Local Event Premier Host

New Grapes And No-Alcohol Wine Alternative

Cost: Free

Most of the bottles we'll be pouring Friday introduce you to new grapes/blends - think Debina and Vlahiko from Greece, a very delicious white Cotes du Rhone of Clairette and Bourboulenc instead of Grenache Blanc and/or Viognier, and Montepulciano that - oddly enough - tastes like Montepulciano. You'll love how delicious exploration can be!

And one pour won't be from grapes at all, but will do a better job of enhancing all kinds of meals that pretty much any dealcoholized wine we've tried to date. "Why are we making a good wine, taking he alcohol out and making it less good, and then charging more?" That's the question Rioja and Walla Walla winemaker Jesús Martínez Bujanda and his sister Ana asked. And created MaraBela Wild Verbena Sparkling Tea instead - dry, fresh, lightly tannic, and ready to delight at table!

Here's the full line-up of unexpected treats you'll enjoy Friday from 3-7pm:

MaraBela Wild Verbena Sparkling Tea - What happens when a winemaker crafts a wine-alternative built to thrill with food. Blending two green teas, white peony tea, lemon verbena and lavender with a light, refreshing spritz, you get the body, texture, acidity and tannin that make wine work so well at table with a unique flavor that keeps you coming back for more.

Dom Glinavos Debina Zitsa Protos Inos 2019 - 100% Debina, a native grape of the cool, rugged mountains of Epirus in Northern Greece. It leans into the aromatic potential of the variety, offering savory tarragon and ginger spice aromas, rounded out by a mélange of exotic fruit flavors like quince, key lime, and pear.

Dom La Luminaille Cotes du Rhone Blanc Luminaris 2025 - Most white Cotes du Rhone starts with Grenache Blanc or Viognier, so this blend of Clairette and Bourboulenc definitely breaks the mold in blend. And in freshness and vivacity and minerality. A gem!

Torre Raone Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC 2024 - While Montepulciano isn't unusual, one this good and pure definitely is! No oak, no over-ripeness, just dark, juicy, fruit for sipping and Thanksgiving!

Dom Glinavos Vlahiko Ioannina 2020 - 100% Vlahiko, a traditional if rarely seen black grape from Northern Greece. Medium-bodied and full of lively and spicy cranberry and blackberry fruit flavors, complemented by hints of licorice and black pepper aromas, with a fresh, savory, Mediterranean-spiced finish. 

As usual, we'll have some treats from the cheese case out to sample with the wines and best, six-bottle, savings available on a mix/match basis. Come exploring with us at CBC on Friday!

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• Things to do in McLean, VA
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