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Say Vino: September 30, 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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Family reunion - our favorite 4 sisters are back!
 It's
that time of year! This is when we get our hands on the next
vintage of one of our favorite Pinot Noirs, Stephen
Vincent's Four Sisters. This one is always a great example
of classic Sonoma Pinot excellence. The grapes come from the
Four Sisters vineyard located a few miles west of Sonoma
Valley, and the free-run juice passes from stainless steel
to French oak for six months of aging. This helps to create
a complex wine with wonderful upfront blackberry flavors and
delicate hints of spicy cloves followed by a delicious,
rich, long finish. Like most really good Pinots, it will
pair beautifully with almost any meal, especially a good
garlic-laced rotisserie chicken. This is one to try again
and again, until it - again - runs out.
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The message is in the bottle
 And
this new winery concept is helping to put it in there.
Pannotia Vineyards, founded in 2005, set their sites on
traveling the world to find underappreciated grapes and to
create new, elegant expressions of each one. Pannotia [ pa-noh-TEE-uh]
literally means "all the world is a single continent," and
their goal is to pull unique grapes from each continent,
produce wonderful quality high-value wines, and then to
unite them under a single label.
Certainly one of the world's least known white grapes is
Torrontes. Most likely the result of a hybrid created from
Muscat of Alexandria and Criolla Chica (or what is called
the Mission grape in California), Torrontes produces
incredibly aromatic, yet light wines. The Andes foothills
are home to all of Argentina's great wines. While Torrontes
is the most widely planted white wine grape throughout
Argentina, the finest quality Torrontes comes from Cafayate.
The Torrontes grown there are richer than their softer,
milder counterparts in the flatter areas. Fruity, floral and
yet still dry, this wine has to be tasted to be believed:
there are floral notes of iris and hibiscus, two plants that
grow along the Cafayate plateau. Plus, Pannotia's riper
style of Torrontes offers light notes of orange zest, green
apple, lemon, and peach. With this wine, Pannotia has
created a wine that juggles lightness and intensity. At this
price, it can't be beat.
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The world's best cheddar. Really!
 A
great cheese to serve this fall is Montgomery's Farmhouse
Cheddar. Made in Somerset, England, this is the real thing.
A massive cloth-bound cheese, Montgomery's Cheddar is made
from unpasteurized cow's milk, twice scalded and milled.
Cheddaring is the process in cheese making where, after
heating, the curd is kneaded with salt, cut into cubes and
is then piled repeatedly to drain away the most whey
possible. The cheese is bound in cloth and aged a minimum of
6 months. Ours are aged 18-24 months, or usually longer.
Montgomery's has superb richness, a full, layered flavor, is
grassy and buttery. It is the king of English cheeses,
terrific with big Cabs or hard cider. ( mary)
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Third Thursday wine class October 16th
 This
one is going to be so much fun we couldn't wait for October
to start telling you all about it! We're continuing our
year-long theme of focusing on specific grape varieties with
a real experiment - this time we'll Build a Better
Bordeaux. Class participants will have the chance
to try a few examples from the phenomenal 2005 vintage,
then, after tasting samples of the component grapes, small
teams will create their own blends! Due to the nature of
this class, please plan to wear old, dark clothing, and note
that we'll be charging a little more - $30
( $25 for
CAP members), but we definitely think it'll be
worth it.
The food department will, of course, offer some appropriate
treats. This class will be limited in size so make sure to
reserve your space far in advance!
10/16 THU - 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., $25 for
CAP members (and you will become a
CAP member). Contact Schaefer's at 847-677-WINE (9463)
or by
email
to sign up.
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This Saturday in our tasting room
This is it - October 4th is the Best of the Wurst - it's
that time of year! The Cubs and the Sox are doing well,
Northwestern is off to a great start, even the Bears are
almost doing well. That's reason to celebrate, and
Schaefer's is going to have a tailgate grillfest. Burgers,
brats, trimmings and more, the best Saturday wine tasting
on the North Shore. We'll be sure to have other libations
as well to accompany the food, and our deli will be
featuring gourmet goodies. Let's party!
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Droplets
 Some droplets
of interesting wine news you may have missed. Just click the
links to read.
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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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