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1040 discussions

by Jim L. Ellingson

Date: Wed, 9 Aug 2006 10:21:16 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: [wine] Any Italy at Trat. de Vinci ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Italian Wines from Tuscany and anywhere S. of Tuscany. (2/15) Trattoria da Vinci 400 Sibley St., St. P, 55101 222-4050 It's in the "far end" of down town St. Paul, near the Farmer's Market. If you're traveling on I94, take the 7th St. Exit. Who? Betsy Bob Lori Bill Janet Ruth yes Warren ?? Russ yes Sue ?? Dave? Nicolai? Karin? Annette? Cheers, Jim Unrelated wine but the story hits close to home. Our man in the sun, Tim T, writeabout Rhones going "respectable". Boohoo for Rhone wine funksters Jason, Ted. Not sure Bob will like them any better, but at least they'll be "clean". Rhone's Cornas cleans up its act Tim Teichgraeber, Special to The Chronicle Friday, February 9, 2007 Cornas vineyards produce wines that rival the best of the... Northern Rhone. Chronicle Graphic Editor's note: Look for The Essentials, profiles on noteworthy wine regions across the United States and around the world, every few weeks in Wine. The regions of Cote Rotie and Hermitage in France's northern Rhone Valley produce some of the world's most coveted Syrahs, long-lived, complex wines that are adored around the world. Syrahs from the nearby region of Cornas haven't always enjoyed the same respect. Syrah from Cote-Rotie is famous for its lavish fruit, smoky, bacon-like notes and heady aromatics, often boosted with a small dose of Viognier. Syrah from Hermitage is known for its plush mouthfeel, structure and spice. The slightly warmer, south-facing granite slopes of Cornas give its wines deep, dark fruit flavors and a stony streak of granite minerality and plenty of grainy tannin that can be comparatively brutish. Through the 1990s, wines from Cornas endured faint praise. They've been called coarse, rustic, even "knuckle draggers." Robert M. Parker Jr. described Cornas' tannins as "savage," and after a disappointing tasting of older Cornas wines in 2000, a frustrated Jancis Robinson (a Chronicle contributor) dubbed them "obdurate." I'm pretty sure she didn't mean it as a compliment. "When I started learning a bit about wine, all of the books always described (Cornas wines) as coarse and harsh, but I don't know that I find that to be true," says Steve Ledbetter of Berkeley wine importer Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, which imports wines from Cornas producers Thierry Allemand, Noel Verset and Domaine Clape. Ledbetter says Cornas can be quite silky once it's had a few years to settle down. Another Cornas fan is Stephane Lacroix, sommelier at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco. Lacroix attended the Tain L'Hermitage Wine School in the northern Rhone and even worked a harvest for Cornas producer Robert Michel. "They don't have quite as much finesse as a Cote Rotie or Hermitage, but it has more of that meaty quality to it. It's a very old wine, and an outstanding wine for this time of year, when the game season comes in and the truffle season comes in," says Lacroix. "They're fairly popular in France, but more in the fall or winter. You don't really think about drinking Cornas in the summer." Lately some sophisticated wines from Cornas have been turning heads, and the region seems to be shedding its brutish reputation. In the last 30 years Cornas received a badly needed infusion of new blood -- an influx of newcomers like Michel and Allemand, along with Jean-Luc Colombo, now a prominent consulting oenologist and advocate for the region. Even at older Cornas estates like Clape a new generation has been coming up; son Pierre-Marie Clape now shares winemaking duties with his father, Auguste. Cornas had been slow to adopt improved growing and winemaking techniques, and to adapt its style to modern tastes, says Colombo. "Wines are getting more and more civilized," he explains, "and as Cornas is a very small appellation, it was left remote, and perhaps late in this evolution." Colombo credits Cornas' surge in quality to better growing techniques, cleaner cellars and barrels, and better temperature control in wineries -- the same things that have improved wines from so many other regions around the world. Cornas fans often distinguish between modern producers, of which Colombo is perhaps the most well known, and traditional producers, such as Clape and Verset. Colombo's wines are a bit more fruit-driven and have softer tannins. Some clearly believe that they are too "international" in style and not typical of the region. One importer tersely remarked that he hardly considered Colombo's wines to be Cornas at all. Colombo, for his part, isn't particularly interested in debating the issue. "The distinction between traditional and contemporary is idiotic. There is no traditional and contemporary Pauillac," he says, drawing a comparison to a Bordeaux appellation. The Clapes are usually cited as representatives of Cornas' old guard. Their wines have plenty of tannin and a reputation for longevity, but few dispute the complexity or class of Clape's Cornas. Winemaker Pierre-Marie Clape seldom destems the Syrah clusters before fermentation, and ages the domain's wines in traditional large oak tanks called foudres. A recent cellar tasting of Clape vintages going back to 1998 showed the wines to have enough dense, dark fruit to balance their tense structure. The Clape wines made before 2002 had mildly barnyardy aromas that some might consider rustic, but the recent vintages are cleaner, more vibrant and expressive. They're made in a traditional way, but have modern appeal. When top sommeliers and Rhone aficionados chatter about Cornas, the other name that invariably comes up is Allemand, a relative newcomer to the region. Allemand had no real experience in winegrowing before taking a cellar job with Robert Michel and buying a small parcel of land in the early 1980s. Since then, Allemand has employed a hodgepodge of modern and traditional growing and winemaking techniques to make wines that have few detractors. His "Reynard" and "Chaillot" single-vineyard bottlings and his Cornas cuvee are among the most expensive from the region -- hot commodities that generally sell for $75 to $100 a bottle. What's interesting about Allemand's wines is that they don't spark much ideological debate, just glowing admiration. Hopefully that's a harbinger of things to come for the region. Why rile yourself up debating which of these Syrahs are modern and which are traditional when they're all so good? There's Cornas to be drunk, and it's more civilized than ever. Remarkable what a shave and a haircut can do. Tasting Notes Wines from Cornas, when you can find them, sell for less than those from Cote Rotie or Hermitage but often rival them in quality. That doesn't mean these bottles come cheap, though. Expect a bottle of Cornas to set you back between $35 and $90. Today's wines from Cornas are still loaded with minerality and tannin, but they're more polished and cleaner than they once were. I tasted 12 bottles from seven producers and four different vintages and these were my favorites. All were remarkably sound, well-made wines with genuine regional flair. I'd be impressed to see that kind of consistency from any region, and it just goes to show that the rising tide of quality in Cornas has raised all ships. 2003 Domaine Clape Renaissance ($50) The venerable Clape family is keeping pace with the young guns of Cornas. This wine has sweet plum, cherry, raspberry aromas laced with pepper, mint, violets and coffee. It's richer tasting than the nose suggests, more so with time. Juicy but nimble, with a peppery, minerally finish. 2004 Jean-Luc Columbo La Louvee ($85) A very dynamic wine with aromas of blackberry, black cherry, gunpowder, licorice and mint, and rich but focused fruit flavors that finish with grainy granite tones, a touch of alcoholic heat and gentle, surprisingly tame tannins. 2004 Jean-Luc Columbo Terres Brulees ($78) Lucid deep scarlet in color with lavish plum, cherry, blackberry, vanilla, bacon, pepper, mint, leather and black licorice aromas and flavors. A massive, mouth-coating wine with spicy red fruit, soft oaky tones and sturdy tannins. 2000 Noel Verset ($50) An elegant, subtle Cornas from a veteran grower with pronounced black pepper, violet, cherry and plum aromas, edgy cherry and plum fruit flavors and hints of licorice and grilled meat on the stony, firm finish. 2003 Paul Jaboulet Aine Les Grandes Terrasses ($42) Full-bodied and mouth-filling with sweet raspberry, coffee and blackberry flavors giving way to taut mineral notes and sturdy tannins, toast and chocolate flavors. A solid value. 2002 Robert Michel La Geynale ($50) An enjoyable but more sinewy wine from a cooler vintage with pretty violet, black pepper and anise aromas, and stony cherry and plum flavors, finishing with meaty notes and tightly wound tannin. 2003 Thierry Allemand ($85) This cuvee from the tricky, hot 2003 vintage is stunning right out of the gate, with intense blackberry, clove, pepper, coriander, licorice, blueberry aromas and concentrated black fruit flavors finishing with more licorice and vanilla oak notes and stony, granite flavors. Truly exceptional. 2004 Vincent Paris Granit 60 Vielles Vignes ($35) Closed at first, then unwinds to reveal pretty rose petal, black pepper, black cherry, cranberry and blackberry aromas, compact dark fruit flavors and tight mineral notes on the finish. Subtly oaked and impeccably balanced, a great value and certain to improve with age -- T.T. Tim Teichgraeber is a San Francisco writer. E-mail him at wine(a)sfchronicle.com. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/02/09/WIGPBNVNQH1.DTL This article appeared on page F - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

