e&r’s “little wine explorer”

and new critical list

LIVE AT E&R—OCTOBER 21, THIS GUY !!

Antonio Terni of Fattoria Le Terrazze will be at E&R for one show, live and direct showing his gems from the Marches including Rosso Conero, Sassi Neri,

Praeludium, Chardonnay, CHAOS and a who knows what else? $10.00 per taster!!

Reservations are required. This will be a stand up and walk around tasting.

503 246 6101 to reserve

The harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rain And these visions of Johanna are now all that remain

E & r’s critical list october 2011—page 1

FRANCE: ‘SCUSE ME WHILE I KISS THE STONE

FRANCE– JO LANDRON “MUSCADET SEVRE ET MAINE” 2010 (Now-2014)

Jo Landron is one of our favorite Loire Valley producers, his mustache has nothing to do with it! The Loire runs to the sea like a tossed rope from all the way south near Hermitage on the Rhone to its convergence in the Atlantic to the west. Jo’s vineyards are right at the famed home of the uniquely sharp, crystalline wines of Muscadet’s finest appellations. There’s no wine quite like the wine that sings its most true self at home in the right soil, pro-duced with skill and patience, and no effort to turn it into a thing it cannot be. Jo believes in his vineyard jam packed in gneiss, quartz, sand, clay and rock called by the locals “amphibolites”. His wines arrest you with their own brand of “viticultural terroir-ism” which exude their soil sharing the identity of the place. This tersely lean “entry level” Muscadet is made of 100% Melon de

Bourgogne grapes about 30 years in age. It’s well-structured and awash with hints of the old seabed- its soil– with a touch of salinity and iodine in the best tasting ways from the not far off Atlantic Ocean. Jo’s is a classic dry white Loire wine, even more classic with a dinner of fruits of the sea. Wrongly, Muscadet is under-appreciated and cast to the side for many drinkers, yet it’s an archetype white wine and especially noteworthy for price vs. its quality! A five star performer. $14.50/$139.20/$11.60

AUTHENTIC AUSTRALIAN RED

AUSTRALIA- “MT. LANGI GHIRAN BILLI BILLI SHIRAZ” 2007 (Now-2015+)

Mount Langi Ghiran (Aboriginal for"Home of the Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoo") is situated on the southern edge of the Great Dividing Range in the Grampian region of Victoria, only 2 hours west of Melbourne. The vineyards are located at the base of the 540 metre cliff face of Mount Langi Ghiran. In the 1870's, European immigrants seeking gold brought vines with them and started to work the rich, fertile land of the

Western District, creating some of Australia's oldest vineyards. Though sheep farming took over at the turn of the century, in 1963 the Frantin brothers replanted the Mount Langi Ghiran vineyard. With its towering granite cliffs and loamy red soils, the vineyard reflects extraordinary sense of place. Their first plantings were the Swiss clone Shiraz. The high quality of this fruit - taken from a 140 year old nursery block in Great West-ern - became quickly apparent. Coupled with a cool climate, the Shiraz vines of Mount Langi Ghiran take their time to ripen and develop their spicy, peppery flavor, making Langi one of the last vineyards to be harvested in Australia. Well, what about the wine? It is a pleasure! Filled with aromas of ripe plums, mul-berries and blackberry preserve over subtle notes of white pepper and nutmeg, this wine has warm berry flavors, velvety tannins and a balanced, spicy finish. A great $15.00 Shiraz from an iconic Australian winery! $15.00/$144.00/$12.00

E & r’s critical list OCTOBER 2011—page 2

ITALY: A LUSCIOUS WINNING WHITE FOR CHEAP

POGGIO GORLERI “RIVIERA LIGURE VERMENTINO DOC” 2010 (Now-2015)

A terrific expression of the steep, green hills that define the rugged, glorious Italian coast near the French border south to the edge of Tuscany (near Pisa). The vines from these beautiful slopes are, by necessity, harvested by hand. The best of these bottles are all one can ask for in a wine. The rare few offerings in the Oregon market with this kind of high quality Vermentino start at $5-8 a bottle more than our Gorleri. This much-valued and truly cherished grape marks its height in Lig-uria and Sardinia. So, finally a Ligurian Ver-mentino that fits just about every budget and works for virtually all palates. E&R’s “almost direct import” program partnering with wineries we’ve sourced, visited, identi-fied and brought to Oregon directly via our relationship with a local importer illustrates our philosophy of raising quality, bringing fresh vintages directly to you and lowering prices! You would love this wine sitting on a Ligurian restaurant veranda watching the sea- and- you’d pay more there for it! Save money now! $16.50/$158.40/$13.20

