MartyFest 2005, Oregashington, and Spanish Fly

     Well, thanks to one of our loyal customers, we found out the Los Angeles Times is catching up with us, featuring the 2003 Vina Alarba Grenache as their wine of the week in yesterday's issue (05/11/05).  This is the same wine we featured in last month's "Week of Wine" and are discounting now at $6.99.  Here's what they had to say:

"An eminently qualified candidate for barbecue season, the 2003 Viña Alarba Old Vines Grenache will not be cowed by your spiciest creations. Spain does it again with this inexpensive country red from vines that are at least 50 years old.

It's hard to find a wine with so much character at this price. Rich and concentrated, with scents of cherry, plum and pepper, and more polish than you'd expect, it's just as ready for some salami and cheese as for a side of barbecued ribs. Designed for quaffing, this is the kind of red you'd be happy to find in a Spanish tapas bar to accompany a plate of jamón."

- S. Irene Virbilla, Los Angeles Times

      Since we're on the subject of Spain, while planning our Spanish wine tasting for Friday the 20th, we considered using the title "Spanish Fly" until we learned that far from the mythic aphrodisiac we heard about growing up, it was actually cantharides, a substance made from pulverized beetles found in southern Europe that can cause side effects including pain, nausea, vomiting, and death.  Scratch that title.  It is now by default "The Untitled Spanish Wine Project" which seemed fitting for our lovely entertainment-driven city.  But in all seriousness, we are by far getting the best wines for the best prices from Spain right now, especially the whites which are matches made in heaven for seafood. 

Here's a list of some of our current goodies:

Reds

Decenio Rioja 2002 - $7.99

Conde de Valdemar Crianza Rioja 2001 - $10.99

Finca Allende Estate Rioja 2000 - $22.99

Vina Alarba Grenache 2003 - $6.99

Whites

Bodega Pirineos Macabeo 2002 - $8.99

Salneval Albarino 2003 - $7.99

Martinsancho Verdejo 2003 - $13.99

Nora Albarino 2003 - $13.99

Odysseus Garnacha Blanca 2003 - $21.99

Cristalino Brut Cava - $7.99

Wine Tasting Schedule

1st Annual MartyFest 2005

Friday, May 13th

5:30-8:30pm

Cost: $15/person

MartyFest is a lot like Burning Man minus the rural location, live music and nudity.  Our good friend, chef, and fellow wine geek, Marty Yu will be selecting wines derived from grapes you may not have tried yet (Aligote, Fiano, Carmenere, Malbec, Barbera) and pairing them with appetizers cooked in his very own Eagle Rock kitchen.

Wines

La Bete Aligote 2003, Yakima Valley, Oregon

MandraRossa Fiano 2003, Sicily

Leyda Estacion Carmenere 2003, Colchagua Valley, Chile

Nandu Malbec 2003, San Rafael, Argentina

Giacomo Borgogno Barbera d'Alba 2003, Barolo, Italy

Oregashington: Wines of the Pacific NorthWest 

Sunday, May 15th

1-4pm

Cost: $10/person

There are domestic wines outside of California.  We promise.

Wines  

Westrey Pinot Gris 2003, Willamette Valley, Oregon

O'Reilly's Merlot 2002, Columbia Valley, Washington

La Bete Pinot Noir 2003, Oregon

Powers Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, Columbia Valley, Washington

Spanish Wines

Friday, May 20th

5:30-8:30pm

Cost: $15/person

Wines

(wines, kind of annoying play-on-words title, and quippy tag line to be determined)

Wine 101

     Many of you have requested a   beginner's wine class and although that is something we would love to offer in the future, we thought we would add a "Wine 101" section of the newsletter with a quick, basic wine fact each week for you to chew on.

WARNING: CONTAINS SULFITES - Although by law this must be written on every wine bottle, it is not likely the cause of your red wine headache.  Only 1% of the population is actually allergic to sulfites.  This headache is more likely caused by you drinking too much the night before or by a syndrome ingeniously titled "Red Wine headache" or RWC.  Very little is known about RWC primarily because there is not a lot of financial backing to study the non-lethal, negative effects of red wine.

See You Soon,

John and Jen

"I'm talkin' about a place where the beer flows like wine, where the women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talkin' about Aspen."

Lloyd Christmas, Dumb and Dumber