[Cornell Wine] Cornell Wine This Week

[Michael Beard]

CORNELL WINE COMPANY
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June 09 – Bordeaux
June 16 – Fathers Day Specials

(more expensive wines by the taste or 4oz)

June 23 - Loire Valley

June 30 – Wines for Your July 4th Cookout

July 7 – Cabernet Sauvignon

July 14 - French Wines for Bastille Day



FRIDAY, June 2nd, 4:30 - 7:00pm

Northern Italy

Northern Italy gives me a wide choice of wines from Piemonte in the  
west to Friuli-Venezia Giula in the east.  For this tasting I have  
included “mainstream” wines such as Nebbiolo from Piemonte, but then  
added lesser-known varietals such as Teroldego (what? you say).
1. We start with a white blend, TENUTA VISCONE 2005 BIANCO from  
VENEZIA GIULIA.  I had decided on this wine before Matt Kramer last  
Sunday wrote about white blends from the NE of Italy and their  
influence on Oregon wine makers.  The wines are dry whites that see  
no oak, and have one varietal that has aromatic qualities.  He  
recommended the local J. CHRISTOPHER 2005 CRISTO MISTO (which we have  
in stock at $14.75), and recommended a fairly expensive Italian  
white.  Our offering is a very modestly Italian white.  It is a blend  
of SAUVIGNON BLANC, CHARDONNAY, and to give the aromatics, TOCAI.   
This wine is very floral, but very dry, and a superb bargain - $8.75

2. We now go to reds and lesser-known varietals.  In TRENTINO the  
main “local” red varietals are SCHIAVA, LAGREIN, TEROLDEGO and  
MARZEMINO.  We start with LAGREIN and the 2002 from BOTTEGA VINAIA.   
While this wine has the classic push-pull between sweet and savory of  
the varietal, this vintage leans towards the sweet with bright, lush  
berry fruit.  However it has some savory and almost herbal flavors.   
A fascinating red wine for - $17.50

3. We stay with BOTTEGA VINAIA for their 2002 TEROLDEGO.  I think  
this is a more serious wine than the Lagrein, but because of the  
higher tannins it is not as approachable in its youth.  The grape has  
thick skins which gives the wines a deep purple hue…dare I say it,  
the wine looks like Welch’s grape jelly?   - $17.50

4. What would a northern Italian tasting be without a NEBBIOLO from  
PIEMONTE, especially if that wine was from VIETTI?  For some time  
Vietti’s “entry-level” Nebbiolo was the SAN MICHELE bottling.  This  
is lovely wine, but needs patience for the considerable tannins to  
soften.  They now produce a NEBBIOLO from LANGHE called PERBACCO.   
This is a lovely Vietti wine at a modest cost.  From the hot 2003  
vintage, this wine offers lots of forward fruit but still has a  
classic structure with moderate tannins - $21.00

TRY THESE FOUR WINES FOR $10.00

For our PREMIUM POUR we offer another NEBBIOLO wine:

This wine is from the north of LOMBARDIA, very close to the Swiss  
border, in an area called VALTELLINA.  Here NEBBIOLO is known as  
CHIAVENNASCA.  The CONTI SERTOLI SALIS 2001 CORTE della MERIDIANA  
(100% NEBBIOLO) is classified as a SUPERIORE as the grapes only come  
from certain steeply terraced vineyards.  These vineyards can only be  
hand-harvested because of the steepness of the terrain.  About 30% of  
the grapes are dried on mats prior to fermentation.  The result is a  
wine with great aromatics and bold flavor on mid-palate.  In this  
very cool area a “normally-fermented wine” can be light-bodied and  
somewhat tannic.  This wine, despite the “gobs of fruit”, has  
noticeable tannins and will benefit from a little cellaring - $25.00

TRY THIS WINE FOR $3.00/Taste or $5.00/4 ounces



SATURDAY, June 3rd

 From NOON – 5:00 PM as usual we will have a couple of bottles open  
for free tasting.

Continuing with our theme of Northern Italy we will offer the BOTTEGA  
VINAIA 2003 TRENTINO CHARDONNAY.  This wine offers good fruit, modest  
oak and good acidity for a stunning price of $10.00 (was $14.00).

Last week so many of you were obviously touring Oregon wineries, we  
did not open this wine as promised.   Hence this week we again offer  
the STERLING 2003 CENTRAL COAST MERLOT.  “Central Coast” is a catch- 
all that can cover lots of mediocre wine.  STERLING were the first  
winery to bottle a varietal MERLOT (in 1978), so they know what they  
are doing with this grape.  So many Merlots at this price level are  
soft and/or sweet fruit bombs, but this wine has class that would be  
more appropriate with a $16.00 Merlot.  FANTASTIC VALUE AT $9.00

Looking forward to seeing you all,

Cheers,

Mick
Cornell Wine Company
14740 NW Cornell Road, #90
Portland, 97229-5400
(503) 531-3981
mick at cornellwine.com
www.cornellwine.com
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