Best of third Bunch

Best of a second Bunch

The last Bunch

- Silverstone's previous recommendations

KOURAS White Peloponnese, Greece

CLINE CELLARS Viognier CALIFORNIA

- Silverstone's previous recommendations

Bodegas Entremontes Old Vines Tempranillo, La Mancha, Spain

Domaine du Trapadis Cotes du Rhone Red

Best of a first Bunch

sandwich and fish and chips would also be complemented by this wine.....just avoid the malt vinegar on your chips and hot peppers on your cheese steak. Now that would be tempting fate.

Cheers!

REGION: Mendocino & Carneros Vineyards, California •

ALCOHOL: 13.5%

Approx $10.99

Fred Cline founded Cline Cellars in Oakley, California. He has always prescribed to what the French call “Terroir”, the fusion of climate, of soil and of the personality of the region. In 1991 Fred relocated to the Carneros region of Sonoma County. He became a “Rhone Ranger”, one of a small band of winemakers pioneering the planting of varietals, which thrive in France’s Rhone Valley.

Viognier is about as Rhone as you can get. This white grape variety is to the Rhone Valley what a cheese steak is to south Philly. It exudes the personality of the region. In the same way that only a handful of people outside Philly can make a decent cheese steak sandwich, only a handful of people outside the Rhone Valley can make a

palatable wine from Viognier. In this case Cline Cellars actually manages to beat the French at their own game with Cline Cellars Viognier. It’s the equivalent of a man from Tibet teaching a man from London how to make the finest fish and chips. But that’s the wine world for you. One of the few places your wildest dreams can be tamed!

Viognier is not the most popular grape variety for winemakers since it’s a bit of a problem child and hugely temperamental. It doesn’t help that the grape vine alternates its yield so one year is feast and the next is famine. And you need to pop it off the vine just at the right moment or it goes into a real humdinger of a tantrum. However, Cline is the perfect Mary Poppins and snaps it’s fingers and

Many of us have a limited knowledge of Greece, and beyond the obvious tourist attractions, a movie character called Zorba and some stunning restaurants which in this country always tend to be BYOBs, the only Greek wine which instantly comes to mind is Retsina. And you need an attuned palate to really get into that particular wine.

The fact is, Greece is predominantly a producer of white wines, and I frequently find some stunners being poured into my glass. George Skouras, proprietor, oenologist and winemaker of Domain Skouras, was born in Argos, a city in the Peloponnese which has been on the map for 3000 years. In the early eighties, Skouras studied

agriculture in Dijon, France where he discovered the wonderful wines of Burgundy. He instantly caught the wine bug, gave up on agriculture and switched to oenology. After he graduated George honed his art working for French, Italian and Greek wineries.

In 1986 Skouras established a winery in Pyrghella, a small town near Argos and in 1988 he launched his first wine - a blend of red grape varieties. In 1996 he built a winery in the village of Ghymno at 700m altitude, in the Nemean Appellation. Skouras has diligently brought his Estate to the upper echelon of Greek wine producers. He sources grapes from his own vineyards and from select grape-growers in the region with whom he

works closely to assure variety integrity and to secure top quality.

The Peloponnese produce a hefty chunk of Greece’s wines and it’s from this region Skouras White is produced, with 2 indigenous grape varieties: Moschofilero and Roditis. This is a very unique tasting wine and instantly quaffable. It has a pale green color, gently scented with the fragrance of the fruit, and the flavor is very distinctive. The winemaker notes that the wine has a spicy edge with a peach flavor, and for once I fully agree with the winemaker’s palate. The wine is fresh, light and immensely refreshing. The perfect libation for summer sipping.

How they make a wine this good is a mystery to me.....then again it’s all Greek to me.

Cheers!

REGION: Peloponnese, Greece •

ALCOHOL: 12 %

Approx $9.99

the grape behaves itself like all little grapes should. The grapes are harvested by Cline in several vineyards, which collectively produce nectar with a lovely personality, full bodied and stunningly structured. The equivalent of having me in a glass!

