WINESCENE

Tapas Tasting in SF-Wine not only food

Image via Wikipedia

TAPAS, which stands for the Tempranillo Adovactes Producers and Amigos Society announced their annual Grand Tasting event for June 9th in San Francisco.

If you like wines from Spain and Portugal, then here's the opportunity to see what's being done here in the states with Tempranillo. Both long time friends David Corey of Core Wines and Cris Cherry of Villa Creek have been working with the Spanish grape for some time, as has Bob Lindquist and his wife, so clearly with those folks at the forefront and others from around California working with it, the Iberian grape should have legs.

 

Arnaldo Caprai-Montefalco Rosso

Osteria in Arezzo (Photo credit: Monica Arellano-Ongpin)

Over the past few nights in Italy I've come across both the 2007 and 2008 Arnaldo-Caprai Montefalco Rosso both in Rome at the imaginative Glass Hostoria and last night at Ristorante Osteria del Teatro in Foligno (where I'm going back again tonight).

While the 07 at Glass Hostoria was closed and could have shown better with decanting, the 2008 was an immediate hit out of the bottle. The blend of mostly Sangiovese and a bit of Sagrentino was stunning, with amazingly lively flavors of cherries and berries, plums and cassis. It was mouthfilling and generous in fruit, soft in tannins as it rolled gently off the tounge. The 07 was the opposite. Due to it being served improperly, the wine was closed, austere and lean, and wasn't ready for a full hour after it was opened, and sadly, that wasn't until the third and final course, meaning it was my dessert. Once it opened it was oppulent and full, and in reality a more complex, but not better wine than the currently available 2008. Both are enjoyable, but for near term drinking based on those two bottles go with the 2008. For longer term aging, go with the 2007. 

For me, this wine is a solid replacement for Chianti Classico or Cotes du Rhone reds...

 

 

Rhone Rangers - the Next Big Wine Event

Image of Qupé via Snooth

Sadly, due to my flight schedule I'll be missing the San Diego chapter wine event of Family Winemakers tasting. My passes arrived but I'll be flying back from London this coming Sunday. But....that means I'm even more focused on the upcoming Rhone Rangers tasting in San Francisco, the weekend of March 24-25 at Fort Mason.

Over the past 15 years or so the Rhone Rangers have done more to promote Rhone grapes and wines grown and made here in the USA than any organization around. The events are very well organized and easy to find. They keep a laid back approach to the tastings and yet at the same time you pretty much have a who's who when it comes to Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah and the other Rhone varietals. It's also the chance to catch up with old friends like Qupe's Bob Lindquist, his son Ethan-who is making amazing wines these days, as well as David Corey of Core wines and others.

If you're in the Bay Area, put the event on your calendar.

 

Related articles

• 15th Annual Rhone Rangers Wine and Food Festival in San Francisco (vinoconvistablog.me)