Changing Places The holiday season is upon us, and along with all the elaborate meals, family gatherings and nightmarish street traffic, another slight change in daily life is taking place. I'm Kevin Hogan, and I will be your new tour guide (and newsletter editor) in the department. I've been working part-time in the store for over a year, so you should recognize me as a familiar face. I've been studying up on our Spanish and Portuguese wine, , Port, and since The Spanish Table first opened in Berkeley. I'm an avid home cook, an enthusiastic user of Spanish and Portuguese food products, and I am politically active in the pro- terracotta cookware movement ("Corningware? Not on my watch!"). Andy Booth will still be making guest appearances in these pages, and in person on Saturdays, through the end of the year. I will be here most days to give advice, listen to suggestions and generally facilitate you in finding the best wine (and food) from Iberia. So let’s get down to business.

Some Personal Favorites Albiker 2003, This light bodied, young rioja has an abundance of fresh strawberry fruit character, and bright acidity. Carbonic maceration and steel tank fermentation put this wine at the top of my list for folks who don’t like flavor and aroma in their wine. Serve Albiker as an A glimpse of the cathedral in Toledo. aperitif, or for lunch with soup and Serrano ham bocadillos. $11.99 Arco de Curiel Roble 2002, Ribera del Duero This is one of my favorite values from Ribera del Duero. Arco de Curiel Roble is full bodied and fruity with good intensity , at an everyday drinking price. $11.99 Albet I Noya Colleccio 2000, Penedes This is a special bottling from Albet i Noya. Selected hillside grapes are used for this purple plum colored wine from Penedes. Aromas of earth and smoke mesh well with the tannic, 100% Tempranillo fruit. This is a wine with well-defined, almost austere character. Serve it with dishes using traditional Spanish spices such as smoked paprika and saffron. $20.99 Sanstrave Brut Nature Cava 1999, Penedes This is an exceptional brut nature style of Cava with absolutely nothing added to the principal wine. From the 1999 vintage, the wine was allowed to rest until being bottled in 2003. Made from , Parelleda and grapes, Sanstrave is very dry and crisp, with fine bubbles, and elegant notes of pear and spices. $19.99 Odysseus PX 2002, Priorato This is the only still wine (not sherry) made from the Pedro Ximenez grape. In the hands of Josep Puig and his daughter Silvia Puig of Bodegas Ithaca, the PX produces a full-bodied , rich with aromas of honeysuckle and licorice. Dry herbs , slate, and earth flavors combine with the lush floral scent. Only 400 cases of this wine were made. Those who appreciate off beat, hand made would be wise to investigate this particular example soon. $25.99 Quinta do Infantado 1982 Vintage Port, Oporto The Quinta do Infantado house style is considered ‘semi-dry’(meio-seco), which gives the final product a lighter body than many ports, with resemblances to . The elegance of this vintage port is due to the care which the Roseira family has put into each stage pf the wine making process. They grow the grapes, crush, vinify, blend, bottle and age all the wines on their own estate. They are one of the few remaining port producers to still use the labor-intensive method of foot treading to crush the grapes. The 1982 Vintage Port has a light amethyst purple color, a delicate sweetness, and a long velvety finish. Decant a bottle on a cold winter evening and explore the subtle flavors and aromas for yourself. $45.00 Dios Baco Pedro Ximenez, Jerez Pedro Ximenez (PX) is the grape varietal used in sherry to give sweetness to the wine. Traditionally it is blended with the drier, lighter bodied Fino grape. By itself PX is often thick, sweet and tastes of dried fruit. Some PX drink like prune syrup. The Dios Baco PX has a character more like high-octane chocolate sauce. Surprisingly light body and a long brandy-like finish counter the rich dark color, and cocoa powder aroma. This 500ml bottle is the perfect size to serve with dessert at the end to one of those big holiday meals. $14.99

Stocking Stuffers While trying to find the perfect “small” gift for my wife, I realized that ½ bottles of port would make the perfect gift for her stocking. Here are a select few from our collection for that little “something special”.

