The Chardonnay is delicious, plane and simple. \u00a0A generous, but very well integrated, layer of oak rides just under lovely flavors of ripe apple<\/p>\n and fresh pears – the combination coming across as beautifully balanced and elegant enough to enjoy with delicate (but cooked) seafood. \u00a0Not an exact replacement, but certainly on par with 1er Cru Puligny.<\/p>\n The Pinot Noir to me was just short of the Chardonnay in its overall\u00a0quality, but quite good in its own-right. \u00a0For me, I enjoy the elegance of Oregon Pinot Noir, but still always want to see a bit of depth in the fruit and not a wine that is weak like “traditional” French Pinot Noir. \u00a0This wine has just that – lush, but not sweet, cranberry and deep cherry fruit, some spice and a balanced lovely long finish. \u00a0I would prefer the Chardonnay, first, but I’m not kickin’ this to the curb, and would be quite content with this and lovely piece of grilled salmon, or swordfish, such as is on the specials menu this weekend at MOB.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Finally, if Billecart is not quite in your wheel-house, but you still love the beauty of sparkling rose wines, I have selected what I consider to be one of the finest Spanish selections – the Raventos i Blanc de Nit Cava Rose<\/strong>. \u00a0A favorite winery, this particular wine is a great value in the sparkling wine category. \u00a0Deeper fruit than what you might find in the champagnes, it delivers a lot of freshness and elegance. \u00a0Made from some less-than-familiar grapes (Xarel.lo, Macabeo, Monastrell, and Parelleda), the combination is really delightful. \u00a0Have this with some fried seafood apps or maybe some fresh tuna.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n New cocktails for the fall are coming next week, on the menu starting Monday October 14.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This week’s top deals and sales : metro flyer<\/a>, giant tiger flyer<\/a>, sobeys flyer<\/a>, safeway flyer<\/a>, superstore flyer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Brian Mitchell, Corporate Beverage Director I am very pleased to announce several new additions this week to our wine list at Max’s Oyster Bar in West Hartford. \u00a0Both Bob Cooke, Managing Partner, and myself tasted these wines in recent weeks and felt they were compelling enough to add to the program. \u00a0We always look … <\/p>\n![\"download\"](\"http:\/\/www.maxrestaurantgroup.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/download.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>Also hitting the list shortly is a great wine that is a little hard to classify as it does not fall in any single varietal camp, but rather is among the new generation of finely tuned blends that have become quite popular, as of late. \u00a0The is the Blindfold White Blend<\/strong> from famed winemaker Dave Phinney of Prisoner Wine Co. \u00a0This wine has a big chunk of Chardonnay, with a great selection of Rhone-regional varietals thrown in. \u00a0Varietals such as Marsanne, Rousanne, Viognier and Grenache blanc, plus a touch of Riesling and Semillon just for some added aromatics. \u00a0To me this wine is excellently balanced, with deep flavors of waxy apples – really loved his wine.<\/p>\n<\/a>Additionally, I am very excited to be able to finally offer the fabulous Brut Rose from Billecart-Salmon Champagne<\/strong>, perhaps the most famous of the Rose Champagnes. \u00a0Over the past few years it has been a challenge to acquire this wine as the previous importer caused pricing and availability to be a challenge for us. \u00a0Now with a new importer, Billecart has become available for us once again – and so we have it starting this weekend. \u00a0Not cheap, but the elegance, the complexity of the fruit, the racy acidity, make Billecart all that and then something. \u00a0Had a good week? \u00a0Come celebrate with a bottle and dozen of the freshest oysters around. \u00a0You will be happy with that choice, for sure.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n