Newsletter Archive

Chateau Crusty, Down That Old River Road, and Baa Baa Black Sheep Have You Any Wine?

Down That Old River Road

Old River Road Ponderosa Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Sierra Foothills, CA - $15.99/btl

( 76% Cabernet Sauvignon / 24% Cabernet Franc )

** taste this wine as part of our Friday night flight tonight - 3/19/09 **

Well, we're completely behind this week but we just had to cram this new wine into the newsletter and onto our homepage so that you heard it here first.  Last Thursday the guys from Magnanimus Wine Group stopped by to show us their lineup of certified organic, sustainably farmed, and bio-dynamic wines.   The Old River Road Cabernet represents their organic offering, sourcing all the grapes for this lush, complex cabernet from the Ponderosa Vineyard in the Sierra Foothills, CCOF-certified organic since 1993. 

Sometimes organic and biodynamic wine can be synonymous with "hmmm....not so good", but trust us, that 'aint the case with this one.  This is just simply one of the best reds for the money we've tasted this year.  CLICK HERE to read on...

 

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Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have You Any Wine?

     

    

 

Peter Hunken, the winemaker behind this bottle is part of the winemaking team for Holus Bolus, Piedrasassi, and Stolpman Vineyards, and his partner is Amy Christine, Sommelier at A.O.C., and Master Sommelier-in-training.   Amy describes the origins of the company like this:  "I met Peter at Stolpman Winery in Lompoc a few days before Christmas in 2004. A casual wine tour turned romantic. He drove to LA a couple times and we went on a few great dates and then I dumped him. I thought, "Ugh! Santa Barbara is so far away!"   In late February 2005, one camera man and studio executive later, I came to my senses. I sat awake at 4am in my crappy Koreatown apartment and listened to Ryan Adams and called Peter 3 times and left 3 messages about what an idiot I had been. By 8am, when he heard the messages, Hocus Pocus, we were a done deal. "  Yup, that's where the name came from.

Come join us for what will undoubtedly be a great night.  Peter and Amy are hard-working, fun, smart, talented people and we're happy to have them at our bar.  Support the little guys!!!

The Lineup

Piedrasassi Syrah 2005  (93pts-Tanzer, 92pts-Parker)

Holus Bolus Syrah 2007 (91-93 pts-Parker)

"A barrel sample of the (Holus Bolus) 2007 Syrah (100% Syrah) exhibited a beautiful ruby/purple hue followed by sweet creme de cassis aromas interwoven with notions of ground pepper, melted licorice, forest floor, and spring flowers. With vibrant acidity, admirable purity, full-bodied power, and luscious layers of fruit, it should drink well for 7-8 years." ~ Robert Parker 

Hocus Pocus Syrah 2007

Dalla Pancia Chianti

Genuine Risk Merlot 2006

Genuine Risk Cabernet Sauvignon 2006

 

Black Sheep Finds Tasting w/ Peter Hunken and Amy Christine

Thursday, April 2nd

6 - 8 pm

$25/person - 6 wines and cheeses from Auntie Em's Marketplace

Limited Space!!  RSVP to:  info@cowineco.com or (323) 478-1985

 

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     One of the better and most established wine blogs out there (est. 1994) is the one written by Alder Yarrow who posted a pretty amazing report a few days ago you probably haven't heard about.  Now, growing up with a box of wine in the fridge labelled "Chablis", I always assumed that it was just another kind of wine or "Daddy's Happy Juice."  But later in life when I began to appreciate wine, I began to understand why the French were really pissed off that we threw around their centuries old hallowed parcels of land as mere marketing terms for sugary wine (fyi - we're slowly but surely pulling my Dad away from the dark side.)   Grand Cru Chablis is about as good as white wine can get on our lovely earth and there it is printed on a box just to sound French.  Add to this the fact that our wine industry also stole "Champagne" and "Burgundy" and it definitely adds up to something pretty egregious.  But as of last week, Europe seems to be fighting back.   If the following terms are on a wine label, that wine can not legally be imported or sold in Europe any longer:

chateau

classic

clos

cream

crusted/crusting

fine

late bottled vintage

noble

ruby

superior

sur lie

tawny

vintage

vintage character

 

Now let's list the wineries this will effect just by winery name:

Chateau Montelena

Chateau St. Jean

Chateau Souverein

Chateau Sinnet

Chateau Potelle

Clos Pegase

Clos du Bois

Clos du Val

Clos LaChance

Clos Pepe

 

     Perhaps this is a hangover from the "Freedom Fries" days in '02  or as Alder suggests,  "a bit of sneaky revenge against Chateau Montelena thirty years after the fact".  Many of these terms should be protected but "Chateau"?  Chateau means "estate".  Are Mexico and Spain going to ban "Casa"?   "Vintage"???   This all just really sucks because we were about to bottle and export our first wine called "Chateau Crusty - A Classic Ruby Vintage Superior to Cream"  Guess that one is going down the drain.  Bummer. 

CLICK HERE to comment

 

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Regular Wine Tasting Schedule

*** We hold tastings twice a week on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons , and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays the bar is open for wines by the glass . Please see our calendar for details on any given day: www.cowineco.com/calendar ***

 

Wine Tasting: Make Spring Longer

Friday, March 20th --  TONIGHT!

5:30-8:30pm

(wines by the glass also available from 4:00 to 11pm)

$15/person

5 wines and gourmet cheeses from Auntie Em's Marketplace

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

It's the first day of Spring and we're slowing down the days and putting off that inevitable time when it gets really friggin' hot in this town.  How are we doing this?  A time machine of course.  We borrowed the Omni from Bogg which annoyed Jeffrey a bit but he'll get over it 'cus he has great hair.  

This is going to be the most confusing tasting theme we've ever written, but to a few....just a few...it will be an 80's television memory tantamount to a spiritual calling..... come to the taaasssting...you know you want to.

wines

Kalmuck Gruner Veltliner, Austria

Bokisch Clement Hill Albarino, Lodi, California

Anglim Syrah, Paso Robles, California

Old River Road Cabernet Sauvignon, Sierra Foothills, California

Cannonball Cabernet Sauvignon, California

 

Lazy Sunday Tasting

Sunday, March 22nd

1-4pm

$12/person

4 wines and gourmet cheeses from Auntie Em's Marketplace

No RSVP necessary

wines

(call for other selections)

 

Wine Cellar Wednesdays

Every Wednesday

4-9pm

No corkage fee on any bottles in the store!

Grab anything off the shelf for the price of the bottle, ask the nice bartender for some glasses, sit, and enjoy

 

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See You Soon,

John and Jen

 

We travel through time, to help history along, give it a push where it's needed.

~ Phineas Bogg