Drinking with Pete DAC Holiday Wine Tasting

It was a winter night, the full moon was shining down, and a sold-out crowd was ready to hear about Pete’s Holiday Faves from Marczyk Fine Wines. Pete brought 10 wines to taste, and by the end of the night there were some obvious winners.

We started with the Gruet Blanc de Noir sparkling, a sexy grape, and a deal at under $20.

Then on to the X white. Both X wines are big blend fruit bombs from northern CA. “I could drink this every day” was the comment. Under $15 you actually could…

Daisy Hill Sauv Blanc was super light, super fresh.

Secateurs Chenin Blanc, well here’s what one guest had to say:

By now people were chatting, Pete was shouting, but he powered through. It’s hard not to want to catch up with friends at a festive event!

Moving on to the Sottimano Dolcetto d’Alba, a great conversation started about rating wine. Pete hates it. We hate it. Why?

Let’s say you visit a small town in Italy, and they serve you their local wine. And it’s great. Actually, you love it! But if that same wine ended up being rated by Mr. Parker, it would most likely get a low rating, even though it perfectly represents the vernacular “which uses locally available resources and traditions to address local needs”. And if that makes it special to you, then the hell with ratings.

An exciting Colorado wine that we all love love love is the Alfred Eames Syrah. “I would put this up against any other Syrah” Colorado vintners are making huge strides planting grapes that love the high and dry climate, and turning them into wines that can go grape to grape with any other American wine.

The X red blend: “these guys blend this shit right.” ‘Nuff said.

And to close the evening, a very special Madeira from Blandy’s. Maderia is a fortified wine from Portugal. They can be tooth-achingly sweet, or rich and complex, like this one. It is a beautiful way to end an evening.

Many thanks to the DAC for such a fun event! It’s a beautiful club!

5 Best Questions to Get What You Want at the Wine Store

And 5 Best Questions to Land Your Perfect Bottle

By:  Elisabeth Beemer for Marczyk Fine Wines

It’s Friday.  TGIF!  But it has been a long week and the last thing you want to do is wander the aisles of a wine shop trying to make a decision. You’ve made enough this week.  If only your new favorite bottle would just fly off the shelf and into your hands…

Since wine doesn’t have wings, let’s give you some wine purchasing wings. Wait, what?  Here’s the 5 best questions to ask yourself so as to coax that perfect bottle off of the shelf and on to your counter.         

1)  What do you normally like to drink?  What bottle have you recently enjoyed?  If employees are worth their salt, they should be able to give you an idea of something that would be comparable (or better) than that La Crema you just had.

2)  Is it something that you’re having with dinner?  Let employees in on your dinner plans.  It doesn’t matter if you’re having filet mignon or frozen pizza, there will be a wine to pair splendidly with it.  Really.

3)  Following that:  What’s the occasion?  Is it book club with the gals?  A wine to go with the newest action flick?  Just want a non-fussy Tuesday night red?  Those kinds of questions will inspire employees to find bottles they’d drink for such an occasion.

4)  What are you feeling like?  You know more about what you want than you think.  Red, white, bubbles, rose?  Something big or something light?  Something dry or something a little sweet?  Something from Europe or something from elsewhere?  Even answers to two of these questions should land you a bottle you’ll enjoy. 

5)  What is the wine staff loving right now?  If you’re up for anything, ask an employee what wine they’ve had at such and such price point and are digging right now.  You’re bound to get something exciting from a passionate person who’s probably tried everything in that darn store.

Remember:  Wine staff are nerds.  Most of the time they relish your questions because they like the opportunity to wax poetic about the juice they love.  So get on in there, ask, and get out!

The Pinot Posse was in Town!

Our friend Kendra, aka Swirl Girl  recently hit the Pinot Noir Saloon with the infamous Pinot Posse. She had great things to say about some of the pinots we carry.  August West Pinot was the runaway hit of the American Wine Society tasting. It’s big, and straight up delicious. $41.99.  Keep it in mind for Valentine’s Day!