Friday Sips

Imagine driving along the highway and from the rearview mirror you see something rapidly approaching your tail, you wonder aloud, what the bloody hell? It looks like, it is, a brightly painted bus with flags, streamers and confetti flapping from the windows. Hey, it is a bus, filled with enthusiastic drunken cheerleaders singing and cheering something about 2-4-6-8, what's the Rose we most appreciate? Chiaretto, Chiaretto, Yeeeaaahhhh! Chiraretto! Minchia, this is fun!

From Lugana and Lake Garda’s Riviera del Garda Bresciano region with lust, oops I mean love, comes Comincioli's Chiaretto Rose comprised of Groppello, Barbera, Sangiovese and Marzemino grapes blended to perfection offering lively notes of pie cherry and Queen Anne cherry with a floral bouquet that is fresh, fruity and filled-out like the cheerleader at the bottom of the pyramid. Add to that a long, leggy finish and we think you're starting to get the picture. In-the-know natives of this region call this the "Christmas wine" enjoying a glass or two with their holiday feast. We're not suggesting you wait until December to try this absolutely gushing treat. How does the saying go??? Christmas in July! If so then come and taste today July 19, 3:30 – 6:30.

So many times we read the newspaper, watch TV, look at the internet or follow the famous on Twitter, and see how someone famous apologizing and always looking for repentance in their sins or half-heartedly taking something back in a prepared statement because it upset a few trolls. I have been trashing Tavel for years and I’m not about to stop and make nice with this region or its acolytes anytime soon, however when something is good, it is recognized, noted and offered.

There was once upon a time that I adored Tavel Rose but lately, it seems as though everyone is copying the style one producer who received a review for a monolithic, huge and fat rose by adding back a healthy percentage of still red wine. Tavel Rose is supposed to have body, but like any rosé, it should exude freshness and make you want to have more than half a glass. Thankfully there are still some hold-outs like Domaine Lafond and theirs is the exception to what has become the norm of the region.

All at once, this pink wine is bold and brisk. Beautifully colored and possessing fragrant scents of fresh-cut flowers, insane strawberry and hints of citrus, thyme and pepper. In the mouth it explodes, coats and then sweeps clean the palate with its dry and lifting flavors that have plenty of substance behind them. Lafond’s Rose is always one of our most popular, and the results are in the bottle. The best thing we can seriously say about this one is to toss it back, pour another glass, rinse, repeat and uncork another bottle!!

While we’ve not officially seen it in print, some people are saying that the evil genius mind behind Cameron, John Paul, is from alien spawn. Whether this proclamation is true or not, we know the most important detail, this man has been making “not-of-this-planet” wines since 1984 and remains one of the most revered/dogged figures of Oregon wine. Never one to fall in line and do the ordinary, John always has something churning and with Ramato (Italian for copper) he does a skin-contacted Pinot Gris, all of which comes from Abbey Ridge. Coming off as a copper/pink color and meticulously crafted, this wine is one of the more individual expressions in Oregon.

Inspired by a Friulian technique and the Northern Italian region’s wines, the stellar 2012 Ramato has a forward, fullish nose of nectarine, red flowers and enhanced by forthright powdery/rocky aspects. This seamless beauty coats your mouth with rich flavors that are kept in perfect balance by lightning-crisp acidity and earth tones which are all derived from an alchemy of older vines planted in the Dundee Hills. Not a porch ponder, this wine screams for seafood, perhaps an elaborate preparation of crab, shrimp or salmon.