Pass the Old El Paso Robles, Let's Get Ready to Rumball, and Drink Wine to Help New Orleans

Drink Wine to Help New Orleans     

     In case you missed the email we sent over the weekend, today (Wednesday) we will be donating 50% of our sales to the Red Cross Hurricane Relief effort.  Need to stock up for the weekend?  Today is the day to do it.  We're open 'till 9pm.  Thanks a lot!

***The wine bar will be closed this Thursday, September 8th for a private party.  The store will remain open and wines by the glass will be available up front***

Pass the Old El Paso Robles

     We spent the last couple of days in Paso Robles checking in on some of the wineries we already represent and trying to find some new gems.  We found a few new wineries we'll be adding over the next two weeks but we wanted to focus on one in particular.

Caparone Winery

     When you drive up to Caparone Winery, the first thing you notice is the lack of bells and whistles a lot of other wineries have.  It doesn't feel like an arm of Disneyland with moats, castle-sized tasting areas, themed guest rooms and logo'd glasses.  This is a working farm.  And once we taste the wines and learn that they're all under $15, we realize how much we appreciate the money going into the wine and not some diamond-encrusted gates at the end of the driveway.            

     Caparone is one of the oldest wineries in the whole central coast of California.  Does the name ring a bell?  Years ago, a smaller Trader Joe's carried their wines in the Southern California area but the demand became too great for their small winery.  And when father and son are the sole employees, you can easily understand how a national chain might put a little stress on the operation.  For 25 years Dave Caparone and his son, Marc (pictured above), have been producing old world-style reds primarily from Italian varietals (they were the first to commercially bottle Sangiovese in California in 1988).  Dave is easily considered one of the most experienced winemakers in Paso Robles (not too long before we arrived, owner/winemaker of Caymus Vineyards, Chuck Wagner visited to get Dave's advice on a potential new vineyard site), and his son Marc has apprenticed under him for 15 years.  Marc walked us through the wines in the tasting area, then tasted us on some juice still in the barrel and then personally walked us out into the vineyard to taste the grapes off the vines.  He wants you to understand what is involved in order to get that pretty wine into your glass, not to boast about his skill, but just to share his passion.  He clearly loves his job.  And we absolutely love his wines. 

     If you want that old world dustiness and finesse in winemaking but love the ripe fruit of new world wines, Caparone is going to make you very happy.  And though Marc mans the tasting room, makes all the wine, bottles and labels everything himself, he offered his cell phone number to us on the way out and said, "if your customers ever have any detailed questions you can't answer about my wine, gimme a call on my cell while they're in the store and I'll be happy to help."  Wow.  Someone get this man a drink. 

Caparone.  Coming to a store near you next week.

Wine Tasting Schedule

Better Off Red

This Friday, September 9th

5:30-8:30pm

$15/person

5 wines, cheeses, bread, crackers

Reservations recommended: info@cowineco.com or (323) 478-1985

Rumball sparkling Shiraz .  That is why you need to come to Friday's tasting.  We're pouring all reds including this full-bodied, dry, spicy, sparkling Shiraz.  If you have never tried one, you'll probably wince at first as the bubbles seem out of place, but by the third gulp, you'll be asking for seconds.  We promise.

Wines  

Rumball Sparkling Shiraz Coonawarra Cuvee, Australia

Saint Cosme Cotes-du-Rhone Red 2003, France

Three Thieves Zinfandel 2003, California

Borgogno Barbera d'Alba 2003, Italy

Kiona Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, Washington

Gaucho Vino

This Sunday, September 11th

1:00-4:00pm

$10/person

4 wines, cheeses, bread, crackers

No reservations necessary

Argentina...you think Buenos Aires, vast fields of cattle, and a dusty, tough Gaucho on horseback, making his way through the Pampas while swirling a 2001 Malbec, right?  Ok, not necessarily but the wine industry in Argentina is only growing and they're giving us some fantastic wine.  Come try some.

Wines  

 Crios Malbec Rose 2005, Mendoza, Argentina

High Altitude Malbec 2003, Argentina

Cocodrilo Cabernet Sauvignon 2003, Mendoza, Argentina

Finca Koch Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, Mendoza, Argentina

New Arrivals!    

Whitford Napa Valley Chardonnay 2002 -- $17.99/btl

Owen Roe Abbot's Table Red 2004, Washington/Oregon -- $24.99/btl

Sineann Gewurztraminer 2004, Columbia Gorge, Oregon -- $19.99/btl

Finca Koch Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, Mendoza, Argentina -- $20.99/btl

New Vintage! Les Clos de Paulilles Collioure Rose 2004 -- $14.99/btl

In case you missed it, the Los Angeles Time had a great article on Sake last week. 

Click Here to read it.

See You Soon,

John and Jen

"Champagne for my real friends and real pain for my sham friends."
~Tom Waits