While closing The Wine Shop on Friday night, I noticed the beautiful back-flash of the sunset and thought to myself that our days are getting a bit longer now. What does that mean…barbecues, more outdoor adventures and of course, new wine releases. Between now and the end of April, most of the new wine releases will be arriving here at The Wine Shop. Depending on the varietal and the winemaker, we will see the majority of 2011, 2012, and 2013 wines being released this spring. After dismal wine growing years in 2010 and 2011 (dismal meaning a very low yield of grapes), 2012 and 2013 are shaping up to be banner production years.
In the wine business, two different schools of thought go into the process of wine making. The first is primarily used in Europe where weather plays a major role in the outcome of each year’s harvest. Winemakers harvest the year’s grapes and do their magic with the fermentation process in either barrels or stainless steel. Then they age the wine appropriately for each varietal and voilà you have that particular year’s wine. Now the other school of thought is basically the same starting process as the first. You can’t control weather, but here is the main difference; to achieve the desired flavor profile, winemakers will blend a variety of other grapes together.
Now here’s the hard part. Every year, a new vintage rolls out with different characteristics and I have the difficult task of tasting all these new wines to add to The Wine Shop’s inventory! Now you ask, “how does one have the opportunity to taste so many wines?” Well, that is where wine tastings are so helpful.
Great events like the Poipu Beach Rotary Club wine tasting at Kilohana this Saturday give people the chance to taste 60 to70 different wines in one place. So take advantage of situations when they arise, have fun and take notes. Perhaps you will even find a new favorite for yourself! We hope to see you at the Rotary event this Saturday. Reminder! There will not be a wine tasting at the shop this weekend. See you at Kilohana!
The Wine Shop is open 10am to 7pm Monday through Saturday, and by appointment on Sunday. For more information visit the shop located just across the street from the Koloa Post Office, call 808-742-7305 or visit us online at www.thewineshopkauai.com.
See you soon at The Wine Shop!
Aloha, DanO and Ellen O’Connell
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