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Vintages Wine & Spirits Events

 Singles Wine Tasting Group: Round up your single friends for our series of Singles Only Wine Tastings~ Sponsored by Vintages & The Ritz.  We will taste 5-6 wines, some learning, lots of social & singles fun!  Mark your calendar for the 2^nd Wednesday of the month.  Our first tasting will be Wednesday, January 13^th  5:30pm.  Admission is $15 & includes wine tasting + a $5 gift certificate to The Ritz (can be used that night for appetizers) & $5 Gift Certificate to Vintages!  Please RSVP @ 520-5733!

D’Arenberg Winery Melting Pot Wine Dinner: 

Tuesday, February 2^nd, 6:00 pm.  If you haven’t enjoyed a wine dinner @ The Melting Pot, now is the time…these wines are exceptional & the night always proves to be a blast…ask our “regulars”!  We will have 6 delicious wines & 3 great fondue courses.  D’Arenberg winery is a premier producer of McLaren Vale wines~ big & luscious!  Call to reserve 385-0300

Cameron Hughes Wine Dinner With The Wine Maker!  MacKenzie’s Chop House: Thursday, February 4^th.  Details Coming Soon!  With an obsession for quality and innovation, Cameron Hughes Wine, founded by Cameron Hughes and partner Jessica Kogan, is dedicated to building a reputation for delivering the best domestic and international wine values in the marketplace today.  As a modern international negociant, th consistently deliver small “Lots” of high-end wines at very affordable prices. We source wines from the world’s best wine regions, including France, Italy, Spain, Australia, Argentina, South Africa and California.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Popularity: 14% [?]

Cambria 2006 Pinot Noir Julia’s Vineyard~ 93 Points, Editor’s Choice & #1 Wine of the Year, Wine Enthusiast

Hot Off the Press, This beautiful Pinot Noir is #1 Wine of the Year from Wine Enthusiast. Get it before it’s gone…. On Sale Now
Was $21.99/btl NOW $17.99/btl (While Supplies Last!)

“This is the best Pinot Noir at this price on the market. It’s…absolutely dry and silky, with complex flavors of cherries, Manderin orange, colas, pomegranates, licorice and cinnamon spice, made even richer by smoky oak”

Popularity: 15% [?]

Exciting, wine maker John Duval stopped in for a visit last week!  If any of you are unaware of him, here is a little bit of background  information:  After 29 years as a winemaker with Penfolds, one of Australia’s most famous wineries, he started his own wine label in 2003. He has had a fortunate career, graduating in agriculture and winemaking in 1973 at Adelaide University and then following in the footsteps of some of the greats of Australian winemaking such as Max Schubert, the creator of Penfolds Grange and Don Ditter, another famous Penfolds winemaker of the 1970s and early ’80s.

Tasting Notes-  2006 John Duval Entity-  Dense ruby purple in color, The nose is youthful blackberry, blueberry fruit complexed with savoury French oak.  In the palate is very rich and generous with good concentration of dark fruit. The tannins provide a good frame for the wine but are fine, ripe and balanced. The structure has restrained power but remains elegant and finishes with excellent fruit intensity.

96 Points- James Halliday’s Top 100 wines of 2008- “Saturated crimson-purple; has achieved the density of fruit to guarantee a 30-year life without the least hint of overripe fruit or alcohol heat; perfect balance and integration of fruit, oak and tannins; the work of a master.”

-James Halliday (wine guru of Australia)

94 points Robert Parker-“The 2006 Entity is a 100% Shiraz cuvee exhibiting a bit more restraint than the Plexus.  It presents and aromatic array of smoke, pepper, Asian spices, tar, blueberry and blackberry liquor.  On the palate it is full-bodied, smooth-textured, deep, and intensely flavored but not over the top.  Its impeccable balanced should permit 5-7 years of additional cellaring and it should offer prime drinking from 2014 to 2028.  It too, is a superb value!”

- Robert Parker

You may find this excellent wine here at Vintages for $38.99, on sale for only $31.99.  Stop in today and try out this fabulous Shiraz from Australia!

Popularity: 32% [?]

Fort Ross Sonoma Coast Reserve Pinot Noir 2004~  “Deep and complex, with wonderful earth, clay, spice and earthy berry flavors that turn more expansive, with dense, chewy currant, mineral and anise.  Ends with ample tannins and a long finish.  Drink now through 2012, Only 370 cases made” 92 points Wine Spectator

We crave this dense Pinot Noir and recommend for Cabernet lovers! Was$49.99/btl ON SALE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST $29.99/btl!

