Brew Hops & Wine Stops

Guest blogger Andy Abernathy is COO of ABC Fine Wine and Spirits

Along with four ABC General Managers and our Director of Purchasing, I visited Biltmore Winery in Asheville, NC, from September 8-11. Our hosts included John Hadley, Eastern Sales Manager, Chuck Whitehead, Vice President of Sales, and Dennis Wynne, Vineyard Manager.

Bright and early Monday morning, we met Dennis Wynne in the western portion of the Biltmore property, nestled on over 8,000 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, NC.  Dennis walked us through the beautiful rolling hills as he talked about his wine strategies and Biltmore's philosophies. The vineyard, started in 1970, has 100 acres planted, consisting of mostly Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

A recent Chardonnay vintage received an 86 rating from The Wine Spectator! They usually yield
5-6 tons per acre, but this vintage was 2-3 tons due to weather conditions.  They use #3309 California rootstock, which produces a more French-like Chardonnay. It shows more finesse and has a more Burgundian style than more typical California Chardonnays.

Dennis explained to us, as we watched a few dozen workers hand picking some beautiful clusters of ripe Chardonnay, that he strives for 50% organic farming as part of a practice of sustainable farming.  Biltmore Winery produces North Carolina appellation wines, as well as wines from California. They vinify California appellation wines in California and the non-appellation California wines are vinified in North Carolina.

The Biltmore Winery has wine contracts with many of the best growers in North Carolina and Sonoma California that go back over 30 years.  They purchase more grapes in North Carolina than anyone else. They sell all they grow on the property and need to buy more grapes locally to meet their growing demand.

Biltmore Winery is the 65th largest winery in the United States, and it claims to be the #1 Most Visited Winery in the country, with over twice as many visitors as Mondavi Winery in Napa, California.  The Biltmore property includes a stunning winery tasting room along with winery tours. They sell 33% of their production on the property. Biltmore Winemaker Bernard Delille brings together the art and science of winemaking.  According to their website, Bernard Delille is a native of France and joined the Biltmore Wine Company as Assistant Winemaster in 1986, rising to the position of Winemaker in 1991.

If you get the chance to visit the magnificent Biltmore Winery and Estate, spend several days so you can not only enjoy the winery, but also the great grounds.  After sipping some new wines, check out their nature trails for walking, biking, or horseback riding, or go rafting on the French Broad river that runs through the property.  You can also try doing a Segway tour, skeet shooting, view their massive colorful gardens, fly fishing, carriage rides and enjoy guided tours of George Vanderbilt's 250 room chateau, built in the late 1800s.

  I was given a wonderful opportunity a couple of weeks ago, to take a wine trip through northern Italy with Nadia Galati of Alberello Wine Importers. Nadia has been an integral part of our putting together the fantastic Italian wines portfolio at ABC. She invited me to take part in the trip she put together for four of our well-deserving wine consultants who won this trip through a sales contest. Each of the wine consultants, Daniel Eddy, Scott Carter, Roland Gigandet and Gary Tatum, along with fellow wine supervisor Jim Greeley set out on an amazing trek to some of the most beautiful sights in Italy.

 

We started the trip landing in Milan, where we met up with Nadia and her protégée Katrina. From there we traveled outside Verona to visit Giovanna Tantini at her winery. Giovanna is a very special person, achieving her degree in law before realizing her true passion lie in the vineyard. Her DOC wines, Bardolino Chiaretto and Bardolino along with the two very special IGT offerings: Ettore, named for her son, and Greta, named for her daughter, are exceptional wines. Ettore is a blend of 80% Corvina and 10% each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, a very intense wine of ripe, red fruits and spices. The Greta is 100% Corvina. Complex and elegant, this is a wonderful wine.

 After spending the afternoon strolling through the vineyards, we were invited to Giovanna and her
husband Marko’s home to enjoy a "light" Italian dinner of assorted cheeses, dried sausages, vegetables, breads, pasta and the largest steaks you ever saw, grilled perfectly by Marko. The meal would have easily of fed thirty people…there were ten of us! Did I mention a bottle or two—or was it three?—of Giovanna’s wines and her husband Marko’s Cosi wines accompanied the meal. A memorable night that will stay with me for many years to come.  

  The trip continued for five more days, that I will be writing about in future blogs...you can also follow along with blogs by the rest of the group. Until then, cheers!

 Ken Amendola, North Florida Wine Supervisor

Follow me on Twitter @abcwinekena

Guest blogger Scott Carter is the wine consultant in our Doral store. He recently returned from a trip to Italy with other members of our wine team.

Where passion meets family and skill

When you are blessed with the finest ingredients, know how to use them, and have the passion to create, the result is Giovanna Tantini’s vineyard, winery, cellar, and bed & breakfast. The seriousness of a top Bardolino producer is permeated with the warmth of family and hospitality.  Immediately upon arriving, the Giovanna Tantini experience comes alive.  ABC Fine Wine & Spirits Wine Supervisor Ken Amendola describes the winery and vineyards perfectly: “Collalto (a winery and vineyard associated with royalty and luxury) is great to visit, but Giovanna Tantini is the vineyard that you want to own.”

www.giovannatantini.it

Giovanna began her family (she’s married with two children) after finding her passion in the vineyard and has eloquently combined the two.  She graduated with a law degree and never practiced an hour in her life; instead, she has become one of the most skilled viticulturists and oenologists in Italy. Understanding her background is critical to understanding the emphasis
that her passion, family, and skill have on her wines.

