Spirits Weekly Wine Webinar

By SOMDATTA SENGUPTA

Spirits Unlimited Middletown is bringing to you a new feature starting this week: the Spirits Weekly Wine Webinar.



Each week, one of the wine experts from Spirits Unlimited Middletown will share with you their insight about a wine or wines that they think stands out from competition.



This week Rick Allocca, the local wine expert and assistant manager at the Middletown store, shares his opinion on the Michel Torino Cuma Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec.



Both are organic wines from the Cafayate Valley in Argentina. According to the El Esteco Bodega, the winery was founded in 1892 when two French brothers David and Salvador plated their first vines. It is said that the local climate of the Cafayate Valley and beauty of the landscape is very conducive to quality grapes cultivation.



The bodega, situated at the heart of the Salta Province in Argentina, is a very modern winery, which started producing organic wines in the early 90s.

According to wine importer Frederick Wildman and Sons, Ltd., the Michel Torino line of wines is representative of pure, clean environment. Essentially, Cuma means “clean and pure” in the language of the Aymara, who occupied the lofty elevations of northern Argentina before the Incas and have long since migrated throughout South America’s Altiplano, or high plains, the official El Esteco Web site states.



The 2007 Cuma Cabernet Sauvignon (750 ml) selling at $12.99 at Spirits Unlimited Middletown has dark ruby-red color with purple highlights, Rick said. It has hints of spice, dark berries and black currants on the nose with a touch of red pepper and black olives. It has huge ripe fruit notes on the palate giving way to an elegant long finish.



The Cuma Cabernet Sauvignon is an excellent wine to serve in good company.











The 2007 Cuma Malbec (750 ml) priced at $8.99 per bottle is red-violet in color with aromas of rosemary, raisin, vanilla and plum jam, Rick said. It has ripe fruit palate, a combination of raisins and dates, with sweet yet soft tannins and a long finish with hints of spice and nuts. 



The Cuma Malbec is an excellent everyday wine to enjoy with hearty meals and comfort food.

Both wines are located in aisle 4a in our Organic Wines section.

New wines from Argentina at Spirits Unlimited Middletown

By SOMDATTA SENGUPTA

Spirits Unlimited Middletown welcomed two wine specialists from Argentina on Friday, September 25 to sample three Argentine wines — Sangre De Vina Torrontes, Sangre De Vina Malbec and El Guardado Syrah. Notably, these three wines are featured in the 25% Case Discount Corner at the Middletown store.

From 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. Laura E. Ciacera and Miguel Cano shared their insight about the vineyards of San Juan area, the wines they were introducing and answered questions.

Ciacera, one of the owners and sales and marketing director of La Guarda vineyards, Argentina, explained how the San Juan area is working to produce some of the more interesting whites and reds that are appearing in American liquor stores at the moment.





Cano, president of Don Cano Wines Import Corp. in the New York/New Jersey region, is a wine producer from the up-and-coming San Juan region as well. He said the altitude and soil of the San Juan area help craft the complex wines that he was sampling at the store.


Overall, these wines are great buys, according to Rick Allocca, the local wine expert at the store.

The new 25% Case Discount Corner at Spirits Middletown

By SOMDATTA SENGUPTA

Store Manager Ray Kimble and Manager of Liquor Operations Stuart Keats have brought to you another great offering from Spirits Unlimited Middletown.

It's the new 25% Case Discount Corner offering great wines from Agrentina, Spain and Italy. These include three from Agrentina — the Sangre De Vina line featuring torrontes and malbec and an El Guardado syrah. The Italian wines include the Saladini Pilastri Falerio and the Vasari Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The Spanish red is the much talked about Viña Borgia old vine grenache from the Campo de Borja region.

Vina Borgia: The Vina Borgia Grenache from Spain comes from the Campo de Borja region that lies between the plains of the river Ebro and the mountains of the Sistema Iberico. The color is ruby-purple, with lots of fruit aromas, deep color, a little bit of smoke and has a pepper finish. It's all stainless steel, no oak. A great wine for making sangria.

