Quinta Do Vallado

Quinta do Vallado Douro Wines. 

Quinta Do Vallado made an appearance in Wine Spectator in the February 2010 issue.  Dennis came in almost the same week with a trio of these inky still wines from Douro region in Portugal.  We are now selling their 2007 Douro Red for around 11.00/glass a deal for a wine that received 93pts.  Trying single varietals has lately been my prerogative since the Court of Masters test is coming up, so I've been very curious about Portuguese varietals like Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Tinta Barroca.  Quinta Do Vallado has a single varietal Touriga Nacional which is the middle wine in the image above.  

Smokey cocoa and black currant dominated the nose on the Touriga with the classic tongue-on-roof-of-mouth grit that I associate with Port wine.  I've been really hoping to find good still wines from Douro because these grapes make amazing Port and most of the time, such cheap blow-your-palette-up red still wines.  Thank sid, Quinto Do Vallado delivers, and I would encourage sommeliers to try the Touriga Nacional, I liked it better than their reserva... but perhaps a little unfairly because so much of that region is renown for their dedication to blending, and the Reserva delivered more point-scoring fruit. 

Dennis is the perfect example of people of love their job!

Court of Masters Experience

It's Official!  I have completed the Introductory Course for Sommelier put on by Court of Masters. For those of you who may be interested in extended wine education, the CoM does a great job of illustrating wine service as well as teaching fundamental ways of blind tasting wines.  That said, the course was very fast paced and would be difficult for someone not familiar with the major wine varietals and regions in the world.  Tim Gaiser, MS, who conducted the class, and Steven Poe, MS, had incredible enthusiasm and knowledge for wine, making sitting in a chair in a hotel convention hall for 7 hours fun!

During the class, there were many blind tastings.  First day was loaded with French wines, for which I had a lot of trouble identifying.  Aei! Gotta drink more Chablis and Crozes-Hermitage!  I wish I could blame a nasty cold for my off-palate, or perhaps it's because I always find myself sneaking passed the "FRANCE" wine aisle and spending too much time in the "ITALY" or "GERMANY" aisles.  hurrah for riesling!

The second day blind-tasting was a breeze, particularly when I spotted the Zind Humbrecht Pinot D'Alsace after the room of 100 people sat stumped.  rockstar.  Then, on the last 2 wines of the day, it was as though I tasted the lips of an old lover... when good ol' California Zinfandel touched my lips. Ahh Seghesio...my good friend.  The last wine was a hot red brick in my mouth with so much tannin and leather, my guess was Barbaresco... it was Barolo.

Wow.  I left the class with a list of wines (scant notations all over my notepad document) and next day found myself at K&L Wines in Los Angeles with a bottle of Peloponnese (Greece) Moschofilero.  I'm going to take the Certified Exam in April in Seattle... see yah there!

Working in a Wine Bar

Armed with a pair of dish gloves, each wine glass gets hand washed with fragrance free detergent, polished with a lint-free cloth and examined.

I work at West Street Wine Bar.  My prior career was as a graphic designer, I would have never started working as a wine server had it not been for Rick Martinez, the proprietor of WSWB.  Since February 2009, I've had the fortune of tasting over 600 wines and learned a great deal about the world of wine.  But as any seasoned wine professional will tell you: "The more you know, the more you know you don't know."   I've just enrolled into the Court of Masters Sommelier course, to continue to advance my knowledge and interest.

My traditional style career in the office was slowly rounding down my enthusiasm and sucking my social energy.  I would spend all day fantasizing about what to eat and drink for dinner, not acknowledging my passion (or respect) for the food/service industry.