18 years, 10 months

[wine] [bdl525@yahoo.com: Update from Black Diamond Liquor]

by Jim L. Ellingson

Nice time at Craftsman. Check it out if you missed out. Sunday. Bubbly at Ursula. Champagne is the order of the day, but ringers, dessert, etc. are always welcome. Next week. Anything Italian at Trat Da Vinci in St. Paul Here's an e-mail from Nicolais store. We'll be in da U P. Cheers, Jim ----- Forwarded message from Brenda Szoka <bdl525(a)yahoo.com> ----- Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2007 10:07:55 -0800 (PST) From: Brenda Szoka <bdl525(a)yahoo.com> Subject: Update from Black Diamond Liquor To: Kristine Carlson <goteamcarlson(a)yahoo.com> Dear Wine Lovers, Now that we have survived the holiday season its time to look forward to 2007 with anticipation. The latest news is that the United States is close to surpassing France in wine consumption. With that in mind we are proud to announce our first ever wine sale. From February 12th through the 24th Black Diamond Liquor will have over 100 wines on sale from around the world. Whether its a Pinot Gris from Oregon or Shiraz from Australia, a wonderful variety of wines will be available at greatly reduced prices. In conjunction with this sale Black Diamond Liquor will be holding its first wine tasting benefit to help those in our community. Proceeds from this event will help support essential programs at the Mt. Calvary Family Resource Center. Mt. Calvary Resource Center is a food shelf and education resource center that serves people in need living in the south metro suburbs. It is located at 3910 Rahn Rd. in Eagan. You are cordially invited to our wine tasting event. It will take place on Saturday, February 17th from 4-8 pm at Black Diamond Liquor located at 525 Diffley Rd Suite 2050 in Eagan. Black Diamond will be sampling 30 40 wines from around the world. The tasting is free and open to the public. High quality Riedel wine glasses will be available for purchase for only $ 10.00 per glass. You may use the glass during the tasting and take it home to keep. You do not have to purchase a glass to participate. Small tasting cups will be provided. In addition we will be having a silent auction. Additional donations of cash and non-perishable food items are welcome. All proceeds from this event will go to Mt. Calvary Family Resource Center. Please invite your friends and joins us for this fun event! We would also thank everyone for your support by signing the petition in favor of a coffee shop. Eagan city council has changed the ban on our mall. We are now allowed to have a coffee/deli shop. Plans are underway and Old Lodge Coffee hopes to open this spring! Thanks to all of you. We hope to see all of you again soon! Keep watching your mail, (both e-mail and US), for the Money Mailer, Eagan THIS WEEK Newspaper as well as ads in the Pioneer Press to learn about additional wine tasting events and money saving offers. Have a Great Day! Brenda & Nicolai --------------------------------- We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love (and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

18 years, 10 months

[wine] [jellings@me.umn.edu: Spanish at Craftsman, 4300 E. Lake TOnight

by Jim L. Ellingson

quick update ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2007 16:16:52 -0600 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: Spanish at Craftsman, 4300 E. Lake User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.9i X-Spam-Score: -1.44 () ALL_TRUSTED X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.56 on 128.101.142.226 ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 10:23:01 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Greetings, We had a nice meal at Sapor and some interesting wines. Bob has made the reservation for 8 people, Thursday at 6:30. We will adjust as needed. We had their House Cured ham on Saturday. It was phenomenal. The Craftsman Restaurant 4300 E. Lake St. (NE Corner) Minneapolis 612.722.0175 www.craftsmanrestaurant.com Bob Ruth Warren Bill Betsy Annette Russ (Sue is a maybe at this point) Jim guesses: Lori Dave T. Janet? Anyone else? Cheers, Jim