Upon arrival, you are greeted with a friendly, smiling face that sets the stage for your experience. The driveway is gravel, with vineyards off to the side, giving a rustic, middle of the vineyard, feel.  Giovanna Tantini’s vineyards surround the combined bed & breakfast / winemaking facility.  The temperature of the vineyard is regulated by Lake Garda, which is between Milan and Verona, allowing the grapes, Corvina, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rondinella, and Molinara, to reach peak ripeness and maximize the flavors in the resulting Bardolino wine.

If you were to enjoy a “light lunch” at the winery, you would feast upon homemade tomato sauce, sausage, different types of cheeses and meats, endless wine, and a “jammy tart” for dessert.  The steel fermentation tanks are located a few steps away from the dining room, the bedrooms are upstairs, and the doors and windows are always open.  In the kitchen stands a stone well that drops over 100 feet and is covered by glass.

We were fortunate to take a walk through the vineyard, taste some grapes off the vine, and see how passionate Giovanna is about the vineyard.  Her wines are a direct reflection of her personality, her work ethic, and her family.  Giovanna’s cellar is located within the walls of Lazise, on Lake Garda.  You can walk the old cobblestone village streets, shop in the marketplace, or enjoy a beautiful sunset with gelato, dinner, or a glass of wine.  As you walk along the lake, appreciate the view of sailboats on the water, mountains in the distance, and orange spritzes on the restaurant patio tables.

Giovanna Tantini’s Bardolino Chiaretto is a DOC, Denominazione Origine Controllata, and a great apéritif or summertime rosé wine.  Each of the vintages that we enjoyed had distinguishing characteristics.  The 2010 was soft and mineral driven.  This wine would be best enjoyed while relaxing at the beach or by the pool.  The 2009 was a little more expressive, in terms of the quantity of fruit characteristics, and the minerality seemed to blend seamlessly with the fruit and acidity. The 2011 is highly aromatically expressive, with the greatest aromatic intensity, as Bardolino Chiaretto is at its ideal consuming age when young, beaming with floral characteristics, such as jasmine and pink rose, followed by aromas of wild strawberries, tangerine, and cantaloupe.  The palate retains the intensity found on the nose, with the addition of cleansing acidity and a quick finish that leaves you ready and waiting for your next sip of wine or taste of your favorite appetizer.  Consumption should be frequent and soon.

Giovanna Tantini’s Bardolino is a DOC, Denominazione Origine Controllata, and can be a fun red wine for beginner wine drinkers or serious experts.  The color gives a mixed signal, as the color is see through and the nose is highly expressive.  It reminds me of Reggiano Parmesan, where just a little square of cheese can pack tons of flavor, and makes a great pairing with the Bardolino.  The nose is elegant with red roses, grilled portabella mushrooms, and sautéed porcini mushrooms (another great pairing) leading the way, yet well entwined with cranberries, blueberries, plums, and black pepper.  The palate is as soft as the tannins, as light as the color, and as lengthy as the aromatic concentration.

Ettore, named after Giovanna’s son, is an IGT, Indicacion Geografica Tipica, comprised of Corvina (80%), Cabernet Sauvignon (10%), and Merlot (10%).  The wine is allowed to dehydrate on the vines for three weeks before harvest to allow for richer flavors.  The wine is full bodied, light in tannin structure, refreshing acidity, and a blackberry, blueberry, and strawberry fruit structure leading to a lengthy finish with a touch of clove and black pepper.  Ettore’s balance of richness, acidity, and low tannins entice your next sip.  The wine was paired at dinner with four inch grilled Tuscan steaks, as well as with a fresh gelato desert. 

Here’s a brief post on a new wine selection now available at ABCFWS:  Rezabal Txakoli ($18.99). 

Txakoli (pronounced ‘cha-ko-lee’) is the preeminent wine of the Basque region of Northern Spain.  It’s a dry white that’s light, crisp, and minerally with lemony citrus and green apple on the palate.  It has a little spritz and a zesty salinity to it, not unlike a top notch Portuguese Vinho Verde.  Perhaps I’m a bit biased, but I think good Txakoli has Vinho Verde beat in the “wow” category. 

Made with the local Hondarrabi Zuri and Hondarrabi Beltza grapes, it’s traditionally poured as an aperitif in the tapas bars around towns like San Sebastian and Bilbao where it’s the perfect match for the local tapas, called pinchos.  Ideally, it should be served with shellfish like shrimp or white anchovies, but will also pair nicely with grilled sole or baked chicken.  I first experienced Txakoli a few years back at a restaurant in Bilbao, around the corner from the Guggenheim Museum.  Served well-chilled, with razor clams and mussels, it was a revelation!

Pouring Txakoli the Basque way takes a bit of skill and some showmanship.  The bottle is held high above the glass and then poured in a thin stream in order to “break” the wine, maximizing the bubbly effervescence Txakoli is noted for.

Rezabal Txakoli comes from the Getariako Txakolina DO and is made with 100% Hondarrabi Zuri from a single vineyard estate owned by the Rezabal family. 

Jim Greeley, Wine Supervisor, SW Florida

If you haven’t, try one…..I will recommend a few in a moment, but first let me tell you why you might like to seek them out and discover their unique personality.

