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Tastings
The vibrance of Spain: Rioja wine and Tampa‘s Vizcaya
In Spain the Ebro river runs to Vizcaya, and here B-21 runs to Vizcaya restaurant for a grand wine dinner on Sunday, June 27.
The reason is chef Felix Piedra, who grew up in the Basque region and then cooked his way across Tampa to his crowning restaurant, Vizcaya.
It’s an intimate spot with a vivid splash of modern Spain in the décor and an authentic taste on the table and in the air. Must be the longest tapas list in town, including braised quail, wild rabbit, Spanish cheeses, tuna and clementines. The true Spaniard continues on with meat and classic seafood entrees, from merluza (hake or corvina) with lobster to zarzuela.
No surprise Piedra’s a magnetic host for Spanish heroes, jai alai stars and visiting wine makers. And local food lovers, the Nibbler included.
So Vizcaya’s a natural showcase for our wine dinner ($79 all-inclusive make your reservations now). We‘ll pair great Rioja wines with croquetas, tortillas, sole, steak, a side of paella and, my favorite word of all in the Spanish kitchen, albondigas. Piedra makes those meatballs with veal and wild mushrooms.
We hope you can join us. If not, put Vizcaya on your must-go-soon list.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
Explore Italy at the B-21 Italian tasting For hidden treasures like a Piedmont white
Look at the wine map of most countries and you’ll see patches of purple for the lucky regions and plain-colored stretches that grow no wine. Not Italy, where wines and vines are all over the map in every region, the whole boot, from Alps to Sicily, drenched in purple.
Taste this Arneis and other wines from Italy this Sunday, June 13th from 2-5pm. Click here to make a reservation.
To sort out this delicious confusion, come to B21’s grand Italian tasting June 13 with 100 some wines from grapes and regions throughout Italy. You’re bound to find a new treasure.
One of mine is Arneis, a white wine of the Piedmont. I used to think only red Barolos and Barberas when I looked that way. Maybe because the Piemontese used Arneis largely to soften those big reds, like the Aussies mixing Viognier in Shiraz.
Now Arneis gets attention on its own as a lively white with flavors from the stone fruit and nut spectrum.
Its home is in Roero, northwest of the Barolos, heading toward the French border. One of the top producers is Vietti, which will be featured in seminars on their great Barberas and Nebbiolo.
Make reservations now to start your trip to Italy this Sunday, and expect to spend some time in the northwest with the reds .
And whites like Vietti’s arneis.
This bright young 2009 ($17.99) has won 90s and up from every taster in our shop.
Why? “Fresh floral, citrus and melon aromas with hints of almonds. An unoaked, dry, medium bodied white wine with crisp acidity, well-balanced, elegant wine.”
You may find the perfect little white something for summer. Say you got it in Italy.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
Get vibrant June 12: Rediscover Rioja
FREE RIOJA TASTING AT B-21 THIS SATURDAY FROM 1PM TO 5PM! COME ONE COME ALL!
While Spain explodes with exciting new wines almost everywhere, quality is nothing new in Rioja.
You can get a fresh taste of Spain’s historic vineyards at B-21’s free tasting next Saturday, June 12.
(You did know that we have free tastings every Saturday in addition to our Very Big Deal affairs like the Grand Italian Tasting on Sunday, June 13).
The June 12 Spanish tasting promises a fun re-education for anyone whose only memories of Rioja were cheap dusty, wooden drinks of 20 years ago. Today’s Rioja is brighter and yet still rich with classic tradition. It’s a beautiful region, along the river through northeast Spain, south of Bilbao and one mountain range away from Bordeaux.
Come explore it Saturday. If you can’t make it, B-21 has a deep cellar of great Rioja labels old and new like Bodegas Muga, Pujanza, Remirez de Ganuza and Finca Allende.
Lucky Sunday the 13th: Italian vinapalooza
Is there any country blessed with so many wines? Let alone a steady stream of great vintages since 2004?
