Boise Coop Wine Shop

Monday Tasting: Mostly German

• July 21, 2010
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Doug Krenik, Master Sommelier will be pouring wines from his exclusive portfolio. Doug is the Midwest Regional Manager for Loosen Bros., USA. Over the past twenty years, he has been associated with almost every aspect of the wine business; importing his own wines, working for local distributors in both sales and education, and directing the wine program of the prestigious Flagstaff House Restaurant in Boulder, Colorado. He completed the rigorous Master Sommelier Diploma Exam in February 2006. Doug is also a Certified Wine Educator (CWE) through the Society of Wine Educators.

2008 Villa Wolf Pinot Gris, $11.99
The Villa Wolf label is used for a value-priced line of varietal wines that combine J.L. Wolf estate-grown fruit with grapes from contracted growers. These are exceptionally affordable, classic Pfalz wines from traditional varieties. Pinot Gris has a very long tradition in the Pfalz region. In fact, it was here that the variety was first identified. Villa Wolf Pinot Gris is made in a full-bodied, dry style with refreshing, unoaked fruit and a crackling texture.
2008 Dr Loosen Riesling, “Dr. L,” QBA, $11.99
Dr. L comes exclusively from traditional vineyards with steep slopes and slate soil. This introductory, non-estate wine embodies the elegant and racy style of classic Mosel Riesling. By working closely with growers on long-term contract, brothers Ernst and Thomas Loosen are able to assure excellent quality in every vintage. Ranked #62 on the Wine Spectator Top 100 for 2009.
2008 Dr. Loosen Riesling Kabinett Estate, “Blue Slate,” $19.50
Kabinett is the lightest and most delicate style of Riesling in Germany. It is produced from the earliest picking in the best vineyard sites. This estate grown Dr. Loosen Riesling Kabinett embodies the racy, mineral-driven style of steep, blue slate vineyards in the famous middle Mosel villages of Bernkastel, Graach and Wehlen. Dr. Loosen Rieslings from these villages are some of the most elegant white wines in the world, with fine density and subtle power. Clean, crisp, distinctive Riesling Kabinett from Ernst Loosen, one of Germany’s most celebrated winemakers. An elegant aperitif wine, this is also an excellent partner for seafood, spicy Asian cuisine and lighter dishes that emphasize fresh ingredients.
2008 Dr. Loosen Riesling Spätlese Ürziger Würzgarten, $28.50
Blazing red and insanely steep, the Ürziger Würzgarten (ERTS-ih-ger VERTS-gar-ten) vineyard fills the picturesque amphitheater formed by this dramatic bend in the river. Although it’s directly adjacent to the vineyards of Erden, it produces a completely different kind of wine, with exotic, spicy aromas and a mesmerizing earthiness. No other vineyard on the Mosel produces wines so bursting with tropical fruit flavors. The estate’s oldest vines are found here.
2008 J. Christopher Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $28.50
A collabrotive effort between Oregonian, Jay Somers and the German Ernst Loosen, J. Christopher Wines is a small winery located in the Northern Willamette Valley. Their wines are hand crafted in small lots and are sourced from some of the best vineyards in Oregon. They specialize in Pinot Noir from the Dundee Hills made in the traditional style of Burgundy. This wine, from the exciting 2008 vintage, presents bright, focused aromas of earth, raspberry and toast, following through with dark fruit and smoky black cherries on the palate, with a sweet, lingering finish. Supported by outstanding structure, the wine leave an overall impression of focus, purity and elegance.

Join Doug this Monday, July 26 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm for a free taste of this special quintet of wines.

2008 Best Buy Chablis

• July 7, 2010
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2008 is another great vintage for Chablis. As pure and crystalline as the 2007 vintage was, these wines show the same excellent acidity with a bit more punch up front making them show a bit more forward than ’07. Prices are down about 10% from last year.

2008 Christian Moreau Chablis, $21
Moreau has become a serious contender the past few years as he has reduced the quantity of wine he produces and is concentrating on making strict selections to produce richer wines. A beauty.

2008 William Fevre Chablis Champs Royaux, $22
Considered by most to be in the top three Chablis producers year after year, Fevre is a benchmark Chablis producer who’s wines age beautifully. This is his entry level wine but when I was served a glass of the 2007 recently I would have guessed 1er cru. A Chablis “must have” producer.

