commented that she tasted a touch of honey, Larry agreed but also tasted pear. Honeywell & Todd Chard ~ Pull Cab Sauv ~ Lithos Merlot ~ Botte Malbec I think the sweet lemon is my favorite though. We set out to try as many wines as we could to get reviews for the 20% OFF Wine Sale this week (April 10 – 15, 2017), it’s tough job, but somebody has got to do it!īTW, these Finlandia Spreadable cheeses are amazing! The vanilla bean flavor could pass as frosting, and is great with fresh strawberries. Well, it’s no secret that wine pairs nicely with cheese so during the Marathon Wine Tasting on the Front Porch this week we had plenty of cheese. I’ll tell you a little secret: we actually have regular customers that work at other grocery stores in town that come here just for the cheese. We get so many specialty cheeses in every week at bargain prices, it’s really a great time to be alive. The fridge is often empty, but that drawer never is. Smile.I feel pretty comfortable saying I love cheese more than anyone. Army in the Islands from Colonels down was slightly tattered, but still placed in a rack of honour.Ĭombine ingredients in a shaker over ice. This drink found its way down through the Islands to Mindanao from Manila, and we found it in the little Overseas Club standing high above the milk-warm waters of the Sulu Sea, on the suggestion of a new friend, just met and while perusing the first edition of that Norm Anthony-George Delacorte opus Ballyhoo, which after having passed from hand to hand through most of the U.S. Baker's mixing classic Jigger, Beaker, & Flask. This bottle celebrates community amongst the growers and makers of wine and spirits, and those of us who consume them passionately.įor this a favored brandy of ours we would like to recommend a cocktail. We purchased approximately 600 gallons of their pinot noir that had been affected by the wildfires, distilled it, and rested it in a red wine cask for 2 years before bottling it at cask strength. The fruit for Fortis was grown by Flâneur a vineyard and winery in Oregon making truly beautiful wines. And it will be just as lovely then as it is today.
A form that is protected from decay and spoilage - and will sit, waiting for those who will enjoy it, whenever the occasion presents itself. From the ashes springs something new - and while far from the soft and rich wine expressions they had been grown for - they find a second chance of life in this new form - as a brandy.
For wine growers facing increasing pressure and uncertainty, options for what to do to stay whole become increasingly important.įortis & Regia gets its name from alchemy - loosely interpreted to represent strength and resilience, riches and luxury. Distillation - involving the separation of molecules by boiling point - can liberate the alcohol and the wines more delicate, volatile aromatic compounds, capturing them and concentrating them into a spirit and shielding them from the elements of decay. Trying to recoup your investment on a growing season lost to wildfires, drought, extreme disease / fungal / pest pressure is a bleak and often futile exercise. Climate change and extreme weather pose a grave threat to wine growers. Some winemakers have done some truly outstanding work to shape these affected wines into some remarkable bottles - but it presents a remarkable challenge. Smoke impact involves heavy phenolic compounds get bound up with sugar in the fresh fruit, letting their presence go virtually undetected, until fermentation liberates those compounds and makes a resulting wine described to me once as akin to licking an ash tray.
Fortis & Regia is a brandy made from Oregon pinot noir fruit that absorbed smoke from wild fires.