Plan Your Summer at Bishop's Cellar

Thomas sent out another newsletter today with the enitre summer schedule of instore tastings. Be aware that these have been filling up quickly so if you see something you're interested in please RSVP as soon as you can, we wouldnt want anyone to miss out!

Tastings are as follows:

• Tomorrow, June 26th from Noon-2pm, we will be tasting the brand new release of the Benjamin Bridge 'Nexus' Rose. This tasting is FREE!
• Friday, July 10th from 5pm-7pm we will be tasting a selection of high end wines from New Zealand. I believe Emily will be doing some sort of lamb dish that night. $20/person.
• Thursday, July 16th from 7pm-9pm we will taste a large selection of summer value wines in celebration of arrival of the Tall Ships. DJ Bumpsie will be here again spinning some old funk, soul, and roots for us. $10/person.
• Friday, July 24th from 5pm-7pm we will finally have our Spain/Portugal Tasting. This will start with a Cava, have a few whites, several reds including two Rioja, and finishi with a vintage Port from Croft. $10/person.
• Friday, July 31st from 5pm-7pm we will taste a flight of eight high end wines from Australia including the Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz and some of the Leeuwin Estate wines if there are any left by then. $20/person.
• Friday, August 14th from 5pm-7pm we will host a very interesting tasting of Chardonnay. We will try prove that although simple, oaky chardonnay is falling from favor in most homes, that the French White Burgundies and other chards done in that graceful style are some of the most amazing wines in the world. We will be tasting the $163 Bouchard Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2003, the $110 Bouchard Meursault Genevrieres 1er Cru 2005 (Tanzer 93pts), and the $95 William Fevre Chablis 'Vaudesir' Grand Cru 2003 along with several other amazing bottlings. $20/person.
• Friday, August 21st from 5pm-7pm we will stay on the varietal tasting track and sample only Pinot Noir from around the world. This tasting will of course feature several red Burgundies as well as other beautiful Pinots from all over. $20/person.
• Friday, August 28th from 5pm-7pm we will have an outstanding Bordeaux tasting. This will be Austin's last shift in here before he heads off to Newfoundland and we know how he loves the wines of Bordeaux. You will taste one or two white wines from the area and then eight reds including some older vintage beauties and some 2005s. $20/person.

So there you have it, a full summer of tasting wine, so please join us to try something new!

Bella Italia

Follow the link to read about Alanna's adventures in Italy.

West Coast Dreamin' on a Cold & Rainy Spring day..

The weekend is just around the corner and we are kicking it off in style with a high-end, mostly California wine tasting Friday night from 5-7pm. For $20 our patrons will enjoy some of the best California wines for sale in Nova Scotia. We're trying wines from Benziger..one of California's TOP Biodynamic producers, Cakebread Cellars, whose Sauv Blanc we will match up against the Benziger to see if we see any distinct differences between the North Coast and Napa.

We'll try out Mr. Coppola's Director'sCut Chardonnay and see how it fares next to Mr. Cakebread's (don't you love that last name??) Chardonnay. We are jumping out of California briefly to Washington state, so Thomas can try the L'ecole 41 Apogee (amazing Bordeaux blend we brought in for a rare and fine wine event) Since we're going there, we thought, let's do their Semillon as well. We are trying the Fotinos Brothers Pinot Noir..we'll see how this Carneros Pinot compares to the Coppola Director's Cut Pinot from Sonoma. From Sequoia Grove, just outside St. Helena, in Rutherford comes their Cabernet Sauvignon, and we will finish with Claus Janzen's Cloudy's Vineyard Cabernet. Hope to see all who can make it tomorrow night! Erin

Mmmm 2004 Brunello's!

We had a special treat earlier this week. Myself, Thomas and Matt sat for a tasting of 2004 Brunello di Montalcino's. One of our agents had sourced these wines from 4 different producer's, and once all of them had arrived, cleared customs, and had been delivered, Tuesday night was set as the night! The four wineries represented were Poggio dell'Aquila, Collemattoni, La Gerla, and Mastrojanni.
First, a little education-Montalcino (Mon tal CHEE-no) is an area of wine production in Tuscany. It is about 110km southwest of Florence. Brunello, roughly translated, means 'nice dark one' and is the name of the Sangiovese clone used to make the wine. Brunello di Montalcino is 100% Sangiovese Grosso. The last 'outstanding vintage' as designated by the Consorzio del Vino Brunello, was in 1997...until the realease of the 2004 vintage! These wines are some of the best produced in Italy. Fragrant, full flavours of dark red raspberry, cherry, and sweet vanilla.
I was unfamiliar with all of the wines we were to be tasting, so I did a little research. 3 of the 4 I could find data on, and 3 of the 4 had been reviewed and tasted in Tuscany by Wine Spectator-the April edition had an alphabetical listing of all 2004 Brunello's tasted and their scores. Much to our delight, the Collemattoni, was on the list and had been given rave-reviews and a 95 point score. The Mastrojanni had been given a 90, as had the La Gerla.
I was SO curious to see if we could taste the difference a 95 point score makes. I didn't want to tell the guys which one I knew was 'supposed' to be the best. After 2 enjoyable hours of tasting (we had the Rosso di Montalcino from each winery also, and two super-tuscan's) and deliberating - we were able to make our buying decision. Understand that these wines come with a well deserved $70 price tag, and we have to consider what we can sell, and how much of it, being the small business that we are. We did decide on the Collemattoni-not just for the score, but for the fact that we found it to be absolutely amazing. The aromas, the full flavours, the well-integrated Slovenian oak..it was approachable now, yet will age for 10-20 years. It was a big wine. We are bringing the Mastrojanni in in larger format for the holidays 1.5L
More to come on wine ratings and what they mean to us, the retailer.
Erin

Appleton Cup Harbour Race

The Waterfront at Bishop's Landing was abuzz on Saturday afternoon with the Appleton Cup Harbour race! Despite the fog, there was a great turnout. Boats left from RNSYS and BBYC respectively, and the first across the finish line from each fleet was named the winner.

I am proud to say I was on the winning boat from RNSYS, Third Wave! I have on my desk a trophy awarded by Bishop's Cellar no less! Upon arrival at the Wharf participants enjoyed BBQ and beverages from Bishop's Cellar and Garrison Brewery. Thomas made a fabulous Sangria from some of the wines we have on blow-out in the store. With ice and freshly cut up limes and oranges it was refreshing and delicious. We appreciate everyone who came out and participated in the day.