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

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

All you Portuguese wine lovers will be happy to know that the 2008 Oscar’s Douro red is now available online through Esprit du Monde! Many of you might be familiar with Quevedo and it’s line up of wonderful port wines, but this is Oscar Quevedo’s personal project to create a fun, delicious, Douro red still wine. The wine recently received a great review from Roger Voss at the Wine Enthusiast;

“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.” – Roger Voss (11/1/2010) – 88 POINTS

Please click here to learn more about the project, interact with Oscar through his blog, as well as leave your own comments for Oscar!

Drink up!

Cheers,

Michael

We’re excited to announce a P.R. Grisley Co. exclusive wine pairing dinner at Iron Chef Jose Garces‘ Chicago restaurant, Mercat. If you follow Food Network as much as I do, you are well aware of how Chef Garces has exploded onto the restaurant scene in the past few years, with seven different restaurants currently enjoying success. We are lucky enough to have eaten at several of Chef Garces’ restaurants in Philadelphia, as well as Mercat in Chicago, and each time the experience and food has been incredible. Needless to say, we’re VERY honored to be able to share the spotlight with Mercat’s chef de cuisine, Michael Fiorello, and feel he has put together an exciting menu that will surely pair well with the Spanish and Portuguese wines we will be featuring.

An Evening in Spain…

Presented by

Mercat’s Chef de Cuisine, Michael Fiorello & P.R. Grisley Company

Thursday, November 18^th, 2010

Reception 6pm-7pm

N/V Chozas Carrascal Cava – D.O. Cava, Utiel-Requena, Spain (Macabeo, Chardonnay)

2009 Quinta de Gomariz Espadeiro – DOC Vinho Verde, Portugal (100% Espadeiro)

Dinner 7pm

First Course

Fetge de Pollastre en una Olla

Potted Chicken Liver Mousse with Caraway-Onion Jam and Foie Gras

2008 Coto de Gomariz Blanco-  D.O. Riberio, Spain (Treixadura, Godello)

Second Course

Montadito de Atún

Sous Vide Blue Fin Tuna, Caper-Olive Oil Jam &  Spicy Red Cabbage

2006 Bodegas Ondalan Crianza – DOC Rioja, Spain (80% Tempranillo, 20% Graciano)

Third Course

Mar I Muntanya

24-Hour Pork Belly with Charred Baby Octopus,

Marcona Almonds & Smoked Green Olive Escabeche

2006 Bodegas Miguel Angel Muro Bujanda Cianza – DOC Rioja, Spain (100% Tempranillo)

Fourth Course

Pato con Peras

Grilled Muscovy Duck Breast, La Peral, Red Wine Seckel Pears & Confit leg Crêpe

2005 Bodegas Ondalan 100 Abades – DOC Rioja, Spain (100% Graciano)

Fifth Course

Butifarra con Judias

House Smoked Catalan Lamb Sausage with Ham Hock-Tomato Stew & Black Eyed Peas

2005 Bodegas Medrano Irazu Reserva – DOC Rioja, Spain (100% Tempranillo)

Dessert

Pastel de Calabaza

Pumpkin-Brown Butter Cake, Hazelnut Escabeche, Rosemary-Olive Oil Ice Cream

Porto Quevedo, N/V Special Reserve Tawny – DOC Oporto, Portugal (Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca)

$75 per person, non-inclusive of tax or gratuity

Reservations are Required

312.765.0524

www.mercatchicago.com

Please call or visit the Mercat website to reserve your seat today- We look forward to seeing you there and sharing a wonderful evening with amazing food, wine and friends!

Cheers,

Michael

We’re very pleased to announce that after several years of hard work and determination from Oscar Quevedo and ourselves, the amazing port wines from Quevedo are available on US soil! These incredible ports, as well as a still red wine which is a special project of Oscar’s, are being sold in Pennsylvania through the PLCB, as well as a very limited quantity online through www.flickingerwines.com. While a relatively young company, Quevedo is already making a name for itself for producing ports as good as any of the “big names,” and were included in the Wine Enthusiasts March 2010 issue on port producers. They have also been very well received by  Roy Hersh of “For The Love of Port” (FTLOP) and the Quevedo Vintage 2007 was included in his amazing review of the 2007 vintage. Whether you are a port expert, novice, or just looking to learn more about port, I highly recommend you visit the FTLOP website as there is an amazing wealth of information available, and subscribers to the FTLOP newsletter always have the most up-to-date info there is on port in the US.

Our hats are off to Oscar for staying determined and not giving up on the US market, especially in the tough ongoing economic conditions!

–Michael

It seems Portuguese producer Quinta de Gomariz isn’t finished yet! After being recognized as one of the “Top Portuguese Value Brands” in the June issue of Wine and Spirits for their 2008 vintage, the 2009 vintage looks to be just as impressive. As reported by Decanter, Quinta de Gomariz swept the board at this years Vinho Verde awards, bringing home the “Best Of” awards for their Avesso and Branco wines, as well as six gold medals and two silver medals for their various other wines. Equally impressive is the fact that Quinta de Gomariz released their first wines in 2005, so this comes as a huge accomplishment for such a young producer. We’re very excited and extremely happy for the team at Quinta de Gomariz and can’t wait to see what the future holds for this amazing producer- Congratulations!!!

Cheers,

Michael

It has been a year this month since we first started importing the amazing wines from Quinta de Gomariz, and they are already making a name for themselves! In the recently released June issue of Wine & Spirits Magazine, both the 2008 Alvarinho and 2008 Loureiro were recognized as “Top 100 Values of the Year” and the winery itself was recognized as one of two “Top Portuguese Value Brands.”

This is quite an honor for such a young winery- the first vines were planted in 1999 and their first harvest was in 2004. We’re very excited to be working with such an up and coming producer, especially as the Vinho Verde region gains more attention in the media and the competition stiffens. We’ve been fortunate enough to be working with Vitor Mendes from Vinixa, who has been instrumental in helping to make these wines available in the US.

I will be in New York City next week for an event hosted by the Vinho Verde Commission and will be pouring these fantastic wines, so if you live or work in New York please register for the event and make sure to stop by and try the new 2009 vintage!

Cheers,

Michael

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

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