AUSTRIA: A GRÜNER ROOTED IN ROCK! AUSTRIA– HUBER “GRÜNER VELTLINER TRAISENTAL” 2010 (Drink now-2015)

Youngish Markus Huber of vintage 1979, has been a frequent flyer on our Critical List, and deservedly so. Every wine of his has been an exceptional value. From the very modest-sized Traisental (Valley of the Veltliners) zone, its Alpine climate and generously rocky soil adds hearty weight to its decidedly dry flavor mak-ing it more Burgundy than Napa. Markus uses stainless steel tanks giving extra zip and fresh-ness to this Grüner blended from vines up to 80 years old. $18.00/$172.80/$14.40

E & r’s critical list october 2011-page 3

WASHINGTON: BIG & BOLD FROM COLUMBIA VALLEY

OLSEN ESTATES “RED WINE” (Drink Now-2016) Washington red wine pricing is Jekyll-Hyde-ish! Some bottles are priced and sell well in the $35-$40 range while others are around $20 but taste like $30. Here is a $13 red that tastes its closer to $30, but there is a good reason for

that! Yakima’s Olsen Estate has been growing and selling grapes for nearly forty years. Recently they decided to bottle their won wine but quickly discovered that marketing a wine– not making good wine– was far more challenging. One thing led to another and this lovely, rich red Rhone-style blend that used to sell for $23 is now on the cheap! Real cheap, so take advantage, it is terrific and one of our red wine values of the year!! We have always said that a good deal on a bad wines is not a good deal, but a great deal on a good wine is a good deal, like this one! $13.00/$124.80/$10.40

BOLD PINOT BLANC THE HEART OF ALSACE, GREAT YOUNG PRODUCER

VINS MADER “PINOT BLANC” 2010 (Now-2014) There is not one bit of “basic” to this entry level Pinot Blanc that Jérôme produces! The wine world is inundated by flabby Pinot Blanc that make it rough for the good ones like this; pure, fullish-bodied yet still light on its paws. This thoroughly refreshing white marries perfectly with birds (cooked), lively salads, grilled sandwiches, pork chops and sausages. A Pinot blanc from Alsace that just tastes good: try it! $16.00/$153.60/$12.80

SPAIN: ONE SERIOUS WHITE WINE

SPAIN– GOMARIZ “COTO DE GOMARIZ BLANCO” 2009 (Drink now-2015) We don’t like to say these kinds of things as by implication we do not want to cast any pall on the other wines on the Critical List, but this is a serious wine. Geeky too. But most of all, it is delicious, complex and expensive. So, seri-ous...meaning? Only the best grapes are used, they are all picked by hand and then selected from individual bunches. The grapes; Treixadura, Godello, Loureira and Albariño, are all from a steep slope of a single vineyard with a per-fect exposure. The yields are very low. They could make

twice the wine in the same vineyard, but they don’t. They could charge twice the price for this, but they don’t. Pretty serious about all this. $19.50/$187.20/$15.60

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FRANCE: GREAT RED BORDEAUX STYLE WINE NOT FROM BORDEAUX

FRANCE– ELIAN DA ROS “LA VIN EST UNE FÊTE” 2009 (Drink now-2018)

Having just visited Elian in his Marmandais this past June, well wow, you’re gonna love this red! The guy is genius, does every bit of work himself, no tractors, no chemicals, no school bought method, just a number of years working with some of France’s greatest winemakers, like Olivier Humbrecht in Alsace. The lush red is stellar, blended from Cab, Merlot & local Abourieu! $16.00/$153.60/$12.80

ITALY: OUR BEST SELLING RED EVER FROM ANYWHERE IS FINALLY BACK!

*Star winemaker and great friend of ours– Antonio Terni– Dylan Superfan,

owner of the Marches Le

Terrazze winery and major domo of Argentina’s Las Hormigas winery drops in to

E&R for only his second visit ever on Friday, October 21.

Call now to hold a spot!! 502.246.6101

FATTORIA LE TERRAZZE “ROSSO CONERO” 2008 (Drink now-2019) For more than decade we’ve felt “Rosso Conero” had the potential and quality to easily move from DOC to the most esteemed DOCG appellation. (Recently it did!) Antonio’s version is superb, deep, rich, plush and complex, yet still shaking off the easy possibility of raising the price by at least half as much. Made from a selection of older vines grown on the slopes of Monte Conero, Terrazze’s Rosso Conero manages to avoid some of the rawness and oakiness of other bottles in our marketplace. Long time buyers of this wine repeatedly come in and tell us about the great eight or ten year bottles of this same wine they recently pulled corks on! The 2008 is made in stainless steel tanks and then aged for over a year in older french oak barrels. Antonio’s Rosso Conero was E&R’s best selling red wine from any country for six or seven years in a row until the import-ing chain more or less fell apart due to no fault of ours or Antonio. In any case, its back as good as ever. Check it out. $18.00/$172.80/$14.40

