Washington Wine and Cheese

Washington Wine and Cheese Seminar - March 18, 2008
Presented by - John F Croston III

Wine Shelf Price

1. 2006 – White Hall Vineyards - (UnWined) - (VA)- $15.99
2. 2004 – Ballast Stone - (Bell’s Wine) - (AUS) - $15.99
3. 2005 – Petite Petit – Michael David - (Bell’s Wine) - (CA) - $22.99
4. 2006 – Yard Dog – Red Heads Studio - (UnWined) - (AUS) - $10.99
5. 2005 – Deen De Bortoli – Vat 4 - (UnWined) - (AUS) - $10.99

Cheese (Calvert Woodley) Shelf Price

1. Tomme de Savore - $16.98/lb
2. Bella Colina Provolone Picante - $10.99/lb

Lynne Cool will be guest presenter for the class tomorrow night. This is one you will not want to miss. In addition to exploring the contributions of Italian winemakers to the wine culture of California, Lynne will discuss the much-disputed origins of the Zinfandel grape and it’s relationship to the Primitivo grape of Italy.

Wines will be from both sides of the ocean. From California, there will be two of my favorite Zinfandels from Sonoma County, Seghesio and Trentadue, as well a a wonderful Barbera from Boeger in El Dorado County. From Italy, there will be a Primitivo from Puglia in southern Italy and an outstanding red wine from Friuli in Northern
Italy. This last wine is from a winemaker who was educated in the United States but returned to his winemaking family in Italy taking new world techniques.

There will of course be two cheeses (one creamy and one hard sharp cheese) which were selected to pair well with the wines, as well as plenty of crusty bread.

Please join us for this educational and delicious event!

1. 2006 Seghesio Sonoma County Zinfandel - $20
2. 2006 A-Mano Puglia, Sicily Primitivo - $13
3. 2005 Trentadue Sonoma County Zinfandel - $20
4. 2006 Boeger El Dorado, Ca Barbera - $16.50
5. 2006 Just Me Friuli, Italy Merlot - $31

Wines from Bell Wine Shop

Cheeses:

1. Edel L’Cleron - $18.99
2. Cabot XSharp Cheddar - $8.99

Bread and Cheeses from Calvert-Woodley

I’m finishing up gathering the last two wines for my class this Tuesday (11/27/2007). The theme I have come up with is one that I have thought about for a long time. The theme is “wines from places you might not have ever been”.

No, it’s not going to be a berry wine from Hawaii or some obscure grape from a third world country. These wines are some of my favorites of all time. I’m even going to be pulling about three bottles of one wine out of my own cellar just so I can have enough to share it with everyone, since I could not find anymore around town.

We will be having a wonderful Rhone style wine that I found on a great deal with the help of another member of class. We were out and about on one of my days off and found this wine.

Another of the wines is something that I found by asking two people at the wine store (store owner and a friend that works there). I said, “If you could recommend one red wine around $20 what would it be?” They both said separately the same wine. I tried it and then bought a case for class.

More to come once I have finished picking up my last wine, which is going to be a white.

1. 1995 and 1997 Vignobles Biresbarre Vouvray Dem-Sec (UnWined) - $19.99
2. 1999 Marco Maci’s - Corte Barocca Salento IGT Primitivio (A. Litteri’s) $3.99
3. 2002 Plan Pegau (Mills Wine) - $9.00
4. 2005 Paoletti Vineyards - Piccolo Cru (Bell’s) - $19.99
5. 2002 Rusden Grenache Christines (Wide World of Wines) - $44.99

Cheeses (Rick’s Wine and Gourmet)

1. Varcherin (Swiss Washed Rhine) - $12.99
2. Grafton Cheddar (Aged 2 yr) - $10.99

Tuesday, September 18! The return of Two Blondes, A Brunette and Five Reds presented by Lori Draheim, Carol Rentz and Jill LaPanna. Our theme for this tasting is Big Bodacious Blends! These are some tasty juice!

The wines we will feature are red blends made up of three or more grape varietals. We will start the tasting with a gold medal winning Bordeaux style red from Dry Creek Valley, next will be a gorgeous Australian MSG with a 90 point rating, then on to an easy-sipping Cal-Italian blend from Sonoma, from there we will have a Bordeaux blend with classic Napa flavors and texture at a great price, and finally, a big nicely proportioned red said to be spicy with a long finish from THE hot brand from Australia right now. You won’t want to miss this variety of red blends that are additionally great values!

1. 2004 Forchini - Beauseirra (Sonoma) - $12.99 - Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Carigane
2. 2005 Rutherglen Estate - The Reunion (Australia) - $14.99 - Mourvedre, Shiraz, Grenache
3. 2004 Ferrari-Carao-Siena (Sonoma) - $21.99 - Sangiovese, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon
4. 2003 Paoleti - Piccolo Cru (Napa) - $17.99 - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc
5. 2006 Molly Dooker - The Two Left Feet (Australia) - $19.99 - Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon

The two cheese that we had were:

1. Provolone Picante - $11.99 - Provolone originally comes from the south of Italy but is nowadays produced in several regions of North Italy.
2. Fromage d’ Affinois- $12.99 - a creamy French cheese that is silky and smooth.

The wines came from multiple locations listed below:

1. Bell’s Wine and Spirit (DC)
2. Total wine and More (multiple locaions)
3. Total wine and More (multiple locaions)
4. Out of Site (VA)
5. Pearsons (DC)

The cheese and bread both came from Calvert Woodley’s.