MAN Family Wines
Chenin Blanc 2019
Reg. Price $14.99
Sale Price: $9.99
White Wine of the Month
Yes, I agree, we need to talk about the name. Very interesting name for a wine but I have seen weirder. MAN Family Wines comes out of South Africa and is run by three brothers who come from a winemaking family. Their standards are self admittedly rather high when it comes to affordable, every day wine so when they couldn’t find one they liked enough they decided to make their own to drink! Necessity is the mother of invention, am I right? Brothers José Conde and Tyrrel and Philip Myburgh decided to name it after their family and each took the first initial of their wive’s names, Marie, Anette and Nicky. They started making the wine together in 2001 and cultivated relationships with growers in the Agter-Paarl region with high quality, dry farmed vineyards. While they don’t grow the grapes themselves for the wine they still have the same high standards for the quality of the fruit and dry farming forces the vines to grow their roots deep but also to produce less, better quality fruit. In the wine world less really is more! The Chenin Blanc is made very similarly to the Langeudoc white below; hand harvested grapes, fermentation in stainless steel with three months of lees aging for texture and richness. The finished wine is light and refreshing with notes of pineapple, pear with notes of apples and stone fruit on the palate. Vibrant acidity makes this perfectly thirst quenching on a hot day!
Bodegas Luzón
Colección Monastrell 2017
Reg. Price $15.99
Sale Price: $8.99
Red Wine of the Month
We are getting full swing into barbecue season and you know what pairs well with grilled red meat with or without BBQ sauce? Big, bold red wines. If you want big, bold reds with a lot of bang for the buck head to Spain, particularly Jumilla! Jumilla is a hot region in the south eastern part of Spain, not too far from the coast. When phylloxera was decimating vineyards all over the world in the late 1800’s Jumilla was spared since the louse struggled to survive in sandy soils. Wine sales soared as European merchants came to buy wine and since the vines seemed invincible they were never replanted on American rootstock which is resistant to phylloxera. Their luck ran out in 1989 when phylloxera returned and decimated vineyards in the area. There was a bit of a silver lining since the area was able to replant and start over using current technology and grapes that have proved themselves. Bodegas Luzón started making wine in 1841 and primarily grows Monastrell, the grape Jumilla is known for. The Colección Monastrell is 100% Monastrell that was all hand harvested and bottled young and fresh! Medium bodied with notes of black cherry, ripe raspberries and black plums with a savory spice on the finish, this is perfect for anything from burger night to eggplant parmesan! The boldness of this wine would pair very well with caramelized BBQ sauce on some ribs!
Domaine Lafage
Côté Est Blanc 2019
Reg. Price $19.99
Sale Price: $14.99
I decided to take a break between Sauvignon Blancs this month to feature a more textural, slightly richer style of white wine from southern France. While reds from Cotes du Rhone and the Langeudoc fly off the shelves the whites always struggle to find their place in the store. The white blend this month comes from Domaine Lafage, a family run winery in the Langeudoc-Roussillon with over two centuries of winemaking under their belt. The Lafage family started making wine in the area in 1791 and focused on dessert wines and selling their grapes to the local cooperative. When Jean-Marc took over in the 1980’s he was able to see the potential of the area and he stopped selling his grapes and made his own dry, table wine as opposed to the dessert wines the area was famous for. The vineyards are all farmed organically and the grapes are hand harvested before being put in concrete or stainless. The winery only has a few French oak barrels because he wants the essence of the fruit to shine through in his wines. The Côté Est is a blend of 50% Grenache Blanc, 30% Chardonnay and 20% Vermentino that rests on the lees for three months in stainless steel to give the wine more texture. The wine is bottles unfined and unfiltered and is bursting with notes of white peach and under ripe pear, apricot and citrus zest. Perfectly balanced this wine has vibrant acidity, seductive texture and will pair well with roasted poultry, seafood, shrimp scampi and veggie laden pastas.
Il Borghetto
Montigiano 2016
Reg. Price $34.99
Sale Price: $24.99
While Domaine Lafage embraced tradition and the status quo the man behind Il Borghetto keeps pushing the boundaries and shaking things up. Enter the Chianti producer that the Italian wine consortium has repeatedly denied DOCG status to, Antonio Cavallini. He is unapologetically marching to the beat of his own drum and making seriously beautiful wine while he’s doing it. Il Borghetto is a small, organic and biodynamically farmed estate that was founded in 1999 spanning about 30 hectares of vineyards, woodlands and olive groves. It is the heart of Chianti in the small village of Montefiridolfi in Florence and the vineyards are spread across two hillsides. Everything is done intentionally and by hand and the winery produces an infinitesimal amount of wine, less than 900 cases annually. The Montigiano is 100% Sangiovese that is whole cluster fermented with natural yeasts in steel before spending a year in concrete. The wine is bottled in Burgundy bottles, just one of the many “flaws” the Italian wine consortium finds with it. Regardless of what bottle shape it’s in the wine is beautiful, especially after some decanting. It has all of the gorgeous, delicate notes of Sangiovese including dried orange peel, dried flowers, wild strawberries and sour cherries. I love Sangiovese with grilled pork or you can enjoy it with hearty pasta dishes, grilled mushrooms and roasted root vegetables. If you want to dabble in vegetarian cooking this is the perfect wine to pair with it!
Château Beaubois
Costières de Nîmes Rosé 2020
Reg. Price $19.99
Sale Price: $14.99
Tullia
Prosecco Brut
Reg. Price $18.99
Sale Price: $13.99
Of all the delicious bubbles out there in the world Prosecco may be the most crowd friendly. It’s not as pricey as Champagne, it’s not as dry as Cava and it makes the perfect gift or the perfect mimosa. With as many different types of sparkling wine as there it’s easy to get overwhelmed and confused by the differences. Prosecco is the main outlier in the sparkling wine world since no fermentation takes place inside the bottle. Whereas the Champagne Method has the secondary fermentation that carbonates the wine take place inside the bottle, Prosecco is bottled already sparkling. Prosecco comes from the Veneto region in northern Italy and has to be made from at least 85% of the Glera grape. Fermentation takes place in pressurized steel autoclaves so by the time fermentation is complete the wine is already carbonated and is ready to bottle. This method is called the Charmat Method and is much simpler and more affordable than the Champagne Method for sparkling wine. This gets the Prosecco out in the market sooner and at a very reasonable price. Tullia is a partnership between T. Edward Wine Imports and Montelvini from the Veneto and the wine is light and fruit forward with notes of ripe pear, melon and honeysuckle with a dry finish. Enjoy this with appetizers or seafood, make Aperol spritzes or toast to the mom or grad in your life.
I can’t wait to explore these wines and more with you!
Pop into the store for all of your beverage needs and don’t forget about our in store tastings!
Beer Tasting Thursday 5 pm to 7 pm *On hold for Covid*
Wine Tasting Friday 4 pm to 7 pm *On hold for Covid*
