August Briggs wine tasting

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:

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,

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