After trying several samples from the Portuguese producer Quinta de Gomariz a few months ago, I knew we had stumbled upon a very special producer. With the help of Vitor Mendes, our good friend from Vinixa, we were able to visit the winery and meet the team behind these fantastic wines. Their wines are very direct, beautifully produced, and especially in the current economic situation, are priced extremely well. After submitting them to several different purchasers in different markets around the US, we had positive responses from all of them- even without any press. While this may not seem of any importance, trust me, it was quite the accomplishment.

These days it seems if a wine is submitted to ANY purchaser without ratings, it is almost automatically dismissed as a “substandard” wine. So to have the Quinta de Gomariz wines ordered without any US press or ratings is a testament to the hard work the team in Portugal has been doing for the four short years they have been in business.

Fast-forward several months and a few submissions later, and it seems the Quinta de Gomariz wines have solidified their status as quality wines. In the July 2009 issue of Wine & Spirits Magazine, the 2008 vintage of Quinta de Gomariz wines have proven that they can contend with the bigger, well-known Portuguese vinho verde producers.  All three wines, the Loureiro, Espadeiro (Rose) and Alvarinho were all selected as “Best Buys” by the magazine, as well as scoring all above 88 points.  The Alvarinho received 92 points, the Loreiro 90 points, and the Espadeiro 88 points- and was the only Portuguese Rose to be reviewed.

Needless to say, we are very happy the wines have finally received some press in the US (and positive press at that!) and we can’t wait to make these wines available in your market. They will be available in the US late this summer (late July/early August) in various markets throughout the US. Please feel free to contact us if you’d like more information on this up and coming producer and where to find their wonderful wines!

–Michael 

I can’t believe how many people now live in Jackson Hole Wyoming! It seems to grow every time we return to the beautiful surroundings of the Grand Tetons. To kick off the 2009 Memorial Day weekend, the P.R. Grisley Company joined a very diverse group of people at the 31st Annual Jackson Hole wine festival.

The day started with representatives from restaurants, wine stores, and hotels joining the exhibitors for a few hours before the public joined in on the fun. For over 6 hours we presented our wines, educated new wine lovers on several unique wines from Portugal, Spain and France. We poured a white and a rose wine from Chozas Carrascal located in the Utiel-Requena region of Spain, a fantastic Douro red from Quinta de Carregosa in Portugal and red wines from Bodegas Medrano Irazu, Santiago Ijalba and Ondalan in Rioja. We also poured the Chateau de Monbadon from Bordeaux and the Cuve Sabine from the Cotes du Rhone region in France. Everyone seemed to enjoy the diversity represented at the table, and they were excited to try some wines from several unique areas within the Iberian Peninsula. It was definitely one of the best-run events we have been able to participate in, and we hope to be asked back next year.

The festival was a wonderful combination of great wines, friendly people, and amazing scenery. There were over 400 wines presented from around the globe, and almost one thousand people in attendance enjoying the unique event. If you’ve never visited Jackson Hole, it’s a beautiful place filled with culture, western charm, friendly people, and some of the most amazing mountains in the US- not too mention people with great taste in wine!

–Peter

It has been a great start of the week for P.R. Grisley Co. as news has been flying in from Europe on two wineries we import from, Quinta de Gomariz from Portugal and Baron de Montfort from France. Both wineries have received awards for their wine making in their respective countries and we couldn’t be happier for both wineries!!!

 Our good friend Bertrand de Sercey and the team at Baron de Montfort have been awarded two silver medals in recognition for the 2006 vintage of BOTH the Chateau Lagrange Monbadon and the Chateau de Monbadon in an annual competition held in Bordeaux. The “Concours de Bordeaux” is a certified organization that was set up to allow Bordeaux producers to compete with each other and all wines are blind tasted by wine professionals. We currently sell the 2005 Chateau de Monbadon and the 2003 Chateau Lagrange Monbadon in selected markets, but we look forward to receiving the 2006 vintage of these wines in the future. It’s encouraging to know that Baron de Monfort continues to produce award-winning wines and we look forward to enjoying these upcoming vintages.

 Quinta de Gomariz had a VERY big weekend, taking home five awards in two different competions for their fantastic vinho verde wines. The first competition was the annual Vinho Verde Competition and was held in the city of Braga in northern Portugal. Gomariz took home the “best of” award for their 2008 Loureiro in the varietal category, as well as the 2008 Espadeiro (Rose), also for the varietal category. The big winner was their 2008 Colheita Seleccionada, which took home the gold medal in the white wine category. The other competition was the Lisbon National Wine Contest, where the 2008 Loureiro and 2008 Colheita Seleccionada were awarded silver medals. We’ve been working very closely with our good friend Vitor Mendez from Vinixa, who helped make the Gomariz wines available in the US market. As a brand new producer whom we just began working with and recently visited in May, this is very promising and we can’t wait until the Gomariz wines are available in US, which will be in the next month and half.

