‘Twas the night before Conference, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a computer mouse;

The nametags were hung by their lanyards with care,
In hopes they’d be worn when they bloggers arrived there;

Each and every wine geek were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of black-cherries and licorice danced in their sweet heads;

While I sat panicking over every tiny detail,
Ryan smiled proudly regarding the conference’s grand scale;…

Yeah, not going to happen! Our creative juices are completely dehydrated. The conference is now on cruise control, and barring any strange twists, we should be enjoying a fine Participant tasting on Friday night. Still a bit nervous? Of course! Seeing that this is our conference, or rather, this is the first international wine bloggers conference ever, we just hope all the wine bloggers behave themselves!

So for now a few pointers too things we think you should look at.

Another winery sent to the sidebar

This time it’s Port wine, and damn fine port wine at that, Quevedo. A few months ago, we started working with this small winery and we’re proud of the results. Located in the Douro Valley, right next to some of the most historic wineries in the region, this is a young winery with old roots. We’re holding back a bit on the details, because they’ve done a superb job telling their story at this point. So, please check them out and say hello from us!

Thank you Sponsors

We don’t do advertising on Catavino, but we did need sponsors to help us put together the EWBC conference. Therefore, we’d like to offer a …

It’s been awhile since we really blogged. You know the original blog post, a wrap up of the blogger’s life and ideas that pop in their heads. Usually we write in a more educational manner trying our best to educate. Today is different. This weekend we had a perfect storm of visitors. Our old roommates from the good old days when we lived in Madrid were in town for the long weekend, which inevitably meant lots of fun foods and some unexpected card games of Liar. A wonderful weekend, as well as an opportunity throw down on a few meals since I had such an attentive audience. First night, it was port brined pork loin (that’s a mouthfull), followed by Country chicken paired with roasted purple potatoes and green beans with walnuts and cured ham the following night. Both meals deserved pictures and descriptions, but alas, the food disappeared before I had a chance. For those of you with a grill and some gumption, however, here’s how to cook the the Pork(everyone’s favorite)!

Combine in a large pot, or bucket, the following: 1 x3lb-5lb piece of whole pork loin, 1 bottle cheap Port wine(ruby), a few cloves, a few sticks of cinnamon, 2 bay leafs, a cup and a half of rock salt, a cup of sugar and half a nutmeg nut chopped coarsely. Cover the meat with cold water and let sit for approximately 8 hours.

When the meat has finished brining, get a very hot two stage …

To start off our Friday links, I’d like to make a formal apology to a tiny bodega making incredible wine in Rioja. Although we had mentioned Bodegas Arranz-Argote in our Rioja report, we failed to put them in our buying guide as a “must find” wine. For that, we are very sorry, because there is nothing we’d like more than for you to try their one and only wine, ARAR, and see for yourself how a small family run bodega can make some killer wine. Check out Excel Wines for more information on how to get a hold of their wine outside of Spain.

Now, on to the news:

Kosher Spanish Wine Jessica Yadegaran published an article in the Contra Costa Times, a San Fransisco based newspaper, regarding the increase in both quality and quantity of Kosher wines throughout the winemaking world, quoting a 20% annual growth over the past two years. Interesting, I thought, but what does Kosher actually mean? According to Jessica, Kosher law requires that, “the processing must be handled by Sabbath-observant Jews. Kosher law also calls for harvesting from vines more than 4 years old, leaving the vineyards fallow every seven years, and growing no fruits, vegetables or grains between the vines.” Having seen only a handful of kosher wines here in Spain, I was intrigued by this article because the author highlights Spain as one of the upcoming wine regions for producing great kosher wines that pair well with traditional Jewish foods such as grilled beef, cumin-and-dried-mint lamb burgers and brisket. Check out her article for more information on specific Iberian kosher wines.

Calling all Port lovers! For the Love of Port has recently launched its new and improved website, which includes: producer profiles, a blog, featured …

This is depressing we’re at almost 10,000 uniques a month but only have five subscribers to our newsletter What makes this situation worst is that this translates to almost 10,000 people missing out on our upcoming tasting notes of all of the Port wines we tried this month! Not to mention our our interview with Adrian Bridge, Managing Director of The Fladgate Partnership, and a couple of extra bodega profiles!!
Just to give you a taste, we have over 40 notes on various wine from these Portuguese Wine producers: Taylor Fladgate, Fonseca, Croft, Quinta de Ventozelo, Quevedo, The House of Sandeman, Quinte de la Rosa, Krohns, Ramos Pinto, covering Tawny, Ruby, Vintages 2005, 2003, 2000, Colheita, LBV styles.

Plus, in the first newsletter, we have a special contest to win a copy of Richard Mayson’s “Port and the Douro”, fresh off the press if you sign up now. The contest to win the book is only available in the newsletter.

Both Thursday and Friday are holidays in Spain. So, we’ll be taking Friday off to head north to a little town called, Vic, for a medieval festival where we’ll be eating loads of butifarra and shivering the fall cold. Therefore our very first newsletter may not be released until the weekend. But don’t worry, it’s coming. We just want to get it right.

Important Newsletter notes: Up until January 1st, by signing up for the newsletter, we will send you a link that will permit you to download it. After December though all new registrations will only be queued up to receive the next letter we send out. We ask that you please do not pass on the link to …

I did it! I finished the second edition of Richard Mayson’s book, “Port and the Douro”, which has proven to be a comprehensive, clearly written reference book on one of my favorite fortified wines: port!

When I originally proposed this book, I heard several readers share their interest in reading a single subject wine book, but equally, their fear that it would bore them to no end. I, too, feared that I would find myself the next morning with my nose on page three, oblivious as to what the first three pages contained. Then would come night two, when I would reread the same pages to catch up to where I was, only to land myself with nose in crease…again. Hence, I had bigger hopes for Richard Mayson’s book. I wanted his book to give me the same passion and inspiration that I felt with sherry wine. I not only wanted to hear about the process of making port, but I also wanted to absorb the history of the Douro over the centuries: to feel the dry and rough schistous soils; smell the rich, spicy aromas of the quintas; hear the roar of the Douro River barreling down the valley; see the dramatic transition from the dry, arid upper Cima Corgo all the way down to the humid and heavy Vila Nova da Gaia region; and finally, taste the differences between a nutty and dry tawny port wine to a concentrated and complex vintage port wine. I hoped that his book would take me to the center of a Douro vineyard and walk me through the process step-by-step, providing me a solid foundation for me to …