The brand new release of Chronic Cellars Dead Nuts Zin is on the shelf at $21. This is a blend of 85% Zinfandel and 15% Petite Sirah. Chronic Cellars wines are extremely popular so get yours while you can.
Archive for the ‘Red Wine’ Category
Chronic Cellars Dead Nuts
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011St. Patricks Day Party, RiverStar Vineyards, Friday Night Flights
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010We’re starting the week off early on Wednesday with a St Patty’s Day Celebration starting at 5:00pm with $5 Guiness, $5 O’Rielly wines (from David O’Rielly of Owen Roe wines www.owenroe.com) and traditional Irish grub until 9:00pm. Note: nothing you’ll consume will be green, I promise, but please feel free to wear some green if you please.
This Thursday, 3/18 RiverStar Vineyards of Paso Robles www.riverstarvineyards.com will be visiting and educating us on their lineup of small production wines that are packed with flavor. I’m always in search of those small, family owned and operated wineries who made fab wines for everyday drinking – in other words, RiverStar is great wine that fits nicely into anyones budget.
Come out and taste for yourself 5 RiverStar wines and appetizers for $15, 3/18 between 6-9pm.
Flight night Friday from 5:00-9:00pm. Enjoy a different flight every Friday night for only $10. Pair with a cheese plate for $7 more. This Friday Night Flight (3/19): Santa Barbara County.
Remember, whomever comes to the most flight nights from now until May 31st will get a FREE seat on our Santa Rita Hills Wine Country tour in early June – dates yet to be determined, but let me know if you’re interested & I’ll put you on the list!
To view upcoming tasting events, visit us at http://www.wineclosetinc.com/store/events_calendar.php
New Items:
Plumpjack Cabernet Sauvignon – www.plumpjack.com
Owen Roe Ex Umbris Syrah – www.orwines.com
Carina Cellars Viognier – www.carinacellars.com
McPrice Myers Kristina & Les Galets – www.mcpricemyers.com
Looking for a great venue to have a private party? The Wine Closet can be yours for a night for groups of 25 or less. Call Linda for details 805.746.5708.
Pick up a bottle of wine from The Wine Wine Closet to enjoy with dinner at JJ Brewsky’s, Verona Trattoria or D’Amore’s Pizza and enjoy free corkage! Great wine deserves great food!
Check out our entire selection of wine online at www.wineclosetinc.com
Retail store hours: Tues & Weds 11-7pm, Thurs & Fri 11-9pm, Saturday 11-7pm, Closed Sunday & Monday (for now).
We look forward to seeing you here.
Linda & Rob
The Wine Closet
Old Town Camarillo
2423 Ventura Boulevard
805.746.5708
www.wineclosetinc.com
Doin’ the Mollydooker Shake
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Here’s what’s going on this Thursday night at The Wine Closet…
Whether or not you’ve heard of or tasted wines from Mollydooker, this is a tasting NOT TO MISS! Seriously, I mean it when I say Australia’s best – I love all of these wines! But wait, there’s more…we’ll teach you to do the “Mollydooker Shake” – bonus!
For 12 years, Sarah & Sparky Marquis (pronounced Mar-kwis) have been “WOW”ing wine fans around the world with their award-winning Australian wines. This dynamic duo has been awarded the title of Australian Winemakers of the Year; is the only husband and wife winemaking team to receive Mclaren Vale’s prestigious Bushing Award three times; and is responsible for crafting four of only 24 Australian wines to receive 99 points from Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate in the last 10 years.
Tasting is $18 per person for 5 delicious wines and appetizers- this Thursday, 3/4 between 6-9pm.
To view upcoming tasting events, visit us at http://www.wineclosetinc.com/store/events_calendar.php
So here’s a little info about the Mollydooker Shake and a link to the video demo created by Sarah and Sparky Marquis so you can check it out yourself.
Apparently, the Mollydooker wines are made with less sulfites and more nitrogen in an effort to help ward off headaches suffered by those who are allergic to sulfites. Because of the addition of nitrogen, the Mollydooker wines need to be “shaken” prior to consumption to help release the nitrogen – ever had a Guinness Stout in the can? – same concept used here, except there’s no nitrogen capsule inside the bottle.
