Thursday, April 30, 2009

What The Winos Are Drinking

Another glorious month for the Winos! This month we will be showcasing Lockwood's Partners' Reserve and a New World Sauvignon Gris from Cousino-Macul.

Click on the Squirrel drinking a half-pint to download the write-ups

Up Close And Personal With The Sputnik

Why is this man staring so obviously at our Sput? What vulgar intentions might he have?! Well, not to worry, the 'ole Sputnik blows out at least one of its lights about one every 2 months. Needless to say, this is a rather high maintenance sign we possess as the neon is all custom made. If all went well we may get a rare chance tonight and see the Sputnik in full bloom! Fully illuminated for all to see.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Dinner at Restaurant Iris with Adam Lee of Siduri Wines/Novy Family



For those of you who missed last night's dinner, its your own fault. Restaurant Iris' dinner with Adam Lee sold out due to three factors. 1. Chef Kelly English's outstanding cuisine 2. The stellar service at Restaurant Iris 3. Adam Lee's amaaaazing wines. Adam's easygoing personality put everyone at ease. He spoke about he & his wife's Dianna's first foray into winemaking with the Rose Vineyard in Anderson Valley. After they crafted some attention grabbing pinot noir from that site, Kendall Jackson swooped in & bought the vineyard. Needless to say, they were back to square one in need of another source of good wine grapes. They subsequently hooked up with Gary Pisoni after a drive down to his vineyard to consume way too many bottles of wine. Fast forward to now, Adam & Dianna make approximately 25 different single vineyard pinot noirs....& they are oh so good!
Here is the menu:

Amuse Bouche: Neola Farms Chicken Liver Pate

First: Sashimi of tuna, coconut milk, daikon, opal basil & mandarin Sorbe
2007 Novy Blanc de Noirs $26.99

Second: Raviolo of rabbit, macque choux & corn soup
2006 Siduri Van Der Kamp Vineyard Pinot Noir $23.99

Third: filet of beef, pommes confit, olive "tapenade" & truffle butter
2006 Siduri Sonatera Vineyard Pinot Noir $50.99

Fourth: banana & hazelnut "gyoza"
a super special secret port that Adam makes for personal consumption.

The food was to die for & was perfectly paired with the wines. Each pairing just sang together.

These wines are available at the store, except for the secret port which Adam can't sell. Boo.

Join us next time for great food, delicious wine & good friends.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

B*tch


Joe’s and Australian wine have always had their differences. Words such as “fruit bomb” & “syrup” have been used perhaps too hastily. This week marks a great victory for the Aussie front! Bitch has arrived. The market is saturated with jokes about the name so I will restrain myself & instead note the uniqueness of this infamous Grenache. 2007 was an extremely hard year for Australia. Heat waves destroyed many a vineyard & so much affected overall output that Australian producers have been thrown into economic crisis. That’s the bad news. The good news is what happened to this little $12.99 Grenache under the strain of the 2007 vintage. Instead of another cumbersome, over-ripened ink ball, Bitch immediately shows something different when if pours a light rosey color, very transparent almost like a Beaujolais. The nose is gingerbread spice, dried strawberries & raspberries. On the palate is a wine that is lush & round without being heavy at all. This silky, elegant expression of the Grenache varietal is a perfect hot weather wine & we plan to enjoy it as long as it is available. It is doubtful the next vintage will yield anything like this & that is too bad because we hate to use the word “fruit bomb” & “syrup” here at Joe’s.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Wine Advocate, Uggh

Go on over to Michael's blog to see a link to an email thread between Slate's wine columnist & Mark Squires, the moderator of Wine Advocate's message board.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Wealth of Washington


Our very own Michael Hughes just returned from a whirlwind trip to Seattle to attend the Taste of Washington. Over 200 producers poured their wines at the 3 day long event. What he found was astonishing. "The quality of the every wine I tasted, & I tasted a lot, was unmistakable." he says. "Even the wines that I didn't personally like, I couldn't help but recognize their quality. I knew they were producing some exceptional merlot & syrah, having had a few in the store for awhile. But I didn't realize these vintners also produced incredible cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon & malbec." Many of the producers were boutique in scale, producing less than 7,000 cases. Some only make a few hundred. With luck & determination, we will be getting some of these producers in store in the next few months. Some wineries to look for include; Buty, Bergevin Lane, Beresan, Airfield, Bunnell, Maison Bleue.....

Friday, April 10, 2009









It has been quite a month for our Winos. We've had our disappointments but we are a proud people and the joyous surprises we've experienced have healed our souls. Well anyway, here are the latest write-ups, fresh out of the oven & ready for download in a shiny new PDF file.

http://home.comcast.net/~bvillane44/Winos Selections April 09.pdf


Name That Wine






















A few more flavors for your clicking pleasure

Mandarin Orange

Jasmine

Lime-leaf

Sweet Tobacco

Coffee