Why leave the glass half empty? Let’s wrap up the weekend in style with a weekly wine party at Nectar Tasting Room. Each Saturday you are invited to an afterhours wine tasting from 9-10pm. The Final Sip is our way to share the wines we’ve opened over the last few days. Why? Because the wine won’t keep until next weekend! Rather than dump it down the drain, you’re invited to help us with…the final sip.

Regular business hours are from Noon – 9pm on Saturday. Guests who want to stay for The Final Sip will pay $10 ($5 for Club Nectar members) to have the opportunity to sample through any of the wines we currently have open. With 32 wines pouring during the weekend, along with various limited releases, guests have an awesome opportunity to explore new wines. Your price of entry guarantees you between 6-8 samples of wines that range from $14 – $54 per bottle. Due to our limited hours, we’ll also be selling any extra catered menu items and desserts at extremely reduced prices.

Whether you’re just starting your Saturday evening adventures or are winding it down after dinner, enjoy The Final Sip at Nectar Tasting Room.

What happens if we run out of wine? Don’t worry, we’ll open more…we happen to know a winery or two.

Details:

• Saturday 9-10pm
• $10 entry ($5 for club members)
• 6-8 one ounce samples of open wines
• We’ll crank up the music and party

South Coast Winery is more than a winery; it’s a wine tasting destination. Boasting 76 luxury villas, and award winning restaurant, luxury spa, 14,000 square feet of conference and meeting space, and 38 acres of surrounding vineyards, South Coast Winery is now on my must see destinations on my next visit to Southern California. The winery has been named the Golden Bear Winery of the Year recipient for 2008 and 2009.

South Coast Winery is more than a pretty destination; they produce a diverse selection of wines as well. With 72 wines, from various vintages, on their web site there is a wine for anyone. You can enjoy bubbles, hearty reds and dry or sweet whites. The 50,000 annual case production wines are crafted by winemakers Jon McPherson and Javier Flores. With a long list of awards, I was pretty excited to try these samples sent by their PR company. The press kit was impressive but the only thing it lacked was first class tickets to Temecula, CA with an all inclusive stay at their luxury spa and villa. I’m certain it was misplaced, I’ll keep my eye out for it.

The NectarView

2008 South Coast Winery GVR

The G is Grenache Blanc (44%), the V is Viognier (36%) and the R is Roussanne (20%). The Rhone blend boasts a beautiful thick angelic gold color in the glass. On the sniff I get an overwhelming aroma of melons and coconut. The wine was aged in French oak barrels adding to the flavor complexities. In the mouth there is a gentle flavor or melons, soft apple fruit, and citrus. This is a really dynamic wine that finishes with the invitation for another sip. I couldn’t find a price point on the web site but a web search reveals a $20 price point. I’m very intrigued by this wine and would love to try another bottle (the first one was emptied way to quickly). 3+/5

Cellar Tracker score of 89 points with 1 review

2006 South Coast Winery Meritage

Meritage in an invented word that combines ‘merit’ and ‘heritage’ (it’s pronounced like heritage). The Meritage Association hopes to create a class of American wines that is synonymous with Bordeaux. The 2006 SC Winery Meritage is a blend of 48% Merlot, 20% Petit Verdot, 18% Cab Sauv, and 14% Cab Franc. In the glass the added Petit Verdot gives the wine a deep rich plum color. On the nose is a bright raspberry fruit with hints of evergreen tree, minerality, and roses. On the sip, the 06 Meritage is slightly disjointed presenting a tart under ripe fruit and flavors of herbs and earth. A moderate chalkiness presents itself on the finish along with the bright acidity. At $20 retail I would give this wine a try before committing to a large quantity. 3/5

Cellar Tracker score of 87 points with 1 review

2008 South Coast Winery Ruby Cuvee

Sparkling red wines are a rarity. Pop the cork on this wine at a party and you’re sure to have a conversation starter. 100% estate grown Syrah from South Coast Winery’s Estate Vineyard results in an off dry sparkler that boasts a thick head of bubbles and vivacious aromas of raspberry and flowers. In the mouth the wine is mostly dry with a great mid palate of fruit flavor. A slight tart acidity is balanced with a hint of sweetness on the finish. At $22 this is a fantastic purchase for any special occasion. Create a magical morning mixer by adding a little cranberry juice. Enjoy life and drink happy! 3+/5

Explore wine. Create your own tasting experience. Get to know the participating wineries. Discover something new every week. The Nectar Tasting Room menu is a unique combination of technology, innovation and information. Visitors to the tasting room can explore the 30+ wines using the iPad menu or a standard paper menu. Those using the iPad menu can learn more about each wine including tasting notes, production information and food pairings. Guests can also learn about each of the five wineries, explore winery web sites, write on our Facebook wall or even play a friendly game of Angry Birds.