The glories that are Italy’s wines will be the feature of another classic B-21 Sunday tasting with dozens of great wines (no junk), brainy seminars and special guests. The headliner this time is Aldo Zaninotto, whose Vietti winery in Piedmont is one of Steve’s favorites.
So cancel your golf date for June 13 and reserve a spot for $25.
That includes your choice of seminars with Zaninotto and Vittorio Marianecci who will be comparing vintages of Casanova di Neri’s Tenuta Nuova and Pietradonice: The best of Tuscany and Piedmont.
I know I’m going to sit in on explication of barbera, as translated by the winemakers in Asti and Alba, barely 25 miles apart in Piedmont, just south of Torino. The big spumante factories give Asti a bad name, and the truffle markets give Alba status, but what ’s that matter to their barberas? It’s one of my favorites grapes and I can’t wait for the debate.
The French are coming, The French are …
NOT (all of them) but B-21 still had a barrel of fun!
B-21's Dinner with Jeffrey Davies at Currents in Tarpon Springs
The ash cloud over Iceland cast its long shadow even over the Tampa Bay area last weekend. Flight cancellation to the U.S. grounded some special guests coming to the annual Bordeaux tasting, both celebrated winemakers and consultants, and their infant prodigies, barrel samplings of the beloved new 2009 vintage.
Several stalwarts were in the U.S. before flights stopped including Coralie de Bouard of Chateau Angelus, negociant Jeffrey Davies and Emilie Riebel-Dombey representing Chateau Le Gay.
And the 2009’s arrived in spirit and starred in the table talk at the Bordeaux dinner at Seasons 52. “Good as they say?”, “That’s not what I read.” “I’m absolutely going to buy,” but when and at what price? Will the prices be highest for the first futures or later tranches? Will the dollar buy more now or later?
Actually if the samples had arrived, they might have distracted our conversation.
Besides we had 2005s in our glasses and they were not abstractions. They set a high standard for the ’09s to match and sparked their own debate.
Smith Haut Lafitte (Pessac-Leognan) $89.99
The winners were Smith Haut Lafitte ($89.99) and La Gaffeliere. ($99.99) I put the left-banker first because it was so big and smoky and friendly like a coat by the fire. Smart and passionate tasters went for the La Gaffeliere from St. Emilion, with more berries and chocolate, in five years I may switch sides. A strong minority report supported the neighboring Canon La Gaffeliere ($109.99), which was the sleekest and most approachable. If you ask one to dance tonight, the Canon is your partner.
Seasons 52, Tampa’s “it” restaurant of the moment and the newest location of the Orlando concept was luminous that night and the menu had all its vaunted style and spunk. “I‘ve been to many wine tastings in my career but I’ve never had chiles relleno,” confessed importer Greg Miller, “and I think the Bordeaux stood up well.”
He’s right. Nothing timid about husky smoky ancho chiles with goat cheese and punchy pico de gallo, smoke fire and a pinch of sour. Yet first quality right bank 2006’s were bold enough. My choice was the 2006 La Croix St. Georges, ($59.99) from Pomerol, a spiced creamy fudge that made a mole with the chiles.
But as a Tuesday night go-to Bordeaux for Mexican spice and big flavors like Seasons 52’s crackling flatbreads , the 2008 Croix Mouton ($10.99) has value and excitement. Jean-Philippe Janoueix makes this in the Bordeaux Superieur appellation on the left bank; a merlot for all seasons with more guts and finish than you expect.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
How do you top off a weekend of wine? By opening another bottle!
It has been a long weekend filled with wine. We had a wine tasting in-store on Saturday with wines of Argentina, then a dinner at Currents with Jeffrey Davies on Saturday evening, and to top it off a day chocked full of seminars and Bordeaux that some people only have a once in a lifetime chance to taste! My favorite was the Chateau Pavie seminar put on by Jeffrey Davies. We had the fortunate opportunity to taste the 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, & 2005 Pavie all in one seating with the ever entertaining Davies to guide us through them all. My favorite was the 2000 … or will be in a few years when it is ready to come back to! I was also impressed with the 2004. Its a great wine and I think its greatly underestimated. Needless to say the weekend was winenormous!So how did I wrap up the night? With a juicy steak and a bottle of the 2007 Laurel by Clos Erasmus. All I can say is ”Wow!”. I think its better than the 2006 from my recollection. Very big and velvety with blackberries and licorice. It was the perfect ending to a great wine weekend.
