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Although the Oregon Pinot Gris Harvest is a little later this year than vineyard managers would like, good weather has ensured that this year's crop should be outstanding. The rule in Oregon has been that the even years (2004, 2006, etc...) are better than the odd years (2005, 2007), and it look as though the grapes will prove that theory right again.
A virtually rain-free summer with warm temperatures has slowly given the vines enough heat units to produce healthy fruit. There has been a lack of extended periods of moisture, or any other destructive types of weather. Last year's harvest was noticeably unfavorable, with several weeks of bad weather in September and October.
Thomas Jefferson was a polymath, who, among his other pursuits, was a very impressive and knowledgeable wine expert and enthusiast. If he lived today he would also be called a “wine geek”.
Mr Jefferson also happened to be the third President of the United States, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Founding Father of the United States, Governor of Virginia, first American Minister to France and founder of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He promoted the ideals of republicanism in the United States, an ideology that encourages a system of government that emphasizes liberties and rights, and makes the people as a whole sovereign, which underlies the philosophy of democracy.
Brian Clark and Ted Burns interview John Hailman, author of the book, “Thomas Jefferson on Wine”.
I don't heart gimmicks (and neither does the Chef), which is why we let the Il Cuore 2000 Rosso Classico (about $11) sit in our cellar for the last year without a second thought.
You see, there's a big heart on the label and a quote to go with it: "A heart can only be held by a heart the fairest setting of the loveliest jewel." Yeck.
The bottle was a present from a friend about the time of our wedding and it came with a disclaimer: "It was a cheapie; I got it for the heart." In other words, appreciate it for the sentiment, not the quality. And we intended to.
In fact, I'm not sure we ever planned to open it, but I'm glad we did. The blend of carignane, zinfandel, grenache, sangiovese and charbono from Mendocino County has an Old World sensibility, plum and cherry fruit, and a well-integrated (13.6 percent) alcohol.
Yes, I?m still here! Posting has taken a back seat to life and real deadlines lately (hi, Jim! hi, Eric!), but the resumption of a more regular pattern is on the horizon.
In the meantime, nibble on these tidbits:
The Center for Food Integrity reports that 60 percent of consumers are more concerned about food prices than they were a year ago. And the sales growth of private-label organically-produced foods is slowing, according to a recent study by the Nielsen Co.
Sales of craft beers continues to romp along at a double-digit pace, but a shortage of hops is almost certain to start pushing prices up. On the other hand, MillerCoors LLC has pulled the plug on Zima. In the unlikely event that you?re a fan of that particular beverage, existing stocks should be on shelves through December.
According to a recent story in Advertising Age (registration required), advances in product packaging technology have made it possible to offer animated product labels. Before too long, motion-activated store displays and even individual products may be audibly clamoring for your attention.
A panel of tasters assembled by the Dallas Morning News has sampled Wal-Mart?s $3 wines and pronounced them palatable. The non-vintage Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Grigio and Merlot are made by The Wine Group, which also produces wines under the Franzia, Concannon, Glen Ellen, Mogen David and Corbett Canyon labels, among others. Wal-Mart?s wine is sold under the Oak Leaf label ? not nearly as imaginative as some of the tongue-in-cheek suggested names.
I saw this morning on Franco Ziliani's site that Gianni Brunelli died on Saturday. Brunelli, 61, made superb Brunellos that were really Brunello -- never jammy, never inky-purple, always beautifully structured and pure in their expression of Sangiovese. Proof of the pudding: they age well and do not fall apart after 8 or 10 years.Brunelli also founded the excellent Osteria Le Logge, a restaurant located not far from the Campo del Palio in Siena. I've...
There are not a lot of beet lovers in my family. I remember during a game of Trivial Pursuit with my grandfather Chuck the following question came up: "What vegetable goes by the scientific name Beta vulgaris?" Chuck gave the correct answer, with the explanation that no vegetable could be more vulgar than a beet. I enjoy red beets and go crazy over golden beets--in fact the only ingredients I dislike are those that are bland and flavorless (chickpeas, I'm looking at you). With colder nights, I thought that it would be fun to make a hearty pot of borscht, a soup that doesn't get a lot of respect thanks to lingering misconceptions from the Cold War. Borscht is boiled beets and sour milk, right? Just like the trope that Russian women are ugly, and we all know how that turned out.
