I’m excited to announce that this coming Friday, January 27th, is International Port Day 2012 organized by the Center for Wine Origins. This is a great way for people to explore the often misunderstood world of port wines, as well as taste the various delicious styles of port. Participating is easy – consumers can join Port Day online by blogging, tweeting, posting and sharing their thoughts about this exceptional wine by using the #PortDay hashtag. Or, they can host or join one of the numerous retail and restaurant tastings that are being planned in locations across the United States. To stay up-to-date on the most current news regarding Port Day or to register an event, click here, and enter to win an iPad 2!

There are events taking place in several US cities where consumers can learn more about port leading up to, and on the day of the event;

January 26th: Gallery Tasting at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art - Ft. Lauderdale.

January 26th: Port Day Radio Interview – WLRN, Miami.

January 27th: In-store tasting at Garnet Wines & Liquors, New York.

January 27th: In-store tasting at Astor Wine & Spirits, New York.

January 27th: 12 different in-store tastings throughout the Chicago area, Binny’s Beverage Depot, Chicago.

January 27th: “Pot luck N’ Port,” Seattle, which is being hosted by our good friend Roy Hesh from For the Love of Port. Read Roy’s post here about how you can win an all expense paid (airfare not included) for a weeklong vacation/port education tour in Portugal this April with Roy!!! 

The event I’m most looking forward to is taking place on Friday the 27th at Pinot Boutique in Philadelphia from 6 to 7:30 PM (EST). I’m excited because I will be there to personally pour several styles of incredible port wines from Quevedo, who we’ve been working with for several years now. Pennsylvania has several of Quevedo ports available through the PLCB luxury stores, so this is a great chance for anyone living in the Philadelphia area to come taste these unique items that are available in Pennsylvania! There will also be many other port wines from various producers on hand to taste. Leading the tasting will be the Philadelphia area port ambassador, Brian Freedman, who takes the snobbiness out of wine and creates an open, fun environment to learn more about wine. So, come taste some amazing, unique wines and learn more about this often misunderstood wine.

Hope to see many of you in Philadelphia!

Cheers-

Michael

Just in time for Christmas and New Years, all our wines on Flickingerwines.com are on sale for the holidays! There is a great selection of red and white wines from Spain, France and Portugal available, so there is definitely a wine for everyone at an incredibly low price. Flickingerwines.com ships to all states where legal to do so, so save yourself one extra stop during your Christmas shopping and order online!

To order some of these wines, click here!

Below are the tasting notes for all the wines on sale:

2009 Quinta de Gomariz Alvarinho: 90 POINTS – Wine & Spirits Magazine (Vinho Regional Minho, Portugal) 

“There’s lush and delicious peach flavor at the center of this wine, but it’s covered over at first by jittery acidity. It bristles with green apple tartness, needing time in bottle to settle down. For sautéed prawns finished with ginger and cream

2009 Quinta de Gomariz Loureiro: 90 POINTS – Wine & Spirits Magazine (D.O.C. Vinho Verde, Portugal) 

“Cut a grapefruit in half and the scent of citrus oil in the air is similar to this wine’s fragrance, here layered with litchi, nectarine and spice. It’s clean and pure, the acidity integrated without and talcky feel. It finishes plump and cool, ready to serve with pan-seared scallops”

 2010 Quinta de Gomariz Espadeiro: 88 POINTS – Wine & Spirits Magazine (D.O.C. Vinho Verde, Portugal)

“Imagine what a wild strawberry blossom might smell like and you’ll be close to the delicate red fruit character of this rosé. It’s mildly sweet, with acidity to cut it, finishing peppery and clean. For a picnic with cured sausages.

 2006 Bodegas Ondalan Crianza: 87 Points – Josh Raynolds, Tanzer’s IWC (D.O.Ca Rioja, Spain) 

“(80% Tempranillo and 20% Graciano) Medium red. Redcurrant, cherry and brown spices on the nose. Light-bodied, spicy red fruit flavors are inviting fresh and tannin-free, with good back-end lift and cut. The finish is brisk and firm, repeating the sweet red fruit notes.”

