Wine O’clock Saturday: $20 vs $80

Wine Tasting

Every day someone asks if a wine above some arbitrary price point is really that much better than the more economical wines. I always respond that it depends upon what their idea of economical is. There are cheap wines that some folks adore and some excellent economical wines as well that are miles better than the cheap bottles. But, the truth of the matter is that until you try those wines side by side, there is no way you can compare and imagine the differences that you may or may not discern.

This Saturday, Christopher’s Wine O’clock program is going to afford you that golden opportunity to try a $20 bottle of wine beside a $50-100 bottle of wine and let you decide for yourself! We will be tasting Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Chardonnay with two wines of each varietal from opposite ends of the price spectrum poured blindly side by side. This may be the only offering of this program this summer by Christopher’s so be certain to call us (828-414-9111) to reserve your spot today.

This is a $25 program.

Friday: Symphony by the lake

Symphony by the Lake

Every year Blowing Rock’s  Chamber of Commerce hosts a concert by a great symphony out by the Lake at Chetola. This year, The Symphony of The Mountains will be preforming on Friday, July 22 and over a thousand folks will turn out to enjoy the music and festivities.

Christopher’s Wine & Cheese always closes a bit earlier on that Friday Evening that we too can enjoy the celebration of Summer in Blowing Rock. Should you be guesting in our fair village this weekend, plan on getting here early and joining us at the Symphony- and come by before 5 to provision yourself with wine and cheeses to enjoy at the concert! We look forward to visiting with you this weekend and throughout the year as you come to celebrate the adventure of life in Blowing Rock with Christopher’s Wine & CHeese.

Cheese: Tavor

Cheese: Tavor

Tavor is a Kosher sheep milk cheese from northern Israel. Sheep have been grazing in this part of the world for millennia. The milk that is derived from these free-range herds is especially nutritious and delicious. The texture is semi-soft and the flavor is sweet and buttery.

Wine Pairing of Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris.

Wine: Palladino Del Comune di Gavi

Gavi

Italy is one of the areas that are always a treasure trove when I start looking a new grape to try out, and Palladino Del Comune di Gavi is a wine made from a grape called cortese. Cortese is predominatly frown in the Piemonte region of Italy and certainly is a white wine worth sitting up and taking note of.

Color: light to medium Straw with exceptional Clarity.

Aromas: Intense peach, fresh almonds and melon.
Palate: This wonderfully delicate white wine has structure, it has depth, it has length, balance,  it has complexity! The wine has a bit of a chalky grip that gives the wine balance, adds a mineral note, the fruit is mature but not overripe, hints of pear, nutmeg and tarragon are coupled with a verve that just makes this wine sing.

Technical Data: DOCG piemonte – Barolo – Serralunga d’alba; 12% Alcohol; 100% cortese grape; aged for 18 months in Slovonian oak.

Wine: Heinrich Red

Heinrich Red

Another wine in the little known grapes collection found at Christopher’s Wine & Cheese is a bottle in a simple label called Heinrich Red. This is an exquisite example of our love of the unknown wines as the Heinrich family has blended 3 Austrian Grapes that we Americans have long overlooked. A blend of 60% Zweigelt Grapes, 30% Blaufrankisch Grapes, and 10% Saint Laurent Grapes in the hands of a master Austrian winemaker yield a lovely wine that is delightful at room temperatures and exquisitely refreshing when served slightly chilled.

As one may anticipate with red wines from Austria, this is a little lighter in body, but packed with fabulous flavors. The Blaufrankish yields notes of red fruit such as raspberries and red cherries while the back bone of this blend, Zweigelt amplify the raspberries and ass a light note of cassis and pepper. The saint Laurent yields a open delicate fleshiness that gives a sensation of silkiness as this treasure of a wine journeys across the palate.

Ideally, I would pair this wine against a blue cheese such as Maytag Blue on light crisps before dinner as an aperitif. Of course, a hot, sultry summer evening on the back deck with the one you love and bottle of lightly chilled Heinrich Red is sure to add a nice twist to the evening too!

Wine: Counoise from Jed Steele’s Writer’s Block

Writer's Block Counoise

Always a sucker to try a new esoteric wine, I could not pass up the opportunity to try out wine made from the Counoise Grape by Jed Steele. For the background, Counoise is one of the Rhone Varietals that tends to be a background singer and seldom found as a stand alone wine. The grape itself is typically a deep purple color with thinner skins yielding a dark wine with low tannic acids.

 

Colors of deep ruby-garnet radiate when spinning the wine around your glass emitting bright aromatics of cherries, raspberries,  and light cinnamon. With the first sip, the medium body of this wine delicately dances across the palate with bright

Counoise Grapes

mineral sensation mingled with raspberries and blackberries. at the mid-palate a distinct nuttiness permeates your mouth with the berries becoming slightly more intense and as the flavor profile finishes a nice spiciness of cinnamon and light red pepper prevail.

This wine would be wonderful paired against braised pork ribs and a root vegetable hash.

New friends and new wines….

Wierd Wine

Christopher’s Wine & Cheese has always taken pride in finding the unusual and the unknown in the wine world. To help make more people more familiar with these wines from grapes that are often overlooked here in the U.S. we try to host a tasting seminar on a selection of unheard of grapes every 2-3 months in our Saturday Wine O’clock tasting program.

This Saturday, we invite you and yours to come out to Christopher’s Wine & Cheese for another opportunity to try some new wines made from grapes most have yet to hear of and try. We will be trying wine made from counoise, Charbono, zweigelt, rousanne, airen, and gavi grapes from all around the world.

We look forward to meeting some new friends coming out this Saturday and seeing some old friends as well. Come join the celebration of Wine O’clock with us each and every Saturday at 5:30 as we celebrate the world of wine!

Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 5:30 pm. Christopher’s Wine and Cheese located at the corner of Main Street on Sunset Drive in Downtown Blowing Rock. $15 per person.