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Join us Saturday, September 24th at our shop in Charlotte for The s'Wine Affair, from 12pm - 4pm! As a toast to the beginning of the fall season, we are celebrating what happens when "cork meets pork."  Bring your friends and enjoy an afternoon of great wine, amazing food, and an opportunity to meet other wine enthusiasts in a fun setting. There will be plenty o'pig, a selection of sides, and of course a variety of wine pairings. We will feature tasting tent wines to sample with different styles of BBQ.

Presale tickets can be purchased online now for only $15 by clicking the image above.  Tickets can be purchased at the entrance tent on the day of the event for $20. Your ticket includes the wine tasting tent, a barbecue lunch, and 2 drink tickets. As an added bonus, the cost of your ticket will be applied to all orders of 3 bottles or more. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email.

See you on September 24th!

The Bond Street Team

Wine Discussion:

Three Pinots  

Pinot noir is planted in abundance on all four of the major wine producing continents and is notorious for its fickle nature and year-to-year variation. However, some general themes are typical of pinot noirs produced in different regions. To explore these themes and to point out the differences we sampled three pinot noirs under $35 from well-respected producers in France's Burgundy, Oregon's Willamette Valley, and California's Santa Rita Highlands. This tasting exercise reinforces the extreme variation that one of America's most fashionable varietals is capable of producing.

To start in Burgundy, we sampled Alex Gambal's 2008 Bourgogne Pinot Noir "Les Deux Papis" ($30). The color is bright red, and it is almost translucent in the glass. The nose is cherry, raspberry, and wet limestone. The palate is full of bright cherry and raspberry fruit with layers of subtle mineral flavors. Importantly, the wine has a savory characteristic, almost like cured ham that will likely continue to be more prominent as it ages. The wine is very bright and full of crispness that lingers and is extremely refreshing. The flavor impact is immediate as the wine's pleasing acidity cleans the palate. At 13% alcohol, the wine is medium weight and works particularly well on a warm day, with poultry dishes, pork, cured meats, or even a savory salad. The wine has a little oak, but not much as it's mostly about the bright cherry and savory minerality.

The second wine is Patricia Green Reserve Pinot Noir 2009 ($24) from Oregon's Willamette Valley. This wine is darker in the glass than the Burgundy, and has 13.8% alcohol. Though it's darker than the Burgundy, it's not yet opaque, and retains a medium bodied look when swirled in the glass. It too has characteristic cherry and raspberry flavors on the nose, but has a touch more oak that is apparent. Here the immediate impact on the palate is of ripe cherry fruit that is moving toward black cherry and black raspberry rather than red varieties. There is also a significant earthy component that is somewhere between forest floor and truffle (both charming). The finish has a touch of leather and green herbs as well. It is quite zesty on the finish as the touch of mineral and herbs come to bear. This pinot calls for a little heavier food, but could be substituted with the Burgundy for poultry dishes, or enjoyed on its own.

Finally, the Melville Santa Rita Highlands Pinot Noir from 2009 ($34) is quite a different animal. It's significantly darker in the glass, pushing opaque, and tips the scales at 14.1% alcohol. It smells of dark cherry (almost cherry cola in nature) and violets. It has a much heavier mouth-coating texture than either of the other wines tasted. The full fruit and full body make a dramatic impact on the palate and the finish is more akin to a heavier red wine with some polyphenols that stick to one's teeth. It has some astringency from tannin as well. The flavors are ripe fruit, a little leather, tobacco and spice. The finish here is big and upfront. This pinot requires full flavored foods, even a lean steak off the grill.

These pinot noirs are produced in climates that vary dramatically. Burgundy and Oregon are on approximately the same geographic parallel and have similar climates, though Burgundy is a bit more continental. California is clearly further south, with the Santa Rita Highlands near Santa Barbara in southern California. The expected temperature difference between Burgundy and Santa Barbara is offset somewhat by the regular fog that mitigates the balmy southern California heat, but the differences are clearly manifest in the color and alcohol levels. The temperature difference allows the Melville easily to become riper and fuller with more alcohol than the Burgundy.

Pinot Noirs from top to bottom: Melville Estate, Patricia Green Cellars, Alex Gambal Vineyards.

