Wining and wining and wining...

It's been a crazy couple of months. Lots of projects at the day job getting in the way of the Goddess' wine plans, but we still managed to get to a few places. We'll start with the most recent and fill things in as we go.

My dear friend, Rico Mandel of Miz en Place, invited me to cover the opening of a new wine bar in Malibu, Malibu Beach Wines. MBW is the brainchild of Jim Palmer, proprietor, grower and winemaker of Malibu Vineyards wines. It's a lovely space, right on Pacific Coast Highway, where you can taste and purchase boutique wines grown in the proposed Malibu AVA and Central Coast. When I say 'boutique' I mean small production, lovingly-tended and passionately-made. The winemakers and wines being spotlighted for this opening event were Jim Palmer and Malibu Vineyards, Carol Hoyt of Hoyt Family Vineyards and Shawn Shai Halahmy of Shai Cellars.

Wining by proxy...SF Int'l Wine Competition Double Gold winners...

Once again, I sent JD to taste in my place. This time it was the Tasting Panel magazine tour of Double Gold winner selections from the San Francisco International wine completion. Here are some highlights of that very interesting tasting:

Duplex on Third

This event was at Duplex on Third, just a little west of the Beverly Center in mid-city west, across the street from Cedars –Sinai medical center, a beautiful, fairly new restaurant converted from what had originally been an early 1900’s duplex. There was a nice cheese, fruit and bread spread provided. I overheard that they bake their own bread based on a starter the chef has had for a few years. It was quite good, alone or with the cheese.

Started with a little bubbly, always a great way to begin. 075 Carati 2011 Sparkling Ribolla Gialla, IGT, delle Venezie, Italy $19. www.pieramartellozzo.com. Toasty. Good starter.

Wining by proxy...Slovenia and Croatia...

Croatia/Slovenia

Once again, the Goddess sent her trusty First Acolyte, JD, to taste some wines in her place. After reading this account, she is sad that she wasn't able to taste these first hand!

9/11/2012 - At Lucques on Melrose - Our host, importer Vinum USA, Inc., began with some historical and geographical background. Like Italy, just across the Adriatic Sea and bordering to the north, Croatia & Slovenia have many different grapes that are special to the region, besides growing grapes from other areas and putting different names to them.

There has been grape growing and wine making in the region for centuries, but real work most likely started with Greek settlers in the fifth century BC, growing during Roman times and continuing through the Middle Ages. Production survived during the occupation by the Ottoman Turks through the Catholic Church’s need for wine in their services. Production flourished again during the Hapsburg Empire.

Wining in Lake County...Hawk and Horse Vineyards

Back in May, I received a bottle of wine from a winery with whom I was unfamiliar - Hawk and Horse Vineyards. It was a beautifully packaged bottle of 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, with lots of great information about the winery, a small, family-owned and operated ranch and vineyard estate located in the Red Hills AVA of Northern California. They incorporate both organic and biodynamic methods in their farming, and are Demeter Biodynamic and CCOF Organic certified, and their winemaker is the renowned Richard Peterson. I was excited!

I invited my fellow wineaux, Debra B., to join me for dinner so I could take advantage of her excellent palate to assist with tasting this wine, but we were dismayed to discover upon opening the bottle that the wine was damaged, probably from the brief intense heat spike that occurred during shipment.

Cool news from Viña Montes and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Montes Wines and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Partner on “Angels in Action” Fundraiser

Viña Montes and its distributors in nine states to donate 10% of proceeds from every bottle sold throughout September

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (August 27, 2012) – This September, Viña Montes and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation invite wine lovers to turn a great summer wine purchase into a charitable donation during their month-long ‘Angels in Action’ fundraiser. Viña Montes, the world-renowned Chilean winery helmed by winemaker Aurelio Montes, has partnered with its distributors in nine states across the U.S. to donate 10 percent of proceeds from every bottle sold from September 1–30.

“We believe Montes has been helped by many guardian angels since we started the winery in 1988,” says Aurelio Montes. “With ‘Angels in Action’ and our ongoing partnership with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the goal is to now be ‘angels’ for others—and to reach beyond our own donation capacity to motivate fans of our wines to help support our efforts.”

‘Angels in Action’ is a joint effort with Montes distributors in nine states: California, Maryland, Washington D.C., New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Florida. Viña Montes and the following distributors will each donate 5% of their September wholesale sales, for a total 10% donation:

1. Titan Wine and Spirits        
2. Connecticut Distributors
3. Horizon Beverage Group
4. Reliable Churchill         
5. Washington Wholesale
6. R & R Marketing
7. Capital Wine & Spirits        
8. United Distributors
9. Premier Beverage Group

Aurelio Montes hosted a ticketed tasting event in Los Angeles on June 7th to announce “Angels in Action” and commence its fundraising efforts; all proceeds from the event were donated to CFF. See clips from the event and learn more about “Angels in Action” at http://youtu.be/tIVDkLUeX9E 

Media queries and image requests should be directed to Michelle McCue, michelle@mccuecommunications.com.