Like garam masala, BBQ, pasta sauce, and kimchi, there are as many conflicting recipes for borscht as there are grandmothers in the given culture. Arguments erupt, friendships split, cities go to war against each other on the soccer field. Somehow millions of different people each have the Perfect Version of Dish X, the One True Recipe Since Time Immemorial, and woe unto the heretics.
Without any relatives from the former Soviet Republics, I have no dog in the fight. So in looking at various recipes I decided to go with one attributed to the famous Russian ballet dancer and defector Rudolf Nureyev. Chuck roast, cabbage, carrots, beets, potatoes, tomatoes, assorted flavorings... I roasted the beets before shredding them into the soup, and I increased the amount of beef and tomatoes for additional flavor and body. When serving, be prepared to add two things: salt and acidity, the latter from lemon juice, white wine vinegar, or if you're like me, hot sauce. It's a deep, rich, savory soup, but that necessary punch is best moderated by the individual diners. Whatever you do, don't forget the dollop of sour cream in the middle, and if you have it on hand, a sprinkling of fresh dill.
Frankly I don't know if you can pair a wine with this--I just started eating the soup and the bowl was gone before I thought to try it with the wine. With the earthy peasant heritage beer might be better, but afterwards I relaxed with a glass of the 2007 Bodegas Naia Verdejo. $13, 13% abv, 100% Verdejo from the Rueda region of Spain. Big peach and spice cake aroma, with full-bodied apple and peach flavors. It's easy to get a little tired of fruit bombs with red wines, but luscious fruit flavors can be refreshing in whites. My pairing advice for this wine wouldn't include borscht, but I think it would be a perfect wine for assorted appetizers or a muffaletta: the touch of sweetness and fruit flavors make you crave ham and olives.
Thanks to my friend Angela at Kirby Wines & Liquors for choosing the wine, though at the time I wasn't even thinking about borscht. I can stop by and ask for something like a "fun Spanish white" and she'll select a winner for me. I can't stress this enough: talk to the people at your local wine shop and find someone who works there with similar tastes to yours. Those folks have most likely tried a lot more wine (good and bad) than you, and can quickly find something you'll like in your price range.
For an in-depth look at starting up your very own vineyard, check out Vineyard Owner. It's still a work in progress, but it currently sports some nice articles on Disease and Pest Management, and Climate factors.
This weekend, we built a wine rack. When we first moved to Terrassa almost 3 years ago, we were regularly lacking in wine as a result of less income, less samples and less travel. Consequently, we never had a formal wine rack. But when you change any one of these factors, you end up with a lot more wine. Now imagine if you changed all three like we have?! We not only needed to figure out where to store it all, but also how to inventory it. I still have most of my cellar in Cellartracker, though I quit putting in my tasting notes. I like Snooth and Adegga as well, but they both need better cellar management for me to move to them exclusively. Since this past weekend we created the wine rack, maybe next weekend we’ll inventory the wine. Let’s see what happens.
As for building the wine rack, it actually turned out to be much easier than we expected. Odd note though: untreated, uncut, plain wood costs more than planed, beveled whole sheets of wood here in Terrassa. So instead of needing to sand and polish it, we simply bought nice sheets of solid, shelving wood and then cut it to fit. Yet, we still need another. So later today, I’m off to buy some more wood for wine rack number two!
