The Wine Company: Top 100 Dinner, June 5th 2014
It is an honor to have our wines at the table during the Top 100 Companies to Work For dinner on June 5th, 2014!
The three wines being served are part of our direct import program, which involves traveling to Europe regularly to meet with the producers, taste the new vintages, and make purchasing decisions for the upcoming year. Of course these work trips also involve keeping up with the dining scene in Paris, Milan, Barcelona, and Florence. (As we like to say, it’s good work if you can get it!)
This type of selection process is becoming less common in today’s wine world. As we see more and more “commodity” brands being created and pushed into markets by enormous multi-national corporations, the role of a wine importer as curator becomes all the more important, but more and more rare. It is in this niche that we thrive, with long-established friendships and relationships around the world with some of the greatest independent wine producers around.
Look for “Imported by The Wine Company” on the back label the next time you’re shopping for that perfect wine to enjoy.
Note: At the end of this post, you can find details on where to purchase these gems in Minnesota.
Wines served at the Top 100 Dinner on June 5th, 2014
Ottella 2013 Lugana, Italy
An estate wine entirely harvested in small crates from their own vineyards, this elegant wonder is made from 100% Trebbiano di Lugana (locally known as Turbiana) in the D.O.C. region of Lugana on the southern coast of Lake Garda straddling Lombardia and the Veneto in northern Italy. Beyond its citric bouquet this is chiseled in its minerality and brightly balanced with a lemony structure that is sure of itself making this a white wine of presence and power despite its immediate appeal and nonchalant charms. A lovely bottling beautifully crowned with the embossed coat-of-arms of the family which is an escutcheon proper bearing eight stylized cherubic faces to mark the birth of octuplets which graced the family in 1500. Stunning wine, a lovely country, and a wonderful family as well. Food Pairings: Fish based plates, soup, pasta or rice, white meat.
Barraud 2010 Alliance Vergisson, Pouilly-Fuissé, Macon, France
A blend of various parcels of land:”Terres du Perret, la Côte Carmentrant et Vignes Dessus” with vines between 30 and 45 years of age, this is 100% Chardonnay and 100% Pouilly Fuisse –a Pouilly Fuissé of the highest order. Rich in extract, fully scented and ripe with a remarkable density for its size and structure, the palate is expressive of apples and pears, a lifted hazelnut aroma across the whole and a fine textural finish whose sea shell mineral and apple skin sort of tannins close with firm handshake –this is seriously good.
Emmanuel Darnaud 2011 Les Trois Chênes Crozes-Hermitage, Northern Rhone Valley, France (100% Syrah)
Bacon meet berries. Berries this is bacon. Fast friends and what chums! Tangy plums, black pepper, meat pan juices and wild pastureland set quite the stage for this telling example of Crozes-Hermitage the gifted lower slopes beneath Hermitage in France’s Northern Rhône. Lovely in that it is fulsome, fragrant and bold without needing time in the bottle to tame the tannins or relax. Certainly not the bruiser that its elder brother from 2010 was at this age, this has a trimmer physique but is every bit as complex and perhaps still more sophisticated than Darnaud’s Mise en Bouche –the primary glimpse on Crozes-Hermitage from vines of a younger stature. Better yet is how appetizing its juicy structure washes over the palate keeping lift to this mouthful of Syrah. On the finish lifts a fragrant garrigue akin to wild lavender and sappy rosemary which is perfect to put all the tangy berried fruit into relief. On tasting this I dream of pairing it with roasted spring lamb, peppered skirt steak off the grill, a piping hot moussaka… this is a wine for food to be sure but every bit as fit to be the glass at the end of a long day as I am enjoying it now.
WHERE TO FIND THESE WINES IN MINNESOTA
The following retailers and restaurants have purchased these wines in the previous twelve months. Call ahead to confirm vintages and availability. Accounts are listed alphabetically by city.
