Asheville’s Best Wine & Beer Tasting– Saturday September, 24^th 2011 3PM-7PM http://www.appalachianvintner.com/

 

Did you know that when you shop at Appalachian Vintner you are supporting multiple local charities and non-profits? Since we opened our doors over three years ago, we’ve donated thousands of dollars and hundreds of bottles to these folks. In essence every dollar spent with us aids in our ability to do more. Here is a few of the groups we’ve assisted with your support:

• CarePartners Hospice

• Habitat For Humanity

• AB Tech Culinary Department

• Brother Wolf Animal Rescue

• Asheville Human Society

• SoulMates Foundation

• Asheville Area Arts Council

• Pisgah Legal Services

• Slow Food Asheville

• Claxton Elementary School

• Manna Food Bank

• March of Dimes

• WNCW 88.7

and more!

~ Free Saturday Tasting ~

Domaine de Valensac Pays d’Oc Chardonnay– 100% Chardonnay. This wine is sourced from a 100+ acre estate in the Hérault of the Languedoc, Hérault is an ancient river that flows through many of the regions in the southern France. Its sourced from a multitude of soils types, which are vinified separately to capture the perfect essence of each plot. These separate wines are blended by the Lafone family, masters of the blending craft. The family has been in control of the estate for over a century and maintains an impeccable property. This is a lively Chardonnay, showing crisp acid and taunt fruit. Fresh, well balanced and clean with a yeasty mineral tinge. Shelf $13.99 Tasting $12.59

Domaine de Belle Vue Muscadet-Sèvre et Maine– 100% Melone de Bourgogne, sourced from Gabbox soils, soils which were deposited eons ago by violent volcanic activity and rich with organic nutrients. The grapes are picked by hand and fermented with wild yeasts in glass lined cement tanks. The region of Muscadet is perched at the mouth of the Loire river and a stones throw from the mighty Atlantic Ocean. The wines of Muscadet are crafted entirely from the white grape Melon de Bourgogne, which became the prominent grape after a severe frost decimated other grapes growing here. Melon is one of the most frost resistant varietals available. Wines from this maritime region ooze with salty minerality making them one of the greatest oyster wines in the world. Shelf $14.99 Tasting $13.49

Weingut Pittnauer Burgenländer Rot– 40% Zweigelt, 40% Blaufrankisch & 20% St Laurent harvested by hand and farmed without any herbicides, pesticides or petrol chemicals. We find ourselves reaching for this silky textured and well fruited wine more and more on these cozy cool fall evenings. It really seems to be one of those guilt-less pleasures in the cellar, mainly because it is farmed with such honest practices and made in such a friendly style that all who partake are lured to content with its earthy purity. Take its low alcohol content (12.5.%)its liter bottle packaging, add some friends, good food and you have the perfect evening. Biodynamic & locally distributed. Bottled with very low sulfur. Shelf $13.99 Tasting $12.59

Casa de Mouraz Tinto– Native Portuguese grapes, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz(tempranillo), Alfrocheiro, Jaen(mencia) and Agua Santa from the Dão. Founded in 2000 by António Lopes Ribeiro, Casa de Mouraz was the first Dão producer to work organically, and now biodynamically. This is one of the most important and prestigious wine areas in Portugal. His grapes create authentic and customized wines that express all the richness of their terroir and respect the cycles of nature. Some of the vineyards used to make this wine date back to the 16^th century. It consists of five different Portuguese varietals and is a stout medium-bodied wine bursting with red fruit, plum, pepper spice, and ripe, solid tannins. This rich, earthy red is a departure from the latter red in that it has a pretty racy and slightly funky aroma, coupled with citrus peel thats intertwined with the ample dark fruit. Akin to soil in bottle, this is a natural wine thats produced in complete harmony with the natural world.. Shelf $17.99 Tasting $16.19

