Subject: Orangewood Wines Newsletter - Volume 3, Issue 32 – October 29, 2009

Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009, 12:42pm

Introduction

I was hoping to be the last to tell you that the recession was over. Sorry to say it is not. There are some signs that it might be, but it is not yet solid. Still we have plenty of liquid assets – I think I will check for quality!

Box Score

New Restaurants: 3

New Retail/Wine Bar Outlets 3

New Wineries 2

New Retail/Wine Bar Outlets: 1

New Sales Consultants 1

Contents

New Restaurants

New Retail/Wine Bar Outlets

New Sales People

New Wineries

Wine Varietal of the Month

Rambling

New Restaurants

Bamboo Club

8624 East Shea Boulevard

Scottsdale, AZ 85260

(480) 998-1287

Bluewater Grill

1720 East Camelback Road

Phoenix, AZ 85016

(602) 277-3474

Legend Trails

9462 E. Legendary Lane
Scottsdale, AZ 85262
(480) 488-7434

New Retail/Wine Bar Outlets

Cellar 13

7202 East Ho Road

Carefree, AZ 85377

(480) 415-7860

Crush’d Wine Bar

7101 East Thunderbird Road

Scottsdale, AZ 85254

(602) 445-6176

Next Coffee Company

19420 North 59th Avenue, Suite J
Glendale, AZ 85308

(623) 322-4852

New Sales People – Sherman Harns

Sherman most recently worked for a local distributor that has gone out of business.  Prior to that, he sold wine at the retail level. He has a great palate and is a serious student of wine; but he has a sense of humour that fits the Orangewood style. His area of focus is South Scottsdale.

New Wineries

Grant Street Vineyards

Grant Street Vineyards is a family-owned and operated business, inspired by a passion for wine and a devotion to family.  With deep roots in Calistoga, their mission is to create small-lot wines, accessible to everyone, that capture the spirit, flavors and essence of the Napa Valley. When we tasted these wines in the spring they were delightful. They are even better now.

J. Kirkwood

Dr. Kirk Reid planted a 3-acre Merlot vineyard in the late 1980s in an area that would become known as the Golden Triangle of Napa Merlot. After selling the juice for many years, Dr Reid decided to bottle some for himself. We are delighted to bring some to Arizona.

Wine Varietal of the Month – Lagrein

What is a varietal, again, and why haven’t I heard of this one?  A varietal represents a variety of grape.  Just like Granny Smith is a variety of apple, grapes have many different varieties of various colour, size and taste, and each one is called a varietal.  Many of us recognize and could name maybe 10 grape varietals (try it and let us know how many you can name in 3 minutes, here's a hint, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling, Zinfandel…).  Europe seems to have about 10,000 distinct varietals.  It’s no wonder there are frequently new names we don’t recognize. Lagrein is one.  Lagrein was predominantly developed and grown in northern Italy, which is a bit odd, because it appears to be a cross of mostly French varieties: Syrah and Pinot Noir and then a key Italian variety, "Teroldego".

Orangewood first heard of Lagrein from Bill and Susan Arbios, owners of the Arbios and Praxis wine brands. They, in turn, had first tried a wine made from this variety of grape on a hunt to see the remains of Utzi, the Alpine Ice Man, the oldest natural mummy in the Italian Alps.  There are not many places you can find vineyards growing this grape.  Bill Arbios found one on the Central Coast of California.  Then of course the Italian Alps have a bit, and there's some in the Victoria area of Australia.  Pronounced Lah-GRAYHN or Lah-GRINE, this cool climate red varietal is a 300 year-old cross between Syrah and Pinot Noir.  Wine made from Lagrein is deep red, medium bodied wine with a dark fruit taste (plum, pomegranate, blueberries, blackberries, etc).

Orangewood Wines has Lagrein in inventory from Praxis Cellars, Central Coast, CA. If you need to rush out to try this tonight, AJ’s Fine Foods on Ray Road in Chandler has it on the shelf. You know you should.

Rambling

Well, having rambled last month about the up coming trade events that took place last week, you know I have to provide some feedback on how they went. On a lot of levels these events were a success. Everyone that attended enjoyed themselves and learned new things. This included me. This is what I love about wine and the wine business: there is so much to learn. I learned things about the wines, the wineries, some logistical suggestions and who is doing what to whom - some might call this gossip! On one level we did not do what we set out to do. We did not attract many of our customers. Why was that? There are lots of reasons, but the one I am taking to heart is that we did not plan far enough in advance. Given that I started planning this in August, 2½ months is not enough, so my thought for the next installment in January is not going to work. I am going to drop back 10 yards, regroup and mix my metaphors until we can get this thing better. Next mini-trade event will be late summer 2010. Put it on you calendar. Mark August 15 with the question, “When is the next Orangewood event?” Meanwhile we will be soliciting our customers on timing, location, style, hours and all the other minutiae of an event. My thanks to all those who supported last week’s Orangefest.

The Rambler rambles on…

From all of us at Orangewood Wines,

Richard (newsletter writer), Laurie (editor) and Jim Wallace (another editor)

Orangewood Wines