At The Traveling Vineyard, we’re passionate about wine!
Our mission to demystify wine, by offering fun and
informative in-home wine tasting events.
Taste wines from boutique wineries from all over the world,
while enjoying a wine tasting lesson.
Email Shannon for more information.
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4267 Tennyson Street
Denver, CO 80212
303-458-0209
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Every Thursday,
Wynton Parker,
the KUVO
Drive Time Jazz Host
Features a wine and food pairing segment on his show.
Wynton's show airs Monday - Friday 4-7pm.
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KUVO,
support public radio.
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Jago
Vanilla Cream Liqueur
Are you interested in learning more about wine?
Join the Denver Wine Group to savor the wine and conversations,
build new friendships, and learn as you go.
Beginners and experts welcome!
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Terroir and elegance often walk hand in hand,
with thought-provoking subtleties.
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Read about it today, experience it tonight.
In this issue:
Sparkling, Champagne, Cava, and Prosecco
Brews
Vocabulary
Read about Champagne the newcomer
Next week: Gift wines and inexpensive party wines!
Events
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Aria NV Extra Dry Cava, Spain
This is a surprising little sparkling wine for the money.
The palate offers lime and pear notes with a rich honey'ed finish.
There is a hint of anise on the mid-palate.
Nice looking label that will make them thing you spent more than you did.
November 15, 2006.
-BF $10
City Wine and Bonnie Brae carry this wine.
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Segura Viudas NV Brut Reserva Cava, Spain
Another great inexpensive Cava.
It offers lighter fruit flavors.
Notes of anise, lime zest, and cherry skins weave on the palate.
The perfect bottle for toasting, making mimosas,
and it makes a great way to start your evening.
Tasted November 15, 2006
-BF $9
Lido Wine carries this wine.
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Roederer Estate NV Brut, Anderson Valley, California
This is a great sparkling wine from a Champagne producer.
Roederer, like many other Champagne Houses,
looked to California's Anderson Valley for an opportunity to
take advantage of California's exceptional weather.
Roederer Estate is an impressive sparkling wine for the money.
It has a rich, creamy nose.
On the palate, this wine offers notes of strawberries, green tea, and green apples.
It has mouth watering acidity with a round, velvety finish.
This is a very undervalued bottle for the money.
$20
Crossroads Wine & Spirits in Grand Junction, City Wine, Reserve List, Joy Wine, and Spirits, Bonnie Brae, Lido Wine,
and Incredible Wine & Liquor carry this wine.
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Coppo 2005 Moncalvina, Moscato 'd Asti, DOCG, Italy
Heavenly! The carbonation tickles the palate with flavors of peaches, pears, and lime zest.
It finishes with a focused note of honey.
This is the perfect wine for the bride and bride's maids.
Serve it with almond biscotti or sopapillas.
-BF $16
Crossroads Wine & Spirits in Grand Junction carries this wine.
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Coppo 2005 Brachetto, DOCG, Canelli, Italy
This slightly frizzy, sensual dessert wine has rose petals and berry aromas that
carry over to the palate.
In the mouth this wine is luscious with flavors of
strawberries, black raspberries, tangerine, lime zest and hints of tamarind.
It's a change of pace from the usual celebratory bottles and
makes a special ending to any meal.
-BF $25
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Paringa 2004 Sparkling Shiraz, Australia
Leave it to the Aussies to make sparkling wine out of Shiraz.
Winemaker Dave Hickinbotham says "You should have it with bacon and eggs in the morning."
You're really in for a treat if you pair it with bacon from
http://www.gratefulpalate.com.
If you want to drink it later in the day,
I would suggest having it with fruit or chocolate cake.
It might make a great birthday gift for all those Sagittarians running around.
At first it tastes like an almond cookie, then it offers flavors of vanilla,
finally evolving into a carbonated black raspberry elixir.
Serious? Absolutely not! Tasty? Without a doubt.
Tasted November 2, 2006
-BF $10
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Cuvée No. 1, Marlborough, New Zealand 750ml
This sparkling wine is so delicious and dense with flavors, while being very dry.
Made in the meticulous Methode Champenoise, it exudes elegance with every sip.
