ADVERTISING: Advertorial — GEORGE BALLING: New reviews
Customers of the shop and readers of our weekly wine column know that we are always on the prowl for tasty new wines to add to the collection. Few of us like to drink the same things all the time and the “big world of wine” here in North Idaho is always expanding. For wine geeks this is the best part of working in the business of wine, so here are some reviews of recent additions.
The 2018 Liquid Light Sauvignon Blanc ($20, Wine Club price $18) is an interesting new development from our friends at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. We just tried the wine at a trade tasting this past week and while I am frequently suspect of wines developed strictly by the marketing folks, this one was actually done right. The grapes for this wine come from two cool-growing sights. The grapes are harvested early in the crush to further reduce the sugars, resulting in a wine with lovely acidity, crisp clean citrus flavors and low alcohol at 12.5%. Here’s the punchline, this was done during winemaking to produce a lower calorie version of SB with just 105 calories per glass with the typical domestically produced SB coming in at 140 calories.
What I like about this approach and this wine is that in addition to being delicious, the calorie level was reached by good conventional winemaking processes, not some manipulation of the wine after it was vinted. It also pretty much shreds the “dry farmed wines” gimmick that has been circulating around the internet. Even if low calorie wine is not your focus, this wine deserves a try for its quality and clean unmanipulated approach to winemaking.
The 2018 Arona Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough ($15, Wine Club price $13.50) is a great wine from the appellation more known for SB than any other. What we liked so much about the wine was its differences from the typical New Zealand SB. The wine showed lots of lime and mineral notes on the nose. The palate was loaded with grapefruit focused citrus flavors, and just a hint of tropical fruit notes. Absent was the bracing acidity and gooseberry aromas that can be a bit overdone in some New Zealand wines. For us the wine embraced the best parts of New Zealand bottlings, with an eye toward balance and highlighting some nice, tropical flavors.
The 2018 Domaine des Cassagnoles Reserve ($14, Wine Club price $12.60) from the south of France is a crisp and inviting white wine. The regular white blend from Cassagnoles has been a regular in our shop on and off over our entire history. The Reserve bottling is crafted from 100% Gros Manseng and shows lovely flavors of lime and broiled lemon. The aromas are mineral and saline based and the wine is clean across the entire palate. The mineral notes make it great with seafood, like oysters, or any salty cheese.
We think Colter’s Creek is in the top couple of wineries in the state of Idaho. We recently tasted with the winemaker here in the shop and added his 2016 Cabernet Franc ($35, Wine Club price $31.50) to the shelf. Colter’s makes varietally true wines at fair prices. This is precisely what drew us to the Cabernet Franc. Too many winemakers attempt to make Cab Franc taste like Cabernet Sauvignon. I want mine to taste like Franc. The Colter’s does that perfectly, showing the classic dusty violet and bell pepper aromas that repeat on the finish with the tannins taking on a dusty element. In between is loads of blue fruit, a simply great expression of the varietal.
We were recently offered the remainder of the 2015 vintage of the Volpaia Chianti Classico, ($30, Wine Club price $27) and we snagged it. 2015 was a fabulous year in Italy and sadly there is not much wine left from the epic growing year. The Volpaia is all we want from great Chianti. Plenty of ripe berry flavors with mild earthiness on the nose and perfect acid tannin balance framing the fruit. This is about your best chance to secure the last of the 2015s.
The 2017 Hayes Valley Meritage ($15, Wine Club price $13.50) is a great red blend from the central coast of California. Cabernet based and containing all five Bordeaux varietals, the wine shows lovely aromas of ripe Italian plums and soft notes of cedar spice box. The palate is juicy and ripe with balanced oak and well-integrated tannin. The wine is an amazing value for a Cab based bottling from California and will work well with your Tuesday night pizza or your Saturday night filet mignon.
Stop by the shop to give any of these wines a try and to check in on the other new arrivals!
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George Balling is co-owner with his wife, Mary Lancaster, of the dinner party, a wine and gift shop in Coeur d’Alene by Costco. The dinner party has won the award for best wine shop in North Idaho twice, including for 2018.
George is also published in several other publications around the country. After working in wineries in California and judging many wine competitions, he moved to Coeur d’Alene with Mary more than 10 years ago to open the shop.
You can also follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/#!/dinnerpartyshop.