Rosé of the day - Wednesday May 15, 2013

 Bodegas Olarra Reciente Rosé 2012

Tasting notes: Crisp and fresh, this salmon colored wine is delicious offering up rose petals, hints of orange rind, raspberry and strawberry.  Clear, dry finish with a bright level of acidity. The wine a perfect accompaniment to anything served from your barbecue grill.  Or, excellent as a refreshing apéritif on a sunny afternoon! 

Varietal: Tempranillo

Region: Rioja, Spain

Menu: Here is something cool, I was looking for tasting notes and specifics about the wine and ran across this write-up and recipe. http://www.summerofjim.com/

Sounds Good!

Monday's answer: Ellen Grecco Gilmore narrowly beat Lynne D'eramo with the answer yesterday morning. In fact they both answered correctly within seconds of eachother and the picture had been up for less than a minute. Kristine George Andres was in a very short time later with Susan L. Melcher not long behind her and finally Andrew Malkin chimed in with "Hi Ho. Retro Merritt Parkway wonder." It was really very fun to watch and it makes me wonder if there are people waiting for the next post as I write this at 9:15am on Wednesday. We'll see.

Today is a tough one... The best clue I can give early on today is to say, remember where in town we went yesterday. We will be in the general area for the rest of the week. Get your minds out of Southport and the area surrounding Harry's.

More later if we need it... Good Luck!

Rosè of the day - Tuesday May 14, 2013

Muga Rosado 2012 $12.99/$140

Tasting notes: On the nose, you can detect peach, pear and cherries at the point just before ripeness, still with a slight sharpness. We then come across some apple, also tart and very clearly defined, bringing a pleasant fresh sensation. The final aroma is of newly-baked pastry.

The finish is surprisingly long and leaves you with a sensation of cherries mingled with pastries.

Varietal: 60% Garnacha, 30% Viura and 10% Tempranillo

Region: Rioja, Spain

Menu: Paella or tapas!...  If only we had a good Spanish restaurant in Fairfield, any suggestions? 

Monday's answer: Persistance pays off! Ellen Grecco Gilmore stayed with it yesterday and was finally able to nail it down. It seemed that right from the start she had the right idea in mind but wasn't able to "nail it". Finally after a short battle with her memory (or mine) she chimed in with Ronald Henry Insurance? and sure enough the mystery was solved. 

Everything can't be a stones throw from our front door. We have a big town and we plan to do some exploring so, as you look at todays clue, keep its location in mind for the rest of the week. I really like this picture and I think it will be quickly answered. Lets see what happens...

Rosè of the day - Monday May 13, 2013

Henri Bourgeois, Petit Bourgeois Rosé 2012 $10.99/$118.00

Tasting notes: Made for summer drinking whether on the beach or relaxing in the garden. Light fresh, red cherry fruits, with lovely, zippy acidity. It is an oddly appealing rosé style with a sweetness on the nose and initial attack, then strawberry notes with an initial candied peel. The finish has a decent clean savoury zip that works well with light salads

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Region: Loire Valley, France

Menu: A marvelous accompaniment to grilled meats, salads or brochettes, this fresh, dry Rosé also acts splendidly as an aperitif or alongside Asian dishes, such as seafood tempuras or Vietnamese spring rolls. 

Friday's answer: Renzo has made some of these clues very difficult and on Friday there was a single guess from Mark Beyerly that was not his most confident one to date... Horseshoe Cafe - Southport? Once again he was right (this guy is good). Today we are starting with a tough one and even though they have been in business here in Fairfield for 75 years, the visual clue is a difficult one. Lets see what type of responses we get for it.
Tomorrow we plan to start working this in another section of Fairfield and see how familiar our customer base is with this town. If you "share" and/or "like" the post it helps to spread it out to other people. Thanks to all of you that have been playing along!

Wine Tasting - Saturday 1-4PM, May 11

Your host is Eric Litchfield of Slocum & Sons and of www.austrianwineestates.com.
Eric is a long time friend of the store and is in to keep Austrian week moving along with a tasting that includes 3 Gruners and a Zweigelt. Sad to say the weather isn't cooperating and has not given us the perfect day for a Gruner tasting but we do describe them as "Sunshine in a bottle" so the clouds be damned, we're enjoying the weather at the tasting table. Tomorrow promises ideal weather for these wines and of course mom would love a dozen Rosès too.

Groiss Gruner Veltliner 2012                                   $9.99/1 Liter

The richness of the fruit is well balanced by flinty acidity. The peach notes are refreshed by green pea with a touch of apple. The flavors last well on the back palate

Groiss Gruner Veltliner Alte Reben 2010               $15.99

The nose has depth of fruit but behind is freshness of lemon acidity. The palate like the nose has a mix of richness and freshness of tropical fruits that are underpinned by lemon.

