[Cornell Wine] Cornell Wine This Week

[Michael Beard]

CORNELL WINE COMPANY
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March 28 – Zinfandel
March 29 – CWC Anniversary Party!
4 April – Bordeaux
11 April - Australia
18 April – Merlot
25 April – Portugal
May 02 – Petite Sirah
May 09 – South America

THIS WEEK
FRIDAY, March 21st
4:30 - 7:00pm

GREEK WINES

GREEK MEZE PLATE
This week we offer a typical Greek plate:
	Manouri Cheese                          	A Sheep and Goat’s milk  
cheese from Northern Greece
	Kalamata Olives                           	The great Greek olive
	Dolmathes                             		Stuffed Grape Leaves
SAMPLER PLATE $4.00

Greek wines are getting more attention as many people discover there  
is more than Retsina (but there is one great Retsina – and we have  
it!).  Unfortunately, the better wines are getting more expensive –  
the weak dollar does not help!  This week we offer a selection that  
are mainly made from native varietals, plus blends with  
“international” varietals.

1. As with most of our Greek wine tastings we start with a white from  
the island of SANTORINI.  ASSYRTIKO is a white grape grown in the  
Cyclades Islands and thought by some to have originated on  
Santorini.  The grape is well suited to the island’s climate as it is  
impervious to drought, and resists diseases such as powdery mildew.   
Considered by many as Greece’s finest white varietal, the wine offers  
white stone fruit with touches of honeysuckle on the nose, and the  
palate and finish have a wonderful underlying mineral acidity.  Many  
examples age in a similar manner to white Burgundy.  The SIGALAS 2006  
is a wonderful example (the 2005 was in the Wine Spectator 100 Best  
Wines of 2007) - $20.00

2. For our first red we offer a blend between Greek and  
“International” varietals.  SKOURAS 2006 RED is a blend of CABERNET  
SAUVIGNON and the local grape AGIORGITIKO (sometime known as SAINT  
GEORGE after a chapel of that name near one of the original  
vineyards).  It offers lots of cassis fruit mixed with plum and is a  
bargain - $9.00

3. AGIORGITIKO is the major grape of NEMEA, and the SKOURAS 2005 is a  
nice example at a reasonable price.  SKOURAS has backed-off his use  
of much new oak, and so this wine shows more fruit than the taste of  
a barrel.  Pauline and I had this wine when we went to Santorini  
Restaurant with her students and we were impressed by it – even at  
restaurant prices - $14.00

4. RAPSANI is an appellation on the east coast of THESSALY, just  
south of MOUNT OLYMPUS.  The main red grape in the region is  
XINOMAVRO (literally, black acid) the grape that is used to make  
NAOUSSA in Macedonia.  Here it is usually blended with STAVROTO and/ 
or KRASSATO.  The TSANTALIS 2003 RAPSANI RESERVE bottling is about  
80% XINOMAVRO and the rest is mainly STAVROTO with a tiny amount of  
KRASSATO. The STAVROTO helps to tame the acid of the XINOMAVRO.   
Pauline and I drank a bottle of an earlier vintage with dinner at  
Lauro’s Kitchen and it went well with their Portuguese Pork and Clam  
dish as well as, somewhat surprisingly to me, their Paella (must have  
been the amount of Chorizo in the Paella) – $30.00

TRY THESE FOUR WINES FOR $10.00

This week we once again offer two PREMIUM POURS:

Every year our most successful expensive Greek Red Wine has been the  
GAIA ESTATE RED, KOUTSI VINEYARD, which is 100% AGIORGITIKO.  It is  
grown on the winery’s site in Koutsi Korinthias in NEMEA,  
PELOPONNESE, and in most vintages is my favorite Greek red wine.  I  
have not tasted the 2004, but assume it will be as good as all the  
earlier vintages (Nico Manessis, the “Robert Parker of Greece”,  
considers the Koutsi Vineyard as Greece’s first Grand Cru) - $38.75  
(we have one remaining bottle of the 2003 at $37.50)

TRY THIS WINE FOR $4.50/Taste or $8.00/4 ounces

Our second PREMIUM is the most expensive Greek wine I’ve ever tasted  
(other than an old Vin Santo), and it is excellent.  From TSANTALIS,  
the 2005 ABATON is a blend of LIMNIO (thought to originate on the  
island of Limnos) and CABERNET SAUVIGNON grown on the slopes of MOUNT  
ATHOS.  The nose is very CABERNET with lots of cassis fruit, and this  
is reflected on the palate where then the LIMNIO kicks in.  You then  
perceive sage, laurel and other herbs, and the overall feeling is of  
smoothness and long length  - $55.00

TRY THIS WINE FOR $6.00/Taste or 11.00/4 ounces

TRY BOTH FOR $9.50

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, March 22nd
Noon – 5:00PM
Free

We expect to have these two wines open:

COASTAL VINES 2005 CALIFORNIA CHARDONNAY – and interesting Chardonnay  
made for restaurants’ “wine-by-the-glass” program – allows them to  
use obscene mark-ups! - $6.00

DOMAINE ROC de CHÂTEAUVIEUX 2006 PINOT NOIR VIN de PAYS du JARDIN de  
la FRANCE – I’m always on the lookout for drinkable PINOT NOIRS that  
one can buy without cashing-in ones 401K.  It seems most of such  
wines come from FRANCE.  We have the $9.00 one from the LANGUEDOC,  
and now offer this one from the LOIRE VALLEY.  While not a big wine,  
this has more substance than many Pinot Noirs from the Loire, and we  
think it would complement an Easter Ham - $10.00

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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