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*** Staff Picks for 2020 ***
** John's Pick ** ** Gina's Pick ** ** Zach's Pick ** ** Andy's Pick ** ** Lou's Pick ** ** Kristen's Pick ** *** Brett's Pick ***
Celebrate the End of 2020 with a case of staff picks! |
Metro Wines Blogs
Stand in Solidarity with Being in the Middle!
The Middle Seat
Airlines are experimenting with middle seats that are wider
than the coveted window or aisle seats.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/
youd-actually-pay-for-
Often called crowd pleasers or party wines,
flavor and style profiles that hit the middle ground.
We suggest our March Winner!
60% of The Asheville Wine Focus Group @MetroWines chose:
2018 Clovis Cotes du Rhone, France
50% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 15%Cinsault and 10%Carignan
Organic, Steel Tank. $16.99
Medium bodied, red fruit including cherry with a touch of black pepper. Soft tannins.
Register HERE!
News Release: Friday, March 13th, 2020
Asheville Wine Focus Group
*** February Winner ***
40% Grenache (aged in stainless steel vats) and 60% Syrah (5 years in oak) Blend.
Rich and Fruity, The Asheville Wien Focus Group found this wine to be versatile.
Perfect for your table, parties or as a gift (especially chess players!) $18.99
Teaching Moment: Vin de France
A small category representing the wines that either fall outside of appellation lines
or don’t subscribe to the law and traditions set forth by the French government within certain classified appellations, “Vin de France” is a catch-all that includes some of the most basic French wines
as well as those of superior quality. The category includes large production, value-driven wines.
It also includes some that were made with a great deal of creativity, diligence and talent by those who desire to make wine outside of governmental restrictions. These used to be called Vin de Table
(table wine) but were renamed to compete with other European wines of similar quality.
News Release: Saturday, February 15th, 2020
ROLL OVER BIG BOX.
YOU'RE SNORING!
Ananto, Bodega Sierra Norte, established 1914
Organic, Vegan. Made in Requena, Spain
*** in a Box ***
The Red: A blend of 65%Bobal and 35%Tempranillo in a 3 Litre Box. 13.5% alc.
Certified Organic, Certified Vegan: Bobal 65% - Tempranillo 35%
"A youthful clean, dark garnet-cherry color. Complex aromas of red berry fruit
(strawberry and blackberry), good fruit expression, lively and complete.
The wine opens out on the attack on the palate and shows an impressive array of flavors,
great intensity and very good balance. Ripe, soft tannins bring a sensation of harmony."
The White: 100% Macabeo. Pale yellow, clean with green tinges.
Aromatic, well-balanced and fresh.
This white wine offers pleasant acidity that complements perfectly
the aromas of flowers, fruit and herbs that show through in the finish
What we are saying is these are Bottle Shop Wines in Boxes
at Big Box Prices!
Note to Big Box: You're sleeping on the job.
AND SNORING!
Red and White IN. And Rosé in a box is en route!
Asheville Wine Focus Group
February Winner
40% Grenache (aged in stainless steel vats) and 60% Syrah (5 years in oak) Blend.
Rich and Fruity, The Asheville Wine Focus Group found this wine to be versatile.
Perfect for your table, parties or as a gift (especially chess players!) $18.99
Teaching Moment: Vin de France
A small category representing the wines that either fall outside of appellation lines
or don’t subscribe to the law and traditions set forth by the French government within certain classified appellations, “Vin de France” is a catch-all that includes some of the most basic French wines as well as those of superior quality. The category includes large production, value-driven wines. It also includes some that were made with a great deal of creativity, diligence and talent by those who desire to make wine outside of governmental restrictions. These used to be called Vin de Table (table wine) but were renamed to compete with other European wines of similar quality.
TICKETS: HERE!
News Release: Friday, January 10th, 2020
Taking it back to when Zin was easy drinking and no thinking! Dry farmed, head trained, gnarly zinfandel vines farmed by the Tollini family that were planted in the 1970's in the heart of Mendocino are no bull! Easy tannins and bright natural acidity carry the layers of juicy fruit and zesty spice. Whether having a dinner party, barbecuing, relaxing after work, or on a weekend getaway, there's never a wrong time to make it old school.
Peterson Winery has been producing wine in Dry Creek Valley for 30 years and, like most wineries in the Valley, produces Zinfandel as well as other wines. Yet a closer look shows that is where the similarities end.