Alberti 154 Tempranilllo

Familie Bauer Sylvaner Auslese

Montana-Perucchi Vermouth

Elizabeth Spencer Special Cuvée Sauvignon Blanc

Di Majo Norante Ramitello Biferno Rosso– 92pts

Leone de Castris Donna Lisa Salice Salentino Reserva

SAINT COSME Côtes du Rhône

Bodegas Juan Gil Organic Monastrell

Heinz Eifel Eiswein

Château de Caladroy Côtes du Roussillon-Villages Les Schistes

Maison Lucien Albrecht Pinot Blanc Cuvée Balthazar

WEDGE BREWING Iron Rail IPA

De Proef / Sly Fox broederlijke liefde Saison

Oud Beersel Oude Kriek Vieille

Catawba Valley King Don Pumpkin

Unita Oak Jacked Imperial Wood Aged Pumpkin Ale

New Holland Dragon’s Milk Imperial Stout Oak Aged

Asheville’s Best Wine & Beer Tasting–Saturday, September 17^th, 2011 3PM-7PMhttp://www.appalachianvintner.com/

 

Appalachian Vintner will not be attending BrewGrass this year as a vendor. We are however re-releasing some vintage dated beer from our cavernous cellar and pouring samples of some hard to find brews in celebration of the festivities. The cellar beers will be placed through out the store and will not be marked, let the hunting begin! If you are attending the festival please raise a glass for the Vintner and be sure to stop by on your way or swing by once the festival is over, we’re here until 8PM+. Have a great and safe time!

 

~ Asheville’s Free Wine Tasting ~

 

Our tasting selections this Saturday will take your palate on a whirlwind journey through a few of Frances most beloved wine regions. The combinable factors here are purity and family, the chains that link all great life experiences. Vive la France, terre cœur des vins!

Maison Lucien Albrecht Pinot Blanc Cuvée Balthazar– 100% Pinot Blanc from Orschwihr Haut-Rhin, Alsace. Alsace is located in the far Northeastern corner of France along the battle torn border with Germany. The geography in this culturally diverse region is determined by two main factors, the Vosges mountains in the west and the Rhine river in the east. The vineyards are concentrated in a narrow strip, running in a roughly north-south direction, on the lower eastern slopes of the Vosges, at altitudes of 575–1400 feet. Because of its Germanic influence, it is the only region in France to produce mostly single varietal wines and label them with the varietal. The Cuvée Balthazar is named for Balthazar Albrecht who settled in Orschwihr in 1698. Historical records show that the Albrecht family has winegrowing roots dating back to the 15^th century! Aromas of apricots, spices and butterscotch lead to a medium-bodied wine with flavors of candied pecans, apricots honey and peaches. Very, very well balanced with rich ripe flavors that almost seem sweet in the middle, but end pleasantly dry. This wine is imported by Pasternak Wine Imports, an importer that will shortly be slipping into limbo, we hope to see it again one day. Shelf $15.99 Special Tasting $13.99

SAINT COSME Côtes du Rhône– 100% Syrah Aged in vat and sourced from limestone sands, red clay, rolling stones. We really love this wine and could go on and on about it but instead we’ll let the 14^th generation vigneron, Louis Barruol: My «little » Saint Cosme Cotes du Rhone, my little syrah (not my « petite syrah » !) is well looked after every day, this is very important. I only use the nicest sources to make this wine : the terroir of Vinsobres and the “galets roulés” (rolling stones) by the Rhone river, very similar to the best places in Chateauneuf. We are talking about extraordinary quality potential. Watch out 2010 : this is purely my best Cotes du Rhone since 2007, without a doubt. The quality of the fruit is superb, the wine is profound, round, with a deep colour. Its crunchiness brings a lot of pleasure and anybody can understand and enjoy it. This wine brings me plenty of satisfaction and makes me learn every year. I am simply very happy to be able to deal with such a vintage…Wonderful. Graphite, strawberry compote, liquorish, lilacs.” Shelf $12.99 Tasting $11.69

Château de Caladroy Côtes du Roussillon-Villages Les Schistes– Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, and Mourvèdre. This is Roussillon, one of the most southernly, sunniest viticultural areas in France, forever battered by a dry wind that sweeps off the high Pyrenees known as the tramontane. Fully exposed at over 1,000 feet above the nearby Mediterranean Sea, Caladroy and its vineyards occupy the top of the Fenouillèdes hills, isolated between two river valleys. This altitude gives Caladroy’s wines a certain measure of finesse that nicely balances their darkly concentrated flavors. Les Schistes is named for the stony soil from which this area is known, which imparts a minerality akin to a sea breeze. This wine tastes simultaneously robust and sophisticated, an accomplishment that is not an easy achievement. The complexities in this red seem to also cover a spectrum that is as wide as the sea, deep fruit, earth, tar, herbs and rock. A seriously screaming value! Shelf $15.99 Tasting $14.39

