AnuvaBlog

Anuva just got a great write-up in The Oregonian! (They got a couple of the minor details wrong, but the gist is spot on.)

From Oregon to Argentina and back

“Two years ago, Portland native Daniel Karlin traveled to Argentina and fell in love — twice. His first love is named Lourdes Silvera, and she’s now Karlin’s fiancee. His second love was Argentine wine, and it’s now his baby.

Karlin’s company, called Anuva Vinos, sources small-batch, artisanal Argentine wines that aren’t available in the U.S. and direct-ships them to its members. (Anuva is a mishmash of “Argentina” and uva, which means “grape” in Spanish.) The well-curated monthly picks tend to be heavy on Argentina’s signature red, malbec, followed by lesser-known Argentine as well as international varietals.

If you’ve been reading this column lately, you know that malbec and the white torrontes offer tremendous bang for the buck…”

Check out the rest of the article here.

Three of my favorite people on earth have become Leslie and Mary and Erin. Why? They give of themselves when they feel compelled and ask nothing in return. They have helped me promote the Anuva wine club to a very high degree and have been super accommodating all the while.

Leslie and Mary hosted a tasting at San Francisco Massage Supply (www.sfmassagesupply.com). I was very impressed at the degree to which Leslie’s store provides products for massage therapists in the Bay Area. Being the only retail store dedicated to providing essential oils, massage oils, a vast array of massage tables and chairs really shows how much she is dedicated to supporting the massage therapists in her community.

Leslie is a massage therapist herself and so is Mary. Mary took pity upon my neck and shoulders after the tasting and have me a “tasting” of what she does. Heavenly! I have been lugging around cases of wine for the last 3 weeks and needless to say my traps needed some work. Check out  www.true-massage.com.

Now Erin falls into a more post-modern sort of category with her Namaste Mofo shirts and apparrel (http://www.namastemofo.com/shop/). While it maybe is not as wholly holistic as Leslie’s and Mary’s businesses, I love where Erin is taking her concept. Look for variations on the word “asana” as well.

Hats off to these 3 ladies!

Walking into The Beaumont on 150th last night, I felt at ease with the marble inlay and incredible decor of this gorgeous apartment building. My comfort and Janis’s wonderful ability to host (and project her voice) made this evening quite wonderful and enjoyable for all comers.

Although we did have a sock lady with lights on her ankles leave without trying any wine. Hmm. I got over that in about 3 seconds though, as we did have so many that were really appreciative.

Thankfully, we got an extra hour of sleep too.

Many thanks to Matt and Tatiana for organizing this event in their lovely home.

Lourdes was especially excited to have an even closer view of the Empire State Building which glowed red last night.

We had a full menu to go with the usual smattering of Torrontés, Bonarda, Malbec and other wines. Especially popular was the Mudai Pinot Noir. We found some great cheese combinations with the Bonarda especially. Combining the Bonarda with the brie we decided–after a supremely intellectual discussion of the subject of food/wine combining (”Eat what tastes good”)–brought out a decidedly pronounced black cherry flavor on the palate. A wonderful experience.

Equally wonderful was the dark chocolate with the Don Juan Reserve blend.

All the great food combining brought up the subject of biodynamic wines. We almost got Kelly to show us his biodynamic wine dance that evening, which apparently he may be taking off-Broadway shortly. He declined to comment how far off-Broadway.

First, thank yous to Carlos and Randy, two wonderful gentlemen who have been extremely generous and kind to us here at Anuva.

Last night saw a small gathering of friends and neighbors at Carlos’ house, exemplifying exactly what wine is all about: bringing together good people and good conversation. After getting the rooftop tour from Carlos, which was a delight for Lourdes’ first day ever in NYC, we went downstairs to pour wine. (Said Carlos as we traipsed his Zen styled roof terrace (from left to right in a near 360 degree panorama): “…the Empire State building, the Chrysler building, Mid-town, downtown, Martha Stewart’s house, Calvin Klein’s house, Tom (Brady) and Gizelle’s house. Oh right, and Bono lives there.”)

Besides the Zaino and Cavagnaro Malbec’s, and the Reserve Don Juan which always capture the attention of our crowds, Mayol Bonarda got a lot of “wow’s” and “very nice’s” from our guests. I am convinced that this has to do with the unique nature of the varietal Bonarda in general. It is something that simply doesn’t exist in the U.S. on a broad level. We hope to change this.

The surprise last night was the arrival of Amy. How was I to know that they had invited former faculty from my high school to this gig? After learning that she had switched from teaching English in Portland, OR (my home town), to becoming a professional photographer, we drank wine and continued the festivities.

For all you fans out there here is a blurb that might get you excited. Please feel free to send it to everyone you know-Lindsay Olson of Paradigm Staffing did (For all your PR and marketing needs… Lindsay rocks!):

Dear Friends,

Daniel and his Argentine fiancée Lourdes recently started an exclusive wine club called Anuva that sources limited production wines from Argentina for its members. They will be doing private wine tastings to launch the club in select US cities on the following dates:

• New York City: October 27-November 9
• Los Angeles: November 9-November 27
• Portland, OR: November 27-January 6, 2009

Tastings will be led by Daniel and will be for groups of 6-10 people, 12 max. Each group tasting costs $175 total (not per person) and includes:

• 6 different wines guaranteed to please. All limited production and exclusive.
• The glassware
• Set-up/clean-up
• The witty banter (he does a very good presentation I would say)

A host would need to invite the people, provide the space, and could contribute optional food items. Daniel will consult for this upon request (without charge of course).Larger groups can be accommodated, but please contact Daniel to discuss the particulars or if you have any questions:

Contact:

Daniel Karlin
Founder, Anuva Vinos
email: daniel@anuvavinos.com
phone: 310-601-8279 (U.S. landline in Buenos Aires)

Thanks!

d.

And thank you all for sharing!

What a kind and generous man, Zach Everett. He and his lovely wife Robin invited over several guests and the Anuva team to present some of our wines. The Mayol Bonarda turned out to be the hit of the evening.

Ostensibly the reason for this I see, is that the Mayol Bonarda has many distinct characteristics not found in many “common” varietals. This Bonarda in particular has quite an aroma of juicy fruit in the nose and stays consistent in the mouth, has a very nice structure and medium-full body. All in all its a crowd pleaser. This wine I think is the one that drove several people to become members of Anuva right then and there.

And all this on top of a Celtics championship over the Fakers… what a splendid evening it was.

Last night, about 14 people attended an Anuva wine tasting and sampled Hom, Anecon, Uruco, Cavagnaro and Don Juan. We are very pleased to say that many of them are now members. It never ceases to amaze me how many people like all of our wines for different reasons:

Full bodied Reserves

Fruit forward Malbecs

Exclusive, hard to find wines

Unique varietals

Velvety wines

Easy to drink wines

These were the top reasons I heard last night. It also never ceases to amaze me how a group of strangers can come together over wine. It can start as the topic of discussion and then become the “title” of a given memory. E.G. “Do you remember when we had that Cavagnaro Malbec Reserve with Al and Nancy from the Bay Area? What a great night that was. The wine was so earthy and full of red fruit and I remember how that started a discussion on whether California wineries will be able to… what a good time that was.”

Last night was very similar. We discussed the terroir of Argentina, the culture, the winemaking culture, business practices and then, a whole slew of things ranging from food pairing to Argentine politics (yikes) to my wedding plans. I appreciate everyone’s company lat night and I hope to have more tastings like this because they are not tastings. They really are events where people come together over wine, and I get to truly enjoy my job.

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.