August 2011 • Vol. VIII

Homemade BBQ Sauce

The Three Amigos

Chef Michael Burke from The Garage shares his BBQ Sauce recipe on Page 4

This year’s Fall Arts Festival labels feature work from painter Dwayne

Harty

Big palate in a small package

Inside This Month

Check out wineliquorbeer.com/wotm

for recipes, tasting notes & more

2011 Fall Arts Festival Wines Have Arrived

Chef Michael Burke from the newly redesigned Garage restaurant (formally Burke’s Chophouse) in downtown Jackson, Wyoming shares his BBQ sauce recipe. Smother some chicken, ribs, or brisket with this sauce and pair with our $20 red wine, the NxNW Cabernet Sauvignon.

Now available at The Liquor Store & Wine Loft, and online at www.wineliquorbeer.com, are the 2011 Fall Arts Festival Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Every year, the Fall Arts Fest releases two wines to commemorate the occasion and celebrate a local artist. This year’s labels feature the painting Strength & Vulnerability from artist Dwayne Harty. The Jackson Hole Fall Arts Festival is widely recognized as one of the premier cultural events in the Rocky Mountain West. Thousands of art enthusiasts are drawn each year to experience the diverse artwork and breathtaking natural surroundings that make Jackson Hole a leading cultural center. The 2011 Festival will take place September 8-18,2011.

This month’s three wines for $35 set include the Angels Landing Pinot Noir, 6th Sense Syrah and Sensual Malbec. You save 20% off the regular price, a $10 value!

This month’s $20 white wine selection is a 375ml bottle, but don’t think it has small flavor. Read why winemaker Frederich Magnien considers this vintage to be the perfect example of his Chablis Forets

Inside This Month

$20 Red Wine Chateau De Cruzeau - 2009

The Three Amigos• Crios Syrah/Bonarda - 2008• La Posta Cocina Tinto - 2009• Ruca Malen Cab/Malbec 2009

$75 Red WineMirror Cabernet Sauvignon 2008

Recipe of the MonthBlue Lion Roast Rack of Lamb Prepared by Tim Libassi of The Blue Lion Restaurant. It also includes his Jalapeno mint sauce and Peppercorn rosemary cream sauce.

January 2012 • Vol. XIII

December Letter From The Liquor Store Staff...

Kicking off the New Year often comes with resolutions: eat less of this, do more of that, demonstrate more vehemently at least one of those seven virtues – the options are endless.

Though the temperatures drop and the days are short, January is a month like spring. It brings to mind renewal and rebirth. A fresh, pristine year lies open before us and one cannot help but hope that this year brings us only the best. Each year, month, week and day stands as a blank

slate look forward to. From The Liquor Store of Jackson Hole you can look forward to more of the same, quality Wine of the Month Club offerings in 2012. Our resolution remains: to deliver to you a new and exciting wine every month of the year. Providing superior wines through this program and supplying expert and friendly assistance to all our customers is, and will always be, our goal. Our VIP Wine Tasting events also occur monthly and we’re starting off 2012 with a World Wine Tour. The focus in January will be on Italy and shift north to France for the February VIP tasting. Stay tuned to the WOTM newsletter, our weekly emails and our website for more detailed information

on how to sign up and where the Wine Tour will take you next! Best wishes for 2012 from The Liquor Store and Wine Loft!

Above photo is The Blue Lion’s Roast Rack of Lamb Prepared by Tim Libassi of The Blue Lion Restaurant.

$20 Red Wine

This shows crushed berry on the nose, with hints of sweet tobacco and cedar. Full- to medium-bodied, with soft tannins and a coffee, toasty oak and ripe fruit aftertaste.

Subtle and interesting.

Tasters Notes“Very racy, with a sanguine frame to the delicious core of red currant, damson plum and linzer torte notes. Long, with tar and juniper lingering through the finish.

Drink now through 2018. 11,500 cases made.” -90 points Wine Spectator

Chateau De Cruzeau2009Regular Price $25.99

$75 Red WineMirror Cabernet Sauvignon 2008Regular Price $85.49

The consistency of our Napa Cabernet vineyard sources allows us to maintain the quality and profile of our wines every year. A beautiful array of roses, blackberry blossoms, tabacco, and cocoa jump out of the glass leading to the full attack on the palate. The senses from the aromas are further supported by the elegant entry and fullness into the palate. A core of dark berry fruits with dried raspberries bring about the long and lasting finish of fruits. Keeping the tannins round and full and supported by the nice oak components of vanilla and spice.

The stage was set for the 2008 Napa Valley growing season by less than normal rainfall in the winter of 2007/2008. Lack of precipitation created drought conditions for the spring, summer and early winter of 2008. Diminished late winter rains further reduced field moisture levels at the beginning of the growing season in the first three months of 2008. Field moisture’s were hard to manage throughout

the year, but the growing conditions leading up to harvest were relatively normal and the overall quality was great for 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. We are very excited about our 2008 Mirror Napa Valley Cabernet and look forward to sharing it with you.

The nose is spicy with ripe cherry and plum aromas. It is packed with fresh, sweet tannins and the vibrant acidity maintains a good balance. Long and persistent finish enhanced by fruity notes and mild toasted hints.

