Join Us for a Fabulous Evening with Wine
You're invited
to our "Evening in Washington Wine Country," an elegant and fun
celebration we're planning, in conjunction with The View restaurant and
Chateau Ste Michelle winery.
On Thursday,
September 29, starting at 6:30 pm, you can enjoy a gourmet five-course
dinner prepared by The View's chef, paired with wines from Chateau Ste
Michelle winery. (See our feature article below to learn why Chateau
Ste Michelle captured our interest, and what the company is doing to
promote Washington state wines.)
You can also
meet representatives from the winery and hopefully win one of the fabulous
door prizes that will be offered that evening. Cost is $70 per
person (compare to $85 or more for other wine dinners). Seating is limited,
so call today to reserve your ticket
for this great event!
Mark
Your Calendars - Bordeaux Celebration
We are planning
another great evening with the wines of Bordeaux, for Thursday, October
20. This year, the format will be a bit different, as a sit-down
event featuring a variety of Bordeaux wines paired with hors
d'oeuvres at The View restaurant. Mark your calendars now, and keep
watch in future newsletters for details!
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In this issue:
Feature: Chateau Ste Michelle
Upcoming Events:
The View: Aug 30
Weekend Tastings
Ladies Night Out, Sept
12
Store Hours
Legal Notice on Ordering Wine
Patrick Fegan's
"Wine School"
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Feature Article
Chateau Ste Michelle: Helping to Define Washington State Wines
Our goal at Wine
Expressions is to offer exceptional wines at affordable prices. We often
find smaller, “boutique” wineries with names you might not recognize. In
general, we leave the mass-producers to the mass-retailers, but that
doesn’t mean we’re not paying attention to the big boys, too.
It
can be just as satisfying to discover a beautifully-crafted, well-priced
wine from a big winery as from a small one. Discovering a lot of
beautifully-crafted, well priced wines coming out of a big winery is an
event worth noting. And when that big winery is setting the pace for a
legion of up-and-comers in its wake, then we think it’s worth talking
about.
Ste.
Michelle Wine Estates personifies Washington’s wine industry. It’s a huge
producer, accounting for nearly 50% of the state’s entire output of wine
in 2004, and practically ancient (by local standards), with roots that go
back to the 1930s. Two of its three wineries, Columbia Crest and Chateau
Ste. Michelle, rank first and second in the state in wine production. A
third, Snoqualmie, is not far behind. Other Washington siblings include
Northstar, Red Diamond, Stimson Lane Vineyards & Estates and Domaine Ste.
Michelle. Conn Creek and Villa Mt. Eden in Napa Valley complete the
family. What makes this company interesting, though, is not the number of
bottles it cranks out in a year, but the consistently high quality of
what’s inside a good number of those bottles, and the vision that’s
driving its success.
Winemaking in Washington is evolving at an exciting pace. Grape farming is
giving way to viticulture, with increasingly sophisticated strategies for
crop placement, vineyard management and irrigation tailored to specific
varietals. Vinification is becoming more sophisticated as well, and
Washington’s wine industry is finding its own light, out of the shadow of
California.
Carrying the torch for this procession is Ste. Michelle Wine Estates CEO
and President Ted Baseler, a practical idealist and tireless champion of
the concept of Washington wine as a marketable “brand." He considers it
his personal mission to develop his Ste. Michelle Wine Estates (known as
Stimson Lane Vineyards & Estates until June 2004) into a producer of
world-class wines. Better yet, he’s eager to include any or all of the
state’s 200-odd small wineries that want to come along for the ride.
Baseler views Washington’s winemaking industry as one team working toward
a common goal. To that end he’s shown a willingness to share the results
of his estate’s research and development with his neighboring
winemakers. As a consequence, the overall quality of Washington wines is
improving by quantum leaps.
Under Baseler‘s leadership, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates has consistently
produced award-winning wines offered at a fraction of the price of
comparable offerings from California. Baseler, an early advocate of
“earth-friendly” viticulture and an enthusiastic innovator, is constantly
tweaking and fine-tuning the winemaking process at his estates. The result
has been a steady elevation of the quality bar, especially with the Single
Vineyard and Reserve wines. Two to try are Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Cold
Creek Single Vineyard Chardonnay and Cold Creek Cabernet Sauvignon, from
one of the oldest vineyards in the state. Like 90% of Washington’s
vineyards, Cold Creek is located in the arid Columbia Valley, east of the
Cascade Mountains. With its meager soil and some of the lowest rainfall
levels in the valley, the yields from Cold Creek’s vines are deliberately
kept low so that the flavor of the grapes is concentrated. The wines are
“old world” in style, crafted to express their terroir, with
delicate tropical notes in the Chardonnay and rich fruit and cassis
dominating the Cabernet Sauvignon.
In
contrast, CSM’s “Ethos” Reserve wines are produced in a more “new world”
style, using no more than 1% of the vintage in lots personally chosen by
the winemaker to fully express the personality of the grapes.