E & r’s critical list october 2011-page 4

SPAIN: AFFORDABLE DUO—- CLASSIC CAVA AND CLASSY GRENACHE ARTAZU “ARTAZURI GARNACHA” 2009 (Drink now-2014) Bodegas Artadi has emerged through the 90’s becoming one of Spain’s most revered wineries. Their near inky 100% Grenache is spicy, dry and reminiscent of a pure and rich Cotes-du-Rhone. At times we have tasted Spanish Grenache either too sweet or too thin, or both, the Arta-zuri finely manages to avoid both shortcomings, offering instead a rich palate of flavor. $11.50/$110.40/$9.20

CFROM ALSACE– CHAMPAGNE-LIKE @ NON-CHAMPAGNE PRICING!! VINS MADER “CREMANT D’ALSACE” (Drink now-2014) Several years ago on my way out the door at Domaine Meyer-Fonne, I asked Felix Meyer if I could buy a bottle of his Cremant D’Alsace. At the time his USA Importer, Kermit Lynch, did not import the wine to America. It was delish and E&R became the first account in the U.S. to order it. Today that wine is a staple of Kermit's portfolio in America. And why not? Have you tried Cremant from Alsace? You ought to hurry over and get one of Jérôme Mader’s! Wow, it is delicious, dry, intense and refreshing. Made from equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the style of Champagne; not only far less expensive than that, but possibly the most affordable Cremant in Oregon! $22.00/$211.20/$17.60

EMILIA-ROMAGNA WHITE: REFRESHING AND “UNBORING” LA TOSA- “RIODELTORDO COLLI PIACENTINI VALNURE” 2010 (now-2014) Stefano Pizzamiglio, owner and winemaker at Emilia’s celebrated La Tosa winery knew he had something quite special many years ago- his wines were head and shoulders better than all his neighbors– he just did not know why. His winery is also the home to one of Italy’s great wine libraries in which he found some very very old maps. It was there he dis-covered that his vineyards sat exactly atop a crazy geologic fault where two diverse plates of soil met. His Riodeltordo Valnure is a lovely, dry, spicy gem combining Trebbiano, DRY Malvasia and the local white Ortrugo grape. Like some Chablis, this one has a nice saline note too! $16.50/$158.40/$13.20

E & r’s critical list october 2011-page 5

E&R’s PINOT NOIR-EGON WINE CLUB 1-Your Pinot-Geniuses® at E&R will select two different bottles of Oregon Pinot Noir each month along with a handy info sheet of cool data on the wines. 2-No fees, and you choose an annual plan of 6 bi-monthly selections or 12 monthly selections. 3-You have two choices for the value of your selection, a window of $40-$55 as the total retail value of the bottles, or an option of $80-$100 for two more expensive bottles. Bottles in each level reflect the best wines we can find. 5-Discounts?? Of course! Each selection receives 15% off the retail price of the wine. Additionally, as a valued Club Member you will receive 15% off of any Oregon Pinot noir purchase in our store. 6-We will e-mail you with the data on each selection and pricing within a few days of your selection.

Sign up today! 503 246 6101

I refuse to join any club

that

would have me as a

member.

far less expensive than that, but possibly the most affordable Cremant in Oregon!

A CHANCE TO SPARKLE EACH MONTH WITH

E&R'S CLUB BUBBLES!

Yes, like us, you too should become addicted to wines with bubbles! To help, we have started a Sparkling Wine Club!

Here's how it works...

* Sign up for a monthly installment of your choice: $25, $40-50, or $60-90.

*We select cool sparklers every month to fit each price tier.

* Each month, receive 1 or 2 (the $25 tier is typically one bottle; $40-50 and $60-90 can be one or two bottles) spar-kling wines along with some handy information about them.

The sparklers may come from any wine region and will always represent the best of the best from their place of origin.

* Your credit card information will be kept on file and we will automatically bill you for the price of the wine, less 15%.

*When your wine is ready, we will email you a confirmation to pick up your wine.

A monthly bubbles tab sounds great, but what are the rest

of the bennies?!

- Receive 15% off of all your monthly selections. Additionally, as a valued bubble lover, you will receive a 15% discount on

any sparkling wine in our store!

- Priority invitations to in-store sparkling wine events.

- Discounted rates on sparkling wine events/tastings for yourself plus a friend!

Call us at 503.246.6101 to sign up (or wrap up a member-ship and give it as a gift)!

starting 10/16

we are open on

sundays from

noon-5PM

through

christmas!