 

Château Haut-Monplaisir Cahors Tradition– 100% Malbec. There are things about Cahors that stick in one’s memory. The first is that the appellation sits snug in the Haut-Pays, or high country, equidistant from the Atlantic Ocean, the Pyrenees, and the Mediterranean. Another is that autumn, particularly the crucial ripening month of September, is normally far drier in this region than in both Bordeaux and much of the Languedoc. Then there is the soil itself; it’s red, based on limestone but flush with iron oxides. Iron was once smelted here, and this element, coupled with the intrinsic qualities of the native grape, accounts for the extraordinary minerality that anchors the region’s best wines. The big thing about Cahors, however, is that it is the ancestral home of the black Malbec grape. Cathy and Daniel Fournié of Haut-Monplaisir farm 44.5 acres on what the locals call the third terrace of the valley floor. These terraces, or benches, are layered gravel deposits left by the river over the ages. There are three such terraces in the valley; the third is the highest, furthest from the Lot, and the best of its well-drained soils. We love Cahors and this is one of the best. Shelf $16.99 Tasting $15.29

Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive Fleurie 1.5L– BIG cellar bottle

Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc

Oyster Bay Pinot Noir

St. George Cabernet Sauvignon– 1.5L bottle for pennies, its deliciously inexpensive

WEDGE IRON RAIL IPA– Now on DRAFT.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe– 750ml unfiltered

Weyerbacher Sixteen

Duck-Rabbit Märzen

Highland Brewing Clawhammer

Mikkeller-Stillwater Our Side Saison– on DRAFT

Dogfish Head Punkin

Full Sail Amber– these guys wrote the style guidelines with this one.

Full Sail IPA

Full Sail Session Lager– in a stubby bottle like Gramps used to drink from.

Southern Tier Harvest– top rated ESB

Heavy Seas Davey Jones’ Lager

La TRAPPE Quadrupel

Mc Chouffe

Stillwater Stateside Saison Chardonnay Barrel

Stillwater Existent Black Saison Bourbon Barrel

Naissur Revir Ynilp eht Redle

Asheville’s Best Wine & Beer Tasting– Saturday, September 10th, 2011 4PM-8PM http://www.appalachianvintner.com/

TONIGHT! Appalachian Vintner is very pleased to have Michelle Duckett National Sales & Marketing Director from ELYSE WINERY at our tasting salon this evening. The owner of Elyse, Ray Coursen is a thirty year veteran of the wine industry and has been crafting amazing wines at his own estate since 1987. Ray is also the consultant at our families winery, Falcor. Elyse sources their fruit from some of the greatest vineyards in all of California, as well as their own estate. Names like Morisoli, Tietjen and Korte Ranch to name a few. Ray is a gentle giant of a man and creates wines in his own likeness. If you love rich full-bodied Zinfandels and Cabs with world-class style at the lowest prices in town, this is one tasting NOT to be missed! We welcome everyone to bring their family and friends to sample these great products and show a warm hello to the Elyse portfolio. The evenings tasting will begin at 5:30PM and will end at 8PM. We’ve already recorded numerous RSVPs, in order to guarantee a spot please arrive early.

~ Asheville’s Best Free Wine Tasting ~

Vino Con Brio Brillante White– 70% Viognier, 20% Roussanne, 7% Pinot Grigio, and 3% Sauvignon Blanc from the Amorosa Vineyard on the Matson Family estate in Lodi. Bright citrus and pear aromas from the Viognier are complemented by the honeysuckle and tropical fruit brought to the blend by the Roussanne. Pinot Grigio adds a flinty note to the background and adds structure and firmness to the body. Sauvignon Blanc adds to the clean fruity flavors and further enhances the weight and balance of the wine. This is perhaps the last Brillante bottling as the winery sold their estate to Mettler Family Vineyards earlier this year. Great for late summer when the brisk nights of fall are begining to becon us back to front porch conversations and hearty plates of rich, warming food. Certified Green by Lodi Rules. National Retail $23.99 AV $15.99 $13.99 By the Case during the tasting