The proper way to “release” this extra nitrogen within the bottles of Mollydooker wine is to unscrew the cap and pour about 3 ounces into a glass, screw the cap back on the bottle, turn the bottle upside down and give it a vigorous shake, unscrew the cap to release the gas (foam will be noticeable on top of the wine which quickly disipates), put the screw cap back on and repeat the Mollydooker shake once more, now the wine is ready to consume.
check out this link http://www.mollydookerwines.com/videos/mollyShake/mollyShakeNew.html – of course, this “shake” is not recommended on their Sparkling Shiraz for obvious reasons.
Enjoy!
Great News for Dubost Winery
Friday, January 29th, 2010The Dubost family www.dubostwine.com in Paso Robles sent this Tempranillo review conducted by the UCSD Med School Wine Group – pick up your bottle of Tempranillo at The Wine Closet today:
“…wanted to share this review from a UCSD Med School wine group. ”
Curt
Begin forwarded message:
From: David Rapaport <drapaport@me.com>Date: January 11, 2010 7:23:58 PM PSTTo: Kate Dubost <kdubost@dubostwine.com>, cdubost@dubostwine.comSubject: Our Tempranillo TastingDear Kate and Curt,Wanted to let you know that the Dubost 06 Tempranillo arrived first thing in the morning on Saturday, well in time for our evening Tempranillo tasting. Thank you so much for providing the bottle, leaving us the unexpected Carmenere to try at our leisure, and for getting it here on time. You will be pleased to know that of the 7 Tempranillos at the tasting the Dubost was the number one rated by the group (based on the UCD ratiing scale and then giving a “group score” based on- 3 points for each person who rated it number one, 2 for each second place…). Five of the tasters rated the Dubost the number one wine and almost everyone placed it in the top 3. For your information I attach a summary so you can see the competition. There was, in fact, a seventh wine, funnily enough the most expensive ($50). but it was clearly corked so no one wanted to have anything to do with it and the couple that brought it were keen to return it to the wine shop from which they purchased it. The numbers represent the group score of each wine with the large font number indicating the top 3 group scores.FYI, our wine group, fondly called The Oenophiliacs, is a group of friends, mostly colleagues who work and teach at UCSD School of Medicine, but including others from varying walks of life. We have been together for over 15 years and I dare say that our monthly tasting are the highlight of most of our social calendars. My wife Kathy and I urged all Oenophiliacs to visit you when then go to Paso Robles, and I suspect you will get some of us. I know we look forward to our next visit.Sincerely,DavidWINE
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2
3
4
5
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Marques de CaceresGran Reserva 2001
Rioja
$35- Whole Foods
DubostTempranillo 2006
$28
Cellar Door
Paso de Paso2008 La Mancha
$9- La Costa Wine Co.
Navarro Lopez2004 Valdepenos
$13- Bev Mo
Cala Blanca2008 La Mancha
$16- Bev Mo
Cepa 212006 Ribera de Duero
$26- La Costa Wine Co.
Dubost Winery…preserving a family heritage
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010Kate Dubost of Dubost Ranch Winery from the Adelaida area of West Paso Robles will be here at The Wine Closet to taste us on her new lineup of wines. We’ll start with a tasty Viognier/Roussanne blend, then taste the Homestead Red Tempranillo blend, Syrah, 100% Tempranillo and their Gran Reserve Tempranillo/Garnacha blend.
In it’s 5th generation, Dubost Ranch is entirely family-owned and operated. They’re dedicated to the production of premium, limited quantity wines handcrafted from locally grown grapes. Not to mentiion that Kate is hoot and will keep us all entertained throughout the evening.
Tasting is $15 per person and includes 5 wines and appetizers – this Thursday, 1/14 from 6-9pm.
Goddess of Wine blog about TWC
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010Check out this blog written by Denise Lowe, Goddess of wine, who visited The Wine Closet this past weekend during her tour of Ventura County Wine Country…
2007 Missing Leg Pinot Noir – Sierra Madre & Kruse Vineyards
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009THIS JUST IN…………….
2007 Pinot Noir Kruse Vineyard: Complex and delicate, the 2007 Kruse Vineyard is a co-fermented blend of some of the many Pinot Noir clones planted at this gorgeous coastal mountain ranch. It balances firm acidity with a supple mouth-feel, and possesses the silky tannins that are the hallmark of this variety.
