Monday, August 31, 2009

Wine Dinners with Georgetown

Georgetown is excited to be presenting a series of food and wine pairing dinners with local Buffalo restaurants. We are so passionate about the world of food and wine and excited to bring a new and fresh experience to Buffalo foodies. The motivation behind the dinners is to showcase the art of pairing food and wine, as well as support our fantastic local restaurants and the growing wine community. We’re thrilled to be working with extremely talented chefs to create this modern and delicious local experience.

For the first series of dinners we will be collaborating with Tempo and Chef Paul Jenkins to create an authentic regional Italian dining experience accompanied by regional wine pairings. Tempo is excited to be part of this initiative and we are thrilled to be working with the talented Chef and staff at Tempo.

The first dinner in the series with Tempo will be on September 18, 2009 and will be a “Southern Italian” theme. The dinner will be 4-courses and will feature traditionally Southern Italian foods paired with wines from the southern part of the Italian peninsula as well as the Islands, Sicilia and Sardegna. The evening will also feature a traditional Italian aperitivo with small passed appetizers and a traditional Italian cocktail before the meal begins.
The event will begin at 7:00 pm on September 18, 2009. The cost of the dinner is $130 per person (tax and gratuity included) and reservations are required.

The “Italian Regional Dinner” series will continue in October with a “Central Italian” themed dinner and in November with a “Northern Italian” themed dinner.

We have also teamed up with Bacchus Wine Bar & Restaurant to create a unique Champagne pairing dinner. The dinner will be 5-courses and each dish will be paired with a different style of Champagne. The dinner will be on November 2, 2009. The cost of the dinner will be $95 per person and reservations are required.

For all of these dinners you may place your reservation with Ryan or Stephanie, or call the restaurants directly.

We’re excited to share our love of food and wine with the Buffalo community and hope that you can be a part of this experience with us.

"Spanish" Tasting

Hi Everyone!

We would like to remind you of the Spanish Speaking Tasting we have coming up this week. The tasting will feature wines from the Latin world, Spain, Chile, and Argentina. The tasting will be Thursday, September 3 from 6:30-8:30. The cost of the tasting is $25. This should be a really fun tasting with some classic Old World Spanish wines and delicious reds and whites from the booming wines regions in Chile and Argentina. Think Rioja, some of our best Malbec, and really delicious and interesting whites. Call to reserve your seat today!!

Here's the line-up of wines (wines are subject to change):

Imperio de Sentidos Sauvignonesse 2006 Mendoza, Argentina
Tomero Torrontes 2008 Argentina
Viña Cartín Albariño, Rías Baixas 2006
Margués de Murrieta 2003 Rioja ‘Capellanía’
Isabella Rose 2008 Chile, 100% Syrah
Señorio de P. Peciña 1999 Riserva
Raspay Tinto 2003
Loureiro Goliardo Tinto 2006 Rías Baixas
Laura Hartwig Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2006 Coldigua Valley, Chile
Ben Marco Malbec 2007
Bodega Catena Zepata ‘Catena Alta’ 2005 Malbec, Mendoza

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Wines We Love

Abbazia di Novacella


Alto Adige is a region in northern Italy that borders Germany and produces some of Italy’s best white wines. Many of the grapes grown in this region are of Germanic origin, along with interesting grapes indigenous to Alto Adige. Abbazia di Novacella is an exceptional producer from the Valle d’Isarco near the town of Bolzano. They specialize in cool climate white grape varieties of Germanic origin. We love these wines because they are all DELICIOUS! They all express the terroir and the natural quality of the grapes really well. The wines all have unique, full aromatic qualities and have a beautiful balanced minerality and acidity on the palate.

We chose to describe this winery rather than choose just one wine because we simply love them all and couldn’t decide! Their Kerner, Veltliner, Pinot Grigio, and Sylvaner have very distinct unique qualities but all represent the traditional wine making of the producer. These wines show the true characteristic of each grape, which I truly appreciate in white wines. The Kerner, which I savored last night, was rich and complex while finishing with a bright and refreshing acidity and minerality. The aromas of mango, lemon peel, and ripe peach were so alluring and the finish was wonderfully zesty and refreshing. The Sylvaner was slightly less aromatic than the Kerner but incredibly long, lean, and flavorful, a fantastic food wine.

