[Cornell Wine] Cornell Wine This Week

[Michael Beard]

CORNELL WINE COMPANY
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September 07 – Rhône Valley
September 14 – Zinfandel
September 21 – Toscana
September 28 – Syrah/Shiraz
October 05 – South America
October 12 – Walla Walla

FRIDAY, August 31st, 4:30 - 7:00pm

Wines for your Labor Day Cook-out

CHEESE PLATES
The idea of this tasting is to try inexpensive, but complex, wines to  
go with your cookout.  We use the same approach for our cheese – we  
are offering three Cheddars from:
New Zealand
England
Ireland
CHEESE SAMPLER PLATE $3.00

For our pre-July 4th tasting we always offer only USA wines, but for  
this “last” weekend of summer we have searched the world of wine to  
find wines that have character, but are not ones you want to  
contemplate for hours – just great wines to quaff or to drink with  
your cook-out.  We offer red wines from GREECE, ITALY, FRANCE,  
CALIFORNIA and SPAIN.

1. We start in GREECE, and let us hope these vineyards and the local  
people have survived the devastating fires that have raged throughout  
Greece.  Pauline and I love the country and we are having a tough  
time with the devastation.  The HARLAFTIS WINERY 2004 ATHANASSIADI is  
a red wine from NEMEA (luckily to the east of the worst fires) and is  
mainly the local grape AGIORGITIKO.  It is a great introduction to  
one of the major native red varietals of Greece - $10.0

2. We now go west to the east coast of ITALY and in particular to LE  
MARCHE.  Probably the best-known Denominazione di Origine Controllata  
in the region is ROSSO CONERO, and the LANARI 2005 ROSSO CONERO is a  
lovely example of the genre.  A blend of 80% MONTEPULCIANO and 20%  
SANGIOVESE, the wine is one giant step above the similar, but cheaper  
wines from their neighbors in ABRUZZO.  2005 was a fabulous vintage  
over most of Europe, and this wine offers lots of ripe berry fruit,  
is very smooth on the palate, but has the acidity to go with  
substantial food - $14.25

3. The SOUTH of FRANCE is the home of many good value reds that have  
the stuffing to go with whatever red meat you throw on the grill.   
DOMAINE de LAFAGE 2003 TRADITION is from the COTEAUX du QUERCY that  
is a new area for me.  The area is about 80km from Toulouse in the  
southwest.  This wine is made from biodynamically farmed fruit  
(Certifié Ecocert F 32600), and is a blend of CABERNET FRANC, CÔT,  
MERLOT and TANNAT.  It offers gobs of black fruit and spice and  
considerable tannins from the TANNAT.  This wine needs food, so is a  
great match for any spicy BBQ food you may cook - $14.50

4. With an American cookout we have to offer at least one USA wine.   
McNAB RIDGE is owned by part of the PARDUCCI family and they make  
some value wines.  FRED’S RED is a NV blend of ZINFANDEL and SYRAH  
from MENDICINO COUNTY.  As Robert Parker would say, this wine offers  
gobs of fruit for your buck - $10.00

5. We finish in SPAIN and the ALMANSA area (just inland from Valencia  
and Alicante).  The VIÑA ATALAYA 2003 RESERVA is a blend of 80%  
TEMPRANILLO and 20% MONASTRELL.  When I first tasted this wine I was  
not a fan as I thought there was too much sweet American oak.   
However it is amazing how this wine changes in the glass.  Another  
“gobs of fruit” style that will be lovely with any BBQ meat  - $12.75

TRY THESE FIVE WINES FOR $10.00

For our PREMIUM POUR we move to a WALLA WALLA winery:

While a cook-out is more about quaffing less expensive wines, we  
thought we should have one slightly more expensive wine for you to  
taste.  We had this wine open earlier in the year, but thought it was  
time to offer it again.  SYZYGY was a new winery to me and, according  
to the label, the word means the moment of perfect alignment between  
three celestial bodies.  On October 14, 2004 the sun, moon and earth  
aligned causing a partial eclipse over Alaska and Hawaii, and the  
winery’s 2004 COLUMBIA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON celebrates that  
event – and try it to celebrate our own lunar eclipse this week.  The  
wine is a blend of fruit from the CONNER LEE (17 year old vines) and  
SAGEMOOR (32 year old vines) vineyards, and was aged for 21 months in  
French oak.  The nose offers ripe cassis, vanillans and toast, and  
the palate offers lots of ripe fruit and well-integrated oak.  The  
finish is long and the fruit intensity hides the 15+% alcohol - $32.50

TRY THIS WINE FOR $4.00/Taste or $7.00/4 ounces

NB: All prices are subject to change without notice.  The above  
information is based on verbal information from distributors, and  
actual wine prices will depend on the price invoiced at delivery to  
Cornell Wine Company.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st
Noon – 5:00 PM

As usual, we will have some interesting wines open for free tasting,  
but we have not yet made the decision as to which – we are waiting to  
see how cold it is going to be!

Cheers,

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