2007 Bodegs Miguel Angel Muro Crianza: 88 Points – Josh Raynolds, Tanzer’s IWC (D.O.Ca. Rioja, Spain)

“Vivid ruby. Subdued, youthfully medicinal aromas of cherry, blackcurrant, licorice and herbs. Juicy and energetic but also supple and ripe, with fleshy cherry and dark berry flavors and subtle spiciness. Finishes with soft tannins and a suggestion of dark berry preserves. Pretty much a fruit bomb and very easy to like.

2005 Bodegas Medrano Irazu Crianza: 87 Points – Josh Raynolds, Tanzer’s IWC (D.O.Ca. Rioja, Spain) 

“(100% Tempranillo) Deep, saturated red. Pungent, intriguing aromas of cherry, blueberry, botanical herbs and fresh rose, with a building leathery note. Sweet red and dark berry flavors are firmed by dusty tannins and pick up the leathery quality with air. Distinctly wild wine with good finishing sweetness and lingering herbal and floral qualities. I worry about the leathery thing though.”

2008 Coto de Gomariz Blanco: 90 Points – Josh Raunolds, Tanzer’s IWC (D.O. Riberio, Spain) 

(80% treixadura, 10% godello and 5% each of loureira and albarino) Light gold. Pungent, mineral-laced aromas of citrus pith, green apple and herbs, plus a hint of white pepper. Then surprisingly ample on the palate, offering deep but energetic orchard fruit and bitter citrus flavors and a sexy floral quality. Closes on a firm mineral note, with very good spicy persistence. This is powerful enough to work with buttery dishes but has the vivacity to give pleasure on its own.

2007 Domaine du Gros Pata “Cuve Sabine” (Cotesdu Rhone, France)

Brilliant, intense and limpid cherry color. Fresh notes of mature dark and red fruits, with notes of vanilla and a spicy finish. Flavors of ripe red and dark fruit such redcurrant, blackcurrant and blackberry. Supple tannins that help pair this wine perfectly with white meats and game birds such as pheasant.

2006 Mirdor Iberico (Vino de la Tierra, Spain)

Intense Red-Garnet color. Fresh red fruits, with well balanced notes of light oak, vanilla and spice. Medium bodied, with well-balanced acidity and smooth tannins. Notes of red fruits and vanilla with a persistent, velvety finish.

2006 Gloria Reynolds “Tinto Real” (Vinho Regional Alentejano, Portugal)

Deep pomegranate. Mix of old and new Portugal. Ripe red berries, subtle oak notes, hints of exotic spice, earth and barnyard. Round and chewy palate, with red berries and dried cherries on the finish.

Just in time for Christmas, EDMwines.com is offering free shipping when you purchase a 12 pack case of 2008 Oscar’s Douro Red. This is a perfect rustic wine for all your holiday feasts and parties, not to mention a great price ($13.90/bottle) after you’ve burned a hole in your pocket buying all those presents. So, buy yourself a present, or split a case with friends!

Here is what Roger Voss from The Wine Enthusiast said about Oscar’s;

Oscar Quevedo, a new star of the Douro, has produced a stylish wine, suffused with tannins, fresh acidity, solid black fruits and a lively bright feel. It is ready to drink, but could age 3–4 years. (11/1/2010) – 88 POINTS

To order online click here, and don’t forget to use the code “NO SHIPPING” at the checkout page!!

Hello all!

I’m excited to announce that our good friend Oscar Quevedo from Quevedo Port Wine will be here in the U.S and Canada next week for some very special events! Events will be held in Toronto, Los Angeles, and I’ll be joining Oscar for the event in San Francisco.

Oscar will be traveling here to attend the screenings of a wonderful documentary by Zev Robinson, “Life on the Douro.”  Zev is a skilled documentary producer, and his latest effort features the world famous Douro Valley from Portugal. There are several dates & locations for the screenings, which will also include a Q&A session with Oscar, as well as Roy Hersh from “For The Love of Port.” , considered one of the leading Port wine and Madeira authorities and journalists in the United States. There will also be a tasting session after the documentary, with some of the best ports and still wines from the Douro Valley, which will include several Quevedo items.