Eponymous MacAllister Sonoma County Red Meritage 2004 ~ Eponymous is produced by Robert Pepi Jr.  The wines are produced in small quantities, with hand harvested fruit, oak barrel aging and frequent racking during the first year.  MacAllister grapes come from Mt. Veeder.  Normally $$49.99/btl ON SALE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST $35.49/btl

Popularity: 42% [?]

Popularity: 38% [?]

Women & Wine: A special promotion celebrating women as winemakers, winery owners, and wine lovers. Attend one of our Women & Wine events in May & June, or stop in the store anytime May-June and you can enter to win an original giclee stretched Cotton Duck Canvas, ready to be framed. Signed and numbered by the artist Kathy Womack. (Limited, valued at $700)

Popularity: 45% [?]

Vintages Wine Tasting Schedule:

Thursday, July 2nd: 2-6pm “All American Wines”~ no charge!

Tuesday, July 7th: 2-7pm “Exceptional Argentina”~ no charge!

Saturday, July 11th: 1-6pm “Tour de France”~ no charge!

Tuesday, July 14th: 2-7pm “Spanish Treats”~ no charge!

Friday, July 17th: 2-7pm “Colorado’s Finest” ~ no charge!

Tuesday, July 21th : 2-7pm “ Organic Wine” ~ no charge!

Saturday, July 25th: 1-6pm “Summertime Favorites”~ no charge!

Tuesday, July 28th: 2-7 “Chilean Wine” ~ no charge!

Saturday, August 1st: 1-6pm “Australia & New Zealand” no charge!

 

Popularity: 51% [?]

 Wine geek, Erin Collins was caught completely star struck when winemaker/winery owner Jed Steele strolled into Vintages!  Short of asking for his autograph, she shamelessly whipped out her cell phone and grapped a passerby to snap a picture.  “Winemakers & winery owners pass through Vintages all the time, but never such a wine legend!” says Collins

The year 2008 marks his fortieth year of being involved in making wine in California.

“From my start as a cellar worker at Stony Hill in Napa Valley in 1968, to UC Davis for a Master’s Degree in Enology, to starting Edmeades in the Anderson Valley and being there for ten years, to then starting Kendall-Jackson and working there for the first nine vintages of that wildly successful winery (I left the year we broke the million cases per year production mark), to the start of our own STEELE Wines in 1991-it has been an incredible ride.”

“During this time I have been able to produce wines from just about every top quality wine region in the state, from Santa Barbara to Mendocino. The line-up of vineyards which we either own or from which we purchase grapes has evolved slowly over the years to where we consistently draw on some of the finest vineyards in California.”

“From viewing the actual number of wines we bottle, you might think that we are a large winery. However, this is not the case, as we specialize in many wines where the final bottling is less than 1,000 cases. This reflects my never ending fascination with many different varietals and vineyard locations.This approach allows us to maintain the practice of true craftmanship in the production of our small lot bottlings.”

Stop into Vintages Wine & Spirits for a bottle of Shooting Star or Steele tonight!

Popularity: 76% [?]

Why does wine need to breathe?                         
Wine opens up to reveal its fullest flavor when it has had a while to breath before being consumed. This is because when wine comes into contact with oxygen, its chemical structure changes. This breathing process allows the flavors and aromas to marry into a smoother more enjoyable taste with less tannin bite. As a result, wine drinkers everywhere know that the best way to enjoy wine is decant the wine and let it breath for a while before you enjoy it.  However, if there is no time to decant…try the Wine Snorkel!

That`s why you will love the Wine Snorkel! Here is how it works?
The Wine Snorkel uses the same principle used in jet engines to instantly mix your wine with air. You will notice that wine poured through a Wine Snorkel exits more slowly and is full of bubbles. That is because as the wine passes through the Wine Snorkel, a change of internal atmospheric pressure causes air to be inducted into the Snorkel. Then, inside the Wine Snorkel internal turbine like blades mix the wine and oxygen which instantly accomplishes the much desired breathing process.

Take the Wine Snorkel Challenge -You will taste a distinct improvement in your wine
 Taste your wine without using the Wine Snorkel. Now pour the wine through the Wine Snorkel into another glass. – you and your guests will taste and smell the difference!  $15.99 each.

Popularity: 100% [?]