Viognier excels in the Northern Rhone Valley, around the tiny village of Condrieu….but you will find many affordable wines from the S. Rhone and the Languedoc.

These wines offer aromas of flowers, honeysuckle and white fruit. They have the palate feel of chardonnay but the flavors are quite different, and refreshing. The French offerings rarely have any oak influence, and are perfect accompaniments to picnic fare, summer salads, fish and seafoods. Also look for Viognier from California. Here you can expect more ripeness of flavor, more weight, but the same delightful aromas. Sometimes oaked, sometimes not. Winemakers need to be careful not to change the wine with their use of oak, but a little is quite nice.

There are two I recommend from our domestic portfolio, Shannon Ridge Viognier and Dalliance White, both from Clay Shannon in Lake County. Dalliance is only 60% Viognier, but it typifies the
varietal very well.

From France, if you have the opportunity, try a wine called Condrieu…In the meantime, look for our unbelievably low priced les Acanthes from S France. Well under $10, it is a clean and pure example of this wine.

Needless to say, I drink plenty of these wines, since they are affordable, food friendly and delicious in the Florida heat.

Shayne Hebert, Wine Supervisor

Follow me on Twitter @abcwineshayne

How many times have you heard "serve wine at room temperature"? Back in the early days of wine, room temperature was like castle temperature.  Cool and damp.  Now, we refer to room temperature as 72 degrees F, which isn't a proper temperature for serving wine.

When wine is served too warm it loses balance and the alcohol and tannins overpower other flavors.  Experiment yourself!  Try a glass of the same wine warm and one cool. Cooler wine is always better.

Appropriate temperature for every wine varies, but rule of thumb: for white wine, 15 minutes out of the refrigerator before serving; for red, 15 minutes IN the refrigerator before serving.

If you're in a real hurry, as I often am, you might chill your white wine in the freezer.  Be honest...did you ever forget to take the bottle of wine out of the freezer?  Yep!  I did too!  I carefully placed the frozen wine in the refrigerator and let it "thaw" til the next day. 

Amazingly, it was fine.  But a few minutes more in the freezer and there would have been an explosion and mess!                                      

Marie Griffin, Wine Supervisor North/West Florida

 Follow me on Twitter @abcwinemarieg

Guest blogger Glenn Sudnick is the wine consultant at our Jupiter store.

A large, warm “Welcome to Laetitia Vineyard” sign greeted me and my ABC Fine Wine & Spirits colleagues to Laetitia Vineyard, located in Arroyo Grande, California. Upon arriving, Amy Zurgas, Kathleen Robinson, Ken Amendola and I were escorted into the wine tasting room and celebrated our arrival by toasting with Laetitia’s wonderful Brut Rosé sparkling, which highlights their passion for the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes; soft floral aromas and hints of ripe red berries are prominent features of this elegant wine.

Jackie Ross, Sales & Marketing Coordinator, introduced us to Carmen Hickey, the mother of Eric Hickey, who is the president and head wine maker at Laetitia Vineyards. Carmen played host to our group, introducing us to people around the vineyard, arranging our barbecue dinner, directing hors d’oeuvres—she was essentially the mother of the vineyard. She gave us our first introduction to the property and to Eric Hickey.

Laetitia Vineyard is a fascinating vineyard with Pinot Noir grape vines that seem to be endless, and Eric Hickey carries a sense of confidence that make you feel the grapes are in great hands. But the one who is the true steward of the vineyard is Lino Bozzano, Vice President of Vineyard Operations.
After being with Laetitia since 2004, his knowledge of the 620 acres of vines is remarkable, including Chardonnay, Syrah, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris. Lino and Eric work closely with each other to grow quality grapes for their wines.

My biggest pleasure was to taste the Pinot Noir grape during the harvest. What I found is that the grapes tasted differently in different places of the vineyard. This is due to many factors, namely the mineral content in the soil. One of the greatest surprises was that when you have quality grapes, the process from grape to wine doesn’t detract from the taste of the grape; it has
the same profile in the wine. Some of the grapes I tasted were designated for our very own Laetitia Harvest Moon Ranch Pinot Noir Reserve!

This Pinot Noir wine goes to the “head of the class” with the noticeably rich dark fruit, complexity and spice. Silky tannin and a smooth texture combine with ripe raspberry. There is an abundance of jam on the
mid-palate. 

I have never before been treated with such grace and hospitality. I hope you will have the pleasure of drinking any wine from this extraordinary vineyard.

    To my knowledge, no one has ever accused the Scots of not being good drinkers.  But with this new concoction they’ve crafted up, it looks like they have successfully named themselves a force not to be reckoned with.  Armageddon, Brewmeister’s newest craft beer, is now the strongest known beer in the world.  At 65% (that’s right, SIXTY FIVE PERCENT) alcohol, it’s even more potent than both whiskey and brandy.  Though ABC does not carry this lethal weapon, if you were to travel across the pond you would find it in 330mL bottles, each containing 22 units of alcohol.  To put
that into perspective, a unit is considered 1 standard drink, though in the United States 1 serving is really closer to the size of 2 “standard” drinks. 