Wine at Nectar Tasting Room can be experienced in one of four ways:

1. Splash – Want to explore wines in small 2 ounce samples before committing to a full glass or bottle? Try the Splash 2oz pour for something new or mix and match different wines to create your own flight. Weekly, “flight of the night” specials offer discounts on pre-built wine flights.
2. Sip – Ready for a glass of your favorite? Order a 5 ounce pour of any wine on the menu. Club Nectar members get $1 off all glass pours for their annual membership. Tired of over inflated wine prices? Sip prices start at just $4.
3. Stay – Order a bottle to stay and enjoy with friends or to take home. Bottle prices are the same as what you’ll find at the winery, no major mark ups here. Club Nectar members always get 10% of every bottle purchase whether you’re staying or taking it to go.
4. Tasting Bar – Every week, five wines are available at the tasting bar. Enjoy 5 one ounce pours for just $5. The tasting fee is refundable with purchase. Every week a new group of five wines is available.

Those visitors who explore wines using the iPad menu can sign in and rate wines they like or don’t like (1-5 stars). Sign in on future visits and the menu will remind you of what you liked or didn’t like. This will help make your tasting experience and wine purchases easier.

The iPad menu was inspired by Pithy Wine Company and created by winery web and ecommerce specialists Vin65. The web based application offers quick real time changes and many features that have yet to be explored on my end. Keep your eyes out for more enhancements in the coming months.

Our goal at Nectar Tasting Room is to provide wine lovers more information about the winery and the wine and to provide the wine novice a way to safely explore and learn. We hope to see you soon. Enjoy life with friends, drink happy!

December has been a month of extreme highs and lows. As I’ve pushed forward with the opening of Nectar Tasting Room (January 6-8), I’ve experienced several crushing blows that are almost immediately followed by big wins. This experience has certainly added several grey hairs to my head and wrinkles to my face. Last January, I kicked off the year with my first Nectar Monthly Honors recap. While not quite as cool as a Grammy nomination, it has been an attempt to capture my favorite things from the previous month. I make it a point to save favorite tweets, blog posts, and I review the wines from the month to highlight my favorites.

December 2010 has been one of the most busy months of my entire life. In the midst of everything I managed to write 16 posts (my lowest total since I started the blog). These 16 posts generated the highest traffic ever on the site with nearly 10,000 people viewing over 17,500 pages. 17 wines made the pages of NectarWineBlog this month and some of them were very, very good!

Cheers to you and yours for 2011. My goal (or resolution if you will) is to continue with more of the same. The tasting room will open and hopefully this time next year I can report back that I’ve been able to quit the day job. Enjoy life with friends and drink happy!

Wines of the Month

Best Value Under $15

Oddly enough, I didn’t review any wines that were under $15 retail this month. I did enjoy a $14 Chardonnay from Terra Blanca winery as part of our tasting room preview party and I purchased a few Argentinean Astica Malbec ($5) from Rocket Market (3/5). While the Terra Blanca Chardonnay was a nicely balanced Chardonnay, I’ve committed to not reviewing the wines at the tasting room (conflict of interest). So, for December 2010, no wine is chosen for this category.

Best Overall Wine

Of the 17 wines that showed up in the December reviews, several compete for the top spot of the month. A company known for TV dinners surprised me. A Rose in the Palouse captured my imagination. A wine consumed in October ended up being my top pick for December’s best overall wine.

2008 Syncline Cuvee Elena

In October, I enjoyed a visit to 3 wineries in the Columbia Gorge area (Maryhill, The Pines 1852 and Syncline Winery). James Mantone of Syncline has an old world approach to his wine making that brings out the flavor of the vineyard and the grape without over oxidizing or oaking the wine.

The Southern Rhone inspired with a Grenache (48%) and Mouvedre (24%) focused blend that also includes Syrah, Counoise, and Cinsault. Not much in my notes except silky and thick. Perfume and raspberry on the nose with great layers of fruit and spice. $35 4+/5

Read about the rest of the journey and other Syncline wines, here > http://drinknectar.com/2010/12/02/visit-the-columbia-gorge-for-some-surprise-wines/

• Runner-up: 2009 Wawawai Canyon Carmenere Rose

Other Highlights From December

Marketing Advice for Any Business

enobytes Where Will You Spend Your Next Marketing Dollar for 2011? http://bit.ly/fkbSVu

noseyparkerinw Small business predictions 2011 -pay attention for your own good http://ning.it/gQ8rEE

Posts that Make You Think

@ThomsonVnyrds: Millennials Would Rather Die http://ht.ly/3mgbb Do you agree?

@9swords 25 reasons why I’ll leave your website in 10 seconds http://bit.ly/hVWAB5

Best Picture of the Month

Millennier Photo: Give me a break. Now. fuckyeahwine: http://tumblr.com/xv9y2t9kd

Post that Made Me Spit Wine Out My Nose

lenndevours Is @JamesSuckling a Douche? This blog sure makes a strong case http://bit.ly/hmcWzw

Top Posts of The Month

• Leavenworth – Bavarian for Wine – Proper SEO helped drive traffic to this post as thousands of visitors searched for Leavenworth Christmas Tree Lighting party. This post is a recap of my visit to several Leavenworth wineries.
• Ten Blogging Lessons I Learned In Year One – This post is a holdover from November and got some great readership in the last few days of December.