Our 14th annual Corks for Kids fundraiser for the North Carolina Children’s Hospital kicked off last week with a stellar tasting with Mark Vlossak from St. Innocent Winery. We’re closing in on $1 million in total funds raised over the years, so help us make the big push! 

For starters, you can bid on some of our incredible auction items including 

• Next of Kyn 2016 Cumulus Vineyard #10 Magnum (1.5 L ) - 100 pts Wine Advocate
• Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 - 100 pts Wine Advocate
• Colgin IX Estate Red 2016 - 100 pts Wine Advocate / 100 pts Jeb Dunnuck
• Fonseca Vintage Port 1977 - 100 pts Wine Spectator

How? Easy! Visit https://corksforkids.maxgiving.bid

Simply register and you can start bidding! 

You can also click on the donations tab and make a cash donation.

But wait, there's more! 

This Thursday at 6:30 pm, winemaker Jeff Stewart from Hartford Family Winery will be joining us. Jeff is making some of the world's top Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Zinfandel, regularly scoring 95-99 pts in Wine Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck. You have questions? He has answers! 

Tickets for the tasting are $20. You can reserve simply by  replying to this email. Or you can email danielle@chapelhillwinecompany.com. Or call her tomorrow at 919-968-1884. 100% of your ticket sale goes to the Children’s Hospital and is 100% tax deductible.

For the tasting, we have selected a group of wines. You can purchase as many of them as you like. Perhaps you have a “clean” social circle you can invite over? I’m pricing the wines at a very low markup to try and lower the threshold to enjoy the tasting. When you reserve your ticket, you can order the wine as well. You don't have to have all of them to enjoy the event, as much of the discussion will be about wine in general. 

Here is this week's incredible lineup!

Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2018 – Sale $19.99 – 92 pts Wine Spectator / 92 pts Jeb Dunnuck – “This is an absolutely stunning chardonnay, with fresh citrus and a bright minerality, all underscored by fresh ginger and a bit of pithy lemon. It’s a perfect encapsulation of what makes the Russian River Valley so phenomenal, and a wonderful crowd-pleaser to boot. For me, what makes this the stand out offering of the year is its balance. Neither heavy, nor light... it finds a middle-ground that is anything but average... exploding with floral and citrus notes that result from hand-harvesting at night or early morning. A technique developed in New Zealand to preserve the bright aromatics of Sauvignon Blanc, the technique is applied here to Chardonnay, with stunning results. Honeysuckle, jasmine, orange blossom, tangerine peel... wow! This is Chardonnay? Oh, yes it is... because there are all the apple and pear flavors striding through and that hint of ginger on the finish. I'm loading up on this one... as versatile a food wine as you will come across... back up the truck!”

Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2018 – Sale $27.99 – 95 pts Jeb Dunnuck – I've touched on this recently with another Hartford offering, so I will summarize here... forget everything you think you know about "California" Pinot Noir versus "Oregon" Pinot Noir. Especially when crafted with such care as goes into this baby... the grapes are hand-harvested at NIGHT to preserve acidity and freshness. The grapes are sourced from small vineyards such as Barbieri, Bellflower, Fog Dance, Hailey’s Block, Jennifer’s, MacLean’s Block and Arrendell, all located mere miles from the Pacific Ocean.  With the maritime influence and the winemakers restrained hand, we get a wine that offers the best of California.  The oak regime, 11 months in just 29% new oak, is even less than that of many our best-selling Oregon Pinot Noirs, like Soter Mineral Springs, Arterberry Maresh, and Beaux Freres.  The total acidity of 5.70 g/L , and a pH of 3.51 (high acidity) is also indistinguishable.  At 14.5% alcohol, it clocks in just ½ percentage point higher than most Oregon gems. Basically, if I brown-bagged this and told you to guess Oregon or California, I would wager a coin-flip would be as good a predictor. “Starting with the 2018 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley, which comes from multiple sites and was brought up in 27% new French oak, it has a vivid ruby hue to go with classic Russian River notes of mulled cherry and raspberry fruits, cola, spice box, and dried herbs. Medium-bodied, round, and beautifully textured, it's a totally charming, balanced, elegant Pinot Noir that punches way above its weight." JD

Russian River Valley Zinfandel 2018 – Sale $24.99 – 92 pts Wine Spectator - Simply, this is everything a Zinfandel should be. 100% Zinfandel from vines with an average age of over 100 years! From the cooler Russian River Valley, this baby offers all of the lushness and richness you want, but with a balancing dollop of acidity. Hand-harvested and sorted to ensure only the ripest grapes are used, the wine is then aged for 9 months in French oak. Only 41% is new, though, allowing for structure and complexity without overpowering all of that glorious fruit. Oh… and what fruit… raspberry, blackberry, boysenberry, mulberry… pretty much a smorgasbord of berries, all tied together with hints of spice, vanilla and a creamy texture.

Four Hearts Vineyard Chardonnay 2018 – Sale $41.99 – 95 pts Jeb Dunnuck – “This highly textured wine displays aromas of yellow apple, honeysuckle and tangerine skin.  Fresh flavors of Granny Smith apple and Meyer lemon are intertwined with layers of spice and crystallized ginger. A rich and weighty mid-palate is followed by a very long exotic, mineral infused finish. Our family of four makes Four Hearts Vineyards Chardonnay from vineyards located in the heart of the Russian River Valley AVA. These vineyards average nearly 40 years old and are planted with very diverse Chardonnay clonal selections that include old Wente, Sees and Rued field selections, Dijon Clone 95 and Clone 4. These clones and field selections are harvested and fermented separately and only the best barrels from each lot are blended to create the final cuvée. The 2016 Hartford Court Four Hearts Chardonnay has a weighty texture with spicy and layered flavors and finishes with a brightness that reflects the cool climate origins of the vineyards that comprise this blend. All wines are barrel fermented in French oak barrels and complete full malolactic fermentation with bi-monthly lees stirring." “More brioche, honeysuckle, pineapple, and caramelized citrus notes all emerge from the 2018 Chardonnay Four Hearts Vineyards, which is beautifully balanced, medium to full-bodied, and textured on the palate. It shows the more supple, easygoing style of the vintage for Chardonnay yet still has beautiful freshness, good concentration, and a great finish.

Seascape Vineyard Pinot Noir 2017 – Sale $54.99 – 96+ pts Jeb Dunnuck - Seascape Vineyard is a six-acre site on a scenic ridge-top west of the town of Occidental in the Sonoma Coast AVA.  The vineyard abuts an old redwood grove and faces cascading ridges to Bodega Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The well-known Coastlands Vineyard also borders the property. Because there is no ridge between the ocean and the vineyard, Seascape is in an extremely cold spot – so cold that Pinot Noir is often picked in late October.  This cold and foggy coastal climate preserves natural acidity in the grapes and helps delineate the purity of fruit avors and expression of the unique coastal terroir in this wine. Balanced natural acidity also accentuates the potential for long and graceful aging of Seascape Vineyard Pinot Noirs. “Coming from the Sonoma Coast, the 2017 Pinot Noir Seascape Vineyard nevertheless seems to have a touch of Russian River-like opulence and power, showing loads of mulberry and cranberry fruit as well as notes of scorched earth, graphite, licorice, and damp forest floor. Rich, concentrated, and medium to full-bodied, it shows the more focused, backward, chiseled style of the vintage yet is far from austere or angular. The cellar will be your friend on this one, and a solid 2-3 years of bottle age are warranted. Nevertheless, it's packed with potential.” JD

Reply to reserve tickets or buy wine!