Enough about housing. Next Monday, we’re off to judge wine blogs! It feels a bit odd to mention, after we realized at the EWBC that judging a wine blog is quite subjective once you get past the aggregators and plagiarizers. Once into the meat of the blogging world, where the hard work and effort is being spent, judging wine blogs is a bit of a silly endeavor. What’s good for you is not always what’s good for me. But none the less, we’ve been asked to judge Spanish and Catalan wine blogs this coming week in Reus, Spain, a short train ride from where we live. The grand prize is 3,000 euros, which seems a bit excessive and makes me wonder if we’ll see a lot of blogs that were “recently” launched. Oh well, anything to promote more social media in the Spanish wine world can’t be all that bad. We’ll keep you informed. DO Catalunya is hosting it, and while their website is a nightmare to look at, let’s hope this initiative leads to some good ideas.
In other news, we still want to talk to you about the wines we tasted at the EWBC2008; however, it may take some time. At the end of this month, we’ll be retasting several of the wines with an American Importer who will be staying with us for a few days. But remember, for our Keynote tasting, our intention was to select wines that we had either tasted before or that we respected. And on the night of the event, I tasted through the wines a few times; and while they all showed well, I didn’t take the time to write notes or analyze the wines. So this past Friday, I did analyze one of these wines, and I’m sad to say, it just pissed me off more than anything else. Dominio DosTares Leione 2005 - Prieto Picudo, is a wine that I have loved in the past. Now, maybe it’s as a result of the vintage, or maybe I’m drinking this too young since it does still have some stuffing to it, but I’m sorry, Oak is not a Fruit! This wine has so much going for it with the funky fruit notes and exotic touches of spice, but over it all sits a river of vanilla, syrup and sweet oak. I have a few bottles left to celler and taste again in the future, but even after 3 days being open, the wine is still bugging me. Note to Spain(rather wine makers everywhere): OAK is NOT a FRUIT. Just to be clear here are the aging and oak stats from the Dostares website (a well done website, that deserves mention!):
Pre-fermentation maceration: 3 days at 12ºC Alcoholic Fermentation: Duration: 12 days Temperature: 27ºC Malolactic Fermentation: in French, American and Hungarian oak
Ageing process in barrel: Capacity: 225 litres Age of barrel: New & second-fill. Type of oak: French, Hungarian and American Toasting level: Medium and medium+ Ageing time: 9 months
What stuns me is that I assumed this wine saw 100% new oak, and as you can see it is not. Now for contrast, we were just in Miguel Merino’s winery, who is using 100% new oak, (mixed barrels, American Staves, and French tops and bottoms). That is a lot of new wood, and a lot of American wood influence and yet his wines are perfumey, full of terroir and complex fruit, without the sickening vanilla oak sheen.
Too many factors go into winemaking to pinpoint anything specific as the problem, but in the end, 100% new oak is not always a bad thing, despite the bad reputation people give it. If you hear anyone ever say 100% new oak is evil, well tell ‘em to shove off, or at least explain what wine they are talking about. Sometimes they are right, sometimes their not, Almond Joy’s gots nutz, Mounds don’t…sorry…
Other than that, the weather here is starting to chill down a bit, which is nice and sad at the same time. I unfortunately, have not had enough sherry this year. Too busy? Not sure why that is an excuse, but it is somewhat true. Therefore, I’m making up for it with a steady intake of Osborne’s Fino Quinta and a new cheap Manzanilla I picked up a couple of days ago that is quite nice, Bodegas Barbadillo’s Muyfina. Full of honey notes, and light nuttiness, I really have to say this is a treat, and pairs great with a late afternoon siesta!
Lithe, silky and delicious for its pear, apricot, peach and spice aromas and flavors, weaving together harmoniously on the long, well-formed finish. Drink now. 3,000 cases imported.
Well it’s Wine Blogging Friday for me this month, but hopefully I can sneak into the summary. The theme for Wine Blogging Wednesday this month comes by way of Philly-based wine blogger Joe who goes by 1WineDude online. And it’s a complete departure from our basic formula of wine variety, region or something a bit quirky. In fact, he has challenged us to actually drink madeirized — or intentionally heated and/or oxidized — wines. This style of wine is found in Madeira, Australia?s Rutherglen Tokays and Sherry. But Joe was also mindful that these wines might not be available everywhere so he included all fortified wines including Porto for his “Baked Goods” theme.