Owner Fred Peterson is an iconoclast with an old world winemaking philosophy and a reverence for sustainable farming. The Peterson approach is to capture the essence of vintage and vineyard—a philosophy they call Zero Manipulation—with low tech, yet high touch, to produce wines of a place, wines with soul. The evolution of Peterson wines and winemaking accelerated when
Fred’s son Jamie became assistant winemaker in the summer of 2002. In 2006, after moving from the tiny red barn on Lytton Springs to Timber Crest Farms, Jamie was given the overall responsibilities as winemaker. As a winegrowing team, Fred and Jamie assess the grapes from each vineyard and vintage as the season progresses, evaluating how the weather, soil and site are interacting for the particular vintage. At Peterson winery, the winemaking process begins while the grapes are still on the vines. Zero Manipulation is a discipline the Petersons follow to capture the character and balance of inherent in the grapes. Zero Manipulation means using the most gentle, traditional winemaking practices possible to maximize the flavors, aromatics and texture of the wines. Fred and Jamie celebrate vintage differences and don’t tweak or homogenize the wine to obtain consistency of flavors, a common practice in mass-market wineries. For Fred and Jamie, Peterson Winery is all about the wines. But if you look a little deeper, you’ll see the heart and soul that goes into every bottle.
Making great wines is all about balance.
It starts in the vineyards, where we try to achieve a balance from bud break in the spring until the grapes are picked in the fall. Balancing the canopy, the crop load, the sun exposure, the hang time, and the few hundred other details involved in managing a vineyard are what need to be considered to achieve balance.
Once the grapes are picked, it is then the winemaker’s responsibility to continue the balancing act in the cellar. All the variables that Mother Nature gave us during the growing season need to be considered because they affect the grapes and the approach to winemaking for that vintage. If you keep a good handle on the growing conditions of the season, you have fewer preconceived notions of what the wine should taste like because you’ve already been dealing with all the realities of that vintage.
With the winemaking underway, now the balancing act involves questions like how much oak to achieve the proper intensity in the wine,what type of oak best enhances the flavors in this wine, how often should this wine be racked, or does this wine need blending?
At Peterson Winery we practice the philosophy of Zero Manipulation.
Our definition of Zero Manipulation is using the gentlest winemaking techniques possible to maximize flavors, aromatics and the original essence of the wine. The less you do in the course of a wine’s tenure in the cellar, the more of the grape’s and vineyard’s essence you’ll have to bottle. Every time you do something to a wine, you take out a little of what you started with.
News Release: Thursday, December 12th, 2019
News Release: Monday, November 18th, 2019
Renee Roscoe of Klinker Brick hosted The Asheville Wine Focus Group @MetroWines last night. This gathering was a little different because we were asking Group to consider whether Klinker Birck, which has 5 to 6 placements in this small shop, should have one or two of their labels voted off the island! Not only are none of the labels leaving, we might have taken in two more! Renee brought Old Ghost and 1850.
There is no way to pick a winner. Participants snapped of every, and I do mean, every bottle of Rose', Brickmason, Old Vine Zinfandel and Syrah. And customers who came in shop after the eventtasted the wines at the counter and bought four more cases. The price to quality ratio is high. In most cases, Group guessed over the shelf price.
Klinker Brick early on realized that the climate at the winery was similar to The Mediterranean and pulled up Chardonnay to focus on varietals that fared will in Mediterranean temperatures and topography. Some of the new viticultrual residents include Albarino and Dolcetto.
We talked about old vines. It seems that "old vine" means 40 years or older but some of the deep down vines at Klinker Brick are over 100 years old. They struggle, they concentrate, they simmer down into elegance.
And we talked about red blends. Not every varietal plays well together. Blending is not a DYI project and that's a fact.
We talked about the versatility and tolerance of Klinker Brick Wines. Because of the smoothness in texture, most of their wines, even some of the reds! can even work with Indian flavors. So the flavors on your Thanksgiving Table has to be a cakewalk!
Shop crowd pleasing Klinker Brick all year @MetroWines. Clearly, it's not going anywhere soon!
Jacquart Brut Mosaigue
Half Bottles
Holiday and Host Gift Perfect
Mosaique is a non-vintage brut from top Champagne producer Jacquart. Lively and fresh, with a good backbone of fruit and a very fine mousse.
STOCK UP! These bottles will sell out.
This is a good time to mention our tasting
"Sizing Up The Holidays" @MetroWines!
Saturday, December 14th from 1 to 4pm
@MetroWines
Taste Sparkling Wines in all sizes
including single servings in a four pack
perfect for stocking stuffers or a host gift,
half bottles suited for opening a dinner for two followed by wine, and magnums that not only make an extraordinary gift but also look fabulous and festive on a table!
