The PRIMA Vini VINE Monday, October 28th
The PRIMA Vini VINE
Monday, October 28th
PRIMA Vini Dublin- 6890 Village Parkway,
Dublin, CA 94568, 925-945-1800
Mondays, 10- 5, Tuesday through Saturday, 10–6,
Friday Nights Until 8 PM
SPECIAL Holiday Hours
NOW OPEN SUNDAYS, Noon-4pm!
Open 24-7 at www.primavini.com
A Champagne for Every Palate
Whenever people ask me what my favorite wine is, I always say Champagne. If I could only drink one type of wine for the rest of my life, it would be Champagne and if I were to retire to a deserted isle and could only choose one type of wine to bring along, it would absolutely have to be Champagne. I know that sounds like a broken record but it’s one of the very few things in life that I’m certain about.
While this might be old news to seasoned Champagne lovers, I would like to remind you that there are many styles of Champagne other than the basic non-vintage Brut cuvee that represents the majority of most Champagne house’s production. Whatever style you prefer or depending on your mood, you have the following options when choosing a good bottle of bubbly:
Brut Nature: sometimes referred to as ‘non-dosage’ or ‘zero dosage’
Extra Brut: Another very dry style
Brut: a broader range of fruit levels but still on the dry side
Extra Dry: definitely starting to taste the fruitiness
Demi-Sec: more appropriate with dessert
Doux: very sweet and seldom seen in the marketplace
Rosé: pink color derived from the addition of still red wine or skin contact with the red grapes
Blanc de Blancs: typically dry, made from all white grapes, i.e. primarily Chardonnay but may also include Pinot Blanc, Arbane, Petit Meslier
Blanc de Noirs: dry style of Champagne made from only black-skinned grape varieties Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier
Vintage-dated: while the majority of Champagne is non-vintage, these wines are made from a single vintage year or, at least, 85% from the vintage stated on the label.
Multi-vintage: some producers, notably Champagne Krug with their Grand Cuvée bottling, choose to describe their non-vintage wines as “multi-vintage”
Tête de Cuvée: this is more of a marketing term rather than a Champagne style but it connotes the very best cuvée of the ‘house’, typically a vintage-dated bottling from highly ranked vineyards, extra age, limited production and/or unique production methods.
As you can see, buying a bottle of Champagne involves more than a brand name or price point. The savvy buyer has seemingly unlimited options when shopping for bubbles in a well-stocked wine merchant. I encourage you to explore all these options and decide for yourself the style of Champagne that best suits your palate. In any event, you’ll have tons of fun exploring the complex, delicious and fascinating world of Champagne. Which segues nicely into our announcement below. What better opportunity is there than attending our 37th Annual Champagne Extravaganza? See you there! Frank
ON THE PRIMA Vini Calendar
Saturday, December 7th-
PRIMA’s 37th Annual Champagne Extravaganza
The highlight of PRIMA’s social calendar is not that far off!
Mark your calendars and use the link below to purchase your tickets
- Sit-Down Seminar entitled ‘Champagne- ' The Elements of Style’
focused on the amazing diversity of Champagne with a panel of experts and six fabulous Champagnes
12 PM- 1 PM, Limited to 18 attendees
$125 per attendee, plus tax (includes access to Grand Tasting)
https://primavini.com/sit-down-seminar-primas-37th-annual-champagne-extravaganza-entitled-champagne-the-elements-of-style/
Can’t make it in person? The seminar will be available on Zoom (includes seminar wines). E-mail frank@primavini.com for more information
- PRIMA’s Famous Walk-Around Grand Tasting
1:30 - 3:30 pm
Bubbles as far as the eye can see and, of course, great nibbles too.
$75 per attendee, plus tax
https://primavini.com/walk-around-grand-tasting-primas-37th-annual-champagne-extravaganza/
ANY TIME WE’RE OPEN
COME SEE WHAT WE’RE POURING IN THE PRIMA Vini
WINE BAR!
We change the wines we pour by the glass week frequently so there’s always something interesting and fun open. Or pick a bottle up off our shelf, wine fridge or Enoteca! If it’s under $50 on the shelf, there’s only a $15 corkage and if it’s over $50, hey, we’ll waive it! Or do what the ‘Back to School Moms’ did last week and bring your own group, a bunch of your favorite fixins’ from one of our fine local restaurants and take over the place! And, coming soon, the East Bay’s first Italian Pizza Vending Machine. Whaaaaat?
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Wine of the Week
2023 Jadix Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc
– Regular Price: $18.99 –
Special Price: $16.99
I don’t know about you but I’m loving lower alcohol wines more and more these days because they’re so easy to drink, either on their own or with the lighter foods of the season. Picpoul de Pinet, from southern France, overlooking the Mediterranean, is a perfect example of the lively, bright, fresh and crisp wine that comes out of this popular appellation. Enticing citrus fruit aroma with nuances of spring flowers, ripe pears and crushed minerals; I recommend that you stock up for the upcoming holiday festivities. Hey, it’s cheaper than a trip to the French Riviera.
2022 Jim Barry Lodge Hill Riesling, Clare Valley
Regular Price $32, Specials Price Either/Or $21.99
or 12 bottles or more for only $240/$20 a bottle.
2017 Jim Barry Lodge Hill Shiraz, Clare Valley
Regular Price $32, Specials Price Either/Or $21.99
or 12 bottles or more for only $240/$20 a bottle.