18 years, 10 months

[wine] Sunday Sparkling Brunch ... Seats still available!

by jhegstrom＠csom.umn.edu

There are a few seats available for this Sunday's brunch at Ursala's in White Bear Lake. 2:00 p.m.; $40 (includes tax/tip); four courses. If you are interested, please let me know by Wednesday evening since I need to call the restaurant thursday afternoon with the final count. Russ Sue Jim Louise Lori Bob Ted Carmen Bubbles

18 years, 10 months

[wine] Spanish at Craftsman, 4300 E. Lake

by Jim L. Ellingson

----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 10:23:01 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Greetings, We had a nice meal at Sapor and some interesting wines. Bob has made the reservation for 8 people, Thursday at 6:30. We will adjust as needed. We had their House Cured ham on Saturday. It was phenomenal. The Craftsman Restaurant 4300 E. Lake St. (NE Corner) Minneapolis 612.722.0175 www.craftsmanrestaurant.com Dave T. Bob Ruth Betsy Lori Russ Jim Janet? Annette? Anyone else? Cheers, Jim Spanish adventure Southern California wine lovers are crazy for bargain reds and whites from Spain. By Corie BrownTimes Staff Writer May 10, 2006 PULL up a stool at Lou's, a wine bar that opened six weeks ago, sandwiched between a fluff-and-fold laundromat and a pawn shop near the corner of Melrose and Vine, and Lou Amdur can tell you all about Spanish wines. Rich Garnachas from Priorato and bracing Albari�from R� Baixas? His customers ask for these wines by name. Is that surprising? Not any more. The wine intelligentsia who frequent Lou's, bargain hunters at Trader Joe's, diners who want to try something fun by the glass at restaurants such as Sona, Spago, Providence and Jar. all are members of L.A.'s growing fan club for Spanish wines. Labels that few had heard of a year ago now are on wine lists all around town. And not just the better-known Riojas and Ribera del Dueros that have long had cachet; wines from emerging regions are developing avid fans too. A year ago, the customers at Mission Wines in South Pasadena discovered the Spanish wine section, says owner Chris Meeske. Now, "I can't keep the wines in stock. They are selling like crazy." The wines fill a need left vacant by California winemakers, he says. "People need interesting wines they can drink every day. And there are no wines like that from California." The values are extraordinary, says Rajat Parr, wine director for Michael Mina's restaurant group. At Mina's new Stonehill Tavern at the St. Regis Resort Monarch Beach, the Tres Picos Garnacha offered for $12 a glass costs just $10 a bottle at local wine stores. How to justify that kind of markup? "People don't mind paying that for a glass of wine this good," he says. Orange County diners, Parr points out, are devoted to California wine. So he knew he was taking a risk when he cut back on local favorites to stock 50 Spanish wines. But, he says, "Spain has dialed it in. These wines are just right for the American palate. Lots of intense fruit." The Albari� Garnachas and Tempranillos will have to be hand-sold at first, Parr says. Then he predicts he'll have trouble keeping them in stock. Already, Spain has eclipsed Australian and Chilean wines on restaurant wine lists as the inexpensive alternative to California wines, say sommeliers. "They taste totally different than California wines, but they have that same intensity and structure," says Parr. And they cost half as much for the same quality. "No place in the world makes better value wines today than Spain," he says. A vine revival A revolution has swept Spain's wine industry. It started in the 1980s when a few independent winemakers started making ambitious wines. American wine lovers discovered them, and soon their popularity grew. Now vintners in every corner of Spain are dusting off old vineyards, overhauling wineries and cleaning up their acts in a bid to appeal to American wine drinkers. Suddenly, a seemingly limitless assortment of $10 and under bottles are for sale everywhere. Spanish wine sales in the United States rose 14.6% between 2004 and 2005, rising from 3.8 million cases worth $183 million to 4.3 million cases worth $209 million. Spanish wine sales in the U.S. started climbing in 1999 after a decade in which sales stagnated at around $75 million a year. It's all happening so fast that, unlike with every other wine region in the world, there are few experts focused on Spain. Only one wine writer, John Radford from Britain, has published a guide to Spanish wine that even attempts to be current and all-encompassing. "It will take another decade or two before Spain sorts through this revolution," says Doug Frost, an American Master of Wine who wrote the brief "The Far from Ordinary Spanish Wine Buying Guide," recently published by Wines From Spain, the Spanish wine industry's marketing arm. Until then, Spain will be a game where smart consumers keep up with the emerging regions and avoid getting snookered by the rising prices for wine from the more established regions. La Mancha and Calatayud were bulk wine regions that are now producing attractive, friendly red wines from Tempranillo and Garnacha grapes, respectively. Campo de Borja, a southern bit of the Navarra region below Rioja, is making intense and fruity Garnachas. In the R� Baixas zone in Galicia, the northwest corner of the country, crisp, fresh Albari�s king. And in Rueda, fruity, structured white wines made from Verdejo grapes rule. Spain was ripe for this revolution. With more vines than any other country in the world . 3 million acres compared with France's 2.3 million acres and the U.S.' 1 million acres . the country has a plentiful supply of grapes. But since the Spanish Civil War, vintners had farmed the fruit with little care, using it almost exclusively for nondescript jug wines. If it was growing on a difficult to harvest hillside, they often let the grapes rot on the vines. The abundance of vines dates back to Gen. Francisco Franco's failed agricultural policies in the 1950s. Spain's infamous military dictator, who ruled from 1939 until his death in 1975, subsidized the planting of "permanent" crops such as olive trees and grape vines that could be managed by state-sponsored cooperatives. Without a sense of ownership in what they produced, the cooperatives operated like state-run wine factories. Neglected dry-farmed vineyards struggled to survive. In regions such as Priorato and Bierzo, there were vineyards located in "gravity defying areas that were simply too [difficult] to rip out and replant," says Eric Solomon, one of a few American importers who discovered Spanish wine early. It was Jorge Ordo� a Spanish expatriate living in Boston, who first tapped the potential of those old Spanish vineyards. Growing up in the town of M�ga in southern Spain, Ordo�learned the wine business from his father, a gourmet food and wine distributor. After marrying his college sweetheart and moving to the States, the junior Ordo�set up a Spanish wine import company and started teaching Spanish vintners how to make wine the California way. 