The wine was aged in stainless steel tanks to preserve the natural fruit flavors and keep the freshness in tact. The fruit is rich and packed with flavors of peach and apricot nectar. Given the complexity of the wine, I’d recommend it with any dishes you’d normally serve Gewurztraminer alongside. It’s a particularly good wine to take along to a Chinese restaurant and I’ve even enjoyed it with a taco. I think a cheese steak

The world would be a colorless place without the French. Yes, I know they haven’t garnered too much love and hug time in recent years from the UK and USA. but we’re getting over it and many of us still enjoy subtitled art house movies with Galoises chain smoking actors. We pretend we’re in Paris by drinking elegant cocktails on small outdoor tables at our favorite French restaurant. And yes, we continue to eat French fries and some of us admit to enjoying accordion music and old Maurice Chevalier LP records. If you are a romantic, a culinary groupie or a wine geek, you have to agree the French have made our world a richer, more colorful place to live.

Without the French, chances are Americans would

probably find some fault with the Brits who would become the brunt of late night talk show hosts. And even though we Brits could handle that, it’s better to stick to teasing the French and leaving us out of the equation. But the fact is, the French have made our wining and dining so spectacular since Julia Child first introduced our palates to French wine and food in the 1950’s. And quite right too.

France is one vast vineyard, and although there are devout disciples of the regions of Burgundy and Bordeaux, I am firmly convinced the best wines from France are those produced in the Cotes du Rhone in southern France. It’s here you’ll quaff aromatic, spicy, exotic nectar made

from the region’s most prolific grapes: Carignan, Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah. And it’s a region of excitingly innovative winemaking skills.

Domaine du Trapadis is a perfect example. The Charwin-Durand family have owned this property for over 200 years and own some of the finest vineyards around the village of Rasteau. The vines used for Domaine du Trapadis Cotes du Rhone Red are 25 years old, so they produce less fruit but the juice is concentrated and rich. The grapes are handpicked and each of the 4 varietals are individually nurtured before being blended together to make this sumptuous elixir. The color has incredible intense depth of deep purple and ruby and the flavor of the combined grapes is

juicy and spicy with a drizzle of pepper and a southern Rhone earthiness. How empty this world would be without French winemaking prowess and wines like this Cotes Du Rhone to pour into our glasses. To paraphrase Shakespeare: I have come to praise the French not to harass them - Viva La France.

Cheers!

REGION: Cotes du Rhone, France

GRAPE: Carignan (60%) • Grenache (20%) • Cinsault (10%) • Syrah (10%)

Approx $14.99

I’ve become a devote of the wines from Spain. No other region of the world consistently raises my spirits (literally) with it’s gorgeous nectar. And as I’ve said many times before, a dependable importer on the label is your passport to success every time you pop the cork. In the heart of Spain you’ll find the region of La Mancha. And if you peer through your magnifying glass at your world atlas you’ll discover the Province of Toledo in Northwestern La Mancha.

La Mancha is the land of Miguel de Cervantes - famous for creating Don Quixote - who curiously died the same day as William Shakespeare! This land is on average over 1500 feet above sea level and the weather isn’t the most pleasant in the

world. Yet it’s here we find Bodegas Entremontes, a winery founded 50 years ago. The vineyards are actually located 2500 feet above sea level at "Quintanar de la Orden" In Spanish "Entremontes" means, literally, between the mountains. And the mountains of Toledo have a profound influence on the local micro climate, according to Leo Fox, the Philly importer who brings these wines to U.S. wine shelves.

Bodegas Entremontes is in a broad valley bounded by these mountains The soil is clay and gravel. The winters are cold and the summers are long, hot and dry. Three quarters of the wine production in La Mancha is red and Cencibel, (commonly known to us as Tempranillo) is one of the “hot”

grape varieties. Bodegas Entremontes makes this classic 100% Tempranillo from old vines in their El Monte vineyard. Old vines produce less grapes with a greater intensity. Leo notes: “The low yields increase concentration and richness of the wine which has enticing aromas and flavors of plums and berries, Smooth with ripe, red fruit and oak aging, it shows the potential of the Tempranillo variety.” And this is indeed a rich, intense “big” wine with strong berry fruit flavors, earthy and satisfying.

You can drink this wine now or put it away for a couple of years. Leo’s palate never fails us, and it’s understandable given the fact that he is something of an old vine himself.

REGION: La Mancha, Spain •

ALCOHOL: 13 %

Approx $9.99