Blanc de blancs, made with 100% chardonnay grapes,
it is bright and layered with flavors of apple pie, lime zest, and spring blossoms.
On the finish, this rich bubbly treat tastes like gingerbread.
Looking for a change of pace but want Champagne quality?
This bubbly is for you.
-BF $38
Divino, Mondo Vino, Mayfair, Virginia Village, Bubbles,
Morgan's, Wilbur's, Boulder Wine Merchant carry this bubbly!
Are you a retailer who carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Lindauer NV Brut, New Zealand
This bubbly is not extremely fruit forward, but layered and very interesting.
Notes of sour cherry, lemonade, green tea, and green apple build in your mouth
while the acidity makes your mouth water.
The finish hints of Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda.
A great value!
-BF $11
Are you a retailer who carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Segura Viudas NV Heredad Reserva Cava, Spain
The bottle is as impressive as the sparkling wine inside.
If you need to make an impression,
but are on a budget (and who isn't)
this bottle fits the bill.
The palate is filled with flavors of peach and apricot,
complimented by yeasty, petrol notes.
The honey finish makes this Cava taste much more expensive than it is.
You'll find someone will want to take the bottle with them.
-BF $23
Crossroads Wine & Spirits in Grand Junction, Incredible Wine & Liquor and Corks carry this wine.
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Hardys NV Sparkling Shiraz, Australia
I'll have to admit, many of these sparkling reds started out a little rough.
This sparkling Shiraz is focused, polished, and very unique.
It is caramelly, with flavors of bing cherries.
Notes of dark chocolate fill the mid-palate.
The finish is a touch of toasted vanilla bean.
Tasted November 15, 2006
-BF $25
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Gosset Champagne Brut Excellence, France
This is a very elegant Champagne with a festive looking bottle.
Aromas of fresh baked bread lead to a bright palate.
In the mouth, the wine offers green apples, white flowers, and candied ginger.
The prominent acidity offers flavors of lime zest.
The finish is a touch biscuity.
Tasted November 15, 2006
-BF $40
Tony's Wines and Joy Wine and Spirits carry this sparkling.
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
Email
us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Champagne-the newcomer
If you consider that Champagne was discovered only a few hundred years ago, you'll realize it is a relative newcomer in the realm of wine. For the first hundred years monks strived to remove the carbonation. Finally, they decided to embrace their unusual product and went about marketing it to the world.
One Champagne producer supplied Napoleon's army with bottles of their cuvée, knowing that it would travel all over Europe. Later, even though his moniker is a shaken martini, two different Champagne labels, Dom Perignon and Bollinger, earned the privilege of being in 007's glass. Over the years, Champagne has found itself on the A-list of the most exclusive parties.
Champagne has been so successful that producers from areas that are not inside the geographic region of Champagne have mimicked its recipe and its name. True Champagne comes from Champagne, France and all other carbonated wine is called sparkling wine. Champagne is considered sparkling wine too.
Processes in Champagne are followed by many sparkling wine producers. Sparkling wine can be made from many different grapes, but Champagne's chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier are considered authentic. The steps involved in 'Method Champenoise' create a bottle of sparkling wine of supreme quality. If it doesn't say Method Champenoise, it may be made in the Charmat method, where carbonation is from fermentation is held in the wine in pressurized vats and then bottled. Vintaged Champagne is made from the grapes of one exceptional year. A cuvée is blend of several years and batches, often containing wine from vintaged years. A Champagne producer's cuvée is blended to taste the same year after year, earning it a devoted following.
Sparkling wine has been around for a short time, but has become the icon of celebration and milestones. And, if you open it for no reason, you'll soon find that it creates its own cause to rejoice.
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Taittinger Prelude, Grand Cru, Champagne France
Wow! I was mesmerized by this Champagne.
It offered so much and still is such a baby.
A few years in the cellar would polish it up a bit,
but it is very impressive now.
It possess a note of minerality that tastes like gunpowder (yep).
Flavors of green apples and grapefruit fill the mouth as the
mid-palate offers roasted hazelnut tones.
There is a hint of cream soda on finish.
Tasted November 15, 2006
-BF $57
Tony's Wines carries this wine.
