Our fall 2016 lineup
By the time this column “hits” the paper, and the paper lands on your doorstep, it will be September 4th, and we will be in the Labor Day holiday weekend. While this means we are about to enter the fall season, it also means we are about to start our winemaker dinners and tastings again.
We will again be partnering with our good friends Laurent and Patricia at Fleur de Sel. The four of us met over our off-time this summer to come up with plans for making the dinners an even more enjoyable and innovative wine and food experience. As always, they will sell out quickly, so make your reservations now to ensure you get a spot.
We start on Sept. 22 when we welcome Nina Buty and Buty Winery out of Walla Walla to town. Nina has evolved as a winemaker, and every step along the way, I have found the wines getting better and better. The full lineup shows a seamless and elegant presentation that will no doubt pair with Laurent’s culinary creations perfectly. After the wine dinner on the 22nd, Nina will be at the shop on Friday the 23rd for a tasting.
In October on Thursday the 13th, we will be hosting a return appearance by Gilbert Cellars from Yakima. Depending on the progression of harvest, either winemaker Justin Neufeld or founding family member Charlie Gilbert will be here. The Gilbert family has farmed fruit in the Yakima Valley for generations, while Charlie and some of the other Gilbert offspring have focused the growing operations more on wine grapes, starting the production of some really great wine. A while back, we featured the Gilbert Mourvèdre in our wine club. To date, it remains the best-selling wine we ever put in our club. On Friday, Oct. 14, Gilbert will be here at our shop for a tasting.
November will be truly special as we welcome one of the most classic Napa Valley names to town. Winemaker Marcus Notaro of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars will be with us for a wine dinner on the 10th Thursday and a shop tasting on Friday the 11th. From the time of the great Paris tasting in the 1970s to today, Stag’s Leap has cemented their presence atop the heap of wineries in Napa with vintage after vintage of consistently stellar wines. That legacy has been handed down to Marcus without missing a beat in producing spectacular wines. While all of our events sell out quickly, this one may go even faster, so join us for these great events and a chance to secure your favorite special bottles for the holidays.
Many of you know South Africa native Dirk Brink from his tenure at Coeur d’Alene Cellars. Dirk has since moved on to the iconic Basel Cellars in Walla Walla. Dirk is gradually putting his stamp on the Basel Cellars wines. He recently sent a bottle of his Semillon up for me to try, and it was remarkable. Sleek, balanced and elegant, it bodes well for the Basel wines under Dirk’s leadership. We can’t wait to taste more of them. Dirk will be here for a winemaker dinner on Thursday, Dec. 8, followed by a tasting here at the shop on Friday, Dec. 9, two more great opportunities to secure your favorite bottles for the holidays.
While not firmly scheduled yet, watch for our special January event we are calling George and Patricia’s “garage sale.” It will be a special dinner and tasting, featuring wines the two of us have found digging through the back shelves of our local distributors, wines that have been forgotten and neglected for no apparent reason. It will likely become an annual event and will feature some of our favorite choices.
Watch our website www.thedinnerpartyshop.com and your email or stop by the shop for additional tastings and a new feature we are very excited about, a prefunction before the dinners we are calling “Time in the Cellar” which will feature personal time with the winemakers when you can learn more about each winery and experience some special wines in addition to all the great bottles featured during the dinner.
We look forward to seeing you in the coming months; if you would like to be added to our email invite list send us a note at info@thedinnerpartyshop.com .
If there is a topic you would like to read about or if you have questions on wine, you can email George@thedinnerpartyshop.com, or make suggestions by contacting the Healthy Community section at the Coeur d’Alene Press.
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George Balling is co-owner (with his wife Mary Lancaster) of the dinner party, a wine and table top décor shop located by Costco in Coeur d’Alene. George worked as a judge in many wine competitions, and his articles are published around the country. You can learn more about the dinner party at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com. Be sure and check out our weekly blog at www.thedinnerpartyshop.com/home/blog-2 You can get all of these articles as well as other great wine tips by friending us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.