About the Wine and Cheese Club:
If you love good food and wine, The Gourmet Cellar Wine & Cheese Club is the perfect way to
discover new flavors and pairings. Each month, you will receive either two bottles of wine or
one bottle of wine and a gourmet cheese. Join other wine lovers, and taste a wide range of
wonderful wines and cheeses.
Join the Wine and Cheese Club:
Dowload the PDF form, complete the information and bring it into The Gourmet Cellar.
(download pdf form)
Wine Club News for August, 2010:
$25 Level:
The main selection is the ‘06 Razon. The wine comes from Bodegas Valsacro in Southwest Rioja. The Escudero family has been making wine and growing grapes for generations. Razon is made with Garnacha grown just outside of Rioja. These vines are 70+ years old and produce a wine medium ruby in color with a nose of violet and cherry kirsch. This is a soft, easy drinking wine of medium body, smooth, nice finish and a great value.
Parker rating: 89 points
For the Second bottle choose between a Chianti Classico and a French Sauvignon Blanc.
San Cresci Chianti Classico is is probably the best Chianti we have tried for less than $15 per bottle. It’s on sale this month for $12 and believe me it is an incredible value for that price. Janette and I are Italian wine aficionados’ and we loved this bottle.
The wine is produced in Tuscany by the Ballini family who has lived for more than one hundred years in the farm houses clustered around the recently restored, Romanesque church of San Cresci which dates back to the 10th century.
Serve with grilled meat, mushrooms or your favorite pasta dish.
The white option is Domaine de la Garrelière, a lovely crisp and minerally Sauvignon Blanc from Touraine just outside of the Loire. The producer is Marc Plouzeau. His family’s goal in the 70’s was to return this land to productive viticulture. In 1988 Marc took over and in 1999 made the conversion to biodynamic farming. Today he works 50 acres of vines, and is considered a rising star in the appellation. The fact that the wine is bottled without filtration allows you to taste the mineral character extracted from the land’s rocky clay, limestone, and flint-rich soils.
$35 Level:
Two reds for summer. The first is an Oregon Pinot called Jezebel. I couldn’t find any info on where the name came from but I will say the wine is very pleasant. It is produced by Daedalus Cellars (DAY-de-lus), a small, family-owned and operated winery located in Oregon's Willamette Valley. They source grapes from some of the state's best vineyards and handle the fruit minimally to create this balanced wine with complex fruit and elegant structure.
2008 was a fantastic vintage in Oregon producing balanced wines with a wonderful depth of flavor. This wine has bright red fruit characters with soft tannins and pairs well with salmon, chicken and mushrooms.
The second bottle will be a bit more full bodied than the pinot but still a pleasant sipper for summer evening dinners. It is a lighter Super Tuscan wine from Antonio Sanguneti. Antonio named it Nessun Dorma after his favorite aria from Puccini’s opera Turandot. The wine is friendly and accessible like the character Calaf from the opera. The blend is 50% Sangiovese, 30% Merlot, and 20% Syrah. The Merlot is floral and elegant while the Sangiovese is fresh and bright. Syrah adds depth and body along with earthiness and ripe cherry flavors.
As you read the following story of the aria from the opera Turandot I hope you discover as I did that this wine is about love and passion. Sante!
From Wikipedia: Nessun dorma (English: None shall sleep) is an aria from the final act of Puccini's opera Turandot and is one of the best-known tenor arias in all opera. It is sung by Calaf, il principe ignoto (the unknown prince), who falls in love at first sight with the beautiful but cold Princess Turandot. However, any man who wishes to wed Turandot must first answer her three riddles; if he fails, he will be beheaded.
In the act before this aria, Calaf has correctly answered the three riddles put to all of Princess Turandot's prospective suitors. Nonetheless, she recoils at the thought of marriage to him. Calaf offers her another chance by challenging her to guess his name by dawn. (As he kneels before her, the Nessun dorma theme makes a first appearance, to his words, "Il mio nome non sai!") If she does so, she can execute him; but if she does not, she must marry him. The cruel and emotionally cold princess then decrees that none of her subjects shall sleep that night until his name is discovered. If they fail, all will be killed.
As the final act opens, it is now night. Calaf is alone in the moonlit palace gardens. In the distance, he hears Turandot's heralds proclaiming her command. His aria begins with an echo of their cry and a reflection on Princess Turandot:
"Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma! Tu pure, o Principessa, nella tua fredda stanza, guardi le stelle che tremano d'amore, e di speranza!"
(English translation: "None shall sleep! None shall sleep! Even you, O Princess, in your cold bedroom, watch the stars that tremble with love and with hope!")
"Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me; il nome mio nessun saprà! No, No! Sulla tua bocca lo dirò quando la luce splenderà!"
("But my secret is hidden within me; none will know my name! No, no! On your mouth I will say it when the light shines!")
"Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio che ti fa mia!"
("And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!")
Cheers!
Debbie