I am excited about being in an industry that every time the door swings open to the retail shop at Veritas, I have a customer that usually has a specific wine want or need. I get to be one of the guys that help people find the most appropriate wine for whatever the occasion, which is a pretty awesome responsibility.
We ask a few purposeful questions that will help guide our clients in the right direction to find the best bottle of “juice” that best pairs with the menu, celebration or just every day consumption.
Wine
This month I’m enjoying the Angels & Cowboys 2012 Proprietary Red Blend from Sonoma County. This wine is an interseting blend of Zinfandel, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese and Malbec. Hints of cocoa dust combine with ripe berries and dark cherries to provide a rich mouthfeel wine with a warm, lingering finish. On sale from $25 down to $20 a bottle. This wine delivers big bang for the buck!
Also from California is the Venge Vineyards 2010 Silencieux Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley. Silencieux (see-lens-see-oh, Silent One) is anything but silent. Some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from five different vineyards combine beautifully well to create a great bottle of wine that will continue to age well for the next decade, under proper cellaring conditions. Upon initially opening, scents of blackberries, cassis, licorice and notes of coffee evolve into a full-bodied wine that possesses great length on the palate. This is a great bottle of wine to enjoy with friends that share an appreciation for big, bold and rich California wines. Please do not worry, though — the 2012 vintage, also retailing for $50 a bottle, will not disappoint.
Last but certainly not least with only 690 cases produced, is the Schweiger Vineyards 2008 Dedication. Composed of 58 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 31 percent Merlot, 6 percent Malbec and 5 percent Cabernet Franc. The winemaker notes suggest rich blackberry, currant, plum and loads of jammy cherry with faint seasonings of dark chocolate, truffle oil, coriandor, and minerals, I simply thought of liquid silkiness with great structure and finesse. This is another example of a wine that can and will, age for 20+ years under proper cellar conditions. Not my everyday, go-to style of wine but when you do want to splurge and invest $100 for a bottle of this magnificent juice, I am quite confidant you too will be inspired to greatness.
Beer
B. Nektar Meadery has a limited release of Apple Pi, an apple mead with spices added. Enjoy a bottle of mead soon, made from fermented honey. Nice baked apple flavors, spicy with honey, cinnamon and allspice. Super delicious with a baked double cream brie.
I would like to invite each and everyone of you to come down to Veritas Cork & Craft and enjoy our Liquid Love Wine, Chocolate and Beer Tasting on Saturday, February 14 from 4-6 p.m. and taste, sample and purchase delicious artisan chocolates from Flying Rhino Coffee & Chocolates. Come out and meet Gini Behrendt, owner/operator/chocolate maker extraordinaire and taste some of the best chocolates in the world! Cost is $15/person. Please call in advance for reservations at (419) 214-9463.
Matt Snyder is the Beer and Wine Guy at Veritas Cork & Craft, 505 Jefferson Ave., Toledo.