It goes well with pasta, chicken and anything that's spicy.

Price per bottle: $6.99
25% Case (12 bottles) Discount price including tax: $63.73


Saladini Pilastri Falerio: A medium bodied white wine from Italy that goes very well with fish and seafood. It is from the Spinetoli region of Italy which has gravelly soil. The grape varieties used in the wine include Trebbiano, Passerina and Chardonnay. The vineyards are grown using biological farming systems, according to the official Web site. Saladini Pilastri, has been making organic wine since 1995, says snooth.com and this white wine is lemon oil and fennel-scented, and is crisp, dry, intriguing and compelling.

Price per bottle: $8.99
25% Case (12 bottles) Discount price including tax: $86.52



Vasari Montepulciano d’Abruzzo: It has incredible amounts of forward fruit according to WineExpress.com. It has intense color, the nose has a rich black cherry and hints of cedar. Great with pasta.

Price per bottle: $8.99
25% Case (12 bottles) Discount price including tax: $86.52





El Guardado Syrah: This is a new line of Argentine wines that Spirits Unlimited Middletown is introducing at the store this fall. According to Rick Allocca, the local wine consultant at the Middletown store, the El Guardado syrah really delivers. Coming from the San Juan area of Argentina, this wine is ruby-red in color and exhibits aromas of leather, graphite, dry fruits and plum, Rick said. It is dry on the mid-palate with a long graceful finish, fine tannic structure and hints of smokiness, according to him. The wines goes well with grilled meats as well as veggies, but it is excellent with beef stew, Rick said.

Price per bottle: $10.99
25% Case (12 bottles) Discount price including tax: $105.84


Sangre De Vina Torrontes: This is a very crisp and light wine, according to Rick, the local wine consultant at the Middletown Spirits Unlimited store. It has floral overtures but is not sweet like the riesling. Rick ranks this wine high on texture, acidity, fruit. Overall, a great drinking wine all year long, he said.

Price per bottle: $8.99
25% Case (12 bottles) Discount price including tax: $86.52





Sangre De Vina Malbec: This wine is rich in color with spice notes to it, Rick said. It has good tannins and fruit characteristics with blackberry and dark cherry. It is another all-year drinking wine, he said, and goes great with barbecue.

Price per bottle: $8.99
25% Case (12 bottles) Discount price including tax: $86.52

Wines and cooking made easy with Spirits Middletown

By SOMDATTA SENGUPTA

Use your imagination and let your creative instincts take over. That's all you need to win this recipe contest organized by Spirits unlimited Middletown.

Chef James Conroy is here again to point out to you how easy and simple it can be.

Just take a moment to look around you and figure out what's in season. Then combine the freshest ingredients with quality wines and produce unique flavors in your own kitchen.

And send us your recipe at spiritsmiddletown@gmail.com.

Be inspired. Join our recipe contest for some Fall fun this season.

On Sale: A liqueur that dates back 300 years

By SOMDATTA SENGUPTA

It was first made by monks in the Piedmont region of northern Italy about 300 years ago, according to the official Frangelico Web site.

In the Piedmont hills where wild hazelnuts were abundant, the monks used their skills at distillation to produce one of the world’s finest hazelnut liqueur. The modern Frangelico carries on that tradition in looks, presentation and quality.

The name is reportedly an abbreviation of Fra. Angelico, a hermit monk believed to have inhabited the magnificent Piedmont hills during the 17th century, according to the Web site.

Spirits Unlimited sale price: $19:99 (750 ml)

The liqueur is produced through a four-stage distillation process. After the hazelnuts are shelled, toasted and crushed they are then infused in a solution of alcohol and water. Next, the infusion is distilled to produce a natural hazelnut distillate. In the following step, a number of natural extracts including cocoa and vanilla are blended with the hazelnut infusion and hazelnut distillate to create the Frangelico concentrate. Finally, the concentrate is blended with pure alcohol, sugar and water to achieve the required bottling strength. It is then laid down in vats for 6-8 weeks to allow the blend to marry together and mellow.

