domaine547 Events: Cantine A Casa Tasting At Campanile

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Sorry for the short notice on this one…but come join us this Friday evening (May 1, 2009) for a casual tasting of the wines of Cantine A Casa, at Campanile. The winemaker will be there, and for a mere $19 (tax and service included) you will receive three small bites that have been specially prepared to match the Sannio Falanghina, the Greco di Tufo and the Fiano Di Avelino wines that will be poured.

If you plan on coming, shoot me an email at info@domaine547.com and I’ll be able to let Campanile know so they can prepare enough goodies for us!

Corkage Question: Which Bottle To Bring to a Restaurant with a Regional List?

Monday, September 22nd, 2008

Reader Nicole wrote us with a question after our Corkage Week post on dos and don’ts: if one is going to a restaurant that features a geographic-based wine list (in her example, she chose an LA spot that has only Italian wines) and she wants to bring her own bottle, is it impolite to bring a wine that is regionally off-topic? She’d like to bring a Cali Cab.

In all honesty, we’re not sure how to answer this question so we think this is the perfect time for a poll (and please leave comments, since there are so many nuances to this topic!).

When you’re bringing your own to a restaurant with an all Italian wine list, which is most appropriate?

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Personally, we think that it could go any of these three ways. Clearly bringing a Cali Cab would be following the “don’t bring a wine that’s already on the list” tip, so that’s a plus. But the restaurant clearly has a strong POV (Italian wine with Italian food) so maybe somehow they’d be offended to see a non-Italian wine come through their doors.

However, if you were to bring a bottle of Italian wine that wasn’t extremely special…maybe they’d be more offended, since they spent so much time selecting an array of Italian wines appropriate for the food they serve that it might seem a slap in the face for one to drop in with something that is more or less the equivalent of wine they already serve.

Mostly, we lean to the rights of the customer: you’re paying, so you should get to do what makes you happiest (but be aware that these issues might crop up!).

What do you think?

Wine Blogging Wednesday #48: Back To…Brunello?

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

This is going to be a brief post. It’s Wine Blogging Wednesday, and the theme from Lenn Thompson is a good one: to choose a wine that gets you back to your roots as a wine drinker and wine lover. Sort of ‘the wine that changed your life,’ if you will. Read more…

2005 Tenuta di Valgiano Colline Lucchesi Palistorti

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

We have a knack for picking Italian wines that score really horribly in the press. This one gets an 82 from the Wine Spectator — but we love it nonetheless. It’s a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Syrah that hails from a biodynamic estate outside of Lucca. It couldn’t be from anywhere else, unlike the 98 point yielding Super Tuscan blends that we’ve on occsasion mistaken for California iterations of Bordeaux varieties. This will probably end up in our six-pack prize of wines that will not make the Spectator top 100…$37 for 82 points (how’s that for transparency?)

get your wine on

2008 “Bebame” Red, El Dorado County, California

Cabernet Franc (65%) and Gamay (35%) from - gasp - California! And only 13% ABV, pretty modest by California standards. If I tasted this blind I would probably have said it’s from the Loire Valley. It has pretty much nothing in common with the full bodied iterations of Cab Franc coming out of Napa. Juicy, light, delicious quaffing wine.$18 a bottle

2006 Telegramme Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge

Really balanced and smooth, this is a bargain of a Chateauneuf. Yeah, the 07s are lauded but what would I prefer to drink? This! It’s the second label of Vieux Telegraphe, from the same property but from younger vines. And it’s a deal at $33 a bottle.2006 or bust!

NV Barcino Cava: LA Times Wine of the Week!

Delicious and just in time for New Year’s Eve…this is the LA Times Wine of the Week, and we have plenty in stock. Order online, pick-up in-store!$14 a bottle!

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freshly pressed

3/8/10: First domaineLA Wine Tasting at Susan Feniger’s Street: 5 Wines, $15:

Just a quick note to let you know that a week from today, on Monday, March 8th, 2010, I’ll be hosting the first domaineLA wine tasting event at Susan Feniger’s Street, with the Manincor winery of Italy. The importer and winemaker will both be present to chat about the five wines being poured (including an unusual and delicious dry moscato), and the wines will be paired with light bites.

The best news is that the event will cost just $15 a person…a bargain! Swing by between 6PM and 8PM — I hope to see lots of you there!

Susan Feniger’s Street, 742 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038

Oh, and you can buy tickets in advance, online by clicking here:
Buy Tickets

wine jargon

Frizzante
From Wikipedia: Frizzante is an Italian wine term term for semi-sparkling wine (as opposed to Spumante, which is generally used for fully sparkling wines). Frizzante wines generally owe their bubbles to a partial secondary fermentation in tank. You might notice a light fizz or tingly sensation on the tongue with a Frizzante wine, compared to the more carbonated sensation that more fully sparkling wines yield.


Scorekage
Okay, so we made up this word yesterday after a great restaurant experience. We brought a bottle of wine with us, expecting to pay a corkage fee. But the restaurant either forgot to charge us the $15, or decided to be nice to us. We scored! Hence, “scorekage” has entered our lexicon. This can also refer to BYO friendly restaurants that don’t charge for corkage under any circumstances.


Frizzante


March 29th, 2008

Scorekage


March 23rd, 2008

Rioja


March 3rd, 2008

grapewise

DomaineLA Store Contact Info
If you’re looking for our brick and mortar shop, here’s where it can be found:

6801 Melrose Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90038

(323) 932-0280

Hours are 11AM to 8PM, Monday through Saturday and noon to 5PM on Sundays.

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Fabulous & Frugal!
Our friends launched a new site and domaine547 is a featured wine columnist in their premiere edition! Go check out Fabulous & Frugal for some fantastic lifestyle tips for living the good life during what, for most of us, is an economically challenging time. There’s much more than wine there, and we’re thrilled to be a small part of the start of what will surely be a successful venture. Congrats to Brandi & Steph for their achievement!

Read more…