What's really new?

There is a whole big world of wine out there! This is why we taste as much as we do. We all have our favorites no doubt but for me and I think most wine consumers drinking the same thing all the time gets kind of boring. There are also some new wine ideas that are just plain silly, but the important thing through all of our trying and sampling and looking we find some really cool, and truly new things to expand our own pallets and to enhance the wine experience of our customers and the North Idaho wine community.

This journey of discovery involves finding new varietals, and varietals grown where they previously were not cultivated. It includes new combinations and innovative approaches, and we will try them all as we seek to have every appellation and every varietal available to our customers. This is the essence of what a wine shop is and does. Here are a few recent finds.

We have long been fans of vintage Beaujolais. Not the “Kool Aid” like plonk that comes out each year around Thanksgiving but true vintage Beaujolais that is made from the Gamay grape. One of the major wine growing regions of France, Beaujolais is known for producing lovely fruit driven and complex wines that compete with Pinot Noir in the lighter bodied categories. What we did not know is that Gamay is taking hold in Oregon too. We recently tried the 2015 Brickhouse Gamay ($35, wine club price $31.50) from there and wow what a wine! We immediately put it on the shelf and would encourage more Oregon grape growers to put it in the ground there. I think it probably does better than Pinot Noir in the cool costal climate of the Willamette Valley. While way too many of the Oregon Pinots are showing overly amped acids and unbalanced oak the Gamay is an elegant wine with great fruit and balance.

There are many great wines produced in both Chile and Argentina, what we did not know the caliber of wine coming out of Uruguay. We just recently tried both a Tannat ($19, wine club price $17.10) and Albariño ($15, wine club price $13.50) from Bodega Garzon in Uruguay and quickly featured them in our weekly wine special the “Friday Night Flights.” While the appellations of Uruguay are small compared to Chile and Argentina they are known for producing world class wines. High altitude grape growing and cool costal climate off the Atlantic are keys to the concentrated fruit ample structure and complexity in the wines. I would encourage you to try them.

Good wine is a must and great packaging never hurts either. That is the case with the premade Sangria from Lolea ($16, wine club price $14.40 for 750s and $5, wine club price $4.50 for 187ml). Made in Spain from all natural ingredients it is a light and refreshing low alcohol blend of wine and fruit juice and is frankly better than any Sangria I could make at home. It is available in both red and white and is one of the best new blended products I have ever tried.

We continue to see more and more rosè being produced every year, and as production expands winemakers are trying to make good rosè from an ever expanding number of varietals. Great dry rosè though doesn’t come from every varietal or every winemaker; it is a tricky balancing act that produces one of our personal summer favorites. We were so pleasantly surprised when one of our favorite producers from Piedmont Ruggeri Corsini crafted a perfectly delightful dry pink wine ($14, wine club price $12.60) from Nebbiolo.

Nebbiolo is known for its firm tannins and full body yet this wine is light and crisp, bone dry and possessing lovely berry flavors. The trick as Loredana Addari the winemaker pointed out during a recent conversation is getting the wine quickly off the skins before those super firm tannins are extracted, and the wine is still a light pinkish hue. She is a master and the wine is wonderful.

We all as wine consumers and wine professionals have our own wine journey and know which parts of that trip are our favorites. Finding the truly new wines that inspire us and enhance our tastes is surely a big favorite part of it for us; stop by the shop to check out some of the truly new things available. We think you might agree!

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.