By Bruce Watson of White Stone Wine & Cheese

The summer of 2010 seems to be loaded with great values in wine.  The worldwide glut of wine has forced most producers to look to second labels or release some excellent wines at prices reduced by as much as 50 per cent.  California has been hit very hard by the surplus of grapes and wine. As a result there are some real deals to be had.

Villa Mt. Eden is releasing some of their older vintages.  It is the 18^th Bonded Winery in California – one of the oldest around – and has been making some very upscale wines for many years.  This Summer they released two wines of interest:

Villa Mt. Eden Grand Reserve Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir 2006 is a classic California Pinot from the Santa Maria Valley.  Aromas of cherry and dried spice with a touch of earthiness and, as typical with a California wine, some cherry flavors wrapped with some of soft tannins make this wine very easy to enjoy. 

Villa Mt. Eden Grand Reserve Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 is an unbelievable wine – rich as you would expect from Napa but the finish is remarkable. 2005 was a great year in California and I have been told by several customers that this was a $40 bottle.  Both of these wines are a great value at $19.99.

From the Kendall Jackson Family of wines comes the Camelot line of California Appellation wines.  Tasting the Chardonnay is wonderful; could it be left over K-J juice? Maybe.  The nose is creamy with toasty oak tones and complex. The taste is fruit-forward apple. Pear and citrus flavors with some great oak enriches the finish. You would expect this wine to cost much more that its $10 price tag.  

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Want advice about buying food locally? Interested in getting some ideas about how to prepare foods in season? You might want to check out the “Local Food Journey” blog. Sponsored by Penn State University, this blog explains the positive impacts of buying local food and also shares fresh, seasonal recipes. You can access the blog at http://wpsu.org/localfoodjourney. If you want to know more, contact Emily Wiley, WPSU Multimedia Producer, by email at emilywiley@psu.edu, or by phone 814-863-5622.

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The second annual Kilmarnock Wine Festival, sponsored by the Lancaster By the Bay Chamber, has tickets now available for sale at the Chamber Office (next to Town Hall), The Pedestal and Foxy in Kilmarnock.    

Included in the price of admission are free wine tasting from vineyards of the Northern Neck Wine Trail, a souvenir wine glass for the first 250 tickets sold and entertainment under the festival tent.

The Wine Festival is being held in conjunction with the Kilmarnock Farmer’s Market on Saturday June 26^th on North Main Street.  The Farmer’s Market begins at 9:00 a.m. and the Wine Festival runs from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

“We are looking forward to coming back to Kilmarnock,” commented Ray Petrie of Belle Mount Vineyards.  “Last year we were surprised at the number of people that came, stayed listening to music while enjoying samples of wine.  The quality of wines made on the Northern Neck was proven by the amount of wine sold during the festival.”

“We are sponsoring this event for people that may have not had an opportunity to visit these vineyards on the Northern Neck Wine Trail.  It is also an opportunity for people to come to Kilmarnock and enjoy a delightful afternoon, tasting wine and enjoying some music,” said Edie Jett, Executive Director of the Lancaster By the Bay Chamber.  Visitors that come before 1:00 p.m. can also stroll through the Kilmarnock Farmer’s Market.”

Kilmarnock’s Mayor Curtis Smith purchasing the first tickets at the Chamber Office.

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Sponsored by Bruce Watson at White Stone Wine & Cheese.

Summer brings much more than warmer temperatures...wines for summer differ from their wintertime brothers.  Today we look at some great newly released wines for the upcoming months of warm weather and sunshine.

Apothic Red. A great blend from California for the summer.  Inspired by the “Apotheca,” a mysterious place where wine was blended and stored in 13th century Europe, Apothic Red offers “A captivating blend of three distinct grapes, with the dark fruit flavors of Syrah, brambly spice of Zinfandel, and smooth elegance of Merlot” according to the winemaker.  And best of all, he was right.  It is perfect for the warm afternoon grilled burger or steak.  Not overpowering, it gives all the best characteristics of a red wine—balance, light tannins and a smooth finish.  $20

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Northern Neck Uncorked

One of Europe's oldest viticultural regions still offers some pleasant surprises. Sicily's oenological history is an ancient one, dating from the time when the island was part of Magna Graecia. One usually associates fine wines with eastern Sicily and the areas near Mount Etna, but many new wineries have sprung up across the island. Sicilian oeniculture is not just varietals. Sicily's vintage wines are a magical creation, and many of the island's traditional wines and spirits are famous far beyond its shores. Several boast denomination of origin (appellation). Sicily has its own table and dessert wines, and a number of regional liqueurs.

Join us and learn about some of the following wines as John Krainock presents the wines of Sicily:

Carricante (Catanese Bianco), Cataratto Bianco, Corinto, Frappato, Gaglioppo, Grecanico (Greco), Grillo, Inzolia, Insolia or Anzolia, Malvasia, Marsala, Moscato, Nerello, Nero D'Avola (called 'Calabrese'), Perricone (Pignatello), Primitivo, and Zibibbo (Moscatellone).

A number of small wineries have emerged in recent years, but in many cases they have been producing wine for decades. In the 1990s, a number of grape producers whose product (grapes, must or wine)formerly supplied the Marsala industry, or was used to fortify weak French or northern Italian wines, began to make their own varietal wines for an increasingly sophisticated consumer market. These wineries now produce some of Sicily's best wines.

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