'Quality control' "SPAIN was very poor," says Ordo� "It took us forever to recover from the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s." The prize vineyards were there . high altitude, dry farmed, old-vine vineyards. "The problem was quality control," he says. "There was no sophistication with wine." As economic reforms led to an increase in privatization, independent vintners began to reject the collective approach to making wine. Ordo�pushed these small vintners to modernize their wineries with stainless steel fermenters and to move toward more hygienic operations. "I'm adamant about quality control," he says. "No bacteria." If a winery complied with his recommendations and he could count on the wine being stable, he'd import it to America. "I hate funky wines because they are short-lived," says Ordo� "I hate oxidized wines that have been improperly stored. They're cooked. I try to control as much of the process at the wineries as I can." It wasn't until 1990 that Ordo�had wines that sold well in the U.S.: the Garnachas and Tempranillos from Bodegas Borsao in Campo de Borja. As his portfolio of wineries grew, Ordo�took over marketing, packaging the wines with names such as "Wrongo Dongo" and "Mano a Mano." The first year, he sold 1,200 cases of Spanish wine. After eight years, he had enough business to hire his first employee. Now he sells more than half a million cases a year of Spanish wine in the United States. Ordo�was the icebreaker, says Solomon, who, along with Beaune Imports and Classical Wines of Spain, followed him. "Spain considered itself a third-world country. There was a malaise, a sense of 'we're not worthy of sharing the stage with the rest of the fine wine world,' " Solomon says. Solomon was an importer singularly focused on French wine 12 years ago when he tasted the Spanish wine that would change his life. It was Daphne Glorian's Clos Erasmus from Priorato. He liked it so much he married the winemaker and started searching for other wines as delicious as his wife's. In the last six years, the volume of Spanish wine Solomon imports into the U.S. has grown fifteenfold, he says. "The economy in Spain now is booming," says Solomon. "It's no longer the place to go when you have no money. For growers to make a living, to do the quality work that still needs to be done, the prices have to go up." The success of the inexpensive Spanish wines flowing out of the country isn't lost on longer-established Spanish wine entrepreneurs. Price inflation is sweeping through celebrated regions such as Rioja and Ribera del Duero, where prices can exceed $100 for the most sought-after bottles, as well as through newcomer Priorato. The promises of instant riches is inspiring overzealous young vintners to chase critical accolades with heavily extracted wines that taste like California wannabes. "Some Spanish vintners are too eager to cash in on their newfound popularity," says Parr, "jacking up prices to astronomical levels." Balancing that inflation is the wine from up-and-coming regions such as La Mancha and Navarra. Still trying to get their foot in the door with American consumers, they have to keep prices below $10 a bottle. An ocean of inexpensive Spanish wine has yet to reach America, says Fran Kysela, an importer who last year in the U.S. sold 50,000 cases of $6 wines from Calatayud. "The market is quick to respond to these wines." Steady transformation OF course, not all of Spain's inexpensive wines are worth drinking: The less-than-appealing ones can be funky, jammy or oxidized. "It's been a quiet revolution," says Solomon. "But the sleeping giant is waking up. The floodgates are now open. It's not just us little guys ferreting out small producers making better wines," he says. There now are a host of undemanding importers betting that these days anything with a Spanish label will sell. And more significantly, the behemoth wine companies . Constellation Brands and E. & J. Gallo Winery . have arrived in Spain, says Solomon. They are competing to be the first to create the Spanish equivalent of Australia's Yellow Tail: a simple, bulk wine with easy to drink fruity flavors. And there's a drawback to that thinking. "A certain homogeneity" has emerged in the rush to make wine that appeals to the expanding American wine market, Parr says. Bringing Spanish wineries up to acceptable health standards with modern technology and oak barrel fermentation got rid of the oxidized and funky smells and flavors associated with rustic wines. It also left the wines tasting a lot less, well, Spanish. Most people don't know the wines, most have never heard of these regions, but they can taste the quality, says Jar's wine director Bob Silverstein. He recently started dedicating 10% of the restaurant's wine list to Spanish wines. "I had to make room for them," he says. "The quality was there." A primer on grapes and places Emerging regions Bierzo. Fruit from the signature Menc�vines from this region in northwest Tierra de Castilla go into reds that are terrific food wines, with more finesse than power. Campo de Borja. An emerging area south of Rioja, where the old-vine Garnacha vineyards climb the slopes of Sierra del Moncayo. Cari�. South of Campo de Borja, Cari� is the birthplace of a namesake grape variety, though Garnacha is the dominant grape. Calatayud. East of Cari�, Calatayud's high-altitude, old-vine Garnacha is just starting to show up in wines for export. Empord�osta Brava. This coastal zone of Catalunya has newly planted Tempranillo, Cabernet and Chardonnay vineyards. The signature wine is a rosado (ros�made from Garnacha and Cari� grapes. Jumilla. A hot, high-altitude region southwest of Valencia known for bulk wine, Jumilla now is making modern wine with its old-vine Monastrell grapes. La Mancha. South of Madrid, the flat, inland region is hot in the summer, freezing in the winter, and dry all the time. White Air� and Tempranillos predominate. Navarra. Near the French border, west of Catalunya, the region is known for Garnacha, much of which is made into rosados. Tempranillo production is rising. Priorato. An area of Catalunya known for a wide elevation