Our New Year's Resolution Drink More Wine

ddkity82

Since we have tasted and hand selected almost every wine, beer, and sake in our store, we've decided our new year's resolution is to drink more. We're determined to find new and different varietals, wineries, countries, and off-the-wall crazy winemakers. We'd love to find a great wine out of China, a small producer in France that provides a good entry level red Burgundy, an excellent Mexican wine,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], and even a new grape varietal we've never seen produced before. We pursued the same goal in 2009 and came up with some pretty great stuff. Here's a review of our favorite finds… Favorite Winemaker: Charles Smith. We love him for being a little ‘different,' for his crazy labels and names (Eve Chardonnay, Boom Boom Syrah) but mostly because he is making the best syrah in Washington. Favorite Winery (Domestic): Orin Swift. Love Dave Phinney's wines. From the popular Prisoner (Zinfandel blend) to the big and bold Papillon, his wines are balanced,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], bold, and brilliant. Dave Phinney was also our runner-up for favorite winemaker. Combine Orin Swift with his Soda Canyon wines (Barrel Chaser) and we are completely impressed. Favorite Winery (International): Fontodi. This small production winery in Italy makes what we believe is one of the best Chianti Classicos. Not to mention their 99 point Flaccianello. Favorite ‘Unique' Find: 2008 Naucratis, Scholium Project. This wine produced by Abe Schroeder is just different. We know its mostly verdelho, but that's about all we know. Abe likes to do things differently, push the boundaries and we applaud him for that. Favorite non-wine find: Sake. We have to admit, a year ago we barely touched the stuff (except for a sake bomb here and there). But we've found so many great ones this year, it was hard not to become a sake geek. Our favorites? Karen Coy,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Hiko Sake Milky, and Mutsu AI. What do you want to discover in 2010? Send your comments to [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] be featured in the next Inner Circle newsletter.