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Yeah, Spring is late. We did not get enough snow to close the schools (this happened about 3 weeks back though). I find our location 1,000 feet up from the sea to compound the snow issue, but there are advantages.
Ok, what varietal and when do we have the next wine night event? Kathleen suggested Spanish wines. Anyone want to go for that? How about Red Blends from Spain then? We are busy the next two Saturday evenings, but maybe another weekday could work. Monday night anyone?
I have a Rioja to go, if necessary. Or something else, possibly. Spanish is fine. Maybe Portugal the following week or so might bookend well, sozusagen... lots of great Portuguese juice out there, folks, and great value. Red works this time o' year.
OK, how come the old guy is the one who remembers that we did Spanish wines in December?
I'm, actually, OK with Spanish wines--as I am with Portuguese wines. Once again, the quantity of either of those in my inventory = 0. Yes, I can buy them, pretty easily, although, for the Portuguese, I'll, probably, have to get a visa to go behind the Orange Curtin. Now that I think of it, Portuguese wines might be harder to find for some.
I might suggest in the interest of comparisons, we limit it to one region. SZ dropped Rioja. Those are usually easy to find and are not terribly spendy.
I'd rather Portugal this time as I, the 2nd old guy, remember the Spanish wine night. No porto, I've got to live the next day.
No Porto... still wine is fine (although I like good Tawny). So I will support your Portugal bid. I remember the Spanish night as well, but I sort of like them...
My problem with porto is that I love it with great chocolate dishes and I really need to sit down with a bottle of port (A juicy 2003 Quints de Noval that's sitting the cellar comes to mind) and a bunch of chocolate like I need an enlarged prostate.
And I'd really appreciate it if we didn't do it next Wed. I don't get home until 8:30 ETZ so I'd opt out for that.
Yes, and the wine is very rich... Port, I mean. I have only an old, locally well-respected Port-style wine from the Okanagan Valley left in the cellar. It has been there for about ten years. I did notice a few cases of Port in the store I was at today - but did not study the stash... other things on the mind.
Ok, I think we have decided on wines of Portugal. Red most likely but a white can work too. Now we need to settle on the date, and Wednesday is out. What about a Thursday evening? I'm available 07 March 2019.
Thursday March 7th is fine for me. I'll look for a suitable wine. I remember looking through the extensive selections in the underground shopping mall in Lisboa some years ago. There are scads of reds available - and not just Douro Valley wines, but since there may be local availability problems for some people who have not stashed something away, I recommend allowing whites... even Vinhos Verdes. There are some high quality wines of this type available - not just the 7 dollar US variety (although sometimes even these are good; Portuguese wines are among the best value in the world - along with Greek and Balkan selections).
I'll set it for 07 March 2019 then, unless more than two of us cannot support that date.
Okeydokey.
That's good for me also. I'll send out emails Sat. night.
good for me
I already have a bead on a wine for next week: Quinta das Cavalhas Douro Touriga Nacional 2014. This Quinta (farm estate) is also a well-known Porto producer in Pinhão on the River Douro, and is a popular tourist destination... I have driven past it.
Anyway, no expert on this region, just thought I would pass on some information. Drinking a 2010 Château Sénéjac tonight though...
Steve - I've had their Porto and the '13 of this Touriga Nacional offering. You are indeed in for a good night of wine.
That's good to know. I will probably be drinking it, so will report what I find in that case.
I also have access to the Quinta do Crasto (Douro) Old Vines Reserve 2015; I have had table wine from this Quinta before, and also some Porto many years back at an international wine tasting... memory is dim, but Port from this esteemed producer is excellent in all categories. I think this wine is on sale in the US for about 39 dollars according to wine.com. It is a notch below their Maria Teresa, but very, very close in quality according to critics and scoring in the mid to low 90's. If you can find it, it might be worth a try... even if it could use a couple more years of bottle aging (I find, however, that most Portuguese red wines are very approachable at 3-4 years... just a matter of taste).
One more remark: Anyone who has trouble getting access to a good choice of Vinhos portugueses might still have access to the Quinta do Crasto Crasto label, which is their so-called "regular" offering. But don't let that fool you. The 2015 at 15 dollars US approximately received 90 points from Robert Parker (and it is a bit Parkeresque), and most vintages receive between 88 and 91 points and deservedly so in my experience.
Anyway, a thought for you to ponder. I would have gone for the Crasto myself, but wanted to try something a bit different this time... although the Reserve wine - at much more lucre - does tempt. But the Crasto is by far the best value tranche of their wines.
Their current Reserve release is much better, but it costs about $20 more.
Guess what? A small liquor merchant about a kilometre down the road (or mountain, more exactly) actually carries the 2015 Reserve by Crasto. You can probably guess the rest, since the price was actually a bit less than the going US price of 35-40 dollars (if you multiply 37.50 US by 1.32 you get the C$ price I paid which seems fair dinkum). Yep, I bought one. Since they have two cases at the store, I can replenish supply without buying several, so that's also a plus.
I'll take pictures of the two bottles I purchased and put them up here sometime before the actual tasting date.
Got to go back to Portugal. A truly wonderful place.
Beautiful place - agreed. Got a few friends over there.
No Russian salad either - although I don't mind Russian salad.
You know, outside of a few people in the area, you are the only other person to mention Russian salad that I can remember. There are a couple of ingredients that I'd get rid of but you're right - I don't mind it.
You are an underappreciated expert of things cultural, Paul. That's a fact.
Thank you.
Where we live and what we do rarely explain our character. That's a secret of life.
I love a good pinot, sorry I missed Pinot night. The CFO and I were in Sonoma and Walnut Creek last week and did enjoy numerous bottles but the standout was a 2013 Scherrer Hallberg Ranch pinot. I've had several of these over several vintages and all were phenomenal.
I have a couple bottles of Portugese wines on hand, a couple of which are out of the ordinary. I'm planning on joining in on Thursday, setting a reminder on my calendar right now.
That's great VV. See you there.
Steve - You sound a man that's traveled quite abit - I also. My wanderlust occurred while I was in the Navy. Discovered what wine and food was in Australia at a rathskeller type restaurant in Freemantle. Traveled extensively after that working for the US Navy as a civilian. Met tons of people all over and have kept track of many. Lots of good memories.