WINTER HOURS
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Mon - Wed: 11 - 6
Thurs - Fri: 11 - 8
Sat: 11 - 6
Sun: 12 - 5
CALIFORNIA
WINE REGIONS
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CALIFORNIA
Drink for Change.
Sounds like a good motto for 2008, since it seems the Presidential
Candidate's all seem to have their own slogans that all focus on
change. So this year, we change our focus from the small regions
of Spain (which we will of course continue to embrace and explore) and
put our efforts into seeking out small, sustainable producers that
don't see much exposure up here in the Northwest.
We're calling this year Rediscovering California. And we have 5 key reasons why we think this is a great idea for 2008.
1.
Our nation's biggest wine producing state is also the market leader for
the world's wine regions and there must be a reason, aside from sheer
sales prowess, that outsiders look and watch what California does.
2.
Sustainability includes the carbon footprint and there is no disputing
it takes a lot of energy to get a bottle of wine here from Europe or
South America. Choosing our local neighbor to the South will help
us support local growers and winemakers who are making quality wines.
3.
The Euro. Let's face it, the dollar is probably going to get
weaker before it rebounds and with big adjustments to European wine
prices already rearing their ugly head, it's time to look domestically
for some wines with a high price : quality ratio.
4.
Access. Frankly, there are hundreds, if not thousands of wines
available in Portland from California and we as a store really haven't
tapped into that much. With the close proximity, we can also make
several trips this year to Sonoma, Napa, Anderson Valley, Paso Robles,
Monterey and Santa Barbara to seek out small producers who aren't
represented in our market and try and introduce you to winemakers doing
the kind of wine thing we love.
5. Because it's the most
radical decision we can make. Let's be frank, we positioned the
store from the beginning as an eclectic mix of mostly small, artisan
producers from Italy, France, Spain and the Northwest, who make
interesting wines and pay attention to their land and winemaking
practices to assure a quality bottle. In the process, we
overlooked the largest wine producing region in the world and it's
right in our backyard. Time to fix that and open up a lot of our
eyes to just what is available from vineyards that are less than 1000
miles away.
Those of you out there who are shaking your heads
and tossing around adjectives like 'crazy' and 'insane' at this point,
I encourage you to join us on this journey. As a lover of
high-acid, layered and balanced wines from Europe, I can't think of a
bigger challenge than trying to find wines from California that express
the terroir from where they originate. We're not talking about
critter wines and big producers who are spending millions of dollars on
ad campaigns to splash their brand across the country. We're
talking about farmers and growers who work day after day in their
vineyards, tending to the plants, allowing mother nature to do most of
the work, and produce wines with little or no manipulation. The
results will surprise you!
So come on down this Friday night and
taste half a dozen wines from California we've recently added to the
store that we think are surprising and delicious. More
opportunities to sample California wines are coming soon, including a
tasting listed below. Read on for more. And by all means,
if you have a favorite small producer you have visited in California
and either haven't seen at cork or in Portland, email me so I can put
it on our list to investigate and see if we can get some of their wines
here for you.
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FRIDAY NIGHT FLIGHT · New California Wines · $15 tasting fee · Bonus Pours Extra · 4 - 8 pm
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New California Wines - This Friday, Jan. 11 from 4PM - 8PM.
We've
spent the last few weeks tasting over 100 wines from California to
select for the shop. This Friday, we'll pull the corks on 6 that
we think will help you change your mind about what the Sunshine State
has to offer. High-toned Syrah from The Ojai Vineyard that drinks like Cote Rotie, Grignolino from Heitz Cellars that will have you certain you're drinking alpine red wine from Piemonte, Foley
Pinot Noir from the Santa Rita Hills which will you can debate if it is
more like Pommard or Eola Hills. A blend of Montepulciano and
Negroamaro from Marietta that
smacks of Southern Italian spirit. And of course, Chardonnay - in
this case, an unbelievable value from Monterey County and a
mind-blowing example from White Rock in
Napa which, despite barrel fermentation, has all the high-toned
brightness more akin to a white wine from the Loire Valley than
anything you're accustomed to from South of the Oregon border.
We'll also have two Bonus Pours if you come early, including a
certified organic Cabernet Sauvignon from Volker Eisele in Napa and a stunning Sangiovese from Sean Thackrey
in Mendocino, a winemaking pioneer who prefers to quote Isak Dinesen on
his website rather than talk about any wine he makes. I can tell
it's going to be a fun year! So come join us on our Rediscovering California
journey and find some exciting and enjoyable new wines to drink this
year. $15 tasting fee for the first 6 wines, $10 to taste the two
high-end premium pours. |
UPCOMING EVENTS · Tastings & Classes
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RIDGE Tasting · Saturday, Jan. 26 · $8 tasting fee · 2 - 5 PM
Our
2nd Annual Ridge Zinfandel tasting will take place on Saturday this
year so we can hopefully better accomodate the crowd of Ridge
fans. Tim Edwards of Columbia Distributing will be on hand
helping to pour the current Ridge releases from Lytton Springs,
Geyserville, Paso Robles, York Creek and Three Valleys. Don't
miss this great chance to taste all of these Zinfandel-based blends
side by side and choose your favorites for the dinner table. Drop-in Tasting - No Reservations Required.
