Summer White Tasting at Café Maxx

Friends Don't let Friends Drink Merlot!

I will drink Merlot with my friends anytime, keep an eye out for out KILLER Merlot tasting review in the "What I Drank Yesterday" part of our e-mail from the Hollywood Wine Society’s recent Merlot Tasting at Vienna wine Bar featuring Chateau Petrus!

We are stocking up in the white wine section for the hot summer months.  I know summertime in South Florida is a year round thing but we notice an increase in the white wine consumption over the months of June, July and August so this is when we try to showcase some of the world's unique white wines.

These tastings at Café Maxx and now at the Edge Restaurant for $35 are the best value of any event that we do.  You get to try 8 different wines at the same time, pre-poured so they have a chance to open up and so you can go back through the line-up to get a second and third look at everything.  This is how you learn about wine and with master Chef Oliver Saucy sending out a few small courses to accompany the wines, you get a taste of Café Maxx and an education in wine all at the same time.  A great way to spend happy hour.

Tonight we will feature an array of light and crisp whites that will quench your thirst and make you salivate for a second glass. You may not recognize all of the varietals on the table but you will surely recognize their unique characteristics.  These may not be collectibles but they are almost all priced under $20 retail.  Chef Oliver Saucy will be sending out a few small courses to accompany the tasting wines. The fee for this event is $35 + tax, for reservations call 954-782-0606.

Summer White Tasting at Café Maxx with wines from Kermit Lynch Imports
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
6:30 PM

Tasting Line-up

2011 Valdesil Montenovo Valdeorras
Price: $15 Sale $13.20 Case $153

Valdesil is passionate about selecting plots of Godello grown on the rare native black slate found in many outcroppings of Valdeorras. The underlying minerality in all of their wines is a hallmark trait of this special soil type. Montenovo is produced with grapes from the youngest vineyards of the estate together with carefully selected contracted grapes from local growers in several villages, such as Rubiá, A Rúa, Larouco, Petín and O Bolo.

2010 St Martin de la Garrigue Picpoul de Pinet Languedoc
Price: $18 Sale $15.84 Case $184

Sixteen different varietals are planted at Saint Martin. While most of the vineyards are planted to red grapes, St Martin de la Garrigue is also known for their deliciously fresh white, Picpoul de Pinet.  Andrew Jefford, author of The New France, raves, “Perhaps the best wine for me is an astonishing Picpoul de Pinet, picked very late from low-yielding vines: those who consider this an inarticulate if refreshing choice, the Muscadet of the Midi, should try this mint-and-verbena-scented, powerfully lemony wine.” 

2010 Yves Leccia VDP Blanc Corsica
Price: $29 Sale $23.20 Case $296

This wine is a blend of 60% Vermentinu, 30% Ugni Blanc and 10% Biancu Gentile.  This terroir, “E Croce,” sits on a thin chalk soil above a thick bedrock of pure schist, facing the gulf of St. Florent. Yves is a firm believer in the idea that if you want something done right you need to do it yourself, and thus he tends to his vines alone and works the cellar by himself as well. He keeps his yields low, knows when to harvest, and knows how to let E Croce express itself in the wines. Not a single bottle comes out of the domaine that isn’t meticulously looked after from start to finish.

2010 Catherine & Pierre Breton Vouvray Sec “La
Dilettante”
Price: $22.75 Sale $20.02 Case $232

Catherine and Pierre Breton are the real life bon vivants vignerons of lore. They are passionate about what they do, they enjoy sharing it with others, and they entertain with a generosity and charm. That they make great wine with such integrity makes our appreciation of them complete. The Bretons farm eleven hectares of vines just east of Bourgueil in the village of Restigné. They produce Chinon and Bourgueil, as well as a bit of Vouvray, creating honest wines for both early consumption and longer aging. The Bretons first introduced biodynamic practices into their viticulture in 1994, just after receiving their organic certification in 1991. Recently, they started the three-year process of seeking biodynamic certification. In fact, they have become international icons for the natural wine movement in an area where the climate and soil can make organic viticulture difficult.

2010 Daniel Chotard Sancerre Loire
Price: $28 Sale $24.64 Case $286

Aged on the lees - brilliant pale yellow in colour - very pure nose reminiscent of citrus and white blossoms - refreshing and full-bodied on the palate - typical and elegant, well-balanced with good length - serve at approximately 10°C with saltwater and freshwater fish, seafood, white meats, and crottin de Chavignol goat’s cheese

2011 D’Aupilhac Mont Baudile Blanc Languedoc
Price: $19 Sale $16.72 Case $194

A blend of Grenache Blanc, Chardonnay and Ugni Blanc in equal parts.  Three generations of Fadats have farmed the large, eighteen-hectare lieu-dit known as Aupilhac, in the village of Montpeyroux, across the river Hérault from Daumas Gassac and Grange des Pères. While the Fadats have farmed this land since the nineteenth century, and the vineyards date even farther back to the time of the Romans.  It sits at a high altitude, nestled below the ruins of the village’s château, at almost 1200 feet above sea level on terraced land with southwest sun exposure. The soils are rich in prehistoric oyster fossils, which lend an incredible length and minerality to the wines.

2011 Banshee Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc
Price: $19.50 Sale $17.16 Case $199

This is a good value for Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. Crisp, fresh and unoaked with notes of freshly cut grass, citrus and stone fruits. This is an unoaked Sauvignon with crisp natural acidity.

2010 Kalmuck Gruner Veltliner Wachau
Price: $25.50 Sale $22.44 Case $260

The Mauritiushof—a 13th century farmstead—houses an estate recognized as both a guardian of tradition and a vanguard of the ambitious in the Wachau. Franz-Josef Gritsch is young, enterprising and successful, and he constantly strives to realize the best quality possible. Together with his family he tends vineyard parcels in some of the top sites in the Wachau: Singerriedel, 1000-Eimerberg and Loibenberg. Varietal typicity, vineyard character and a fruit forward flavor profile are the three most eminent features of Gritsch's wine. This wine is a declassified blend of these vineyard sites.