Click here to enter the raffle for a magnum bottle (1.5 liters) of the 2004 Rob Gibson Wines “Australian Old Vine Collection” Shiraz from Eden Valley!  Although we didn’t get to taste this monster, the two bottles of Shiraz we did taste were really impressive, and this one is supposed to be the best of the bunch!  The bottle is valued at $250, and will be shipped directly to the winner (must be a US-based Wino to enter).  Best of all, it’s totally free to enter the raffle!

What’s the catch?  This catch is this: in order to enter, you need to provide your e-mail address, and in doing so, you agree to be included on the Rob Gibson Wine Company’s mailing list.  That’s it!  If you can handle getting the occasional e-mail from Rob here, then you’re good to go.  (Please note: you may only enter one e-mail address per Wino.  For verification purposes, it must be the e-mail address you used to sign up for youngwinos.com.  Whichever address the e-mail about the raffle came to is the one that you need to enter on the form.)

The drawing will be on Sunday, July 18th.  The winner will be notified by e-mail and will be announced on this website.  Any other questions, e-mail Jason at the LA chapter.  Click here to enter.  Good luck!

Wednesday night’s tasting menu will feature:

–The 2007 Barossa FSR (Frontignac, Semilion, Riesling)
–The 2007 Loose End Barossa Grenache Rosé
–The 2004 Gibson BarossaVale Shiraz
–The 2005 Gibson “The Dirtman” Shiraz
–The 2006 Loose End Barossa GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Merlot)
–The 2004 BarossaVale “Isabelle” Blend (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot)

Look at all those crazy blends! Grenache, Shiraz and Merlot? And wait — Semillon, Riesling and Frontignac?! (WTF is Frontignac? Are they just making up words now?) Needless to say, this is a tasting that any and all Australian fans won’t want to miss.

We’ll be meeting at 9pm at Nick’s place on the Santa Monica / West LA border. The RSVP system functions like this: if you want in, you click on this link and tell me so (don’t forget your full name, e-mail address, and a cute message conveying to me your intentions). Once you’ve gotten your confirmation e-mail, all you need to bring is a $5 bill to cover our costs.

Hope to see you there!

(It’s not too late to order this month’s wine2wino. Click here to do so.)

By now you’ll hopefully have discovered that rosé is much more than the White Zinfandel that your aunt likes to serve at her barbecues. They comes from all over the world, and they’re made with many different grape types, but the vast majority of decent rosés share one common characteristic: they’re made from red grapes, the juice of which has been drained off quickly so that the skins didn’t have time to impart more than a slight bit of pigmentation, resulting in a pink hue (as opposed to a full dark red one).

Rosé is perfect for the summer because it walks the line between the light, refreshing character of a white wine and the flavorful juiciness of a red. In addition, it’s often extremely versitile in the food-pairing realm, making it the perfect beach, barbecue, or poolside wine. Here are some rosé possibilities for your purchasing preparedness:

If you want to go French, the Rhône Valley makes a number of great rosés, as doesProvence to the south. The rosés of Bandol are considered some of the best in the world. Ask your friendly wine merchant if he can direct you to a French rosé similar to a Bandol (but hopefully slightly less expensive).

In Spain, Tempranillo and Grenache are used in making rosé, just as they are in the red wines of Rioja. Finally, don’t forget that a lot of sparkling wines are rosés. Feel free to bring a pink Champagne or something inspired by that classic style. Bubbles are always fun.

We’ll be meeting at Jason’s place in Brentwood. To RSVP, simply click “will attend” to the right. On the day of the event, Jason will send you an e-mail with his address.

Once you’ve gotten your confirmation e-mail, grab yourself a tasty bottle of rosé (or a $10 bill), and put your tasting hat on. See you on Wednesday night!

