Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Getting the most from your BookCliff Table Wines







In addition to our exceptional line of fine blends, varietals, and dessert wines, here at BookCliff Vineyards and Winery we also produce two table wines.

So just what is a table wine? In the United States, the official definition of a table wine is a wine that contains a minimum of 7 percent alcohol and a maximum of 14 percent. There is no consideration of quality in the U. S. definition, although some consider it to connote a lower quality or less expensive wine. In the U.S this is often an incorrect assumption as many table wines are quite fine and expensive. This misconception is probablly due to the European Union and pre-EU wine laws in European countries, as an EU table wine is defined as a wine that doesn't qualify as a quality wine under various appelation(regional), wine production rules.
BookCliff Vineyard and Winery table wines are, A Touch of Red and Fridays Folly. At BookCliff our table wines are produced through blending various vintages and varietals of some of our other fine wines.
The first of our table wines is our very popular sweet blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot called, A Touch of Red. After the Cabernet and Merlot is fermented completely dry we back blend unfermented merlot juice into the wine to create a uniquely friuty sweet wine which John, our owner and winemaker likes to compare to a Sangria. The difference is, instead of resting on cut fruit, our version gets it sweetness from the unfermented merlot juice in the blend. A great wine to come in from the heat of summer for, this wine is best enjoyed as cold as you can make it. Like its' Spanish inspiration Sangria; BookCliffs, A Touch of Red serves equally well over ice.
Our second, and newest table wine is BookCliffs Fridays Folly. Released late last year, Fridays Folly is named for a common climbers route on the back of the third Flatiron in Boulder. Fridays Folly is a blend of various vintages of BookCliffs Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Fridays Folly is completely dry, although quite fruity and crisp. The trick to getting the best out of your bottle of Fridays Folly is through decanting. So dust off that decanter, decant your Fridays Folly, allow it to breath and open up for 15 to 30 minutes prior to drinking, and enjoy a table wine that easily rivals many wines costing 2 to 3 times as much. If you don't have a decanter, decant into a pitcher or pour the wine into glasses 10 to 15 minutes prior to serving. Just opening the bottle and letting it sit will not allow enough air exchange for the wine to open up. If you would really like to experience the difference this aeriation decanting makes pour yourself a glass of Fridays Folly and set it aside for 15 minutes. When you are ready to taste, pour another glass from the bottle and taste both side by side. I'm sure you will be pleasantly surprised by the difference.

Cheers,
Mark M. Stephan
BookCliff Vineyards
Sommelier/Sales

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have just tried a bottle of Friday's Folly, and can I say "more, please"? I appreciate your efforts in making high-alcohol, extracted (award-winning?) wines, and the dessert wines as well, but for the everyday wine-with-dinner drinker who's trying to go local, the choices are few and far between. I mean, I just can't open a $20.00 bottle of 14.5% every night! Makes that bottle of $7 Yellowtail look awfully tempting...but I WANT to drink Colorado, and I do wish there were more affordable,slightly lighter (not necessarily sweeter) but "real" delicious, balanced food wines. Like Friday's Folly. If you keep making it, I'll buy it by the case, I swear. (I found it at Superior Liquor Market, by the way). Now, a white. Something not too alcoholic, sweet, or oaky, please?? An unoaked Chard, a fresh, tangy Reisling, or (my favorite) good old Sauvignon Blanc? I'll keep an eye out...