We’ve just finished tying up all our loose ends and are ready to set out for our third year attending the Pennsylvania Wine Week events- with a little detour in Chicago for a Vibrant Rioja event! the three events this year are again being held in Pittsburgh, Hershey and Philadelphia, and we always look forward to making the journey to Pennsylvania. While we have attended the Pittsburgh Wine Festival and Philadelphia Wine Festivals before, we are excited to attend the Wine Festival in Hershey for the first time. If you live, work or play in either area, these events are always a fun and informative way to spend your evening tasting some amazing wines from all over the world. More importantly, all three events will be benefiting great organizations such as the Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital, Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, UPMC Cancer Centers, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

This year we’ll be pouring some fantastic wines from Spain and Portugal. We will have several different red wines, such as crianzas from Bodegas Ondalan, Bodegas Miguel Angel Muro and Bodegas Ruiz de Vinaspre. We’ll also be featuring an amazing reserva from Bodegas Medrano Irazu, all from Spain’s famed Rioja region. (Click here for a great post on the Rioja classification system by Catavino.net) We’re also excited to feature the amazingly fresh, crisp and refreshing white and rose wines from the Vinho Verde region of Portugal. These are a real value and the region is receiving quite a bit of attention lately for it’s quality to price ratio- it’s definitely worth seeking out wines from this region! Quinta de Gomariz is a young producer from the region and is already making a name for itself by gaining 92 points for its Alvarinho and 88 Points for its Espadeiro Rose from Wine & Spirits Magazine – both were featured as “Best Buys” in the August 2009 Issue.

We’re looking forward to sharing all these wines at the events and hopefully many of you will be able to attend one of the three!

Salud,

Michael

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