By Marian Jansen op de Haar, Fleming’s Director of Wine
I simply love September. It’s the month that brings a year’s worth of sipping, tasting and scoring to its dramatic climax as we unveil our new Fleming’s 100TM and launch our guests on a new voyage of discovery.
Outstanding values at $10 a glass or less
This award-winning and eagerly anticipated collection of 100 wines by the glass is a project the wine managers and I pour our hearts and souls into each year. Finding wines of exceptional interest, tasting them, comparing them and placing them in progressive order from light whites to intense, full-bodied reds. Yes, it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. We want new wines to be supremely easy for our guests to discover. And I’m proud that this year’s list acknowledges the pleasure of discovering a great wine at a great value, with 30 outstanding wines available for $10 a glass or less.
Plus, our $10 Memorable Meal Wine Flight
Fleming’s Wine Flights—trios of 2-ounce servings, presented on our distinctive Wine Vine—are an excellent way to compare tastes and discover new favorites.
Here are three wines that I would particularly encourage you to try, especially because of the way they pair with our September Memorable Meal — A Trio of Filets. I recommend them for a beautiful counterpoint to the unique flavors of each of the three distinct steak preparations. It's like turning your meal into a food-and-wine tour across three continents, all for just an additional $10. I wish you bon appétit, and bon voyage!
"I'm proud that this year's list acknowledges
the pleasure of discovering a great wine
at a great value, with 30 outstanding wines
available for $10 a glass or less."
HOPE ESTATE, Merlot Hunter Valley Australia, 2007
We found some particularly good values in Australia this year, like this wonderful Merlot, which is a real treat for the adventurous palate. Winemaker Michael Hope was a pharmacist who dreamed of refilling something more interesting than prescriptions. This year, wine lovers all over the world will be refilling their glasses with this vintage, every drop of which comes from grapes grown on the Hope estate — grapes that speak of plums and berries from within a dense, well-rounded palate of cherry, chocolate richness sparked with spicy, integrated oak characters.
IRONY, Pinot Noir Monterey County, 2006
I'm excited about several wines from California that I consider to be extreme values, like the Irony Pinot Noir. The winery is run by two brothers, Chris and Jay Indelicato, who as kids worked the family vineyard’s harvest because their parents made them do it. They grew up, went their separate ways and eventually found themselves drawn back to the vines their grandfather planted in 1924. Working side by side again, they've crafted this smooth, nicely layered Pinot Noir — with its aroma of berries galore and flavors of those berries, laced with toast and vanilla — perfect for toasting life’s unexpected twists and turns.
PARÉS BALTÀ, Cabernet-Garnacha Penedes Mas Petit Spain, 2006
This wine really takes me away to an old stone structure on a green hill overlooking the sea, not far from Barcelona. Each sip channels the spirits of three winemaking generations — and demonstrates the passion of the family members who carry on the work that began in 1790 at Pares Balta. The grapes for this vintage grow on five estates around the winery, pollinated by the family’s own bees, and cooled by the breezes off the Mediterranean. A deep red Cabernet blend bursting with black currant and black cherry fruit, a lush mid-palate, a supple finish, and a personality as unique as the place from which it springs.