No Tasting This Week

Town will be doing an event for Slow Food Oahu this Wednesday, so we will be back next week Wednesday, November 25.

See you next week!!!!

"Ports"

Tonight we had a very creative and delicious tasting - "ports" with Mark Lloyd. I say creative because it opened my taste buds and mind to ports. Ports are not only an "after dinner" drink. The food pairing tonight was spot on. Ed, Dave and their team in the kitchen always amazes me. The first course, just brought me back to Spain and the flavors of great memories. The second course, steak with ulu puree "unreal". I thought ulu puree might be gummy, but it was creamy, tasty and a perfect starch for the hangar steak. The last course, OMG, was truly a orgasmic chocolate experience.

Cossart Gordon "5-year-old Bual"
Made with Bual grape and aged in cask for at least 5 years. Bual (boal): luscious, medium-rich Madeira with great concentration of flavor and a complex bouquet. Best served with drier salty cheeses.
paired with aged mahon, marcona almonds, jamon wrapped dates

Pombal do Vesuvio Douro '07
This wine comes from one of the Douro Valley's regions grandest estates, a history dating back to 1565. In 2007, this vineyard produced a small quantity of exceptionally concentrated Touriga Nacional, perfectly matured grapes that resulted in wine of elegance and finesse yet with great depth and power. The Touriga Nacional makes up 70% of the final blend of the inaugural 2007 vintage of Quinta do Vesuvio Douro DOC wine (plus 20% Touriga Franca and 10% Tinta Amarela).
paired with pu'u o hoku hangar steak, ulu puree

Graham's Six Grapes
Founded in 1820, W & J Graham's is a consistent leader in producing exceptional Vintage Ports known for their rich complexity and superb againg potential. In 1890, Graham's acquired Quinta dos Malvedos, its flagship vineyard and one of the top sites in Portugal's Alto Douro Valley. The Symington Family acquired Graham's in 1970.

Quinta do Vesuvio '07
96 Points-Food & Wine Magazine - "A great vintage of Vesuvio, this is completely Douro in its flavors, a bold stroke of color across the palate, a ruch of green, red, blue and purple. It's plump, if not downright fat (the wine seems softer in acidity than some of its peers), but it's ripped by tannin, with a pervasive schistiness that makes it grand. Those resonant tannins combine with vibrant spice, licorice and green herb to create a hum of energy around all the fruit. The wine vibrates with power, intensely compressed. Drink it young to be wowed, or cellar it for decades; it's anyone's guess when this will calm down."
both wines were paired with 77% dark chocolate, chocolate pretzel tart, port soaked blueberries

Tonight are "Wines to Cheer About!!!"

Please join wine expert Mark Lloyd with "Wines to bring cheers!"

• J cuvee 20 sparkling
• Sake junmai ginjo
• Isole e Olena chianti Classico
• Nardini Amaro

See you there and go2town!!!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Tyler Uehara is presenting sparkling wines from Schramsberg this Wednesday.

Schramsberg blanc de blanc, blanc de noir, rosé and cremant demi sec

Piedmonte Wines

Last night Tyler Uehara took us to the region of Piedmonte in Italy. Here is a peek to the tasting menu:

Villa Sparina, Gavi di Gavi '07
paired w/ bagna cauda

Vietti Tre Vigne, Barbera d' Alba '06
paired w/ pork agnolotti

Vietti Tre Vigne, Barbera d' Asti '06
paired w/ gnocchi, kulana beef sugo

Fontanafredda, Barolo Serralunga d' Alba '01
braised pu'u o hoku beef, polenta

Wines only (w/ bread & olives) $24.00/guest
w/ Food Pairings (as is, no substitutions) $25.00/guest
gratuity and tax not included

July 22, 2009 Tasting

We will be tasting Wines from the Zaca Mesa winery in Santa Ynez.

Viognier 2008
Chardonnay 2007
Z-Cuvee 2005
Syrah 2005

Come and join us. Call 735-5900 for your reservations.

Spanish Wines for Summer with Mark Lloyd

It's summer and it's hot. What sounds good? Lighter weight wines that are cool, and that means wines from Spain.

Mark Lloyd, one of wine townies & favorite wine experts, led this week's wine down. Mark is from Chambers and Chambers Wine Merchants.

Bodega Muga Bianca, Rioja
Viura and Malvasia fromthe famed house of Muga, founded in 1932. Harvested from vines 15-45 years old the Mugas produce traditional and artisan wines. This crisp and luscious white Rioja is packed with fruit flavors of melons, lemon lime, and sea breeze with bright acidity. A perfect summer wine to sip while grilling oysters and veggies.

