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!

Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, they had to walk into ours.

Phone rang last week in the wine shop. It was the Wall St. Journal calling, they were doing an article on affordable wines, and could Pete suggest a case for around $120? Only three wine shops in the US were called, and we were one. Wow. Here are Pete’s Picks for the WSJ:

1. Château des Chapelains Bordeaux Clairet rosé (France). $9.99.
2. Diego Murillo Torrontés (Argentina). $9.99.
3. Chateau Haut Sarthes Montravel White Bordeaux (France). $9.99.
4. Charles Smith Wines Holy Cow Chardonnay (Washington). $9.99
5. Aveleda Charamba Vino Tinto (Portugal). $9.99.
6. Château Jeanguillon Bordeaux Supérieur (France). $9.99.
7. Belpoggio Rosso Piceno (Italy). $9.99.
8. Famega Vinho Verde (Portugal). $8.99.
9. Gran Sarao Brut Cava (Spain). $12.99.
10. Pierre Olivier Côtes du Rhône Blanc (France). $9.99.
11. Infinite Monkey Theorem Sauvignon Blanc/Sémillon (Colorado). $19.99
12. Parducci Sustainable Red (California). $9.99.

Call 303 894-9499 to get your very own WSJ Pete’s Picks!