span (328 to 2,297 feet) and slate and quartzite soils; artisanal winemakers have planted Cabernet Sauvignon, but Garnacha and Cari� still predominate. R� Baixas. This low-land, coastal region in Galicia, bordering Portugal, is known for its fresh, light Albari� Rueda. A Castilian region known for its white wines . Sauvignon Blanc, Verdejo and blends of the two . as well as Tempranillo. Tierra de Castilla. The historic heartland of Castilian Spain includes the wine zones Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Toro and Bierzo. Toro. Located within Tierra de Castilla, the region is known for its intense Tempranillos. Garnachas and Cabernets also are grown in the high-elevation vineyards. Valencia. The region surrounding the Mediterranean town of Valencia encompasses the Alicante, Valencia and Utiel-Requena zones, which grow a wide variety of grapes. Grape varieties Albari�A white wine grape native to Galicia known for producing wines with fresh peachy flavors, but it can also produce wines with the potential to gain complexity with age. Garnacha. A grape widely grown throughout Spain's northern regions, it adds spicy, cherry flavors to traditional Rioja red wines. Known in France as Grenache. Macabeo. Also known as Viura, this white wine grape used in Spain's sparkling cavas is the main white wine of Rioja and Navarra. Menc� A red wine grape that grows on hillside slopes and terraces in Bierzo, it's often blended with Garnacha to make an early-drinking wine. Tempranillo. The predominant red wine grape throughout Spain, it makes long-lasting, fragrant, fruity wines. It's the backbone of traditional Riojas. Verdejo. A white grape considered one of Spain's best; it makes aromatic wines with character. . Corie Brown Sources: "The New Spain: A Complete Guide to Contemporary Spanish Wine" by John Radford, 2004; "The Wines of Spain" by Julian Jeffs, 1999 THE Times tasting panel met recently for a blind tasting of Spanish wines widely available at Los Angeles area retailers for $13 and less. Joining me on the panel were Food editor Leslie Brenner, Food columnist Russ Parsons and Randy Kemner, owner of the Wine Country in Signal Hill. The good news is there were plenty of simple but pleasing wines in this value category, as well as some surprisingly delightful wines that cost as little as $4. Our favorite white wine among the Albari� Verdejos and regional blends was the 2003 Protocolo, which retails for about $6. The best of the reds, which included Garnachas, Tempranillos and blends, was the 2003 Las Rocas de San Alejandro, an old-vines Garnacha that sells for about $10. Wines are listed in order of the panel's preference. . Corie Brown Whites 2003 Protocolo. A blend from Dominio de Eguren in Tierra de Castilla, imported by Jorge Ordo� A well-balanced, earthy wine with intriguing aromas of lemon and olive oil, a bit of complexity and a melony finish. At Liquid Wine & Spirits in Chatsworth, (818) 709-5019, and Mission Wines in South Pasadena, (626) 403-9463, about $6. 2004 Con Class. A white wine blend from Rueda, imported by Eric Solomon's European Cellars. Sauvignon Blanc-like, with bracing acid, peach nectar and herbal flavors and aromas of fresh hay. Simple and pleasant. At Mel & Rose Wine and Spirits in West Hollywood, (323) 655-5557, and Wine Country in Signal Hill, (562) 597-8303, about $9. 2004 Rocaberdi. A blend (80% Macabeo, 20% Xarel-lo) from Catalonia, via Beaune Imports. A touch of oak dampens the tart grapefruit and peach aromas in this fun and likable blend. Nicely structured with crisp, bracing acids. At Wine Country, about $8. 2004 Naia. Imported by Jorge Ordo� this bracing Verdejo from Rueda offers citrus aromas and flavors of freshly cut grass and sweet lime. At Mel & Rose Wine and Spirits and Mission Wines, about $11. 2004 Floresta. A blend (55% Macabeo, 45% Chardonnay) from Empord�osta Brava, imported by Beaune Imports. Peach and apricot aromas, with pleasant creamy apricot and tangerine flavors. At Liquid Wine and Spirits and the Wine Country, about $10. 2004 Burg� Albari�From R� Baixas, imported by Eric Solomon. Floral aromas, with a touch of turpentine, this wine has an off-putting vanilla- extract taste and an unpleasant finish. At Mel & Rose Wine and Spirits and Wine Country, about $10. 2004 Vionta Albari�With off-putting milk-chocolate aromas, this wine was badly oxidized. At Wine Hotel in L.A., (323) 937-9463, about $13. Reds 2003 Las Rocas de San Alejandro Vi�Viejas Garnacha. From old vines in Calatayud, imported by Eric Solomon. This wine, with its eucalyptus and herbal aromas and notes of tobacco and leather, has some character and complexity. At Mission Wines, about $10. 2004 Tres Picos Borsao Garnacha. From Campo de Borja, imported by Jorge Ordo� Sweet, smoky nose with flavors of black cherry and spices, this wine would pair well with charcuterie. At the Duke of Bourbon in Canoga Park, (818) 341-1234; Liquid Wine & Spirits; and Wine House in West L.A., (310) 479-3731, about $12. 2004 Mano a Mano. From La Mancha, imported by Jorge Ordo� This juicy Tempranillo has ripe berry and cassis aromas, black cherry flavors and a pleasant finish with some length. At Joan's on Third in Los Angeles, (323) 655-2285, and Mission Wines, about $9. 2004 Abrazo del Toro. A blend (80% Garnacha, 20% Tempranillo) from Cari�. A young, drinkable wine with charming cherry aromas. At Trader Joe's stores, about $4. 2004 Wrongo Dongo. A blend from Jumilla, imported by Jorge Ordo� This one-note green peppery wine has off-aromas. At Mission Wines and Duke of Bourbon, about $7. 2004 La Nunciatura Tempranillo. From La Tierra de Castilla. Odd chocolate and grape aromas mar the simple, undistinguished flavors that follow. At Trader Joe's, about $4. 2004 Coto de Hayas Garnacha Centenaria. From Campo de Borja. Sweet grapey aromas with an off-putting chemical note, a heavy dose of oak on the palate. Available at Mel & Rose Wine and Spirits and Wine House, about $11. 2004 Tikalo Albaliza. A pleasant yet undistinguished blend (65% Tempranillo, 35% Garnacha) from Tierra de Castilla, imported by Eric Solomon. Purple grape aromas with a funky leather flavor. At Wine House and Mel & Rose Wine and Spirits, about $6. 2001 Estola Reserva. The panel disagreed on this blend from Bodegas Ayuso in La Mancha , with curious licorice and menthol aromas. One panelist found it to be like an acceptable fruity jug wine; another called it "watery and bad at the same time." At Trader Joe's, about $5. 2003 Verole�A blend (70% Garnacha, 30% Merlot) from Navarra. The bottle we opened was so badly oxidized it was undrinkable. At Trader Joe's, about $5.

