Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

It’s that time of the day during that time of the week that we all look forward to! It’s the time for the Awesome Power that is the Carpe Vinum Newsletter of Many Words and Tasting Announcement Contained Therein. Herein. Wherein? This week we’re headed to California to sample the monster big reds they have to offer. Offer they do, and we accept! Want to talk about them for a little bit? Okay! I guess that’s what we’re here for!

So . . . I guess we don’t really need to talk about where or what California is. Yes, it’s that hot and steamy land to the South of our beauteous Oregon . . .It’s that state that’s shaped like a malfunctioning boomerang. (Which, by the way . . . isn’t a malfunctioning boomerang just a stick? That’s what I thought.) We’re all connected by one continuous veritable neuron net of pavement. And, as such, I think we’ve all been down that direction once or twice. Or have lived there through the Oregon/California Foreign Exchange Program. After all, are we Northern-Northern California or perhaps is California just Baja Oregon? Dunno. I digress . . .

Did you know they make some wine down there? Alright, I guess that’s not much of a secret either, considering all the Kendall-Jacksons and Mondavis and Gallos and Berringers and Wal Marts and McDonalds and Jiffy Lubes and . . . wait . . . where was I? Oh, yes. Huge, huge wine companies pumping out millions of gallons of grape-flavored ethanol. But through the wine lake, or rather, wine ocean of woody chardonnays and white zinfandels there are small islands and oasisses . . . (oasees? oasisesses? What the heck is the plural of oasis?) Oases! Small oases of independent wineries cranking out some monster reds from the land down under. (Down-Under-Oregon, that is.)

So what makes a monster red? It’s the sturdy and strong and heavy grape varieties that, when matched up with California’s hot growing season, produce a hearty red wines of bodacious fruit and power. Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Merlot, Mourvedre, Syrah, Grenache and Sangiovese, just to name a few. They make wines that have a bit more heft to them and seem nice and warm and comfortable on a cold, rainy, autumn day. There are lots of them, and it would take a lifetime to sort through them all. Partly because new wineries spring up all the time.

We’re in a kind of lucky spot up here in Oregon also because of that continuous slab of pavement, sometimes simply called “The 5″. It brings us a bit closer to that wine region and gives us some of these wine offerings that the rest of the country may not get at all. So here’s a collection of some hearty reds that have piqued my interest recently. The first five are blends of 3 or more grapes, some in seldom-seen-together combinations, and the final two are single-varietal wines of two of the heartiest grapes grown in California: Petite Sirah, and one of my new favorites, Mourvedre.

So Friday, November 3rd, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Big California Reds!!!
Byington 2001 Alliage (Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Syrah), Sonoma County
Hanna 2002 Two Ranch Red (Kitchen Sink Blend), Alexander Valley & Sonoma County
Mutt-Lynch 2004 “Portrait of a Mutt” (Zinfandel, Carignane, Petite Sirah), Sonoma County
Steven Vincent 2004 Crimson (Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre), Napa Valley
Tudal Winery 2004 Tractor Shed Red (Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Merlot), Napa Valley

More Big, Perhaps Bigger, Califiornia Reds!!!
Norman 2002 Petite Sirah, Paso Robles
Cline 2004 Mourvedre, Contra Costa County

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

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Wines of the French Languedoc and Provence!

M