Port4lio 2012 is coming up on Monday April 30th in San Francisco and May 2nd in Los Angeles. This annual event is our chance to open up a bunch of wines and share them with our customers and friends in the wholesale wine buying world. We are joined in this effort by several other top notch distributors, each with their own distinctive style. Amy Atwood Selections, Blue Danube, Return to Terroir and Vinos Unico will all participate in this event.
In San Francisco we are excited to host Port4lio at the Old Mint. We will be tasting wines in the original counting rooms where gold was once weighed and exchanged for dollars. The location at 88 5th St is both majestic in size and historically significant. It is also centrally located just 1 block from Powell Street Bart and across the street from the Mission St. parking garage.
In Los Angeles we are thrilled to be at Royal/T, a combo cafe/gallery/event space with Japanese design inspirations located at 8910 Washington Blvd. in Culver City. The location is easily accessible, just blocks from the Santa Monica Expressway, or take the new LA Metro Exposition line to the Venice/Robertson stop.
Vinos Unico will have some special guest winemakers in town to pour their wines at these events. We will have more details in a few days. For now, put the dates on your calendar and get ready to taste some fabulous new wines.

Here are some images from our recent event with Bodegas Riojanas. They were in San Francisco for a Master class on the Rioja region, illustrating the various styles of Rioja with examples from the Bodegas Riojanas portfolio. Tasted were: Vina Albina Blanco Semi Dulce 2010, Puerta Vieja Crianza 2008, Vina Albina Reserva 2004, Monte Real Gran Reserva 1998, Vina Albina Gran Reserva 1998 and Vina Albina Gran Reserva 1978. Thanks to all who attended.

In keeping with the recent mild weather and early onset of Spring flowers, we now have the new 2011 vintage of Laxas Albariño in stock. This is one of, if not the, first 2011 Albariño in the California market and as ever with Laxas it is absolutely electric in the first few months after release.  Laxas is a textbook example of what D.O. Rias Baixas wines are all about. Adegas As Laxas, in business for over a century, was one of the first members of the newly demarcated region in 1988 when D.O. Rias Baixas was first established. While most folks appreciate Albariño and other Spanish white wines for their bright, racy character, combining fresh floral aroma with zippy acidity, Laxas also has the ability  to age beautifully for several years. This wine will become broader in flavor and aroma over 3-7 years, trading in the tropical fruit notes for more honeyed and mineral flavors, proving that Galician whites do indeed develop quite nicely with age.

The 2010 Solindo Pinot Noir from Urbanite Cellars got a nice write up in the San Francisco Examiner over the weekend. Under the headline “California pinot noirs offer some surprises” Pamela Busch praises the ability of  a few local wineries, Urbanite Cellars included,  to “make balanced, affordable wines with character”.  In contrast to some other local wines made from Pinot Noir that feature extracted flavors, elevated levels of alcohol and high prices, Solindo Pinot Noir is in Busch’s words “one of the best deals to be found”. She compares Solindo favorably to several wines from well known producers which makes us very proud for this, the first vintage of Solindo. Check out the article here: http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/2012/02/california-pinot-noirs-offer-some-surprises, and contact your local Vinos Unico salesperson to try this wine for yourself.

At Vinos Unico we have fallen in love with the 5 gallon keg as a way to get Urbanite Cellars’ Solindo Pinot Noir to market. As wine-on-tap grows in popularity we plan to add more choices to this, our first foray into the keg format. Meanwhile we are experiencing first hand what it takes to keep the kegs-a-flowing. Much like the milk man and milk bottles of days gone by, we recuperate an empty keg for each full keg we deliver. The empties must in turn be taken back to the winery where they are cleaned and refilled. It is such a tidy, self sustaining process that I can’t imagine why we in the wine trade have not been doing this all along.
This week it’s my turn to swap out a batch of empty kegs for fresh, new, full ones. With the empties secured in the truck I head north to Healdsburg. The drive is always gorgeous and conveniently gives me another opportunity to visit with Vinos Unico customers along the way. Stopping briefly for one of my favorite Sonoma County snacks is just a side benefit (thank you Tortilleria Jalisco in Sonoma, for doing what you do so simply and well). Leaving the winery,loaded with full kegs, I head back south to fill the needs of our wine-on-tap customers in San Francisco and Berkeley.

2010 Solindo Pinot Noir can be found on-tap at these locations:

Fat Angel 1740 Ofarrell St  San Francisco, CA 94115, (415) 525-3013 www.fatangelsf.com

Presidio Cafe 300 Finley Road  San Francisco, CA 94129, (415) 561-4661 www.presidiocafe.com

Revival Bar + Kitchen 2102 Shattuck Avenue  Berkeley, CA 94704, (510) 549-9950  www.revivalbarandkitchen.com

Tacolicious 741 Valencia St San Francisco, CA 94110, (415) 626-1344 www.tacolicioussf.com

First, a big thank you to all of our great customers (and their great customers) for making 2011 another banner year for Vinos Unico. This past year saw a lot of growth and change for Vinos Unico and we appreciate your commitment to helping us bring some of the world’s best, most unique wines to California.

Perhaps the biggest change in 2011 was our extensive foray into the wonderful world of traditional Rioja wine and we’re happy to say that it proved fruitful. The wines from Bodegas Riojanas and Bodegas Corral have been runaway hits in their first year in California. The 2001 Monte Real Gran Reserva from Bodegas Riojanas sold out quickly, but more is arriving in February. All the other Gran Reservas as well as the Crianza, Reserva, Blanco and Rosado wines from both producers are still in stock.

