This weekend we are offering two different tastings in order to satisfy your need for diversity. On Friday, Jeff Slavin (owner of Hangtime Wine), will be at the table tasting one of his favorite styles of wine; Riesling. We have to warn you that assuming all Rieslings are sweet would be wrong.

Instead, the array of Rieslings produced are quite diverse and come in all shapes and sizes from bone dry to intensely tart, sweet, and delicious. To put it mildly, Jeff is “passionate” about German wines, and we could hardly think of a better ambassador to hold a tasting of our Rieslings.

There will be more than two bottles of Riesling tasted, and here are a couple that anyone can get excited about: the 2008 Mosel “Old World” Riesling Qualitatswein ($18) is a ripe and juicy white wine loaded with fresh pears and apples and a creamy lush palate that finishes with crisp notes of tangerines. The other featured Mosel bottling is the 2006 Cardinal Cusanus B.B. Troken Riesling which is a rare find of very high quality wine that is ridiculously affordable at $19 a bottle. The ‘06 Cardinal is pleasing to the palate and loaded with flavors of candied citrus, golden raisins, cantaloupe, and vibrant acidity. As for food pairings, there is no need to look any further than your most reliable source for a good lobster roll.

Moving on and into the heartland of Italy for Saturday’s tasting we will feature the wines of Le Fornaci located in San Giminagno, Tuscany. Le Fornaci makes wines of tradition and quality. The three bottles to be uncorked are: the 2009 Le Fornaci Vernaccia San Gimignano ($17), the 2007 Le Fornaci Colli Senesi Chianti ($18), and the 2003 Le Fornaci Vin Santo San Gimignano ($42). The vernaccia is a medium weight white with tones of sage and white pepper balanced out by the subtle tastes of toasted almonds, and quince; the Chianti is classically-styled with good tobacco tannins, black pepper, and flavors of bing cherries; lastly, the Vin Santo is memorable with notes of Acacia honey, spice and figs. That should be enough to whet your appetite. For the Saturday tasting, John Bailey of Masciarelli Wine Company will be on hand to pour and discuss the wines of Le Fornaci. John brought these wines to our attention last October, and they were well received. We quickly sold through our first order, and our second shipment didn’t hang around for long either. We have been waiting since January to get these wines back on our shelves, so if you are a fan of Tuscan wines, don’t miss out on this tasting. We look forward to seeing you at the tasting table this weekend.

Cheers!

Fred Mullins