Concerts on the Square: Wine Edition

That’s right folks, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra is back for another year of Concerts on the Square! The festivities begin Wednesday, June 29th at 7:00pm and continue each Wednesday after that for six fine weeks of outdoor extravagance. Riley’s is home to Madison’s best selection of fine wines and craft beer, so we’d like to take a moment to dish out our best recommendations to you on what wines you might want to consider packing in your picnic basket.

Today we will be focusing on wine, but next week we will shift to beer. Stay tuned for that. [Concerts on the Square: Beer Edition]

What is the #1 most feature in a wine that our customers often forget to consider when selecting a wine? The cork. It’s probably happened to you: you bring a bottle of your favorite wine, find your 5′x5′ section of turf, set up, go to open the wine….and you don’t have a corkscrew! This is why we will be focusing our selections on wines that feature screwcaps.

The debate on screwcaps in the wine industry has been going on for decades. Entire wine-producing countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, have already abandoned the traditional cork in favor of screwcap enclosures. Many wineries across the globe are following suit, and to be honest, we couldn’t be happier. Screwcaps ensure consistency across every bottle from each vintage since there is no interaction between natural or synthetic cork and the wine. Our customers need not worry about purchasing a wine that has already gone bad well before it ever found its way onto our shelves.

On to the picks….

#1: 2010 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc + Viognier

This blend of Chenin Blanc and Viognier from Pine Ridge is now one of the top selling wines at Riley’s—and for good reason. With the crisp and flowery notes of Chenin Blanc harmoniously blended with more fruity Viognier, which not only lends flavors of peach and apricot, but also the silky smooth body that this wine stands on. What’s more, this wine is competitively priced at only $11.99 a bottle! Robert Parker likes this wine so much, he gave it a 90 point rating and put it in the top 50 for value wines. We like it just as much, but this wine makes the top spot on our list.

#2: Wines from Charles Smith: Kung Fu Girl Riesling, Eve Chardonnay, Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon

Charles Smith hails from Walla Walla, Washington, and is one of the top wine producers in the country. Food & Wine named Charles Smith the 2009 Winemaker of the Year. And while he makes a lot of wine, there is no lack of quality when it comes to his line of wines under his own name. These wines not only make our list because of their top-notch quality, but also because of the all-important screw cap feature. Whether you want to savor the semi-sweet, fruit-driven Kung Fu Girl Riesling ($12.99), the crisp and apple-ly Eve Chardonnay ($12.99), or the defiantly smooth and balanced Chateau Smith Cabernet Sauvignon (21.99), you can do so with the greatest of ease and confidence. We assure you, you will love these wines!

#3: Wollersheim Prairie Fumé

No list would be complete without mentioning Prairie Fumé, the best selling Wisconsin-made wine in Wisconsin. This wine lends just a touch of sweetness and delivers lush tropical fruit and citrus highlights. You’ll want to pick up this year’s Concerts on the Square edition bottle, which should be hitting the shelves very soon. Your purchase goes to supporting the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and ensures they will keep coming back year after year. And as of last year, this wine is also available in 4-packs of mini-bottles. Whichever you choose, this wine will only set you back $10.99.

#4: Domaine du Tariquet Rosé de Pressée

There is something about the warmer days of summer that just screams, “Rosé!” While Riley’s is never short on our selection of rosés, summertime is always the best time to find hot new vintages. One of our favorites, and our customer’s favorites, is this fine rosé from Domaine du Tariquet. Tariquet, who not only produces wine but also Armagnacs and appertifs, delivers a beautiful bouquet of raspberry, strawberry, and a delightfully floral nose. Make no mistake, this is no 80′s style white zinfandel, this is the real deal. A blend of Merlot, Syrah, and Tannat, this wine is pressed and spends only a short time in contact with the skins, delivering the bright strawberry-pink color and elegant dry fruit flavors. The trip across the Atlantic from France brings this wine’s price tag to $9.99, a shockingly inexpensive wine of tremendous value.

#5: Grooner Grüner Veltliner

Not many people think of wine when they think of Austria, but Grüner Veltliner is one of the nations top grape varietals and puts on quite a show. Crisp, dry, and herbaceous, Grooner lends flavors of green apple, pineapple and pepper. It’s the sort of wine that makes water seem like a less-than-preferable source to quench your thirst. At only $12.99, this wine is easily affordable and is a quick window into the world of Autrian wine.

#6: Saintsbury  Garnet Carneros Pinot Noir

In the world of Pinot Noir, there are lots of wines that will make you blush with their fruit-driven, highly-concentrated flavors. But, these aren’t really the kinds of wines you always want to have. Some might argue, that these Pinots are actually inferior for their over-the-top fruitiness. While we make no claims one way or the other, we will tell you that Saintbury Garnet is not one of these Pinots. Garnet is a light, easy-drinking Pinot of good complexity and character, rendered from the grapes of several different lots in the Carneros district. You’ll find bright fruit flavors of cherry and raspberry, but none of the jammy, diabetic-coma inducing blasts of fruit flesh you might find elsewhere. Just light, casually-assertive Pinot. The cost? $20.99. Not a bad deal at all considering the premiere fruit held within.

So there you have it folks. Our best recommendations for your next six weeks of Wednesday wine wonderment. In case you’re stopping in at the last minute, we will have all of these whites stocked in the wine cooler and ready for you to pour. We hope you’ll give some of our recommendations a shot, but if you’re thinking of something else, just let us know. We’re full of great ideas.