Happy New Year and welcome to 2013. It sounds so ominous to have a year with the number thirteen in it. Superstitions tell us 13 is unlucky but despite the fact that it takes 13 witches to make up a coven, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that 13 is considered the luckiest number in both Chinese and Italian cultures. Not to mention Wilt Chamberlain wore that number throughout his career. So we’re going to adopt that positive outlook and look forward to another great year here at cork and we hope to bring at least 13 memorable events to you in the twelve months ahead.To kick things off for January, here’s our lineup of Tasting Events and a special Winemaker’s Dinner. Note our new Tasting Room Talk series in the column on the right. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Friday, Jan 11 . Everyday RedsFriday Night Flight: The first full week of the year for us is always about refilling our under $20 section that gets hit hard during the holiday shopping season. So as we wrestle the next few days with a sea of cardboard boxes, we’ll cull together our 4 favorite new arrivals to share with you in the main flight this week. And as there is always something hiding in the corners we want to share, expect a few bonus pours as well. As usual, our Friday tastings run from 4pm to 7pm or until the bottles are empty. Main Flight $10*, Premium Pours for an additional fee.
Friday, Jan 18 . New Bucklin Vintages
Friday Night Flight: This week, we’ll showcase the new vintage arrivals of one of our favorite Sonoma producers. Will Bucklin has shown us how great wine is made from the oldest living Zinfandel vineyard in America. Then he went and upped the ante by replicating the vineyard plantings with a new plot and, with the Bambino bottling, proved that our ancestors were really on to something with their whole field blend mentality. Come check out the 2009 BUCKLIN Old Hill and the 2010 BUCKLIN Bambino, along with the latest bottling of his Cabernet Sauvignon from the bench vineyard that sits above the old block. We’ll even be offering a mini-vertical option for those who want the premium pours and a chance to taste two vintages of Old Hill and Bambino side by side. Main Flight $10*, Premium Pours for an additional fee. This tasting is from 4pm – 7pm.
Friday, Jan 25 . IndigItaly is Back!
Friday Night Flight: Our never-ending love affair with the hundreds of indigenous varietals growing in Italy has led to some of our most interesting tastings. We’re going back to the Indigenous Italians for this Friday’s tasting. Come see what we’ve found this time – all regions, varietals and colors are possible and we promise your palate will be challenged. Main Flight $10*, Premium Pours for an additional fee. This tasting is from 4pm – 7pm.
For our first winemaker’s dinner this year, we’re partnering with one of Portland’s best new eateries. Join us for a night of great food and Piedmont wines with our special guest Renato Vacca of Cantina del Pino. He lives and works at his family’s winery overlooking the village of Barbaresco and there, he produces some of our favorite Dolcetto, Barbera and Barbaresco.
To handle the cooking duties, we’ve appointed the 3 chefs at Sauvage to put together a 5 course menu that will pair well with the Cantina del Pino wines. The dishes are sure to include the fantastic beef tartare that Sauvage has been serving lately which represents a classic Piemontese dish with a modern twist. Plus there will be an assortment of flavors that take advantage of the season and we’ll finish with a cheese course to allow you to savor the flavors of the Barbaresco in your glass.
For the wines, we’ll be pouring the 2011 Dolcetto d’Alba, the 2011 Freisa, the 2011 Nebbiolo Langhe, 2008 Barbaresco and 2001 Barbaresco Ovello from our personal cellar. Reservations are required for this special dinner and there are only 20 seats, with over half already booked. To reserve, please email us at reservations@corkwineshop.com and include the number in your party and the best phone number to reach you at.
Here’s the Important Details:
The 5-course dinner is $75/person including all food, wine and gratuity. Once you email a reservation request, we will will confirm that we have space for you and will require a credit card to finalize the reservation.
cork will be charging your credit card on January 19th for the full cost of the dinner. Any cancellations must be made prior to January 18th in order to avoid being charged.
The dinner will be held at Sauvage, located at 537 SE Ash with the entrance being on SE 6th Street, just off the corner of SE Ash.
While we love sharing wine with you at our Friday tastings, there are often so many people that it is hard to really talk in depth about a wine or region.
So we’re creating this new series called Tasting Room Talks, where we will host up to 12 people at the table in our tasting room for informal discussions paired with some wine tasting.
For the first Tasting Room Talk, I’ll be riffing on my passion for the new generation of wines coming out of California and why they deserve your attention.
We’ll taste some of the new generation wines and discuss with participants which wineries you’ve grown fond of. Maybe we’ll even take some suggestions for our ongoing mission to source more indie California wineries to bring to Portland.
The tasting and talk is $10 and we do need you to reserve for this event. Please email if you’d like a seat at the table. Space is limited to 12 people.
*For our cork club members, the Main Flight fee during our Friday Night tastings is complimentary (limit 2 flights per membership per week). Premium pours, bonus fees and tastings on other nights of the week receive the usual 10% cork club discount. This benefit is non-transferrable and at least one cork club member must be present.
For our first winemaker’s dinner this year, we’re partnering with one of Portland’s best new eateries. Join us for a night of great food and Piedmont wines with our special guest Renato Vacca of Cantina del Pino. He lives and works at his family’s winery overlooking the village of Barbaresco and there, he produces some of our favorite Dolcetto, Barbera and Barbaresco.
To handle the cooking duties, we’ve appointed the 3 chefs at Sauvage to put together a 5 course menu that will pair well with the Cantina del Pino wines. The dishes are sure to include the fantastic beef tartare that Sauvage has been serving lately which represents a classic Piemontese dish with a modern twist. Plus there will be an assortment of flavors that take advantage of the season and we’ll finish with a cheese course to allow you to savor the flavors of the Barbaresco in your glass.