Every two months, we’ll be offering up a package of unique and delicious wines, which have been carefully selected by the illustrious trio of LA honchos: Jordan, Jason and Jesse.  Each package will include two extremely interesting wines and will cost $40, shipping included.  This isn’t a traditional “wine club” where you sign up once and keep receiving the shipments whether you want them or not.  In the Young Winos version, you never have any obligation to buy — you simply check out what’s being offered in that month’s package, and then decide if you want to order or not.  No hassles, no obligations, no surprise shipments.

For our first package ever, we’re celebrating the impending arrival of summer with two dynamic French bottles that pair perfectly with sunny days, warm evenings, and decadent outdoor drinking. Included in this $40 package are two impressive bottles: the most refreshing rosé we’ve had in a while, and a medium-bodied red tasting of earth, dried fruit, and class.  (Click here to be taken to the secure wine2wino order page!)

Bottle #1 is the 2009 Château du Rouët “Estérelle” rosé (Côtes de Provence).  This is one of those beautiful pale rosés from the south of France that simply pairs with everything. The importer literally suggests drinking it with “a bountiful picnic” — in other words, basically any food you can think of. We tasted this wine when it was very cold, and the nose burst forth with notes of bakery, melon, cherry, and strawberry. Jordan smelled some rose water as well, and Jesse picked up some mandarin orange. The palate was clean and crisp, offering a refreshing lineup of watermelon, grapefruit, and tart red berries, along with a pleasant touch of that funky French herbalness that Jesse is such a fan of. What struck us the most about this wine is its freshness: totally dry and totally balanced, this pink beauty is the perfect antidote for too many summer days spent drinking those syrupy, over-ripe rosés that dominate the supermarket aisles. Made up of 50% Carignan, 20% Cinsaut, 20% Grenache and 10% Tibourenc, this is a fresh, svelte rosé from the region where rosé is king.

Bottle #2 is the 2006 Domaine de Labarthe rouge from the southern French region of Gaillac.  No one wants to drink heavy, full-bodied reds in the summertime, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop drinking reds with character just because it’s getting warm out. This medium-bodied little French devil serves up all of the flavor and complexity of your favorite Rhone blend without all the heavy tannins. We immediately appreciated the big, country-style nose — Jason smelled some oregano, and Jesse got pine cones. Jordan enjoyed the earthy palate, which was full of understated, long-lasting flavors of raisins, black currant, dried herbs, and aged rum. Spicy and a little bit tart, this is also a versatile food wine, and will perfectly compliment the diverse flavors of summer cooking, from grilled vegetables to burgers and kebabs. The grape varieties making up the blend are as esoteric as the flare-bottomed bottle: 60% Fer-Servadou, 20% Duras, and 20% Syrah. The LA trio swiftly surmised that this was a smooth, serious red for scandalous summer sipping.

Our first ever wine2wino offering can be yours for the deliciously low price of $40, shipping included.  And the best part is that, unlike other wine clubs, there’s never any expectation or obligation to buy anything again, ever!

To order your package, click here.  Enjoy!

“Eww, a whole meeting of just Sherry? But isn’t Sherry, like, really sweet and gross, omg?” No! No it isn’t. See, that’s what everybody thinks, which is probably why people our age never seem to drink any Sherry. According to this article, Sherry imports are down to 200,000 cases a year, 75 percent off their peak in the 1980s, due in no small part to the fact that young people never drink it. Last fall, I was even interviewed by the NPR radio programMarketplace on the topic of Sherry’s dismal sales record among young people (click here for more info about the segment, or to listen!).

Here’s what I basically told the reporter: the only thing that most 20-somethings really know about Sherry is that it’s something our grandmothers drank, and that’s all we feel we need to know. Also, the wine is so stylistically varied (it ranges from bone dry to very sweet) that it can easily fall prey to seeming to suffer an identity crisis in the eyes of young consumers who are used to being able to understand the essence of something from the first example they ever taste. If you try a glass of Harvey’s Bristol Cream (as many people do, their first time), and you decide it’s too sweet, then you’re done with Sherry forever… even if you would’ve loved a super-dry Fino or a Manzanilla.

