Sigel's wine tasting report
John Mellby
October 3, 2003

We went down to the Sigel's Liquor store on Greenville Ave, here
in Dallas this Thursday to their wine tasting. Apparently the
Texas law changed in September to make tastings easier (or
more legal). Sigel's said they are experimenting at their
Greenville location, and expect to hold tasting at other stores next
year.

If you're interested and are nearby go to the Sigel's web site
and sign up for their information at:
http://www.sigels.com/preferred.html
You get periodic info on sales and tastings. They seem to be
having a tasting most every Thursday from 5-7 on Greenville
(just North of Lover's Lane).

This tasting was for August Briggs winery,
http://www.augustbriggswines.com
They have been only going for about 6 years, but he has been
making wines for much longer. They tasted 6 wines:
Chardonnay Russian River 2001
Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 2000
Pinot Noir Dijon Clones 2001
Pinot Meunier Napa 2000
Petit Syrah Napa 2000
Zinfandel Napa 2001
They usually make around 300 cases of each wine, so these are
not generally available. Sigel's had these, plus the Pinot Noir
from Carneros and Russian River available, sometimes from multiple
years. (The 2000 Zin scored 92 in the Wine Spectator, and apparently
sold out immediately.) These are mostly on sale for $25.99 (the
Cabernet was about $40).

I had tasted an August Briggs Pinot Noir before thought it
was one of the best wines I tried all year, so I wanted to see
what the other wines were like.

Pinot Meunier is an uncommon grape, apparently used in blending
with other wines. Sharon thought it was rich without the strong
tannins that she dislikes in Cabs.
I thought the Zinfandel was deep, with a lot of pepper and fruit,
but still young. We ended up getting some Pinot Noir (the Carneros
and Russian River, not the Dijon), Zinfandel, and Pinot Meunier.

This is nice, to be able to sample a good selection of wines.
The only problem is that Sigels is about 16 miles from home.
Still, I'll go back.

JRM