Our doors open at noon today. Stop in, say hello, and buy a case of wine (10% discount on a case).
Archive for Mark
Stocked And Ready To Go.
Category: In The Beginning /
Madrona Wine Merchants Opens Wednesday, October 26th.
It may not be grand, but Madrona Wine Merchants at 1127 34th Avenue will be open for business next Wednesday, October 26th. Drop in and say hello.
Our shop hours will be:
Wednesday thru Friday noon until 7
Saturday 11 until 7
Sunday 11 until 5
We’ll be having Saturday afternoon tastings from 2-4 starting November 5th. There is no charge and they are a great way to discover new wines. Check out our website for more information and sign up for our email list to keep current on what we’ll be pouring.
Category: In The Beginning /
Center Rack Complete, Mostly.
I just wish we had a couple of dozen empties to show you the whole rack, well, that and the paint, stain and glass.
Category: In The Beginning /
Swirl, Sniff, Spit, Dump, or Drink?
To Swirl, Sniff, Spit, Dump, or Drink? That is the question. In researching the answer we came across this educational item on Slate’s website:
Cold Shower: How to spit with the wine pros.
Spit or swallow? For wine aficionados, the choice is usually dictated by circumstance: At meals you swallow, at tastings you spit (unless the wines being tasted are liquid gold; it would be criminal to cough up even a drop of the 1989 Haut-Brion, [Robert Parker rated 100 points] for instance). But as with so many other wine-related rituals, spitting is no simple matter. Proper technique and correct form count for a lot more than you might think in wine circles.
All of this talk of spitting had some of our customers weighing in as well:
Corbin H. writes: The International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon holds a spitting contest for winemakers, which on the occasions I witnessed it the French handily won. It was distance-only, but one did have to muster enough accuracy to avoid hitting the linesmen.
Jill A. writes: Yes, if you spit my 89 Haut-Brion I would kill you, personally.
Category: What We've Been Tasting /
Center Counter Mostly Done.
After a full day in the shop (wood, not wine) we have the center display cabinet mostly done.
The top will be laminated glass with a center bracing rail which will also hold the cards describing each of our hand-selected vintages.
Category: In The Beginning /
Eric Soloman Selections Tasting
Eric Soloman (famed importer) was in town today delivering a lecture and sampling his French and Spanish catalog at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Together we sampled:
- 16 French Wines
- 23 Spanish Wines
- 9 Assorted Rose Wines
Unfortunately the rosè we were tasting was the 2010 vintage, but it gave us a good idea of what to expect from the 2011 vintage that we will be stocking.
If the wine is in our store, we have tasted and approved it.
Category: What We've Been Tasting /