I knew at some point there would be an occasion to write about Sherry, a wine I’ve had over the years but didn’t really get into until a visit in June of 2007 to El Puerto de Santa María in the so-called Sherry Triangle. As a guest of Osborne, I visited their winery and tasted Fino literally pulled from the solera. But the most surprising part of this visit was a dinner with only Sherry served. I knew the starter would be easy with a Fino or Amontillado and the dessert course would be matched with a sweet Sherry of some sort but the entree would be a challenge. That’s when I was introduced to Oloroso which was a revelation at the time. But the best wine that night was a sweet Sherry made from a very old solera and the Pedro Ximénez grape. I rated it a 99, the only wine I have ever rated that high.
But before I dig my notes out for that wine let me flash forward to this week when I was looking for a Sherry to review for this tasting. As someone now a bit more educated about Sherry, I know that Fino is best consumed before 6 months from it’s bottling date. Most every Sherry producer has some sort of bottling code that indicates the day and year of bottling. Many times these are cryptic with Roman numerals used for the year but Osborne uses a more understandable code. So while I am continually disappointed in the stores here in the Twin Cities where Fino is “fresh” at 9-10 months past bottling, I was surprised to see a bottle of Osborne Pedro Ximénez “1827″ on the shelf with a bottling date of June 23, 2007… just 5 days before my visit to the winery.
For those not familiar with how Sherry is produced, a quick aside before my tasting notes. The production of Sherry is very old, in it’s current form since the the Moors ruled Spain some 1,200 years ago. Some, according to this piece in Wikipedia, track this style of wine back to the city of Shiraz in modern day Iran, literally the cradle of viticulture in antiquity. The production of Sherry starts with grapes grown in very chalky soils around Jerez, Spain from Palomino or Pedro Ximenez. In the latter case, the grapes are dried for two days before pressing and fermentation begins to concentrate their sugars. After primary fermentation, the wine is fortified with brandy to levels of alcohol determined by the style of the final wine. Fino or Amontillado are fortified to 15 degrees alcohol so that flor yeast can survive to complete the wine. Oloroso is fortified to 17-18 degrees alcohol to prevent the growth of flor and the wine is primarily shaped by oxidation in the solera.
The solera is a system of large barrels between 3 and 9 in number usually stacked in a pyramid shape. This allows for the young wine to be introduced at the top of the solera to fill the lower barrels where the finished wine is drawn for bottling. Sherry is aged in barrel for a minimum of three years but this time in barrel is much longer for more highly prized and rare Sherries. Through reduction and oxidation the resulting wine gains complexity and since all the barrels are neutral, no aromas or flavors from the oak. This is a truly unique and old school style of wine that I hope more wine lovers will try.
Tasting Notes: Bodegas Osborne, Pedro Ximenez “1827″ Sherry ($21) - Mahogany in color with powerful aromas of fig, molasses, espresso, hazelnuts and some heat from the alcohol. Rich and sweet in the mouth with fig, maple syrup, cocoa and caramel flavors finishing very long with enough acidity that balances the luscious sweetness. Decadent, delicious and an excellent value at around $20 a bottle. Also very nice poured over vanilla ice cream as it’s own dessert.
17% ABV Screwtop closure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Bodegas Osborne, Pedro Ximenez “Viejo” Sherry ($100/sample tasted at the winery) - Almost black in color with very complex aromas of fig, dates, espresso, dark chocolate, molasses and a hint of baked orange. In the mouth, very rich and layered fig, caramel, baked orange, spice and nut flavors mingle with quite a bit of sweetness that is balanced by acidity. This wine has a finish that seems to go on forever. One of the most extraordinary tastings of my life and as close to a perfect wine I have ever encountered. Buy it, if you can afford it.
16% ABV Natural cork closure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Thanks to Joe, the 1WineDude, for getting me back into this style of wine. I’m going to continue to explore Sherry both here and on my podcast… and might even post those recordings made in Spain some 17 months ago.
Every fan of Pinot Noir will undoubtedly know the name of John Haeger.