18 years, 10 months

[wine] Jeff's contact info

by Jeff Grossman

Hi all, It is confirmed now that my work in Minneapolis is complete. I have enjoyed meeting all of you and sharing some lovely dinners together. If you ever have some time in New York City, let me know and we'll pull a few corks! Be well. Jeff // Jeff Grossman // 199 Clinton Street, #2 // Brooklyn, NY 11201 // // 718.852.0884

18 years, 10 months

[wine] TC Rest Article, strib.

by Jim L. Ellingson

StarTribune.com RN020107 Last update: January 31, 2007 . 5:22 PM Restaurants: What went wrong? Chef-driven. Food-forward. Whatever the words, January was a bleak month for the category, with three such Minneapolis restaurants closing in nearly as many weeks. By Rick Nelson, Star Tribune Chef-driven. Food-forward. Whatever the words, January was a bleak month for the category, with three such Minneapolis restaurants closing in nearly as many weeks. First was Levain, which opened at 48th Street and Chicago Avenue S. in Minneapolis in 2003. For chef Steven Brown and his crew, the party was over on New Year's Eve. Then came Five Restaurant & Street Lounge, which opened at 29th Street and Bryant Avenue S. in September 2005 as a high-profile platform for chef Stewart Woodman's talents; it sputtered to a halt barely two months after the restaurant's ownership gave Woodman his walking papers. For many the biggest shock was chef Doug Flicker's announcement that his Auriga, the Lowry Hill foodie favorite, was going dark after nearly 10 years in the business. Coincidence? A demographics shift, a souring economy, a surplus in upscale seats? Bad luck? Thirteen Twin Cities chefs, restaurateurs and suppliers offer their theories on Dark January. PHIL ROBERTS Co-owner, Manny's, Chino Latino, Figlio, Oceanaire Seafood Room, Minneapolis; Salut Bar Americain, Edina; Muffuletta, St. Paul "I have an aversion to fancy dining. I like to go to fancy restaurants, but I wouldn't want to own one; there are too many fancy funerals out there. Minneapolis is, in my opinion, a two-star city. We aren't Chicago, where Tru is busy every night of the week. Still, I don't think there's a trend going on here. It could be that there just isn't enough of the Armani crowd to fill these restaurants on a regular basis. There's an awful lot of Lutheran DNA here, and that's a prescription for safety in dining. There's just a limited number of folks here who will warm up to sea urchin crè brû It may have something to do with price, but not always. The average check at Manny's is $80, and it's packed every night. But it's not fancy, and you take some steak home and have a sandwich the next day. Oceanaire has a $60 check average, but it's easy to understand. There's not a lot of mystique with a piece of broiled halibut rubbed with lemon and olive oil. Part of it might be that there is always going to be a new girl in the whorehouse, you know? Right now the Chambers is the new redhead." RICHARD D'AMICO Co-owner, D'Amico Cucina, Cafe Lurcat and Bar Lurcat, Masa, D'Amico & Sons and Campiello, Minneapolis "Has this happened before? Yeah, with Goodfellow's and Aquavit. The economy is great, we can't complain about that, although I don't think restaurants have recovered from 9/11. At some of our restaurants, sales are up but not back to pre-9/11 levels. And there has been a ton of new, really high-quality operations that have come into the market. That makes everybody better. Minneapolis isn't a foodie town. It's headed that way, but it has a long way to go. It won't be a foodie town until this renaissance of people moving downtown is complete. That city lifestyle is what needs to occur for us to become a foodie town, and we're just in the beginnings of that." DOUG ANDERSON Co-owner, A Rebours, St. Paul "It's a purging. I think it's criminal that Levain and Auriga aren't open, because Steven and Doug are masters of their craft. Part of it is that people here are less inclined to deal with experimentation. They want what they know; they don't want to take a gamble. They want roast chicken. I also think people are tired of being told that they have to spend lots of money to get great food. It seems like Isaac [Becker, chef/co-owner of 112 Eatery in Minneapolis] is the smartest guy right now. You can spend $10 at his restaurant and still get great food. People also want to be somewhere that has a look. If people are going to spend $150 at dinner and want to be dressed great, they want a place that affirms their perceptions of themselves. It's going to happen at the Chambers, but not at 48th and Chicago." STEVE HORTON Co-owner Rustica Bakery, Minneapolis, which supplies bread to a half-dozen Twin Cities restaurants "It's sad to see these places go, but I wonder if maybe we got overbuilt on the high end in this market. I wonder if there is an overestimation of the number of people [available] to sustain these high-end restaurants. It is telling that these three restaurants are not middle-priced restaurants. There is a lot of money in the Twin Cities, but a lot of it is in the suburbs, and they're just not coming into the city on a frequent basis. I'm not saying we're all flyover people, but in some degree we are still in the middle of a food revolution, and the feeling I have is that people budget for dining more conservatively here than in other parts of the country." KIM BARTMANN Owner, Cafe Barbette and Bryant Lake Bowl, Minneapolis "If you're having some economic difficulties and anticipating having to give up the dream, it's typical in the industry to take the time after New Year's to take stock and make some hard decisions. I don't think that as a market we need to worry. The bar continues to be raised in Minneapolis. I do think that there is a little bit of a shift in the mood of diners. If you look around and see what's going to open in 2007, everyone is backpedaling from higher-ticket food and moving into comfort-food land. Myself