Madeira Liquors is a small, unpretentious wine shop standing on the corner of Ives and Williams Streets in Providence, Rhode Island. The store is brimming with bottles of wines and liquors, tucked into every available nook and cranny. Walking space is at a premium due to the limits set by their extensive inventory of wines. The isles are stacked with open cases of wine touting special values. Eight foot high shelves line the walls with bottles of wine organized by country of origin with one slight difference. Although all the wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Spain, etc. are grouped together, the wine bottle standing behind the displayed bottle is not necessarily the same as the one in the front or the one in the rear for that matter. This is what makes this such an exciting place to shop. One simply does not know what other treasures-of-the-vine await them on the same shelf.
Last week is a perfect example of never knowing what unexpected gem is hiding on a shelf. While rummaging through the section of Bordeaux wines I came upon a lone bottle of Chateau Bois De Lamothe amongst the various Bordeaux appellations. I was intrigued. Not only was I delighted to find a wine from such a little known wine producing area of France as the Cotes de Duras but it is also not a Bordeaux appellation. This was not the first time I have had such a serendipitous experience in Madeira Liquors— there have been others. Two days before, yes I do go there often, I found a delightful white wine from Austria along with wines from Germany. On another occasion I have found rosé and tinto wines by Casal Garcia behind a bottle of Vinho Verde which is a white wine also from Casal Garcia. These experiences have taught me to peer far back on the shelf to see what other wines are there. As a result I had the good fortune of finding this wonderful bottle of wine from the Cotes de Duras for our dinner that night.
The Chateau Bois De
Lamothe is a delightfully playful wine. Unlike most inexpensive wines, this seductive
blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc continued to entertain
our palates throughout our entire dinner.
Generally, most inexpensive wines do not “grow” or evolve after they are
opened. At their best they will start
off with fruit and non-fruit aromas on the nose and similar taste sensations on
the palate. Shortly afterwards these
aromas and flavors dissipate to the point that they are no longer discernible. Of course there are exceptions to this
generality. Fortunately the Chateau Bois De Lamothe is one of those delightful
exceptions. On the nose there are aromas of currant, black cherry and
suggestions of asparagus. The same beguiling combination of black fruit and
hints of asparagus are also noticed on the palate. We savored this wine with our steak for over
an hour. At times the taste of the black fruit was pronounced, only to give way
to the long lush finish of the currants and then revert back to a softer,
fruity structure. The hints of asparagus
remained in the background as an amusing afterthought, a curiosity to
discover. I cannot remember the last
time I had such fun with a bottle of red wine, revealing so much for so long
for only $8.99 a bottle.
My little curio shop on Ives Street is full of other such
wonderful wine values. In my brief
period of time shopping there I have enjoyed a wide variety of wines for less
than ten dollars a bottle. Some of these
great values include a red wine from Graves, a Bordeaux appellation known more
for white wine than red, a delicate Spanish rose from the Navarro region and a
luscious Portuguese red wine from Dao and more. Wine shops such as Madeira
Liquors add a touch of excitement to the shopping experience that the big
modern stores do not. I cannot wait to
find the other treasures hiding on their shelves.
Stay tuned for more Treasures
from my Little Curio Shop of Wines in Providence, Rhode Island.
