Whether you are grilling out or having Pizza in, this is a great Summer wine to go with every palate and occasion.

www.jwine.com
J's 2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir is an elegant composition of wines made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes sourced from our Estate Vineyards as well as from selected growers in the Russian River Valley appellation.

Tasting Notes
The 2006 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir exhibits the full potential of our vineyards and the unique terroir of our region.  Aromas of bright red cherries radiate, followed by subtle notes of damp earth, mushrooms, liquorish and spices.  A fat entry and broad mouthfeel engulf the palate with flavors of cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and a lingering finish of cola and oak.  This striking Pinot Noir stands up beautifully with Lamb Shish Kebabs on your summer grill.

Some interesting information on the side:
NHLRA was extremely successful in fighting back a proposal to direct the NH Liquor Commission to increase its gross profit markup by 3% on all liquor and wine. This would have translated into a name brand bottle of liquor going up by $1 per bottle.  The legislature was trying to find more state revenue to avoid a state operating budget deficit. The competing proposal was to reduce the discount grocery stores receive when purchasing wine through the State warehouse.  A Committee of conference on SB 321 agreed on a amendment that keeps the discount to grocers with annual wine sales under $350,000 with no less than a 15% discount at the liquor stores and 20% at the warehouse, but gives the Commission the ability to reduce the discount to grocers with annual wine sales over $350,000 to 10 percent at warehouse and no discount at the liquor stores.  This reduction in the discount will only be in effect for one year, and then will revert back to 20 and 15 percent in July of 2009.  It also only affects 11 retailers like Shaws, Hannaford, and BJ's.  The full House and Senate approved this change, and the bill is now on its way to the Governor.

Taber began his own business newspaper in 1988 and interviewed and wrote about the presidents of both the United States and France.

George was the first reporter to write about The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 or the "Judgment of Paris".  This was a wine competition organized in Paris in 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant, in which French judges did blind tasting of top-quality chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon wines from France and from California. California wines rated best in each category, which caused surprise as France was generally regarded as being the foremost producer of the world's best wines. Spurrier sold only French wine and believed that the California wines would not win. Georges book Judgement of Paris talks about the competition in detail.  It is amazing to hear his story and realize that he had no idea that he was part of the history of the the wine world on that day.  He had no idea what the outcome would be or the impact it would have on the industry.  Hhe was the only reporter there because no one expected the outcome to be what it was. 

George also wrote a great book about corks, To Cork or Not to Cork, that I highly recommend.  No one knows precisely when the first cork was inserted as the closure for a wine bottle. A good estimate is that for four centuries, natural cork has been the wine bottle closure of choice. Yet, in the 1980s, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), which was identified in that decade by a Swiss researcher, began to cause cork-taint problems that nearly forced some wineries out of business.

 How did the cork taint problem get so bad and why has it been allowed to go on so long? Historically, Taber lays cork taint escalation directly at the feet of the Portuguese cork supply industry. He begins his historical details in the late 1960s with the research of Hans Tanner at the Wädenswil Institute in Switzerland, then time warps to his personal visit to the Portuguese wine industry in 1975, as a continuation of his work on the taint problem. Back then, Tanner noticed workers boiling batches of corks in caldrons of chlorinated water to bleach them and suspected that this caused the TCA problem.

I recommend grabbing a copy of his book and gaining a clearer understanding of the different closures and challenges with them.

It was such an honor to spend an evening with such a humble yet accomplished author who has had such a role in the wonderful world of wine.  Thank you George!

I hope to be sipping with you soon.

~Carla
Carla Snow is a Certified Specialist of Wine and Founder of A Grape Affair.

The other branches of the vine that continue to evolve are the wine cellar page, wine classes, and fun wine events, so please join the mailing list if you have not already and spread the word to other wine lovers in your life.

And lastly, A Grape Affair continues to consult for several local restaurants as well as the wine department at The Durham Marketplace where I am constantly seeking new, exciting, good value wines, so please ask for me there.

It is all for the love of wine and I hope to be sipping with you soon.

May you continue to enjoy great wine with great friends.
~Carla Snow, CSW