Been a while since we’ve had some good ol’ fashioned Aussie treasures to trumpet but Jim Barry’s Jane Ferrari’s visit last Friday gave us a chance to sink our noses into two truly wonderful values from the Clare Valley. This venerable producer purchased these old vines in the coolest eastern side of the valley back in 1977 and have been producing these under-the-radar gems ever since. The Riesling is classic Clare- from vines at 480 meters, it’s a beautiful spot; absolutely perfect for this late-ripening, difficult to master variety. Gorgeous Riesling peach pit and spice aromatics, bone dry and scintillatingly bright and exciting, this reminded more than one taster of the Grossets’ Watervale or Polish Hill Rieslings from nearby, just at under half the price! Drink now in the backyard all by itself or pair it with all sorts of fare. I bet if you lost a few bottles for a few years in the back of the cellar, it wouldn’t be a crime either. Such a good wine and the tasters last Friday all voted with their pocketbooks too! But wait! Isn’t Jim Barry better-known for their wonderful Shirazes and Cabs? Oh, yeah! The Barrys planted Shiraz in the same range of vineyards as the Riesling and have produced one of the best cooler climate versions of Clare Shiraz we’ve tasted in a while! Dark and earthy with a gorgeous mélange of black raspberry, mulberry, potpourri, melted tar and mineral on the nose, it’s not too big but not at all light either. It’s juuuuuust right! Lovers of Aussie Shiraz will find an awful lot to relate to here as will those whose jam is more the Northern Rhone Valley. Best of all? The price! Seriously. This drinks with a lot of the Aussie Big Boys at a fraction of the price. Both are very highly recommended. Not only by Jane…….
2021 Giacomo Bologna-Braida Barbera d’Asti DOCG ‘Montebruna’
Regular Price $35, Special Price $29.99
It must have been tough for the irrepressible Giacomo Bologna back in those early days trying to sell Barbera. It was a grape variety that sort of fell into the netherworld between the ubiquitous Dolcetto, the cheap wine that everyone drank everyday and Nebbiolo, the glamourous one everyone wanted. But, dammit, Barbera was just meant to grow in the hills he farmed in the iron-rich arid Monferrato region near Asti. Every year his old vines produced grapes that were intensely flavored, richly textured and built to last. Could he help it if no one wanted them? Well, the thing is what goes around, comes around, and Barbera, once the source solely of local pride, is now the most widely planted and most popular grape in the region and it sells like hotcakes! Why not? A good Barbera has tons of character: deeply fruited, immediately accessible and always, no matter how ripe it gets, with plenty of life-giving acidity. And if there’s one better for the money than Bologna’s Montebruna, we’ve not tasted it. Alas, Giacomo did not live long enough to see his vision for Barbera’s success come to fruition (as it were), but his legacy lives on through the efforts of his daughter Raffaella, her brother Giuseppe and her German husband Norbert Reinisch who have not only kept the flame alive but nourished it. The name Braida (Giacomo’s longtime nickname) is now synonymous with Asti Barbera and Montebruna, the name given to the conglomeration of vineyards Giacoma assembled in Rocchetta Tanaro, is the standard bearer for the region. Don’t let its relatively modest price confuse you, this is some smoking good Barbera that, as one reviewer wrote ‘is an ecstatic wine that leaps from the glass with the speed of an Olympic sprinter.’ Hyperbole? Perhaps a bit. But I do know that your red sauced pizzas and pastas, risottos and even burgers from the grill will thank you over and over again when paired alongside this dark, dusky, deeply fruited Barbera. And your pocketbook won’t mind either!
2018 Hanna Winery Zinfandel, Sonoma County
Regular Price $42.00,
Our Crazy Good Deal: $24.99
with shipping Included on 6 bottles or more
Frank Rothstein, PRIMA’s ‘Minister of Value’ has uncovered a particularly exciting deal on this delicious old school Zinfandel from the Hanna Winery, located in the picturesque Alexander Valley of Sonoma County. Hanna Winery, established by Dr. Elias Hanna in 1985 and now managed by his daughter, Christine, made the wise decision years ago to concentrate on developing the best estate vineyards in the rocky hills that surround their winery and hospitality center. They also had the foresight to hire a very talented and progressive winemaker, Jeff Hinchcliffe, who developed and advanced sustainable practices (now certified) throughout the entire winemaking process. Over the years, Hanna has grown in size, now owning 600 acres, of which 230 acres are planted to vines, in appellations that include Alexander Valley, Bradford Mountain in Dry Creek Valley, their Home Vineyard in Russian River Valley and the Moon Mountain AVA in Sonoma Valley. Their reputation has also grown, beginning with their award-winning Sauvignon Blanc and now producing excellent, terroir-driven Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and other reds. For us, though, it was always their SB and Zin that we loved the most. The 2018 Hanna Zinfandel, Sonoma County, is sourced from six separate and distinct blocks all on mature vines. The winery style has always been to create a brighter style of Zin; one with forward fruit, supple texture and moderate tannins and alcohol strength. This particular bottling, a classic of the old school style we associate with Hanna, was originally destined for the European market, but when the COVID19 pandemic shut everything down, the winery set it aside in the aging cellar. This Hanna Zin, now with a few years of bottle age, has developed into a beautifully complex and silky red wine, a wonderful example of the excellent, very balanced 2018 growing season. The thing about Zin like this, as it ages, it becomes more and more like a fine bottle of Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon than a full-throttle, in-your-face Zin and that’s a good thing! It’s now a delightful red that can be enjoyed on its own or with all kinds of food. We immediately imagined burgers off the grill but I think anything with lots of savory or moderately spicy flavors would work. You decide. Released at over $40, the winery made us an offer we couldn’t refuse and we get to offer the 2018 Hanna Zinfandel at only $24.99 per bottle with shipping on six. You’d be wise to respond quickly and take advantage of this offer before the inventory is totally depleted. Believe me, it won’t take long. – Frank Rothstein, Minister of Value