Smith Woodhouse 1980 Vintage Port, Oporto Drinking beautifully, this is supple and well balanced. The sweet fruit, smoke, licorice and tannins have melded into a superb example of a 24 year old vintage port. $31.99 Royal Oporto 1987 Vintage Port, Oporto One of the best priced examples of a vintage port we have found, with well balanced black cherry and prune flavors. $14.99 Cockburn 1994 Vintage Port, Oporto One of the few left of the spectacular 1994 vintage. Rich smoky, roasted, sweet black fruit with good acidity and enticing mineral quality. $45.00

Quinta do Passadouro 1995 Vintage Port, Oporto This is a single Quinta port that is loaded with dense black fruit, violets and licorice. Well- balanced sweetness, acids and tannins make this a great value. $11.99 Quinta do Infantado 1998 LBV, Oporto Aged for four years in barrel before being bottled, this Late Bottled Vintage Port is ready to drink now. One of our favorite producer’s here at the Spanish Table, this medium dry style has distinctive spice and fruit flavors. Once you’ve had one of these you’ll recognize the house style almost immediately. $13.99

That Big “Something Special” Here are a couple of wines on my Christmas wish list. I’ve had to edit this extensively; otherwise it would be a forty-page newsletter. (Someone please forward this to my wife.)

Finca Sobreño Selección Especial 2000, Toro The last vintage of this intense, complex wine from Toro was a favorite at the Spanish Table. This will not disappoint fans from last year. Rich, juicy fruit, and earthy, roast game aromas are just a hint of what’s in the glass. One of the best value wines I’ve tasted from Toro $20.99 Pintia 2001, Toro This is the first vintage of Pintia, which is ’s new project in Toro. Stunning. Ripe black cherry, blackberry and coffee form the backbone of this dense, structured beauty from northwestern Castilla y Leon. Another superb wine that is in limited supply. $49.99 Vall Llach 2002, Priorato Lush cherry, cassis and dark berry flavors leap out of the glass, followed by subtle hints of vanilla and coffee. The wine is plush and dense with hints of wild herbs that linger on the finish. So far this is definitely one of the best 2002 Priorato wines that I have tasted. $88.00 Dios Baco Imperial Oloroso 30 years old, Jerez This regular oloroso and amontillado from Dios Bacos are not only best sellers; they are favorites of the staff here as well. But the 30-year-old Oloroso is stunning. Sit back, pour a small glass and savor this for the rest of the holidays, because wine this gorgeous is not an everyday occurrence. Normally this is over $100, but since it has just become available here in the US, we have a special “Winter Introduction Price”. $80.00 Lopez de Heredia Viña Tondonida & Viña Bosconia, Rioja These make a unique and exciting gift. I have tasted several of these wines from older vintages & have been continually amazed at how outstanding and beautiful these wines are. And the fact that they are less expensive than current releases of many California cult wines and Bordeaux wines is unbelievable. We just received a new shipment of vintages direct from the winery including the stunning 1976. Please call or email for available vintages & prices.

2005 already? It’s hard to believe that another year is past. But once again we’re ready to celebrate a new year and new beginnings. And what better way to bring it in then with a bottle of Cava or Moscatel.

Parxet Cuvee 21 Brut Cava,Penedes There must be a reason that this is one of the top sellers in the store. Maybe because it has great crisp apple & lemon flavors with just a hint of yeast and tastes at least twice as expensive as it is. $9.99 Can Vendrell Brut Reserva Cava, Penedes Another wine from Albet i Noya, Can Vendrell Brut Reserva is composed of Macabeo, , Xarel- lo,(traditional cava grapes) and a bit of Chardonnay. The wine has a pale yellow color and crisp, clean flavors of yeast, herbs and citrus. $15.99 Privat Laieta Brut Cava, Penedes A blend of Chardonnay and , this handsomely packaged Cava is more reminiscent of then Cava. $23.99 Silvano Garcia Moscatel 2003, Jumilla Fresh, floral honeysuckle, orange zest and jasmine scents bloom every so sweetly in this moscatel. $23.99 Jose Maria Fonseca Mosctael de Setubal 1962, Setubal A rare, almost impossible to find treat from ; lush, These barrels of Moscatel in honeyed citrus, dripping with rich floral nuances are Portugal age for a least twenty balanced by enough acid and structure to make this one of years before they are released. Portugal’s most distinguished dessert wines. $96.00

December Wine Clubs

Selección de Valor $19.99 Altun Crianza 2001, Rioja $15.99 Finca Antigua Tempranillo 2002, La Mancha 7.99

Selección Privada $59.99 Remelluri Gran Reserva 1994, Rioja $42.99 Logos I, Navarra $32.99

Mariner’s Society $79.99 Churchill’s 1997 Vintage Port $83.00 Krohn 1978 Colheita Port $58.00