About Viña Montes:

Founded in 1988, Viña Montes is the brainchild of Aurelio Montes and Douglas Murray, both veterans of the wine industry. Along with partners Alfredo Vidaurre and Pedro Grand, they created Viña Montes with the goal of elevating the quality and reputation of Chilean wines - both in Chile and around the world. In the quarter century since, Viña Montes has played a pivotal role in enhancing awareness, affinity, and acclaim for Chilean wines in more than 100 countries worldwide. In essence, Viña Montes has become the benchmark for premium Chilean wines.

About Cystic Fibrosis Foundation:

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the world's leader in the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis and funds more CF research than any other organization. The Foundation's pioneering and successful approach to the development of new drugs for cystic fibrosis has been featured in some of the country's most prestigious and influential publications.

Distributor Partners:

        

MEDIA CONTACT:

Michelle McCue

McCue Marketing Communications

PH: (213) 985-1011

E: michelle@mccuecommunications.com

Tasting Australia and New Zealand...with the Goddess of Wine!

Yes, indeed, it's the next wine class with me, the Goddess of Wine!

Join Denise Lowe, the Goddess of Wine, as she takes you on a tour of the wine regions of Australia and New Zealand - and you never have to leave your seat!

Saturday, September 15th from 1 PM to 3 PM at Fab's Corner Cucina in Sherman Oaks!

The class includes generous tastes of delightful wines from all over Australia and New Zealand, plus tasting notes to take home, large quantities of laughter, and yummy snacks provided by Fab's!

$45 per person gets you a great time on a Saturday afternoon.

Reservations are required as seating is limited! Get your seat today!

Cheers!

Wining with Larry and Robert...Tercero at Bistro 45...

Hi everyone! I'm back! Hope the three of you missed me! With all the various things going on in my life, I took a short break from writing the blog. I do want to thank my good friend, Marya Glur, for covering various events for me, and I think I still haven't posted everything that JD has covered for me.

We've had some wonderful tastings with the Wineaux of the Goddess - Tempranillo, Malbec, Rosé - and I will cover the highlights of those tastings later.

We taught a fun class on Old World vs New World wines at Fab's, and we're coming up on the next class - Tasting Spain with the Goddess of Wine! on July 28th.

And we attended a WONDERFUL dinner at Bistro 45 in Pasadena this week - and JD wrote all about it before I could even put my notes together! What a guy! Here's what he had to say about Bistro 45 and Tercero Wines:

Tasting Spain with the Goddess on July 28th!

It's time for another wine journey with the Goddess of Wine! Join me and my faithful acolyte, JD, as we take you on a tour of Spain - and you never have to leave your seat!

July 28th from 1 PM to 3 PM at Fab's Corner Cucina in Sherman Oaks!

The class includes generous tastes of 8 delightful wines from all over Spain, plus tasting notes to take home, large quantities of laughter, and yummy snacks provided by Fab's!

$45 per person gets you a great time on a Saturday afternoon.

RSVP by clicking here or on the link at the top right of this page.

Hope to see you!

Salut!

Wining by Proxy...Champagne

When the Goddess of Wine has too many events on her calendar, she enlists the aid of good friend and wineaux, Marya Glur. In this case, Marya was able to both help me and indulge in her favorite beverage.

Wally's Grande Marque Champagne Tasting by Marya Glur

As a Champagne aficionado, I have yearned for a long time to attend the Grande Marque Champagne Tasting organized by Wally's Wines every June. With the help of my dear friend, the Champagne Whoar, LeeAundra Temescu Keany, and her husband, Paul Keany, I was finally able to attend the event this year at the JW Marriott Le Merigot Hotel in Santa Monica on Sunday, June 3. 

It's the 2012 LA WineFest!

JD and I have been gearing up for this year's LA WineFest, taking place this weekend - June 9 and 10. It's going to be big - hundreds of wines and spirits to taste, delicious food offerings, lifestyle vendors, and for those few who actually want to learn something, classes about wine and spirits, wine and cheese pairing, and more. Join the Goddess and JD!

Saturday classes include:

1:30 PM Dry Creek Valley: A Century of Great Zin
Discover the original Zin – Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel! Wine expert, Dan Fredman, will take you on an exploration of Northern Sonoma’s famed Dry Creek Valley, where Italian and Swiss immigrants have been growing world-class Zinfandel for more than a century. Taste rare and sold-out Zinfandels from top producers, such as Ridge, Wilson, Mauritson, Sbragia, Quivira, and Ferrari-Carano.
30 people only, $30 per person