This Week's Wine Shopping Finds

After months on the Sonoma Coast, and then the start of classes, and then a trip to England, it's been a while since I hit the road and checked in with my local wine shops. The challenges of locating Portuguese wine in LA for WBW#38 gave me the perfect excuse to run around the Pasadena area. Unfortunately, I found absolutely no Portuguese wine to buy. Fortunately, I found lots of other good stuff!

My first stop was Colorado Wine Company, where they had some nice Spanish bottles of wine, and some great looking French wine, but no Portuguese wine other than a verdejo and I want to try to get bonus points this month! I could have bought one of every bottle of their French regional wines, but instead heard the voice of Joe from Joe's Wine Blog nudging me towards the gamay, which I haven't had for a while! I left the store with a nice bottle of gamay from the Loire, the 2005 Domaine de la Charmoise Gamay Touraine ($13.99). I've never had a gamay from these region, and am looking forward tot he experience.

Next, I stopped at Mission Wines in South Pasadena. No Portuguese wine there, either, except for a white that wasn't inspiring. I did, however, notice that they have a nice selection of Four Vines wines available, along with offerings from Sean Thackrey and Core so if you are in the mood for some more expensive treats, I highly recommend checking out Mission Wine. Added bonus: this Saturday from 12-4 they are having a wine tasting (just $5 with any wine purchase) that includes some nice Spanish and Spanish influenced offerings, like the 2006 Core C3 Tempranillo and the 2006 Onix Priorat Classico. Both of these wines retail for under $20, and you get to taste them first! I had the Core C3 at the Family Winemakers, and it was dynamite.

Last, but not least, I had a little buying binge at Chronicle Wine Cellar behind the Pie and Burger. With lots of exotic grapes dancing through my head after WBW #37, I found a 2005 Durigutti Bonarda ($7.95) from Argentina and a 2005 Domaine des Cassagnoles Vin de Pays Cotes de Gascogne ($6.95) that has ugni blanc in it which I've never had. I also couldn't resist a 2005 Domaine de la Frutiere Muscadet Cuvee M ($8.95), a 2002 Maxwell Four Roads shiraz-grenache-viognier blend ($14.95), and a cute 500ml bottle of the 2003 Enkidu Petite Sirah from the Napa Valley ($11.95).

Hopefully this will inspire all the LA area readers out there to go and visit a wine shop or two this weekend and get your own bottles of these interesting, affordable wines.