Doozy's Fine Wines

Today Doozy's is bringing you one of it's holiday wine recommendations for this year! The Tarima Monastrell is 100% Monastrell grape variety. This fruit forward, smooth red wine was given a 90/100 by the International Wine Cellar.

Described by the International Wine Cellar as: "Bright purple. Powerful aromas of blueberry, blackberry, violet and Indian spices. Displays vibrant flavors of smoky dark berries, bitter cherry and candied flowers, with a peppery overtone. The sweet, fruit-driven finish repeats the smoky note and hangs on tenaciously. I'd drink this wine young for its extroverted fruit character. To call it a value is an understatement."(wine.com)

The chalky-soiled vineyards at an elevation of 2,100 feet are planted with 25- to 35-year-old Monastrell vines. The wine is 100% stainless-steel fermented with some stirring of the yeast lees to attain the maximum expression of the variety. - See more at: http://www.winesfromspainusa.com/wine/tarima#sthash.UWcdSFaa.dpuf

Doozy's latest of wines from around the world include the wines from a vineyard in Portugal called Esporão. Since its beginnings in 1973, Esporão has been owned by the Roquette family, first partially and then in its entirety from 1989 onwards.The first two decades of this project were a story of struggle, faith, and a vision so strong that it clearly left its mark on the modern history of Portuguese wine. The mission for Esporão is "To create the best products offered by Nature, in a responsible and inspiring way."

Doozy's is now carrying 4 of Esporão's wines: their Alandra Branco (white), Alandra Tinto (red), Reserva Branco (white), Reserva Tinto and the Verdelho (white). 

The Alandra Branco is described as having a crystal clear, citric color, floral and fruit forward aromas with a youthful palate that is clean, fresh, and well balanced. 

The Alandra Tinto delivers youthful fruit aromatics with light floral notes. 

Reserva Branco's clear straw colors host rich and complex aromas with fruity notes of peach and tangerine and subtle barrel toast. You will find yourself drinking a creamy, well balanced palate, good depth of ripe fruit but with elegance and minerality, finishes long and fresh.

Reserva Tinto is an award winning wine, described as Compact, elegant, dense and creamy. Firm tannins offering structure for bottle maturation. It offers an intense spicy aroma of mature red berry fruits with discrete oak complexity.

Delicious and affordable wines from Chile have arrived at Doozy's! We now carry the CHONO line's Single Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and the Chono Reserva Carmenere.

CHONO was created by the famous Winemaker Alvaro Espinoza in 2004 when he started to develop their own wines and brands in Geo Wines S.A. after a period of providing technical and commercial assistance to a select number of wineries.

CHONO offers wines that invite wine drinkers on an exciting journey through some of Chile’s most interesting appellations. Each farm is carefully selected, allowing the different varieties to express themselves at their best with all of their varietal character and fruit potential.

Chono Single Vineyard

Our new line, CHONO Single Vineyard wines are a natural evolution of our Chono Reserva line. An unique proposition of terroirs where each variety comes from a selection of the best plots of our properties, in which each wine can express at its most its unique identity; their fruity character and complexity.

Jessie is particularly excited about the Carmenere. Chono's website describes the wine as follows: One of the hallmarks of Chile, our Carmenere is one of our customer´s favorite wine and delivers full flavours of red fruits, red roasted paprika, pepper and soft touches of vanilla! A wine with great elegance and character! YUM.

Leese-Fitch is a winery out of Sonoma, California that celebrates generations of one of the oldest wine making families in California.  

Doozy's recently picked up their Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. 

The 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon benefits from a long hang time (grapes on the vine, that is!) and starts off with aromas of blackberry cobbler, cassis, sandalwood, and herbs du provence. This blend would pair wonderfully with pot roast alongside roasted root vegetables, baked ziti with some good crusty bread, or tandoori lamb with biryani and mint chutney.

The 2012 Pinot Noir smells of ripe fruit from the orchard; sweet plum, raspberry cobbler, Bing cherry, with vanilla whipped cream and just a hint of apricot. The flavors start ripe with cherry preserves, summer plum, fresh strawberry pie, brioche, and finishes with hints of earthy notes, portabella mushroom, clove spice, and dried cranberry. This Pinot Noir blend would pair well with your favorite pasta. I would go with linguini with a marinara sauce spiked with assorted mushrooms or baked ricotta stuffed shells in a bed of marinara sauce. Another good pairing would be baked Prosciutto wrapped chicken breast alongside rice pilaf and sautéed green beans.

