§ 2007 Chardonnay Edna Valley San Luis Obispo
§ 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Santa Barbara Highlands Santa Barbara Co
§ 2006 Syrah Larner Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley
§ 2006 Mourvedre Larner Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley
§ 2006 Paso del Sol (with Syrah & Mourvedre from Larner and Cabernet from Still Waters)
Our Mixed White flight will include:
§ San Simeon 2005 Pinot Grigio Monterey
§ Foxen 2006 Chenin Blanc Ernest Wickenden Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley
§ Roshambo 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma
§ Lazy Creek 2006 Gewurztraminer Anderson Valley
§ Spann 2006 Chardonnay-Viognier Sonoma County
New Wines
§ Obsidian Ridge 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Red Hills Lake Co @ $28.00
§ Blue Rock 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley Sonoma @ $48.00
§ Phantom Rivers 2007 Chardonnay Edna Valley San Luis Obispo @ $20.00
§ Phantom Rivers 2007 Sauvignon Blanc Santa Barbara Highlands, SBC @ $14.00
§ Phantom Rivers 2006 Syrah Larner Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley @ $24.00
§ Phantom Rivers 2006 Mourvedre Larner Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley @ $26.00
§ Phantom Rivers 2006 Paso del Sol @ $28.00
Based on sales last weekend, the Dubost 2004 Syrah Estate Paso Robles led the pack among the red wines. There was no favorite among the whites, having sold the same number of bottles each.
Sue and Steve Mathis of Phantom Rivers Winery will be in the shop Friday evening. We’ll be pouring their line-up of five Central Coast wines. Join us beginning at 5:30. Sue and Steve live locally and are frequent guests in the shop. They are involved in all facets of the winery and have a wealth of experience to share.
Artist Bj Lane will host a Reception this Saturday evening from 6 to 8PM. Along with the existing show, “In the Gardens” which is currently on the west wall, she will present four sculptures inspired by the Huntington Library Gardens. This exhibit features brilliantly painted canvases, 30″x 30″, and include several paintings of the sculpture garden, the Library, the Huntington Mansion, the Japanese Garden and the new Chinese Garden. Meet Bj Lane in the shop and learn more about her works
Wine Class. We’re holding off on classes for awhile until interest returns. For now, we’ll leave it up to you to email and let us know when you want classes resumed. Anytime there are enough interested persons for a Wine 101 Class, we’ll put it together. Likewise, if we get some suggestions for other class subjects, we’ll organize such a class. Whatever your desire, Wednesday at 7:00PM would be the time. $30.00 would be the cost. Thank you.
There is no denying it. Regardless of where the Dow settles on any given day, we’re going through some tough times for many people. In order to stay open, we need to sell wine; In order for you to put gas in the tank, you need to watch your spending. With those thoughts in mind, I sat down with our management team to bat around a few ideas about discounts or specials. Tough times require tough measures so I threw out the idea of a 70% blow out sale. The head slap came so fast, I couldn’t tell if it was from Janet or Jeff!! Apparently, if your prices are not 80% above cost, you can’t do a 70% sale. I’m doing the best I can to understand this whole retail business stuff and clearly have a lot to learn (including which one slapped me). Anyway, the final decision was to adjust the current sale and make it 10% off on all three bottle purchases and 15% off on all case purchases. We’ll leave it that way for awhile and see if it works for both of us.
Check out The Orphan Barrel when you’re in the shop. There are at least 20 wines waiting for you to take them home. These wines are all discounted 10%. It only takes a single bottle for the 10% discount if it’s on the barrel.
Upcoming Events.
We expect Dave Corey of Core Wines on Friday evening, October 24 (We originally expected him on Thursday evening, but the schedule changed this morning). He’ll be in town for a Wine Dinner event on the following Saturday evening, and he was gracious enough to come down early and spend Friday in the shop. We’ll be pouring several of his 2006 wines for the first time that evening. Whichever evening it falls on, we’ll be pouring his 2006 Core Red, 2006 Hard Core, 2006 Elevation Sensation, 2006 Mister Morved and 2007 Turchi Cabernet Sauvignon.
Interested in the Core Wine Dinner put on by Room Forty? Room Forty Wine Dinners are $150. The venue is always changing from one unique location to another. With one exception, those persons that I know who have been to these dinners, have thoroughly enjoyed the food and the overall experience. Go to their web site at www.roomforty.com to read about the dinners, look at the pictures and see if it would appeal to you. Dave Corey’s wines are outstanding and this is likely to be a very special evening. The dinner will be on October 25 in Malibu.
We’ll debut the wines of Thompkin Cellars on the evening of November 8.
The Cheese Corner
Cheese needs to breathe. When wrapped properly and stored correctly, it should bring pleasure every time you eat it. In an effort to improve that experience, we are currently experimenting with a wrapper generically referred to as “French cheese paper.” The “paper” consists of a two ply wrapper in which the outside is a thin sheet of polyethylene and the inside is a wax coated Kraft paper. Store it in your refrigerator, preferably in a cheese bin, and consumed within a week’s time. Aged cheeses will clearly last longer, but once a cheese has been cut, it’s “best years” are past!
Today’s cheese delivery included a whimsically delicious take on the French cheese, Morbier. Carr Valley Mobay Cheese is one of Wisconsin cheesemaker Sid Cook’s many original creations. It combines a layer of sheep milk cheese and a layer of goat milk cheese with a layer of grape vine ash down the middle. Its flavor is both delicate and rustic. Mobay took 2nd Place in its class at the 2004 and 2005 American Cheese Society Competition.
We open at 11:00AM Tuesday – Saturday. Tuesday through Thursday, we close at 8:00PM and Friday and Saturday at 9:00PM. We are open Sunday from noon to 6:00PM. We stop serving wine 30 minutes before closing. Please call 626-358-6500 for more information.
Janet and Tom
California Wine and Cheese
