Are you interested in learning more about wine?
Join the Denver Wine Group to savor 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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Private Preserve blankets your open bottles,
making a layer between the wine and the air.
One bottle will last through dozens of bottles of wine.
Private Preserve feels like it is empty when you pick it up.
Stretch your wine dollars,
preserve your aromas, flavors,
and structure with Private Preserve.
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Read about it today, experience it tonight.
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Cable Car 2006 Pinot Grigio, California
This pinot grigio offers exotic aromas of bananas and peaches on the nose.
It is slightly tropical with notes of papaya, melon, anise, pear, and green apples.
The mid-palate is a touch yeasty, which carries over to a lingering
finish hinting of lemon oil.
Polished pinot grigio, offering ripe fruit flavors.
91 points -- tasted 1/31/2008 -BF $10
Downing Street Wines & Liquors,
Broadlands Liquor, Zippy's Liquor, Total Beverage, Keg Liquors,
Extreme Wine & Spirits, Bungalow Wine & Spirits,
Dillon Ridge Liquors, Aspen Liquors, Redstone Liquors,
Jersey Street Liquors, and Kelly's Wine & Spirits carry this wine.
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Cable Car 2006 Chardonnay, California
A medium bodied chardonnay with a soft profile.
Bright and slightly creamy, this chardonnay offers flavors of pear,
lemon, toasted hazelnuts, lime zest and marshmallow.
The finish tastes of honey and citrus zest.
Lovely accompaniment to many foods, an elegant choice that fits the budget.
92 points -- tasted 1/31/2008 -BF $10
Downing Street Wines & Liquors, Keg Liquors,
Broadlands Liquor, Zippy's Liquor, Total Beverage,
Extreme Wine & Spirits, Bungalow Wine & Spirits,
Dillon Ridge Liqours, Aspen Liquors, Redstone Liquors, and
Fairground Wine & Liquor carry this wine.
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Leaping Lizard 2006 Napa Valley Chardonnay, California
Aromas of lychee and green apples greet your nose.
In the mouth the wine is rich, toasty, with flavors of
melon, nutmeg, marshmallow, caramel, and anise.
Don't drink it too cold, you'll spoil the complexity.
A touch warmed up you find butterscotch, lime lifesaver, cream and flinty mineral.
92 points -- tasted 2/4/2008 -BF $12
Reserve List Eagle Bend, Heritage Wine and Liquor,
Durango Liquors, Highlands WineSeller,
and Libations Wine & Spirits carry this wine.
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Leaping Lizard 2006 Merlot, Napa Valley, California
Toffee aromas with a touch of cigarbox waft from the glass.
Roasted coffee, black cherry, blueberry, and a touch pencil lead fill the palate.
Cinnamon and hints of leather fill the finish.
Just a touch of tannic structure gives soft, sultry sweep on the finish.
92 points -- tasted 2/2/2008 -BF $12
Libations Wine & Spirits, Durango Liquors,
Highlands WineSeller,
and Heritage Wine and Liquor carry this wine.
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Parker Station 2006 Pinot Noir, California
Red raspberry and plum flavors with a hint of spring rain and cola.
It offers ripe fruit as soon as it is opened.
Smooth, light bodied, yet hitting all the right notes.
A great bottle for the money.
91 points -- tasted 1/27/2008 -BF $12
Reserve List Eagle Bend, Costco Liquors in Arvada,
Durango Liquors, Highlands WineSeller,
and Heritage Wine and Liquor carry this wine.
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Cable Car 2005 Merlot, California
Fragrant cherry aromas carry to the palate as
flavors of milk chocolate, mulberry, and caramel fill the palate.
The acidity works well with the ample fruit flavors,
while a minerally pencil lead tone lingers on the finish.
Because of its quality grapes,
this merlot blooms like a rose when allow to breathe.
Soft tannins make this a versatile food wine.
93 points -- tasted 1/31/2008 -BF $10
Downing Street Wines & Liquors, Keg Liquors,
Broadlands Liquor, Zippy's Liquor, Total Beverage,
3S Liquors, Casablanca Wine & Spirits, Westview Liquors,
Clear Creek Liquors, Clifton Liquors Inc, Club Wine &
Spirits, and Coal Creek Liquors carry this wine.
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Chateau du Rouet 2004 Cuvee Reservee Tradition, Cotes de Provence, France
This is a bohemian little wine.
Black pepper, red raspberry, a little sandalwood.
Very available fruit.
Juicy in the mouth, yet not too cerebral.
It goes down smooth and leaves a perfumy finish.
Drink up.
90 points -- tasted 3/5/2008 -BF $10
Lido Wine Merchants and Downing Street Wines & Liquors
carry this wine.
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Cable Car 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, California
Cassis and clove fill the senses as hints of
bitter chocolate, licorice, ripe black cherry, and cassis fill the mid-palate.
The tannins offer a structured grip for the layered flavors,
while the finish hints of cherry skins and leather.
Allow this wine some breathing time and you'll be generously rewarded.
93 points -- tasted 1/31/2008 -BF $10
Downing Street Wines & Liquors, Libations Wine & Spirits,
Broadlands Liquor, Zippy's Liquor, Total Beverage, Keg Liquors,
3S Liquors, Casablanca Wine & Spirits, Westview Liquors,
Fairground Wine & Liquor,
Clear Creek Liquors, Clifton Liquors Inc, Club Wine &
Spirits, Coal Creek Liquors and carry this wine.
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Wine Bat is a Denver group devoted to blind wine tasting.
They offer a relaxed evening of socializing and wine tasting.
It's a great opportunity to meet like-minded people with an interest in wine.
Their next event is at Carmine's Cucina, Wednesday, March 12, 2008.