These are some of my favorite Italian white wines that I have had in a long time, and I drink a lot of Italian whites! Because I love them so much, I am going to be opening all four varieties on Friday from 4-7pm. The wines will be available for tasting at the Tasting bar. So, stop by and taste these 4 stunning Italian whites!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Chardonnay Tasting

Hello Everyone!
Next week we have a fantastic Chardonnay tasting planned. I love Chardonnay because it's AWESOME. It’s one of those grapes that can really showcase the ability of producers because of its versatility. Chardonnay expresses terroir in really unique ways and can be a great vessel for creative and innovative wine making. We’re going to show some of the best Chardonnays in the store including a great French Champagne, some heavy-hitters from California, lean and mean Chablis, and some other delicious Classics. Think Peter Michael, Puligny-Montrachet, and Ramey.

The tasting in next Thursday, August 20 at 6:30pm and costs $30 per person. Reserve your seat ASAP!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Wines We Love

Domaine de Bonserine Cote Rotie 2001

Cote Rotie, “the roasted slope”, is a tiny area in the northern Rhone Valley producing some of the most unique and delicious Syrah fruit in the entire wine world. The wines being produced in this region are exquisite and coveted by most wine lovers. The expression of terroir in these wines is distinct showing minerality and the gamey flavors of classic old world Syrah. Cote Roties have the ability to be aged, but some are also stunning right now.
It is unusual to find any Cote Rotie under $50, but we have received three different Cote Roties that we got for a killer deal and all of them are absolutely stunning! These wines all come from the same producer, Domaine de Bonserine. We have the base 2001 as well as two single vineyards. The two single vineyards are from La Garde and Les Moutonnes. All of these wines are bold and have an incredibly unique rustic and earthy character to them. They are exceptionally balanced and refined. While they have a linear style and similar characteristics, each of these wines has a special uniqueness that distinguishes them from one another.
Needless to say, we’re in love with these wines! Because we’re so in love with them, we want everyone else to experience them, so we’re putting together special 6-pack and case prices on the wines:

Base Domaine de Bonserine 2001: $120/6pk, $200/case

Domaine de Bonserine 2001 Single vineyards, La Garde and Les Moutonnes: $180/6pk (very limited)

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Falesco 'Vitiano' 2007

We just got our first 10 cases of the new 2007 Vitiano Rosso from Falesco that received 91 points by Stephen Tanzer! Here’s what Tanzer had to say about it:
“Ridiculously dark black-ruby color. Pretty aromas of cassis, black plum and earth, with a pronounced vanilla presence that does not overpower the fruit. Rich and densely packed, with distinctly ripe flavors of black fruits, raisin and chocolate lifted by an intriguing balsamic vinegar note. This finishes lighter than it starts, with welcome acidity nicely delineating the borderline-overripe fruit. Finishes creamy and long. This is a lot of wine for the money, and the best Vitiano in years, far removed from some astringent versions of recent memory.” – Stephen Tanzer

It’s on sale for $7.99 until the 23rd, so come and pick up your cases today!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Italian 101 and Spanish Speaking Tasting

Hello Everyone!
We have two awesome tastings planned for this week!! For all of you Italian lovers, Stephanie is going to be on a roll with more Italian tastings starting with an Italian 101 tasting this Thursday, August 13 from 6:30-8:30. The wines are coming from all over the glorious Italian peninsula including the islands. Classic Italian favorites will be featured as well as some of Stephanie’s favorites. This tasting will be a great way to familiarize you with the wonderfully unique Italian varieties that produce some of the world’s finest wines. Here’s the lineup (wines are subject to change):

Nino Franco ‘Rustica’ Prosecco di Valdobbiadene
Abbazia di Novacella Pinot Grigio 2007 DOC
Salviano Orvieto Classico Superiore 2008 DOC
Terredora di Paolo Greco di Tufo 2007 DOCG
Produttori del Barbaresco, Barbaresco 2005
Zenato ‘Ripassa’ Valpolicella Superiore 2006 DOC
Mazzei ‘Fonterutoli’ Chianti Classico 2005 DOCG
Livio Sassetti ‘Permitali’ Brunello di Montalcino 2004 DOCG
Cantine del Taburno, Aglianico del Taburno 2005 DOC
Scurati Siciliano Rosso 2007
Isola del Nuraghi ‘Barrua’ 2005 IGT
The cost of this tasting will be $30 per person, call and reserve your seat today!

The other tasting we will be having this week is a ‘Spanish Speaking’ tasting! We have been receiving a lot of requests for a Spanish tasting, so we decided it would be fun to expand it into the Spanish speaking wine world. So, for this tasting we will be opening up some delicious Spanish wines along with wines from Argentina and Chile. The tasting will be on Friday, August 14 from 7:00-9:00. The cost of the tasting is $25 per person and seats are limited, so call and reserve today!