Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! The first tastings of the year are here, and while some shops are taking some time off for this weekend, there are definitely some quality offerings. Garrison’s has Washington wines, and Storyteller Wine Co. has a great tasting (as usual). Have fun, and keep your eye out for the unveiling of the portlandoregonwine.com’s “Best of 2011″ voting results!
Friday, January 6, 2011
No tasting
Zinfandel
4:30-7 pm, $8-$16.
Malbecs from Around the World
5-9 pm, $11.
No tasting.
4:30-6:30 pm, free.
Washington Wines
Start the New Year with a great tasting. I figured there was no better way to start the New Year than with some heavy hitters. Here are five select wines from Washington that are always darlings of the media and for good reason.
2009 Gorman “The Pixie”
2009 Reynvaan “In the Rocks” Syrah
2009 Reynvaan “Unnamed” Syrah
2009 Januik Syrah Lewis Vineyard
2009 Bergevin Lane Syrah “The Princess”
5-8 pm, $15.
No Tasting
TBD
5-7 pm, $5.
Welcome back! It’s a new year with red Burgundies from the highly touted 2009 vintage.
5:30-7:30
No tasting
Domestic Rhone Reds
5-7:30 pm, $10
TBD
4:30-7:30, $15
This Friday we will be opening up some very interesting bottles from Liguria and Provence. The focus of this tasting will be squarely on the Rossese grape. In the hands of winemakers like Antonio Perrino and Danila Pisano this grape will remind you of some crazy cross between The Eyrie Vineyards Pinot Meunier, a Poulsard from a great Jura producer and a Marcel Lapierre Morgon. Over in Provence the grape is called Tibouren and it is responsible for some of France’s most compelling rosé wines. On Friday we will be pouring Claude Deforges’ 2009 Clos Cibonne to give you an idea of how well this grape does within eyesight of the Mediterranean.
In addition to the Wines from Liguria and Provence, we will attempt to stave of bubbly withdrawal by pouring the beautiful Anna Lioba Cuvee that Barnaby and Olga Tuttle import from Germany. It is 100% Pinot Noir done in a brut style and it is well under 25.00 a bottle. Around Portland it has confounded many a sophisticated champagne palate in blind tastings.
The regular portion of this tasting (4-5 bottles) will be free of charge. The 5.00 “super pour” will be the very difficult to find Testalaonga from Antonio Perrino. It is a single vineyard Rossese that many consider the standard bearer for the region. Three cases came to Oregon, two went directly to the distributor’s cellar and the third went to DOC. We are very fortunate to have a few bottles to share with you Friday night.
6-9 pm, free.
TBD
4:30-8 pm, fee.
The Wine Cellar
TBD, 4-6:30 pm, free
Australian Shiraz
For our first Friday Night Wine Tasting of the New Year we will focus on Australian Shiraz. This category of wine won last October’s “Best $10 Red” blind-wine tasting as it has done many times in the past. Originally from France, the Syrah grape grown in Australia offers a big amount of ripe fruit for the money. Friday’s tasting will range from around the $10 to $30 mark with some highly rated wines by wine critics and consumer reviews alike. Check back for a list of wines to be tasted and the start of our 2012 wine tasting calendar.
6:30 pm, $10.
