If you leave The Savvy Lush with anything this week, remember this name: Arton.

This week’s red and white wines are both from the same winery: Domaine d’Arton. You may have heard some buzz about Solo Vino’s 4th Annual Rosé Tent Tasting held last Sunday. http://www.decant-this.com/2012/05/21/he-belongs-to-that-wine-rose/ If you haven’t, let me enlighten you so you attend next year’s soirée.

Chuck, Rob & Co., from Solo Vino put together a collection of 144 different wines, mostly Rosé, but also a smattering of whites, Pinot Noirs, and Lambruscos to mix it up a bit. A mere $30 allowed you to sample ALL the wine you’d like, but it didn’t stop there. Wonderfully complimentary hor’s d’oeuvres were also liberally served. I was told 60 lbs of Kramarczuk’s sausage was involved. Two words, kids: lamb sausage (no pun intended?).

But I digress. With wine drinking buddies I’ve gotten to know on Twitter in tow, we had ourselves a real good time! The particular table that had us a-twitter (pun intended) was the table that brought us the Arton. What makes this “the Arton” so special?

Following the Rosé Tent Tasting, it should be no surprise that this week’s red is a Rosé hailing from Gascony: Domaine d’Arton Rosé. The Arton (ar-TONE) Rosé is made with Syrah and embodies smells and tastes of peach and mild raspberry with tinges of citrus rind. Nay, it’s like a peach raspberry tart that’s sat in the window of a cottage in Gascony as the soft winds drizzle it’s floral and herbal whispers on top. (Wow – that came right out of my ass. Sounded good though, huh?) Truly, it’s soft, fruity, light, flavorful with a hint of tartness, just to round it off. Perfect for those who both love Rosé and those who are unsure and are just about to start experimenting. Oh, how I envy you people! It is an incredible wine for the usual price of $11.99, right now you can buy it at Solo Vino for only $8.79- a small investment for a remarkable wine.

Now, let’s back this train up.

The more and more I write, the more and more I learn about wine. Not the drinking part- I have that down. I’m talking about where it comes from, who supplies it, how it’s purchased, yadda yadda. Here in lovely, scenic Minnesota, we don’t have the luxury of being out in the vineyard learning from the farmers themselves. Most often we are relegated to shelf-talkers, the interwebs or your local wine shop’s windbag. Now, there is nothing better than exploring and finding a wine all on your own, believe me (ahh, the Russian River Valley-*sigh*). I’d assert that the next best thing is to consider other ways to discover wine, or, in other words, help your wine find you. Rather than suffering the classic “wine elitist vs. poor plebian” dichotomy, it’s time we close the gap. I know that many of you care about where your food comes from, how it was made, and who was involved. Doesn’t it only make sense to know where your wine comes from?

This week, I introduce you to Ulf. Until about 10 years ago, Ulf was an engineer. Quite simply, passion and wine steered him on a new course, and now he’s a one-man show. Travelling to Europe a couple times of year, he frequents small vineyards and imports amazing wine. He seeks the stuff not many folks, and I mean folks anywhere, get exposed to. Since he’s doing the importing and distributing himself, these wines don’t suffer a crazy mark-up. We can thank Ulf for introducing us to “the Arton” and allowing it to be readily affordable. Righteous, Ulf. Score one for the vulgar proletariat.