Please join us in our wine bar’s balcony Wed March 4th,   at 5:30 to taste through some up and coming Napa wines from High Flyer and Priest Ranch Wines.

Craig Will be pouring His:

2007 High Flyer Viognier

2007 Aviator Red

2006 Priest Ranch Cab Sauv

2006 Priest Ranch Petite Sirah

Craig Becker is a seasoned winemaker and has worked with a wide range of varieties planted at some of California’s top vineyard sites. Driven by a strong interest in soil science Craig attended the University of California at Davis studying enology and viticulture, plant biology and hydrologic science.

He began his winemaking career with Robert Mondavi Oakville, followed by several years at Spring Mountain Estate. In 1999 Craig began consulting for the Peacock Family Vineyards in Napa Valley. This led his consulting or making wine for a handful of other prestigious properties including Starlane Dierberg Vineyard and Winery, Balcom Family Cellars, Dovetail, Kelleher Estate and Coniglio.

It is Craig’s artisan approach to winemaking and his extensive knowledge of viticulture that have allowed him to create superb wines from a wide range of varietals and sites. Craig’s works closely with the viticultural team to create balance in the vines. In the winery, Craig guides rather than manipulates the fruit to capture varietal accuracy and the character of the site

Tuesday February 24th 5:30-7:00

Please stop by our wine bar’s balcony to meet winemaker Rick Moshin of Moshin Vineyards.  Rick will be pouring his Russian River Pinot, Sonoma Coast Pinot, Dry creek Zinfandel, and Russian River Chardonnay.

” Rick Moshin’s winemaking philosophy reflects as much of Mother Nature as possible. The naturally low pH in the mature grapes makes balanced, fruit-forward, yet ageable Pinot Noir that pairs beautifully with food. The other varietals we produce come from quality vineyards all over California. The winemaker’s ideal of terroir character is represented in the peppery Zinfandel from Shenandoah Valley, big fruity Syrah from the Central Coast, and well-balanced Chardonnay from Santa Clara County. Every one of our French oak barrels receives hours of individual care and attention from the winemaking staff.”

Lovers of Chateauneuf De Pape, and spicy Rhone blends should not miss this dinner with one of the Rhones most gifted winemakers.  Guillaume Gonnet makes wines of intense concentration and finesse.  Chef Hays will serve a four course dinner in our intimate wine room, with space available for only 20 guests. Please reserve your seat promptly as space is very limited. 970 748 9463

Owned by the Gonnet family, this domaine is run by the two brothers, Michel and Jean. Font de Michelle is located in the town of Bédarrides, the southern-most village in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A A little back round of the Gonnet  Family: The Gonnet family owns almost 30 hectares (75 acres) of vineyards, with the largest portion of their vines in La Crau, one of the most favored sites in the entire appellation. The Grenache vines in La Crau are between 45 and 110 years old. Michel and Jean make a severe selection of only the oldest vines to produce a few hundred cases of this outstanding example of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This is a wine that can be aged for 10-20 years. • 60% Grenache, average age 75 to 110 years old, picked late – sûr maturité • 20% Syrah, average vine age 40 years old • 20% Mourvèdre, average vine age 40 plus years old • Half of the fruit is de-stemmed • All of the wine is made in small casks • This wine is bottled unfiltered.

Check out this online tasting video from Gary Vaynerchuck

Tannin

Technically, a quality of a wine that comes from the skins, seeds and stems of the grapes as well as barrel aging. Tannin will give wine its firm structure, in addition to acting as a preservative, making a wine more age worthy. In real terms, tannin is felt more then tasted. It’s the quality in wine that dries out your mouth and curls your lips up around your gums. To really test the tannin in a wine, try swishing the wine up under your gums and see how much your lips stick to your gums. If you’re having a hard time pulling them back down over your teeth the tannin is medium to high. If it’s pretty easy to wrap those lips back around you teeth then the tannin is lower. At this point you can assess the tannins as low, medium or high. Nebbiolo grapes tend to be higher in tannin, while Pinot Nior tends to be lower in tannin. Come have a few half glasses of wine with your friends and practice assessing tannin in wine.

Vail Valley Wine Picks

2006 Monte Oton-Spain . Made by Borsao, this unoaked Spanish sipper, delivers baskets of clean, ripe berry fruit at an amazing price.

