[Cornell Wine] Cornell Wine This Week

[Beard Michael]

CORNELL WINE COMPANY
Please note if you are receiving our emails in error, please either  
send me an email at mick at cornellwine.com and I’ll remove you from my  
list, or you can delete your email address by going to  
www.cornellwine.com, clicking on “Site Index” and then “Electronic  
Newsletter”.  You will then see a link to our Mailman administration  
page.  If you go to that page, go to the bottom and type your email  
address in the indicated box and click “Remove”. Thank you.

FUTURE TASTINGS
25 April – Portugal
02 May – Petite Sirah
09 May – South America
16 May – Cabernet Sauvignon
23 May – Rhône Valley
30 May – Piemonte

THIS WEEK
FRIDAY, April 18th
4:30 - 7:00pm

MERLOT

CHEESE PLATE
Once again we rely on Artisanal Premium Cheese of New York to  
recommend cheese to go with our chosen wine.
Appenzeller                          Cow’s  
Milk                                    Switzerland
This Alpine cheese separates itself from run-of-the-mill Gruyere by  
its production method where the wheels are bathed in a solution of  
herbs and liquors give a herbaceous, nutty flavor, with a milky finish.
Cantal                                   Cow’s  
Milk                                    France
 From the Auvergne region of France, its makers claim this is the  
ancestor of all British Farmhouse Cheddars.  As the French took over  
England in 1066, maybe it is true.  However, didn’t we Brits control  
the Bordeaux region a few hundred years later?  As Pauline and I are  
Francophiles, I thank the Frogs for anything they did to improve  
English cooking.
Idiazabal                               Sheep’s  
Milk                         	Spain
 From Spain’s Basque region, this cheese is similar to Manchego.   
However, during production the wheels are lightly smoked over  
beechwood, hawthorne and cherry for a few days which adds a slightly  
smoky quality to the rich, nutty flavor.
CHEESE SAMPLER PLATE $4.00

Forget the movie Sideways, some lovely Merlots are out there!   
Remember, Château Pétrus, with the 2005 selling for $5,000/bottle, is  
Merlot!  While we cannot offer you Pétrus, we can offer an  
interesting array of Merlots from California, Oregon, Washington and  
Bordeaux.

1. We start in OREGON and the HENRY ESTATE 2004 UMPQUA VALLEY  
MERLOT.  Henry was the first Oregon winery outside of the Willamette  
Valley that Pauline and I visited when we came to the Left Coast in  
1989.  At the time we were not overly impressed, as we do not like  
Pinot Noir aged in American oak.  A few weeks ago a winery  
representative visited the shop and I was impressed by the  
Chardonnay, Barrel Select Pinot Noir and the Merlot.  This last wine  
was no soft fruit bomb and has good structure and classic Merlot  
flavors - $17.75

2. WIND RIVER is a winery in WASHINGTON located in the Columbia Gorge  
above White Salmon.  Until recently their wines were not available in  
Oregon retail, but this year’s change in OLCC rules allows out-of- 
state wineries to ship directly to me (of course this involves more  
paperwork to satisfy the bureaucracy).  While I think the winery  
tries too many varietals, several of their wines are impressive.  I  
like the quality : value ratio of their Pinot Noir (Celilo Vineyard),  
and the 2005 MERLOT from ANDREW’S HORSE HEAVEN VINEYARD in the HORSE  
HEAVEN HILLS AVA (where else!).  The wine offers lots of dark plum  
fruit, a nice structure, and a touch of chocolate on the long finish  
- $19.50

3. We could not hold a Merlot tasting without a wine from the NAPA  
VALLEY.  What could be better than the NAPA CELLARS 2005 MERLOT?  I  
call this a Merlot for Cabernet drinkers as it has a substantial  
structure to go with the ripe plum, coffee and chocolate aromas,  
black fruit and spice on the palate, and a long, slightly tannic  
finish  - $16.50

4. At our last MERLOT tasting (somewhere back in the annals of time)  
the J. LOHR LOS OSOS VINEYARD, PASO ROBLES MERLOT was a big hit.   
This week we offer the 2006, the current release.  This vintage is  
82% MERLOT with small amounts of CABERNET SAUVIGNON, CABERNET FRANC,  
MALBEC, PETIT VERDOT and PETITE SIRAH.  This is a substantial wine,  
aged in a mix of American and Hungarian oak barrels (30% new).  There  
is ample cherry fruit, spice, lots of cedary oak, and a touch of  
chocolate on the finish - $15.00

TRY THESE FOUR WINES FOR $10.00

This week we once again offer two PREMIUM POURS:

Our first Premium Pour is a voluptuous wine with a body some would  
die for.  Just let this wine caress your lips, and you will see what  
I mean.  OK, lets get serious.  We are offering the 2005 MARILYN  
MERLOT from the NAPA VALLEY.  While the wine sells on its labels, the  
wine is usually pretty good.  In this vintage there is 10% CABERNET  
SAUVIGNON in the wine which gives it a little perkiness - $30.00

TRY THIS WINE FOR $3.50/Taste or $6.00/4 ounces

While we cannot offer you PÉTRUS, we can offer you a MERLOT from  
BORDEAUX.  CHÂTEAU SAINT GEORGES from SAINT-ÉMILION is a big seller  
in the shop, especially their second label PUY SAINT GEORGES.  We  
offer the 2005 TRILOGIE du CHÂTEAU SAINT GEORGES which is the  
estate’s top bottling.  It celebrates the three generations of  
winemaking of the current owners, and is 100% MERLOT from older vines  
on the estate.  This wine is very young, somewhat tight, but showing  
the lovely balance of the better 2005s.  It has lots of cassis and  
blackberry fruit, cedar overtones, and a long, but somewhat tannic  
finish.  While I would not drink this wine today, I’m buying some for  
my personal cellar.  If you like Merlot-based Bordeaux, this is one  
bargain for your cellar - $43.75

TRY THIS WINE FOR $5.00/Taste or 9.00/4 ounces

TRY BOTH FOR $7.50

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, April 19th
Noon – 5:00PM
Free

As always we will have a couple of wines open.  This week’s  
provisional choices:

 From IDAHO, we offer SAWTOOTH WINERY’S 2006 VIOGNIER.  This wine has  
all the aromatics of VIOGNIER, and the 20% ROUSSANNE in the blend  
gives more richness on mid-palate.  Sensational value - $9.50

For those of you who missed the last ZINFANDEL tasting, we offer  
GNARLIER HEAD 2005 DRY CREEK VALLEY OLD VINE ZINFANDEL.  This wine is  
a step-up from the very popular GNARLY HEAD FROM LODI - $19.50

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
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.pacifier.com/pipermail/cornell-list/attachments/20080417/29fdfbbf/attachment-0001.html