T O O RDER M ORE F EA T URED W INES C ALL 1-800-823-5527 T ODAY ! Volume 19 Number 2 ©Vinesse Wine Club 2011 The SKU 17196 GrThe Officiala NewslepTTer fOrevine ViiNesse wiiNe club MeMbers Champagne: The Bubble Capital of the Wine World Getaway: Celebrating Solvang’s Centennial The Shawnee Hills Wine Trail: Unexpected Delights Chardonnay-Friendly Portabella Burgers Wine Buzz: Chelsea’s Wedding Wines & More G E T Y OUR D AILY D OSE O F W INE N E W S A T www .V INESSE T ODAY . C O M 2 • The Grapevine • Visit vinesse.com OUR MISSION: To uncover and bring you wine gems diTOr s OurNal from around the world, which you’re e ’ J not likely to discover on your own, and which enhance your wine enjoyment. What Are Friends For? YOUR GRAPEVINE TEAM: Intrepid Wine Enthusiast, Chief How to Create a Wine Lover Taster and Winehound: Martin Stewart By Robert Johnson Chief Operating Officer something a bit more complex, a good (aka “The Buck Stops Here”): t’s a topic that never Lawrence D. Dutra I gets old, even if the “starter wine” would be an off-dry (or semi-sweet) Riesling. Editor: writer addressing it Robert Johnson does: how to transform Once they can identify some of the flavors of the Riesling variety, move Wine Steward: someone who doesn’t Katie Montgomery drink much wine into a on to a completely dry rendition. This will help them understand that a wine The Grapevine is published by Vinesse, wine lover. 822 Hampshire Road, Suite E, Westlake can taste sweet (via its fruit flavors) Village, CA 91361; 1-800-823-5527. Hey, it’s all part of being a good without actually being sweet. Copyright by Vinesse, LLC. Printed in USA. No responsibility is assumed for loss or friend. You know how much more From there, an ever-so-slightly sweet damage to unsolicited materials. enjoyable a meal can be when there’s Chardonnay — the type that Kendall a food-friendly bottle of wine on the Jackson makes — would be a logical Be good to the planet table. You also know that culinary next step. Follow that up with a rich, memories can be created when the buttery, completely dry Chardonnay. RECYCLE wine truly complements the food... After they’ve been drinking RECYCLE and vice versa. So why wouldn’t you Chardonnay for a few months, it’ll be want your BFF to enjoy the experience time to take the big step: introducing CHARTER MEMBER with you? them to red wine. Start with a lighter BENEFITS: But wine can be an acquired taste for red, such as an Italian Chianti or a some. And if their first wine experience California Merlot. Next, have them try The Grapevine Newsletter was with a big, bold, tannic Cabernet a fruit-forward Zinfandel or a silky- Premium wine selections at Sauvignon, getting them to give the smooth Pinot Noir. members-only prices glorious gift of the grape another try Once they’ve gained an appreciation Wine tasting as a participant could be an uphill battle. for those varieties — and only then on VINESSE’s Gold Medal That’s why you need to (almost — open up a bottle of Cabernet Award Panel literally) lead them by the hand, Sauvignon. Pour it alongside a thick, Free subscription to VINESSE’s introducing them to certain types juicy steak, and then look for a light Cyber Circle Community of wine in a very specific bulb to appear above their head. Random giveaways of wine order. Just as we don’t jump from and accessories If they’re already drinking simple addition to White Zinfandel on quantum physics, a Wine Finders Reward — occasion — and there’s newcomer to wine identify a future wine selection and earn a reward nothing wrong with that should not be expected — they probably have a to be a Cabernet Perfectly matched recipes for sweet tooth... as most of Sauvignon lover right featured wine selections us do. In weaning them off the bat. Free wine tasting off White Zin and getting It can happen, but it’s them to experience rare. Visit vinesse.com • The Grapevine • 3 Caring for Your Wine Glasses ome of us invest a lot of money in 2. Store the glasses Sour wine glasses. Different sizes. upright, not upside down. Different shapes. Real crystal, as opposed The rim of the glass is much more prone to chipping than to plastic. the base, so use the base as it Nothing is more disheartening than the sound of a was intended. favorite wine glass hitting a hard kitchen floor and 3. When washing the glass, shattering into a hundred pieces... unless it’s several do not hold it by the stem. glasses breaking at the same time. Instead, hold it by the bowl in But accidents happen, and there’s not much you can do one hand, and place it under about them. That said, accidents also can be prevented, warm or hot running water. particularly when washing your glassware. 