Their Chardonnay is intensely golden in color and delivers rich aromas of tangerine, citrus, pineapple and green apple. The flavors are in sync and crisp with the notable presence of both orange and peach. The finish on this Chardonnay is exceptionally smooth and balanced, which makes it a wine that is easy to enjoy. This wine will pair nicely with a wide variety of dishes, from homemade peach salsa with chips, to a fresh Pizza Margherita to a simple Caesar salad with a squeeze of fresh lemon. It would be satisfying with Shrimp Scampi topped with a mango and papaya relish. The versatility of this Chardonnay is demonstrated with the ability to pair it with heartier fare such as mini lamb pork chops resting on a bed of creamy corn polenta, infused with a touch of brown butter and sage.

One neat thing about the Leese-Fitch wines is their bottle cap, called a Zork.  ZORK is a revolutionary new wine closure with the convenience of screw cap and the celebration of cork. ZORK is, easy to remove by hand, simple to reseal and is completely recyclable. To open ZORK, pull the tear tab, unwind and remove it. As you pull out the ZORK, you’ll hear it pop. To reseal, push ZORK back in. No corkscrew. No crumbling. No cork taint. No worries.

Head on down to Doozy's this weekend to pick up a bottle (or 2) of these wines. We have them on sale for under $13.00! 

Elicio Blanc Vermintino and Elicio Rouge Grenache-Merlot

Today's wine recommendation comes to you from the South of France. Above we have a video from Wine-street.com discussing the Vermintino (a white wine) from Chateau Elicio - France. 

As described by Wine-Street, this yummy summer white is "100% Vermintino from young vines growing on the southern slopes of the Ventoux region, aged 8 months in stainless steel tanks. Clear golden color with an intense nose of exotic (passion fruit lychee) and white fruits. A very refreshing wine, round on the palate, with sweet pear notes and a touch of citrus followed by a nice acidity. A crisp, light, and flavorful modern white wine that will be a delight with all your summer and light dishes, or by itself."

Also produced by this winery is the Elicio Grenache-Merlot (a 50/50% blend). Here is an entertaining video by Wine of the Month Club describing the delicious flavors and interesting pairings for the Grenache-Merlot by Elicio. It has been described as "a young wine, packed with fresh notes of cherry, strawberry, and raspberry wrapped up in a tornado of intense flavors and soft white and black spices. Round, very fruit forward, this extreme value wine can be enjoyed with your everyday meals or by itself. Elicio, simply delicious!"

To kick things off, allow me to introduce you to Castle Rock Winery from Mendocino County in northern California. Wine Spectator has selected their Pinot Noir as their Wine of the Week this week with 88 points! 

Castle Rock Winery describes the 2011 Pinot Noir with the following: “This elegant and medium-bodied wine has delicate aromas of violet and rose petals, complex flavors and long silky textures, with layers of strawberry and raspberry leading into a long refined finish.”

According to the winery, some great pairings for the Castle Rock, Mendocino Pinot Noir include Italian basil sausage lentil soup with roasted garlic, pureed Dino kale, and sun-dried tomatoes or orange and herb marinated Pork tenderloin on a cedar plank. Pinot Noir is naturally food friendly and versatile. Keep the basic rules in mind, take risks and have fun.

For more information on Pinot Noir Wines, read here.

Let's get this started. I am very excited to share with you some fun and hopefully helpful information on the wines we are carrying at Doozy's and why we think they are special.

Perhaps you may want to know a bit about me first. My name is Jessie Bower. My brother and I own Doozy's together. I have lived and studied for a few years in Europe - pastry school in the Languedoc region of France and Graduate studies at the University of Bologna, Italy, in International Arts and Cultural Heritage Management. I became a professor of Arts Management at the College of Charleston (SC), where I lived off and on for a decade and own a restaurant with a few friends but have returned home to run the store and enjoy being back in Alabama.

I feel lucky that I am able to be involved in the wine and spirits world, as it has always been fascinating (and delicious) to me. I have a deep appreciation for the art of the craft that goes into creating wines, beers, spirits, bitters and so forth.