Felsner Gruner Veltliner Lossterrassen 2011         $13.99

This is a classic Grüner, clean, crisp, fruity with apples and green plums and a touch of spice. There are lovely fragrances hints of white peach and apple. The back palate has crisp fruit and this freshness brings out the fragrances.

Weixelbaum Zweigelt Strassertal 2007                    $15.99

The red fruits give brightness on the nose and freshness on the palate. Raspberry vies with red cherry for dominance.  The cherry shows there in the middle while it is the raspberry that rounds out strongly on the finish.

Beer Tasting 4 - 7pm Friday, May 10

Your host is Meghan of Two Roads Brewing Company.

 Meghan is getting things started for our Friday evening tasting. She has got a couple of eager participants at the tasting and they were loving the idea of being on the blog (you can tell by the way she is hiding behind him and his expression). If you want to taste, you have to pay the piper :)
She will be happily pouring tastes from 4pm-7pm so stop by and run through the line up.
Another local beer selection from right here in Stratford as we continue our Connecticut beer tour all summer!

Worker’s Comp Saison                    $9.69/12oz
A traditional farmhouse ale made with a very expressive yeast strain that contributes an array of tropical fruit, spice flavors and aromatics. Brewed with a variety of harvest grains including barley, wheat, oats and rye as was likely the case with farmhouse brewers of yore. The result is a complex, refreshing and distinctive example of this esoteric style. Intensely fruity (passion fruit, pineapple, mango, lychee), slightly spicy (clove, white pepper)

Ol’ Factory Pils                                  $9.69/12oz

Traditional in concept with a Two Roads twist…dry hops. We use a combination of classic German as well as American hop and malt varieties in our Pils. We renovated a 100 year-old factory building and designed this Pils to have “extra” aroma…so, pardon the pun! Crisp…refreshing…refined.

Honeyspot White IPA                       $9.69/12oz

The Two Roads interpretation of this emerging beer style naturally takes a road less traveled. Unlike other versions, ours employs an American ale yeast and no spices. The result is a soft wheat backdrop that accentuates the Pacific Northwest hop character.

Road 2 Ruin Double IPA                 $12.29/12oz

A big, hoppy IPA with plenty of bite! Our assertive, hop-centric Double IPA has a lean malt backdrop and is brewed with four American hop varieties – Summit, Palisade, Cascade and Magnum. Piney, citrus, floral, not-for-the-timid!

Rosè of the day - Friday May 10, 2013

Hitching Post Rosè 2012 $19.99/$215.00

Tasting notes: This rosé is dry, crisp and refreshing. Bursting with redcurrant, watermelon and rosewater aromas. On the palate, delicious flavors of watermelon and redcurrants with a hint of strawberries. Refreshing with waves of racy acidity and a lip-smacking finish.

Varietals: Valdiguie, Grenache, Pinot Noir

Region: Santa Barbara, California

Yesterday's answer: We were glad to see that Mark Beyerly was able to put us right back on track yesterday by emphatically answering "St Anthony of Padua Church - South Pine Creek Road, Fairfield". Mom chimed in but seemed to recognize that Mark was pretty sure that he had the answer. Kristie Coneys Kuhl endorsed the wine selection (I happen to agree with her) and Christelle decided to stir the pot a bit with her threat of giving up todays answer (she has been severly admonished and will be hung by her toenails if she carries through with her threat). Today's post should prove to be on the difficult side but we will see what people have.
*hint- There is a clue in the name of the wine today

Rosè of the day - Thursday May 9, 2013

Lucien Albrecht Cremant Rosè NV

Tasting notes: Along with strawberry and red raspberry fruit suggestions that are enhanced by the wine's discreet hint of sweetness, there are saline, meaty, and herbal notes to add interest to both the nose and a lush palate, and the hints of salinity and bitterness in the finish make for an invigorating complement to the wine's prominent fruit.

Varietals: Pinot Noir

Region: Alsace, France

Yesterday's answer: This one was a real tough one and for awhile it looked like we were in for a tough decision... cave in and give the answer since no one seemed to be able to come up with it or hold out and maybe give another clue. That is until The Fairfield Cheese Company came up with the answer this morning as I was preparing todays post. I'm not sure if it was Chris or Laura that came up with it (My guess is Laura) but in either case the mystery has been solved. The monument was dedicated by the Daughter of the american revolution in honor of "The great Swamp Battle" fought in Southport in 1639. That is a long time ago. For more information on its background Google the battle name and it is easy enough to find the story. Today is thankfully a bit easier, lets see how people do.

Austrian wine week begins today!