’07 Casalfarneto, verdicchio-Italy/Marche. This Italian white varietal showcases tropical fruit, creamy texture and enough acidity to pair nicely with a patio table on a summer evening.

Come into the bar and mention the Shout Out for 48% off your first glass of either of the featured wines.

vin48 Update

Welcome to the first edition of the Vin Shout Out. In this newsletter, we hope you’ll enjoy learning about our upcoming tasting events, wine dinners, and holiday happenings. As thanks for reading along with us, we’ll do our best to impart a little wine knowledge to enhance future dining and drinking experiences for you.

We’ll start with a recap of our inaugural season as we hit the ground running, opening to the public on Christmas Day. Your support of our endeavors lent us a successful winter. Highlights included our premier of Wine and Swine, a snout to tail dining experience, washed down with carefully paired Argentine wines. If you missed it last year, be sure to keep reading here so you’re in the know when it’s time to make reservations for this year’s celebration of the pig. We were proud to host the Pinot Posse for their annual visit to the Vail Valley which garnered some press from the Vail Daily. We also welcomed the revered French winemaker Xavier Monnot, who treated diners to an intimate evening while he extolled the virtues of Burgundian wines. To cap off the season we joined the Valley’s best for Taste of Vail and brought home first place in the Bar Chef’s Mix-Off.
That brings you up to speed on the last few month here at vin48. You are now officially ready for the summer and patio fun at vin48 (assuming the snow is really gone for good)! The Vin Shout Out will be a monthly newsletter Informing you, dear readers, of upcoming events at vin 48 and around the Vail Valley. If you ever have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us at info at vin48.com or give us a
ring at 970.748.WINE (9463).

vin48 Events

Happy Hour Daily: 5-6:30 pm Educate your palate with 48% off four selected wines from our extensive by the glass list. Since wine needs food, enjoy 20% off our bar menu during happy hour.

Winemaker Dinner June 11th: Three generations of the Scagiola family have cultivated vines in the Calossa district of Piemonte. Using biodynamic techniques, the wines have won high praise from the wine press including multiple awards from the Gambero Rosso.
THE EVENING: A five course tasting menu paired with six wines, comments by Sylvia Scagliola
PRICE: $70 plus tax and gratuity
Seating is limited to 25 guests. Please call 970-748-9463 as space is very limited.

3rd of July Celebration: Come celebrate Independence Day with us and enjoy front row seats to the town of Avon’s fireworks show, voted the best in Colorado. The evening will include:

Food : Regular dinner service in the dinning room will start at 5:30 with the last seating at 7:30 p.m. For more casual fare on your way to the fireworks, the Vin BBQ will be grilling up your favorite Fourth of July treats. Don’t miss our individual Very Cherry Pies.
Post fireworks: Vin’s monthly S.I.N. will launch with local band Hustle. From 10:00 p.m. till 2:00 a.m. enjoy live music inside and out. We’ll keep our floor to ceiling glass doors open although if you’re arriving after 9 p.m. there will be an $8 cover charge. Your money will go far once you’re inside with our beer and wine specials, and $5 Holy Water shots.
We’ll keep celebrating our guests and friends in the service industry with once a month late night throw downs. Stay tuned for details on our next bash.

vin48 BIG PARTY & EVENT INFO

Vin48 can host your next big event. Rehearsal dinners, baby showers, corporate events and any other need to party with a group of friends can be accommodated. Here are your options depending on the size of your party:
LOFT LOUNGE: Our loft over looking Vin’s wine bar is considered to have the best views of the area in the house. From this perch entertain up to 35 of your closest friends.
WINE ROOM: For the coziest, candle-lit room in town, host your party in the wine room, nestled behind our sculptural wine wall. Up to 20 people can enjoy this space.
THE WINE BAR: Gather your crew at our bar for a special food and wine experience. Have fun tasting more than 45 wines by the glass preserved by our enomatic wine system. High top tables, wrap around windows, and an open kitchen create a stimulating environment for up to 40 people to mix and mingle
BUY US OUT: The entire restaurant can accommodate up to 150 people for any event imaginable(good judgment assumed).

coming soon to our new patio is the Vin48 Friday afternoon wine club, more info to come..