Come out on Wednesday night to learn more about Sherry! Here’s a brief primer to get you started. All Sherry is fortified (brandy is added), but contrary to popular belief, not all Sherry is sweet. There are several different styles, including:

Fino: pale in color, bitingly dry and delicately flavored
Manzanilla: a variety of Fino, produced on the coast, sometimes possessing a tell-tale saltiness
Amontillado: medium-dry, Amontillado runs darker and nuttier than Fino
Oloroso: darker still, and richer in flavor, this high-alcohol sherry is also medium-dry
Pedro Ximenez, Moscatel, and Cream Sherries are all sweet. As we learned last time, they can become a little overbearing when you try to drink seven or eight in a row.

We’ll be meeting at Jason’s place in Brentwood. To RSVP, simply click will attend. On the day of the event, Jason will send you an e-mail with his address.

Once you’ve gotten your confirmation e-mail, grab yourself a $10 bill, and put your tasting hat on. See you on Wednesday night!

Back in ‘08, we held just such a tasting, and the results were not only positive, but delicious, and even positively delicious (but not quite deliciously positive, depending on who you ask). After learning our way around Rioja two weeks ago, it’s time to take our second-ever blind tour of Spain, and see what value wines we can find along the way.

When we talk about “value wines,” we mean any bottle that drinks surprisingly well for its price; some might use the term “QPR” (although Andrew wouldn’t be among them, as he’s opposed to acronyms of all kinds). In this context, “value” doesn’t always necessarily mean “inexpensive”… a $35 Napa Cab, for example, would be considered a good value wine if it drinks like a $50 or $60 Napa Cab. Among the Spanish reds, though, it’s still extremely possible to find really impressive bottles for less than twenty dollars, and sometimes as low as eight or ten — truly putting the “value” back into “value.” However, since most of us are still unfamiliar with the majority of Spain’s producers — and also may not even know what to look for in a Spanish red (grape types, regions, etc.) — we’re going to revisit eight of our favorites.

To make it interesting, we’ll be tasting the wines completely blind. Each wine will be brown-bagged, allowing everyone a chance to taste them in a completely unbiased fashion. After we’ve all had a chance to discuss the bottle in question, the bag will be removed, and the price revealed. With any luck, everyone will discover a few winners that appeal to his or her sensibilities. Best of all, the hosts will be buying all the bottles ahead of time, so participants only need bring a cool, crisp $10 bill.

What delicious wines can you look forward to tasting? The most famous Spanish reds are from the Rioja region, where they are made from majority Tempranillo grapes, with some Garanacha (Grenache), Mazuelo (Carignan), and Graciano blended in. Recently, Cabernet Sauvignon has been appearing in Rioja blends as well. Other regions producing excellent reds are Ribera del Duero, La Mancha, Penedes, Jumilla, and Priorato. Here’s a list of major Spanish wine regions, and what grapes you can expect will be grown there. And here’s an excellent Spanish wine map that I encourage everyone to check out in order to get a sense of where these wines are coming from.

We’ll be meeting at Wino HQ in Sherman Oaks. The RSVP system functions like this: if you want in, you click on this link and tell me so (don’t forget your full name, e-mail address, and a cute message conveying to me your intentions). Once you’ve gotten your confirmation e-mail, all you need to bring is a $10 bill — no bottle.

Looking forward to seeing a bunch of my muchachos on Wednesday night at 9:00.

The LA Winos recently gathered at Erik’s place to taste a few new samples: three bottles of Zinfandel, followed by some wine-infused coffee.  ”The unending fight for good wine” was written by Julie, with photos by Erik.

Wine Guerilla claims to make wines “worth fighting for” and encourages drinkers to “join the insurrection”. Well, Saturday night’s alright for fighting, but it was Friday and the Young Winos of LA decided to call a truce, sit comfortably and drink copiously.

