Subject: NEWS from THE WINE STORE #08-05 - Spring Wine & Food Fest
Saturday 4/26 - Winemaker Dinner Next Thursday 5/1

NEWS from THE WINE STORE #08-05   An e-mail newsletter for all of our wine friends.
We hope to bring you more "news that you can use." Upcoming tastings and, of course, our A.A.G.F.& W. wine dinners. Advanced notice on collectible wines coming to the market. "Hot" new wines from the West Coast, Europe and south of the Equator. Info about and how to use our renewed web site with secure on-line ordering and more.

UPCOMING TASTINGS & WINE DINNERS

Spring Wine & Food Fest
SATURDAY, April 26th - 1 - 6 p.m. - Spring Wine & Food Fest. Take a break from the yard work with an afternoon of tasting and grazing. Two wine and beer sessions with the same format used for every Wine & Food Fest. 1-3:30 p.m. - Taste from a selection of wines and beers; 3:30-6 p.m.- Taste from a new selection of wines and beers. 4 tastes for $3. A number of our suppliers will have a wide variety of gourmet foods and imported and domestic cheese available for tasting from 1:00-6:00 p.m.  Come in and join the fun!

Special AAGF&W Winemaker Dinner at Embers in Kenwood THIS THURSDAY,
May 1st - 7:00 p.m. - Association for Affordable Great Food & Wine known as the A.A.G.F.& W. invites you to meet Big House “Warden” wine maker and “wine perfumist” Georgetta Dane for a special wine dinner pairing her wines with Embers fabulous food. Georgetta is famous for saying “When I’m making wine, I think about it as if I were making perfume," and she is going to lead us through an aromatic appreciation of wine. Georgetta replaced wine legend Randall Graham at Big House Wines.  Embers is located at 8170 Montgomery Road, Kenwood.  Come and join us.

MENU

Aperitif: Big House Pink with Canapés

Salmon Teriyaki Roll paired with Big House White

Seared Ahi Tuna Nicoise Style paired with Big House ‘The Birdman’
Pinot Grigio

Roasted Pork Loin with Smashed Red Potatoes paired with Big House ‘The
Prodigal Son’ Petite Sirah

Assorted Cheeses and Dried Fruit paired with Big House ‘The Line Up’
Grenache Syrah Mourvedre

$50 per person.  Reservations at 984-9463 by Noon, Wednesday, April 30th.

Georgetta Dane is “the Warden,” otherwise known as Big House’s winemaker.  Dane deals with an alarming number of grapes – 10 whites and 30 reds. She needed a plan. She needed a system to organize her blends and coordinate her process. She turned to perfumes, something that had interested her since her childhood in Romania, and she developed a winemaking process that parallels the process of making perfumes.

She starts with the Base Notes, something like Chenin Blanc or Sauvignon Blanc for whites, and Syrah or Petit Verdot for reds. The Middle Notes, the next layer, require something more aromatic, like a Muscat or Viognier or, on the red side, an Italian grape that has an edge but needs time to age and mature. The final layer is what perfumists call the Top Note, something like a Marsanne, which rounds out the blend. Here Dane is looking for something, like a floral note, to give the wine that final twist.

It’s an intriguing way to think about blending wine, and we hope you are eager to see her process in action. For example, the 2006 Big House Pinot Grigio called “The Birdman,” is 78% Pinot Grigio and 22% Sauvignon Blanc. Pinot Grigio is obviously Dane’s Base Note here but she doesn’t want the wine to be watery the way that some Pinot Grigios threaten to be. So she added the Sauvignon Blanc, which bolsters the Pinot Grigio and rounds it out without actually interfering with what’s desirable about the base varietal. The result is a robust Pinot Grigio, which almost sounds like an oxymoron but here it isn’t. It works.

Even though the wines Thursday are all made from very familiar grapes – Syrah, Petite Sirah, Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc – come and hear what Dane’s got up her sleeve with lesser known vines. She has plans for Albarino, Tannat and Malbec plantings and she is a fervent supporter of what we’d call the underdog grapes. “I want to show people that there’s so much more out there,” she says, beyond the usual grapes or even the usual blends.

WIne Bar Tastings
Wine Bar Tastings every Friday and Saturday - $.50 a taste Fridays -
taste with John, our wine-bar-keep, from 4:00-7:00 p.m.
Saturdays - Wine Bar open from 1:00-6:00 p.m.
Become part of The Brunch Bunch tasting with one of our distributor reps from 2-6 p.m.

WEB SITE UPDATE We are up and running. The look is much the same but what you can't see is all new. Updated inventory, new secure on-line ordering, shipping info (NOW YOU CAN ORDER ON-LINE for in-store pick-up, have FREE local delivery with a $30 minimum or have it shipped UPS), an event calendar with postings of the NEWS from THE WINE STORE, Wine of the Month and, soon, Beer of the Month info and more. Always a few things to finalize and tweek. Go to www.theewinestore.com to see what we've been up to.

DON’T FORGET THE BEER - Wonderful Belgians and Belgian-style ales: Affligem Tripel, Westmalle Tripel, Liefman’s Lucifer Golden Ale, Duvel Golden Ale, Corsendonk Brown Ale, Chimay Blue Top Grand Reserve Tripel, Green’s Quest Gluten-free Tripel Blonde Ale, Lindemans Framboise, Rochefort 10, Westmalle Dubbel, Orval Trappist, Rodenbach Grand Cru Flemish Sour Ale, Saison DuPont Farmhouse Ale, Lochristi Lozen Boer Abbey Style Ale, DeProef Signature Ale, Unibroe La Fin Du Monde, Unibroe Maudite, Brooklyn Local 1, Ommegang Three Philosophers, Ommegang Hennepin, Allagash Tripel Reserve, Allagash Interlude, Allagash White, Victory Golden Monkey Tripel. 

THE PERFECT GIFT - WINE OF THE MONTH
Now three levels to choose from:

Quality - Two wines, one red and one white, chosen for their great value and taste with a touch of uniqueness, making each one a wine adventure.  Never more than $30 plus tax for the pair.

Premium - One wine each month, alternating red and white, that showcase terroir, that “sense of place,” from around the world.  A perfect gift for the more experienced wine drinker who likes to enjoy a variety of fine wine.  $30-40 plus tax per month.

NEW! - High-end Red - Small production, highly rated red wines you are sure to enjoy now or years down the road.  Perfect for those just starting to fill a wine cellar or for the seasoned collector.  $40-85 plus tax per month.

The Wine Store, 9905 Montgomery Road, Montgomery, OH 45242
Phone: (513) 984-9463 Visit us on the web: www.theewinestore.com Store
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.