Please join us for our monthly tasting on Wednesday, July 23rd. The theme of this month's tasting will be "Red, White, and Blue" in honor of our nation's independence as well as France's Bastille Day, celebrated on July 14th.

       The wines we will be tasting are: Colombelle White and Red, two blends from the South of France, WhiteHaven Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, Red Rock Merlot from California, and Shooting Star Blue Franc from Washington State.

     As usual our tasting will be held at Caribou Cafe. 1126 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19107. Tickets are $25 for advance reservation, $35 at the door. The phone number is 215-625-9535.

Cheers! See you there!

Crisp Summer Whites

Benjamin De Vieux Gaubert Blanc 2005, Graves

An excellent producer from Bordeaux only imported to the U.S. by a sole importer and found in limited quantities. A true boutique wine!

Rocky Gully Dry Riesling 2006, Frankland River, Western Australia

Wines from this cool climate in Western Australia are made in a European style, highlighting minerality and acidity, rather than being very fruit forward. This wine is no exception. The aromas of this wine will fool you into thinking it is straight from the Mosel. On the palate the wine is bright and crisp, with flavors of stone fruits.

Laurenz Und Sophie Grüner Veltliner 2006, Austria

From one of the most respected producers in Lower Austria, this wine is quintessential Grüner. It has a crisp citrus character, followed by a good mineral component and notes of white flowers on the finish.

Martin Codax Albarino 2006, Rias Baixas

Dubbed “The wine of the Sea” in its native Galicia, this wine presents floral aromas with hints of apricots and peaches which are noticeable on the palate as well. Complimenting these are hints of what can be described as sea air, which comes from the grapes close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. This wine is comprised of grapes grown by over 100 individual families with a rich tradition of winemaking.

Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Marlborough, New Zealand

A much different style of wine than our first wine, from Graves, this wine is very rich in style from a sauvignon blanc. The grape vines benefit from about 17 years of maturity, producing a wine with pronounced minerality and complexity, balanced out by tremendous fruit flavors of grapefruit and lime, with notes of jalapeño pepper!

Please join us at Caribou Cafe for our next tasting, Wednesday, June 18th. We will be exploring "Crisp Summer Whites". The tasting will include international white wines, which are best enjoyed in the warm months of summer. Some of the highlights will include a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, an Albarino, from Spain, and an Austrian Gruner Veltiner!

The tasting will run from 6:OO p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $25 for advance reservations and $35 at the door.

Caribou Cafe is located at:

 1126 Walnut St

Philadelphia, PA 19107

215-625-9535

Hope to see you there!

Cheers!

     In this tasting we compared different styles of similar wines, one syle from the "old world" and one from the new. In this case we chose to concentrate on the wines of France, as th old world and Australia as the new. We finished off with a botrytis semillon from Australia, which emulates the style of the famous Sauternes.

Benjamin De Vieux Gaubert Blanc 2005, Graves

An excellent producer from Bordeaux, only imported to the U.S. by a sole importer and found in limited quantities. A true boutique wine!

FernGrove Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon 2006, Frankland River, Western Australia

Wines from this cool climate in Western Australia are made in a European style, highlighting minerality and acidity, rather than being very fruit forward. That being said, the tropical fruit notes on this wine cannot be retrained. It is a very well balanced wine.

Domaine Andre Brunel Rouge 2005, Cotes Du Rhone

A very well known producer of Chateauneuf du Pape. This winemaker is a master with Rhone varietals. 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Cinsult

Hewitson “Miss Harry” GSM 2005, Barossa Valley

“GSM” Stands for a Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre blend. This wine comes from the most famous region for producing world-class Shiraz, the Barossa Valley.

Elderton Botrytis Semillon 2006, Riverina

Produced from the Semillon grape which has been allowed to begin to rot on the vine. It’s ok…some mold is good…You like Roquefort cheese, right? This is the same style of wine made famous in the region of Sauternes in Bordeaux.