Winemaker style choices play a major role as well. Most distinguishable is the difference in oak treatment. Gambal uses only 20% oak while Melville uses 100% second and third use oak. The additional oak treatment adds a rounder and fuller texture to the wine as well as additional toasty leather and tobacco notes. Adding to this difference, both Patricia Green and Melville have significantly longer maceration periods which allow the color and fuller flavors to extract. On the extremes, Gambal is trying to produce a Burgundy focused on freshness and nuance that he believes only Burgundy has to offer. Melville on the other hand has power in mind. The fruit is allowed to get very ripe on the vine, macerations are long for extraction and the palate impact is huge. Patricia Green is in the middle as the fruit is ripe and prominent, but the goal is not pure power.

Though these wines are very different in the glass, they are all three very good examples of reasonably priced pinot noir. Tasting them side-by-side is a fun exercise that allows one to get a true sense of his/her preferences and how each wine should be served. Mercifully, pinot noir producers are proud to produce wines from their respective regions that are reflections of where they are and what their vineyards have to offer rather than all of them working toward a homogeneous flavor. 

Bond Street Update:

James Voltz Passes Court of Master Sommeliers Exam   

Congratulations is due to Bond Street's James Voltz who passed his Certified Sommelier exam in August. This three part exam is administered by the Court of Master Sommeliers, which is widely recognized as one of the highest quality wine certification programs in the world. The exam consists of a blind tasting of wines, a written theory examination, and a practical service examination proctored by a Master Sommelier. The exam requires knowledge of the entire wine making process, wine regions, grapes and producers from around the world. The Court intends for the exam to "set a high standard of the knowledge and service of wine for professionals...", and to "demonstrate that their skills have been evaluated at a high level of proficiency by the world's leading authority on service.

In preparing for the exam, James has greatly expanded his knowledge of all aspects of the wine world, both relevant and esoteric. His favorite part was getting to know others who are active within the Court. "It functions very much like a guild, with those who've gone before you willing to help you learn and prepare. It was a blast hearing everyone's stories and being welcomed into their restaurants all over the Triangle. I learned a lot, and I also met great people in the process."

So the next time you'd like a recommendation for what wine to pair with baked chicken stuffed with crab meat and Fontina cheese, or what non-botrytized wine may pair well with dessert, feel free to call or email James directly. (These were two questions from James' oral exam). For those of you in the Raleigh area who get to communicate with James regularly, be sure to congratulate him as you take advantage of his expanding expertise.  

Facebook Update:

Facebook Transition, New Page 

As many of you have seen, we have transitioned to our new facebook page for Bond Street Wines. We will take down our old page this week and would encourage you to make sure you're a fan of our new page by clicking the link to the right. Thanks to all of those who have already taken this step to keep in touch with what we're up to at Bond Street.

Feel free to click the image on the right or visit www.facebook.com/bondstreetwines 

As always, thank you for your support!  

Calendar of Events:

AUGUST 2011 

August 18 - Private Wine Tasting @ Bond Street Wines - Charlotte 

August 19 - "Three Pinots" @ Bond Street Wines - Charlotte 

Friday Tasting Series: We will replicate the tasting discussed above with pinot noir from Burgundy, Oregon, and California. Featuring: Alex Gambal Bourgogne Pinot Noir "Cuvée les Deux Papis" 2008, Melville Vineyards Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir 2009, and Patricia Green Reserve Pinot Noir 2009. 

August 20 - Private Wine Tasting - Tybee, GA 

August 20 - Private Wine Tasting @ Bond Street Wines - Charlotte 

August 26 - "Chardonnay Showdown" @ Bond Street Wines - Charlotte 

Friday Tasting Series: We will explore regional approaches to Chardonnay from Oregon, Burgundy, and California. Featuring: Milbrandt Vineyards Evergreen Vineyard Chardonnay 2007, Chappellet Chardonnay 2009, Domaine Michel Bouzereau et Fils Meursault "Les Grands Charrons" 2008.  

August 26 - Private Wine Event - Raleigh, NC

August 27 - Devil's Ridge Wine Dinner - Raleigh, NC  

Whether it's a private tasting with friends, celebrating a birthday with a wine dinner, or hosting out of town clients; let us help you plan your next evening out.  For more information on scheduling a wine event at Bond Street Wines call the shop at (704) 521-1353 or email Ashlee at ashlee@bondstreetwines.com.