September Wine Dinner - "A Taste of Toscana" Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Tuscan cooking is sober and presents simple tastes prepared with expert mastery. Preparation of even the most time-consuming specialties is carried out with loving care and always in the traditional manner. Tuscany ranks alongside Piemonte as the most acclaimed wine growing region in Italy. Tuscan wines have a long, great tradition, and are prized throughout Italy and around the world. The Menu: ANTIPASTO Tonno Fagioli Olive oil poached tuna over a white bean salad with shaved red onion Fontaleoni Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2008 ¤ ¤ ¤ PRIMO Pappa al Pomodoro Tomato and bread puree with basil and Tuscan olive oil Lucignano Chianti Colli Sinese 2007 ¤ ¤ ¤ SECONDO Porchetta alla Toscana Whole roasted pig stuffed with herbs and aromatics, with salsa verde and house-made mostarda Mocali Rosso di Montalcino 2006 ¤ ¤ ¤ DOLCE Cibreo Cheesecake Mascarpone and bitter orange marmellata Isole e Olena Vin Santo 2000 $55.00 per Person Please call for reservations 303.938.8800

Join Us For Warm Indian Summer Nights on The Patio A beautiful Indian summer night, a slight chill in the air, the warm glow of soft lights and a roaring fire...dinner on our patio is always special, and never more so than during this time of year.

September's Featured White Wines By the Glass or Bottle: STEFANO MASSONE GAVI "MASERA" 2007 $9 / Glass $35/ Bottle Region - Piemonte Grape Variety - 100% Cortese This delicious white is both soft and crisp. With a pleasant stony minerality, this straw-yellow wine features notes of apple and pear and a lovely, lingering, refreshing finish. It's agreeable to any palate, and will pair perfectly with most seafood and light vegetable dishes. By the Bottle: BASTIANICH FRIULANO 2007 $44 / Bottle Region - Friuli Grape Variety - 100% Friulano By order of the European Union, harvest 2007 marks the first vintage that the grape formerly known as Tocai Friulano must be called simply Friulano. The proprietors of this winery are chef Lidia Bastianich and her son Joe, who, along with Mario Batali owns many restaurants in New York and across the country. This wine is medium bodied with ripe, luscious pear flavors edged with almond, carried by refreshing minerality and a zesty acidity. It pairs beautifully with prosciutto and other cured meats, as well as light pastas, seafood, and pork. "In Europe we thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also a great giver of happiness and well being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me as necessary." Ernest Hemingway - A Moveable Feast

September's Featured Red Wines By the Glass or Bottle: SANTA LUCIA CASTEL del MONTE $10 / Glass $39/ Bottle Region - Puglia Grape Variety - 100% Uva di Troia Dark ruby red, with a spicy, fruity nose of red plums, black cherries and raspberries. It's an intense, dry wine, rich and balanced, with soft tannins and a long, berry finish enhanced by notes of spice. This grape is little known and very distinctive. If you like rich, full bodied wines with a touch of finesse, this is one you should try. It's great with red meat, particularly steak, and it's a wonderful complement to savory pasta dishes, such as our Lasagne Bolognese. By the Bottle: LA SPINETTA BARBERA d'ASTI CA dI PIAN 2006 $44 / Bottle Region - Piemonte Grape Variety - 100% Barbera Ca di Pian comes from the acclaimed winery of the Rivetti brothers in Castagnole delle Lanze. The color is a lovely ruby red with purple reflections. It has an intense bouquet of dark cherry, blueberry, and cassis. The mouth feel is rich, with flavors of fresh dark fruit, tempered by a perfect balance of acidity and light tannins. This is a wine that sings when paired with a wide range of antipasti, pizzas, and pastas.

AT ALBA THE PARKING IS ALWAYS EASY By the time you’ve circled around in search of a downtown parking space, you could already be enjoying a cocktail or glass of wine at Alba. Parking is free, and there’s always plenty of it, usually right out front.

Welcome to Bottles, Our New Retail Wine Partner We’re happy to announce our good fortune in teaming up with Bottles. They have a marvelous selection of wines and a very knowledgeable and gracious staff. Alba Wine Club members get the case price discount (up to 18%) on any quantity of bottles purchased. Bottles will also offer special discounts on the wines at all our wine dinners, and they’ll be coming to Alba periodically to present special wine tasting evenings. We’d like to thank Superior Liquors, our former retail wine partner, for their support over the past several years. It was our distinct pleasure to work with them, and we wish them continued success. Bottles Wine – Beer – Spirits 2540 Arapahoe Avenue Boulder, CO 80302 (303) 444-8500 Click here to visit the Bottles website