We had three bottles of 2007 Zinfandel (by reputation, California’s native grape, but I wouldn’t want to get into a pissing contest with a Croatian over that one). Wine Guerilla sources grapes from multiple vineyards, so our plan of attack was to move from the broadest to most specific area of harvest, beginning with a Sonoma County, moving on to a Dry Creek Valley, and finishing with a Forchini Vineyards harvest.

With a screw of the cap, all three bottles were opened and the 2007 Sonoma County was poured. The phrases that this wine evoked were “like eating unripe fruit in a dark study” and “cruise ship wine.” Jordan called it a “bin zin,” which I particularly liked. On the nose, the group noticed a pattern of “fruity industrial” notes – a blend of raspberries and rubber cement, blueberries and Styrofoam coolers, leather and tart blueberries. Ultimately, we found this was a hard wine to pin down and that the complex bouquet was always changing. On the palate, Sasha found it to be “aggressive, but lacking a velvety, soft finish.” And like the nose, we were tasting notes of cranberries and tart fruits, with the addition of licorice. Andrew, a self-proclaimed Zinfandel critic, shunned this bottle for being “too obvious,” meaning heavy on the fruit, but lacking structural elements. When it came down to how much we would pay for a glass in a restaurant, we settled on a $4 - $6 range and thought it very suitable as a house wine at a mid-priced restaurant.

Three pairs of besties.

Moving on to the 2007 Dry Creek, both price point and alcohol volume went up. Jordan’s first impression of this zin’s bouquet was that of a “prune tapenade,” which Andrea countered with “prune jam,” and there ensued a debate on the distinction between the two spreads. The bouquet descriptor that got everyone nodding their heads was that of “fig” — but “not just a fig,” Jesse said, “a Fig Newton!” I also agreed with Jesse’s assertion of “fruit-flavored hookah tobacco.” We were much more pleased with the well-rounded, smooth flavor profile of this bottle, which wasn’t as fruit-forward as the other, and offered a longer finish. We noted the complete lack of tannins and also found ourselves salivating due to its acidity. There were notes of black pepper, but the takeaway phrase from this bottle was “sour blood metal with cherries, but in a good way.” We were feeling generally positive about this wine until we were informed that were we to pick it up at the store, we would be asked for twenty bucks. We all thought that $12 might be a more appropriate price point for this bottle.

Finally, the 2007 “old vine” Forchini Vineyards (Dry Creek) was poured. While all of our bottles were blends, this Forchini Vineyards was 95% Zinfandel. (In most of California, a varietal wine can be named after a single grape as long as at least 75% of it is composed of that grape.) Wine Enthusiast gave this one 91 points. On the nose, it yielded crème brûlée, caramel, incense, mulling spices, cinnamon and spice cake. To me, the bouquet evoked images of gypsies; to Erik, an old fence with flaking paint after heavy rains. We tasted musty cellars and creamy talc. Jesse detected a dusting of tannins, which Jessica found functioned as an incubator against what she perceived as a sourness. This wine received an all around thumbs up for its long, elegant finish and lighter fruit notes, such as pear and strawberry.

Hey Emily, over here… wine spurs conversation… puppy is ready for coffee.

To combat our wine-induced drowsiness and prep for a post-tasting karaoke gig, we brewed a couple pots of Café d’Vine wine-infused coffee. The packaging claimed that this was not mere flavored coffee, but actual infused coffee, the result of to a special process that infuses the wine into the coffee bean while removing all of the alcohol content. (Kind of a bummer, but one can’t have everything.)

We started out with the Merlot coffee.  It featured a gingerbread nose, with ample notes of nutmeg and cinnamon, but nothing really Merlot-ish about it.  Andrea picked up some basil character on the palate, and called it “hearty but refreshing.”  Most people agreed — it was good coffee, but the wine influences were hard to pickup.  Next, we moved on to the Cabernet Sauvignon, and we were intrigued by the subtle tartness of the brew. Again, however, no one was going to be blind-tasting varietals in this coffee.  We did observe that as the coffee cooled (even slightly), a sourness began to take hold. We resisted adding creamer in order to get a pure sense of the beverage, but after about five minutes the tasters were wishing there was something to mask the emerging acidity. Our advice to anyone wishing to try themselves some Café d’Vine is that you make sure you drink it plenty hot.