As author of the highly acclaimed “North American Pinot Noir,” John literally wrote the book on the fascinating history and evolution of Burgundy’s illustrious grape variety here in the United States. John’s academic approach to both the research and the writing created an instant hit and a must-have treatise for most wine lovers. But, more than anything, it was destined to become THE book for domestic Pinot fanatics. Of course, its appearance at booksellers just months before release of the movie “Sideways” didn’t hurt sales either.
Now, four years later John Haeger has written another wine book, “Pacific Pinot Noir.” Since, as he notes, “96% of North America’s Pinot Noir comes from an area I call the Pacific Pinot Zone,” it was only natural for him to focus on an area extending from mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon to Santa Barbara in California and extending up to thirty miles inland.
Pinot Noir’s rise in popularity over the last several years owes much to the different personalities of the grape itself. Join us as we talk with author and lecturer John Haeger about Pinot Noir, and discover its unique place in the world of wine.
Last year I ran a 'subscription and book deal' that a lot of people have been asking me to run again. The book last year was the Wine Hunter - this year it's the Why the French Hate Us: The Real Story of Australian Wine book. Once again I've slashed the price - it wasn't all that long ago that a new subscription to The Wine Front was $55, and the book retails for $28.95. And yet I am offering both a full year's subscription and the book for just $49.95, and that includes delivery of the book.
This wine is characterized by a yellow-green colour, a fresh citrusy aroma with hints of honey and a complex flowery aftertaste. It’s a semi-dry riesling, dryer than the Slovenian rieslings (such as Laski Riesling for example), but sweeter than those found in Serbia. It is a nice wine to accompany a lighter meal.
This is one of the wines available in Belgrade restaurants in 0.2l bottles, so if you’re a driver among non-wine drinkers (meaning you can’t order a whole bottle of some fine wine) it’s a good chance you’ll be in a position to try it. Do so.
I don’t often buy wines from Maison Latour, and whilst I’ve had so-so bottles from them, it has more been due to lack of local availability than quality reasons. Now I’ve found a relatively close merchant, so two or three bottles might appear over the next days. 2005 Louis Latour, Gevrey-Chambertin Medium-plus colour. The [...]
There was a time not long ago when Mornington Peninsula reds were considered overpriced and thin.Here we have a wine that the market has pushed into triple figures. Indeed while I believe that this had a release price of $90-odd, the few places I’ve seen it have been selling it for more like $200 … for [...]
The average wine consumer has no idea what it means for a wine to be organic. And when it comes to Biodynamic wines, most wine drinkers have never even heard of them. But that doesn't matter, because an increasing number of the most sought-after, expensive wines in the world are biodynamically produced, which means that biodynamics is one of the most significant modern trends in global winemaking.
The only problem (for those who care) is that biodynamic winemaking involves a maddening, paradoxical mixture of scientifically sound farming practices and utterly ridiculous new-age mysticism. If you want to know just how kooky it can get, you might be interested in a recent feature on biodynamic wine in SF Weekly, which dives into detail on the cow skulls stuffed with oak bark left in a hole; the red deer bladders filled with yarrow flowers buried in compost piles; the proscriptions to burn insects in the vineyards only during certain proper planetary alignment; and the claims that the moon should determine when you put your wine into new barrels.
Of course, if you actually believe in biodynamics, you now hate my guts along with Joe Eskenazi, the author of the aforementioned article which is entitled Voodoo on the Vine.
Joe's angle on biodynamic winemaking will draw criticism for focusing only on the strangest parts of an elaborate farming and winemaking methodology. His (and my) detractors would be justified in complaining at the sensationalism of a few practices, and a few predilections of the methods inventor, while many, even most biodynamic winemaking principles are the same as good old organic farming.
But that is precisely the problem. Most biodynamic farming principles make sense because they are the same as scientifically grounded organic farming (e.g. don't use pesticides; let the sheep take care of the weeds and fertilize the soil; etc.). But then the whole system is undermined by the use of, and rationalization for, special preparations and actions that are not only bizarre in their conception, but explained by the worst kind of pseudo-scientific quasi-religious gobbledygook that you could possible imagine.
