CHILL & GRILL WITH FOUR
GREAT SUMMER SIPPERS

It’s no surprise that we’re recommending three whites and a rosé for your summer wine selections. Some would say it’s darn right obvious. After all, at the first sign of warm weather, we all rush to fill up the ice bucket.  But there’s no need to be obvious with your lighter wine recommendations. Rather than stick with your standard white wines, why not pay a visit to Argentina for something a little different this summer?

2009 mapema Sauvignon Blanc
89 pts Robert Parker’s “The Wine Advocate”: Sauvignon Blanc, more than any other variety, expresses its sense of place, and this one is pure Mendoza—bold and lively with substantial body and balancing acidity.

2009 Crios Torrontes
90 pts Robert Parker’s “The Wine Advocate”:  The Crios Torrontes is consistently considered the benchmark of the varietal and with one sip, you’ll know why.

2009 La Posta Cocina Blanco de Blancos
88 pts Robert Parker’s “The Wine Advocate”:  This white blends Chardonnay (70%) with Sauvignon Blanc and Torrontes (both 15%) for an adventure in “how to keep Chardonnay from being flabby.”

2009 Crios Rosé of Malbec
89 pts Robert Parker’s “The Wine Advocate”: You expect to find strawberry and cherry notes from a rosé and this one is no exception. The difference is the malbec produces a version with spice and a sturdier body than most.

All wines are currently shipping.  Contact your VC sales rep for pricing and to place your order. Here’s to the long days of summer!

WINE AND SAKE
SUMMER SCHOOL

School may be out for the summer, but here at Vine Connections it is Wine and Sake 101 every day.  We continually develop interesting ways to make learning about Argentine Wine and Japanese Sake fun, fun, fun -- almost as fun as drinking them! Here are just a few.

• The Malbec Crossword Puzzle: Got Malbec in your blood? Take the VC Challenge to find out!  Sake version coming soon!
  
  
• Vine Connections Playing Cards: A compact, all-in-one, quick reference guide to the entire Vine Connections sake and wine portfolio.  Bring on your next sales call or poker night.
  
  
• How to Speak Sake Pronunciation Guide: The ultimate pronunciation guide and glossary for all of you who wonder “How do I pronounce seimaibuai and what the heck does it mean again?"
  
  
• Sake 101: Visit a sake brewery without leaving home!  
  
  
• Mendoza Map: This treasure map marks the spots where our wines are crafted and our grapes are grown, including Top 10 Facts on Mendoza. .
  
  
• Sake Rice Packets: Learn the difference between sake rice and table rice with these packets containing actual sake rice samples.
  
  
• Wine and Sake Food Pairing: Learn which menu options work best with each VC wine and sake.
  Wine Pairings
  Sake Pairings

For more fun tools, please visit Trade Tools on the VC website. (We are currently working on a more user-friendly directory of all available tools.)

You can also use this order form for all available POS, including the playing cards and rice packets.

EAT LIKE A GAUCHO
THIS SUMMER!

Why settle for ordinary steak knives when you could serve your summer asado gaucho-style? We are awarding these limited edition, Tikal-branded knife sets to distributor sales reps who achieve a minimum number of new placements of Tikal Amorio Malbec.

These elegant and sturdy knives have hefty wood and horn handles and carbon steel blades which are branded with the Tikal logo.  Each set has four knives and a custom leather case.

Speak with your VC sales rep for details.The program continues through the end of this year. Suerte!

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Ed's musings about this curious business of importing wine and sake

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