Château Jalousie Beaulieu Bordeaux Superieur Rouge (2009)- 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon. This estate is sandwiched near the border of two famed Merlot producing regions, Fronsac & Pomerol. We’ve also sandwiched it between two very new world wines during the tasting! The soil at Jalousie Beaulieu (JAL-LUCY BOW-LIU) is almost exactly the same as it is in its neighbors vineyards, but the estates boundaries lie outside the recognized limits and thus fall into the Bordeaux Superieur. Both the wines and their prices benefit from this locale. Extremely dark almost violet with a concentrated nose of deep dark fruit. In the mouth it shows same dark fruit with a silky texture dusted with a pleasant earthiness. Once again showing how the Bordeaux excelled with rich ripe fruit from the 2009 vintage. One of our favorites at the recent Victorie Imports tasting earlier this year. Limited. Shelf $14.99 Tasting $13.49

Vino Con Brio Vibrante Red– 54% Petite Sirah, 25% Zinfandel, 18% Syrah & 3% Viognier from the Amorossa Vineyard in Lodi. While labeled as a “Rhone-style” blend we must say it is nothing of the sort. The one similarity here with the Rhone Valley is the addition of a small amount of Viognier added to the red varietals to help fix color and add some pop to the aromatics, a common practice in the Northern Rhone appellation of Cote-Rotie. This luscious red blend is all California, in texture, aroma and flavor. Ripe, but not over the top with some tannin and structure to keep it from tasting to concentrated. It seems to come right at you with berry and spice that seem to flip-flop around in a bath of deep purple. As with the white, the red is very limited because the winery closed its doors earlier in 2011. National Retail $23.99 AV $15.99 $13.99 By the Case during the tasting

New Arrivals~

Tenuta Canale Sangiovese di Toscana

Airlie Winery Müller-Thurgau

Nelson Bay Sauvignon Blanc

Cht. Ste Michelle Indian Wells Merlot- New Vintage!

14 Hands Merlot- New Vintage!

Olde Hickory Oktoberfest- man just close your eyes, take sip and suddenly your in Munich.

The Duck-Rabbit Schwartzbier

French Broad India Pale Ale- French Broads “first” bottled IPA

George Gale & Co. Prized Old Ale 1996

Allagash Curieux- Bourbon barrel aged Triple

Caldera Old Growth Imperial Stout

Caldera Hopportunity IPA

8Wired Hop Wired IPA- New Zealand’s Finest

Stillwater-Mikkeller Our Side Saison- Sampled this last Saturday, amazing beer

Stillwater Existence Black Barrel Aged Saison

Mikkeller BLACK- this is the strongest beer at the Vintner.

Asheville’s Best Wine & Beer Tasting– Saturday, September 3^rd, 2011 3PM-7PM http://www.appalachianvintner.com/

JUST ANNOUNCED! Thursday, September 8^th Appalachian Vintner is quite pleased to have Michelle Duckett National Sales & Marketing Director from ELYSE WINERY. The owner of Elyse, Ray Coursen is a thirty year veteran of the wine industry and has been crafting amazing wines at his own estate since 1987. Ray is also the consultant at our families winery, Falcor. Elyse sources their fruit from some of the greatest vineyards in all of California, as well as their own estate. Names like Morisoli, Tietjen and Korte Ranch to name a few. Ray is a giant of a man and creates wines in his own likeness. If you love rich full-bodied Zinfandels and Cabs with world-class style at the lowest prices in town, this is one tasting NOT to be missed!

 

~ Asheville’s Free Saturday Tasting ~

This Saturday we are happy to have back at our tasting salon, Cara Freije of Wisdom Beverage. Ms Freije, fresh from her successful bid at becoming a Certified Sommelier, will be representing the Dalla Terra portfolio. Dalla Terre only imports small family owned estates from Italy, that have a strong emphasis on sustainability. All of these wines are pure expressions from the land that they were farmed.

