Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/35876
EVENT WRAP-UP Retailers Love Ribera! W hen THE TASTING PANEL took the wines of Ribera del Duero to ten off- premise accounts across California, one thing was clear: Retailers—and their customers— love Ribera! Here’s a look at which Ribera del Duero selections some of the top retailers in California are stocking and selling. Steven Sherman, proprietor of William Cross Wine Merchants & Wine Bar in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood, has a large Spanish wine selection with many producers from Ribera del Duero. Steve Zanotti, owner of The Wine Exchange in Orange County, CA, joined THE TASTING PANEL’s Editor-at-Large E. C. Gladstone for a Ribera tasting that included 18 wines. Customers left feeling as though they had tasted Spain and were eager for more. At Los Angeles wine megastore Wally’s, customers have come to expect an excellent world wine selection. Spanish Wine Buyer Jordi Urquizzo tasted customers on several outstanding Riberas, including the Viña Mayor 2004 Reserva, Tinto Pesquera 2007 A. Fernandez Crianza, Frontaura y Victoria 2005 Nexus and the Alión 2004, produced by one of Ribera del Duero’s most famed houses, Vega Sicilia. Tim Malette of Adventures in Wine stopped by Red Carpet Wine & Spirits in Glendale, CA during our Ribera tasting. He was happy to see that the Arzuaga Navarro 2008 La Planta was a popular selection. Owner H. K. Hedlund explained, “Having a world wine selection means carrying a diverse selection from all major wine growing regions—so of course we stock wines from Ribera!” Stephanie and Keith McCardell, owners of wine bar Que Syrah in San Francisco, specialize in small-production wines from around the world and have been educating their enthusiastic clientele about Spanish wines for five years. They poured the 2006 Convento San Francisco Crianza at a tasting in early June, and the wine proved to be very well-received. 68 / the tasting panel / july 201 1 Randall Kemner (left) and Ronnie Grant of The Wine Country in Long Beach, CA, were happy to invite a taste of Spain to the Southland. “I love the wines of Ribera,” said Grant, the Spanish Wine Buyer, who was able to share stories of his time spent in Ribera with customers. “It is my favorite wine-producing region in Spain,” he admitted. PHOTO: ALLISON LEVINE PHOTO: RACHEL BURKONS PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WINE EXCHANGE PHOTO: RACHEL BURKONS PHOTO: DEBORAH PARKER-WONG PHOTO: DEBORAH PARKER-WONG