Pirineos Mesache Rosado, Spain
Cabernet and Grenache dry Rose; the perfect compliment with Paella. But also great with Salmon off the grillm, and most tapas.

Finca Luzon, Luzon, Jumilla
Monastrell (Morvedre) and Garnacha produced by family owned estate of 98 hectares near the Mediterranean Sea. Thee Gil family have been making rich and fruit forward wines with a modern style (you may have seen Guan Gil in the wine shops). Flavors of blueberries, black tea, raspberry and chocolate. This is a very stylish wine.

Sierra Cantabria Rioja 'Cuvee Especial, Rioja
The Sierra Cantabria mountain range rises abruptly from the Rioja Valley, and protect the region from the harsh Atlantic winds. This winery was founded in 1957, and these grapes are harvested from estate grown vineyards 1,800 feet above sea level. Common descriptors for aged Rioja reds is leather, exotic Asian spices such as sandalwood, cinnamon, but surrounded by a fruity frame.

Next tasting on July 15th

We will be tasting wines from Espana with our good friend Mark Lloyd of Chambers & Chambers.

I just love Spain's philosophy of wine making - the Spanish make their wines in the same quality techniques as the French, but sell them at reasonable and affordable prices, because they want to share their beautiful wines with everyone. Where the French believe their premium wines should be for the elite and wealthy...or anyone who can afford it. Don't get me wrong I enjoy French wines, but can drink more of Spanish wines because of the price.

See you on Wednesday @ 6:30pm and please call to reserve your seats @ 735-5900.

go2town!!!

Touring France's Loire Valley with Tyler Uehara

Our tour of the Loire Valley was fantastic on Wednesday at "wine down @ town". Tyler Uehara of Grand Crew was a wealth of location and taste profile knowledge.

We had 3 whites and a red.

Here is the tasting menu:
Domaine de L' ecu Guy Bossard, Muscadet '06
paired with hunter point oyster, muscadet mignonette

Le Clops Vigneau, Vouvray '07
paired with poached oyster, potato, prosciutto, chive

Jean Reverdy, Sancerre '07
paired with oyster po'boy

Domaine des Rouet, Chinon '05
paired with pork raviolo, tomato, fennel

Next tasting on July 8th

We will be tasting wines from France's Loire Valley with wine expert Tyler Uehara of Grand Crew.

Call 735-5900 for reservations. The tasting starts @ 6:30pm, but if you come a little earlier you will get a special cocktail made by our bar manager Dave Power.

$25 per person

go2town!!!

"Kukkula" Winery

Tonight's tasting were wines from the "Kukkula" Winery with John Behler from Johnson Brothers.

A winery focusing in blending varietals to reach a specific taste profile - Rhone style wines. And in very small production quantities.

Kukkula is located in Adelaida, Paso Robles, California, about 3/4 mile east of Adelaida Road, on Chimney Rock Road. At the time they purchased the ranch in the Spring of 2004, it had about 75 acres of walnut trees and 1 1/2 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon. The property is mostly hilly with most of the hills oriented to the north. We replaced 27 acres of walnuts for 16 acres of grapes and 8 acres of olives. The areas that were cleared have mainly west and south slopes. About a third of the area is sloping north.

The vineyard is dry farmed, and it is their plan to farm it organically. All of the vines (Mourvedre, Grenache, Counoise, and Zinfandel), with the exception of Syrah, will be head pruned. They are going to attempt to train it on a six foot vertical stake. Their experience has been that Syrah is unbelieveably vigorous, so it will be interesting to see what kind of challenge they about to face.

Their 16 acres were planted in January 2006 and started harvesting small quantities of grapes by the 2008 harvest and started making estate wines this year during harvest season.

The four wines presented tonight:

Vaalea (Roussanne/Viognier) - a Finnish word that means "white" or "light". This intriguing blend balances the rich aromatics of Viognier in harmony with supple fruit forward Roussane. Only 280 cases produced.

paired with uku tartare and risotto cake

IPO (Cabernet Sauvignon/Syrah/Zinfandel) - is a nod to the wine maker's business as a financial advisor. Only 391 cases produced.

paired w/ grilled pipikaula, swiss cheese sandwich on rye

SISU (Syrah/Grenache/Mourvedre) - a Finnish word that means patience, perseverance, and stamina. Only 209 cases produced.

paired w/ braised beef, mustard seed salsa verde

Lothario (Grenache/Mourevedre/Zinfandel) - is refreshing with concentrated flavors of boysenberry, strawberry and hints of sweet toasty oak. This unorthodox blend resulted from alittle extra of each of its component varietals. Lothario means "a man amorously attentive to women; seductive".

paired w/ risotto, duck giblet confit, hamakua mushrooms