WINE 101 for EVERYONE · Thursday, Jan. 31 · $25/person · 6:30 PM
This
is our Introduction to Wine class, complete with an aroma sensory
exercise, a dissection of what is meant by tannin, sugar and acid and a
tasting of 5 unique varietals from around the world. Come ready
to put your own sensory memory to the tastes in a fun environment where
you can ask that burning wine question that has been nagging you.
Some recent favorites are: What does it mean when a wine is
'corked'? How can you tell if a wine is 'hot'? Does all blush
wine really get colored with women's rouge? Join us to learn the
answers and a whole lot more. Reservations Required.
BACKROOM TASTINGS · Limited to 14 People · Reservations Required with Credit Card
Pietro Ratti of RENATO RATTI · Wednesday, Jan. 30 · 6:30pm · $20/person
14
lucky people will get to sit at the tasting room table and enjoy
stories from the always engaging Pietro Ratti, as he pours his current
release Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Villa Pattono and a few Barolo's
TBD. Renato's wines have long been personal favorites and this is
a great opportunity to taste single-vineyard Barolo from the stunning
2001 vintage plus other wines as well. As always, there will be a
special price list for wines purchased the night of the class and there
will be a futures offering for the 2004 Barolo's which attendees
hopefully will get a sneak preview into tasting (assuming Pietro clears
customs with bottles in tow!)
Robert Lindquist of QUPE WINERY · Tuesday, Feb. 5 · 6:30pm · $20/person
Qupe
is a small Central Coast California winery, located in Los Olivos, that
has been focused on producing wines, mostly from Rhone varietals, for
almost 20 years. Sharing a winemaking facility with Jim Clendenen
of Au Bon Climat, Robert has encountered a lifetime's worth of wine
stories and will share them with us as he pours three whites, including
his stunning Viognier, and three of his single-vineyard Syrahs.
This is a great opportunity to get to know a winemaker committed to
biodynamic farming and collaborative winemaking on a level we don't see
nearly enough.
Email darryl@corkwineshop.com
if you'd like to sign up for any of the above reservation events.
Include a phone number so we can call you back to get a credit card for
confirmation. You will receive an email or telephone to confirm space
is available and to hold your reservation.
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SARA'S CORNER
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 This
year, I've resolved to only drink excellent wines, while focusing even
more on sustainable wineries and grape growers. This means spending
more time with winemakers and vineyard managers who farm organically or
biodynamically and uphold philosophies of sustainability in their
wineries. Which leads me to this week's wine pick. After sitting
down with John Paul of Cameron and talking about his growing practices
over lunch this week, I was lucky enough to taste his new Chardonnay
from the Columbia Gorge appellation. Somehow this seems to fit in
well with our California focus for the year, since the grape's
proliferation in the world is largely a result of our Southern neighbor:
2006 Cameron Columbia Gorge Chardonnay · $15/bottle ($13.50 for cork club members)
Cameron
Winery has just released the 2006 Columbia Gorge Chardonnay, and it is
beautifully rich and ripe with slight caramel and cream tones, nicely
finessed oak notes, and a bright, clean finish.
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MORE CHANGE · THE END OF ONLINE SHOPPING
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In addition to our annual wine region focus, we've made another big change in how we do business here at cork. We are discontinuing online web sales
in favor of a more focused effort at building our direct email offers
and providing personal service in the shop. After a year and a
half of dealing with the endless headaches of managing the backend of
an ecommerce business, we've realized we don't have enough hours in the
day to do this well and feel we will be spending our time better
hunting down special orders for you, our existing customers, rather
than trying to fulfill the wishes of someone half-way across the
country who is just trophy seeking and may or may not shop with us
again. Our dedication to giving great service and providing you a
comfortable in-store shopping experience with knowledgeable sales staff
is the true mission and this change will allow us to better serve your
needs.
For those of you who enjoy browsing through our inventory
online before journeying down to collect your wines, we will post our
inventory monthly on the website's shop
page and you can, as always, email or call us with an order and we will
pull it together and have it ready for you whenever you come to pick it
up. Also remember, we do provide delivery with a $100 minimum
order to close-in Northeast and Northwest Portland locations. So
if you can't make it to us, let us bring the wine to you!
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