Reserve Your Seat HERE!
News Release: Tuesday, October 8th, 2019
The Felten Family own and manage fifteen individual vineyard blocks of “Old Vine” Zinfandel that range in age from 40 to 120 years old. Each vineyard is planted in sandy loam soils in the Mokelumne River Appellation of Lodi and the Clements Foothills.
In the nineties, the family began to market their zinfandel in the bulk wine market, selling to a number of prestigious, benchmark producers of Zinfandel in Napa and Sonoma Counties.
In 2000, Steve and Lori produced their first vintage of Klinker Brick Old Vine Zinfandel. They continue to produce wine from all of the vineyard blocks, culling only the very best lots for bottling Klinker Brick Old Vine Zinfandel and designated vineyard wines. They produced their first vintage of Farrah Syrah in 2001.
The Feltens and Klinker Brick have one goal…produce world-class wine.
RESERVE YOUR SEAT HERE!
News Release: September 18th
Where is the Love? That is what we were asking at the last Focus Group ("Group"). We presented four wines that we thought were great for the price, that have either fallen out of favor or just never got there. As always, Group was spot on and provided invaluable information.
Group was concerend about blends that do not indicate what the heck is in the bottle on the label. And while a wine story is good, it is not a great sales tool. For example, a bottle that was made from a special clone might be of interest to wine geeks but not so much to most customers. Group did think an eye catching label was imoortant in a sea of wine. But of most importance is education. More classes on wines such as txakolina are necessary to insure customers know what is being offered. And more informational cards on the shelf so custoemrs can roam around by themselves and get the drift.
So, of the four wines reviewed by Group, only one survived! While two of the others were acceptable for now, don't reorder! And one was a flat out why bother. Here's the winner:
Winemaker's Notes: This Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon has all the hallmarks of a great, true-to-style Cabernet. Its structure is approachable, the fruit is juicy red with a hint of savory which is appropriate for this varietal. Oak is well integrated and lends spiciness on the palate. This wine is very fitting for a weekday wine and/or for more formal occasions.
Blend: 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Malbec, 4% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petite Verdot
** Save the Date: August 14th **
Asheville Wine Focus Group
Hosted by Michele d'Aprix (Pentimento)
and Christopher Campbell of C and P Wines
Eva Luna 2016 Garda
Cabernet Suavignon & Csabernet Franc Blend
The decision was virtually unanimous!
This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc is spectacular!
As a second generation producer in a region that her father Sergio Zenato put on the map, Nadia Zenato and her mother Carla Prospero created Evaluna out of a deep love but also deep knowledge of the area. Evaluna (Eve + Moon) evokes the passion and a long practice in the vineyard sites of Lake Garda by the Zenato family. Evaluna in name and intent endeavors to break the mold of what is considered possible in a land of diverse agricultural abundance.
Customers like that this wine would not only hold up to heavy flavors and cold weather foods but could also be chilled for a summer dinner. Eva Luna offers an opportunity to really taste the cabernet grape without the full throttle of a California bottle or the vegetal flavor, not always completely pleasant, this variety can show. This wine is very flavorfull yet light.
Some of our BEST Participant comments:
"Full bodied but light."
"Not too overwhelming for a red."
"Yes! So MF good. Summer."
Most participants guessed price to be between 1$18 and $20 or higher. Eva Luna is $15.99 @MetroWines.
WINNER: June Great Rose Tasting
Le Quattro Terre, Barbera, Piemonte Rosato, $14.99
The soil is calcareous-clay and silt with south exposure. Manual harvest. Direct pressing of grapes.
Static cold decantation, fermentation in stainless steel tanks on fine lees for 3 months at controlled temperature.
Brilliant rosé with light purple hues. Delicate but intense. Pleasant, with light hints of wild strawberry and sour cherry.
Medium body, good acidity and minerality. Provencal in style with Italian Grapes!
"Quattro Terre" Piemonte Rosato is Gianpiero's is an iconic rosé made of 100% Barbera grape,
This wine represents the Piemonte Region, specifically the Monferrato terroir.
The rosé is also made with grapes from four different types of soil at La Meridiana Estate;
hence the name, "QUATTRO TERRE" or "FOUR SOILS." Clay, sand, limestone, and iron.
The blend presents complexity and minerality. Elegant body and harmonious acidity.
And Le Quattro Terre Red will be "on the taste at Foucs Group on Wednesday!