included. That's what I enjoy, anyway. I don't need to pay extra for a contoured ceiling and a chef with a name." DAVID SHEA Architect, Shea Inc., Minneapolis, which has designed many Twin Cities restaurants "My theory is that fine dining restaurants have been circling the wagon downtown. La Belle Vie, Vincent, 20.21, Chambers Kitchen, the Dakota, they're all within or near the downtown core and its expense-account crowd. It's the area where people are willing to spend money. But the neighborhoods? They work well for Turtle Bread or Corner Table, all casual and less expensive. Bryant Lake Bowl fits its neighborhood, it works great. But Five was in the wrong location. The business traveler is not going to go to make a destination out of a fine dining restaurant that's behind the Bryant Lake Bowl." ALEX ROBERTS Chef/co-owner, Restaurant Alma, Minneapolis "It's tough when you're only thriving on the weekends. How do you keep it fresh, and keep people working, when you're doing 15 or 20 covers on a Wednesday? A slow restaurant never does its best work; at a certain point it defeats even the best chefs. There's something in our dining culture where people don't reward the art of fine dining. The blame doesn't rest solely on the public, but also on chefs. You can't say the customer is wrong. You have to change what you do in order to stay alive. I'm not implying that we're doing a better job, because I don't think that. Are we going to be busier now, with these closings? Maybe. But it's shakier ground all the way around, at least that's how it feels to me." SCOTT PAMPUCH Chef/co-owner, Corner Table, Minneapolis "Too many seats? I don't know if I agree with that. This town can handle more seats, but it's fickle. The stars have to align: A perfect location, dining room, food, service. It's not the first time we've seen a rash of restaurant closings after the first of the year. It's the market correcting itself, people making decisions to get out of the business. There will be more restaurants opening. People have come to expect that that's going to happen." JEFF PIERCE Co-owner, Great Ciao, Minneapolis, a fine-foods distributor "There are a lot of fine-dining seats, and many of them that are still around are backed by a hotel, a museum, a theater. It's hard for an independent, chef-driven restaurant to succeed in this market. Minnesotans don't necessarily put their money where their mouth is. I heard someone recently say, 'They have great buffalo at Auriga.' That hasn't been on the restaurant's menu for five years, so that tells you how often they ate at the restaurant." LENNY RUSSO Chef, Cue, Minneapolis "The knee-jerk reaction that fine dining is done for in the Twin Cities drives me up the wall. It's absurd. If you looked at restaurant closings over the past year, you'd see that a lot more casual than fine-dining restaurants had closed. I've seen this happen a million times in this town. Openings cycle up and down, and not just in fine dining. You'll see a rash of openings, then the market gets saturated and a few players fall off. We'll probably see some more closings, and then we'll see openings. Auriga had 10 years, That's a good run in anyone's book. It's about three times longer than the industry average, so that's successful, if you ask me." TIM NIVER Co-owner, Town Talk Diner, Minneapolis "Is Minneapolis ready for a whole bunch of chef-driven places? There are a lot of rich people in this town, and they spend tons of money at Manny's and Oceanaire, but those restaurants are concept-driven, not chef-driven. I worked for Phil Roberts, and one day I hope that I wake up and own five restaurants and can sit in an office and dream up concepts, but that's really freakin' hard. That's why there are only a couple of big boys in town. They're the ones that keep propagating other stuff around town." TIM LAUER Manager, Coastal Seafoods, Minneapolis, which supplies fish and seafood to many Twin Cities restaurants "It's sad, but not a shock. Let's be honest, we've seen this happen before. When Aquavit left town, everyone said, 'The Twin Cities can't support a restaurant of that caliber.' I never thought that was true. It's different answers for different places. Five had different problems than Auriga, which had different problems than Levain. Although in the end they all had the same problem: No customers. How many people are out there that want to spend $150 on dinner? That's a limited demographic. If you looked at the number of high-end restaurants even five years ago, my guess is that it was a radically smaller number ... compared to now, and I don't know that the clientele has grown at the same pace. Then there are people like Jean-Georges [Vongerichten, of Chambers Kitchen] who come to town and do an incredible business, and that has to come from somewhere." JOSH THOMA Co-owner, La Belle Vie and Solera, Minneapolis "Having worked in this business since 1991, I've seen a gradual decline in fine-dining business spending over the years. I was reading a survey by the National Restaurant Association which said that 45 percent of fine dining at restaurants comes from visitors and travelers, and that segment has gone down over the years. Businesses are more likely to do things electronically rather than meet face-to-face, and that has an impact on restaurants. Every restaurant has a life cycle. With Auriga, they made great food for 10 years. I'm sure a lot of their business came from the Guthrie; even in the short time that the [former] Guthrie was open before it moved to the river, we saw a lot of business from it at La Belle Vie. And it's one of those things where you get into a pattern of having a certain cash flow, and suddenly it disappears and that has a huge negative impact on your bottom line. " Rick Nelson . RDNELSON(a)STARTRIBUNE.COM ©2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved. -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

