Thursday, February 3, 2011

"Wine & Spirits Boutique of New Hampshire" Anyone? And Wind Gap Syrah Where Are You?

I have made some friends in the New Hampshire Liquor Stores, and that got me thinking about a statistic I heard today (70% of wine purchases are made by women in food stores). Whether that is so or not I'm not sure, whether it is true to NH is unclear, whether NHLS cares is unknown, but I was reflecting on my own experience with wine purchases, that being my first foray into buying wine began in the food markets (Liquor implied something seedy and unclean), but since I was intent on following my new passion, where was a New Hampshire resident to go? Well, I've since been so impressed, especially with store 33 and its finesse and boutique character that I thought, for marketing purposes, that the NH Liquor ORGANIZATION should consider giving this store, if not others as well, a new suave name: "Wine & Spirits Boutique of New Hampshire" had a nice "Feel" about it to me. I could just see a big sign with
                  "Wine AND Spirits
 Boutique of New Hampshire"
and the familiar NH Liquor Store Logo underneath and inconspicuous as a marketing plus.


Just a thought!

Well, I'm not going to leave without giving a big plus to another wine and where I purchased it:

From Bella Vino, 4 Cobbertts Pond Road in Windham, New Hampshire (Now closed), I picked-up the Wind Gap Castelli Knight Ranch 2007 Syrah.

WOW! This wine needs all the Big Adjectives I could Muster: Massive, Muscular, Meaty, and Macho, come to mind. For me, this wine began with a wine aerator and about a one-third full Cabernet Sauvignon glass. Out came Big aromas of bacon fat (Too strong) and hidden blackberries, especially currant, with plum and fig. All the big aromas, tannins, and flavors, too strong at first, toned down into a wonderful experience that was akin to breaking a wild Mustang.

The Wind Gap Castelli Knight Ranch 2007 Syrah, approximately $45.00, 91 points, developed (revealed) layer upon layer of character and depth over four days (A first for me). This wine needs to be decanted, and I've been told will bottle well for ten years.

The only other wine I can compare this with is the slightly more floral 2006 Two Hands Lily's Garden, but in the end they are two different animals. However, I think if you like the one, you'll like the other.


Oh, Spanish wines part two will be coming, and Zinfandel is never off my mind; I've recently purchased some very interesting new Zinfandel wines and can't wait to get to them.


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