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Sips and tips
A little something to sip on.
By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published February 21, 2007
Fair winners Dutiful judges made their way through 1,500 wines this month at the Florida State Fair to pick out the best. The competition, organized by the Florida Grape Growers Association, draws many entries from Florida and other new wine regions, as well as from California, Washington, Italy and Australia. The best of the vine from elsewhere and Florida: Best white: Schilling Bridges Edelweiss from Nebraska. The best from Florida: Carlos Dakotah Vineyards, Chiefland. Best sparkler: Spumante blush from Swedish Hill Winery in New York. Florida: Mama Mango Sparkling, Florida Orange Groves, South Pasadena. Best dessert wine: Vidal ice wine from Casa Larga Vineyards, New York. Florida: Cream Sherry, San Sebastian, St. Augustine/Clermont. Best red: Syrah, Orfila Vineyards, California. Florida: Semidry Blueberry, Keel & Curley, Plant City. Hometown toast A note this month on O'Brien Cellars' donation to Equality California from its top-dollar Seduction cabernet blend brought news of its local links. Proprietor Barton O'Brien grew up in St. Petersburg and graduated from St. Jude's and Boca Ciega High School. In 2000, he and his wife, Barbara, bought 40 acres in the heart of Napa Valley and now make chardonnay and merlot as well as Seduction. WINE OF THE WEEK Chateau Bel-Air Lussac-St. Emilion, Bordeaux, 2003 Great years do matter, even for the lesser of us. But we don't have to pay big. Remember 2003? I call it the giraffe year, when a brutal summer too hot for giraffes in the zoos of northern Europe turned out to be great for grapes. They ripened richly for the Beaujolais nouveaux and almost everything that followed. The costs of top-growths is astronomical. But the sun smiled as much on less expensive properties, including bottles between $10 and $20. Chateau Bel-Air, for instance, is not in the grandest communes, but in the middle of a very near neighbor, Lussac-St. Emilion, on the merlot side. The great vintage shows here in dark purple, deep velvet texture, a bouquet and palate full of red cherries and black plums with a smooth finish. Already easy to drink; rich and ready for a filet mignon, today or in the next few years. If you can't find this one, try your luck with any affordable 2003 Bordeaux. Availability: Limited distribution, $20. Chris Sherman, Times staff writer
[Last modified February 20, 2007, 10:31:27]
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