Produced with such care the resulting liqueur tastes of toasted hazelnuts combined with cocoa, vanilla berries and a host of other natural extracts that make up its complex flavor.
The color is pale gold, the smell has intense hazelnut aromas in it, while on the palate it makes it mark with pronounced but delicate hazelnut flavor and hints of vanilla and dark chocolate. Smooth, long finish with fragrant back-note, the Web site says.

Try this over ice, in coffee or in cocktails.

For more information visit: www.frangelico.com.

Spirits Unlimited sale price: $19:99 (750 ml)

Join the recipe contest now!!!!

WHAT

OUR FIRST EVER RECIPE CONTEST

HOW

1. Come up with an original or altered recipe

2. Recipe MUST contain some use of wine, beer, liquor or fine spirits

3. E-mail your recipe to spiritsmiddletown@gmail.com by September 30th

WHO
Recipes will be judged by

JAMES CONROY, EXECUTIVE CHEF of Food Circus

WIN
Nintendo Wii
Beach Cruiser
and many more prizes

Getting in the mood for Oktoberfest with Fall beers

By SOMDATTA SENGUPTA

No one can beat Germans in celebrating Fall. As the first dew drops of the season sparkle in Autumn sunlight, the mood is set for Oktoberfest and Fall beers. In Munich, the countdown is on.

Historically, Oktoberfest originated in Germany and is celebrated as a 16-day festival each year, according to Wikipedia. In 1994, the schedule was modified in response to German reunification so that if the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or 2nd, then the festival will go on until October 3 German Unity Day. Thus, the festival is now 17 days when the first Sunday is October 2 and 18 days when it is October 1. The festival is held on an area named the Theresienwiese (field, or meadow, of Therese), often called d’ Wiesn for short.

Traditional festival fare includes Hendl (chicken), Schweinsbraten (roast pork), Haxn (knuckle of pork), Steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), Würstel (sausages) along with Brezel (Pretzel), Knödeln (potato or bread dumplings), Käsespätzle (cheese noodles), Reiberdatschi (potato pancakes), Sauerkraut or Blaukraut (red cabbage) along with such Bavarian delicacies as Obatzda (a fatty, spiced cheese-butter concoction) and Weisswurst (a white sausage), according to Wikipedia.

The festival is usually celebrated during late September and early October. This year the 176 Munich Oktoberfest will be held from September 19 to October 4, according to the official festival site.


Reportedly, it is claimed to be world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year, Wikipedia reports. In a news release, this year’s special attractions are listed as the brand new The Tower.

Designed by Charles Blume, The Tower is like a big playground with a numerous spectacles inside. One can feel the forces of nature as one will see a volcano erupt and get the feel of space travel with special 3-D glasses.

The Tower also has traditional elements like spinning wheels and rocking conveyor-belts. However, the most notable feature of The Tower is the view of the festival and the city of Munich from the top.

The next fun ride is billed as the Silberturm, that is also a tower but smaller, which one usually rides up on the side, according to the news release. The trip includes experiences ominously named as Free Fall or Jumping Effect.

If you are not planning to travel to Munich this fall, then just a short trip to the Spirits Unlimited store in Middletown will get you there virtually.

Our huge selection of Fall beers is easy to spot and will be brought to you online through this blog. Today, our feature beer is the Spaten Oktoberfest Beer, which was created in 1872.

It is the world's first Oktoberfest beer, the company claims, and was brewed for the greatest folk festival in the world. It is amber in color, medium-bodied, and its flavor is achieved by balancing the roasted malt flavor with the perfect amount of hops. It has a rich textured palate with an underlying sweetness which is true to tradition, according to the brewing company.

For more information, questions or your comments, write to us at

spiritsmiddletown@gmail.com

or visit our blog at

http://spiritsmiddletown.blogspot.com

Image Sources for this article http://www.oktoberfest.de/en and http://spatenusa.com/6_what_new/6_3_promotions/index.htm