To learn more about the documentary and the screening dates, as well as to purchase tickets for screenings, please visit ZevRobinson.com!

Cheers,

Michael

Our online distributor, Flickingerwines.com is having a huge sale that ends at noon (CST) this Saturday, September 17th! They have some smoking deals on wines from all over the world- France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Australia, Argentina, and many wonderful domestic wines as well!

To see the full list and to order online, click here! 

After winning the best white wine in all of Spain by El Mundo last year for their 2009 Colleita Seleccionada, it seems Coto de Gomariz isn’t slowing down anytime soon. This year, Coto de Gomariz was honored by the Xunta de Galicia for producing the best white wine in all of D.O. Ribeiro in their annual “Best Wines of Galicia” report. Their Ribeiro blanco, which received the gold medal, is produced from the native varieties Treixadura (80%), Godello (10%) and Loureira (5%) and Albariño (5%). It’s a complex white wine with wonderful citrus aromas, green apple notes and herbs, and wonderful minerality. Its wonderful orchard fruit and bitter citrus flavors on the palate are powerful enough to pair with thick cream or butter sauces, but is also delicious on its own!  If you’d like to taste this wonderful wine, it is available for purchase online at Flickingerwines.com.

Congratulations to Sebio, Ricardo, Inma and the rest of the Coto de Gomariz team for another great nomination-keep up the good work!!

- Michael

I’m excited to announce that the wines from Coto de Gomariz will be available to taste on Tuesday June 21st in Chicago. I was just recently in Spain visiting with the Coto de Gomariz team and tasting the new vintages, which you will definitely not want to miss! 2010 was an excellent year in D.O. Ribeiro, and the wines show amazing freshness and crisp minerality which is perfect for the summer. Often overshadowed by its neighbor in Rias Baixes, the wines of D.O. Ribeiro bring a different style of elegance and character, primarily using the native Treixadura grape instead of Albariño. So, if you’ve never had the opportunity to try a wine from Ribeiro or the Treixadura variety, please come by and visit us to try some of the best wines from Spain!

If you live in Chicago but won’t be able to attend the event andare still interested in trying these amazing wines, they are for sale at several Chicago area wine stores including In Fine Spirits (5418 N. Clark)  and House Red (7403 W. Madison in Forest Park). Also, if you live outside of Illinois, the Coto de Gomariz Blanco is available online through Flickinger Wines.

If you have any questions about the event and to RSVP, please call 312-329-3910, or email RibeiroDO@ruderfinn.com

I’ll be attending the event to answer any questions you may have about the region, wines, or anything else- I look forward to seeing you!

Salud

- Michael

Just a quick update for all the Pennsylvania residents out there looking for some great new wines for summer! We’ve recently added many new fantastic items to our portfolio in Pennsylvania, all of which are in stores now. We’re excited to announce that we’ve begun working with the following producers;

- C.V.N.E. (or Cune here in the U.S.), one of the most famous producers in all of Rioja which formed in 1879 in Haro. We’re very excited to offer you many of their finest wines;

2009 Cune Blanco $14.99, PLCB#17712

2010 Cune Monopole Blanco $14.99, PLCB#18165

2006 Cune Reserva $26.99, PLCB#18164

2007 Cune Viña Real Crianza $19.99, PLCB#17710

2004 Cune Viña Real Reserva $29.99, PLCB#18178

2001 Cune Viña Real Gran Reserva $43.99, PLCB#18169

2004 Cune Imperial Reserva $49.99, PLCB#18177

1999 Cune Imperial Gran Reserva $59.99, PLCB#18162

2005 Cune Contino Reserva $49.99, PLCB#18173

2006 Cune Contino Graciano $149.99, PLCB#24987

2007 Cune Contino Viña de Olivo $142.99, PLCB#18175

- Raventos I Blanc, one of the founding Cava houses from Sant Sadurni de Anoia, Spain. They Raventos family has owned the estate since 1497, and produced their first Cava in 1872! We selected two wines from Raventos that we hope you enjoy- the 2007 d’ Nit Rose Cava ($21.99 PLCB#17708) and the 2010 Perfum de Vi Blanc still wine from D.O. Penedes ($15.99, PLCB#17713).

