Wednesday, July 1, 2009
2007 Syrahs Are Ready To Go
ling and subsequent release of our 2007 Purple Teeth Cellars Syrahs, which we are happy to report are available for purchase on our online store.Let's talk about how awesome these wines are. Seriously. They were bottled in March, but we like to wait 3 months after bottling before we release them.
The Purple Teeth Cellars 2007 Alder Springs Syrah (Mendocino County) is one of those subtle wines that doesn't try and grab your attention when you initially taste it. Instead it is a wine that really wants to showcase its fruit on the finish, and will linger in your mouth for awhile. More specifically, we picked up some black fruit, pepper, some chocolate and just a tad of smokiness that really mesh well together.
O
n the other hand, the Purple Teeth Cellars 2007 White Hawk Syrah (Santa Barbara County) is one of those wines that immediately informs you of its presence - in its color, on the nose and on your palette. The White Hawk Syrah has blackfruits like it's sibling from Alder Springs, but this one has more "jammy-ness" (is that a word?) and spice - black pepper, in particular. And of course, we would be remiss if we didn't rave about the long finish on the White Hawk! Both are ready to drink now (decanting for an hour or two will make them even better), but another year in bottle will help the flavors come together even more.
More to come on pairing ideas and on our recent visit to Mendocino, where we had the opportunity to meet with the proprietors of both Alder Springs Vineyard and Eaglepoint Ranch (home of our 2006 Petite Sirah).
If you have any questions, please let us know by clicking on the 'Contact Us' tab. Thanks for your support and for passing this on. And don't forget to keep on flashing those PURPLE TEETH!
Labels: 2006 Vintage, 2007 Vintage
posted by Jill @ 10:41 AM 0 Comments
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
NEW states that we can ship to - woo woo!
Just a quick update that we received confirmation that Purple Teeth Cellars can now legally ship to the following states:- Arizona
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- Ohio
And we should be receiving confirmation in the next couple of weeks that we can ship to Georgia as well! We are still waiting to hear what the latest is with the legal wrangling in Maryland with respect to wine shipping. Stay tuned for more on that front.
Our 2006 Purple Teeth Cellars Petite Sirah from Mendocino County is tasting really excellent. If you haven't bought some yet, it is worth a try - especially with some of the recipes that we have previously posted on the blog.
Please don't forget you can also find us on Facebook by typing in 'Purple Teeth Cellars' in the search bar or by clicking here. We have some videos and pictures posted there as well so please feel free to check it out when you have some time. And if you have feedback - good or bad, we like hearing that too.
Keep on flashing those PURPLE TEETH!
Labels: 2006 Vintage, Food and Wine Pairing, Shipping
posted by Jill @ 5:15 PM 0 Comments
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
2007 Syrahs – Almost in the Bottle
It has been almost a year since we publicly talked about our 2007 vintage Syrah offerings, although we did briefly update everyone in August with a mini-progress report. Both Syrahs are only weeks from being bottled so we tasted them both with a few new meals recently (links to recipes) to give you an idea of what to expect.
This wine has stronger aromatics: we sense the black fruits particularly blackberry and black currant. As we taste this wine, there is confirmation of black fruit and prunes with some underlying oak support. Our conclusion is that the wine is more 'classic' than the White Hawk Syrah with subtle fruit, a great finish, and will pair with many dishes. In the first pairing of Roast Chicken with Pancetta, the wine was a mellow companion that showed its fruit while it let the red pepper and garlic from the food really shine. With the Braised Lamb Shanks with Garlic and Herbs, the black fruit came out to the forefront. There is some vanilla, cinnamon and possibly thyme but still no pepper. Our conclusion is that this Syrah is a versatile pairing for many meals although it probably paired slightly better with the lamb shanks. Jill really likes this one because it is more subtle, more nuanced, and less in your face.Alder Springs Syrah (Mendocino County)
White Hawk Syrah (Santa Barbara County)
This is still slightly deeper purple in color. We get some pepper, raspberry, blackberry, currant and allspice aromas. Although not as powerful on the nose as the Alder Springs Syrah, the diversity of aromas on this wine was striking. This is a jammy Syrah that tastes of black pepper, thyme, blackberry, cloves. Before we dove into any food, we concluded that there is a lot of flavor going on particularly when it comes to pepper and spice; we love the long finish.
