Airlie 2003 Muller Thurgau, Oregon
Refreshing change of pace from all the standard grape varieties you see on the shelves. Bright, spicy, rich, it has notes of apple pie and honey, with a hint of mango marinaded in lime juice. You can tell this grape is a off-spring of riesling. Impressive for the money.
Tasted October 16, 2006.
-BF $9
Meridian Wine & Spirits and Château Liquors carry this wine.
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Lockwood 2005 Sauvignon Blanc, Monterey, California
This sauvignon blanc sees no oak. It also enjoys a Stelvin closure, insuring its delicate flavors are preserved. Densly flavorful with notes of melon, pink grapefruit, gooseberry, and hints of tangerine. This is a great value for the price.
-BF $11

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Jago Vanilla Cream Liqueur
One sip of this decadent liqueur and you can taste the quality. The vanilla is the star flavor, while the rich, dense cream sets the theme. The producers boast that this is a 'fresh cream' liqueur. They also brag about the real vanilla bean. I think it is the perfect dessert--and I'll go ahead and say it; it tastes just like alcoholic-ice cream. Yummy!
-BF $23
Divino, Reserve List, Camelot, Wine Company, Heritage, Mondo Vino, Parker Payless, Libations, Total Beverage, Mayfair, Lido Wine Merchants in Littleton and Chambers Wine & Liquor carry this liqueur.
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CK Mondavi 2004 Merlot, California
From one of the oldest wineries (Charles Krug) and winemaking families (Peter Mondavi) in the Napa Valley. This Merlot represents an exceptional value. Medium bodied, with lots of fruit and berries on the palate, enjoy this with chicken, pork, lamb, or salmon.
-MAM $8
Meridian Wine & Spirits and Bonnie Brae carry this wine.
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Alamos 2005 Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina
This wine has been a reliable bottle of red for many years. Smoky, big bodied, it screams of black cherries and vanilla. Roasted notes of caramel emerge on the finish.
-BF $12
Divino Wine & Spirits, Corks, and Meridian Wine & Spirits carry this wine.
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Insatiable: impossible to satisfy. In this case, always striving for quality. Colorado winemaker Phil Laramore created two blends that will retail at $10 a bottle, and drink like a $20 bottle of wine. Using exceptionally high quality grapes from California, he experimented with blends until he found the balance he sought. Colorado artist Partick Vanderbroek designed the label.

Insatiable Red NV California
A versatile medium to full bodied wine, outstanding at this price point. Black cherry and red currants flavors mingle with hints of spice. Ripe fruitiness intertwines with soft, mellow flavors akin to those of older wines. Nuances of smoke, spice, and pomegranate foreshadow the velvety palate, and seem to hint at the fine structure and balance this wine possesses.
-MAM $10
Bonnie Brae and Château Liquors carry this wine.
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Babich 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand
Intense. Lively, fresh, zippy acidity with bright exotic flavors. Gooseberries, lime zest, apricots, it makes my mouth water thinking about it. Classic Kiwi juice, just begging for risotto or some salmon.
-BF $14
Meridian Wine & Spirits, Château Liquors, and Lido Wine Merchants in Littleton carry this wine.
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Babich 2004 Chardonnay, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
This is an unoaked chardonnay. It has a bright, green apple flavor that offers mouthwatering acidity. Lemon oil builds on its lovely finish. Good on ya mate! -BF $14
Château Liquors carries this wine.
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Di Majo 2004 Sangiovese, Molisse, Italy
The perfect Italian red! Classic sangiovese flavors of black cherries and graphite. Hints of kiffer lime leaf and sandlewood. The acidity and tannins give this red a good backbone.
-BF $12.00
City Wine, County Line, Joy Wine, Bonnie Brae, and Meridian Wine & Spirits carry this wine.
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Zenato 2003 Ripassa de Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy
This ripasso is a winner vintage after vintage. Of course, it has an edge over all the other Valpolicellas, it is fermented with Zenato Amarone must. Consentrated rose petals, violets, and blueberry flavors are layered with notes of dark chocolate and clove. The tannins are sultry and polished and the acidity balances the intense fruit, spice, and floral flavors. -BF $26
Reserve List and Bonnie Brae carry this wine.
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Ripasso
If you've been drinking wine since the seventies or eighties, you'll remember the wildly popular days of Soave and Valpolicella. Both of these wines hail from the Veneto region of Italy. A few decades ago, Veneto's production grew to meet the needs of the thirsty American market. While Valpolicella and Soave were very popular, the eventual growth in production resulted in ordinary wines lacking depth or character.
     While hundreds of thousands of bottles of simple wines were destined for our shores, a few producers in Veneto were making very respectable wines from grapes groomed for quality. Amarone (ah-mah-ROH-neh), the flagship wine of the Veneto, was not known to most of those of us quaffing down Valpolicella and Bardolino here in the U.S., but it would soon change Veneto's style and reputation in our market.
     Amarone is made by drying the finest grapes in a cool, ventilated room for several months. Once most of the water has evaporated, the grapes have extremely concentrated flavors, tannins, and acidity. When their juice is fermented completely dry, the resulting wine is called Amarone. When some residual sugar is left behind after fermentation, it is called Recioto.
     The Italians didn't waste a trace of the precious dried Amarone grapes. Winemakers found that adding the pumice of the Amarone, the grape solids leftover after fermentation, to Valpolicella, they created something quite special. This process is called ripasso.
     Ripassos are appropriately nicknamed 'Baby Amarones' and possess many qualities of Amarone, without having to pay $50 a bottle, or wait ten years for the wine to age. It has only been in the last few years that producers have been disclosing that a Valpolicella has undergone ripasso. These Baby Amarones are sultry with tannins, explosive with fruit and with notes of a dried bounty from a summer garden. They can be rich with berries, tar, licorice, spice, and chocolate. Their acidity and finish are savory.
     Of course there is a chasm of different between Amarone and Valpolicella that has a touch ripasso, but the enrichments the Amarone solids add to this simple red wine are tremendous. It's exceptional juice at budget prices.

Great Divide Titan IPA, Denver, Colorado
This is a great example of how integrated an IPA can be. Some brews in this category are over the top with bitterness. Titan IPA is well crafted and offers complicated flavors, beyond the bitter. Notes of freshly cut pine bows, orange zest, hints of tomatillos, and perfume are layered on a sweet canvas. It offers ample hoppy flavor, for those of us that seek the pungent flavors of these aromatic flowers.
-BF $8
Bonnie Brae carries this brew.

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Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale, Denver, Colorado
This is a creamy, elegant ale. Yeasty flavors are finished by a clean apple-like flavor and a slightly malty-honey note. This is made in the style of a German Kölsch with slight German hops flavors. A tasty crowd pleaser that offers thirst-quenching opportunities.
-BF $8
Bonnie Brae carries this brew.

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