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Please note that many of the
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Frequently quoted wine publications |
Robert Parker
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Say Vino: November 20, 2007
By Anje Schaefer Cluxton
 We
email Say Vino every Tuesday evening. It contains news
from the wine world, our own opinions, and special offers
for our subscribers. Say Vino is available by email, at
our
website
and is also posted in our store.
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We are thankful as always for your continued patronage and
friendship and wish all of you a wonderful holiday.
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We now sell online!
You can order online and pickup in the store and save
shipping, or if you are on the North Shore, we are happy to
deliver
orders over $25 at no charge. If you live outside our
delivery range, we can
ship
some things to you via UPS. With only one work day before
Thanksgiving, we can take your order online for pickup in
the store only and we cannot take online orders later than
Wednesday at noon if you want it to pick up Thursday
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This Year's Staff Picks for Thanksgiving
 As
usual, when we asked our staff members what they were
serving with their Thanksgiving feast, we got a wide variety
of possibilities, but the definite winner overall is the
Allendorf family winery from the Rheingau in Germany, with
three slots on our list! (We've written recently about this
terrific winery and all three of these wines, see the
Archives for details.) It was interesting to see the variety
spread across the world: in addition to Germany, we chose
wines from France, Australia and of course America for this
traditional American holiday. Another surprise this year was
how much overlap there was between staff: quite a few wines
were chosen by more than one of us. Either our tastes are
getting more alike, or we're suffering from group-think, or
we're simply offering some really lovely wines!
Without further ado, here are our choices for this year:
On the sparkling side, both the Louis
Bouillot Rosé (Donna & Anje) and the Chandon Brut Classic
(Barbara & Geneva) made the cut, as well as the Allendorf
Rosé Secco (George & Kate), a slightly sparkling dry rosé.
All three are Pinot Noir-based and will work well as lovely
starters for your meal and can continue to be served
throughout.
Whites all focused on light and slightly
sweet/spicy - definitely a good match for the many tastes
offered by the side dishes that will appear on many of our
tables (Don, George, Alan & Geneva and Aaron, in that
order).
Reds clustered around lighter, spicier
grapes such as Gamay from Beaujolais (Don, Kate & Sterling)
and Pinot Noir (George, Brian, Sterling, Alan and Curt),
plus some big red Zinfandels (Don and Barbara). These wines
will all add some depth and fruit to pair with that big
bird.
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The Sun Rises Over Our New 'House' Wines
 Helios
is the sun god in Greek mythology and, as you may know, it
takes a lot of love, care and sun to make great wines.
Sourcing grapes from throughout the best growing regions
within California in order to obtain the best and most
classic flavors for their wines, we're pleased to introduce
Helios: Starting in the Central Coast, just hours north of
LA, the 2006 Chardonnay comes from Santa
Barbara County. There the long cool growing season and
proximity to the Pacific Ocean offer perfect conditions to
produce this light and fruity white. With crisp flavors of
pear and apple and just a hint of oak, this wine offers a
terrific balance of fruit and acidity, leaving a very clean
finish.
 Heading
north but stopping before you hit Carmel and San Francisco,
the 2005 Cabernet hails from Paso Robles,
on the northern edge of San Luis Obispo County, just south
of Monterey. Another cool growing area, the vineyards for
this wine have chalky limestone soil, producing a soft and
silky Cab with warm black cherry and cassis fruit flavors.
There's also a touch of spice and tobacco, making it a great
easy-drinking dinner wine.
 The
2005 Merlot comes from Alexander Valley,
the furthest stop in northern Sonoma County. Warmer than the
other two areas Helios sources from, this area does well
with just about all red grapes, especially Merlot, Cabernet
and Zinfandel. This wine is round and lovely, full of
cherry, plum and cassis. It is full-bodied and will pair
well with many meals. We think you'll like the wines from
this new label and encourage you to try them for your next
'do'. As it says on the back of each bottle - enjoy!
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Paraduxx 2005 Just Flew In
 Paraduxx
is a wonderful Napa Valley red wine that brings together the
robust flavors of Zinfandel, a grape synonymous with
California, with the elegance of the traditional Bordeaux
grapes Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Each lot of grapes is
harvested and barrel aged separately. Next, individual
Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel blends are made. Once a
base blend of these two varietals is achieved, several trial
blends are made using additional varietals to see if they
enhance the final wine. Using a combination of French and
American oak to provide flavor complexity, the final version
of Paraduxx is then barrel aged for 18 months. This allows a
full integration and softening of the barrel flavors. This
year's blend consists of 60% Zinfandel, 32% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc, and is
medium-bodied with a chewy texture, robust yet approachable
tannins, and a firm, lengthy finish. Ripe flavors of
raspberry, red cherry, and boysenberry are balanced by
complex notes of dark chocolate, espresso bean, and black
licorice. "The thing I love about this wine is how it
explodes out of the glass," says Winemaker David Galzignato.
"I get a lot of red and black fruit - strawberries and plum
along with a hint of violets and orange peel." Just released
at the beginning of this month, so no reviews are out yet,
we'll go on this one's history (last vintage received 92
points from Robert Parker). These wines are not in yet. To
pre-order, please to send us an
email.
Paraduxx 2005 $49.97/750 ml
CAP (regularly: $59.95)
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Walnut Cranberry Sauce
 Here
is Geneva's recipe for Walnut Cranberry Sauce (or glaze)
which is very simple, and simply delicious!
- 1 bag fresh cranberries
- 1 c. sugar
- 1/2 c. water
- 2 T. fresh-squeezed orange juice
- 1 T. orange rind
- 1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Put cranberries in a deep sauce pan and let simmer until
cooked. Slowly add sugar, water, orange rind and orange juice.
Continue to simmer until well mixed, then turn off heat and
add walnuts. Serve warm. Makes a great glaze for your turkey! |
Droplets
Some droplets of interesting wine news
you may have missed. Just click the links for interesting
reading.
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See you next week!
 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.
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Schaefer's
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For
the first time, effective today, you can purchase wine and
selected other products at