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Mont Marcal NV Reserva Rosé Brut Cava, Penedes, Spain
Read about Cava.
Cava is a best kept secret in the world of bubbles.
This sparkling rosé is delicious.
Its nose has scents of strawberries and cream.
On the palate there are notes of strawberries, cherries, lime zest, minerals, and fresh biscuits.
A delightful finish with a hint of white flowers.
It is a wonderful aperitif because of its Brut style and makes a great wine for your holiday table.
-BF $15
Read about Cava.
Where to find this wine
Denver: Joy Wine and Spirits- Tower Liquors - Heritage at Eagle Bend - Rioja
Castle Rock: Vinos del Mundo -
Grand Junction: Redlands
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Dampierre, Cuvée des Ambassadeurs, NV Brut Premier Cru, Champagne, France
One of the best values on the market when it comes to real Champagne.
Premier cru is a step up in quality from the rest of the sparkling wine coming out of Champagne (the region).
The most famous Champagne, named after a monk, is a premier cru at triple the price of Dampierre.
Dampierre Cuvée des Ambassadeurs is fifty percent pinot noir and fifty percent chardonnay.
Creamy and smooth, with lots of tiny white, tight bubbles.
This sparkling wine offers an elegant, polished balanced between acidity, carbonation, and fruit flavor.
Blond cherries, yellow tomatillos, cardamom bread, and hints of ginger.
The regal looking gold label is a bonus to the outstanding quality.
Tasted October 8, 2006
-BF $40
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Delamotte NV Blancs de Blanc, Brut, Champagne, France
This is the sister producer to Salon and uses many of the same vineyards that
the legendary (and pricy) Champagne house uses.
Made from 100% chardonnay grapes, this wine is bright, vibrant and refreshing.
Notes of apples, lemon zest, and a touch of anise fill the mouth.
The mid-palate and finish marry together with minerality and hints of raw almond.
This is an elegant wine with a graceful presence.
Tasted October 8, 2006
-BF $40
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Zardetto NV Prosecco, Italy
This is a party wine that inspires laughter.
Lots of tight bubbles, and zesty acidity.
The wine tastes of green apples, lemons, and cream.
A great glass of wine for your guests to wake their palate up.
Tasted November 11, 2006
-BF $14
Durango Liquor, Hampden Warehouse Liquormart, Libations Wine & Spirits,
Primo Vino, Wilburs' Total Beverage in Fort Collins, Crossroads Wine and Spirits in Grand Junction, Meridian Wine & Spirits,
Bonnie Brae,
The Incredible Wine & Liquor Store, Joy Wine and Spirits, carry this wine.
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
Email
us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Rotari NV Brut
Zesty and refreshing, this inexpensive bottle of bubbly is a great value.
Notes of green apples, blond cherries, and fresh baked cardamom bread fill the palate.
There are hints of apricots lingering on the finish.
Because it is made from both chardonnay and pinot noir,
two of the three official Champagne grapes,
Rotari NV Brut's quality presides over many sparkling wines in its category.
-BF $14
Superior Liquors
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Rotari NV Demi-Sec Spumante
Delightful!
Notes of wedding cake, tangerines, and honey grace this layered, rich sparkling wine.
It is a touch sweet, but makes the perfect pair for fruit or other lighter desserts.
Would also make a wonderful after dinner drink when the meal was hot food like blackened steak or Cajan snapper.
-BF $14
Are you a retailer that carries this wine?
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Toad Hollow Risqué 750ml, California
Low in alcohol, softly carbonated, bursting with flavors of green apples and peaches.
A sweet libation that is vibrant and quaffable.
Goes splendidly with a fruit plate or some almond cookies.
It is a bit risqué, but with half the alcohol,
there's no worry of roudy bouts of the Can-Can breaking out in your living room.
