AnuvaBlog

We had cracked open a bottle of Don Juan Reserve for ourselves on Monday night, as we had some friends in from out of town and wanted to show off some of our best stuff to them. After opening the 3rd bottle (because they loved it of course), we realized that we weren’t going to finish it as we had to work the next day.

Routinely, as I’m sure is the case for many of you, we open wines especially on weeknights to have a glass or so with dinner and we are left with 1/3 or 1/2 of a bottle. Que pena! We don’t want to throw this wine away. The best strategy for preserving opened wine is the shove the cork back into the bottle as far as it will go and then lye it down in the refrigerator. This will help to slow the oxidation of the wine and make it last longer.

We have experimented with our classic wines (like Mayol Bonarda and Cavagnaro Malbec) and have found that these wines are still very drinkable up to 48 hours after opening. With our reserves (like Don Juan and Cavagnaro Reserve), this number goes up to 96 hours.

Once you pass these points, though, you are better off cooking with the wine. More on what to do with very leftover wine in future posts.

To echo again, what the Eerie Times News (a local Pennsylvania paper) says about direct shipping of alcohol as it pertains to Pennsylvanians (and by default all Americans)… Enough already!!

Why can’t people just buy the alcohol they want and not deal with Liquor Control Boards, middlemen, bureaucracy and unwarranted price hikes?

I’m glad that winebusiness.com is regularly putting articles like this among its headlines as this has to be one of the most important issues effecting alcohol trade today.

I don’t understand why state and federal entities that control the alcohol trade see direct to consumer shipping as something that is somehow different from regular retail/wholesale sales. People are still drinking the wine. People can still buy as much as they want whenever they want. It’s just that people now can only get limited types of spirited beverages, either locally made or made by massive producers that can pay to have their product go through “the system” in order to stock shelves.

It is perhaps the working of wholesalers, other middlemen, and larger alcohol companies that is preventing more direct shipping. They seem to be the only ones who THINK they have something to lose.

We had 5 wines last night at Anuva’s wine tasting in Las Cañitas: Hom Espumante, Ikella Malbec, Sin Fin Malbec, Tobiano Cabernet-Sauvignon, and Don Juan Reserve. The favorites of the tasting ended up being the Don Juan (no surprise there) and the Sin Fin Malbec and besides a corked bottle at the onset, everyone walked away happy from the tasting at El Estanciero last night. El Estanciero provided a gorgeous “picada” of sun-dried tomatoes, olives, cheeses and meats. Should anyone be in the Las Canitas area and in need of picada or steak I very much recommend it.

Thanks to Expat-Connection, we had very good attendance and a lively talkative group. For those of you visiting or living in Buenos Aires, I highly recommend checking out their events as they are fun filled and a great way to connect with English speaking locals and sometimes tourists.

In response to dear Alder’s post on interstate shipping laws in the US and alcohol advertising laws in France (May the 24th, 2008 on Vinography), my own rant on this subject is long overdue…

My comments shall remain focused on Alder’s initial comments in his post regarding new laws in Illinois that prevent direct to consumer shipping from out of state merchants. The key phrase as was reported by Yahoo! News is that laws like this “protect… alcohol wholesalers from competition.”

My question is how is this not a blatant violation of anti-trust law?

But more than just fussing about how this is a violation of law, is it not even more important to think about how this effects consumers? Education of consumers? How this inflates prices to consumers? How this limits their choices? How this prevents free and fair trade?

Let us look at the facts: preventing shipping of wine through geography is in no way beneficial to consumers. It limits their choices, it increases their costs, and it indirectly puts pressure on producers that would be able to sell in new markets through direct shipping to sell their product elsewhere.

The only, solitary, stand alone beneficiary to preventing interstate shipping are wholesalers/distributors. They get to maintain their stranglehold on supply channels and keep their margins.

So for those of you who live in Washington, Illinois, Texas, Maryland and a slew of other states in the US, please write to your congressmen and senators and get these laws changed. This will only serve you, as the wine consuming public and allow you to enjoy more wine from more regions from around the globe at lower prices.

Dearest Readers and Members…

It is my distinct pleasure to inform you that Anuva has just added 10 new wines to its wine store! I guess the logical question is “What do I recommend?” Well, all of them of course! It depends on the occasion. I will only address the next collection of 6 here:

Santos Beck Torrontés, a lively and fresh white from the province of San Juan, will do very nicely when you serve it chilled on these warm summer days coming up.

Naiara Reserva Malbec compliments and hearty dish. It’s robust, concentrated and velvety smooth.

Durigutti Malbec Reserve takes a more fruit forward approach to the Malbec genre but also has great complexity and depth.

Beviam Syrah will begin a bit closed and dry but as it opens will explode with typical syrah characteristics like blackberry and spice.

Occhioverde Merlot, an organic wine (the name means “green eye” in Italian) combines sumptuous herbs like oregano, thyme and rosemary with hints of black and red fruits.