You can't imagine how angry this makes me. You see, I love biodynamic wine. Some of my favorite wines in the world; some of the best wines I have ever tasted in my life; some of the wineries that seem to consistently make some of the highest quality wines I have ever experienced are produced biodynamically, and I don't believe this is a coincidence.
This is what Joe Eskenazi did not include in his article, perhaps because he's not fully immersed in the world of wine. While he rightfully points out, with the appropriate level of cynicism, the fact that some wine producers are moving to make biodynamic wine because they think it will sell better, there are many more producers who have been making wine biodynamically for years, even decades without ever telling anyone about it, least of all the people who buy their wine. These winemakers are some of the smartest, most talented folks in the wine industry. The only reason they would possibly be producing wine biodynamically (which Eskenazi's article points out is much more labor, time, and cost intensive than any other farming method) must be that they believe they make better wine that way.
There are two types of people in the world. Those who believe that while science is not perfect, it is the most powerful interpretation that we have found of the world around us, and those who believe that there are better explanations for what we observe in the natural world than science can provide. I am very much a member of the first group. There's a lot we don't know about the world yet, and there are a lot of really interesting interpretations about how things work, but the scientific method produces the most reliable interpretations of what is real and what is true that I know of. I (and pretty much everyone in a first world nation, whether they know it or not) trust my life to that fact nearly every moment of every single day.
And that belief I hold is precisely the source of my unending frustration with biodynamic wine. I think it's good stuff. But I know it's not good for the reasons that the people who make it, and the people who tell them how to make it, say it is. The claims of the philosophy that underlies biodynamic wine growing, and the specific explanations for various prescriptions of the farming and winemaking process are just plain wrong. They can be proved wrong, in some cases simply with a calculator, but in all cases by rigorous scientific enquiry.
Which is why I keep hoping that someone will come up with Biodynamics Lite™: a kinder, gentler form of biodynamic winemaking that throws out all the bullshit, and sticks to the things that science tells us will actually work.
I plan on continuing to drink more and more biodynamic wine, and encourage everyone who loves wine to do so as well. I just hope there is a day when I don't have to roll my eyes a little every time I see the word on a wine label, or bite my fist as a winemaker proudly tells me that the reason I love his wine is due to the fact that he completely avoided the dueling vortices when he mixed his preparation of ground up quartz crystals.
Note to self: Never, under any circumstances, fly cross country in the winter time using Chicago's O'Hare aerostop as your connecting hub. As good as the flight times look on paper, keep in mind, they are pure fantasy. That sweet...
Note to self: Never, under any circumstances, fly cross country in the winter time using Chicago's O'Hare aerostop as your connecting hub. As good as the flight times look on paper, keep in mind, they are pure fantasy. That sweet 45 minute layover from SLC? How's about 4.5 12 hours!? And that snappy 1 hour layover from Ottawa back to SLC? Try 3 hours. Oy veh. I need a drink. And speaking of drinks, can I interest you in a Chiroubles?
G. DuBoeuf Chiroubles 2005 ($10) - Had this wine originated from a more 'serious' French wine region, chances are it would be selling at 3-4 times the asking price. However, seeing as it comes from the immensely under-appreciated region of Beaujolais, you can grab it for ten damn dollars. Chiroubles is one of 10 Beaujolais Crus (i.e. premier growing sites). I might not describe this wine as, "exploding from the glass like a massive bouquet of violets," as Parker-proxy Pierre Rovani does. I would however describe it as an ultrasexy rendition of the Gamay grape - with scents of fresh blueberry and violet-blossom. In the mouth, DuB.'s Chiroubles does it nice and smooth with silky tannins and simple cherry-blueberry flavors. Snatch this wine up forthwith and sip it with a plate of bistro frites.
With the huge popularity gain for wine in the past five years, one could wonder if a recession in the wine industry is looming.
