Weekly Wine News is is published every Tuesday evening. It contains wine news, opinion, and special sales info for our subscribers. Weekly Wine News is available by email or at our website, Schaefers.com, and it is also posted in our store.

Another "trophy" Cabernet has just been released. While not as high-profile (or expensive) as the anointed handful, Salvestrin Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 takes a backseat to very few. The latest edition of Wine Enthusiast Magazine just rated it a remarkable 94-points and made it their "Editors' Choice." They commented: "A solid effort: soft, round and polished, with a classic Cab profile. Cherry, cola, blackberry and cedar aromas and flavors have a delicately earthy edge of fresh Provençal herbs. Rich in ripe tannins, with a splash of Merlot, is beautiful now, and should age well for many years." Normally priced at $59.95, SAY-VINO subscribers can order this week only at $45.97 a bottle.

A Consistent Superstar

Michael & Annabelle Waugh's Greenock Creek Winery is the sort of winery everyone would like to own. They live in a beautifully restored farmhouse amid their vineyards, in Greenock, at the northern end of the Barossa Valley. This bucolic setting belies the tremendous amount of care and hard work that goes into producing the Greenock Creek wines. Virtually all of their grapes are hand harvested, then gently de-stemmed and fermented in open-top, epoxy lined masonry fermenters (in addition to his winemaking abilities, Michael is also a master stonemason). The juice is gently put through a basket press and then aged in a combination of new and used French and American hogsheads. These wines are the essence of the Northern Barossa style. Michael & Annabelle do everything with the highest standards of quality. They are diligent, committed, talented, brilliant growers and winemakers inspired by super low yields and great old vineyards. While Mr. Parker has yet to publicly canonize this particular vintage he did score the previous three vintages 97-points, 96-points and 98-points respectively. If you wait to see the 2004 vintage reviewed it will be too late to purchase any. We have an extremely limited allocation at $74.97 a bottle.

A 98-Pointer!

"There are 1,400 cases of the flagship cuvée, the Block 6 Shiraz, which is aged 28 months in 60% new American oak and 40% new Hungarian oak. Typically, it possesses between 15-16% alcohol and is always a candidate for twenty or more years of cellaring. The 2004 Shiraz Block 6 is the finest example of this cuvee since the 1998. It is an awesomely concentrated Shiraz with an inky/plum/garnet/purple color and a sweet nose of roasted meats, dried herbs, ground pepper, blackberries, and cassis. This intense, full-bodied effort boasts a profound depth and richness as well as layer upon layer of awesome concentration and length. While approachable, it should hit its peak in 5-6 years, and last for two decades or more." That's how Robert Parker described this wine in the October 2006 edition of his Wine Advocate. He obviously was impressed as he awarded it a extraordinary 98-points! Order now at $84.97 a bottle. Allocated.

 

Last but not least my favorite! The 2005 Noon Eclipse is a blend of approximately 65% Grenache and 35% Shiraz. Some of these Grenache bush vines were planted back in 1934. "With their incredible perfume and extraordinary purity and layers of fruit, these are attention-getting wines, but there is a restraint, balance, and complexity that is remarkable. Noon's wines taste like the essence of their respective varietals, pushing concentration and extract to the limit, although I have never sensed that they were over-the-top. These are wines of extraordinary depth and richness, with amazing upside potential in the bottle. Life is too short not to be drinking the wines of Drew and Rae Noon." - Robert Parker on Noon Winery, in Robert M. Parker's "The World's Greatest Wine Estates." Get this wine before the scores come out for only $74.97. Only six bottles available then it is all gone. (The winery too is sold out each and every year and at the entrance of the winery there is handwritten "Sorry, Cellar Door Closed, Out of Wine" sign.)

Join us on Thursday, May 3 for a class on the wines of Northern Italy. Some of Italy's most famous white and red wines come from the northern regions of Piedmont, Alto Adige, Friuli and Veneto. Among the wines we'll try this evening will be Pieropan Soave Classico, Amarone from Cesari, Vietti Barbera as well as a Barbaresco and a sparkling wine from the Franciacorta area. We'll finish the class with one of Italy's most delightful dessert wines, Saracco Moscato d'Asti.

 

The price of the class is $45 per person, which includes handouts as well as a bit of food. The class will be taught by Italian wine authority and former Schaefer's employee, Tom Hyland. He has made 30 trips to Italy, visiting regions throughout the country and has written articles on these wines for publications in America, England and Australia.

 

To enroll for the class, do not contact Schaefer's. Contact Tom Hyland at thwinewriter@comcast.net or by phone at (773) 293-6790. Seating is limited, so contact Tom as soon as possible to ensure your place in this class.

Schaefer's will be co-hosting another very popular event on Tuesday night, April 24th starting at 7 PM. We'll meet at Dave's Italian Kitchen to taste new-release Spanish wines. Our guest of honor to lead the discussion will be Robert Houde, President of Garnarcha Imports, and former sommelier at Charlie Trotter's. For an all-inclusive price of $30 per person Dave will work his magic in the kitchen. Call the restaurant at (847) 475-5014 to sign-up now.

Join us for two special events featuring the delicious Champagnes of Laurent-Perrier in two equally wonderful venues! 

 

 Water is The New Wine

That's all for this week. If we may be of any further service, please stop by our store at 9965 Gross Point Road in Skokie (for directions, click here), visit our website at http://www.schaefers.com, give us a call at 847-677-WINE (9463), 800-833-WINE (9463), or click here to contact us.