    So, we’ll give ourselves some breathing room and say 22 units is comparable to about 10 normal beers.  Think about that, 10 beers in 1 Armageddon, and now let’s consider the percentage of
alcohol.  Armageddon weighs in at 65%, while a regular Scotch is about 40%.  It’s enough of a leap to make you wonder, why create such a strong, dangerous, though possibly delicious, brew? 
Creator Lewis Shand says, “We’ve designed it for people to consume like a fine brandy, in small amounts, not sitting in a park with a brown paper bag ‘round the bottle… These bottles are for sharing.”  Even so, let’s just say I won’t be slurping down any of Brewmeister’s newest recipe anytime soon.  How about you?

Hannah Grantz

(Part 1 of a few, or perhaps several)

 
 
 
  (Morning Cape Town from my hotel window)

          It began with me waiting. And then with me waiting even longer. Would this first-time trip to South Africa ever begin?

          I arrived at our ABC corporate office before 4 am, where I had arranged to meet
Brad Lewis, Director of Wines for ABC and my travel buddy for the trip.

          Four am and Brad is nowhere to be found. I call him. “Are you almost here?” “Didn’t you
get the email? The South African Airways flight to New York has been seriously delayed due to a medical emergency so we don’t need to leave Orlando until 10:35.”

          Uhhh, no, somehow I missed that email. Anyway, it was a learning experience. And by
that I mean I got to know what goes on at Denny’s at 4:30 in the morning, and I learned all about aeronautical engineering from the guy who works nightshift at the gas station where I stopped for coffee.

          The sun eventually rose – (my notebook tells me that I heard the first bird singing at 6:19 am) – and Brad and I eventually made it to New York. And we only had to wait there nine hours for our next flight.

          But just when you least expect it, the unexpected always happens, and without any further delay we were finally aboard our plane for a mere fifteen hour flight to Johannesburg. Which was okay – after thirty-eight hours of not sleeping I got a solid eight hours of sleep on the plane. We landed safely in Johannesburg and quickly jumped on the next plane to Cape Town, our final destination. It was ten o’clock at night when we arrived. We were originally scheduled to land
early in the morning so we missed our entire itinerary for our first day which was supposed to include a sauvignon blanc safari and a special green tie (ecologically speaking) dinner. Instead, Cape Wine 2012 began the next morning and we were ready to go.

          To me, trade shows are both a blessing and a curse. Where else would you have the chance to taste the wines of 313 (by my count) wine producers all within the confines of one very large room? And if every producer averages ten wines available to taste, that’s well over three thousand wines to sample. Not only is that mind-boggling, but it can make the search for exactly what you want like
trying to find a needle in a haystack.

          Don’t get me wrong – I love trade shows, and I love being invited to them, but to some degree they can be a little antiseptic. They are all business and science; by which I mean the constant need to taste and evaluate wine in a near enough laboratory situation. No wonderful scenery, no delicious food, no relaxed off-duty smiling people – all the things normally associated with the enjoyment of wine.

          I must say, though, that we were made very welcome. People in the wine business, by and large, are a very friendly bunch. We stopped by to see our friends at the Graham Beck Wines booth to say hello. As anyone who reads this blog knows, the Graham Beck wines are a staple of quality wines from South Africa at our ABC stores.

(With our friends at Graham Beck Wines)

          We also ran into John Gorman from Southern Starz on our first day. Southern Starz is a great importer of southern hemisphere wines, and a good friend of all of ours at ABC. John – a Capetonian by birth though he now resides in California – was a great host, and I’ll have more to say about our adventures with him in future blogs.

          Well, we didn’t quite stop at the booths of every one of the 313 producers, and we certainly didn’t taste all 3,000+ wines available to us, but Brad and I did give it a good shot over the three days of the show. What we did find was a huge jump in the quality of South African wines and a sense of strong regional identity that was very pleasing to see.

          And there’s a lot more to tell. See you again in two weeks.

Bill
Stobbs, ABC Wine Supervisor

(Follow me on Twitter @abcwinebills)

Jim Phinick, the wine consultant at our Merritt Island location, recently took a trip to Napa Valley to take the Advanced Sommelier Course.

Sounds fancy, right? This course is designed to educate experienced wine consultants with the most in-depth information about wine, how it’s grown and made, and how to drink it, taste it, and ultimately, how to pass their new knowledge on to colleagues.  It shapes them up to be wine experts.

While in the midst of taking what seems to be a very informative, yet fun, class, Jim snagged a little video to give us a taste of the experience. Watch below to see what he was up to in California!

Guest blogger Jacob Lynd is the wine consultant at our Estero store. He recently traveled to Washington.

After visiting much of Washington's Wine Country, we finally arrived at the site that I was looking forward to the most: Col Solare! (which means "Shining Hill" in Italian) Driving up the road to the winery, you get to see how differently they have planted the vines to make sure they get optimum growth and ripeness in all of their grapes. Upon pulling up to Col Solare Winery, we were in awe of how beautiful their land (and the winery itself) was upon Red Mountain, one of Columbia Valley's most celebrated sub-appellations (at only 4,000 acres) which sits high above the Yakima and Columbia Rivers.

Once we caught our breath, we entered into the amazingly designed winery and were greeted by winemaker Marcus Notard with a big smile and a bottle of rosé that he was pouring for our group. Once the introductions were complete, we went out onto the balcony that overlooks the winery. As we sipped on the beautifully crafted rosé, Marcus explained that it was his second year of making it and he only made two cases of it this year!

After chatting a bit on the balcony enjoying the rosé, he
walked us down to his beloved vines that were still young and had a very a wonderful array of clusters coming in. Marcus knelt down next to a vine  to explain the process and the way that he plants, grows, and trims his vines to make sure he gets best that he can year after year (and I will say he has done it well). He explained the reason behind the layout of his vines which happen to be quite educating and informative.

