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Say Vino: July 8, 2008
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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France-Chile hybrid winery scores big values with low prices
 Continuing
with more of our real wines for real people - wines that
won't break the bank and are guaranteed to please -- we're
thrilled to offer you these Casa Lapostolle winners. These
are wines to buy by the case-load, good values and great
tastes for each variety, full of bright fruit and Chilean
sunshine. Founded in 1994 by the Marnier-Lapostolle family
(owners of France's Grand Marnier and Chateau de Sancerre),
Casa Lapostolle is a showcase of what can be achieved
through the marriage of French know-how and Chile's perfect
growing conditions. Their vineyards are located in the Rapel
Valley, smack in the middle of this long, skinny country.
Casablanca Valley, the source for their Chardonnay, is a
small section of the larger Rapel Valley. These wines are
just the thing to buy by the case, whether for a party, or
just to keep on hand for unexpected summer guests!
We just received the 2007 Chardonnay -
really food-friendly and full of tropical fruit. There's a
nice balancing acidity and a touch of sweet spice from the
oak ageing to play off the citrus notes, too. Serve as an
aperitif or with fish, white meats and vegetarian dishes.
Also very good with hot curries and Thai.
The 2007 Sauvignon Blanc is light-weight,
with open-knit lemon zest and straw notes and a super
citrusy finish - we refer to it as bottled sunshine! It,
too, works with seafood or spicy dishes and it makes a great
refreshing sipper.
Their 2006 Merlot is a wonderful soft red,
full of sharp red fruit aromas with a sophisticated touch of
sweet spices from the light touch of oak and juicy soft
tannins. The smoky finish is long with more fruit
highlighted by mocha and vanilla nuances. It will pair
beautifully with pasta dishes, vegetables and white meat.
Their 2006 Cabernet - perfect for any
grilled meat, is full of spice and red and black fruit
flavors with a touch of smoke at the finish. There's lots of
tannin, too, so lots of body - this one will stand up to
anything! It has a bit of Carmenère, Petit Verdot and
Cabernet Franc blended in, too, to add to the complexity.
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Huge savings from Napa for you!
 Each
of the Calistoga Cellars wines is a terrific example of Napa
Valley at its best. Their 2005 Zinfandel is
graceful, full of fruit and bursting with flavor. Unlike
many super-charged Zins, this won't overpower your palate or
your meal. With hints of vanilla, the finish is lingering
with acidity and supple oak notes. Its rich flavors give
this hearty Zinfandel enough to stand up to charcoal-grilled
or spicy foods such as pork, lamb, your favorite grilled
steak, even penne with a spicy tomato sauce.
Their 2004 Merlot is actually 75%, aged 18
months in French oak, with 25% Cabernet Sauvignon added
before bottling to deepen the flavors. This is not a wimpy
Merlot! This is a wine with great structure and a strong
finish, a great match for grilled lamb, braised beef, rich
stews and pastas.
My personal favorite - their 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon
is full of complex flavors of plum and cherry with touches
of chocolate, herb and oak. Full-bodied and smooth with rich
tannins and a lingering finish. This rich, complex wine has
tons of depth and purity of flavor. Enjoyable now, this wine
will continue to improve with age (as will all their reds).
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Maple syrup Gouda? Greek to us!
 Rolf
and Marieke Penterman emigrated from the Netherlands in 2002
to pursue their passion for dairy farming. In six short
years they've helped to explode the myth that Wisconsin is
all about bland factory cheeses. Their Goudas are smooth and
creamy with a slightly sweet, nutty flavor that develops
complexity as they age on wooden shelves. Just last year, at
the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Milwaukee, Marieke
won best of class in the open competition for flavored
semi-soft cheeses with her fenugreek Gouda. Fenugreek is a
seed native to Holland and Marieke has made us instant
believers. It gives the Gouda the slight flavor of maple
syrup. One of our new favorites, this joins the top-ten list
of great discoveries for 2008!
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Gold mine of a new blue discovery
 Shaft's
Cheese Company has brought back the timeless art of aging
cheese. This resource-consuming part of cheese making has
been stripped out of modern commercial cheeses. The
revolution started in 1999 when an old gold mine hidden in
the Sierra Nevada Mountains was transformed into an ideal
aging environment for one of the nation's finest blue
cheeses. Aged for a minimum of one year, Shaft's Bleu Vein
Cheese is a savory, full flavored blue with an unsurpassed
taste and texture rarely found in blue cheese. It's this
perfect combination of BST-free cows milk, enzymes, and
penicillium roquefortii and time that creates the rich
creamy flavor. Try Shaft's Bleu Vein Cheese on crackers,
atop a salad or melted on a great piece of grilled steak.
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This honeymoon never ends!
 Ok,
maybe it's a stretch, but by combining several summer
traditions, Bastille Day, the wedding season, hikes in the
Rockies, we've got a great Belgian-style beer (hey, they
speak French, too) called Honey Moon Summer Ale. When I
lived in Colorado we used to get all these great beers made
with different flavors. This one's made by our friends at
Blue Moon Brewery in Denver. It uses Madhava clover honey
from Lyon, Colorado, with a little orange peel added to make
it a dry beer with a sweet finish. It's light-bodied,
perfect for hot summer afternoons, and the honey and orange
peel give it a distinctly different flavor from all the
other hot-weather brews.
Due to shipping limitations, we are unable to sell this item
online, but you can order it via email and we will hold it
for you to pick up in our store.
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This Saturday in Our Tasting Room
Get ready for Bastille Day (Monday, the 14th) the way we
celebrate it. We'll have the music playing to put you in the
mood, and plenty of French cheeses, pates and wines to make
you feel like a walk down the Champs Elysee. FREE. Vive la
France!
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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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