An informal reception starts at 6:30 of wine and antipasto.
Then on to a series of six blind tastes of wine.
We will start the blind tastings at 7:10 until about 8:30.
There will be a discounted dinner package for those who wish to stay for dinner.
The price is $25 plus tip and tax,
which includes the wine and hors d'oeuvre reception, six quality wines in blind tasting format,
and four specially prepared appetizers during the blind tasting.
Carmine's Cucina
900 Jersey Street
Denver CO 80220
303-333-3888
Please RSVP on the WineBat
Meetup
site or email
winebatden@gmail.com.
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On Friday March 14th, heads will be shaved, raffles will be drawn, and a silent auction will be happening!
We hope you can join us for
Denver's St. Baldrick's
event either as a brave shavee,
a helpful volunteer, or a just wonderful spectator!
Join us to watch three Avalanche players be shorned!
Can't make it that night?
Donate online
toward this worthy cause.
Fado's Irish Pub
March 14, 2008
1735 19th Street #150
Denver, CO 80202
Do you know this man? John organizes the
Denver Entrepreneur Meetup Group.
They are quite possibly the friendliest networking group for small business people in the Denver Metro Area.
In a 'No Sale Zone' they meet to learn from each other,
build professional relationships, and grow their businesses.
John
will be shaving his head on Friday, March 14th in honor of Nathan Lender.
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Allowing wine to breathe
A friend asked me how she should drink a bottle of Cinq Cépages she had purchased. The first and only piece of advice I gave her was that it should be opened in the morning to be drunk in the evening. Wine changes when it is exposed to air. For most bottles of wine, oxidation slowly steals its fruit flavors. However, for a few bottles of wine the interaction with air is a catalyst to a delightful experience.
As most of you know, your average bottle of $6.99 wine does not need decanting and usually does not improve by being open for a day. Many bottles of mass produced, inexpensive wines are less appealing the next day. The more grapes a vine produces, the less complex the subsequent juice and the faster its flavors deteriorate when exposed to air. Allowing a vine to produce a lot of grapes is one way they can sell it so cheap. Price is not always a factor for gauging when a bottle's flavor will hit an apex. A bottle of El Trofeo Red, an $8 bottle of wine, was astounding two days after having a glass poured from it. It was even more impressive the next night.
For every successfully oxidized bottle of wine there are ten times as many bottles that get drank too soon. Knowing how long to allow a wine to breathe can be the difference between drinking something that doesn't really live up to its price and experiencing a masterpiece.
One of the best ways to know if a wine needs to breathe is to ask your favorite wine merchant. Sampling wine is an everyday task for well trained wine-floor staffers. Wine distributors frequently schlep around bottles of wine that have been opened for hours and sometimes days. This is one of the selling points of a wine when it is being presented to a potential wine-shop buyer.
I never assume a bottle is defunct even if it has been open a week or more, with the cork securely in place of course. I recall one previously opened bottle of wine left in the trunk of my car. When I tried to retrieve the Michael Pozzan Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon, I found my car behind a locked gate. The car and the bottle of wine remained there for three days before the guy with the key came back from his long weekend. The opened bottle was still extremely enjoyable by the time I got to it.
You can gauge how long to allow some wines to breathe by their composition or by their style. The more cabernet sauvignon in the bottle the longer it will take to 'open up,' especially if its yields are low. Domestic wines are styled to satisfy our need to be instantly gratified. The grapes used to make European wines are generally less ripe than those from California, Australia, and South America, and often require a little breathing to reveal their fruit flavors. Look for old vine or low yield juice, which can bloom with a little breathing as well.
Of course I always use Private Preserve gas to top off all my opened bottles of wine. I have found that it preserves the integrity of the remaining wine for days and sometimes longer. Remember, the higher the production the less longevity the wine will have.
So how did I know Cinq Cepages needs to sit open all day? I have had two memorable experiences with this wine. Each time, I tried it when it was first opened and then after six and eight hours of decanting. The advancement of flavor was remarkable. My initial impression on both occasions was that the wine was too tight to drink.
Want to get some experience tasting wine in various stages of being opened? Get a bottle or Private Preserve or a Vac-u-vin apparatus. When you shop for wine, buy two different bottles. Open both the first night and drink a little from each. Gas or vacuum both wines. Sample them a second night. You will be very surprised at what wines hold up over a day or two and which ones do not. Some wines evolve and actually taste better the second night.
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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.
tight:
is a description for wine with diminished aromas and flavors.
A tight wine is generally very tannic and acidic
and often has a dense, but illusive flavor on the mid-palate.
A wine can open up when exposed to air or when aged longer.
A tight wine will eventually offer aromas and flavors.
Wines that are over the hill are not tight.
open up:
A wine with generous aromas and flavors is opened up.
The nose, fore-palate, mid-palate, and finish contribute to the experience with
nuances of flowers, fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, minerals, wood, and more.
Exposing wine to air can cause these aromas and flavors to be obvious.
A wine needs to open up when it is tight or closed,
lacking aromas and flavors. A tight wine is acidic and tannic,
but often has an illusive density on the mid-palate.
oxidation:
is a flaw in wine that causes its flavors to become dull and flat.
Oxidation happens when the wine is exposed to air.
The more air it is exposed to the more the wine deteriorates.
When wine is bottled it often suffers from bottle shock,
a form of oxidation that causes the flavors to close up and
not be available again for weeks and sometimes months.
Oxidation happens when corks dry up in the neck of the bottle.
Allowing a wine to breathe is also oxidation and can improve the flavor
up to a certain point, usually a few hours, but sometimes more.
Sherries are wines that benefit from controlled oxidation.
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