Austrian wines were virtually unknown by the American public just ten years ago. Now, beginning today, May 8^th, they have an entire week dedicated to them, more here http://www.austrianwine.com/. With their unusual grapes and lack of marketing most people weren’t even aware of them. This store has always been a little ahead of the curve and we did have a couple of Zweigelts, St. Laurent, Blaufrankisch, and Gruners on the shelf but they were strictly a hand sell and really only the experimental “wine geeks” like ourselves and native Austrians had any interest.

Then something fun happened… The 1ltr bottle! I remember our first experience with it (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) about 10 years ago our salesmen from Michael Skurnick stopped in with a green 1 litre bottle from the Hofer vineyard. Of course the bottle immediately got our attention because it was and unusual size and shape, our sales rep pulled the cork that he had used to stop up the bottle as he was traveling around and proceeded to pour each of us a taste. A nice stoney, minerality and bright green apple nose jumped out of the glass and it carried through on our palate. Mmmm, this is a good one, a great summer quaffer and the price was great, $10 a bottle on the shelf, that is an extra glass in each bottle and it is really affordable! “We’ll take five cases please.”

The next day when it showed up the cork had been replaced with a soda bottle or beer cap.

“I’m not sure that people are going to be ok with this, maybe we should skip this experiment” I said to William.

“Hmmm, lets give it a try.” He said.

Needless to say the rest is history. In fact it has become THE iconic package for Gruner Veltliner and almost all of the producers are now using it. Fun!

So how big is the mark that Austria has made on the wine world? The Gruner Veltliner grape is quite mainstream now. The other grapes… well, they have had varying success. St Laurent has not really gotten much mass attention and Zweigelt has been a bit more successful in the mainstream but I wouldn’t say that it is a daily request like the Gruners. That is unless you are talking about Rosè… Gobelsberger has been one of our top selling Rosès for the past five years and it is 100% Zweigelt. This year Artner, also Zweigelt is tremendous! In fact it may out sell Gobelsberger this year here at Harry’s, Time will tell.

Greg recently brought in a certified Organic Gruner and it will be interesting to see how it is received. You never quite know how people will react to a given wine but since we are celebrating “Austrian Wine Week” we will keep our eyes and ears open. We have a special Saturday wine tasting happening this week and it will feature Austria. A good friend to Harry’s, Eric Litchfield, will be in to help us with the tasting. For those of you that have listened to me drone on about the man that taught me everything I know about the Riesling grapes or if you have been to our wine class that featured Riesling, you know this man.

Rosè of the day - Wednesday May 8, 2013

Vrac Rosé 2012 $9.99/$108.00

Tasting notes: Delicate and brilliant light salmon colour. Intense nose, showing red fruits notes and jammy black fruits flavours, that are confirmed on the palate later on. In the mouth the wine is fresh, still round and rich. Long persistent finish.
VRAC follows a centuries old European tradition where villagers buy their wine in bulk 'en VRAC' from the local winery. It comes directly from the winemaker's barrels, insuring that they are drinking their favorite wine at the most affordable price.

Varietals: Grenache, Syrah

Region: Rhone Valley, France

Yesterday's answer: I can never figure out which of these are going to be difficult. The one at Henry C. Reid was supposed to be impossible and two of you got it. I though yesterday would have 5 correct answers and we got nothing... That is until Jan shared it... My mom (Peggy O'Leary) has guessed at 2 or 3 of them and she has been close each time but she hadn't nailed one, That is until yesterday. Late in the day she posted "Southport Harbor" on Jan's page (Along with Rick Karvosky who guessed Harbor at Tenerife, not sure what that is but I digress). Southport harbor was indeed the correct answer. Here is a hint for those that read this... When you are trying to figure out todays clue, use yesterday as a geographical clue.

the newest clue-

Rosè of the day - Tuesday May 7, 2013

Domaine Millet Rosé 2012 $8.99/$97.00

Tasting notes: A dry rosé wine with a bouquet of summer berries and gentle raspberry and redcurrant tastes. Would happily drink this all summer. rose and floral, crisp good acidity. a wine for food and for quaffing

Varietals: Egiodola, Cabernet franc

Region: Côtes de Gascogne, france

Monday's answer: I'm surprised at how quickly the answers are coming, never mind the idea that you are right. The correct answer to yesterdays picture was answered within 10 minutes of its posting. Today I changed up the posting time to see what, if any effect it would have (evil grin). Ellen Greco Gilmore was in the fastest with the correct answer yesterday, followed by Kristie Coneys Kuhl and Lynne D'eramo knew the answer also. A goof handful also liked the post and I suspect some may have known the answer also. Chris Therrien chimed in with "In a bakery?", and wanted credit for typing. Err, ok.... you spelled bakery correctly. How's that :)

Todays might be interesting to our Century club members. There is an obscure grape called "Egiodola" in todays wine. I don't think the even Dr. Mike has had that one.