The Mission
We will provide an excellent bottle or two. You drink them. Simple. Knowledge is power!

The goal of our wine club is to introduce you to new varietals, new styles, new regions and new tastes. As with all of our wines, our club focus is on value, finding the best quality wine that we can for the price. Experiment. Take risks. Enjoy!
 

January “Con pan y vino se anda el camino.” “With bread and wine you can walk your road.” -Spanish Proverb

The Wine

Tier One: 2006 G Gago Telmo Rodriguez Toro Spain Tempranillo. Suggested retail price: $25.00  Pour House price: $23.99 Your price: $21.60.

Happy, happy New Year everyone! Fasten your seatbelts, this newsletter is going to be built for speed, not comfort, as it has been a very hectic two weeks and we are leaving for VA-CA-TION in a few days.

Diving right into…Spain! No more namby pamby, easy peasy celebration wines. It’s a new year, time to reapply ourselves to the seriousness of drinking. We are back to the nitty gritty wines of the old world, aka, wines that taste like dirt. And you can taste the dirt in this month’s wines because we are leading off with a Tempranillo, a transparent varietal ala’ Pinot Noir (if you had a chance to read the November newsletter).

The 2006 Gago Telmo Rodriguez Toro Tempranillo (known as the “big G” at the shop, not to be confused with the “little g” which we also carry – this is not innuendo, just facts) is a great example of old world Tempranillo, also known as Tinto de Toro. It is grown in deep, well drained, stony soil, picked by hand and fermented in cement casks. It is aged in foudres and barrels, and ultimately finds itself, a wine full of elegance and power, like the bull after which it is named. It has all the elements of a fine wine, writ large – dense fruit, acidity, a good dose of tannins, and a mineral structure. When drinking, give it time – the G is deep, rich and complex and deserves a few hours to get to know. The G will age nicely and is a powerful, lusty roll in the hay today. Lamb will pair very nicely as will mild, savory sausagey things (that is innuendo, not to mention improbable vocabulary).

Our second tier wine this month is a varietal we have never highlighted in our four years of clubbing, a Mencia from the Bierzo DO in the northwest of Spain. Both Bierzo and Mencia are (probably) up and coming names. You heard it here first. The most famous producer from the region is Castro Ventosa, founded by the Perez family in 1752. Shockingly, they still own it today. With that unbroken chain of command it becomes easier to believe that they even have some pre-phyloxera vines (although none of that fruit is in the wine you will be drinking). However, their 2007 Castro Ventosa “El Castro Valtuille” Joven is made from vines ranging from 20 to 40 years of age, quite a bit older than many of our Cali old vine Zins.

In flavor character, Mencia has a lot in common with Cab Franc (and indeed was suspected of being Cab Franc until genetic testing solidified its singularity). To make things even more confusing, there is a widely cultivated strain of Cab Franc, also referred to as Mencia, in the Bierzo. This wine is not that. It is a Mencia grape. But back to what it tastes like: this wine has tight red fruit flavors and a meaty savory note pulled together by a mineral backbone. It will drink well with anything from a grill, whatever it’s Kingdom - Animal or Vegetable - of origin.

The Rules
Our wine club has two tiers:

• Tier One - one wine per month, for ~$25.00 or less

• Tier Two - two wines per month, for ~$40.00 or less.

We choose the wine, you enjoy it. Your wine will be available at the Pour House on the first of the month. You can pick it up any day.

Monthly price will vary with the wine and will be charged to your credit card on the first of the month. Wine Club price is 10% off of the shelf price.

You must join for a minimum of three months. We will automatically renew your membership at the end of three months if not informed otherwise (you have to tell us to stop buying you wine if you want out).

There is no membership fee. Stop by the Pour House with the credit card you want to use. We will charge your card monthly, on the first. I think that covers it.

Call, fax or email us if you have any further questions. 10075 Jibboom St. Phone (530) 550 9664 Fax (530) 550 9692

Dean@thepourhousetruckee.com
Christa@thepourhousetruckee.com