 

INAMA Soave Classico– 100% hand picked Garganega from 30+ year old vines. Producing classic wines from the Veneto is the Inama family’s vocation and passion. In the 1950s Giuseppe Inama, the estate’s founder, began using his savings to purchase small plots of vineyards in the heart of the Soave Classico region. At the time few understood the area’s potential but Giuseppe believed that he could make a wine capable of restoring Soave’s reputation by working with only top quality vineyards of old-vine Garganega (Soave’s original grape). Today Inama comprises 70 acres of vineyards in the heart of the Soave Classico and Giuseppe’s son Stefano, who assumed control of winemaking in 1992 and has a worldly outlook, is considered a dynamic visionary of the region. Light yellow color with green hues. Friendly nose of sweet wild flowers like camomile, elder flower & iris. Just so pure on the palate with sweet almond on the finish. Gives me goose bumps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo1pxDTAbUw Shelf $15.99 Tasting $14.39

Coltibuono Cetamura Chianti– The thousand-year-old “abbey of good culture” has belonged to the Giuntini family, now Stucchi Prinetti, since 1846. Its name literally signifies the abbey’s role in Western European cultural history as a place of worship and spiritual refuge as well as a center of learning and agricultural laboratory. After WWII Piero Stucchi Prinetti transformed Coltibuono into a modern estate, selling instead of cellaring its best Chiantis and creating international branding for the Coltibuono name, as well as promoting Tuscan extra virgin olive oil. A devotion to Badia and a respect for its history guides the current, seventh generation family members. Their challenge is to maintain the integrity of Sangiovese and Chianti Classico’s unique terroir through organic farming practices, clonal diversity, restrained use of new oak and excluding nonindigenous grapes. Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti is the seventh generation of the Stucchi Prinetti family to make the wines of Badia Coltibuono. She, along with completely organic farming are making wines reminiscent of days long ago. While this simple Chianti is not from the estate, it is sourced from long-time friends of the Stucchi family and with out the use of chemicals. This estate has the oldest cellars in Tuscany! Organic. Shelf $9.99 Tasting $8.99

Li Veli Primonero– Primitivo 50% – Negroamaro 50%. In 1999 the Falvo family bought a 128-acre property in the area of Salice Salentino, heart of the Salento region. Their purchase gave new life to the historic intent of the Marquis Antonio De Viti De Marco, a famous Italian economist who at the beginning of the twentieth century wanted to transform the estate into a model winery for the whole of southern Italy. Winemaking has been practiced in Apulia since the 7th century B.C. The Salento area, located on the heel of Italy’s Apulian “boot” and bathed by the Adriatic sea to the north and the Ionian sea to the south, is one of the region’s most important vine growing areas, in part due to the dramatic temperature variation between day and night. The varietals Primitivo(aka Zinfandel) and Negroamaro(black/bitter) are both thick skinned grapes, producing wines of lush opulence & richness. They are also very much at home in the soaring heat of the day and the cool nights in this maritime region. We find notes of this oceanic influence at the core of this little red. Organic. Shelf $10.99 Tasting $9.99

INAMA Carménère Più– Veneto, Northern Italy. We first sampled this wine earlier last year and immediately feel in love. The wine in the glass was intriguing by itself, however with further inspection of the label we realized that it curiously read Carménère from Italy. Carménère, like Malbec, is a variety that was once fairly important in Bordeaux. According to Stefano Inama, who makes this wine, the grape originated on the Dalmatian coast, and it reminds him of vigorous ancient Greek varieties (such as Garganega, the main grape of Soave, which he also farms) more than Bordeaux varieties. Carménère migrated to northeastern Italy in the 19th century and to Chile. In both locales, it suffered from mistaken identity: The Chileans thought that it was Merlot, and the Italians thought it was Cabernet Franc. Regardless of prior understatements the grape has found prominence again. The Inama’s make wine red or white with “No winemaking.” This wine’s name, “Carmenere Piu” translates to “Carmenere Plus” because the wine is also 20 to 30% Merlot and 5 to10% Raboso Veronese, a near-extinct local variety. The palate strikes a surprising balance between varietal characteristics & the subtle nuances of the one of the most traditional producers in all of Italy. Certified Organic. Shelf $20.99 Tasting $18.89