April Wine of the Month Picks - Gary's Wine Club Web Video

Gary Fisch and Wine Club Director Maggie Fox taste two 'green' wines that are their picks for April Wine of the Month at the Wine Tasting Bar in Gary's Wine & Marketplace in Wayne, NJ




2005 Silverado Vineburg Chardonnay

Ripe apple and orange blossom aromas with vanilla and oak in the background. Stone and mineral aromas echo on the palate. Balanced acidity with a silky mid-palate lead to a zesty finish.

$25.99
$37.99
ON SALE!

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2005 Duckhorn Migration Pinot Noir

This medium-bodied wine has bright fruit complemented by ripe and broad tannins that provide great balance and a lengthy finish. The aroma features blueberry, plum, strawberry pie, and toasted oak. The flavors are focused and follow through with ripe strawberry, plum, and cherry, complemented by clove. A lighter style than our Goldeneye, this wine shows the range and suppleness of the Pinot Noir varietal.

Reviews

Wine Spectator 89 points

Rich and savory, with a cherry cola-sassafras aroma that spills over to the palate, giving it a distinctive flavor profile. Finishes with a long, complex, fruity aftertaste, with a hint of mineral. 89 points

$29.99
$37.99
ON SALE!

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April 2009 Gary's Wine Club Selections

A Good Kind of Green

We're hearing the word green thrown around quite a bit these days, in reference to everything from household cleaners to transportation. But in the wine world, calling a bottling "green" hasn't always had positive connotations. In less eco-conscious times, a "green" wine was a wine made from grapes that had been picked a little too early, before they were fully ripe, resulting in a thinner texture and tart vegetal taste on the finish.

But today, we often call wines "green" as a form of praise for their eco-friendly farming practices. Here at Gary's, we've begun identifying wines that we know to be either organically, biodynamically, or sustainably farmed with "Gary's Green Selections" tags. It can be tricky to navigate the intricacies of the terminology (after all, "organic wine" has an entirely different meaning than "wine made from organic grapes"), but we think that sharing this information is at least a step in the right direction toward being ecologically-informed wine drinkers.

So this month, in celebration of Earth Day on April 22nd and all things deferential to Mother Nature, we tip our hats to the wineries that, in some form or other, have "gone green" in the best sense of the word. No vegetal tang, we promise.

Sign up for Gary's Wine Club at www.GarysWineClub.com

2007 Jasci Trebbiano d'Abruzzo

2007 Jasci Trebbiano d'Abruzzo
Grape variety: Trebbiano
Region: Abruzzo, Italy
Food pairing: Almond-crusted wild cod

Some of the best farming on Earth is conducted by families. Perhaps there's more investment in the quality of your crop when you've spent hours bickering and laughing with your siblings over the best pruning style. The Jasci family of Abruzzo personally participates in every step of their viticulture, making this a true "family crafted" wine as well as an eco-conscious one.

Since 1980, the Jasci grapes have been certified organic by the Soil and Health Association, which guarantees both the organic production of their grapes as well as all of the winemaking processes in their modern "organic architecture" winery facility. All of these measures, the family feels, preserve the genuineness of the fruits and ensure that future generations of Jascis will be able to bicker among those vines. Look for fresh and "springy" flavors of white flowers, fresh white stone fruits, and hints of salted almonds.

2007 Argiolas Perdera Isola Nuraghi

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2007 Argiolas Perdera Isola Nuraghi
Grape variety: Monica, Carignano, Bovale Sardo
Region: Sardinia, Italy
Food pairing: Organic eggplant stuffed with tomato, garlic and Pecorino cheese
Off the western coast of Italy lies the island of Sardinia, where grape varietals indigenous to the island and unique winemaking practices have been (thankfully) preserved. And at the southern end of this island lies the Argiolas estate winery, where oenologist Giacomo Tachis crafts what Robert Parker called "a reference point" for Sardinian wines. "Simply put," Parker said, "I was blown away by the quality of the value-priced wines I tasted from Argiolas and I can't recommend them enough, particularly for readers who haven't yet discovered the uniqueness of the island's wines."

The star grape of this bottling is the indigenous and organically farmed Monica grape, which carries a vibrant ruby color along with flavors and aromas of ripe berry fruits, licorice, flowers and black pepper. A small amount of Carignano and Bovale Sardo round out the blend before it's fermented in glass-lined cement tanks and aged in French oak for six months for elegance and structure.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/italy/70013.html

2006 Silverado Vineburg Chardonnay

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2006 Silverado Vineburg Chardonnay
Grape variety: Chardonnay
Region: Carneros, California
Food pairing: Free Range orange-glazed chicken breast

Silverado Vineyards have become quite a recognizable wine brand, but that doesn't mean that they've compromised quality or commitment to the sustainability of their vineyard land in doing so. Among the "green" practices they can boast are a solar powered winery, hybrid vehicles, and a Napa Green Certification, which verifies that the winery practices soil, water and wildlife conservation and has a long-term plan in place for sustainable farming.

They can also boast a very talented winemaker in Jonathan Emmerich, and consistently high-quality wines at very reasonable prices. Their single vineyard Chardonnay from the Vineberg vineyard in Carneros carries ripe yellow apple flavors and aromas of orange blossom, vanilla and stone. A superbly well-balanced wine from an ecologically well-balanced vineyard.

http://www.garyswine.com/fine_wine/california/65140.html

2006 Tres Sabores "Porque No"

2006 Tres Sabores "Porque No"
Grape variety: Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Petite Syrah
Region: Napa Valley, California
Food pairing: Beef, lamb and mushroom kebabs
Julie Johnson is no one-trick pony, nor is her ranch on the Rutherford Benchland of Napa Valley. On her dusty California soils, Julie grows organically certified Zinfandel, Cabernet, Petite Syrah and Petite Verdot grapes, along with olives, Meyer lemons and pomegranates.

For some years, she has used the grapes to make two stellar estate wines: Rutherford Zinfandel and Rutherford Perspective Cabernet. Eight years ago, she had a few barrels of each left over, so she asked herself what would happen if she combined all the good wine she had left over from both with a little touch of Petit Verdot and Petite Syrah into one bottling. The answer was, naturally, "Porque no?" ...Why not? The spontaneity worked out well, forming a wine that's packed with black cherry and berry fruits, structured tannins from the Cab, spiciness from the Zin, and earthiness from the Petite Syrah.

2005 Duckhorn Migration Pinot Noir

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2005 Duckhorn Migration Pinot Noir
Grape Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Anderson Valley, California
Food pairing: Braised duck over lentils

If you're going to create an entire winery based around one species of wildlife, then it's only fair to say you've got to be wildlife supporters in the long haul. The folks at Duckhorn (who create varietal wines under the Duckhorn, Paraduxx, Goldeneye, and Migration labels), have just such a commitment through their sustainable winemaking practices and Napa Green Certification (a program that ensures that the soil, wildlife, and water are conserved on and around their vineyard properties.)

Migration Pinot Noir is the sister label of Goldeneye, and is produced entirely of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir. Choosing from a veritable palate of 22 clonal varieties in 23 separate vineyard blocks, winemaker Zach Rasmuson crafted a wine in the 2005 vintage that carries a nose of earth and cherry, a palate full of delicious cherry fruit, and a silky finish with notes of forest floor. Drinks beautifully now, and should continue to do so through 2010/2011.