White:
2006 Maculan Pinot Grigio Doc Breganze, Italy
One of the most consistent producers of outstanding pinot grigio. This wine has a refreshing acidity and scents of green apples. Foods to pair with this wine: salad, vegetarian dishes, seafood pasta.
Viognier: A little known grape that is the smallest harvest of any wine grape but gaining in enjoyment due to it's long lasting flavors. 2006 Anakena Single Vineyard Viognier Rapel Valley, Chile.
This is a crisp, well-balanced wine with citrus and apricot aromas. Foods to pair this wine with: Asian dishes, duck, game.
Red:
2005 Joseph Phelps Innisfree Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
The grapes for this wine come from the same vineyards as Phelp's more famous wine Insignia. This is a wine with flavors of mulled spices, red fruit and cedar. Lovely!
2004 Domaines Barons de Rothschild, Los Vascos Grande Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Colchagua Valley, Chile
Old World elegance with New World fruit. It's a full bodied wine with aromas of chocolate and cassis.
Port:
10 year old Tawny Port, Baron of Forrester by Offley?Forrester & Ca., Portugal
Sparkling:
Roederer Estate N.V., California
This bubbly is loaded with fruit and body. It's a great wine at a "reasonably priced" level - a true great value.
Above recommendations compliments of Natalie McLean author of "Red, White and Drunk All Over"
2004 Rosemount Shiraz (Australia).
This is a medium to full bodied wine with generous ripe fruit flavors - especially blackberry and plum. It provides a long and rich finish. It was the wine James and I chose to celebrate our birthdays with!
During William III's reign, a garden fountain was once used as a huge punch bowl for his parties. The bartender rowed a boat around it filling up the guests' glasses.
Low production for Italian Wines
Strange weather happenings and other events have caused low grape production in Italy this year. While there was a heat wave in the North in July, there was a great deal of rain in the South which caused a deadly fungus to spread through the vines. This cut Sicily's grape yields by about 30%. Italian wine producers are expecting their production to be at the lowest it's been in 50 years.
This reduction will only affect those wines produced in the Southern area of Italy. Zita Keeley
Who knows how this will affect prices? We can only keep our fingers crossed that demand and pricing will balance themselves out and not create a price increase.