They planted the vineyard to emulate the rays of the sun. Each “block” was planted around the way each varietal needed to grow best due to vine density,
slope, wind and, of course, sun direction.

The land that Col Solare is in is one of the best spots to
make the amazing wines that they produce. Red Mountain is one of the warmest and driest appellations in Washington. The heat, plus the layers upon layers of
out wash, and then a great gravel in the soil, gives the fruit a lot of body and power. With the soil being low in nutrients, and only 4-6 inches of rain per year, it makes the vines struggle and produce high density, low
yielding crops. Control of the irrigation is a key point in a Washington vineyard, especially Red Mountain.  (All of these combined is what’s needed to produce such outstanding wines.)

After a while, we headed back into the winery to explore and understand the operation. After visiting a few other wineries on the trip, I was taken aback at how small Col Solare really was. I should not have been surprised,
due to the fact that (as he stated out at the vineyard) each vine that they grow only produces on average 3-4 pounds of grapes per year!  To put that into perspective, that is 1 bottle of wine per vine... 2,100 vines per acre, on a 40 acre lot, would mean he usually only gets around 7,000 cases of wine!

We then headed into the highlight of the evening, the dining room, where we were all ready to enjoy a fabulous meal prepared by Marcus and his outstanding chef!

As we listened to Marcus talk about the amazing Cabernet Sauvignons he created, we got treated to a delightful dinner. Each Cabernet that we were served was simply phenomenal and paired beautifully with everything they served for our meal.

To start, we had a great gorgonzola and roasted red bell pepper arancini (I had to look this one up since I had no clue what it was; it is, in basic terms, a fried rice ball coated with bread crumbs). I was very excited to try it, and once I did I was thoroughly impressed. Following the teaser, we were introduced to a prosciutto wrapped baby green salad with black garlic (another one I looked up) and pinoli with a huckleberry balsamic. I enjoy my salads when I have them, but this was one I won't forget. My mouth was watering with each bite and we hadn't even gotten to the phenomenal entree yet. The entree Marcus' chef prepared was by far my favorite part of the whole trip—pistachio crushed bison tenderloin in a cabernet reduction on top of sweet potato gnocchi and grilled asparagus! Only word I could think while I enjoyed was "WOW"! To top it off we were treated with a wonderful lavender cake with mascarpone and lemon blueberry compote which hit the spot.

During the end of our meal, they opened up very big doors that overlooked the vineyard and the view was once again breathtaking.  After enjoying our meal and conversation, and learning about how Marcus makes and cares so much about the Col Solare wines that he produces, we headed out once more to enjoy the vineyard and the view. I highly recommend you visit this winery if given the opportunity during your travels. Thanks to ABC, along with the sponsor of the trip, Southern Wine & Spirits for allowing me to partake on such a wonderful experience. And thanks to you as well, Marcus Notard.

Searching for new, exciting wines for our stores is not always a pleasant, rewarding experience. We travel the world enduring flight delays, barely edible airline food and jet lag before we even begin our pursuit.

Once at our destination, usually a wine region or trade show, we often taste hundreds of wines before even one makes its way to our store shelves. Our selections are based on a number of factors which include the price, availability, and quality of the wine.

I don't want to create the impression that I don't enjoy seeking out new wines. In fact just the opposite is true. While there can be a lot of work and frustration involved, finding a new supplier that is willing and eager to work with us can be very gratifying.

This past spring at an Italian trade show, Brad Lewis and I had a meeting with the managing director of Terra Moretti Wines. I must admit I was only vaguely familiar with the Terra Moretti Wine Company. After tasting more than a dozen wines and discussing opportunities for our companies, it was soon apparent that the Terra Moretti wines would be a great fit for our stores.

Vittorio Moretti founded Terra Moretti Company in 1977 mainly as a hobby he was passionate about. He started making wine in the Franciacorta area of Italy for friends and family. From this passion two wineries were born in Franciacorta, Bellavista and Contadi Castaldi. Not long after two more wineries were founded in the Maremma area of Tuscany, Petra and Tenuta La Badiola.

I am proud to announce Contadi Castaldi, Petra and Tenuta La Badiola wines are now available at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits. Initial guest reaction to these highly rated, beautifully made wines has been extremely positive. If you haven't yet tried these Italian gems, stop by and ask your wine consultant to recommend one.                                

 Paul Quaglini

Follow me on Twitter @abcwinepaulq

Beer blogger Adam Shugan is the store manager at our Archer Road store in Gainesville.

Today I am revisiting one of the first beers I blogged about when I discussed Schwarzbier for the sake of my world voyage. Plus I’m running out of countries to try beers from. 

The beer is Xingu black lager from Santa Maria, Brazil.  It is a style I enjoy when I want a lighter
tasting dark beer.  This is the sole beer of the brewery Cervejaria Sul Brasileira, and they do a fine job making it.

Appearance:  Serving it slightly chilled in my Guinness tumbler, it pours a creamy charcoal color
with a frosty chocolate syrup-hued head.

Smell:  Faint roasty malts and burnt caramel.

Taste:  Espresso infused baker’s chocolate with fresh cracked grains and a kiss of molasses.  Not overbearing but well balanced. 

