What a great night of food, wine, conversation and education was had by all who attended last night's wine dinner at Trattoria del Corso. We thank you for your patronage. Please join The Savory Grape and Trattoria del Corso Restaurant on Tuesday, October 3rd at 6:30 pm to experience a second delightful wine dinner tour of Italy. Cost for the four-course wine dinner, which will be held at Trattoria at 223 Main Street in EG, is $75 per person, which includes tax and tip. To make your reservation, please call The Savory Grape at 886-9463 or via email at jessica@thesavorygrape.com by Friday, September 29th. Space is limited so please make your reservations early. We look forward to enjoying this dinner with you. Please visit the News and Events page of our website for the full menu and wine selections. Don't miss out; we are now accepting reservations!

You can definitely feel it as you walk out the door... fall is here. As you unpack the sweaters and pack up the AC, consider adding a new item on your fall to- do list and pick up a few bottles of red wine to enjoy on these increasingly chilly evenings. Whether it's an old favorite or a new discovery, a great bottle of red will definitely warm and relax you. This week's article features four of our favorite wineries for Autumn reds.

Also remember that we have changed our hours slightly for Autumn.

I woke up the other day to a 45-degree morning and rather than miss those warm summer days, I was excited for cozy fall evenings. While sipping chilled whites is great for summer, nothing beats a delicious glass of red in Autumn. This week we'll be featuring four wineries that craft wonderful wines for Autumn.

Long Meadow Ranch Long Meadow Ranch, located in the Mayacamas Mountains in Napa County, was first granted by President Ulysses S. Grant to an American gentleman who sought a new life out "West." In the last 20 years, LMR was purchased by the Hall family whose focus is to craft world-class wines using sustainable, organic farming methods. They believe that organic farming methods truly produce higher quality wines. This belief shines through in the big, bold and delicious reds the winery produces. Winemaker Ashley Heisey has brought a wealth of knowledge and a true skill for crafting wines. She interned in Germany's Rheingau and France's Bordeaux, worked at Opus One, Robert Mondavi Winery, and Schramsberg Vineyards and was winemaker for Far Niente for several years. We are excited to tell you that we just brought in a limited number of LMR reds and its Sauvignon Blanc. The 2003 Cabernet is a fabulously food friendly red that is balanced and elegant with rich flavors and a smooth finish. The Sangiovese could easily be mistaken for an Italian red, except that its a touch fuller in berry fruit flavors but with a soft mouth feel. Then there is its house blend dubbed Ranch House Red - an easy drinking wine that still carries an elegant and refined character due to its pleasant fruit flavors and minerality. Our thoughts overall - delicious!

Kaesler Vineyards Our Autumn wine tour next takes us to Australia, where wonderful, bold, spicy reds are easy to find and even more easy to drink. Kaesler Vineyards was established in 1893. The family came to Barossa Valley in the 1840s and took up 96 acres in 1891. They cleared the scrub and in 1893 planted the entire holding with Shiraz, Grenache, Mataro (Mourvedre) and White Hermitage vines. Some of the gnarled dry-grown Shiraz still remains and provides the backbone for the intense wines produced from the sandy loam of this prime viticultural block. For decades, the Kaesler crop was sold off to other winemakers, but in 1997 Reid Bosward, a winemaker at a separate local vineyard, recognized the power and intensity of Kaesler fruit and purchased the vineyard. Reid's style suits the Australian vineyard and climate perfectly. He doesn't thin down and refine his wines. He recognizes that Kaesler produces powerful wines with a high sugar content that allows for higher alcohol levels, often up to 15%, and Reid encourages this. He prunes diligently and restricts the amount of water the vines see, resulting in big reds with intense flavor. This is clearly the case with Kaesler "Stonehorse," a blend of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre which explodes with pepper, spice, black fruits and fennel and which we carry in the shop. Our other favs are Kaesler's Stonehorse Shiraz and Touriga Nacional, a port-like wine that is a delicious end to an Autumn evening and a perfect gift.