18 years, 10 months

[wine] [jellings@me.umn.edu: Zin/Primitivo at Sapor Tonight

by Jim L. Ellingson

I've edited the list. My guess is it won't be crowded if we have some late additions. It's serious winter out there. Note that parking is ample, close and free. I've included a "Wine Caper" article. Lot's of Restaurant Quotes in today's strib. C, J ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:45:04 -0600 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com Subject: Zin/Primitivo at Sapor tomorrow User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.9i X-Spam-Score: -1.44 () ALL_TRUSTED X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.56 on 128.101.142.226 Been a while since we've been to Sapor..... Dara's declared the "End of the World" in this week's City Pages. Some quotes from Auriga, Levain, Five. Stay Warm. Cheers, Jim Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:25:05 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 16:12:23 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com We're going to Sapor at 6:30 on Thursday. Style du jour is Zinfandel $5 per person in leu of corkage. Part of their wine list is on their web site. If you happen to bring something that's on the list or the shelf (easier than you might think. Ask Russ about a split of something obscure he'd bought at a winery that was on their shelf as well.... ) we'll just save it for another week. We're never short of wine. http://www.saporcafe.com/ 428 N. Washington, Mpls 612 375 1971 Yes/Guess: Ruth Bob Russ Jim Fred P Betsy maybe/doubtful More guesses.... Lori Roger LeClair Dave Sapor is very close to Sam's Wine Shop (closes at 8:00 M-Th). No's from Annette S, Bill S, Karin/Nicolai, Warren. Thanks to all who responded. ----- End forwarded message ----- February 1, 2007 Atherton Journal In an Enclave of Serious Wine Lovers, a Mesmerizing Theft By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN ATHERTON, Calif. . It was perhaps the most Californian of crimes. Behind the electronic gates and freshly clipped hedges of an exclusive cul-de-sac, the thieves worked in the dead of night, ignoring watches, laptops and other ho-hum booty to cart away the ultimate prize: 450 bottles of wine, including a rare $11,000 1959 magnum from the Châau Péus in Bordeaux, France. Thus began what the police in this Silicon Valley town, one of the country.s most affluent ZIP codes, refer to as .the big wine caper. . a $100,000 theft, still under investigation, whose audacity has inspired Agatha Christie-like fascination among sophisticated oenophiles in the Bay Area. .It.s a worrying thing,. said Ken Chalmers, the assistant manager at Beltramo.s, a local wine purveyor who sells hard-to-come-by vintages to customers with pebbled driveways and lavender-lined walks. .If you drink a bottle of a .61 Bordeaux every five years and somebody swipes it, you.re not going to be happy. You can.t replace it. Wine is a very personal thing.. Like a sauvignon blanc with an ash-covered chèe, theft and wine make a heady pairing, especially in Atherton, the sought-after nesting place of venture capitalists and magnates like Charles Schwab, of the wealth management company, and Tom Proulx, the founder of the software company Intuit. Wine cellars are a fixture of daily life here, a common amenity along with home theaters, fitness centers and his-and-her offices. At some point between Dec. 28 and Jan. 4, while the homeowner was on vacation, the police said, the thief or thieves made their way to the basement, where the collection, much of it distinguished Bordeaux, was stored at an optimal 55 degrees. The police have not identified the victim. There was no sign of forced entry, indicating the possibility of an inside job, said Detective Sgt. Joseph C. Wade, who is in charge of the investigation. The house is gated, and a code and a key would have been needed to enter it, he said. The perpetrator had a discerning palate, leaving behind lesser vintages. The average bottle stolen was reported to be worth $3,000, and the collection included a magnum of 1959 Châau Beychevelle and a magnum of 2002 Jones Family cabernet, a Napa Valley cult wine. The mystery of the theft on Fair Oaks Lane has captivated a region obsessed with the vine, a place where The San Francisco Chronicle.s weekly Wine section is required reading. .The properties in Atherton are so large that it.s possible to imagine no one would notice,. said Stephen J. Bachmann, the chief executive of Vinfolio Inc., an online store and consultant service for private wine collectors, who also writes a blog. .It.s an interesting question of whether they had advanced knowledge of what was in the cellar. A lot of people don.t think of wine as an asset that needs to be protected. But they should.. In many ways, Bordeaux has assumed the status of liquid gold. .Like chocolate was to the Aztecs, wine has become the ultimate currency,. said Daphne Derven, an independent scholar on food and wine based in Eugene, Ore. .It appears that the thieves, whoever they were, had more faith in the stability and accruing value of the ultimate bottle of wine than the American dollar.. The crime is perhaps understandable given record increases in wine prices at auction, said Thomas Matthews, the editor of Wine Spectator, which recently reported on counterfeiting, in which labels are falsified. . In 2005, major auction houses in the United States and abroad sold $166 million worth of wine, Mr. Matthews said. Last year, sales rose to $240 million, with numerous world records, like the 50 cases of 1982 Mouton-Rothschild that sold for $1.05 million at Sotheby.s. Although theft of private wine collections is uncommon, Mr. Matthews said theft at wine warehouses in the United States and Europe was on the rise. With yet-to-be released vintages, like a 2005 Châau Latour, fetching $800 a bottle, .that puts a lot of upward pressure on older wines,. he said. .In wine, the supply is finite. Rising prices are the result.. The crime.s swirling reach has extended even to New York, with the list of stolen wines making the rounds of retailers and distributors. .It.s going to be difficult to track,. said John Kapon, the auction director at Acker Merrall & Condit in New York. .The sad truth is, it should be relatively easy for whoever stole it to sell this wine without anyone being able to figure it out.. Unlike missing art and antiquities, hot wine has no official registry. .Something like an Amber alert would be very useful,. said George Derbalian, the president of Atherton Wine Imports, an importer of Burgundy and Bordeaux. Theresa Lawless, a manager for the Fireman.s Fund Insurance Company, in Novato, Calif., one of several major American insurers of private wine collections, said loss of wine was typically a result of fire or power failures, not theft. .But this will definitely make people think twice,. Ms. Lawless said. Wine cellar designers are increasingly installing fingerprint and voice recognition systems and crisscrossing laser beams that trigger alarms (àa the movie .Entrapment. with Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones), said Tod Ban, a wine cellar designer in Atlanta who recently completed such a cellar for a private collector with 27,000 bottles. Evan L. Goldenberg, an architect and owner of Design Build Consultants in Greenwich, Conn., said radio-frequency labels that allow the tracking of individual bottles were on the horizon. In Atherton, where cameras are embedded in oaks, the theft has caused deep unease. .You.ve got to be careful,. said a resident, speaking through her intercom. .There.s been a lot of trouble around here.. The case has lingering overtones for Sergeant Wade, who also was working on a case in nearby East Palo Alto, a city that has long wrestled with high crime rates. .An 18-year-old girl was shot point-blank in the head and I received no calls about it,. he said. .The wine theft? A gazillion. It kind of shows you where people.s values lie..

18 years, 10 months

[wine] Zin/Primitivo at Sapor tomorrow

by Jim L. Ellingson

Been a while since we've been to Sapor..... Dara's declared the "End of the World" in this week's City Pages. Some quotes from Auriga, Levain, Five. Stay Warm. Cheers, Jim Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2006 11:25:05 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com ----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> ----- Date: Mon, 22 May 2006 16:12:23 -0500 From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> To: wine(a)thebarn.com We're going to Sapor at 6:30 on Thursday. Style du jour is Zinfandel $5 per person in leu of corkage. Part of their wine list is on their web site. If you happen to bring something that's on the list or the shelf (easier than you might think. Ask Russ about a split of something obscure he'd bought at a winery that was on their shelf as well.... ) we'll just save it for another week. We're never short of wine. http://www.saporcafe.com/ 428 N. Washington, Mpls 612 375 1971 Yes/Guess: Ruth Betsy Bob Russ Jim More guesses.... Lori Roger LeClair Annette S Dave Sapor is very close to Sam's Wine Shop (closes at 8:00 M-Th). ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * * Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

18 years, 10 months

[wine] Re: Auriga on Thursday - Shiraz/Syrah

by Betsy Kremser

There are still three available places at the table at Auriga on Thursday night. Confirmed "Yes" include: Jim Louise Bob Ruth Betsy Let me know if you want one of the remaining spots. Betsy >>> "Betsy Kremser" <Betsy.Kremser(a)co.anoka.mn.us> 01/23/2007 7:14 AM >>> Sorry for any confusion between Jim's post and mine. I sent both my posts a couple of hours before Jim's posts showed up in my e-mail box. I have a suspicion that there was an issue with our e-mail server. Anyway, reservations are at Auriga, in the bar, strict limit of 8 people. Bob requested a definite "yes" RSVP to reserve your spot at the table. The Shiraz/Syrah theme is a go. Betsy

18 years, 10 months

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