Black beer is a great style for the novice beer drinker who does not want to dive right into the black coffee and roasted chocolate heavy stouts and porters.  Sam Adams, Dixie, and Krombacher offer Schwarzbiers, and all as well as Xingu can be found at most ABCs.  

Imagine a trip encompassing Europe's iconic wine regions. Tasting wine and conversing with some of the continent's most driven and visionary winemaking talent. Visiting dynamic cities juxtaposed by isolated hamlets, exploring miles of vineyards some as pampered and manicured as the landscaping at your local country club, others as strange and desolate as if transported from the face of the moon.  All of this while enjoying the diverse cuisines, music, culture and art that this epic land has in abundance.  

Now cram this entire experience into a trip that’s barely a week long!

To be objective, you can insert the name of any great wine region worldwide here, be it Burgundy in France or Napa Valley, for example.  It doesn’t matter.  Fast paced business junkets are typical and just the nature of the beast.  Sometimes it can feel a little bit like training for a track and field event.  Because we’re often on a producers tight schedule, it’s common to be out the hotel at the crack of dawn and at a winery somewhere by sun-up tasting wine.  We might visit two wineries by lunch and then have that meal with a handful of winemakers.  In the afternoon, we could visit two more wineries before having dinner with, you guessed it, another set of winemakers.  Or skip dinner and attend a large trade event with many wineries from a particular region.  And this can continue through the late hours of the evening.  By the time we return to the hotel there’s barely time to check in with family stateside, get a little sleep and reset for the sprint that’s coming the next day.

Sometimes it might a full day of travel over great distances, which can challenge you in a completely different way.  I’m not complaining, mind you.  There are many in people in the world that would gladly switch places with me because what I do! They’re out of luck though, as I wouldn’t trade it for the world.  Over the years, you get used to the pace and live for the push and shove of it.

Besides, there’s a means to an end here.  You get to meet some amazing people in the wine industry and I feel it’s a privilege and duty to bring these producers to the attention of our valued guests, one marvelous, thought-provoking sip of wine at a time.

At ABCFWS, we literally search throughout Wine Country to bring the very best wines to the Florida market.  In fact, we're there right now!  Members of our wine staff arrived in Milan yesterday on a tour of Northern Italy with Nadia Galati of Alberello Imports. 

Certainly there'll be plenty more to report about here.  Look for coming blog posts from wine consultants Garry Tatum, Roland Gigandet, Dan Eddy and Scott Carter plus additional anecdotes from Ken Amendola and myself. 

Jim Greeley, Wine Supervisor, SW Florida

Guest blogger Andrew Shulga works in our Vero Beach (20th Street) store.

    A few years ago ABC began carrying a new wine from the Willamette Valley in Oregon, vinted and bottled by Boedecker Cellars.  I had to try it.  Once in the glass, this unoaked chardonnay had a subtle nose of fig and pear with a nice clarity.  I fell effortlessly in love with this wine upon my first sip.  With notes of pineapple, pear and green apple, it was surprisingly full bodied with a nice creamy finish. 

    I believe that Boedecker's Chardonnay was so nicely balanced due to the fact that they used the "sur lie" style of aging, in which the vintner periodically stirs the residual yeast that settles in the bottom of the vat.

    I pictured it going well with a lemon pepper chicken or even a shrimp scampi.  The complexity of this wine left me with endless options.  In the long run, I went simple.  My choice?... mozzarella on bruschetta.  Simple yet delicious, the texture and flavors of the cheese matched up agreeably with
this wine.  Since I discovered this wine I have looked forward to its unique complexity year after year.

Got a favorite you'd like to tell the world about? You can place a review on our website (on the shopping site for the wine), or drop us a line and you may see it here!

Guest blogger Kevin Vercrouse is the manager of one of our Naples stores. He recently traveled to California to visit some wineries...and Sake maker Takara.

We started our California experience crossing the Bay Bridge into Berkeley, California, for the Takara Sake House.  We headed upstairs where we met with our guides Hidetaka “Tak” Iinuma and Kenzo Shimotori.  Our tour started with a quick 15 minute video on how Sake is made before a tasting and a tour of the facility.

After the video we were treated to sushi, with Sake paired by the experts who make the Sake itself.  The Sake was paired very well, the food was excellent, and we tried Sake from both the plant we were visiting and the plant in Nada, Japan. 

One thing I learned was that Sake served warm needs to be warmed to perfection.  At the local Japanese steak houses I’ve been to, they place the Sake pot on the grill for the whole dinner, and I have never really enjoyed the Sake. I learned that this method of serving would cause the Sake to lose most of its flavor, hurting its appeal to the consumers.  With the experts heating it, there was a noticeable difference, and it might possibly now make it onto my table at home.  Another interesting part of the lunch was the Mio, sparkling Sake.  This Sake is brand new; very light, fruity, and quite interesting.

Lunch was followed by another video, this one very in-depth about the Sake process.  Our guide to this video was the Takara Sake House Toji.  Toji is the title for the head Sake brewer.  This would be the person deciding when the Sake is ready for the public.  The video was then followed by a tour of the brewery and warehouse. 

Brown Rice, known as Sakamai, is the rice used in the production of Sake.  The grains of this rice are much larger and softer than the rice we eat.   Takara purchases all of its rice, with twelve tons delivered every day.    