2007 Laurel by Clos Erasmus $49.99
Some history on Laurel:
The Laurel cuvee is produced 100% from the Clos Erasmus vineyards but from the more recent plantings and is the result of declassification of some of the barrels of Clos Erasmus. It is approx. 50% grenache, 30% syrah, and 20% cab. In 2005, Clos Erasmus was chosen by Robert Parker (the million dollar nose) to be included among the 175 estates in his book “The World’s Greatest Wine Estates”. That says a lot, especially being that only six of the estates chosen were from Spain.
- Summer Martin, B-21′s Spain & Portugal Advocate
Back label secret comes to life: Jeffrey Davies in person
2007 Chateau Rigaud $11.99
One of the tricks to sorting out unfamiliar bottles is to turn them around to see if the name of the importer in small print is a name you trust.
Like Jeffrey Davies.
If you don’t know the vineyard or the appellation, Davies does and you’re set. I first sipped with him a few years ago and realized he knew everything I needed to know. A sunny Californian AND a 20-year resident of Bordeaux, he has a nose for the underappreciated cru or the one that needs a only a small touch to elevate it.
You can find out yourself when he comes to Tarpon to host a Grand Dinner and a Tasting of 2009 barrel samples during B-21’s star-studded celebration of Bordeaux and Beyond this month.
Life has changed since 1855 and Davies knows it.
From the right bank he has revived and promoted names like Ch. Valandraud and La Gomerie and he’s found even more treasures in the lands beyond Lalande: the Cotes de Bordeaux, Blaye , Bergerac, Fitou and Minervois. All the places I wish I knew better, Davies has already explored and found the best.
There are still a few tickets left for the April 17th dinner and barrel sampling at Currents in Tarpon with Davies and two of our other star guests from France, Jean Christophe Meyrou and Francois Villars. It kicks off at 4 p.m. with twelve count ‘em, 12 barrel samples from the much-buzzed 2009 vintage, followed by a grand dinner at 5 p.m. The price for the evening is $65.
If you can’t make the dinner, come to Sunday’s tastings and seminars. If you miss them both, buy a bottle of 2007 Ch. Rigaud, a Davies prize from Faugeres, made from syrah, grenache and the help of Claude Gros. Not the usual ingredients, but unusual quality: earthy black fruit and smoke and satiny on the palate. Maybe the best of the southwest — and a taste of Davies’ imagination. ($11.99).
What were we drinking? Tango Italiano
The food Italian and the wine Argentine/French, not an unusual combination in Buenos Aires but rare on my table.
This night the pasta was husky rigatoni tubes (sneer not at dry pasta, imported artisan brands are worth an extra buck) with a frozen sauce holstered with fresh ground beef, and larded with ricotta salata cheese. Hearty and rustic as a dish from Puglia or Sicily.
The wine of course was malbec but with more than the usual French accent. In addition to the grape’s Bordeaux roots this malbec is from Monteviejo, the Andean sister of Chateau Le Gay in Pomerol, with the assistance of Michel Rolland.
2008 Festivo Malbec by Monteviejo (Mendoza) $12.99
This label, the 2008 Festivo, $12.99, is a stylish example of malbec, with plum and black cherry flavors and spices, to stand up to rigatoni and ricotta, and the elegance to tame them down.
This is not rough and ready pizza wine, but a clean wine of medium finish that would go just as well with a delicate filet mignon or a full parillada.
Having just been thrilled with the Petite Fleur from Monteviejo, I’m eager to try all I can from this Franco-Argentine winery and look forward to meeting Catherine Pere-Verge when she arrives with the Bordeaux entourage April 18. You should too.