Villa Dievole When the weather is hot and sticky, the last thing that you want to do is stand over a hot stove. As the weather cools, I always look forward to having close friends in a warm, inviting kitchen while we saute and simmer our way to true comfort food. Roasts, casseroles, pastas... no one does comfort food quite like Italians, and their regional reds are the perfect accompaniment to these dishes. We love Dievole (pronounced dee-ah-voe-lay and meaning Divine Valley) for its classic Tuscan flavors and food- friendly character. It was the year 1090 that Dievole's first two vintners paid six "Denari Lucchesi," two capons and three loaves of bread for the promise of the "divine": the yearly rent for a vineyard of Dieulele. Today, we love to pair the 2003 "La Vendemmia" Chianti Classico with food and friends. (Friends who we had over recently will attest to the lovely taste's of Dievole Chianti Classico.) It has ripe cherry and blackberry flavors and light mineral aromas; a medium body with fine tannins and a clean straightforward finish. Speaking of finish, why not finish the night with Dievole Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, a dessert wine that resembles a dry sherry after up to a decade of aging. Stay tuned for a limited seating private Dievole tasting.

Domaine Monpertuis Autumn is the best time to enjoy the famed Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which is a region but also the name of a fabulous blend from France's Rhone area. We will be featuring additional information on the Rhone Valley and Chateauneuf du Pape in next week's article but we'll give you a mouth watering preview this week. Domaine de Monpertuis has been in the hands of the Jeune family for several generations. Each successor has added "bits and pieces" of vineyards to the expanding whole of the estate so that the current owner, Paul Jeune, is now the proprietor of 10 acres of vines that are scattered among 32 separate parcels throughout the confines of Chateauneuf du Pape. While Chateauneuf du Pape may contain up to 13 varietals, Jeune relies mainly on Grenache with Syrah, Mourvedre, and Cinsault providing the balance. (Note the Rhone-style "GSM" blend which is successfully mimicked in Australia by such vineyards as Kaesler.) The red varietals are not destemmed before fermentation and the wines are oak-aged and bottled unfiltered which all helps to capture the area's terroir and maintain a firm tannic structure. In addition, Jeune now vinifies separate cuvees of Cotes du Rhone, almost exclusively Grenache, and Vin de Pays du Gard, mainly the Counoise varietal. We carry several Domaine Monpertuis options, from the more costly to the affordable, providing the casual drinker with the famous Rhone style without the famous Rhone price.

Whether it's to pair a wine with your favorite dish or just to find a great wine to curl up with, we hope to see you in the shop this week to select one of our delicious Autumn reds.

2003 Dievole Chianti Classico - $18.49. This is a Chianti worth experiencing, and having it recently with homemade eggplant parmignano was a perfect pair. As we allowed it to stay in the glass over a period of 15-20 minutes, the ripe berry flavors truly evolved, making it more succulent and soft. We highly recommend this as a match with rich Italian foods.

2003 Long Meadow Ranch House Red - $20.99. LMR's small production red has cassis and black cherry flavors intermingled with a touch of oak and some cocoa and rootbeer that allows for a fruit- forward entry leading into a truly mouthwatering finish. The tannins are smooth so you don't feel a mouthdrying effect. A special night wine!

2005 Kiss Chasey White - $10.99. This is a fun, but good, Australian white upon which we recently stumbled. (Of course, being Australian, the label is fun too, bot not donned with animals - thank gosh!) A blend of Chardonnay, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Verdelho from a great new producer in Western Australia, it is light to medium bodied with flavors and aromas of grapefruit, orange zest, and fragrant honeysuckle that lead to an elegant, crisp finish.

2002 Cain Vineyard's Cain Concept - $51.49. Those who know Cain Vineyards are sure to know its renowned Cain Five, a blend of five varietals; thus giving it its name. Cain Concept is a blend of four varietals that give the wine a rich, plummy personality that is full of ripe purple fruit with hints of fresh coffee. It exhibits the finesse and exceptional mouthfeel characteristic of the winemaking style of Cain. You can not go wrong with Cain.

Friday, Sept. 15 (5 pm - 8 pm)

Saturday, Sept. 16 (5 pm - 8 pm)

Breslin Fine Art Gallery, located at 187 Main Street in East Greenwich, will hold its grand opening celebration on Friday, September 15 from 7 pm - 10 pm. Breslin Fine Arts is proud to feature the works of contemporary artists from New England and beyond, many of who have received national and international reputations. Please stop in to see Joanne and Michael Breslin and their contemporary and abstract art presented in Soho style with Main Street charm.

Don't forget to plan early for your fall, holiday and corporate events. We are already booked for several fall weekend parties. If you would like us to create a Gift Basket for you or ship that wine club membership to friends or family out of state, please call, email or stop by the shop.