Whatcha doin?  Brewin?… several coffee cups, and a few complimentary Café d’Vin shooters… some cheese and extras for the stragglers.

After segueing into topics such as whether or not Guerilla Wine was successfully branding themselves and if there is a stigma attached to “leftover” grapes, the Young Winos went gently into the night, peaceful warriors in the unending fight for good wine.

The Young Winos of LA — edutoxicating Los Angeles since 2005.

For the next two weeks, we’ll be doing a sort-of Spanish wine mini-series. We’ll start this week with an exploration of what has traditionally been considered Spain’s greatest wine region, Rioja, which we previously tasted at Nick’s place last summer for the Tempranillo meeting. Next week, we’ll be doing a blind tasting of budget Spanish reds from various regions, in an attempt to find the best values in a country that’s full of them.

Read about Rioja: Rioja’s position of esteem as Spain’s top wine region can be something of a double-edged sword. First of all, Rioja isn’t the warmest region in Spain, and people who are used to drinking inexpensive full-bodied reds from such sun-drenched regions as La Mancha can sometimes find Rioja to be a bit understated in comparison. Also, in a country that’s still best known to American consumers for producing value wines, both white and red, producers in Rioja have to choose between releasing more expensive wines (which might alienate foreign customers who aren’t used to seeing pricey Spanish bottles) or producing wines using less expensive production methods (which could lead to depleted quality).Unfortunately, some producers choose the latter, meaning that the bottles of Rioja you’ll find for $8 at your favorite supermarket may be of inferior quality, and not truly representative of the region.

However, there still are a number of great Riojas to be found for $15 and under. But how do you separate the good from the med-rio-cre?? (See what I did there?)

1) First, visit a wine shop with a good Spanish selection (such as K&L in Hollywood, Vendome in Toluca Lake or Studio City, or the Wine House on the west side) and ask for a recommendation of a budget Rioja that’s a real winner. They’ll probably have several for you to choose from.

2) Another tip is to seek out Riserva and Gran Riserva wines. As opposed to the Crianzawines, which undergo minimal aging, Riserva (and especially Gran Riserva) spends a good amount of time in barrel before being released. Click here to learn more about Spain’s aging classifications.

For this meeting, please feel free to bring any bottle of Rioja that you think is going to be stellar, based on one of the two reasons above. Although more famous for its reds, Rioja also produces a number of excellent white and rosé wines, so those are good to go as well. (As always, you can choose to bring a $10 donation instead.)

We’ll be meeting at Andrew’s place in Korea Town, right up the street from the legendary Han Kook Supermarket (but don’t plan to buy your Rioja there). The RSVP system functions like this: if you want in, you click on this link and tell me so (don’t forget your full name, e-mail address, and a cute message conveying to me your intentions). Andrew’s place is small, so this meeting is limited to twelve Winos. RSVP soon to reserve your spot! If you don’t make the cut, you’ll be on the top of the list for next week.

Once you’ve gotten your confirmation e-mail, go out and find yourself a bottle of Rioja, or a crisp $10 bill. We’ll see you on Tuesday at 9pm!

In typical Young Winos fashion, we’ll be taking something that’s fun and carefree, pumping it full of education, and spitting it back out all classy-like. By the end of this week’s festivities, you’ll not only know your way around the important classifications of tequila, but you’ll have tasted several delicious and inspired margarita recipes, and you’ll hopefully have learned a thing or two about Mexican cultural heritage in the process. (Oh yeah… and you’ll be smashed.)