2008 Brocard Chablis Domaine St. Claire, $21
This producer has impressed me for the last three vintages with super pure, clean and sparklingly crisp Chablis at every level. Last year Burghound called him a contender for the big three and I agree. This entry level wine was a smash in a blind tasting for its elegant purity. So bright it is shiny!

California’s Steele Wines

• June 16, 2010
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The year 2010 marks Jed Steele’s forty-second year of being involved in making wine in California. From his start as a cellar worker at Stony Hill in Napa Valley in 1968, to UC Davis for a Master’s Degree in Enology, to starting Edmeades in the Anderson Valley and being there for ten years, to then starting Kendall-Jackson and working there for the first nine vintages of that wildly successful winery (he left the year they broke the million cases per year production mark), to the start of his own STEELE Wines in 1991, it has been a remarkable career.

During that time Steele has been able to produce wines from just about every top quality wine region in the state, from Santa Barbara to Mendocino. The line-up of vineyards which the winery either owns or from which they purchases grapes has evolved slowly over the years to where they consistently draw on some of the finest vineyards in California. In addition to Steele, the family of wines includes both the Shooting Star and Writer’s Block labels.

2007 Shooting Star Aligote, $12.99
Aligoté is a variety, which is little known but widely planted. It is in fact the fourth most planted wine grape variety in the world, with huge plantings dominating Eastern Europe. It has never been planted in any commercial quantity in California, but in Washington State, where cold winters are a fact of life, Aligoté has found a happy home. The wine is crisp and clean with a nice balance of fruit and acidity. Flinty, mineral elements mix with a light floral hint on the nose, followed with the suggestion of tart/sweet apple on the palette, making it a wonderful, versatile food wine.

2007 Shooting Star Blue Franc Lemburger, $12.99
Jed Steele first came across this grape back in 1975 when he visited Austria and was impressed. There, it is often refered to by the name Blau Frankisch, literally “blue grape from France.” Some liken Steele’s Blue Franc, depending on vintage, to Pinot Noir in lighter years and Zinfandel in the riper vintages. Sometimes it is totally akin to a top-flight Gamay from Beaujolais. The wine is clean, crisp, and unpretentious with tons of fruit, including warm berry pie, complementing the traces of pepper, almond, cherry and cinnamon. The Shooting Star Blue Franc has soft tannins, medium body, great color and is the perfect red wine to enjoy over the summer with any festive occasion.

2008 Steele Cuvee Chardonnay 2008 $19.49
their flagship white wine, California Cuvee Chardonnay, really shows off Jed Steele’s wizardry in blending. As with all great wines, the process begins with the selection of the right vineyards. Steele has worked with most of the great Chardonnay vineyards in California and chosee seven prestigious properties to obtain the grapes for this wine. The result is a complex and appealing mix of flavors and aromas with tropical mango, pineapple and papaya playing against bright citrus along with touches of baked apple and spice.

2007 Steele Cabernet Franc, $15.49
When the winery started buying grapes from the vineyard of Floyd Silva they found that he was growing some of the best Cabernet Franc around. Floyd has since retired and Steele purchased the vineyard in 2005. Now known as Stymie Bench Vineyard, it is on a gravelly bench which overlooks the Big Valley area of Lake County. The vines grow well at this higher elevation and show a great balance of flavors, structure and tannins. This wine is a mouthful of pleasure: lots of fruit, medium tannins and a long lingering finish. Cellar time is recommended for this wine if only to allow all of the great aromas and flavors properly meld.

2006 2007 Writers Block Grenache, $14.99
This Lake County Grenache is grown by the Fiora family just north of Clear Lake. Near High Valley, the vineyard gets hot dry days and cool winds in the evening similar to the Rhone region of France, the historic home the Grenache varietal. The wine has a distinct strawberry and cherry aroma with a light spice on the finish and balanced acidity. This combination of flavors and aromas would match perfectly with a grilled pork chop drizzled with a fruit compote and a salad of fresh greens. It is such a multifaceted wine that it would pair with just about anything, but mostly a little sunshine, some good friends and literary dialogue.

