Event Pick

Event Pick
Esporao dinner at Tuscarora Mill
Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 7:00 pm 
 Don't miss the Esporao dinner at Tuscarora Mill in Leesburg, VA tomorrow night!    The landmark Alentejo winery has been having quite a year...3 wines made the 50 Great Portuguese wines list, Grand Prize for the Reserva Branco from Revista dos Vinhos and a new raft of wonderful ratings from the Wine Enthusiast.  Come taste the wines for yourself paired intuitively and deliciously by Tuscarora Mill's Executive Chef Michael Dinh

http://thenativegrape.blogspot.com/p/events.html

Dionysos Imports Facebook Page

Hey Yall,

Dionysos Imports , my swell employers, now has a Facebook Page (about time, right?)  Sign up and get the inside scoop from the principals on the wines and wineries.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dionysos-Imports/520694444687545

Cheers!

Amy

Event Pick- 50 Great Portuguese Wines today in NY

Today's the day!  Event Pick-  50 Great Portuguese Wines today in NY

What will they be?  Sure to be some great 2012 Alvarinhos and 2011 Vintage Ports.  Hoping to be introduced to some new varieties and regions.  New producers are a guarantee.  Why would you miss it?

Find all the info at the links below.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/50-great-portuguese-wines-2013-selection-by-joshua-greene-trade-event-tickets-8961609415?utm_campaign=order_confirm&ref=eemailordconf&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eb_email&utm_term=eventname

http://winesofportugal.info/pagina.php?codNode=123304

Two Great Portuguese Tastings In Virginia this weekend

Two Great Portuguese Tastings In Virginia this weekend.
http://thenativegrape.blogspot.com/p/events.html

I'll be at The Wine Cabinet in Reston from 1-5.  We are actually pouring the fantastic Barros 2011 Vintage Port (94 points Wine Spectator.)  Young?  Yes.  Too young??  You tell me. Come and try this highly rated and collectible port for yourself for free!  

Here is what Roger Voss of The Wine Enthusiast has to say about the 2011 vintage in Porto,

"Considered the best vintage in the last twenty years, these small production Ports are must buys.

Quantities of these great wines are smaller than ever. The Symington group made less than 20,000 cases across seven brands. In short, this means that if you’re a Port lover, you should buy the 2011s as soon as they’re distributed."

Then head on over to Wine Styles in Montclair where Sommelier Connor Smith will host the encore "Wines of Portugal" tasting event from 5-9.  (You can pop in for a great Greek dinner next door at Giorgio's while your at it.  Chef Mike is famous for his specials!)

Scooped!!! (by 10 years)

So when I started my Vinho Verde page a while back, the plan was to compile tasting notes on Vinho Verdes as well as Spanish Albariños and blends from Rias Baixas, with the goal of comparing and contrasting the two.  Then I got pregnant with my daughter Eliza, and the whole thing got put on hold.

With a New Year's resolve, I decided to take up my project again and typed Alvarinho/Albariño into that great kick-starter in the sky, google and ...what?!!  Scooped!  One little 18 month delay and...wait, this was published in 2003! 

I quickly got over it, because here is a wonderful in depth article from Wine and Spirits by Ray Isle,  currently Executive Wine Editor for Food and Wine magazine (who will have to now be pardoned for that uncomfortably self-aware and unwatchable wine show "Vine Talk" with Stanley Tucci.)  He takes you directly to the regions and producers with lots of detail, humor and an expert's perspective.

 http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/pages/Features/0803_AlbaAlvarino.pdf

Now we need his take on things in the region in 2014!

Links to current info!

http://www.riasbaixaswines.com/

Great Portuguese Dessert wine recommendation from Susannah Gold

Ahhh January, month of cold, snow and Post-Holiday belt tightening.  How about a fantastic value dessert wine from Portugal to warm the soul and sooth the wallet?  Both Portugal and Spain are full of little Moscatels and vin doux naturel style dessert wines.    One such in Portugal is Abafado, the most shining example of which is arguably the Quinta da Alorna Abafado.  I have stunned and delighted savvy buyers with this little gem for years.  Learn all about it here on Susannah Gold's Sweet Sundays feature of her Avvinnare Blog. 

http://avvinare.com/2014/01/05/sweet-sundays-abafado-from-quinta-da-alorna-tejo-portugal/

Drink like the pros and save yourself a buck or two in the process.

