
Armeno Coffee Roasters‘ Holiday Wine Tasting Event series continues this Saturday, December 12, from 1 – 4pm. Each wine tasting features a completely different selection of wines. There is no charge to attend the wine tasting, and all Armeno wines are 15% off this Saturday. This is a great opportunity to stock up for your holiday events, or to purchase gifts for friends and family.
As I’ve discussed wines with the various hosts at each of the wine tasting events this holiday season, one theme that has come across loud and clear is the value available in the market today as vineyards compete for your attention and prices drop. The additional Armeno Coffee Roasters discount available this Saturday makes it an event you can’t afford to miss!
A quick review of this Saturday’s featured wines reveals and intriguing list of holiday selections from around the world….
2007 Quinta de la Rosa Douro Tinto – Alto Douro, Portugal
Elegant and subtle aromas and flavors that show great complexity with every component of the blend well integrated and well defined. The La Rosa 05 is a wine with strong character and excellent structure. Its equilibrium is a dominant factor which will allow the wine to age well and give enormous pleasure. La Rosa Douro Tinto is ready for drinking but can also be aged. Serve at cellar temperature with any meat dish or cheese.
2006 Fitch Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon – Alexander Valley, California
Mike and Nicole Duffy of Optima (Fitch Mountain is their second label) are responsible for this gem. This is loaded with tons of black currant and black cherry fruit flavors blending into a fine veil of rich yet soft tannins. A little green pepper upfront but comes around in the midpalate with solid blackberry and currant. It finishes long, spicy and memorable. A great value/price! Drink now or set aside for 3-5 years.
2003 Cave de Cairanne Cuvee Antique – Rhone Valley, France
50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre – Color purple with black tints typical of an intense concentration. The nose, spicy at first evolves to blackberries and prunes with notes of pepper. The palate is complex and elegant, first with liquorice and blackberries evolving to a long peppery finish. Serving temperature 17° – 18° C.
2006 Chono Carmenere – Maipo, Chile
Wild flowers and violets at the nose, boysenberry the dominant fruit, gaining complexity with layers of spice and licorice on the palate. The fruity sensations evolve lush and ripe on the palate and are packed in sweet tannins that speak of the extraordinary sun on the foothills of the Andes.
88 POINTS – Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar Mar/Apr 09: Deep red. Youthfully backward aromas of cherry and dark berry skin, with a slow-building tobacco quality. Juicy cherry-vanilla and blueberry flavors are braced by zesty acidity and betray no rough edges. Finishes with seductive sweetness and a repeating vanilla note. This would be great with a strongly seasoned, grilled hunk of red meat.
2005 Marina Cvetic Montepulciano d’Abruzzo – Abruzzo, Italy
The style of the wine is distinctly Italian, but with great roundness and generous fruit appeal. Bold fruit is coupled with subtle nuance and the natural fragrances of San Martino—wildflowers, wild herbs, the dusty soil laden with old sea bottom and granitic glacial scree, saffron, truffle, the myriad of trees and bushes that surround all of Masciarelli’s finest vineyards. Genuine Italian vinous art pure and true.
Tre Bicchieri – Gambero Rosso 2009
BEST RED WINE – 2009 Lithuanian Wine Championship
89 POINTS – Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, Jul/Aug 09: Full, dark ruby. Wonderfully floral nose shows rare purity and precision to the aromas of pomegranate, watermelon and red cherry. Light and nicely balanced on entry, with a seamless quality to the high-acid red fruit flavors. Finishes subtly smoky and long, but misses out on an outstanding rating due to building tannins that are a bit strong for the amount of underlying fruit.
88 POINTS – Wine Spectator 6/15/09: Shows clean, ripe forest fruits, with hints of flowers and vanilla. Full-bodied, with firm tannins and a fruity finish. There’s good fruit, but this is a little hollow midpalate. Drink now.
2008 Marco Scolaris Pinot Grigio
It has a straw-yellow color with a slight ash-grey hue. The bouquet is elegant and persistent. Very fine notes of fresh, maybe exotic fruits and acacia flowers can be distinguished together with a particular bread crust scent. To the palate, it has a solid, particular and personal structure, with a dainty taste and an excellent persistence.
2005 Meeker Lobster Cove Chardonnay
98% Chardonnay, 1% Muscat, 1% Gewurztraminer – “Refreshing,” “crisp,” and “fruity” are the perfect words for this non-typical California Chardonnay. Loads of tropical fruit aromas and flavors. No oak. Only 14% malolactic. Did we mention no oak? Great with seafood or any light summer dish, or for sipping beside your own island lagoon . . . that is, of course, presuming that you have your own island lagoon, in which case we’ll bring the wine. “SEAFOOD’S FAVORITE CHARDONNAY!”
NV Monmousseau Brut Etoile
Light golden color. Small long-lasting bubbles. A full and frothy initial expression, with almond, fig and pear flavors, a soft refreshing finish. Serve between 6 and 8°C (42-44°F). Ideal as an aperitif wine, it suits perfectly to make a Kir Royal or Mimosa as well.

Enjoy!
Armeno Coffee Roasters