Spanish & Portuguese Wine News: Come Taste this Saturday 9/22 at K&L!

By: Joe Manekin | K&L Spanish & Portuguese Wine Buyer

Greetings all,

It's September, the shelves are full of new arrivals as well as reliable favorites, and of course we are gearing up for a busy Iberian tasting season beginning this Saturday in all of our stores. 

1.) Spanish & Portuguese Tasting this Saturday, September 22nd  in all K&L stores

While the exact selections will vary slightly from store to store, the basic theme this go 'round is northern whites and southern reds.  We'll be highlighting a terrific, biodynamic Portuguese vinho verde producer, not by pouring a typical, lighter fizzy vinho verde but instead opting for their full on bubbly (methode champenoise) and mouth watering, tongue tingling  rosé.  We will also focus on great Galician whites other than albariño.  In SF and Redwood City we'll have one of Spain's great cult whites, the new release of Emilio Rojo Ribeiro.  Worth $60?  You be the judge. Reds will feature some excellent young producers, challenging the popular, yet stupid notion (which admittedly, I have been guilty of from time to time!) that wines above 14% alcohol are never balanced. 

Spread the word, invite your people: http://www.facebook.com/klwines#!/events/244447439011032/ 

View listing on K&L Local Events:  http://www.klwines.com/local_events.asp#5

2.) Vibrant Rioja Fall Tastings

It's going to be a great season for Rioja fans.  In October and November we will be partnering with Vibrant Rioja to pour first Thursdays in SF and LA, first Fridays in RC. Visit K&L Local Events or K&L Events on Facebook for lineups and more details as the dates approach.

For all of you up in San Francisco, I will also be joining a few of our favorite suppliers as well as pouring some of our brand new direct imports with Vibrant Rioja at a special event in November. This will be on Friday November 9th from 6-8pm, at 18 Reasons on 3674 18th St. Mark your calendars, it should be lots of fun.

3.) New wines to stock up on

Valdesil Montenovo Godello Valdeorras - $14.99

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1112601

Bacalhao Azeitao "JP" Vinho Regional Setubal - $8.99

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1112472

Primitivo Quiles "Cono 4" Jumilla - $11.99

http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1112484

Saludos,

Joe

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Joe Manekin

Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American Wine Buyer

K&L Wine Merchants

Ph: 877.559.4637 ext. 2748

joemanekin@klwines.com<mailto:joemanekin@klwines.com>

Spanish & Portuguese Wine News:

By: Joe Manekin | K&L Spanish & Portugues Wine Buyer

Good afternoon, everyone,

Things are heating up in the Sherry section with a new exclusive Equipo Navazos Manzanilla bottling! (you won't find it anywhere else around these parts).  Also a few tasting events here in Redwood City to look forward to, tonight and tomorrow night.

1.)  Equipo Navazos Manzanilla "I Think" en Rama (375ml) - $14.99

This is connoisseur sherry, plain and simple.  Bottled just a few months ago, without filtration, it is manzanilla at its purest and most expressive.  Get some before we here buy it all http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1089369

2.) Passport to Vinho Verde tasting TONIGHT in Redwood City (5-6:30pm) We're pouring a focused selection of 3 distinctive vinho verdes.  Perfect weather for some vinho verde tonight....http://www.facebook.com/events/468376553175438/

3.) Vibrant Rioja tasting tomorrow in Redwood City (5-6:30pm) We will be focusing on a few DI's (yes I've hyped these wines quite a bit in the past few weeks; taste them and you will understand why) as well as continuing to explore the concept of single village Rioja wines. Also, since Riojanos love chorizo and the Palacios chorizo factory is located in Rioja (Logroño, to be exact) I will be bringing in some Palacios chorizo. $5 to taste. http://www.facebook.com/events/340476179359934/

Un saludo,

-Joe

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Joe Manekin

Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American Wine Buyer

K&L Wine Merchants

Ph: 877.559.4637 ext. 2748

joemanekin@klwines.com

Spanish & Portuguese Wine News 6/19/12: Rioja DI's Have Landed, Miguel Merino Comes to Town

By: Joe Manekin | K&L Spanish & Portuguese Wine Buyer

Hola, Iberiophiles,

It's been a few weeks of silencio on the emails, so now that the honeymoon is over (I mean that literally as I'm just returning from Kaua'i), let's get down to business and continue to put together a strong foundation built upon ongoing communication. Communication about about delicious, honestly made Spanish and Portuguese wines. Baby, together we can do this. 

