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It
sure feels like fall this week, with the colors changing, the leaves
falling and a little sunshine. And the sun has returned for Last
Thursday so come on down to Alberta Street tonight and check out the
galleries, shops, street vendors and of course, stop into cork. We'll have a little tasting going on and two of our new artists on hand to discuss their work.
Friday,
we are going to have a great tasting, proving that you still can find
really good Oregon Pinot Noir under $20. Names like Evesham Wood,
Boedecker and Ransom will be represented.
After another series
of tastings for the wine trade this week, I've decided we need to do a
focused backroom tasting of the amazing wines produced by Stephane
Tissot. And you can't just taste wine and leave on an empty
stomach, so we are packaging this wine tasting with a Dinner at
BEAST. Read more below. Cork Club Members get first priority to reserve until Friday, so call today if you want a spot!
Finally, the fall weather, abundance of mushrooms and general desire to open a bottle of Barbaresco lead me to the Wine Pick of The Week.
Just click on the link, check out the details, and stop in, call or
order online if you want a bottle or two for your own dinner table.
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LAST THURSDAY · ARTIST'S RECEPTION · 5:30-8PM · SPECIAL TASTING for $5
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  We
have 4 new artists hanging at the shop for our Fall show and two, Suzie
Spaggiari and John McNab, will be on hand for Last Thursday to meet you
and talk about their work. Suzie (picture on left) works with
Japanese watercolor techniques and has done a striking series of
pieces. John (on right) uses oil to paint landscapes of the
mountains, the countryside and the shore. Each is quite unique
and they may inspire you to add a piece to your collection or put one
on lay-away for a special holiday gift. Please come have a
look. While you're here, you can try 3 European reds we'll be
pouring in a special little flight!
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FRIDAY NIGHT FLIGHT · Oregon Pinot Noir under $20 · $12 tasting fee · 4:30-8:30pm
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Spending
time out at the winery this past week working in the midst of Pinot
Noir vines made me want to revisit some of our less expensive options
coming out of the Willamette Valley. So Sara and I tasted
through a bunch of current releases and came up with what we think is a
Top 6 list of the best under $20 Oregon Pinot Noir currently
available. Come by Friday and see if you agree with us.
Evesham Wood, Pappas from Boedecker, Jigsaw from Ransom, King's Ridge,
Brooks and Cardwell Hill are in the lineup, with the latter being a
2004 discovery that should win legions of fans like the Cottonwood did
last year. $12 to taste. See you there.
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Sara's Corner |
In
my first week back at the shop, I've decided to take on new territory
and begin tasting through as much Italian wine as possible. In the
past, I've shied away from the bolder, sometimes brutish Italian reds,
but they pair so well with the weather, I've stumbled headfirst into
them this fall. Here's two favorites that we currently have in stock:
2005 Hofstatter Lagrein
· Lagrein. What? Yeah I've immediately geeked out on this grape. It
makes a wine that walks and talks like Austrian reds, but is the most
prominent native varietal of the Alto Adige region in Northern Italy.
Hofstatter is a master at making red wine in this zone, and is also a
frequent visitor to Oregon's International Pinot Noir Celebration with
his award-winning Pinot Nero. The '05 Lagrein is a deep and
striking color with earth and animal notes on the nose, a round,
perfumey palate and delicately balanced weight and texture. An ideal
accompaniment to rich, creamy cheese, speck or salami.
And my favorite wine of the week . . .
2005 Pertimali Rosso di Montalcino
· Sunday night I had the good fortune of returning home with the
Pertimali Rosso in hand and found my boyfriend hard at work in the
kitchen perfecting his "famous" Spaghetti Bolognese. I popped open the
Pertimali, put it to glass, and discovered an inky purple Sangiovese
with compelling earth and dark cherry aromas, concentrated fruit,
cranberry-like acidity and super structured tannin. A wine like this
cries out for a hearty meat sauce and nothing marries a traditional
Italian meal like a traditional Sangiovese. I recommend decanting an
hour before drinking (or letting it sit in your glass) to soften the
wine and allow for more flavors to emerge.
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TASTING & BEAST DINNER · The Wines of Stephane Tissot · Thursday, Nov. 1 · 7pm
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On Tuesday, Stephane Tissot
was in town to show his wines at a trade event and for a dinner at
Castagna. Since we were stuck enjoying an amazing meal at
Simpatica with 3 other French winemakers, Morgan, Sara and I all felt
we need to offer a chance to our customers to come see what is so
magical about these strange wines from the Jura region in France.
Tissot is somewhat like the Friulian oddballs Gravner and Radikon,
making wines using old methods and intensionally oxidizing some
wines. The results are simply stunning.
We'll start with
the 2004 Arbois Traminer, made with the native Savagnin grape - a
relative of Gewurztraminer, and done without oxidation. Next
we'll see how that compares to the 2003 Arbois Savagnin, which is the
oxidized version full of toasted almond nuttiness and a delightful dry
sherry quality. Then comes the 2000 Vin Jaune, which is the most
intense in body of the wines but amazing in its elegance. To end,
we will enjoy the 2003 Vin de Paille, a mind-blowing dessert
wine. If we can scare up a couple other Tissot wines, they'll be
included too. These are truly unique in the world of winemaking
and if you are even slightly curious about wine and its many varied
styles, please join us for an enlightening tasting. Reservations are required, space is limited to 14 people.
 BEAST DINNER following the Tasting: We will walk down the street to the latest new neighborhood joint and grab the big table at BEAST,
Naomi Pomeroy's new French Beastro
at 30th and Killingsworth. She's been kind enough to offer us the
table, if everyone wants to join in, and she's serving a terrific 5
course meal (click on the Beast Logo to see the current week's menu on
their website). Our group can bring wine from the shop for this event
without corkage, so it is a great opportunity to taste wines at cork, buy wines at retail and dine on some creative French fare at a new restaurant that we know is going to be a success.
THE DETAILS: The tasting costs $15 and will run from 7-8pm. When you call to reserve for the tasting, please let us know if you also want to join in the optional dinner. The dinner costs $45
not including gratuity and you'll pay Beast directly, but we'll handle
the reservation. You can purchase a bottle of wine at the shop
and bring to the dinner and Beast is waiving the corkage fee for us
this one time! Don't miss this meaty meal and intellectual wine
tasting next week!
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