Midweek Italian Tasting

• June 16, 2010
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Take a break this Wednesday, June 16 and drop by the Co-op Wine Shop for a free Italian Wine Tasting. Carrie Omenga from Dalla Terra™ will be pouring samples of six different wines. Dalla Terra™ (of the earth in Italian) Winery Direct® is a direct importer of a limited selection of Italy’s finest wines. “Winery Direct” is economical and consumer-friendly, putting quality wines on American wine lovers’ tables at affordable prices. This efficient method of shipping, distributing and marketing wine, which bypasses the national importer, allows distributors to buy directly from the producer. As a result, Dalla Terra’s wines usually cost less than those of comparable quality. Here’s the line-up:

2007 Alois Lageder Pinot Bianco, $13.99
The eponymous Alois Lageder winery was founded over 150 years ago in Alto Adige, Italy’s most northern wine growing region. Here Alois Lageder grows grapes on steep Dolomite slopes with varied micro-climates that provide distinct vineyard sites. This wine has a brilliant straw yellow color with a green tint. Very fine, fruity (apples, peaches), forward varietal aroma. Pronounced, clean, elegant, grapey flavor, light to medium-bodied with a fresh mouth-watering finish.

2006 Alois Lageder Chardonnay, $14.99
The aroma is delicate with pronounced notes of subtropical fruit, quite intense flavor and a good, medium-bodied structure, coupled with lively acidity. Serve as an aperitif, with starters, salads, all types of seafood (fish and shellfish), chicken, pasta.

2008 Inama Vin Soave, $15.99
With vineyard holdings almost exclusively on the Monte Foscarino, in the heart of the Soave Classico district, there was little choice but to specialize in the production of quality wines. Giuseppe Inama, who gradually acquired a total of thirty hectares in the most enviable sites, founded the estate in the 1960s. Stefano, Giuseppe’s son, assumed control of winemaking in 1992. This beautiful Soave offers an elegant nose of sweet field flowers: camomile, elder flower, iris. Pleasant on the palate with sweet almond on the finish.

2008 Li Veli Passmonte, $11.50
Li Veli highlights the Salento region’s principal native varietals, including the red varieties Negroamaro, rimitivo and Aleatico, which are made into powerful, inky-dark wines of great character and elegance. The Passmonte is 100% Negroamaro with a dense ruby red ruby red color. It is immediately intense on the nose with marked aromas of ripe and fleshy red fruits, notably cherries followed by spicy notes of cinnamon and nutmeg. In the mouth it is full, powerful, smooth and very long, with a well defined acid streak which makes it fresh and pleasing.

2007 Avignonesi Rosso di Toscana, $13.99
In 1309 pope Clement V transferred the papal residence from Rome to Avignon, France. In 1377, when pope Gregory XI moved the papal residence back to Rome, some noble families of Avignon left France to follow him. It was at that time, in Italy, that one of those families became known as Avignonesi – probably to simplify an otherwise difficult, foreign name. It is not known exactly when Avignonesi’s cellars were built, but they are doubtless among the most ancient in Italy. Palazzo Avignonesi was built according to a design by Jacopo Barozzi (called Vignola) in the second half of the XVI century and it has always been the cellars’ seat. This lovely red is a blend of equal parts Prugnolo Gentile, Cabernet and Merlot with with a bouquet reminiscent of wild fruits, spices and grass. The taste is round and harmonious with smooth tannins that make for the ideal complement to even the most hearty dishes.

2008 Badia a Coltibouno Chianti Classico Roberto Stucchi, $13.99
After WWII Piero Stucchi Prinetti transformed Coltibuono into a modern estate, selling instead of cellaring its best Chiantis and creating international branding for the Coltibuono name, as well as promoting Tuscan extra virgin olive oil. A devotion to Badia and a respect for its history guides the current, seventh generation family members. This wine, made from selected Sangiovese vineyards, is the result of a collaboration with a small number of local producers, located in the best Chianti Classico micro-zones. It is intense and fruit-forward, ready for drinking immediately, but over time it gains an added complexity. Forest berries, spices, leather, moist earth and dried plum mark the nose. It’s soft and round in the mouth, with well-balanced acidity and clean and persistent aftertaste.

Join Carrie in the Wine Shop on Wednesday, June 16 from 5 to 7 pm for a free taste of all these exciting wines.

Walla Walla Wine Tasting

• April 14, 2010
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Sorry, this event has sold out.