A Special Wine Tasting Friday 5-7pm,
Beer Tasting Saturday 1-4pm
at 41 Court Square!
Dear Friends,

Well we here at Downtown Wine & Gourmet hope you're having a fantastic week. You may remember an email I sent out earlier about a special tasting for this Thursday. I am pleased to inform you all that we've picked the wines we are going to taste and we hope you can join us this Thursday from 5 to 7pm.

Just a reminder we will be having our regularly scheduled tasting on Friday as well.

 
Very Best,
John T. Wilson

Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.
~ Plautus 

Peneca
Rebula
Ever drink wine from Slovenia? I hadn't either. So far, I'd say I'm quite impressed. The Republic of Slovenia is a little nation just north of Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. Most of the wine produced here is white wine and very nearly all of it is consumed domestically. This is one of the few that made it out. All hand harvested and produced in the Charmat method.
Peneca Rebula is a fairly medium bodied sparkling wine. The bouquet is reminiscent of green apple, citruses and cider enriched with a pleasant bread crust aroma. The sparkling wine has a fresh, crispy taste and pleasant mouth feel. The gently sparkling wine, with its fine perlage and creamy mouthfeel, is ideal for festive occasions. 


 

Our Price:
$18.99

Broadbent
5 year Madeira

So I'm a bit of a Madeira evangelist. It truly is America's forgotten wine. Basically up until Prohibition Madeira was the principle wine consumed in the States, and yet today most people associate it with cooking wine. 
Madeira's popularity in the New World is really the work of necessity. Planting the noble varietals of Europe in the New World wasn't a real option. The three month long voyage required the wine be fortified and the trip across the ocean exposed the wines to extreme temperatures and oxidation. These three factors are what give Madeira it's distinctive color and flavor profile.
In the United States the south enjoyed the drier style Madeiras while the north generally drank sweeter styles. Broadbent 5 year is a Malmsey which is produced from the Malvasia grape. 
This is a great example of a Malmsey. This wine shows the classic flavors of toffee and coffee with a richness that's hard to beat. The acidity on this wine is always near vintage levels which keep the wine from being cloyingly sweet.
The perfect wine for cheese and desserts. 

Our Price:
$24.99

 

Gruet
Blanc de Noir 

This is one of the staff's favorites and has been for awhile now. Gruet is a winery in New Mexico that specializes in sparkling wine produced from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The winery was founded in 1983 but has it's origins dating back to 1952 when Gilbert Gruet followed his dream of opening a Champagne house in Bethon, France. Upon taking the plunge into wine in the United States, Gilbert sent his son Laurent and daughter Natalie to New Mexico to develop the brand.

Gruet Blanc de Noir is made from 100% Pinot Noir grapes in the traditional Champagne method.The result is an elegant and focused, with creamy vanilla and apple aromas and rich yet crisp flavors of baked pear.   
 
Our Price:
$18.99

 

Thorn Clarke
18 Year Tawny 

Personal confession time: I must apologize in advance to the Porto purists out there, but generally speaking, I kind of prefer my Tawny Ports to come from down under. The Australians even have a special name for them- they call dessert wines 'stickies,' as in sticky sweet. Makes sense to me.
Now to clear up some confusion as to Port wines. True Port wine comes from Douro, Portugal in the northern part of the country, is typically produced from red grapes, and is always fortified. Many people will say that Port is fortified with Brandy, but the fortifying liquor bares little resemblance to commercial Brandy. The liquor used is technically called an Aguardiente and like brandy is usually made with grapes. Tawny ports are simply Ports that have been aged a minimum of two years in barrels. This allows the wine to oxidate and evaporate. The oxidation accounts for Tawny's characteristic nutty undertones. Despite a popular misconception a Tawny with a year on it, such as this 18 year Tawny, is that the wine is actually 18 years old or the average age of the blend is 18 years old. more often than not the number is a target age profile and doesn't necessarily reflect the age of the wine.

Thorn Clarke's 18 year Tawny does in fact represent a blend of wines who's combined average age is 18 years. This one is dark and quite sweet. I get notes of coffee and spice, with the traditional aromas of toasted nuts and raisins. The palate shows a subtle note of tea with creme br�l�e/ brown sugary undertones. The finish is persistent and pleasant. 


 

Our Price: 
$30.99


 
Just as a reminder!! 10% off solid or mixed cases (12 btls)
5% off solid or mixed cases of beer (24 btls) 


Special Orders
We are happy to special order wine, beer and brewing supplies upon request.  It may take up to 2 week for items to come in and not all wine and beer are distributed in Virginia, but we can let you know if we can or can't get what you are looking for.  We are also able to crush grains for our local brewers, we just need a 24 hour notice.  Please email all wine, beer and brewing requests to info@downtownwines.com.
     Thanks for shopping at your local wine, beer and brewing store. We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and look forward to seeing you soon! 
Sincerely,

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