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
2009 Bordeaux Barrel Samples: Taste them yourself!
C’est vrai! The vintage everyone is talking about will come to Tampa Bay next month so B-21 fans can have a rare advance taste of the Bordeaux buzz.
We knew great names of the Bordeaux wine trade and great wines were coming to Aprils Grand Bordeaux Tasting and Sale. As a bonus they are bringing 2009 barrel samples of the likes of Haut Bages Liberal and La Confession to taste at our two grand wine dinners Saturday April 17th.
Jeffrey Davies of Signature Selections
This year we will hold two dinners, one at Currents in Tarpon Springs and the other at the new Seasons 52 in Tampa, and each will feature a 2009 barrel sampling plus a multi-course meal paired with seven top French labels from recent vintages, and a chance to meet the great names and faces of modern Bordeaux.
Jeffrey Davies, negociant extraordinaire, will headline the Bordeaux and Beyond Dinner at Currents, our intimate, favorite, close to home base in Tarpon. Davies will be joined by Jean-Christophe Meyrou of Chateau Le Gay and Francois Villars of Gruaud- La Rose. They’ll pour an exciting range from St. Emilion, Minervois, Fitou, Bergerac and the south of France, including Davies’ own 2007 Chateau Rigaud. Reception and barrel sampling begins at 4 p.m, dinner at 5 p.m.; cost is $65 per person, all inclusive.
The Bordeaux Revealed Dinner will be held at Seasons 52, the sleek wine-savvy restaurant at Westshore Plaza. Here our stars are a trio Bordeaux of innovators, consulting wizard Stephane Derenoncourt, wine grower Jean-Phillipe Janoueix and negociant/vintner Christophe Reboule Salze. The wines will come from their own properties and also Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. Reception and barrel sampling is at 6:15 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m.; cost is $85, per person, all inclusive.
What a choice. I‘d love to be at both, but duty summons me to Seasons 52 (and it’s closer to home). I’ll see some of you there.
Either dinner and barrel sampling is a lot closer than the quais on the Gironde.
And if your Saturday night’s booked, all our guests will be at the Sunday tasting and sale ($25) in Tarpon with the addition of Coralie de Bouard of Chateau Angelus and La Fleur de Bouard.
De Bouard will preside over a bonus tasting, a rare vertical of Angelus, four years of great St. Emilion: 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. A real flight of fancy with Angelus providing the wings.
Reserve a spot now at B-21.com
- Chris Sherman, The Blogging Nibbler
Come one come all to the best Pre-Game Party Around!
I am so stoked about our Wines of Spain Grand Tasting and Sale! It truly will be the best Superbowl Tailgating Party in Tampa Bay. With seminars starting as early as 12:00 noon, the afternoon will be filled with a ton of great Spanish wine from Priorat to Ribera del Duero to Rioja and on and on. Wines from Vega Sicilia, Muga, Emilo Moro, Mas Doix, Alto Moncayo, El Nido and Numanthia to name a few.
Did I forget to mention that Juan Muga, Proprietor of Bodegas Muga will be in the house? So will David Espinar, the Winery Director of Emilio Moro. They will be here in person signing bottles.
Top top it all off, we will be tasting more portugal wines and ports than we’ve ever had available to taste before. Yes, even ports from the amazing 2007 vintage which Wine Spectator has said is “A Classic Year” and been praised by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, Jancis Robinson, and more.
The grand tasting begins at 2:00pm with seminars starting as early as 12:00pm. And for those of you who are worried about getting back before the Big Game, no worries the events end at 5pm with plenty of time to get back for the big game.
Check out these Seminars:
12pm-12:45: The Schistes Show with Anthony Pannone of European Cellars (Priorat wines)
1pm-1:45pm: La Rioja with Juan Muga of Bodegas Muga - SOLD OUT!!!
2pm-2:45pm: Ribera del Duero with David Espinar of Emilio Moro
3pm-3:45pm: Amazing old ports from Gould Campbell (1980, 1983, 1985, & 1994 vintages)