So, congratulations to both Quinta de Gomariz and Baron de Monfort, keep up the good work and we’ll be sure to raise a glass to you both!!!

– Michael 

After wrapping up all our loose ends after nearly a month on the road, I finally found some time to sit down for a new post and edit the hours of footage to make a short video for everyone to enjoy. We had an absolutely incredible trip that began in Pittsburgh before moving on to Philadelphia for wine shows during the Pennsylvania Wine Week. The shows went well considering the current economic situation, and we were excited to show some new wines at both shows such as the recently available Alana-Tokaji Late harvest Furmint. This wine received wonderful responses in both cities and we were glad that everyone enjoyed it! We were also quite lucky to have Paul Sharp from Europvin join us in Philadelphia to help educate consumers about sherry, which also went over well with the crowds. I think with Paul’s amazing wealth of information we were able to change some opinions about sherry and hopefully expand some more palates.

After the Pennsylvania shows we headed to directly to Spain where we spent some time with friends in Madrid. They took us to some “secret” tapas bars around the city and introduced us to some new foods, which I’m sure we’ll try to recreate in our kitchens. I’m always amazed at the diversity of food Spain has, it seems every time I return I try at least 10 new items I’ve never had before.

We then bid farewell to our friends in Madrid, and met two purchasing agents from the PLCB at the Madrid airport and flew directly to Vigo where we stayed the evening in an amazing hotel right on the Spain/Portugal border as we all tried to recover from our jet lag. The next morning we spent an incredible day in Portugal where we visited Quinta de Gomariz in the northern Vinho Verde region of Portugal. Here we toured the winery and met the people behind these incredible white wines before heading south to the Douro region to visit Quinta de Carregosa, a small producer making excellent red wines. The Douro was an incredible region that was quite literally mountain after mountain completely terraced and covered with vines. The Douro was one of the most breathtaking places I have seen, I hope to return one day and spend some more time enjoying the region. We had an amazing dinner later that night courtesy of the hard work from the fine people  at Vinixa who had set up all of our visits to the various wineries. The family team at Vinixa has been an immense help to us since we began working together last February and we couldn’t have accomplished our tour of Portugal without them. Before and during the dinner, we met and tasted through the line of Quevedo Ports along with Oscar Quevedo. The ports were absolutely incredible with Portuguese dishes like grilled lamb chops, roasted veal, and an amazing chocolate dessert with an orange cream sauce paired with Quevedo’s LBV and Tawny 10 year- delicious! 

With our one day, one night whirlwind tour of Portugal over, we headed north back to Spain to the Galicia region in the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula. There we visited with our good friends and winemakers at Coto de Gomariz to try their new vintages of amazing red and white wines that really impressed all of us. Their red wines were quite a surprise as they are made with interesting local varieties rarely seen outside of Galicia, let alone Spain. Souson, Ferrol, and Brancellao are native red varieties that were almost lost to the region during many political upheavals that Spain has experienced throughout its history. Luckily, there are several producers such as Coto de Gomariz who have dedicated their work to restoring these native varieties and producing incredible wines with them.

After Coto de Gomariz we headed southeast to Ribera del Duero to visit the famous Vega Sicilia family of wines, which include Bodegas Alion and Bodegas Pintia (which is located in nearby DO Toro). We had an amazing tour of the facilities at both Alion and Vega Sicilia before sitting down to an incredible meal where we had the unbelievable opportunity to try wines such as the ‘99 Unico, ‘02 Valbuena, ‘05 Alion and ‘06 Pintia. This was the biggest lineup of wines I have ever had the chance to taste, surely one of those days I will never, ever forget for the rest of my life. After our tasting, we had the chance for some down time at the hotel, so we passed the time talking and enjoying a beer for a change on the patio with a cool river running right below us. The next morning it was on the road again, by this time we were getting good at the stop and go schedule we had lined up.