Otella Lugana
Lake Avenue Restaurant And BarDuluth
218-722-2355
Campiello
Eden Prairie
952-941-6868
Buon Giorno Italia
Lilydale
651-905-1080
Nelson, Jeff
Minneapolis
Red Cow - North Loop
Minneapolis
612-238-0050
Erte & The Peacock Lounge
Minneapolis
612-623-4211
Broders' Southside Pasta
Minneapolis
612-925-9202
Kowalski's Uptown Market
Minneapolis
612-377-3448
Terzo
Minneapolis
612-925-3113
Surdyk's
Minneapolis
612-379-3232
France 44
Minneapolis
612-925-3252
Red Cow - 50th St
Minneapolis
612-767-4411
Toast Wine Bar & Cafe - Closed
Minneapolis
612-333-4305
Riverview Wine Bar
Minneapolis
612-729-4200
Haskell's - Minnetonka
Minnetonka
952-544-4456
Lyn 65
Richfield
612-242-1510
Mchugh, Mike
Saint Paul
Ann Avant
Saint Paul
Seventh Street Liquor Barrel
Saint Paul
651-222-6811
Thomas Liquor
Saint Paul
651-699-1860
Nicholas Livingston
Saint Paul
Red Cow - Stp
Saint Paul
651-489-0554
Do Not Use - Scandia Olde Towne Liquor
Scandia
651-433-5845
Marx Wine Bar & Grill
Stillwater
651-439-8333
West Side Liquor - Waite Park
Waite Park
320-253-9511
***
Barraud Alliance Vergisson, Pouilly-Fuissé, Macon, France
Mgm - West BloomingtonBloomington
952-888-9421
South Lyndale Liquor
Minneapolis
612-827-5811
France 44
Minneapolis
612-925-3252
Mcdonald Liquor Store
Minneapolis
612-721-6686
Henry & Son
Minneapolis
612-200-9517
99 Bottles
Moorhead
218-284-0099
Bridgeview Liquors
Moorhead
218-477-6162
The Wine Shop - Nicholas Barth
Saint Cloud
320-251-7733
Angela Kallsen
Saint Paul
Little Wine Shoppe
Saint Paul
651-645-5178
W.a. Frost
Saint Paul
651-224-5715
Solo Vino
Saint Paul
651-602-9515
Salut - St Paul
Saint Paul
651-917-2345
Jimmy Olson
Saint Paul
Team Liquor W&s - Shorewood - New Ownership
Shorewood
612-325-0328
Gianni's
Wayzata
952-404-1100
Cotroneo's Vino & Birra
White Bear Lake
651-429-7551
***
Emmanuel Darnaud Les Trois Chênes Crozes-Hermitage
The BeaneryAitkin
218-927-7811
Tutto Bene
Bemidji
218-751-1100
Tournament Liquor - Blaine
Blaine
763-786-4992
Hilton Mpls-bloomington
Bloomington
952-893-9500
Sunfish Cellars
Lilydale
651-552-5955
Lincoln Square Liquor Barrel
Mahtomedi
651-770-0692
Zipp's
Minneapolis
612-333-8686
South Lyndale Liquor
Minneapolis
612-827-5811
The Kenwood - New Ownership
Minneapolis
612-377-3695
Lake Wine & Cheese
Minneapolis
612-242-0073
North Loop Wine & Spirits
Minneapolis
612-338-5393
Vincent's
Minneapolis
612-630-1189
Heyday
Minneapolis
651-699-3536
99 Bottles
Moorhead
218-284-0099
Bridgeview Liquors
Moorhead
218-477-6162
Winestreet Spirit-north Oak
North Oaks
651-483-1767
Northfield Liquors
Northfield
507-645-5153
Premier Wine & Spirits -old Ownership
Osseo
763-425-4680
St. James Hotel
Red Wing
651-385-5544
Minneapolis Golf Club
Saint Louis Park
952-544-4471
University Club - Summit
Saint Paul
651-222-1751
Salut - St Paul
Saint Paul
651-917-2345
Solo Vino
Saint Paul
651-602-9515
Bj Thorkelson
Saint Paul
Little Wine Shoppe
Saint Paul
651-645-5178
W.a. Frost
Saint Paul
651-224-5715
Gipper's
Saint Paul
