Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to the Super Summer Sipping, Slurping, and Swigging Spectacular! Or so I stated it seven sunrises and sunsets, since. (Last week). And so it stands still! Seven superb s— . . . stop me! I just can’t keep up this alliteration. Okay. It’s the Carpe Vinum Tasting of the Week and Newsletter! As stated earlier, it’s a summery wine symposium! So it seems summer has certainly surfaced, supposing September sees such sweltering subsisting. Ack! I did it again! It gets addictive, such language. But I digressss.

Tomorrow’s wines are a selection of many of the best white wines I’ve had all summer. These are all wines I’ve tried throughout the summer. Some are best performers during the tastings. Some were crowd favorites. Some were wines that I thought needed further attention. But all of these were the ones that came home with me most often during these, the hottest days of summer.

Starting the selection is the Sanguineti Vincero Toscana Bianco, a wonderful Italian white I had special ordered about 8 months ago. It’s made with Malvasia, Vermintino and Chardonnay. That’s right. I used the “C” word there. You can’t base the wine on that one grape. Have you ever heard of the other two? Didn’t think so. This one has not been featured in a tasting this summer, but it’s about time it has. This may be my favorite of this year.

Secondly we’ve got the Woodinville Sauvignon Blanc. It was featured during the last Washington tasting back in July. I compared it side-by-side with a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and a Menetou Salon from the French Loire. The Woodinville reigned as my favorite of the bunch as well as many Sauvignon Blancs in recent memory. The region where the winery is located is Woodinville, an area near Seattle that appears to be a new haven for wineries, and a place to keep watching.

Next we’ve got my favorite Soave from Inama. Many agree that this is the finest Soave house in the Italian Veneto. Someday we may have to have a Soave shootout, perhaps a blind tasting. Until then, we can take their word for it. Who is “they” in that statement? “They” in that statement is the “Many” from the statement before it. You know . . . because that’s what “they” say, right?

I’ll sum up the next three into one paragraph so I don’t ramble on all night. We’ve got three wines made with grape varieties from the French Rhone. These make full-bodied whites, often with bodacious, fruity character; tropical fruit, spice, cream. There are two, the Cline from Carneros in California and the Torbreck from Australia’s Barossa Valley, made with the lovely Marsanne and Roussanne grapes, a magical pairing known well for centuries in the Northern Rhone. Then we have one of my favorite whites from the Southern Rhone, Domaine Lafond’s Lirac Blanc, made with Roussanne, Viognier and Grenache Blanc.

Finishing the lineup is one from the home country. And it’s a celebratory wine. With bubbles! It’s Argyle’s 1999 Blanc de Blancs, potentially one of the best I’ve had from that house and one of the best bubblies I’ve had from Oregon. I figure popping the top off a bubbly, frothy sparkler is the perfect conclusion to the final tasting of the summer. What?!? The end of summer, already? Well, it may not be the end of the heat, but the “calendar” summer technically does end with Labor Day, doesn’t it? Dang.

So Friday, August 31st, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Super Summery Sipping Symposium!!!
Sanguineti 2006 Vincero Toscano Bianco, Tuscany, Italy
Woodinville 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, Columbia Valley, Washington
Inama 2005 Soave Foscarino, Veneto, Italy
Cline 2006 Marsanne/Roussanne, Carneros, California
Domaine Lafond 2005 Lirac Blanc, Rhone Valley, France

Simply Superlative Sipping Spectacular!!!
Torbreck 2006 Marsanne/Roussanne, Barossa Valley, Australia
Argyle 1999 Blanc de Blancs, Dundee Hills, Oregon

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours.

Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Austria!

M