Appalachian Vintner holds free (with a purchase) wine tasting today at 3

Date/Time
Date(s) – Sat, Jun 21st 2014
3:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Location
Appalachian Vintner

Join us this Saturday for Asheville’s best FREE* Wine Tasting as we welcome Mike Tiano back to the tasting bar!

• Teira “Woods Vineyard” Estate Grown Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc
  • The fruit for this delicious Sauv Blanc is sourced from the organically and sustainably-farmed Woods Vineyard in California’s Dry Creek Valley, at the southern edge of the Valley near the border of the Russian River appellation. This has a lovely minerally nose, with scents of lemon and lime and tangerine. There’s plenty of citrus on the attack, but also some of the richer tropical fruit–kiwi and pineapple–that you find in California Sauvignon Blanc. Crisp, dry and with balanced acidity, this would be at home with a refreshing summer salad, chicken braised with dates or even on its own.
• Tenuta Mazzolino Camara’ Chardonnay 2013
  • Organic. Made from Chardonnay grapes from the Mazzolino Estate’s vineyards in the Camarà area. The grapes are entirely hand-picked in small crates to protect the integrity of the bunch. The must, obtained by softly pressing the whole grapes, undergoes subsequent settling at a low temperature to remove the solid sediment, then fermentation starts in temperature-controlled steel vats at 16-18°C. Once alcoholic fermentation has terminated, the wine is racked for the second time and remains in steel vats. The following spring it undergoes cold stabilization before bottling and is left to mature for a further 4 months in bottle before release. It has a pale straw-yellow color with greenish highlights. The aroma is fresh, fine and elegant with hints of white flowers, peaches, exotic fruit and a slightly mineral background. On the palate it is fresh, pleasant and balanced with good softness and richness of flavor.
• Domaine de Couron Vin de Pays des Côteaux de l’Ardèche Rosé
  • 100% estate grown Grenache from hillside vineyards nestled in the tiny village of Saint Marcel d’Ardeche is farmed under the stewardship of Jean-Luc and Marie-Lise Dorthe. Wine was once cultivated here by the Romans, and the estate has an long history of viticulture. Actually the lands of this domaine were among the first to officially be classified in the Cotes du Rhone in 1937. This rosé was our biggest seller last year and for good reason, it is amazingly elegant for its meager price tag. What strikes you first about this stunning little rosé is its hauntingly pale color. Its almost angelic like pink hue is very similar to an antique pink rose, or maybe the cheeks of a plump cherub in a renaissance mural. Peach, strawberries & cream, rose and a seamless texture. Temperature is everything here, if it is chilled to far it will slip into its pale reflection, only to emerge again with the warmth of the ambient air. Try this with crab cakes and a warm sunset on a mountain.
• Dom. Forey Bourgogne Rouge 750 ml
  • From the Importer(not Haw River): This small but outstanding domaine was created in 1840 by the great-grandfather of Régis Forey, the current proprietaire. One of the first estates to grace our portfolio (in 1982), we began our work with this gem in the village of Vosne Romanée when Jean Forey, the father of Régis, was the reigning vigneron. We had been introduced to Monsieur Forey by Claudette Amiot, wife of Bernard Amiot, our very first grower contact in the Cote de Nuits.  We have been working with the Forey domaine ever since our initial visit when we purchased the wines from the 1980 vintage for export to the USA. The 1987 vintage marked the entry of Régis into the domaine on a full-time basis and he became fully responsible for all aspects of production and winemaking with the 1989 vintage.  In contrast to the wines of his father, who produced seductive wines of finesse and delicacy, Régis expresses a more masculine personality as his wines show exceptional concentration and depth. The Forey domaine now exploits about 10 hectares of vineyards; 5 as proprietaire and 5 through the systems of fermage and metayage. The primary family holdings are in Nuits Saint Georges, Vosne-Romanée and Flagey-Echezeaux.  With the recent additions, the domaine extends its reach into the villages of Vougeot and Morey Saint Denis, as well. A manual harvest is followed by a 3 to 4 day cold maceration. The cuvaison usually continues for three to four weeks. During that time Forey does a pigeage the extent of which depends on the underlying structure of the vintage.  The malolactic fermentation occurs in barrel. There is now only one racking done during the period of elevage. The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered after spending 16 to 20 months in small oak barrels and demi-muids (used primarily for the village and simple Bourgogne appellations) with 20% to 50% new oak used depending on the structure and the character of the vintage as well as the amount produced of each individual cuvée. This wine is produced from various holdings in Vosne and Nuits, all of which are old vines (from vines planted between 1954 and 1974). The elevage is done in the larger demi-muid barrel format and is usually the last wine harvested but the first wine to be bottled.  We purchase between four and five barrels (1200 to 1500 bottles) annually.

• Fontanavecchia Aglianico 2010
  • In a small rustic town, tucked in the topographical folds and curves of the Campania highlands sits the family farm of the Veronelli and their domain, Fontanavecchia. Since first planting their vineyards in 1850, father and son have worked side by side, generation after generation, toiling in the fields, sleeping in them when necessary, tasting the grapes from each plot, to grow and shepherd local Italian varieties into the glass, including this black-skinned, assertive, rustic Aglianico. This bottle shows friendly, open fruit, with black cherry and bitter chocolate on the palate; fine tannins make this wine a perfect companion to herb-encrusted lamb and a side of olives. If ever there was wine that afforded luxury this is it. By half a case to enjoy slowly over the next decade.

*free with a purchase