We’ve been very busy swirlers over the last couple of months. So busy that our latest round-up of the wines that have been sent to us for review has to be divided into three parts. Today we present red wines under $20, and the other parts in the coming week will offer whites under $20, and reds and whites $20 and over.

Happy swirling!

From Earthy:

2009 Erath Pinot Noir, Oregon ($14.97 Total Wine; $19.99 ABC online; $17.97 Crown online)

The Erath pinot is a light shade of garnet and has a lovely sweet aroma with cherry and cinnamon. Like a cherry pie just removed from the oven.

It has a light-medium body with soft earthy notes up front and cherry and raspberry on the back end. There were sweet spices and more cinnamon… mmmmm. All of the flavors were propped up with a gentle dose of acidity. That $15 price tag is a tremendous value for such an impressive pinot. This is one I’d want multiple bottles of in the cabinet – for an unexpected guest, for a dinner party, as a gift, and best of all, for swinging in the backyard hammock.

2008 Casa Silva Los Lingues Gran Reserva Carmenere, Colchagua Valley, Chile ($17 – $24 online)

This carmenere has a deep garnet color and is virtually opaque when looking through the glass of wine. It’s a rich and powerful aroma of blackberries, currants and chocolate. The power comes through on the palate, too, with juicy blackberries, blueberries and raspberries, more chocolate, allspice and oak. But this power broker is a smooth operator. The tannins are tamed, and the body is full, balanced and satiating. This is your night at the opera: full of drama but with finesse, character and skill.
Read the full story

I felt like Cinderella.

Each time one of my fellow Swirl Girls breathlessly described the wine dinner she was attending that night, and then practically grand jeté’d right out the office door to primp for it, I would pity myself without the vegetarian invitation.

But, lo, my Prince Charming finally arrived — two of them, actually, and did they have Rhythm!

For their last wine dinner of the year held last month West Palm Beach’s Rhythm Café co-owners Dennis Williams and Chef Ken Rzab plated five vegetarian courses to pair with ZD and Frog’s Leap wines. (Forty-eight guests paid $65, tax and tip included, to indulge in five wine pairings.)

Rhythm has long been a favorite of mine for delectable vegetarian options and an impressive wine selection, housed in a quirky, cozy atmosphere. (Be sure to check out the wall of old prom photos in the restaurant.) Read the full story

Swirl Girls readers are getting such a great deal at this year’s Lexus Taste at Downtown at the Gardens that we wanted to remind you today is the last day for a discounted advance admission ticket!

The “Taste Pass” is available to you for $35 — that’s 30 percent off the advance ticket price of $50. (If you wait to buy a ticket at the gate, it will cost you $75.) Just head over to the Lexus Taste at Downtown web site at www.tasteatdowntown.com and use the promo code SWIRLGIRLS when you make your purchase.

For more information and to see what we’re pouring, check out the previous story here.

Bold and I boasted so much about the fun we had pouring wine at the Lexus Taste at Downtown at the Gardens last year that Sweet and Dry have made sure to clear their calendars this year so they don’t miss out again.

We’re honored to have been invited to participate in this food and wine event that raises money for the Big Heart Brigade’s Thanksgiving Dinner Drive, which provides holiday meals for the less fortunate. On November 10, from 5:30 – 9:00 p.m., Downtown at the Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens will transform into a party venue with a plethora of culinary treats and libations, in addition to live music and a fireworks show.

However, the real thrill is, you get a discount on your advance ticket purchase because you’re a Swirl Girls reader. The “Taste Pass” is available to you for $35 (that’s 30 percent off the advance ticket price of $50!) Just head over to the Lexus Taste at Downtown web site at www.tasteatdowntown.com and use the promo code SWIRLGIRLS when you make your purchase.

If you need a little prodding to get out there and join us, we’ll be pouring a great selection of wines — something for every palate:

Wonderful whites:
Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut
Columbia Winery Cellarmaster’s Riesling
Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc

Ravishing reds:
Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Village
Oyster Bay Pinot Noir
Querceto Chianti Classico Reserva
Artesa Elements Cabernet Sauvignon
Brazin Old Vine Zinfandel

We’re looking forward to seeing you there and sharing a sip!

Summer is the season for whites: white sun dresses, white sandals, white linens… and certainly white wines. While you’d probably be hard pressed to find “earthy” white wines, this Earthy has some she’d like to share (with a couple of rosés thrown in for a little color) from the bounty that has been sent to the Swirl Girls for review.