OK, enough of the bad jokes.  Lots of new wine and events.

1.) Our Direct imports have landed  More terrific, unusually terroir expressive, soulful Riojas have come in from Puelles (Abalos, Rioja Alta) and Bodegas Casa Juan Señor de Lesmos (Laguardia, Rioja Alavesa).  These wines are spectacular, traditionally styled Riojas.  Some of the best values out there (that's why we asked them to sell us wine directly, and thankfully they shook my hand and agreed to do so). 

Bodegas Puelles: Jesús and Felix Puelles farm nearly 30 hectares spread across various plots in the village of Abalos, a part of Rioja Alta rich in winemaking history (one of the Puelles vineyards still has an example of a 14th century lagar for foot trodding grapes and decanting the juice right in the vineyard).  Distinctive for the fact that these are wines all from Abalos fruit (single village wine is still a rarity in Rioja) and with brightness and a wonderfully chalky mineral bite, Bodegas Puelles has a lineage of grape growers dating back a few hundred years; the farming know-how shows in the quality of these wines.

2008 Bodegas Puelles Crianza Rioja ($15.99)

2004 Bodegas Puelles Reserva Rioja ($19.99)

Bodegas Casa Juan Señor de Lesmos: Where to start?  You can learn more about them on our website (search: 'lesmos') and in an upcoming July newsletter article. For now let me simply say that these are breathtaking, traditional, artisanal wines made by Angel Escudero de Gravalos with some help from his family. Delicious wines that truly speak to the place of their origin. They also come primarily from one village, Laguardia, though there is some fruit from vineyards in Villalba as well (both villages are in Rioja Alavesa). Very little known, even in Rioja, I suspect that this will change as people become more familiar with these spectacular wines.  These are some of the best value reds in our entire inventory right now.

2005 Bodegas Casa Juan Señor de Lesmos Crianza Rioja ($12.99)

2004 Bodegas Casa Juan Señor de Lesmos Reserva Rioja  ($19.99)

2.) Miguel Merino is Here! By way of reminder we have a very special guest here this week, Sr. Miguel Merino.  In-store tastings are walk-in and open to the public. For a nominal fee you will meet this very interesting man and taste the entire range of Miguel Merino wines we carry in our stores. 

If you live in the Bay Area, please note that we have a handful of spots open for a very special dinner we are having with Miguel at Contigo, a superb Catalan restaurant in Noe Valley (SF). Due to the intimate nature of the dinner (15 person limit), the promotion has been very light, and I'm probably going to under-sell this, but... know that if you attend you will drink some damn fine, single village Rioja, including a few older vintages and Miguel's wonderful company. See below for details and info on how to order tickets.

In-store tasting with Miguel Merino in Redwood City, Tuesday June 19th (5-6:30pm)

Event listing on KLWines.com

Invite friends & share: http://www.facebook.com/klwines#!/events/473883769295261/

Come and taste our full line-up of Miguel Merino wines with the owner himself.  Learn about the various terroirs of Briones, the origin of Merino's graciano plants, Miguel's very thorough, three tiered selection process, where to find the best foie gras tapa in Haro, amongst many other topics to be sure.

Very intimate wine dinner with Miguel Merino at Contigo in SF, Wednesday June 20th at 8:30pm

Join Miguel and me and enjoy his wines with Brett Emerson's wonderful Catalan inspired cuisine at Contigo in Noe Valley.  We will be pouring the following wines (as well as a few special surprises): 

2008 Miguel Merino "Viñas Jovenes" Crianza Rioja

2009 Miguel Merino Mazuelo de Quinta Cruz Rioja

2005 Miguel Merino Reserva Rioja

2004 Miguel Merino Gran Reserva Rioja

2008 Miguel Merino "Unnum" Rioja

Only 15 spots are available, first come, first served.  We have reserved the outdoor (heated) patio, which is perfect for this amount of people.  There will be five courses served. Cost is $100 (wine, gratuity and tax all included).  Purchase your ticket using the link below or email me with questions, joemanekin@klwines.com.

Purchase Tickets: http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1093719 

3.)  Actually, there is no 'three'

There was going to be more, but I think that is plenty for now.  Will try to catch you early next week for a round-up of more new stuff and tasting events to look forward to.

Un saludo,

Joe

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Joe Manekin

Spanish, Portuguese, Latin American Wine Buyer

K&L Wine Merchants

Ph: 877.559.4637 ext. 2748

joemanekin@klwines.com