4. Avoid using harsh detergents. As long as you don’t We asked members of our tasting panel to share some allow the glass to sit unwashed overnight, water is all you of their glass-washing savvy, both in terms of protecting need to get the glass clean. the glasses from breakage and getting them squeaky clean. 5. When drying the glass, again hold it by the bowl, Here are six of their tips... not the stem. Cradle the glass in one hand with a clean 1. Carry one glass per hand at a time. Even if you have towel, and then use a second towel for the inside. Dry big hands, you’re just asking for trouble when you try to the outside and the inside simultaneously with a simple transport multiple glasses. And don’t use a tray. Filled circular motion. wine glasses are top-heavy, and the typical laws of gravity 6. Store the glasses in a cabinet away from the kitchen. just don’t seem to apply. That old saying does apply, Glassware can pick up the odors of food, and the only however: Haste makes waste. thing you want to smell in that wine glass is wine. THE ONE THAT STARTED IT ALL! • Hand-crafted gems produced by little known or small estates • Limited-production bottlings • Under-the-radar wines you won’t find in supermarkets EACH SHIPMENT INCLUDES: WINE COLOR MIX: Reds, Whites, or Both — Your Choice! • 6 bottles from all over the wine world FREQUENCY: Monthly • Detailed Tasting Notes for each featured wine • Latest edition of The Grapevine newsletter PRICE: Only $12-$15 average per bottle plus shipping To learn more about this Club, call 800-823-5527 or visit www.Vinesse.com 4 • The Grapevine • Visit vinesse.com ÉLEVANT SOCIETY™ IT’S NOT FOR EVERYONE. IS IT FOR YOU? Vinesse created the Élevant Society to meet members’ demands for super-premium wines. While virtually all Goose Ridge Is Flying High members of the original With a ‘Top 100’ Ranking American Cellars Wine Club were very satisfied with their hen a wine makes the annual “Top 100” list selected monthly selections, some W and published by Wine Spectator magazine, two wanted more, and they things typically happen. were willing to pay for it. First, the wine almost immediately spot on the Spectator’s list for 2010. sells out. Second, the price goes up for What is known is that Goose Ridge EACH ÉLEVANT SOCIETY the next vintage. has been producing high-quality wines SHIPMENT INCLUDES: It’s too early to know whether that ever since its founding in 1998 by the will happen with the three-variety Monson family, with the assistance • 2 or 4 bottles — your choice — blend known as “Vireo,” crafted by of legendary Washington wine figure of super-premium wines, mostly Goose Ridge Vineyards and Estate Walter Clore. big and bold red varieties or Winery in Richland, Wash. Its 2006 The late Dr. Clore — known as blends bottling of “Vireo” — consisting of the father of the Washington wine • Detailed Tasting Notes for each 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Syrah industry — assisted Arvid Monson featured wine and 29% Merlot — claimed the No. 41 in establishing the estate. Today, it • Latest edition of The Grapevine newsletter FREQUENCY: Approximately Monthly PRICE: $84.94 average per shipment plus shipping To learn more about this Club, call 800-823-5527 or visit www.Vinesse.com Visit vinesse.com • The Grapevine • 5 includes a 1,400-acre Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, vineyard that’s planted Chardonnay, Pinot Gris on a south-facing slope and Riesling — all of in the Columbia Valley which have developed appellation, adjacent to strong track records in the Red Mountain. Columbia Valley climate. From the very beginning, Goose Ridge provides the vineyard has yielded two tasting rooms for grapes of exceptional traveling wine lovers. The character and complexity, a “home base” is situated in key to developing a line of the heart of the vineyard, highly regarded wines. and includes an event “We are committed to producing center which enables it to host large consistent, high quality, memorable groups. Private tours also are available wines through sound viticulture by appointment. practices, site selection with low yield The second tasting room is in vineyards, and artisan winemaking,” Woodinville, in the heart of the WINES THAT MATCH a Goose Ridge spokesman tells us. Columbia Valley “wine country,” not THE SEASON “Our winemaker, Kendall Mix, works far from Seattle. It’s located adjacent closely with our vineyard manager to to the historic Hollywood Schoolhouse, Summer — wines for indentify the best blocks in our estate and can host intimate private events.