Westside Liquor's January 2009 Wine Newsletter

Store Hours: Monday-Saturday 8:00am-10:00pm

Welcome to Westside Liquor's monthly wine newsletter. It is our goal to spread the good word about new and exciting products in each and every newsletter. We also will give staff reviews of featured products to help you pick out a wine. In future issues we will also delve into informative articles so we all can better understand the contributing factors involved in bringing us our favorite wine.

Current Events

Wine Tuesdays
All regular priced bottles of wine are 15% off and cases are 20% off, every Tuesday! This excludes yellow stickered sale wines.

“Warming Wintertime Wines”

This time of the year some of my favorite sippers are fortified wines that take the chill away and soothe the soul. What better wines to cozy up with than a nice Port or Port style wine. Now a days you can find excellent values coming from our own shores and some real gems from Australia. Of course Portugal is still the most famous and prestigious producer of Port and if you want to cellar a fine vintage Port than look to the country that started it all. Ports are typically a sweet, fortified and full bodied wine, although semi-dry and dry styles do exist. During fermentation pure grape spirits(brandy) are added to the wine which arrest fermentation by killing the yeast. What usually is left is a high alcohol, sweet wine typically around 18% to 22% in alcohol. Ports come in many different styles and types but the big three we will discuss are Ruby, Tawny and Vintage. Ruby are the most common made styles of Port and are bottle aged. These Ports will give you the deep red color with aromas and flavors of red and dark fruits and are ready for consumption upon release. These wines are also fined and filtered and don’t need to be decanted. The other most popular style is Tawny. These wines are barrel-aged and see a gradual oxidation to them. Tawnys have a more golden-brown color and aromas and flavors of caramel, nuts, toffee and coffee. Both of these styles are excellent matches for rich deserts like chocolate and pair with salty cheeses. The pinnacle of all Ports are the ones that come from only the finest vintages. Hence the name Vintage Port. These wines are aged in barrels for a maximum of two and a half years before bottling and can lay down in the cellar for decades. Compared to other famous wines that can age these beauties are relatively great bargains. If your looking for great bangs for the buck in fortified wines in the port style you can’t pass up the Tawnys from Australia and unique bottles from our country. Many low production ports from California are incredible in quality, complexity and price. Here is a stellar list of these fortified gems you must try this winter.

1) Jonesy Rare Aged Port, Australia – This tawny is one of the greatest value ports from down under. The wine blended is an average of 46 years in aged and for the price this is a real steal. Aromas and flavors of candied fruits, maple syrup and hazelnuts. Pair with some nice chocolate truffles.  93 pts Robert Parker

2) Noval Special Reserve, Portugal - This famous producer has been making wine since 1715 in the Douro region and this bottle is a real deal for the price. The wine deep ruby in color and has aromas and flavors of cherry, raspberry, strawberry and spice. Ready to drink now and is a great introduction into the world of Port.
Pair with some salty blue cheese. 

3) Bogle Petite Sirah Port, California – Here is a real gem coming from Clarksburg, California and is another steal for the price. The wine is made from 100% Petite Sirah grapes and only 120 barrels are produced. The wine is dark ruby in color and exhibits heady aromas and flavors of blackberries, raspberries and a touch of mocha. This winery is still family owned and doesn’t miss a beat.
Pair with good friends around the fire place.

4) Trentadue Chocolate Amore, California – This winery puts out awesome wines every year and their port style wine is always mind blowing. The wine is made with Merlot grapes from their Geyserville Ranch and is fortified in the traditional style with neutral grape spirits. After ageing is done the wine is infused with a tiny amounts of natural chocolate extract. Gold medal award winning year after year. Aromas of chocolate and black cherry with flavors of blackberry and more mocha. Serve slightly chilled or over marble cake or vanilla ice cream. 

5) Graham’s Vintage Porto 2003, Portugal – This famous Port house has been making great wines for over 200 years and continues to put out some of the best. The 2003 vintage was outstanding and the wine is quite approachable now, but will age gracefully for decades to come. Aromas and flavors of blackberry, blueberry and a touch of spice with a velvety mouth feel. This wine will only increase in value in year to come and for the collector a real treasure. 96 pts Wine Enthusiast!

Newsletter brought to you by Jeff Anderson