The first "You Gotta Try This!" Wine is Really Good

This is our first “You Gotta Try This!” wine, the Chateau St. Martin de La Garrigue “Tradition”, 2007.  Our criteria for this category is simple- the wine tastes great, especially for the price.  Basically, not just a good QPR wine, a GREAT QPR.

The St. Martin has a lot going for it: a Kermit Lynch import, a $12.50 price, and a long history of good wines.  In fact, we posted about last year’s offering, and this one is even better.

The Garrigue pairs well with flank steak

Kermit Lynch discusses the wine in his blog here as he calls the wines of St. Martin “consistent values.” True that!

The wine is everything you expect from a $25+ wine: slightly complex, natural tasting, medium bodied with a substantial finish.  Perfect with pizza (especially) or steak.  Bottom line- the Chateau St. Martin tastes really good and it’s cheap.  You Gotta Try This!

The Wine:

2007 Chateau St. Martin de La Garrigue “Tradition”

Available (at press time):

Liner and Elsen

Price:  $12.50

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Spain is So Hot Right Now!

Spain is hot.  Spain won the World Cup this summer, and Spain has that “cooking” show with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow.  Or is that a travel show?  Who knows, it’s a tough combo to beat, and Spain is featured no less than five times this weekend in Portland’s tastings.  They all sound good, so check ‘em out!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

John’s Marketplace

2008 Chateauneuf-du-Pape featuring:

J.P. Lafond 2009 Côtes-du-Rhône $12.99
Mas des Boislauzon 2008 Côtes-du-Rhône Villages $16.99
Cuvée du Vatican 2008 Côtes-du-Rhône Villages $16.99
Cuvée du Vatican 2008 Châteauneuf-du-Pape $39.99
Mas des Boislauzon 2008 Châteauneuf-du-Pape $39.99
Pierre Usseglio 2008 2008 Châteauneuf-du-Pape $44.99
Le Vieux Donjon 2008 Châteauneuf-du-Pape $59.99

5-7 pm, $10.

Korkage Wine Shop
TBD, 6-9 pm, fee.

Thirst
Dumas Station, 5-8 pm, free.

Friday, August 27, 2010

Blackbird Wineshop
TBD

Cork, NE Alberta
Special tasting of Italy’s Campania region, reservations required, including a $125 of Galardi’s Tierra di Lavorro, 4-7 pm, $20.

Cornell Wine
Wines from the Rhone Valley, 4:30-7 pm, $8-$16.

Every Day Wine
Argentina vs. Spain, 5-9 pm, $12.

Foster and Dobbes
TBD, 4:30-6:30 pm, free.

Garrison’s Fine Wines

I figure a great way to round out the month is to have an Owner’s Pick tasting. This is a great chance for me to pick out a series of wines that I have tried, that I have enjoyed, but haven’t fit into a tasting theme yet. The flight is awesome. Starting with a sparkler from the Loire Valley, a white Chateauneuf du Pape, then an awesome Oregon Syrah made from my favorite California vineyard, a special Brunello deal, and then end with a red/pinkish sparkling wine from Italy.

NV Catherine & Pierre Breton Vouvray Petillant Brut ‘La Dilettante’
2006 Domaine Bois de Boursan Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
2007 Big Table Farm Syrah White Hawk Vineyard
2003 La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino (Special pricing at tasting)
2009 Elio Perrone Mosto Brachetto

5-8 pm, $15.

Gem Wine Cellar & Wine Bar
Wines of Spain Including Rioja, 5-8 pm, $15.

Great Wine Buys
Non-Tempranillo Spanish, 5-7:30, $15.

Hollywood Wine & Espresso
TBD, 5-10 pm, $10.

John’s Marketplace
No tasting

Liner & Elsen
No Tasting

Mt. Tabor Fine Wines

Beautiful whites from Austria and Northern Italy $15
Come try some delicious Gruner Veltliner, Pinot Grigio, Super Blends and more.
4-8:00 pm, $15.

Oregon Wines On Broadway
Champagne flight from Boizel! $15.

