Upcoming and Incoming

Aug 15 2005 Scherrer Cabernet Barrel Tasting and 2006 Chardonnay ReleaseOpen House Tasting
Friday, August 15th from 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Free

Fred Scherrer is so pleased with the development of his 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon that he drew a barrel sample of the Estate Cab and Sonoma County Cab and sent out a bottle each to try along with the just released 2006 vintage of Scherrer Sonoma County Chardonnay. Fred's Chicago distributor Damien Casten will also being pouring the 1999 Scherrer Vineyard Chardonnay from his company's library to demonstrate the surprising longevity of Fred's unfiltered Chardonnays. Only other place on earth where you can taste Scherrer barrel samples is at Fred's winery/barrel cellar, which is in a converted apple packing plant in Sebastapol, Sonoma. Not a bad idea, but expensive and time consuming.

The lineup:

1999 Scherrer Vineyard Chardonnay (n/a)
2006 Scherrer Sonoma County Chardonnay ~ $33 regular ~ $29 tasting special
2005 Scherrer Sonoma County Cabernet ~ $tbd
2005 Scherrer Estate Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ~ $tbd

AUG 21 Dogpoint & DenogentThursday, August 21st from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Free

New releases from Dogpoint and Robert Denogent.

Sept 4 The Return of the Rhino: Giorgio Rivetti, La SpinettaTasting Seminar
Thursday, September 4th from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
$55 per person

La Spinetta began rather inauspiciously in Castagnole Lanze, Moscato d'Asti country, making, you guessed it, Moscato d'Asti. It was here in the late 70's that the three Rivetti brothers, fresh out of the winemaking academy in Alba, scandalized their neighbors by cutting off half of each vine's grape bunches (Scandaloso!) -- green harvesting -- and vinifying single parcels separately. And all this for humble Moscato? They had so much vision and so little raw material in the beginning, and, yet, perhaps because they did not inherit vineyards, they were free to seek out parcels that conformed to their exacting vision, very carefully piecing together vineyard plots in Barbaresco (Starderi, Valeirano, Gallina), then Barolo, and most recently in Tuscany near Pisa. Whether it is the single-vineyard Barbarescos or the Langhe Nebbiolo (which, by the way, may be one of the greatest values in all of Piedmont), Rivetti's wines are, as Neal Martin puts it, "powerful without being overpowering", singular and unforgettable. Now that La Spinetta has a new distributor in Illinois, we're pleased to announce that Giorgio Rivetti, La Spinetta's charismatic winemaker and spokesperson, will be joining us next month for an exclusive tasting of his new releases, including the 2005 single-vineyard Barbarescos, the 2004 Campe Barolo, the 2005 Pin, the 2006 Langhe Nebbiolo and 2006 Il Nero IGT Sangiovese. Thursday, September 4th from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. Seating will be limited to the first 40 paid reservations. Book your ticket online or call 847-256-7777.

The lineup:

2005 Barbera Ca di Pian
2005 Barbera d’Alba Gallina
2005 Barbaresco Starderi
2004 Barolo Campe
2007 Moscato d’Asti Bricco Quaglia
2006 Nebbiolo Langhe
2005 Pin
2006 Il Nero Casanova Sangiovese