Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to the Second Anual Spoooky Haloween tasting newsletter! This week it is brought to you a bit earlier to help you fit this tasting into one of the busier weekends of parties and spoooky festivities. And this is going to be a great way to kick off the weekend!

Now, Halloween has a long, detailed and colorful history, originating in Celtic Druidry and Autumnal Harvests, making way to the more modern nights of mischief, sweets handouts and, thanks in great part to modern horror moviemaking, a frightfully spoooky holiday. However, in considering the wine industry, it is generally not the best marketing strategy to feature Ghouls, Ghosts, Zombies, and the like, on bottles. (Although severed bloody hands seems to be okay.) Most bottles have rivers, trees, birds, prertty colors, pretty women, and a lot of Australian animals on them. Now these don’t appear to be scary to most of us, but perhaps if you looked at it from another perspective. . .?

I found online, an index of all known fears and phobias. Some of these bottles in Friday’s tastings could seem a bit ordinary to most of us, but it might seem breathtakingly unbearable if you were afraid of such things as these:

Maddogs and Englishmen! Now this tasty gem from Spain might be frightening to someone with Cynophobia (Fear of dogs or rabies. . .or dogs with rabies.) But that’s only the half of it, it might also be frigntening to someone with Anglophobia! (Fear of Englishness. Or maybe the English with rabies. . .Gasp!) Now isn’t this fun?

Toad Hollow – Le Faux Frog! This wine hails from France, and that alone might be frightening to a Francophobe. (Fear of the French and French culture. Also known as Galiphobia and Gallophobia. . .although I thought that last one was a fear of bad wine in large jugs.) But this Syrah from the Languedoc also might upset a Batrachophobe (one who fears frogs), or a Bufonophobe (one who fears toads).

Diablo de Uco! Of course, with Diablo being the Spanish word for the Devil, this Malbec from Argentina may leave a person, especially a Spanish-speaking person, quaking in their boots if they suffered from Satanophobia (fear of Satan) or Demonophobia (fear of demons). The wine gets its name from the wicked thunderstorms that seemingly appear out of nowhere in the Valley of Uco. These storms might frighten a Brontophobe. (One who fears thunderstorms.)

Four Sisters! Sure, you’re thinking that there is nothing to fear from sisters. . .but that must be those of you who never had OLDER sisters. That said, the experts haven’t named a phobia for the fear of sisters, perhaps because it’s not an unfounded fear. However, there is a fear of relatives that exists. So, I wouldn’t expect any of the people suffering from Syngenesophobia (yes, fear of relatives) to be enjoying this really tasty Shiraz from Australia!

Cascina Castle’t Barbera D’Asti “Scooter” wine! Okay, I’ll need you to bear with me for this one, as it might seem a bit of a stretch. This is a tasty Barbera D’Asti from the Piedmont region of Italy. The label features four cute little girls (Possibly sisters! Gasp!) sitting on a Vespa. Now besides the people who fear little girls (Parthenophobia), one must keep in mind that the Vespa gets its name from the Italian word for Wasp, named so from the buzzing noise that it makes heading down the street. Now if it’s not too much of a stretch, the Scooter Wine might frighten someone with Spheksophobia (fear of wasps.)

Dead Horse! Yes, I bet there are quite a few of you that wouldn’t like this so much, anyway, as dead horses are not a very fun image for any of us. But it’s far worse for an Equinophobe (fears horses) or a Necrophobe (fears dead bodies). Put the two together and we have Equinonecrophobia! Now, Dead Horse is an awful name for a wine, you might be thinking, however the name for Mark Ryan’s Bordeaux-Style blend actually comes from a loose translation of the Washington vineyard’s French name, Ciel de Cheval, or Horse Heaven. That would sound better to most of us, but not to an Ouranophobe! (one with a fear of heaven). Or, if it’s possible, an equinoranophobe (one who fears Horse Heaven).

Kangarilla Road! Okay. . .this one just sounds like a monster. What is a Kangarilla, anyway? Part Kangaroo, part Godzilla? Imagine a giant firebreathing kangaroo, levelling downtown Melbourne. There’s something scary for you! And in terms of Aussie Shiraz, it IS a monster.

Alright, so I’ve gone on far too long. But it was fun, wasn’t it? Perhaps not for someone with Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (fear of long words, or long-winded emails). So I suggest for you all to show up to the Spoooookiest tasting of the year! Unless, of course you suffer from Oenophobia (fear of wine), Potophobia (fear of alcohol), Dipsophobia (fear of drinking), or Porphyrophobia (fear of the color purple. . .no, the color, not the movie. . .that might be considered Oprahphobia, but I digress.)

Happy Halloween! (Or, for Friday, All Hallow’s Eve Eve Eve, just to beat a dead horse.)

So Friday, October 29th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Face Your Fears! A Spooky Wine Selection!
Maddogs & Englishmen 2003 Shiraz-Cabernet-Mourvedre, Jumilla, Spain
Toad Hollow 2002 Le Faux Frog “Apropos” Syrah, Vin de Pays D’Oc, France
Diablo de Uco 2001 Malbec, Uco Valley, Tupongato, Argentina
Four Sisters 2002 Shiraz, Victoria, Australia
Cascina Castle’t 2002 Barbera D’Asti “Scooter Wine”, Piedmont, Italy

The Extra-Special Premium Pours:
Mark Ryan 2001 Dead Horse, Red Mountain, Washington
Kangarilla Road 2002 Shiraz, McLarren Vale, Australia

A stellar deal at $10 for the first 5, and $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours.
Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!

***Extra Special Tasting Next Tuesday! Election Day Tasting!***
For those not suffering from Politicophobia (fear of Politicians) I am serving up smaller flights of all-American reds, while we watch the ballots roll in! I imagine we’ll all need a good glass of wine this time around! I’ll be tasting 3 wines for a nominal tasting charge. I’ll be pouring from 4:30 until 7:00, or a bit later, Florida notwithstanding. Come here and celebrate (or mourn) the American Democratic system!

Next Friday is Wines of Italy’s Tuscany!
M