Storyteller Wine Co.
Germany, Italy and Oregon:

This promises to be quite the barnburner of a wine tasting. At the top of the tasting list will be two German wines that are being imported by Olga and Barnaby Tuttle of Oregon’s Schone Schlucht winery. One wine is a delightful kabinett style Riesling from Harald Junglen of Weingut Ackermann. Harald, along with his wife Anne, own about 6 acres of prime vineyards in and around Zeltingen. Most of their Riesling vines spring up out of blue slate in the steepest vineyards of Zeltinger Himmelreich, Schlossberg and Sonnenuhr. The other wine is a light, refreshing Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Andreas Diehl. That would be enough to get me out on a Friday evening but there will also be brand new wines from Italy and a brand new rose from Biggio-Hamina to taste. There will be no charge for this tasting.

6-9 pm, free.

Vino
World Wide Tempranillo- taste why this is perhaps the hottest grape varietal on the planet!

4:30-8 pm, fee.

The Wine Cellar
TBD, 4-6:30 pm, free

Woodstock Wine and Deli

The Wines of Naked Winery
6:30 pm, $10.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Cornell Wine
TBD

Garrison’s Fine Wines
Everyday wines, 1-4 pm, free

Great Wine Buys

Featured Italian Deals!
2-5 pm, free.

Liner & Elsen

Iberian delicacies: Quinta da Aveleda Vinho Verde, Huguet de Can Feixes Blanc Selecció, Fillaboa Albariño, Quinta da Peza Godello, and Quinta da Peza Mencía.

noon-5, free.

Portland Wine Merchants
free.

Storyteller Wines
Pizza Wines, 12-5 pm, free.

The Wine Cellar
TBD, 12-5 pm

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Portland, Oregon Wine Tastings- August 19-21

August 19, 2010

There are Seriously Good Wine-tastings this weekend, good luck choosing!  You will feel like a kid in a candy shoppe on Friday, as Syncline is at Storyteller Wines, Spanish reds at Cork, Txacolina at Foster and Dobbes (if you haven’t tried Txacolina do it, they are great!), Sicilian at Garrisons, and two big daddy Oregon [...]

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Cool News From Kir Wine Bar

August 17, 2010

Kir Wine Bar, one of our favorites, sent out a newsletter today with new food and wine items, specials, and the burgeoning “Lobu” happenings.
P.S. We haven’t seen the infamous “Volkswaffle” yet, but it definitely qualifies for Best Food Cart name for 2010!
Kir wine bar newsletter

Greetings!
Summer is flying by and we are [...]

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Brooks Winery and the Youngest Winery Owner in the World

August 8, 2010

Our espresso machine died today. Or maybe it just needs resuscitated according to the coffeegeek.com forums: “Send it back to the manufacturer but since they do not sell parts directly it may be better to throw it away and buy a new machine.” What a metaphor for today’s throw-away culture where it’s cheaper [...]

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Spanish QPR: Lopez de Heredia 2000 Vina Tondonia, $23

July 18, 2010

The timeless classic movie “Back to the Future” was released 25 years ago on July 3.  It ranks as number 10 on AFI’s classic movies, and is just as enjoyable today as it was in 1985.
While the  latest release from Lopez de Heredia, the 2000 Tondonia rosé isn’t 25 years old, the 130 year old [...]

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Portland, Oregon Wine Tastings, July 15-17, 2010

July 15, 2010

We started with a heat wave last week, and then clouds.  Now that it’s mid-July, it appears like we have a consistent week of summer!  Perfect for summer white wines.  On Friday night, Cork on NE Alberta has a stellar lineup of White Burgundies, including an amazing super pour.  Also, Liner & Elsen has some [...]

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40th Birthday Wine- 1970 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou!

July 13, 2010

I turned 40 years old on June 21, and my wonderful wife gave me a perfect gift- a 1970 Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou.  The bottle was in pristine condition, the fill was just above the shoulder, and the label was in great shape- what a find!
I have never had the good fortune to try a seriously aged [...]

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Wine Tastings in Portland, Oregon: July 9-11

July 9, 2010

Rumor has it the “super pour” at Storyteller Wine is the famous Domaine Tempier rosé, if you never had the chance to try it do it- if I had a 100 Wines To Drink In My Life list this would be in the top half of the list.  Kermit Lynch made Domaine Tempier famous, and [...]

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Square Deal Wine Closes

July 4, 2010

As reported by www.portlandfoodanddrink.com, Square Deal Wine on NW Thurman in Portland has closed.  Truly a sad day for wine lovers in Portland, we wish them well.

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