Le Spongebob, Mexican Wine Immigration, and The Other Side of Sea Smoke

     First off, thanks for making our first beer tasting so successful.  We sold out of almost everything last week but our stock is now replenished for those Belgian beer-hounds who left our store with long faces earlier this week.

***Keep a lookout in our next newsletter for our first Sake tasting of 2006 which be held in August with all new selections!***

The Other Side of Sea Smoke

     Animal lover and superstar winemaker, Kris Curran, is making some of the most sought after wines in the world today.  Plop a bottle of Sea Smoke Pinot on your restaurant table and wait for the murmurs to begin (not a bad idea to send a glass to the Chef, either).  They're hard to get, hard to part with, and in some cases, hard to afford.  But with Kris, the hype doesn't seem too overblown.  When the new vintage of her Curran Grenache Blanc rolled in a couple days ago, we realized it was time for CoWineCo to spotlight the winemaker and the wine.

     Shortly after graduating from Fresno University with her winemaking degree, Kris became the Assistant Winemaker at Cambria Winery in Santa Maria, where she worked directly with Cambria's winemaker to create some award-winning wines. This experience led to an offer to be the winemaker and general manager for Koehler Winery (also carried at CoWineCo), located in Los Olivos.  In 2000, Kris was tapped by Sea Smoke Cellars to set up their winery and head the winemaking team. At Sea Smoke she focuses solely on Pinot Noir produced from their estate grown vineyards in the Santa Rita Hills appelation.

     Kris’ own label, Curran, was started in 1997. For two years she made Pinot Noir from Santa Maria Valley. In 1999 she rejected the fruit she received, from a new vineyard, due to lack of ripeness and had to reexamine her philosophy for the label ‘Curran’. Deciding that great Pinot Noir was difficult to come by, unless you owned and managed the vineyards (a luxury she experiences with the Sea Smoke team), Kris decided to seek out small producers of other varietals who were willing to work closely with her to ensure the optimum ripeness and integrity of the grapes. Currently, Kris is producing Syrah, Sangiovese and Grenache Blanc; all of which are locally sourced from premium, selected vineyards in the eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley. Kris feels she has the best of both worlds; “I work with some great Pinot from the Santa Rita Hills AVA (Sea Smoke) and am able to round out my portfolio with some very interesting varietals that prefer the warmer environment found on the east end of the Santa Ynez Valley.”

     When one of our favorite winemakers meets one of our favorite varietals, you can rest assured this little number is going to be open at our bar quite often (yeah, we take home whatever is left).  The 2005 Curran Grenache Blanc is a heavenly, light, complex white wine with hints of flowers and vanilla.  On our shelves (while supplies last!) for $22.99/btl.

Wine Tasting Schedule

Le Spongebob

While trying to figure out what to pour and what to celebrate at this Friday's tasting, we came across a few interesting facts.  Friday the 14th is not just Bastille Day, not just the 11th anniversary of the naming of the MP3, not just the beginning of the 10th season of Stargate SG-1 making it the longest running Sci-Fi series in the history of television, not just the day that a gigantic fire swallowed the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!" museum in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, not just Gustave Klimt's birthday, but it is also Spongebob Squarepantssessessess 10th birthday, which is really creepy because we totally thought he wasn't real.  Reality TV is just completely taking over.

This Friday the 14th

5:30-8:30pm

5 wines and gourmet cheeses from Auntie Em's Kitchen

$15/person 

Call or Email to RSVP: (323) 478-1985 or info@cowineco.com

wines

Flying Cloud Rose, California 2005

Richard de Los Reyes Pinot Gris 2005, Oregon

Santa Cruz Grenache 2003, California

Maddalena Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, Paso Robles, California

Preludio Malbec 2004, Mendoza, Argentina

Sangria Saturdays

Every Saturday from 1-9pm

Get 'Em While They're Cold

$5/glass

Wine Cellar Wednesdays

400 Wines By the Glass?

Kinda.  In addition to our regular 6 wines by the glass, pick any bottle off of our shelves and make it your by-the-glass selection for the price of the bottle plus a $10 corkage.

Wine Tasting: Theme TBD 

Friday the 21st

5:30-8:30pm

$15/person

5 wines, cheeses from Auntie Em's Marketplace

Reservations recommended!   Call ahead anytime and get your name down: info@cowineco.com or (323) 478-1985

wines

(check back next week for specific wine selections www.cowineco.com/calendar )

Lazy Sunday Tasting

Sunday the 23rd

1:00-4:00pm

$10/person

4 wines and gourmet cheeses provided by Auntie Em's Marketplace

No reservations necessary       

This Sunday we'll be pouring two whites and two reds.  Email or call on Sunday for specific wine selections info@cowineco.com or (323) 478-1985.

(Wines TBD)

Mexican Wine Immigration

     Some of you may have noticed our somewhat silly-looking, 1-wine strong Mexican wine selection over the past year (Monte Xanic Chardonnay).  Even amidst all the word of mouth about how great these up and coming new Mexican wineries were, we weren't tasting that level of hoopla during our weekly wine buying meetings.  But we knew it was because many of these great wines weren't being exported to the U.S. yet.  Well, after meeting a few people who know more about this world than we do, and after making a few million phone calls, we feel we can finally bring the world of Mexican wine to Eagle Rock.  And what better way than to present them along with one of the foremost Mexican wine experts in the U.S. today (and Eagle Rock resident!), Dr. Ralph Amey.  Ralph is a retired Occidental professor, President of the California branch of the Society of Wine Educators (SWE), and author of the book, The Wines of Baja California: Touring and Tasting Mexico's Undiscovered Treasures.

   On Thursday, July 27th we will be hosting a wine-tasting/book-signing with Ralph at CoWineCo and we hope you can join us.  Stay tuned for specific wine selections in our next newsletter.

Mexican Wine Tasting & Book Signing

Thursday, July 27th

6:00-8:30pm

Cost: $20

This Event is By Reservation Only

RSVP at:   info@cowineco.com or (323) 478-1985

Gourmet cheeses provided by Auntie Em's Marketplace

(wine selections to be determined)

See You Soon,

John and Jen

"But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."

~Vizzini, Princess Bride