Baseler has also ventured well beyond his own backyard in his quest to
broaden Washington’s winemaking horizons, collaborating with noted
European vintners to produce some spectacular wines. Col Solare, a joint
venture with Italy’s Piero Antinori, debuted its 1996 release in 1999 to
rave reviews and high ratings (Wine Spectator awarded it 92 points and a
“highly recommended” notation). Poised to compete with California’s top
Cabernets, Col Solare is a sleek, stylish blend (the 2001 includes
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec), elegant and generous, with a long
finish.
A
year later, a similar collaboration between Chateau Ste. Michelle and
Germany’s Dr. Ernst Loosen produced 2600 cases of the gorgeous Eroica
Riesling, earning 90-91 points from Wine Spectator and a spot on the “Top
100 Wines of the Year” every year since its release. 2003 saw 18,000 cases
of Eroica released, still gorgeous, still affordable.
It
appears that Ste. Michelle Estates will continue to define and defy
expectations for Washington winemaking for some time. It’s an interesting
company to watch, and a lovely winery to visit (there really is a
“chateau”). If you aren’t traveling to Woodinville, Washington anytime
soon, we invite you to join us at the View Restaurant on Thursday,
September 29, for An Evening in Washington Wine Country. We’ll be
featuring the wines from Chateau Ste Michelle, paired with a gourmet
five-course dinner. You’ll get to meet representatives from the winery,
enjoy a fantastic evening, learn more about Washington wine country, and
possibly win some great door prizes.
We
hope to see you there!
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Patrick Fegan's Chicago Wine School has posted its five-week course
offerings for the fall: his "Basics" course, which provides a solid
foundation of wine knowledge; a "Varietals" course that picks up where
"Basics" ends, and covers about 30 different grape varietals; and a
seminar on France.
Mr. Fegan is a world-renowned wine scholar, who has been teaching about
wine for more than 30 years. Visit his website for details or to
register:
www.wineschool.com
Store Location
We are located in downtown Lisle at the southwest corner of Burlington
Ave. & Main St.
Extra parking is available behind our building.
Hours of Operation
Mon - Sat 10 am - 8 pm
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About
Our Mailing List
The mailing list for this newsletter was gleaned from the personal email
archives of Wine Expressions' owners and from direct requests received
from our customers.
We hope you enjoy the newsletter and decide to remain on our distribution
list. You are welcome to pass this newsletter along to a friend, or
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unsubscribe
to be removed from our lists.
By the way, we never share your email or address information with anyone
else.
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Schedule
of Events
Prairie Sampling:
Friday, Sept 2 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, Sept 3 1 - 6:30: American Wine Celebration
Friday, Sept 9 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, Sept 10 1 - 6:30: Wines from Washington
Also on Saturday: Riedel stemware demonstration: Syrah/Shiraz
Friday, Sept 16 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, Sept 17 1 - 6:30: Wines from the Piedmont
Friday, Sept 23 4 - 6:30 &
Saturday, Sept 24 1 - 6:30: BEER - English Micro-Brews
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Recent Wine Club Wines
Take a look at some of the recent selections from our
monthly Prairie Wine Club.
Join our wine club today to get first choice on the "best of the best"
that we can find, plus additional in-store discounts!
* 2002 Puerta Palma
Red Wine (Spain) rated 86 points by Wine Spectator
* 2004 Kim Crawford
Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand) rated 91 points by Wine Spectator |
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Aug 30
Tasting at The View: Keepers for Your Cellar
Come join us at The View restaurant in Lisle on Tuesday, August 30, as we
present a selection of wines that are built to last. They taste great now,
and they'll age well if properly stored. You'll also learn about the
qualities in wine that make for good ageing candidates, and proper storage
conditions for wine.
We'll sample six wines, paired with great appetizers from The View's chef.
The View is located in Lisle, at the Riverbend Golf Course, 5900 Hwy 53.
Our tasting begins at 7 pm. Cost is $25 per person. Call The
View to register, 630-968-1920. (back to top)
Ladies Night Out: Sept 12
- Charm School
For our September Ladies Night Out event, we'll welcome a guest presenter
who will demonstrate making wine glass charms. Come and learn some
great techniques for making charms, that are great for yourself or can be
given as gifts. Kits for making additional charms will be available for
purchase that evening.
As always, our event includes a fabulous selection of wines for tasting,
paired with hors d'oeuvres.
Cost is $25 per person. Please register by Thursday, Sept. 8.
Ladies Night Out: Charm School
Monday, Sept 12, 7:30 pm
$25 per person
Call for Reservations: 630.435.9463
or 888.656.9463
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* 2000 Chianti
Classico Riserva (Italy) rated 91 points by Wine Spectator
* 1999 Proprietary Red
Wine blend from Prieure de St Jean de Bebian (France) rated 88 points by
Robert Parker
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Legal Notice
on Ordering Wine
You must be 21 years of age or older to order any alcoholic beverage.
By law, we are allowed to ship wine to the following
states: Arkansas, District of Columbia, California,
Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota,
Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota,
Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and
Wyoming.
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