2010 Bodega Tamarí Reserva Torrontés, La Rioja, Argentina ($9.99 at Crown online)

I’m having a love affair with an Argentine that started two years ago and I just can’t quit. With scents of citrus, tangerine and flowers, that make me think of the crisp, early days of spring as they begin to lengthen into summer, is it any wonder I’m addicted to the torrontés grape?
In addition to those aromas, the Bodega Tamarí has a gentle acidity with citrus and apples notes, and more of an off-dry palate than a super-crisp, dry one. Still a dreamy date for a late afternoon spell on the front porch…

2009 Snoqualmie Winemaker’s Select Riesling, Columbia Valley, Wash. ($8 on Snoqualmie web site)

Just like the honey-yellow color in the glass, the ample aromas of this semi-sweet riesling are of honey and peach. The sweet smell of fruit carries over to the palate with more honey and peach. It’s soft and flavorful with a juicy richness, like biting into an overripe peach with juice that drips from your chin. There’s a slight crispness in the mid-palate that helps balance the candied flavor. White zinfandel drinkers: take note and take a step away from the pink! This one will satisfy that sweet tooth, but also introduce you to complexity in wine and winemaking. Read the full story

Another July, another visit to my sister and her family in upstate New York and, yes, the now-requisite jaunt into the Finger Lakes wine region for a little northerly swirling.

But instead of sharing tasting notes with such mundane phrases as “smells like cherry,” proclaiming silly superlatives from the five wineries we visited along Seneca Lake makes for a much more entertaining exercise. (Besides, we were having way too much fun to do any serious contemplation about aroma and taste.)

So, from the tasting rooms of Damiani Wine Cellars, Lamoreaux Landing Wine Cellars, Rasta Ranch Vineyards, Red Newt Cellars and Standing Stone Vineyards come Earthy’s highly unscientific, ridiculously opinionated “Superlatives of the Finger Lakes”: Read the full story

I know, I know. Every time we have a Swirl-Up we say this one promises to be better than the last. Well, when a restaurant owner and a wine distributor tell you they intend to make their hosted Swirl-Up together the best one yet, you feel pretty confident passing along that sentiment.

Declan Hoctor, of The Bistro in Jupiter, and Michael Aitken, of W.J. Deutsch & Sons wine merchants, would be said guilty party, so what a party this should be!

Join the Swirl Girls for specially chosen wines and special dishes at The Bistro on Thursday, July 28, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. As always, be sure to have your credit card in hand when you call to reserve your spot, because our lively events sell out quick! Tickets are $50 each, with $10 of that cost going to a local charity. Call the restaurant at 561-744-5054.

With only 30 seats available, you won’t want to miss out on this enticing menu: Read the full story

Fortified

A wine, such as Sherry or Port, that has had its alcohol content increased by the addition of distilled grape spirits (brandy). Most fortified wines contain 16 to 20 percent alcohol by volume.

(Wine Bible, Karen MacNeil; winespectator.com)

A spur-of-the-moment decision found me at a wine tasting at the ABC store in Royal Palm Beach recently. For $10, there were more than 60 wines, and even a few spirits, to try. Most of the wines weren’t unusual, or I had tried them before, so I steered towards those that I thought would offer something special based on the place or the price.

As I scribble notes, I’ve created my own rating system with smiley faces or frown faces so I can quickly identify those I want to rush back for before the packing up begins.

Of the 12 wines I tasted, four earned the “Earthy” smiley face:
Read the full story

Rootstock

Rootstock is the part of the grapevine that is planted directly into the soil. Rootstocks from different varieties will be more or less suitable to a certain type of soil, and have different tolerances to disease and climatic stress.

A vine does not need to grow from its own roots. In fact, most vines do not grow from their own roots but instead are grafted onto select rootstocks known for their disease resistance. Such was the case when a phylloxera epidemic swept through Europe (and eventually around the world) in the latter half of the 19th century and destroyed millions of acres of vines. (Phylloxera is an aphid that attacks a vine’s roots and slowly destroys it.)

It was discovered that native American vines, such as those belonging to the species Vitis labrusca and Vitis riparia, tolerate the insect without adverse consequences. The remedy to the epidemic was to replant each vineyard with the American rootstocks, then graft Vitis vinifera vines on top. Vinifera originated in Europe and includes all of the well-known wine grapes.

(The Wine Bible, Karen MacNeil)