At the end of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range, the Kruse Vineyard is strategically located in the “Templeton Gap”. Only a few miles from the ocean it retains a coastal influence hard to come by in the Paso Robles AVA. Family planted in 1997, Doug and Sabrina Kruse continue to farm this gem of a vineyard with meticulous craftsmanship and love. We are thrilled to offer this truly magical vineyard! Cheers!
2007 Pinot Noir Sierra Madre Vineyard: Profoundly aromatic, the 2007 Sierra Madre Vineyard carries it’s heft with grace. Made entirely from clone 115, this wine has a magnificent core of black fruit, and it is a great example of what this historic vineyard site is capable of.
The Sierra Madre Vineyard has a rich, 38 year history! Originally planted by Harley Martin in 1971, the vineyard changed hands several times before being purchased by Mondavi in 1996. Mondavi began replanting the vineyard using a multitude of rootstock and clone combinations that give it the distinction it owns today. Currently owned by Doug Circle (he purchased the property in 2003), winery clients have included Au Bon Climat, David Bruce Winery, Kenneth Volk Vineyards, Hitching Post Wines, Edna Valley Vineyard, Gainey Vineyard, Hahn Estates, Sanford Winery, Wild Horse Winery and Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines.
From winemaker Karl Wicka of Turley Wines in Paso Robles, Karl’s own label, The Missing Leg, is a tribute to his father, and pardon the pun, stands very well on its own, although it doesn’t hurt to have the Turley name and experience behind it.
“C” Street Dinner w/ the Big Boys
Thursday, July 30th, 2009Had dinner with friends at “C” Street Restaurant located in the Crown Plaza on the beach in Ventura – very classy joint in a beautiful location.
This is the 2nd time I’ve been to this restaurant, the first being when they first opened so it’s quite hard to judge a restaurant at that point of chaos. This time around I have to say I was pleased overall, but we had some mixed reviews from the rest of my table which included the Johnsons of Camarillo, the Keatings of Newbury Park, Paul Friedric of Oxnard and the Murray’s of Ventura.
One thing about this group, they know their wines and this was a bring out the big boys night which started with a pleasantly reserved Syrah from Pride, followed by the full of fruit Linne Colado Sticks & Stones,the superbly balanced Saxum Broken Stones, the luscious Torrin Maven and then the Mollydooker Carnival of Love — but wait, there’s more…Paul finished the evening with a 30 year old Port which was so good we stayed until the bottle was empty. The cork on this bottle disintigrated while Paul work carefully to remove it – amazing stuff to say the least.
Anyway, overall my meal of lamb chops with cherry compote was the best by far. All the wines were top notch, although I loved the Saxum best 
Beach BBQ
Sunday, April 12th, 2009So Rob and I have this tradition of winding down the weekend with dinner at the Beach every Sunday night after Winter is over. This season, we’ve started going to Saturday nights too. We have this spot right along the Ventura Hwy that’s not frequented so we usually have the place to ourselves. We load up the Westy with the dogs, our cooler with all our dinner fixings and of course, wine. Now what’s interesting about these outings is we keep to the bare minimum, nothing fancy except usually we eat and drink well – something we’re determined to never give up. Although we don’t drink out of nice wine glasses and we eat off plastic plates, some of our meals have consisted of littleneck clams on the grill drizzled with butter and garlic and chunky sourdough, spicy grilled sausages with polenta and last night we had tri-tip tacos. The catch is that everything has to be able to go on our little Smoky Joe grill – layering works pretty good if you don’t need direct heat on things such as bread and tortillas.
Same goes for the wine, not on the grill mind you, but no skimping here either – except we drink out of coffee cups. Last night we invited our friend Jerry to come along and he brought a bottle of Gelfand Red Table wine which is a blend of Petite Sirah, Syrah and Zinfandel. Very dark and inky and flat out huge – lots of fruit up front with flavors of green and black pepper. We then proceeded on to the gem of the evening, the ’05 Shelter Cabernet Sauvignon from the Headwater vineyard in Napa Valley. I think I’ve told the story of this wine in a previous blog so I won’t go into it again here. This wine has had some good bottle time and has really developed into a smooth, rounded wine. I get flavors of dark chocolate, coffee and a smoky quality – like pipe smoke. Overall a delicious wine with the tri-tip.
I think we’re probably going to the beach again tonight. We’ll be grilling up some gourment burgers with red onion and mushrooms on ciabatta rolls. I think it’s a Zinfandel night – maybe a Ridge from Lytton Springs.
Linda