Kermit Lynch Wine Tasting
Thursday, August 11th
Taste through the latest drop from Corsica, Italy, & France!
Kermit Lynch Wine Tasting
Thursday, August 11th 4-6pm
*Our Big Spring Park location- 200 Westside Square*
$20 Per Person (Wine Tasting Only)
Reservations Requested. Call 256-759-9952
Presented by special guest,
Allaina of International Imports
The Line-Up
2021 Marquiliani Vin De Corse "Rose De Pauline", Corsica $32.99
An exotic blend of Syrah and Sciaccarellu with a perfumed splash of Vermentinu. Feather-light on the palate with delicate aromatics, it is ethereal, salty, mouthwatering Corsican pleasure. LUTTE RAISONNÉE
“Drinking her rosé is like drinking a cloud. There’s an absolute weightlessness to it. Nothing is left on the palate but perfume.”-Kermit Lynch
The village of Aghione is not far from the old Roman capitol of Corsica on the eastern coast of the island, poetically known as the Costa Serena. Flanked against the Corsican Mountains where the flats begin to rise into the hills, this small village of 235 inhabitants is just as celebrated today for its sulfur springs, olive groves, and vineyards as it was thousands of years ago.
2020 Collelava Verdicchio Dei Castelli Di Jesi, Italy $14.99
Call it a palate cleanser, a breath mint, mouth rinse, or whatever you like: Colleleva’s Verdicchio is a thirst quencher on an elemental level, the crisp white wine that always delivers when it’s time to kick off an evening, a reliable workhorse to wash down light meals and provide unconditional refreshment. Zesty and citrusy, with a peppy spritz on the palate, it could be considered the Adriatic’s response to Muscadet. The price makes it all the easier to stock up and gulp down.
—Anthony Lynch
The vineyards of Colleleva (Colle “hill”, and si leva, “rises”) lie on the heights of the Marche: about halfway between the Apennine mountains and the coastline of the Adriatic Sea.
2021 La Tour Vielle Collioure Blanc, Languedoc-Rousillion, France $32.99
This zesty white wine from the southern tip of French Catalonia is among the most interesting you’ll taste all summer. Grenache (gris and blanc) makes up the majority of this cuvée and gives it impressive body and grip while Vermentino and Macabeu lend it freshness and lift. —Tom Wolf
2020 Pascal Janvier Coteaux du Loire Rouge "Cuvee Du Rosier", Loire Valley, France $24.99
Pascal and his wife Dominique farm a total of nine hectares in the department of the Sarthe in the Val du Loir, a tiny, stony hillside along the Loir River (a tributary of the Loire River), north of Vouvray that is also the most northerly - and coldest - of the regions of the Loire.
The "Cuvée du Rosier" is 100% Pineau d'Aunis from 25-year-old vines planted to 1.6 ha of sandy clay soils in order to promote the development of richness and depth in the fruit. This indigenous red variety yields naturally light-bodied, fragrant reds, with youthful red berry aromas and flavors accented by mineral and herbal notes. Its low to moderate alcohol content, bright acidity, and distinctive herbal qualities make it best enjoyed with food - assorted meats, truffle-infused dishes, and aged goat cheese in particular.
2021 Quenard Chignin Gamay, Savoie, France $21.99
Even though he fashions this cuvée from the Beaujolais’s star grape variety, this is very much Gamay from Savoie, and not its neighbor more than a hundred miles to the northwest. With notes of mixed black and red fruit and a spine of minerality, Quenard’s Gamay is crunchier, more aromatic, and more succulent than most bottles you’d find in Beaujolais. Après-ski doesn’t get much better than this. —Tom Wolf
2020 Ermitage Du Pic Saint Loup "Tour de Pierres Rouge", France $21.99
A charming story behind this Languedoc estate's name. As Kermit writes, "The hermitage dates back from the Middle Ages, as the former home of the bishops of Maguelone. The limestone peak or “pic” perched above the vineyards was named for the legendary Saint Thieri Loup, one of three pious, crusading, brothers and suitors to the beautiful Bertrade—after her untimely death, Loup became a hermit." This is the estate's “Tour de Pierres” cuvee, a blend of Syrah and Grenache plus 10% Mourvedre aged in foudre and barrique with a touch of new oak. You'll get a nicely dark and dusky fruit character here with fine volume and power and a palate-coating, dusty, finish. Big wine for big food!
2020 La Tour Veille Collioure "La Pinede", France $28.99
80% Grenache Noir, 7% Carignan, 7% Syrah, 6% Mourvèdre
If you can’t make it to the south of France this year, here’s a way to bring the Mediterranean sun to you. A smell of this wine will conjure visions of deep blue sea and dark green garrigue, and you will have the impression that the warm autumnal afternoon sun is shining on your skin.
The elements have given plenty of power to this dark chocolaty beauty but also delicate hints of violets and stone fruit. Its concentration will complement a roast well, served alongside potatoes with rosemary.
—Julia Issleib