And finally, Callejon del Crimen Petit Verdot from Finca La Luz, an uncommon varietal, gets the award for most unique wine in this group. Minty and chocolaty at the onset with hints of spice and gingerbread, this 12 month oaked varietal is long, supple and full.

We await your comments…

For those of you who may be a little more new to the wine drinking experience–not just to Malbec, Torrontés and Bonarda–a good glass, wine glass, or crystal glass may not seem that important. Now, I’m not saying that you need to go spend 50 or more dollars per glass on specifically Pinot Noir glasses and then only drink your Pinot from there. What I am saying is that there is a reason that good glassware is considered good.

First, the shape of the glass is very important. The curve of good glassware is specifically crafted to allow aromas and perfumes to be better captured by the glass. If one were to simply drink wine from a lowball or highball glass, the subtleties and richness of many wines with great scents will be lost.

Second, the size of the opening at the top of the glass is important. Red wines, especially heavily oaked reds need more contact with oxygen in order to open and fully express themselves. Hence red wine glasses tend to be larger than white wine glasses.

Third, good crystal cleans easier and more completely than plastic or glass and also does not dissolve at all in the wine, leaving you with only the wine and its characteristics. To illustrate this, everyone knows that if you leave water in a plastic bottle for a while, especially in the sun, you drink it and get a very plastic taste.

Speaking of cleaning wine glasses: one should only use very hot water (Yuji makes a game of trying not to burn himself as scalding water is streaming from the faucet–sounds fun to me!)… no soap/detergent as this will leave a soapy flavor and smell on the glass and contaminate your wine. To disinfect, use a small spray bottle filled with alcohol and rub the glassware down.

Now, this may sound excessive but it all depends on how much of the ritual you like to incorporate into your wine drinking. I am simply here to inform and do not pretend to abide by these procedures 100% of the time. Far from it. But when I get a good wine (let us say, Cavagnaro Reserve Malbec), I will surely spray my glass and wipe it down with alcohol to get rid of detergent smell and clean with hot water.

Last week we had several upstanding citizens of the English speaking Expat community over to sample Anuva’s wines. What a hit it was! We had a total of 9 Americans and Brits here and while our discussion began about wine, winemaking, wine tasting and drinking, and the malbecs, bonardas and blends we were drinking, we ended up talking about politics, travel and business ideas.

The biggest hit, not surprisingly, was the Don Juan from Las Perdices which was the reserve wine served that night. It’s a complicated mouthful of 14 months of oak aged malbec blended with syrah, bonarda and merlot. Full, velvety and luscious.

A great treat for the tasting was a spicy sausage brought by one of our British members. Caked with pepper, this is one of the few foods I have found in Argentina that actually makes my body temperature rise. And what a combination with the Malbecs and the Bonarda. The pepper of the sausage really brought out different characteristics in all of these wines. Just goes to show there is always something new to learn about wine, food and their combinations. Especially with good company.

We go through so much headache shipping wines to the US and EU that it is quite satisfying when new shipments of new wines finally go out to our members. We have quite a collection this May, all stuff that will keep your palates enthralled and your glasses filled.

If I had to pick a favorite in this collection, it would be very hard, because each has its appeal–that is the beauty of wine–so much variety. And since I spend the better part of my life sifting through all the bad wine that is made out there to bring you guys the best, its hard for me to choose from six greats (since I already chose those from about 300 others). Santos Beck Torrontés is delicate and easy. Great on a hot summer day. Naiara Reserve Malbec is super velvety and rich. Durigutti Malbec Reserve: black and red fruits, bold, complex. Finca La Luz Petit Verdot: mint, chocolate, tobacco. Beviam Syrah: gorgeous just to look at and even better in the mouth. Occhioverde Merlot (my favorite name for a wine–it means “Green Eye” in Italian and is named that way because it is organic): great body, great herbs and spices.

I think I’m ready to go open a bottle for myself. Lourdes is cooking basil spaghetti with Salsa Bolognesa (tomato and herb based meat sauce). Hmm… I think Occhio Verde or maybe Naiara…

…Or maybe both.

I had the pleasure to receive Mr. Luiz Alberto from The Wine Hub in my home last Monday for a tasting of Anuva Vinos. Mr. Alberto is a lovely gentleman originally from Brazil who has a true passion for wine. He took a particular liking to our Cavagnaro Malbec. “It has an old-world feel for me,” said Mr. Alberto. “It reminds me of some of my favorite regions in Italy.” We then got on to talking about how our businesses relate. The Wine Hub does everything from recommending wines to itineraries for people who are visiting wine regions. It is a very comprehensive site that, in my opinion, provides an excellent nexus for wine beginners and enthusiasts alike to garner information.

I gave Mr. Alberto the bottle of Cavagnaro Malbec to take home with him, but realized that when I put the cork back in, that I had shoved it too far down. I asked him if he had a cork screw. “Always carry a corkscrew, and the wine shall provide itself,” he said with a smile.