In the first pairing of Roast Chicken with Pancetta, the peppers and jam are still there along with some blueberry and a wonderful smokiness really comes out. The finish just goes on and on. In the second pairing of Braised Lamb Shanks with Garlic and Herbs, more of the herbs and spices in the wine are detectable and there are definitely blueberry notes. The smokiness is less noticeable than with the chicken. The chicken seems like the better pairing but either dish works well here. Marc really likes this one because it is more in your face.
Labels: 2007 Vintage, Food and Wine Pairing
posted by Marc (Purple Teeth) @ 8:57 PM 0 Comments
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Attention Maryland and Massachusetts Consumers - Help Requested Please!
If you or you know anyone who lives in Maryland or Massachusetts, Purple Teeth Cellars can use your help. Both of these states are evaluating whether or not to ban wineries from shipping directly to consumers.In Maryland, there will be a hearing on February 18th to consider this proposal. Maryland Senate Bill 338, if it becomes law, will expand consumer choice by allowing limited, regulated shipments of wine directly to Maryland consumers and overturning the current prohibition on these shipments. This would be a great thing for all wineries and would allow you the consumer to have the choice of buying the wines you want, not what the middlemen want you to drink. You can e-mail your MD House and Senate representative, and get verbiage by clicking on this link at Free the Grapes.
As for Massachusetts, the state Attorney General (Martha Coakley) wants to spend taxpayer money to maintain discriminatory ban on wine direct shipping. Same premise as Maryland as the government wants to inhibit choice for you, the wine consumer. On December 18, Judge Zobel enjoined the state from enforcing Sections 2, 18 and 19(F) of the Massachusetts General Law Chapter 138. Now, Attorney General Coakley intends to appeal the final decision to the 1st Circuit Court. Again you can e-mail the Ms. Coakley by clicking on this link at Free the Grapes.
Purple Teeth Cellars is all about the consumer choosing what they want to consume. Yes, the words 'consumer' and 'consume' have been deliberately included in the same sentence. To us, it is one thing if you choose not to drink our wine vs. not being able to have the option at all.
If you have any questions, please let us know by clicking on the 'Contact Us' tab. Thanks for your support and for passing this on. And don't forget to keep on flashing those PURPLE TEETH.
Labels: Shipping
posted by Jill @ 7:10 PM 2 Comments
Monday, February 9, 2009
'07 Syrahs, Mexican Professional Wrestling - Goes Together, Right?
Last week, I was very excited for Friday because I knew it meant that we were going to be tasting the latest barrel samples from our ’07 Syrahs from Alder Springs (Mendocino County) and from White Hawk (Santa Barbara County). I even knew what I was going cook to test out some food pairing ideas to share with the Purple Teeth Cellars community.First I had some business to attend to in my other job on Friday morning, and it involved getting approval to move forward on something a few of us had been working together on for awhile. The meeting goes pretty well and the team gets some marching orders, so we can continue heading in the right direction. All is good leading into the weekend and my lab experiments in the kitchen.
At the end of the meeting, one of my colleagues gives my boss and I each a small bag with some tissue paper on top (think ‘gift’). I’m a bit puzzled, but ok. I open th
e bag and much to my surprise, I find a mask in it. A mask from one of the most famous Mexican professional wrestlers - at least that is what I was told. Now understand that I really didn’t know there was a Mexican wrestling league. My expression must have been priceless to those in the room who witnessed this.But out of respect to the person who thought of this gift and gave it to me, I needed to come up with something that would show the mask in use. After some deliberation, I had an idea. I knew over the weekend I would be making a Roast Chicken with Pancetta as well as Braised Lamb Shanks with Garlic and Herbs (scroll down on link) to go with our ’07 Purple Teeth Cellars barrel samples. I knew I needed to brown the meat in each of the recipes before slow roasting/braising and that task can be messy with olive oil splattering etc. Hmmmm…
So instead of using the splatter screen that I would normally have on hand for this kind of task. I wore the mask, although my nose was still exposed (see picture). I figured that maybe I would be able to intimidate the meat into being perfect for our wine tasting. I have to say that both dishes came out really well. Stay tuned for more on the tasting notes and how the wines paired with the braised lamb shanks and roasted chicken dishes.
And don't forget to keep on flashing those PURPLE TEETH!
P.S. -- No word on when my boss, also a mask recipient, will be seen donning his new wardrobe addition.
Labels: 2007 Vintage, Food and Wine Pairing, Humor
posted by Jill @ 9:40 AM 0 Comments