In recent years, tequila has finally begun to get the recognition it deserves as a premium fine beverage, the best of which is subtle and nuanced, just like Scotch, brandy, or — yes — wine. Even the most loco of Cinco de Mayo revelers will probably be able to tell you that tequila comes from agave. But what does that mean, exactly? What’s agave? And how does it “come” from it? This video will tell you everything you need to know in less than six minutes (skip to 1:10 if you want to bypass the intro):

Here are three words you’ll frequently see on tequila bottles:
–Blanco (”white”) or plata (”silver”): white spirit, un-aged and bottled or stored immediately after distillation, or aged less than two months in stainless steel or neutral oak barrels;
–Reposado (”rested”): aged a minimum of two months, but less than a year in oak barrels;
–Añejo (”aged” or “vintage”): aged a minimum of one year, but less than three years in oak barrels;

On Wednesday night, we’ll be tasting three premium tequilas — one blanco, one reposado, and one añejo — and trying to pick up the subtle differences between the three.

Once we’re done sipping, we’ll put on our party hats and use what remains of the three bottles of tequila to make some delicious margaritas. Do you have a signature margarita mix that you’d like to share with the group? If so, let me know — we’re looking for five or six different homemade margarita mixes to compete for the affections of the Wino faithful.

Here’s the margarita recipe from Cruz del Sol, makers of Wedneday’s night’s reposado entry. Think your margarita is better than that one? Prove it!

For this meeting, you can choose to bring either $10 or your own original homemade margarita mix.

We’ll be meeting at Jessica Barraco’s place in Brentwood. The RSVP system functions like this: if you want in, you click on this link and tell me so (don’t forget your full name, e-mail address, and a message letting me know which you plan to bring: money or mix). First come first served on bringing your own margarita mix, so RSVP soon!

Hope to see a bunch of you on this most historical of holidays. Don’t forget, meeting starts at 8pm!

Although the March Madness tournament acts as a thorough primer on some of the world’s most significant regions and grape varietals, there’s plenty that it doesn’t cover. We can’t possibly get to all the notable varietals in a six-week time period, nor even all the significant growing regions for the varietals we do cover, so the period after March Madness often acts as an opportunity for the Winos to catch up on some excellent varietals and regions that fell through the cracks during the tournament. This week, we’re kicking things off with Australian Riesling.

The Winos’ resident Aussie, “Action” Jackson Gerard, will shortly be returning to Australia, and he’s offered to host the event this week before he departs — the theme, therefore, is especially appropriate (and poignant, and sad). Australian Riesling is among the most unique and distinctive in the world, and is often characterized as being bone-dry and aggressively-flavored (in contrast with many of the delicate, feather-light Rieslings we tasted a few weeks ago).

Much of the great Australian Riesling comes from the Clare Valley, so look for that important region when you’re doing your shopping. If you can’t find a Clare Valley, any Riesling from Australia will do — or, if your local wine shop doesn’t have anything Australian, please ask for a recommendation of a dry Riesling that’s at least reminiscent of Australia. A number of dry Rieslings come from France’s Alsace region, as we learned during Riesling week, as well as some from Germany, some from South Africa, and a rare few from California, Oregon, and Washington. Don’t be afraid to ask your friendly shopkeeper for a rec!

(Here’s a special treat for all you Riesling enthusiasts: Slate wine columnist Mike Steinberger wrote a fascinating piece a few months ago about a planned highway in Germany that would potentially decimate the historic Mosel wine region. Really interesting stuff. Click here to read.)

We’ll be meeting at Jackson’s place in Los Feliz. The RSVP system functions like this: if you want in, you click on this link and tell me so (don’t forget your full name, e-mail address, and a cute message conveying to me your intentions). Once you’ve gotten your confirmation e-mail, go out and find yourself a bottle of dry Riesling, Australian if possible — or just bring a $10 donation. (Note: Jackson’s place has limited space, so be sure to RSVP early if you’d like to be guaranteed a spot.)

The tournament is over, and now it’s time to get back to doing what the Winos do best: exploring new and interesting wines! Come join us on Wednesday at 9pm.