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May
2011
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Wines of the Week: May 23-29

Everyday: I love wines that instantly evoke a food companion. It is almost impossible to take a swig of the 2009 Duxoup Gamay Noir ($15) and not think “hamburger.” This is a big boy compared to Beaujolais’ gamays, with lush tannins and bold blue fruits, plus a good bit more length than most French offerings. It also would fare well with grilled pizza, not dogs and whatever-sized slab o’ beef you would like. At the north end of the Dry Creek Valley, Duxoup is a true family operation: Andy and Deborah Cutter do almost all the work themselves. “We don’t have any employees,” he told me last year. “Someone helps pack the bottles after bottling.”

Occasion: Before long, there might be as many rich, delicious sauvignon blancs as chardonnays emanating from California’s North Coast. Merry Edwards and Spring Mountain make superb sauv blancs in the $30-$35 range, and the Grey Stack Rosemary’s Block Sauvignon Blanc ($28) is right there with them. It’s almost overwhelmingly fruity at the outset — but what fruit! — and then layers of minerality roll into the mix and lead to a long, focused finish. It’s hard to imagine a fish or seafood dish that wouldn’t be happy sidling up next to this lush beauty.

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