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Story Teller Wine Company
Quick. name your favorite Canadian. It’s tough, right? But I’m sitting at home today babysitting a sick kid, so I have time to think about questions like this. Sure, I began the day by reflecting upon what Arsenio Hall might be up to, but then the Winter Olympics beckoned and my mind drifted toward the great white north. After about a half an hour of mindless daydreaming about my favorite Canuck, I had come up with a list of Frank Gehry, John Kricfalusi, Linda Evangelista (purely for her work with baby seals), Chris Haney, Morley Safer, Randy Bachman and Scott Thompson. But something was missing. I began to recall a very special night in September 1977 when I was hanging out behind the old Paramount Theater in Portland. Don’t ask me what my cohorts and I were up to as I’m not sure about certain statutes of limitations in the State of Oregon. But as we were shooting the breeze in said location, all of a sudden a bunch of people came bursting out of the darkness of the Park Blocks. Much to our relief, we weren’t being mugged. Or arrested. It was just several members of the band Rush and their entourage. Turns out they were headlining a show in the Paramount that included UFO and Max Webster. Really nice show, eh? Anyway, while everybody in their group hustled through a stage door, Geddy Lee hung around to chat for what seemed like a very long time. It was probably just two minutes, but we were too giddy about Geddy (can you tell I’ve had six hours sleep the past few nights?) to keep accurate time. So Geddy Lee would have been my choice anyway, but the fact that Mr. Lee is now a very serious wine geek and collector is just the icing on the cake. 2005 Paolo Scavino Barolo (average national retail price: 53.38) While doing a little Google work on Geddy Lee and his wine fixation, I came across the following quote. According to Geddy, “wines from the Nebbiolo grape are a fascinating combo of the finesse of Burgundy and weight of Right Bank Bordeaux.” I couldn’t agree more, and today’s wine is the perfect example of that sentiment. In fact, when giving an interview in 2005 to City Bites Magazine, Lee said his very favorite Barolo and Barbaresco producers were Altare, Sandrone, Mascarello, Giacosa and, Neil Peart drumroll please, Scavino. The spiritual epicenter of the Nebbiolo grape is the Barolo region, a tiny area of fog-gripped hills that surround the village of the same name. The Barolo region is slightly south-west of another mecca, the white truffle capital of Alba, so I’m pretty sure this is where I want to live out my golden years. In 1921 Paolo Scavino built his winery in Castiglione Falletto, one of the eleven communes of the Barolo appellation. 1921 was also the first year this humble Barolo was made. Today the wines are made by Paolo’s grandson, Enrico Scavino, along with Enrico’s very talented daughters, Enrica and Elisa. The Scavino’s now have the rather rare luxury of owning grand cru vineyards in six of the eleven villages of Barolo: Castiglione Falletto, Barolo, La Morra, Roddi, Verduno and Serralunga. That’s quite a nice grouping of vineyards to draw fruit from when making their basic Barolo! This is Enrico’s sixtieth year of making Barolo but you can’t exactly call him an old school traditionalist. The Scavinos try very hard to bridge that gap between the more modern style of Barolo and the kind of traditional Barolos that are untouchable for ten to twenty years. And it is quite a testament to their winemaking abilities that the Scavino’s remain highly respected in both Barolo camps. It’s no wonder James Suckling of the Wine Spectator once exclaimed “Scavino is a master of Barolo!” The Nebbiolo grapes for the 2005 Barolo come from the townships of Castiglione Falletto, Barolo and La Morra. In Castiglione Falletto the historic vineyards of Vignolo and Rocche Moriondino are tapped for fruit, while in the village of Barolo the Nebbiolo fruit comes from the Vignane and Via Nuovo vineyards. The small vineyard of la Morra is the third commune of Barolo. the grapes were harvested in early October and then maceration and fermentation occurred in steel rotary temperature controlled fermenters. Malolactic fermentation followed in oak barrels and then the juice was aged for twelve months in French oak barriques, a further twelve months in large French oak casks and then finally twelve months in bottle. So the Scavinos aren’t exactly short changing anybody with their basic Barolo. According to Enrico, the Scavino philosophy is to “make a bottle that is representative and that is made with grapes from prized vineyards, but in percentages that are too small to be vinified separately.” When I tried this wine a few months ago I thought it had a very classy, very typically Barolo perfumed nose of flowers that ran somewhere between rose petals and violets, along with dark, briary raspberry fruit and bits of earth and smoke. Have you ever had a wine that smelled so good you actually forgot to take the first sip? I came dangerously close to that with the 2005 Scavino Barolo. It was either the wines’s intoxicating perfume or its dazzling color of dark ruby with flecks of orange that caused my attention to stray for about twenty minutes. Or it may have just been twenty minutes in Geddy time. Either way, I was both distracted and impressed. Once I actually got around to drinking the wine I found that very friendly fruit Scavino is known for, along with wonderful acidity. There was no tar to be found, but the rose petals were back, along with a nice note of pine scrub. How could anybody taste this wine and not want to start seeking out the nearest batch of pasta and white truffles? When Antonio Galloni of Piedmont Report fame reviewed this wine for the Wine advocate, he wrote, “the 2005 Barolo reveals an expressive core of perfumed red raspberries, spices and sweet herbs. This sexy, elegant wine possesses lovely balance and tons of style. Over the last few years the house’s Barolo has established itself as one of the most consistently outstanding wines in its class. The 2005 is simply delicious and highly recommended. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020.” Now I found the fruit to be a bit darker than this reviewer but I can’t quibble with his enthusiasm. When Galloni writes “sexy,elegant wine,” for some reason I have this image of Bono in wrap-around sunglasses urging a Tuscan beauty to slip off her boots so they might dip their toes in a piazza fountain. This is a heck of a nice bottle of Barolo, even at the original price of between 50.00 and 70.00, depending on what part of the country you live in. But in honor of forty one years of Rush and sixty years of Enrico Scavino’s winemaking, I’d like to make you a special offer. Our local importer of Scavino wines has a special deal going on right now and I’d like to pass it along to to the Storyteller faithful. You may buy the 2005 Scavino Barolo for 39.00 a bottle. Anybody that buys six or more bottles will get the wine for 37.00 a bottle. I have placed an initial order and at last count it looked the importer had about 110 bottles left after that. So please let us know as soon as you are able if you are interested in this wine. Friday Night Wine Tasting, February 19, 6:00-8:00PM: Marcus Goodfellow and Matello Wines! OK Willamette Valley Pinot Noir lovers, do not miss this tasting. One of our favorite winemakers and friend of Storyteller, Marcus Goodfellow, will be at the store this Friday evening from 6:00-8:00PM. The spotlight will be squarely on Marcus’ 2008s as we pour samples of his Willamette Valley and Winters Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir. The Willamette Valley quickly sold out after Matt Kramer’s love letter in the Oregonian but Marcus was nice enough to save a stash of it just for this tasting! In addition to the 2008s, Marcus will be pouring a group of wines from the Matello library. Those library wines will be for sale Friday night only. There is no charge for this tasting, hope to see you there. Saturday Wine Tasting, February 20, 12:00-5:00PM: New Arrivals from Oregon and Spain Join us on Saturday as we open a few new bottles from Spain and Oregon. One of the wines will be the 2008 Evening Land Vineyards Willamette valley Pinot Noir if I can keep any in stock long enough. There will be no charge for this tasting. 2008 Oregon Pinot Noir Hit List 2008 3 Degrees Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (18.00…99.00/six-pack…192.00 case of 12) Great second label wine from Maysara Winery. Just like the Maysara wines, it is all certified biodynamic estate fruit. Winemaker Tahmiene Momtazi, one of America’s youngest winemakers, has been getting a lot of well deserved press lately, including a nice mention in the latest Wine Spectator. The wine is named in honor of Tahmiene and her sisters Hanna and Naseem and is meant to represent their three very different personalities. The wine is nice and rich, with aromas and flavors of black cherry, forest floor and brown spice. Prett darned pleasurable stuff for under twenty bucks a bottle! Have something hedonistic planned? Pour this. Cheers, Michael Alberty Head Storyteller Visit www.StorytellerWine.com >> 5511-B SW Hood Ave, Portland \| (503) 206-7029 \| 1.800.753.2531