-BF $12
Where to find this wine:
Denver: Corks, Argonaut, Applejack, Colorado Liquormart,
Joy Wine & Spirits, Southmore, Super Discount Liquors--Littleton,
Keg, Tower Liquors,
Colorado Springs: Broadmore Wine & Spirits, Central Park Liquor,
Colorado Liquor Connection, Jewett Drug--Canon City,
Mountains: Avon Liquors, Aspen Leaf Liquors,
Copper Coin Liquor--Pagosa Springs,
High Mountain Liquors--Gunnison, Evergreen Liqours,
Grand Avenue Liquor--Glenwood, Ski Haus Liquors--Steamboat,
Southside Liquor--Steamboat,
North Front Range: Boulder Wine & Spirits, Boulder Wine Mechants,
Bullfrog Liquor, College Green Liquor, Market Place Liquor Depot, Oties, Pringle Brothers,
Fort Collins Warehouse Liquors, Liquorland--Longmont,
Old Town Wine & Spirits, Total Beverage, Uptown--Fort Collins, Wilburs, Westlake W&S, Uptown Liquors
South Metro Denver: Bubbles, Dry Creek,
Heritage, Lukas,
Pueblo: Spanky's Spirit World
Retailers, if you carry this wine
email us and we'll add you to this list.
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Vocabulary
Each week we'll include a few wine (or beer or spirits) terms.
To read more terms go to the
vocabulary
page. This page will grow as we add more terms.
cuvée:
is a blend of wines, usually in Champagne or sparkling wine.
A cuvée is styled to taste the same with each release.
It is usually non-vintage, abbreviated NV,
blending several years together to obtain the same flavor.
Vintners outside of Champagne can call their blend a cuvée,
but the term originated in the Champagne area.
Sparkling wine producers use this term and technique too.
Tête de cuvée refers to the producer's house blend.
Méthode Champenoise:
is a set of meticulous procedures to produce sparkling wine.
These procedures were established in Champagne,
but now are used globally to impart quality.
Many sparkling wines show the term Méthode Champenoise
on their label, even though they are produced outside of Champagne.
Cava:
is a sparkling wine produced in the Penedés region of Spain.
Traditionally, Cava is produced from a combination of three indigenous white grapes,
macabeo, parellada, and xarello, although some producers have been adding
chardonnay to the blend as well.
Cava gets its name from an old Catalan word meaning cave.
Rosé versions of Cava can use the red grapes monstrell and garnacha.
Prosecco:
is the name of a grape used to make Italian sparkling wine.
The wine is named after the grape, rather than the village,
like other European wines.
Prosecco is produced in the villages Conegliano and Valdobbiadene.
It is a fresh sparkling wine meant to be drunk young.
sparkling wine:
is all wine containing carbonation.
Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne.
Champagne can only come from the region of France called Champagne.
If a sparkling wine is from any other place it is called sparkling wine or
another regional name as in Prosecco (from Italy) or Cava (from Spain).
The use of the name Champagne on wine from outside of the region of Champagne is a misnomer.
Sparkling wine can be made in several different ways,
the two most popular are Méthode Champenoise and
the Charmat method.
Charmat Method:
is name after its inventor, Eugène Charmat.
This is process places still wine under pressure while it is fermenting,
so that the carbon dioxide is trapped in the liquid.
Many producers use this inexpensive method of creating sparkling wine, rather than
Méthode Champenoise.
Charmat is a step up from the method of merely pumping carbonation into still wine.
Charmat sparkling wines lose their carbonation much faster than sparkling wine that have under
gone Méthode Champenoise.
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Brews
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Do you make your own beer?
If you make your own beer we are interested in your thoughts, recipes, and experiences.
If you would like to share with our readers, we will include you on our weekly newsletter and-or
add your contribution to our Do It Yourself section.
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Left Hand Snow Bound, Longmont, Colorado
This brownish-red brew has a generous slice of spice cake on the nose.
Its roasted grains offer an earthy flavor,
while the hops offers a sweet floral note.
There are sassafrass tones, roasted caramel flavors, and hints of allspice on the mid-palate.
There is a slight bitterness on the finish that carries more hoppy floral notes.
Like most micro-brews, this beer blooms as it warms up.
The label is as festive and special as the beer inside. -BF
Tasted November 18, 2006.
$4 for a 22 ounce bomber
Liquor Barn on South Broadway carries this wine.
Are you a retailer that carries this beer?
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us and we'll add you to the 'where to find it' listing.
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Events
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