Where there's Snark there's Fire

Now here is a post worthy of Matt Kramer!  Wine Spectator's veteran critic dreams of a fantasy wine list in this thought provoking piece

Never Mind Fantasy Football. What About Your Fantasy Wine List?

If you owned a restaurant, what would you choose?

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/49342

I love this post for many reasons, but chiefly these two:

#1 I have an app idea for a fantasy wine cellar and this would make a great addition.  (We play fantasy sports, why not fantasy wine collecting and wine list writing?)  Sadly I lack any sort of technical know-how.

#2 It is much more positive than the wine list post that has been fermenting in my brain.

#1 is pretty self explanatory.
#2 probably needs some explanation...

It all started with a forced prospecting visit to a local restaurant institution.   We have a visiting Greek oenologist in town helping to promote our Greek wines.  She is lovely, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and green green green!!!

"What is this restaurant I see everywhere, Applebees?"  She wants to know.  "Why don't we approach them??"  "Well," I start, at a loss to translate the many ways that approaching an Applebees with Greek wines would likely be a waste of time.  It's a national chain with a national list.  They sell mostly California wines.  Mostly cheap wines.  (On further investigation the "perfect pairings"on the Applebees corporate list boasted a stunning range of wines from Barefoot Chardonnay to Sutter Home Cab)  I try for 10 miles or so-but my young guest is not convinced. 

We are on our way to approach another American restaurant.  A higher end, lodge style restaurant that is the fancy outpost of another American chain who shall remain anonymous-but they were really big in the 80's and 90's.  This is not my idea, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

We have arrived around 2:30 and lunch is just finishing up.  "Two for lunch ladies?" the smiling hostess inquires, leaning in a welcoming way.

"Actually, we are with a local wine importer and distributor.  We're hoping to introduce ourselves to the person in charge of your wine program?  Are they in?"   With the smile vanishing and the back straightening, we are waved to a corner with a clipped promise of "I'll see if he is available"   While my Greek and Green guest waits to see the wine manager and I wait to be told he is in a meeting or they are not looking to change their wine selections right now, or the decisions are made corporately (which eventually turns out to be the case)  I ask to see a wine list, pretty sure before they hand it to me that I already know what is on it.  I am not disappointed.  With the exception of vintage changes and some nods to the New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and California Pinot Noir crazes of the new millennium,  these guys have likely been rockin' this wine list since the '90s.  (Since I may seem like I am restaurant bashing, I should say that I am a restaurant veteran.  A former hostess, server, manager and wine buyer,  I am Karmically doomed to be blown off well into the next lifetime for the number of salespeople and job applicants I blew off during my tenure.)

To my great amazement, the Bar Manager is produced from within the bowels of the restaurant.   He is not only willing to meet with us, he will taste with us.  We take him through a number of the Greek selections we have with us that day, and he is interested, inquisitive, professional and polite.  He takes notes.  He tells us which wines he can see fitting with his menu and appealing to his customers.  He admits that although he has no authority to change and select new wines for his list, the company is currently looking to revamp their list, and his input is sought and valued.  He will seriously consider recommending these wines to his superiors.  We thank him for his time and agree to follow up with an email and some more information on his favorite wines.

We decided to stay for lunch.  As I sat spreading soft garlic butter onto my complementary warm rolls, another vestige of the '90s, I contemplated why so little had changed over the passing decades and whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.  Certainly there was comfort here, in the deep booth and the garlic butter, and the house version of a French Dip, in the turns of the large pepper mill in the able hands of a practiced server (ours had really mastered the art of rehearsed improvised performance) and there is comfort I am sure in the familiar names and categories on THE wine list.   But after 20 years, isn't it time to show a little imagination and effort?   How can these corporate dinosaurs survive in the vibrant independent culinary/wine bar scene of today, where as Matt Kramer points out, "More than ever before, restaurants are now ground zero for wine exposure. Partly this is due to the explosion of attractive, engaging sommeliers, most of them young and enthusiastic about the new and the different."  

Maybe you hire a sommelier?  Maybe you give your bar manager some buying privileges and start calling him the sommelier?  He certainly seems interested in the gig.  Or maybe you just keep piping compound butter into ramekins and hope that the 90's doesn't call and ask for their wine list back.