ADVERTISING: Advertorial — What’s new?

The release of new vintages of wines are aggregated in the spring and again in the fall. It is a fun time for us as wine professionals because we get to try all that is new. This spring is no exception, we have tasted some great new wines that we have brought into the shop. Here is a list of some of what’s new.

We are excited to have the 2021 Black Stallion Chardonnay ($23, Wine Club $20.70) back on the shelf. It is one of our favorite Chardonnays from California that is pure California in style. We haven’t had the wine for some time, their 2020 vintage of this delicious wine was one of the casualties of the brutal fire season that year. The wine shows aromas of chalky minerality and ripe apple and pear. The palate is rich with flavors of toasty oak, vanilla more ripe apple notes with a buttery smooth finish. It will be great with shrimp salad.

When we tasted the 2021 Arneis from Marco Porello ($25, Wine Club $22.50) we knew we had a wine that could fill the gap we had in the collection for a great white Piedmontese wine. We haven’t had a varietally bottle Arneis for some time. We love the generous texture Arneis offers, it has wonderful palate weight but maintains a crisp and clean presentation. The wine shows wet stone minerality on the nose and clean citrus across the palate. Arneis like this one from Porello is a great cheese wine, especially hard salty cheese.

We can only hope that rosé season is just around the corner. We just added the 2021 Triennes Rosé ($19, Wine Club $17.10) from Provence in the South of France to the shelf. Some of the biggest names in French winemaking are behind this delicious pink wine including Aubert de Villaine and Jacques Seysses of Domaine de la Romanee Conti and Domaine Dujac respectively. The wine is crisp and clean with loads of spring berry flavors and aromas, exactly what we want from dry rosé. Pair with your Easter brunch.

We found the most delightful Spanish Tempranillo in the 2021 Venta Morales ($14, Wine Club $12.60). For all of you who have enjoyed The Spanish Quarter red over the last couple of years this is your new alternative. Dense rich red fruit on the palate combines with aromas of ripe cherries and coffee on the nose for a lovely and gently priced red wine. Its ample acids make it pair great with everything from your Tuesday pizza to your Friday burger.

The more we get to know the wines from Gaja the more universally impressed we are. While Angelo Gaja is less involved now, with his daughter handling much of the winemaking the wines have never “missed a beat.” We recently picked up the last few bottles of the 2018 Gaja Sito Morisco ($80, Wine Club $72) and wow, what a treat this wine is. The wine is primarily crafted from Nebbiolo grown in the home region of Gaja in Piedmont. The fabulous 2018 vintage shows through as the wine is ripe and ready for Nebbiolo illustrating just how warm and consistent 2018 was across Europe. Blue fruit flavors and aromas abound with soft well-integrated tannins the wine is a joy from start to finish. Pork Milanese with salsa rosa will make for an elegant meal.

We have been fans of a red blend from Sonoma County on and off for many vintages, and it just started to show up again. We are unsure who is behind this winery but the 2019 Angels & Cowboys Proprietary red ($26, Wine Club $23.40) is another gem of a wine. The wine is Zinfandel based with a blend of Rhone varietals in the mix as well. The result is dark aromatic and fruit driven wine that is rich on the palate with a soft but lengthy finish. We are just thrilled to have it back, as you will be the next time you put a steak on the grill.

For us wines from South Africa can be a little overly dirty with a bit too much of the barnyard and tar character that develops in the grapes of this New World appellation. The 2019 Kanonkop Kadette Cape Blend ($25, Wine Club $22.50) has none of that! With the wine being from South Africa as you would expect the wine has a healthy dose of the indigenous grape Pinotage along with several of the Bordeaux varietals. The wine shows ample aromas and flavors of dark berries, cherries and plums with silky tannins and a lengthy finish, and it will go great with just about any pasta dish you feel passionate about.

We are always on the hunt for new great bottles to add to the shelf so stop by the shop for these and all the other new selections.

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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 or visit www.thedinnerpartyshop.com.