Much depends on factors in the grand scheme of things. The once-booming housing industry created much wealth for a lot of Americans, but a recent downturn in home sales has created a large-scale semi-panic in the mortgage and banking industry. The stock markets have been shaken by the idea that mortgage companies are virtually disappearing overnight. This has put into question the stability of the biggest banks, and what their exposure to these smaller (defunct) companies has been.
The wine industry is based much on excess wealth. Wine is seen by many, not as an essential, but as a luxury item that would be cut out of a budget if tough times arose. A recent look at distribution and retail inventory levels showed a large glut, sometimes in excess of 200 days worth of stock.
The ever-popular Pinot Noir seems to be immune to this kind of chatter, however. Spurned to new heights of acceptance by the movie Sideways, the "heartbreak grape" seems to be an indespensible red... a must for any cellar or pantry. The next couple of years will be crucial to the industry at the retail and restaurant level.
Mr. Ramsay is not actually in residence at his latest London venture, the York & Albany, but the place has all his hallmarks: professionalism, attention to detail and tweaks of idiosyncrasy.
‘Twas the night before Conference, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a computer mouse;
The nametags were hung by their lanyards with care, In hopes they’d be worn when they bloggers arrived there;
Each and every wine geek were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of black-cherries and licorice danced in their sweet heads;
While I sat panicking over every tiny detail, Ryan smiled proudly regarding the conference’s grand scale;…
Yeah, not going to happen! Our creative juices are completely dehydrated. The conference is now on cruise control, and barring any strange twists, we should be enjoying a fine Participant tasting on Friday night. Still a bit nervous? Of course! Seeing that this is our conference, or rather, this is the first international wine bloggers conference ever, we just hope all the wine bloggers behave themselves!
So for now a few pointers too things we think you should look at.
Another winery sent to the sidebar
This time it’s Port wine, and damn fine port wine at that, Quevedo. A few months ago, we started working with this small winery and we’re proud of the results. Located in the Douro Valley, right next to some of the most historic wineries in the region, this is a young winery with old roots. We’re holding back a bit on the details, because they’ve done a superb job telling their story at this point. So, please check them out and say hello from us!
Thank you Sponsors
We don’t do advertising on Catavino, but we did need sponsors to help us put together the EWBC conference. Therefore, we’d like to offer a sincere thank you for their generous support. It’s companies like these that support new technologies at the early stages that will continue to succeed. Thank you: Dinastia Vivanco, La Rioja Tourismo, Raimat, Casa de la Ermita, Heredade Esporao, Amorim and all of the wineries who donated wines for our various tastings!
Wine Recommendation
In an effort to catch up on some sample tastings, we had an impromptu BBQ party on the roof this past Sunday afternoon. Seriously fun time with lots of friends, who as a result of summer schedules, have been strangers to us for what seems like months. Our brined, bone in pork loin was the main attraction, which continually amazes us as to how juicy pork can be on the grill when brined correctly. Grilled vegetables, couscous, Ryan’s famous black beans and a couple of melons rounded out the meal. As for wine, we offered a bunch of tasters, some better than others. I will say though a Cava from Utiel-Requena winery Sybarus. This little wine is a knock out, with great toasted notes, intense honey and lot’s of lemon notes.
So Gabriella and I just want to say sorry for the short post. We’ll be around, and trying to get an update up on Friday or Saturday though we make no promises.
Tecnorati
Yes, I?m still here! Posting has taken a back seat to life and real deadlines lately (hi, Jim! hi, Eric!), but the resumption of a more regular pattern is on the horizon.
I knew at some point there would be an occasion to write about Sherry, a wine I’ve had over the years but didn’t really get into until a visit in June of 2007 to El Puerto de Santa María in the so-called Sherry Triangle. As a guest of 
This wine is characterized by a yellow-green colour, a fresh citrusy aroma with hints of honey and a complex flowery aftertaste. It’s a semi-dry riesling, dryer than the Slovenian rieslings (such as Laski Riesling for example), but sweeter than those found in Serbia. It is a nice wine to accompany a lighter meal. 