We then headed out to the Rioja region where most of the bodegas we represent are located. We had a few jam-packed days visiting the bodegas and sampling the new vintages and new wines that many of the winemakers have been working on. We first stopped at one of the most famous producers of classic Rioja wines, La Rioja Alta. We visited their amazing facility as well as tasted through their family of wines. I always love to try these wines as you are able to taste and feel the history of Rioja when drinking these delicate, delicious wines. We had fantastic meals at every bodega, and even had the classic Riojana dish “chuletillas a la parilla” (lamb chops grilled over last years dried vines) at both Bodegas Ondalan and Bodegas Medrano Irazu. We also had the opportunity to catch up with “Mr. Non-stop,” Miguel Angel from Bodegas Miguel Angel Muro. This man has more energy that anyone I have met and he has been busy creating a wonderful new reserva wine, which we were able to enjoy. We also caught up with the husband and wife duo of Charo and Julian from Bodegas Ruiz de Vinaspre, where we had the opportunity to try their new line of wines that didn’t disappoint. At Bodegas Santiago Ijalba we were able to try many of the new vintages, and I was most excited to try their new organic wine.  Even with all these visits in a short amount of time, we were also able to enjoy some free time in the village of La Guardia. This turned out to be absolutely chaotic as there was a huge soccer match between Barcelona and local favorites, Atletico Bilbao. People were partying in the street setting off what seemed like quarter sticks of dynamite based on the sound of the explosions- and this was even with their loss to FC Barcelona! Europeans are soccer crazy to say the least……There is always something new to experience in Rioja; I think that is what keeps us going back! 

Once our tour of Rioja had ended, we drove up north to one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, San Sebastian. This is still one of my favorite cities to visit as they have the most incredible gastronomy scenes in Europe, it’s unbelievable. From the hundreds of tapas bars and a visit to a traditional sideria, we experienced some amazing food and wine while finally being able to relax a bit as our non-stop schedule had finally come to an end. Our visit to San Sebastian was the perfect way to end our wine filled tour of Spain and Portugal and reflect on all the amazing sites and generous people we had seen and met.

With the month of April at its halfway point, I thought I would take the opportunity to fill our readers in with what we have scheduled in the upcoming days and months. At the end of this month is the Pennsylvania Wine Week, kicking off April 30th in Pittsburgh, before heading to Hershey and finishing in Philadelphia. We had an absolutely amazing time at these events last year and cant wait to head back to pour some amazing wines for everyone attending. Anyone living close to any of the three events should definitely attend if able, there are going to be some amazing producers, importers and distributors showing wines from all over the world- as well as the good old U-S of A!

After the final event wraps up in Philadelphia, my father and I will fly directly over to Spain and Portugal to visit several new bodegas we’re beginning to work with and to tour their facilities. We’re obviously very excited about the trip as our traveling adventures are the best part of our job! (well, drinking all this delicious wine isn’t too bad either). We’ll be visiting quite a range of wineries, from smaller Portuguese producers like Quinta da Carregosa to medium sized bodegas such as Coto de Gomariz in Galicia ,as well as the world renowned Vega Sicilia in Ribera del Duero. Also on the trip list is Rioja Alavesa and  Bodegas Ondalan, Medrano Irazu, Ruiz de Vinaspre and Miguel Angel Muro which I can’t wait to see as he has been totally remodeling his bodega. We will also visit the wonderful Basque country of Spain where, in my humble opinion, they have the most exciting food and dining experiences in Europe. We’ll be visiting many other bodegas and areas that I’ll include in upcoming posts, so grab a bottle or two (Spanish or Portuguese please as that’s where we’ll be!) and be patient as I publish bits and peices of our trip.

As the trip in Europe winds down, my father will fly home to attend the 21st Anuual Jackson Hole Wine Festival on May 22nd. While he is enjoying the wonderful scenery in Jackson, I will spend a few days in Barcelona catching up with friends, including Ryan and Gabriella from Catavino.net who never disappoint with their food and wine adventures. I’ll be trying to get new posts published as often as I can while traveling, so stay tuned for a TON of new posts!!

Cheers,

Michael

After a long chat today with Vitor Mendez of Vinixa, a Portuguese wine export company, I left the office today wondering how the PR Grisley Co. can cope with

 the financial crisis rocking the entire globe. I really started to dwell on this after reading an article from The Wine Spectator about how wine trends will start to change during these hard times, and how here in the US consumers will start to look towards domestic wines. This is obviously concerning for us as we only work with European wines, but with the continued popularity of wines from countries like Spain and Portugal, I assumed we would be able to weather the storm a little easier than some. However, as my friend Vitor mentioned earlier in the day, many producers are still not realizing the urgency that is sometimes needed in this business. He expressed his frustrations but kept a positive attitude because he loves his job and is willing and eager to show these producers what can be accomplished with a minimal amount of change.

Similarly, the fine folks at Catavino attended and conducted seminars at the 1st Wine Pleasures International Wine Tourism Conference & Workshop in Sitges, Spain to discuss and show the many producers several ways to help their wineries. With seminars on everything from blogging, social media outlets, wine tastings and tourism, as well as collaborations between wineries and their clients, restaurants, etc., the event was definitely an experience for all attendees. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend the event, but several people who I have talked to that did attend left the conference with eyes wide open and with a very different mindset than when they entered. I hope that there will be many more of these conferences to come as the conference had a large impact on the way many European producers view how blogging among other things can be utilized to better their businesses.