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The 2008 Selection Limited Edition series features a limited number
of five outstanding wine kit varieties.
These 16-liter kits come complete with additives and instructions and include a package
of 30 labels inside the box. Every year from January to April, Winexpert releases one wine per month (in January there’s
two) that is only available for that one month. Due to the popularity of these wines and
their limited availability, sales must be made on a reservation basis.
All wine kits come complete with yeast, clarifiers, stabilizers,
oak and other flavor additives appropriate for the style of wine.
The Region: Chile is one of the oldest 'new world' winegrowing
regions, with its first vintage planted by the Spanish in the 16th century.
Winexpert's Carmenère comes from the Maipo Valley, chile's most famous growing
area located just south of the capital of Santiago.
The Wine: Similar to Merlot, Carmenère is a synonym for
brilliant red, 'carmine'. Blended with the King of red grapes, Cabernet
Sauvignon, it produces exceptionally powerful, rich red wines of great length
and structure. Deep crimson red color with luscious fruit aromas of plums
and blueberry, a touch of chocolate and hints of coffee and toasty oak. On
the palate, notes of red fruit, dark plums, damsons and spice, generously framed
by toasty oak with a soft and well structured mouthfilling texture, velvety on
the tongue with very supple tannins.
The Food: Excellent with lighter meat dishes or sausages,
smoked meats, liver pates and is brilliant with roast duck.
Robust, tannic and structured in its youth, this wine will
require at least a year to open up and show its rich red fruit, and after two to
three years will beguile with its smokey, velvety finish and spicy berry
flavors.
Sweetness Code: 0 (dry)
| WK2812 |
Chilean Carmenère/Cabernet
Sauvignon |
The Region: Australia's vast Riverland region produces nearly
20% of all the country's wine. The warm climate and rich sandy loam soils
could produce higher yields, but artisan grape growers remove half the fruit at
budburst and limit irrigation. With smaller number of berries and
water-stressed vines, the resultant grapes, like those used in our Australian
Riesling, display highly concentrated flavor, aroma and body.
The Wine: Medium bodied, crisp and refreshing, with aromas
of white fruits, juicy apple, and the perfume of spring blossoms. It's
wonderfully drinkable, but still shows depth of flavor with minerals and a
bracing backbone of acidity and structure. The main difference between a
German and an Australian Riesling is that Australian Riesling tends to be drier.
The Australian version exhibits the characteristics of the grape that we expect:
the perfume, the complexity and the zest.
The Food: Riesling holds it's own in food pairing like no
other white wine, especially with savory dishes or fruit - roast pork loin
stuffed with apricots is a delightful pairing.
While crisply fresh and bright when young, it will develop more
of its floral/mineral aromas after six months, and after a year will begin to
show honey and citrus notes, and continue to deepen in flavor after two years or
more.
Sweetness Code: 0 (dry)
| WK2813 |
Australian Riesling |
The Region: The Sicilian climate has long hot summers, plenty of
sunshine and mild winters, with just enough rainfall to keep the vines strong.
Avola is a village in South Eastern Sicily, where Nero d’Avola evolved through
selection by vine growers centuries ago, and has spread throughout the island.
The Wine: Sicilian winemakers often treat Nero d’Avola like
Shiraz, which is why the two blend so well together. It has the classic Shiraz
notes of blueberry, blackberry and dark fruits, with a delightful scent of rose,
cherry and herbs. This dark-garnet wine shows ripe, berrylike fruit aromas lent
complexity by hints of toast and smoke. Warm and plumy with a touch of raisins
and a hint of almonds in the flavor, there’s sufficient acidity to give it
structure, but the overall impression is soft as velvet.
The Food: A great choice for lamb chops; rare meat rounds out
the wine. Also good with barbecued ribs, filet mignon, classic pan-fried pork
chops and Roquefort cheese.
While this is a wine that will age well for years, the exuberant
fruit will beckon you for early drinking. If you do succumb, put a bottle aside
for the future, but you won’t go wrong by drinking it after six months to a
year.
Sweetness Code: 0 (dry)
| WK2814 |
Sicilian Nero d'Avola/Shiraz |
The Region: The Pacific Coast of North America has
micro-climates that match those of the blazing sunshine of the
Mediterranean to the crisp mountain air of the upper Rhine. With so
much range and variety, there is a perfect terroir for almost any
grape you can name.
The Wine: This wine showcases bright fruit, excellent structure
and a long finish. Vidal from British Columbia gives spiciness and stone fruit.
Chenin Blanc from California gives a wonderful melony-honeyed aroma with hints
of apple. Gewürztraminer from Washington contributes lychee, rose petals and
floral notes, and Muscat from Australia’s Murray-Darling Valley gives wonderful
grapey notes with dried fruit and hints of orange peel.
The Food: This wine has a range of fruit character and enough
acidity to stand up to a wide range of foods, particularly spicy and savory
dishes, including Thai cuisine, grilled fish, herbed roast chicken or barbecued
salmon.
Although delicious right on bottling day, drinking it early
would prevent it from showing it’s best—after six months the Muscat and Vidal
will dominate with spicy/grapey notes, after a year the Chenin Blanc’s honey and
melon will come out, and at 18 months to two years the Gewürztraminer will show
a perfumed floweriness and lush structure.
Sweetness Code: 1 (off dry)
The Region: Italy’s long, narrow peninsula reaches deep into the
Mediterranean, basking in the relentless sunshine and welcoming warmth. Gentle
sloping hillsides, rich mineral soils, the moderating breezes off of the
Mediterranean waters and unique grape varieties work to make wonderful wines.
The Wine: Brunello is a large-berried variety of the Sangiovese
grape, most famous in Brunello di Montalcino. Italy’s hot, dry climate allows
Brunello to thrive, displaying great varietal character and intensity. The
flavor profile of Sangiovese is fruity, with strong natural acidity, a firm and
elegant to assertiveness and a robust finish that can extend surprisingly long.
The aroma is generally subtle, with cherry, strawberry, blueberry, and violet
notes.
The Food: Brunello shines in the company of assertively flavored
foods. Hard cheeses such as Asia go and Parmigiano Reggiano are splendid
accompaniments and the wines backbone of acids and tannins make it work well
with rich and spicy foods like Italian sausages or lasagna.
Medium-bodied but boldly tannic and intense, this gripping wine
will begin to open up after six months, but the richer flavors will take at
least 18 months to show, with cherry and spice dominating the long, fruity
finish.
Sweetness Code: 0.
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