Arriving with the Rioja wines will be more Cava from Bodegas Raventos i Blanc. It has been a long drought but we’re pleased to say that both the “L’Hereu” Reserva and “De Nit” Reserva Rosado vintage Cavas as well as more “Silencis” Xarel-lo still white wine will be back in our warehouse in early February.

Rounding out our container from Spain are Josep Puig and his daughter Sylvia’s Vinedos de Ithaca wines from Priorat, including more of the wildly popular 2008 “Akyles” red blend.

Another returning favorite is the Trajarinho Vinho Verde, more of which is hitting our warehouse in a a few weeks. I wish it was sooner since today it was over 80 degrees in Downtown Los Angeles!

As we move further into the new year, look for more of your favorites including wines from Adega Granadeiro (Tapada Do Barao), Adega de Moncao (Muralhas), and Luis Pato as well as new producers from Spain, Portugal and maybe even Latin America. There will also be new releases from our Calfornia winery, Urbanite Cellars, including new vintages of Caliberico White and Red.

We look forward to sharing these and many more wines with you in the year ahead. Happy New Year!

As the year wraps up, we thought it would be fun to look back on our best selling wines of 2011.
Leading the way was perennial favorite Trajarinho Vinho Verde ($11). Although we’re out of stock right now, we’ll have more in our warehouse at the beginning of 2012.

Our second-best seller will also come as no surprise, the Urbanite Cellars Redart red blend ($11) has been a hit with restaurants and retailers alike. Another Urbanite Cellars wine, Amplio Cabernet Sauvignon ($13), came in at number three on the list and we just got the delicious 2010 vintage in stock last month.

Rounding out our top five are two Cavas: the Barcino ($15) from Luis Moya Selections and Bodegas Raventos i Blanc L’Hereu Reserva ($19). We’ve got Barcino to get you through New Year’s Day and, although we won’t have more L’Hereu until early 2012, we have a pair of great sparkling wines from Portugal’s Luis Pato available as well (Espumante Branco, $16, Espumante Tinto, $18).

All five of these wines are also some of our personal favorites for reasons far beyond their attractive price tags. Unique, well-balanced and food-friendly, they’re crowd pleasers that can compliment any meal and be a welcome addition to any holiday party.

For information on availability in your area, contact us below. Happy holidays!

Come savor the flavors of Spain as we taste mature Rioja wines paired with traditional Spanish tapas.

The stalwart traditionalist winemakers at Bodegas Riojanas make wines for the long term and these special bottles, made only in the best vintages, are prime examples of top quality Rioja. Wines from the celebrated 2004 and 2001 vintages will precede several 20th Century Gran Reserva wines from 1998 as well as a small taste of the 1978 and 1964 Gran Reservas (we have only a few bottles, not for sale, and share them just to prove the point of how well these traditionally styled wines can age).

In Spain the tradition is to always have something to eat alongside a glass of wine. In this spirit, several classic Spanish tapas will be served. Raquel Hermosilla from Spain At Home Catering will bring her famous Tortilla Espanola as well as Chorizo sausage braised in Spanish apple cider, Pan con Tomate and plates of assorted Spanish cheeses.
Come for a bit of Spanish immersion therapy and get inspired by these truly remarkable wines. The wines of Bodegas Riojanas are just making a comeback on the West Coast after years of absence and will make unique and distinctive gifts as well as solid additions to a home wine cellar.
For further details, contact K&L Wines at (650) 364-8544.

This week you’re going to be bombarded with articles recommending wines for the Thanksgiving dinner table. Just this past weekend in fact, Jon Bonné of the San Francisco Chronicle published his own recommendations, including our Raventos i Blanc “de Nit” Cava Rosado ($24). And while we agree with Bonné that, in the end, you should always drink what you like, we figured we’d offer a few of recommendations of our own.

We’ll steer clear of some of the typical choices like rosé (although the Don Jacobo Rioja Rosado would be a great fit for $12) and Beaujolais (we don’t import that) and offer up some uniquely perfect alternatives as our way of saying thanks to you for choosing our wines.

For a domestic white wine, both the Robledo Family Vineyards Carneros Chardonnay ($18) and the Caliberico White Blend ($18) are crisp whites with enough full-bodied richness to stand up to Thanksgiving’s stronger flavors.

For domestic red wines, Pinot Noir and Zinfandel always work well with turkey and we have two new releases from Urbanite Cellars to offer. The Solindo Carneros Pinot Noir ($22) is our newest wine, made by Kenny Likitprakong with the deft assistance of our own Luis Moya. Made from 97% Pinot Noir and 3% Chardonnay, Solindo is naturally fermented with native yeast and aged for 11 months in second and third fill French oak barrels. The 2009 vintage of Urbanite Cellars’ Clos de Cal Zinfandel ($15), also just released, is a classic cool-climate Zinfandel. Bright, tangy  fruit with earthy foundation will compliment  a range of autumn produce. Moderate 13.5% ABV won’t overwhelm the meal.

For white wines from Spain and Portugal, the Soalheiro Alvarinho ($24), Quinta Do Cardo Siria ($15) and the Vina Valoria Crianza Blanco 2004 ($19) are all excellent choices for a festive Thanksgiving meal. Red wines with just the right balance of fruit, earth and tannin for every holiday dish include the Puerta Vieja Rioja Crianza 2008 ($15), Vina Albina Rioja Reserva 2004 ($20) and Quinta Da Fronteira Tinto 2007 ($13) from Portugal’s Douro Valley. If you want to splurge, we’ve already written enough about our Gran Reserva Riojas, so check out these past posts for more information on these special treats for the Thanksgiving table.

Contact us any time to find out which retailers in your area carry these wines. Happy Thanksgiving!