The next step is milling and polishing the rice.  This is done to remove the surface of the rice, which contains proteins and fat that are harmful to the flavor of the Sake. Premium Sake must be milled anywhere from 30 to 60 percent of its original size.  Takara takes pride in making sure all the imperfections are removed so they mill at least 70 percent of the original size.  The rice is then washed to remove any residue left in the milling process.  After being washed the rice is soaked in water, since Sake is made up of 80 percent water this is very important.  The time the rice is soaked is up to the Toji: it could be minutes or it could be overnight.  Steaming the rice is the next step; this helps to facilitate the work of the Koji and sake yeast.  Koji is an enzyme that is added to the rice; it converts the starch to glucose.  

The rice with the Koji (Koji Rice) is now put in a big vat with Sake yeast. This is called the Moromi or “Main Mash.”  The Sake yeast eats the glucose, producing alcohol.  Sake is unique among fermented beverages because saccharization and fermentation occur simultaneously, yielding Sake with 20 percent alcohol. We had the privilege to try the Moromi; it is very creamy, not something
I would highly recommend. The final product is much better.  After fermentation the Sake is pressed separating the fresh Sake from the Moromi. The clear liquid is now filtered, removing excess proteins and starch. 

The Sake is then pasteurized and placed outside in tanks to age for 3 to 6 months.  The reason Takara built its Sake house in Berkeley was for the cool breeze off the San Francisco Bay.  They age all their Sake outside, saving on the cost to keep the tanks cool enough. They age the Sake in very tall tanks, the tallest Berkeley would allow, and from the top of the tanks you have a beautiful view of the Bay!

Now that the Sake has been aged, it’s time to ship them to stores.  Production at Takara is about 2000 cases a day. They ship most of what is made daily; they don’t warehouse very much product.  What is shocking is that six employees make all that Sake.  Another very interesting thing to me was the fact that at random steps there was a woman who checks every batch to make sure it meets Takara’s high standards.

Before we left the Sake house we had a few minutes to look at their museum of 19^th century Sake-making equipment. They have the whole process and everything used in the process in this museum.

Since Oktoberfest has kicked off in Munich and beer drinking season is in full swing, The Economist (the chart below is theirs) has published a research study proving the amount of time we (people, humans, adults) have to work in order to afford 500ml (16.9 ounces, or roughly a pint) of beer. Their findings, based on the retail price of beer divided by the average hourly wage in the specific country, place Americans in first, or last, place--depending on your perspective.

At the top, or bottom, of the chart is India- with low working wages and high taxes, employees in this country must work for close to an hour before they have earned just one cold one.  On the opposite side, Americans can be on the clock for as little as seven minutes and they’ll already have a pint-sized frosted mug banked for the end of their work day.  So, figuratively speaking, the
average 40 hour/week worker can earn over 342 glasses of beer by Friday evening.  Now, that’s not to say we should all be filling that quota- but it does make your hard earned pennies seem to stretch a little further than you thought, now doesn’t it?

 Source: The Economist, “Thirsty Work”

The wild bush vines of Swartland

Excuse me if I’m a little vague. I just got back from a very exciting trip to South Africa. The travel time back from Cape Town Airport to my own front door was something like thirty-six hours, and that was after a full day of touring vineyards and tasting. I haven’t even had a chance to download the pictures from my camera yet, so what you get here is what I just happened to have on my phone. As you can imagine, my body is still on South African time, and when I sleep I still dream I’m in the hills of Swartland. But here are the basics, and I’ll be going into more detail in future blogs.

My trip was centered round Cape Wine 2012, which is a very large trade show that showcases the wines of South Africa. In attendance were on and off-premise buyers, sommeliers, masters of wine, wine writers and other wine media from all over the planet, as well as Brad Lewis, our Director
of Wines at ABC, and I. In the evenings there were scheduled wine dinners in which we got a chance to sample some of the local food and taste even more wine, as well as network with wine people from all over the world. After Cape Wine finished we had a few days of traveling to the various wine regions, getting a sense of the lay of the land, being welcomed generously into the homes and farms of owners and winemakers, and, of course, tasting more wine.

It was my first visit to South Africa so as you can imagine it was a major learning experience for me. I must say I was amazed at the quality of so many of the wines we tasted. South Africa certainly has come a long way in terms of quality in a very short time. What’s more I was very happy to see a sense of regional identity coming to the fore. When I first tasted South African wine back in the late’80s it was just that – South African wine – and generally rather indifferent at that. But now we don’t just think of South African wine, we think of definite regions and terroir – we think of Stellenbosch and Paarl and Franschhoek and Swartland and even Bot River. This is a very important step forward in developing great wines of international standard.

    
 

Vineyards overlooking the ocean at Cape Point

As for the wines themselves, well, the general perception is that South Africa’s strongest suit is in their delicious white wines – sauvignon blanc and chenin blanc in particular. While there is some
truth to this general perception I would also like to advocate many of the red wines we tried. Their Syrah (or Shiraz depending on the taste of the winemaker and in some cases the vintage) and their Cabernet Sauvignon was often very impressive. Much to my surprise, South African Pinot Noir was a force to be reckoned with. Even more surprising was a lot of their delicious cinsault and mourvèdre.

What about pinotage, that difficult to understand cross between pinot noir and cinsault that was
developed in South Africa in the 1920s, and as a wine can be all over the board in both flavor and quality? Well, I’ll definitely be going into that in future blogs. For the moment let me settle myself back into being in America again and collect my notes and thoughts for future, less bleary-eyed, blogs. See you in two weeks!