- Doniene Gorrondona, located in Bakio on the northern coast of Spain. Doniene produces some of the best Txakoli wines in all of Spain and are perfect for the upcoming heat of summer! (2009 Doniene Gorrondona Txakolina $20.99, PLCB#17707).

- Mas Foraster, a beautiful winery located in the often looked over region of D.O. Conca de Barbera, located in Montblanc Spain. The Josep Foraster Trepat is a wonderfully clean, crisp and light bodied wine made from the indiginous grape Trepat. Fans of Washington State Pinot Noir will love this wine! (2009 Josep Foraster Trepat $20.99, PLCB#17709).

- Quevedo, an incredible port wine producer located in the heart of the Douro Valley in Portugal. They produce outstanding port wines, as well as a wonderful Douro still red wine, Oscar’s Wine which is an incredibly delicious wine at an incredible price! (2008 Oscar’s Douro Red $10.99, PLCB #17711, Quevedo White Port $12.99, PLCB#10103, Quevedo Special Reserve Tawny Port, $19.99, PLCB# 10305, 2007 Quevedo Vintage Port $51.99, PLCB#14560).

Information for these wines, along with our entire portfolio, can be downloaded from our website here.

We hope many of you will try these new wines this summer and let us know what you think! We welcome  and look forward to hearing any feedback fro mall of you!

Cheers,

Michael & Peter Grisley

In conjunction with all the wonderful wine bloggers out there, this is my installment of Wine Blog Wednesday! As this Wednesday’s focus is all about Spain, I figured I would introduce you to one of my favorite producers we are fortunate enough to work with, Coto de Gomariz. While I’ve written about them quite a bit, it’s mostly for their amazing white wines that have garnered some knockout attention. However, today I want to introduce you to the relatively unknown and highly underrated red wines they are producing in D.O. Ribeiro.

D.O. Riberio is located in Galicia, northwestern Spain, where it sits on the border with Portugal. In my opinion, it is the most beautiful part of Spain, with lush green valleys and wideflowing rivers dominating the landscape. It seems more similar to images from Ireland than it does to the blazingly hot plains of central Spain that I’m sure many people imagine the entire country to be -The people are of Celtic origin so I guess the similarity to Ireland isn’t such a far off concept to grasp. However, once you get past the similarities in culture and landscape, you realize this is a world apart from Ireland, and interestingly enough, Spain. Fiercely independent, the people of Galicia speak their own language (Galego) and have maintained their way of life, isolated in the northwestern pocket of Spain for centuries. This isolation and pride of their Galego way of life is one of the major factors in why there are so many different grape varieties grown in this region.

Historically, when the Moors occupied Spain, they ripped up vines for religious purposes, but as the Galegos were so isolated, the Moors never managed to gain control of that part of Spain, saving the indigenous varieties. Unfortunately, when the dictator Francisco Franco took complete control of Spain in 1947, he made it his mission to stamp out any autonomous communities throughout Spain, including the Galegos. He made their languages, customs, and basically their entire way of life illegal. He also began ripping up native vines all over Spain to plant grains, cereals, and bulk producing grape varieties. Galicia’s native vines were hard hit during this period, and an undocumented amount of native vines have since vanished from the region. However, some vines managed to survive being ripped up, and today are seeing a resurgence as more and more producers in the region are making it their mission to restore and use their native grapes for both white and red wines.

On that note, the wine I chose for today’s Wine Blog Wednesday utilizes several of the regions indiginous red varieties; Sousón, Ferrón, Brancellao, Caiño, Mencia and Carabuñeira, to name a few red varieties. The wine, Coto de Gomariz’s VX Cuvée Caco, is a blend of Sousón, Caiño, Garnacha Tintorera and Carabuñeira, which is known as Touriga Nacional in Portugal. The wine is ruby red in color, with spicy red berry and cherry notes on the nose. The berry and cherry notes are also all over the palate, with a definite dollop of smoky oak, but it’s well integrated and dominated the other flavors.  The finish has wonderful mineral elements to it (due to the schist soil dominating the region I imagine) and a beautiful spiced quality rounding out this unique wine. Fans of oak probably won’t find this wine their cup of tea, but they definitely won’t dislike it either- it’s a very unique wine that will pair well with all types of cuisine, from a great steak or burger, to a thick cut pork chop. On my last visit to Galicia, we even had this slightly chilled  with some grilled pulpo (octopus) that was one of the more memorable pairings I’ve had. The charred taste from the pulpo went perfectly with the smoky oak hints in the wine!