Wine maker notes“Yauquen” is a word from the Mapuche language that means “to share a drink with a friend”. Yauquen is the value line of wines made by Ruca Malen.Mendoza, Argentina is the source of some of the finest Malbecs ever made. In this warm, dry climate Malbec achieves ripeness giving the wine a velvety texture and intense flavors of blackberry, and pepper. Malbecs achieve a level of complexity that challenges Napa or Bordeaux.

“Nice dark purple color, blueberry, black cherry, plum, vanilla, chocolate. The palate was an amazing tobacco, baking spice, plum

and obvious mocha. This is a great value wine.” -Zach Padilla (TLS Product Specialist/Sommelier)

Wine maker notesPurple-colored, it offers notes of cedar, spice box, pencil lead, blueberry, and black cherry. On the palate gamy notes emerge to accompany the sweet fruit. Easy-drinking and seamless.

Ruca Malen Cab/Malbec 2009 - Regular Price $14.99

La Posta Cocina Tinto - 2009Regular Price $14.49

Crios Syrah/Bonarda - 2008Regular Price $18.99Syrah is the well-known grape of France’s Rhone Valley and Australia’s Shiraz. Not well-known outside Argentina, Bonarda is surprisingly second only to Malbec in red grape plantings. Its origins are in Italy’s Piedmont region where it represented 30% of all pre-phylloxera plantings. In Mendoza, yields can reach 12 tons per acre (though with little flavor concentration). The key to producing great Bonarda is finding very old vines growing in the warm, sandy soils of eastern Mendoza, then limiting vigor through severe pruning and irrigation techniques. Luckily, Susana’s husband, Pedro, owns and manages such a vineyard. In a country dominated by male wine makers, Susana Balbo stands out not only for her gender, but for her incredible skill and experience. She has been making wine since she earned her enology degree in 1981, and she has probably produced a wider variety of wines than any other wine maker in Argentina. Susana was the first Argentine wine maker to be hired as a consultant to make wine outside of Argentina. She has made wine in Australia, California, Chile, France, Italy, South Africa, and Spain, and she spends a month each year in a different wine region of the world studying with local wine makers and growers. After twenty years of producing wines for others, Susana decided it was time to apply her education and experience to her own wines and put her name right on the bottle. Susana strives for balance in her wines, with layers of complexity coming from the individually fermented varietals. She wants people who drink her wines to feel that every sip from the glass is as exciting as the first.

Served with peppercorn rosemary cream sauce and jalapeno mint sauce - Serves 6 to 8

Jalapeno mint sauce:• 3/4 cup water • 2 Tbs green crème de menthe • 7/8 cup sugar

• 1 ½ cups loosely packed fresh mint leaves - minced • 2 to 3 fresh jalapenos – seeded and minced

• ¼ cup water • 1 tsp gelatin • ½ tsp red pepper flakes • ¼ tsp vanilla

Combine ¾ cup water, crème de menthe and sugar in sauce pan and heat to dissolve sugar. Add mint and jalapenos cover and simmer until mint is cooked. Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup cold water, heat to dissolve gelatin then add to mint sauce. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature then

add red pepper flakes and vanilla. Chill overnight. Mix well before serving. Recipe can be multiplied and extra sauce can be frozen.

Peppercorn rosemary cream sauce:• ½ cup mixed peppercorns – coarsely crushed • 1 ½ Tbs minced shallots • 1/3 cup brandy

• 5 cups burgundy • 2 cup chicken stock – preferably homemade• 2 – 1.5 oz. packages “more than gourmet” veal demi-glace

• 5 ½ to 6 cups heavy cream – not ultra pasteurized • 2 Tbs chopped fresh rosemary• salt and sugar to taste

Sauté peppercorns and shallots. Add brandy, burgundy, chicken stock and demi-glace, reduce to 2 ½ to 3 cups. Add rosemary. Can be prepared ahead to this point (can also be multiplied and the extra base can be frozen).Add heavy cream and reduce until thick. Check taste add salt and sugar

as necessary.

For lamb:• Plan on 1 New Zealand rack of lamb per person (cap off and frenched around 14 oz. each)

• 1 cup dijon mustard • 3 cups bread crumbs • Clarified butter or olive oil

Brush each rack with dijon and roll in bread crumbs to coat top and bottom, try not to get anything on bones (can be prepared ahead wrap each rack individually). Preheat oven to 450. Arrange

lamb on two baking sheets and brush with clarified butter. Place lamb in oven and reduce heat to 400. Bake 10 to 12 minutes then flip lamb over and continue baking for another 8 to 10 minutes

until meat thermometer reads 125 for medium rare. Let lamb racks rest for about 5 minutes before slicing. Carefully slice racks into chops and serve on a bed of peppercorn cream sauce, passing

the mint sauce separately.

Blue Lion Roast Rack of Lamb

Thanks for the opportunity - Tim Libassi ...

The Blue Lion Restaurant, shown on the left, is located at 160 North

Millward Street, Jackson, Wyoming. For reservations call

(307) 733-3912