Bill Stobbs, ABC Wine Supervisor

Follow me on Twitter @abcwinebills

Domaine de Chevalier is one of the most respected wine estates in Bordeaux; the classified Grand Cru estate of Pessac Léognan comprises 42 hectares of vines, of which 37 hectares are planted to 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot for the red wines and 5 hectares are planted to 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon for the white wines.

 Here are the words of Olivier Bernard, owner of Domaine de Chevalier, on his winemaking philosophy:

“I try to do things as naturally as I can, constantly seeking a balanced approach to everything, and I am not reluctant to rely on modern methods – but always within the framework of Chevalier’s history… a vertical tasting of the last thirty vintages showed the wine’s unmistakable personality year after year. Man is only a facilitator… the terroir is, by far, the most important thing.”

 I am pleased to announce the recent addition to our extensive Bordeaux selection of the second wines of Domaine de Chevalier, l’Esprit de Chevalier 2010 white and l’Esprit de Chevalier 2009 red.

L’Esprit de Chevalier red and white wines represent an outstanding value. The second wines come to maturity earlier than the “grand vin” and could be enjoyed younger. L’Esprit de Chevalier red and white are complex, well-balanced, well-structured, and elegant wines, true to Chevalier’s image.

They are exclusive at ABC in the state of Florida.

l’Esprit de Chevalier red 2009 –Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France

The wine is the second wine of Domaine de Chevalier owned by Olivier Bernard. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot.

“Fresh red currant, raspberry and cherry notes are laced with violet and blood orange. Brighter and higher-toned than most of its 2009 Pessac peers. Drink now through 2018. 90” Wine Spectator

3382-05                  $27.99                    $159.99 / 6

l’Esprit de Chevalier white 2010– Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France

A blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Sémillon, l’Esprit de Chevalier is one of the best second wines from Bordeaux, especially at this price. Light straw color leads to aromas of white flowers with a touch of vanilla followed by medium body and tropical stone fruit flavors and a hint of sweetness from the Sémillon. The refreshing acidity makes it a foil for shellfish, grilled fish
and pasta with cream sauces.

3381-05                  $27.99                    $159.99 / 6

Atanas Nechkov, Wine Supervisor

follow me on Twitter @abcwineatanas

Bad pun huh? I know; I get that a lot, but there is a lot of truth in the pun. This wine region that
stretches south of San Francisco down to Santa Barbara is getting to be one of my favorite places in the wine world to visit. First, the wines are very good, from the rich, bold flavors of their Cabernets to the subtle, nuanced charm of their Pinot Noirs. They produce some top-notch Chardonnays that are both powerful and elegant, along with a myriad of white varietals such as Viognier, Roussanne and some wonderful Sauvignon Blancs. Yes, this relatively young AVA has certainly come a long way in a short time, with some very traditional wines from the likes of Laetitia, Tablas Creek, Au Bon Climat and Ojai to the more modern monsters from Saxum, Alban and Sine Qua Non.

 
The other reason I enjoy visiting is that I have met some of the more uniquely real, wonderfully
honest, fantastically generous people...I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Not that the folks I have met in other places aren’t, but the people I met last week at the Laetitia Winery are in another stratum when it comes to being genuinely real (instead of fake real, if you know what I mean), from Carmen Hickey, who runs the show and seemingly is never without a smile on her face, to her son Eric, the winemaker, who in the middle of the harvest spent three non-stop days with u,s and Jackie Ross, who is in charge of marketing, who set the whole thing up…along with too many others to mention. What a great team of people working for a common goal of producing terrific wines and treating every one of their guests like long-lost members of the family.

Yes, it was fun drinking the delicious wines, eating the lavish meals and enjoying the beautiful
surroundings, but like most special memories, it’s the people you meet that matters most and this was absolutely the case last week at Laetitia, in the Central Coast.

  I will send some more notes about the wines in later posts, but that’s it for now. If you have had
any really enjoyable experiences in the Central Coast or another wine region, reply back to this post and share it with all of us.

 Ken Amendola, N. Florida Wine Supervisor

follow me on Twitter @abcwinekena

For more than fifty years ABC Fine Wine & Spirits has been supporting charitable organizations across the state. We primarily focus on organizations that benefit children, the elderly and those who have suffered losses due to natural disasters.

As a member of the wine team I have the opportunity to show my support through wine-related events, something I'm most comfortable doing. One of my favorite charitable events is fast approaching, Hospice by the Sea's annual "Celebration by the Sea". I have been working with the this organization for more than ten years and have only good things to say, especially of their event coordinator, Betty Pepper.

On Saturday, October 13,2012, Hospice by the Sea will hold its 22nd annual signature event, "Celebration by the Sea". This highly anticipated oceanfront event is held at the exclusive Delray Beach Club. Guests in attendance will be treated to gourmet waterfront dining, fine wine and spirits from around the world and live music to dance the night away under the stars.

In addition the evening includes a silent auction and a grand drawing filed with wonderful opportunities to take home unique gifts, exciting resort getaways and much, much, more.

This event sells out every year so if you are looking for an unforgetable evening that benefits a great cause don't hesitate. To order tickets call 561-416-5009 or visit www.hbts.org

Hope to see you there!

Paul Quaglini

Follow me on Twitter @abcwinepaulq