Unfortunately, the red wines from Galicia are still a tough sell here in the US, with most wines imported from the region being Mencia based wines from Bierzo. However, if you are are lucky enough to live in Pennsylvania, the VX Cuvée Caco, as well as the entire line up of Coto de Gomariz wines are available through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

Here’s to exploring new wines and regions!

Cheers,

Michael

El Mundo, Spain’s largest and most popular news source, has recently announced their top Spanish Wines of 2010 through their wine division, elmundovino.com. Since 1994, El Mundo and Elmundovino.com have tasted thousands of wines every year in search of the best wines in Spain- quite a daunting task if you ask me! On January 15th of this year, El Mundo and Elmundovino.com announced their selections for the top three Spanish wines of 2010, and on that list was none other than a wine from Coto de Gomariz, a producer we have been working with for several years now. Coto de Gomariz has been incredibly dynamic in pushing themselves every year to achieve the highest quality possible – something that we have seen year after year when we are fortunate to taste their latest vintage. It seems all this hard work and dedication has been recognized within Spain as well, as their 2008 Colleita Seleccionada was selected alongside the world famous producer Vega Sicilia, as one of the top three wines of 2010. Now, any of the Spanish wine geeks reading this right now will understand the importance of being on a list with Vega Sicilia, the winery that basically put Spanish wines on the map. To put in perspective, this would be similar to a small, young, unknown winery in an unknown region of the US being on a “best of” wine list right next to Opus I or Caymus Special Selection- quite a great honor and validation for a young producer!

It is huge honor for any Spanish producer to be selected as one of the top three wines from Spain. The wines were selected by Spanish wine drinkers (who understands Spanish wine better than a Spaniard?) and without a mention of a score, which I love. The wines were selected because, simply, they were the best wines and there isn’t any need to provide a number to justify why it was selected.

Here is the link to the article published on elmundovino.com in its entirety (sorry, Spanish only), but here are several important paragraphs which have been translated;

“Since 1994, El Mundo and elmundovino.com have selected the best wines tasted throughout the year and that were in the market that same year: therefore this time we will not reward two immense riojas of the legendary crop of 1947, Imperial and Marquis de Riscal, that we have had the privilege of trying again during the last several months. But the supreme elegance of those two wines that inspires, in great measure, the prizes to the best of 2010. These reflect a tendency increasingly more palpable among ours best producers, in all regions, to the refinement and also to the rediscovery of the soil, after years of wines of great power and concentration.  And particularly it is appropriated, in that context, to see the name of Vega Sicilia among the prizewinners.

In effect, our Wines of 2010 are Vega Sicilia Unico 2000, Coto de Gomariz Colleita Seleccionada 2008 and Turo d’en Mota de Recaredo Brut Nature 1999. The most historic bodega from Ribera del Duero, a young, small wine making property but in a region no less historic, and an atypical, family owned property in the world of Cava.

For their part, the Coto de Gomariz Colleita Seleccionada 2008 is one of the best best Gallego white’s that we have tried, with a depth born in the great soil, a complexity without a doubt favored by its multi-varietal character – treixadura, godello, albarino, loureiro and lado-, that is one of the great strengths from Ribeiro, and with the personality that Xose Lois Sebio instills in his wines. It is a white that arrives where we always thought Ribeiro wines could arrive, recovering the place that this region occupied during the Renaissance which was being lost throughout the centuries and –above all- with Phylloxera. Better late than never.”

We couldn’t be happy for Ricardo, Xose and the entire Coto de Gomariz team!! This is a great honor- keep up the good work.

Enbuenahora chicos!!

Michael