Muscadet Sur Lie, La Pinardiere 2009, Loire Valley - $32

Grapes:100% Melon (also known as Muscadet) From:    N. France, Loire Valley. Description: This is a delicate bone dry minerally wine – particularly good with shellfish. Also great as a pre-dinner drink because of its clean dry taste. Fact: “Sur Lie” literally means on the lees – the lees are the sediments that are left at the bottom of the barrel after ageing.  These wines are therefore bottled from barrels where the lees have not been drained.  This method is common with muscadets and with sparkling wines that are created in the ”methode champagnoise” – a particular way of making sparkling wines which comes from the champagne region.  Food Pairing: Muscadet comes from an area that borders on Brittany which is renowned it’s seafood so this pairs naturally with things like oysters and shrimp.

Gruner Veltliner, Berger 2010. Kremstal - $36

Grapes:100% Gruner Veltliner
From:    Austria, Kremstal
Description:

Zingy and spicy this gruner veltliner is a great all rounder.  It has a slight doughy aftertaste fairly typical of a gruner.

Dry and Crisp it has a great pure rounded quality to it.

Fact:

Gruner Veltliner is found in Austria, Slovakia and Czech Republic.  Just as Beaujolais is associated with Bistro table wine in France,  Gruner is Austria’s answer (its red partner in crime is called Zweigelt)  – after a rather unfortunate incident in the 1980s when the Austrian wine industry suffered a bit of a scandal, the country is now making a great comeback with these wines.  The bottling of this wine with a soda cap and a liter bottle is probably an effort to get away from the more traditional German-Riesling bottle which many gruner’s come in – these bottles somehow imply that the wine will be sweet!

Food Pairing:

Great before a meal this wine will also compliment fish, light spring vegetables and even mountain cheeses like gruyere.

Muscat, Avinyo 2009, Vi D'Agulla, Penedes - $34

Grapes:100% Muscat From:    Spain (just north of Barcelona) Description: This one’s a summer thirst quencher.  Ideal as an aperitif or if people are just snacking on things like shrimp Tacos! You can pick up a rich Muscat scent, but the sweetness usually associated with this grape is hardly there.  Instead you get flavors of tart grapefruit and a little flintiness. This cheeky & slightly bubbly little number is low in alcohol and very quaffable! Fact: This Muscat grape (muscat blanc a petit grains)  is usually associated with sweet, dessert wines – probably the most obvious of which is the Muscat de Beaume de Venise – so you may have guests thinking this is going to be sweet – it isn’t!  Food Pairing: This is light in alcohol and fizzy so is probably best drunk pre-dinner or with Tapas style food – shrimp and grits!

Chenin Blanc, Backsberg Estate 2008, Stellenbosch - $28 - Discontinued

Grapes:100% Chenin Blanc From:    S Africa, Stellenbosch Description: This hasn’t seen any oak barrels so it’s crisp and dry – there’s hints of pear, apple and cashew but all very subtle making this a great all round wine for those looking for dry and crisp!s Fact: The Chenin Blanc grape is the most widely planted white grape in South Africe – it originates from the Loire Valley in France  and is thought to have been brought here in 1685 by the Huguenots fleeing France!  Food Pairing: We’re still in the lighter range of our wines so I would stick to light dishes again although you could also this one would also blend well with the Cod with its XO sauce!

Albarino, Aforado 2008, Rias Baixas - $48

Spain -dry, apple,  pear & great acidity - from the NE corner above Portugal

Sauvignonasse, Imperio De Sentidos 2009, Mendoza - $28

Sauvignonasse, Imperio De Sentidos 2009, Mendoza

Grapes:100% Sauvignonasse

From:    Argentina, Mendoza

Description:

There’ some lime and pineapple going on in the nose here together with fresh notes of wildflower, cedar, baking spice, and white fruit.  

Fact:

Imperio de Sentidos translates as Empire of the Senses.  The Sauvignonasse grape is also known as Sauvignon Vert and Fruilano – don’t be surprised if this wine reminds you a bit of a North Italian Friuli from around the Venice area.  This is where the grape is most widely planted.  In Chile and Argentina it is fast being replaced with Sauvignon Blanc.

Food Pairing:

This wine makes me want to have seafood or pasta – it has a enough body to pair nicely with the oysters and shrimp/fishTacos!

Grechetto, Chiorri 2009, Umbria - $36

Italy - dry, hint of honey & Sage - a great find from central Italy