Story Teller Wine Company

Quick. name your favorite Canadian. It’s tough, right? But I’m sitting at home today babysitting a sick kid, so I have time to think about questions like this. Sure, I began the day by reflecting upon what Arsenio Hall might be up to, but then the Winter Olympics beckoned and my mind drifted toward the great white north. After about a half an hour of mindless daydreaming about my favorite Canuck, I had come up with a list of Frank Gehry, John Kricfalusi, Linda Evangelista (purely for her work with baby seals), Chris Haney, Morley Safer, Randy Bachman and Scott Thompson. But something was missing. I began to recall a very special night in September 1977 when I was hanging out behind the old Paramount Theater in Portland.

Don’t ask me what my cohorts and I were up to as I’m not sure about certain statutes of limitations in the State of Oregon. But as we were shooting the breeze in said location, all of a sudden a bunch of people came bursting out of the darkness of the Park Blocks. Much to our relief, we weren’t being mugged. Or arrested. It was just several members of the band Rush and their entourage. Turns out they were headlining a show in the Paramount that included UFO and Max Webster. Really nice show, eh? Anyway, while everybody in their group hustled through a stage door, Geddy Lee hung around to chat for what seemed like a very long time. It was probably just two minutes, but we were too giddy about Geddy (can you tell I’ve had six hours sleep the past few nights?) to keep accurate time. So Geddy Lee would have been my choice anyway, but the fact that Mr. Lee is now a very serious wine geek and collector is just the icing on the cake.

2005 Paolo Scavino Barolo (average national retail price: 53.38)

While doing a little Google work on Geddy Lee and his wine fixation, I came across the following quote. According to Geddy, “wines from the Nebbiolo grape are a fascinating combo of the finesse of Burgundy and weight of Right Bank Bordeaux.” I couldn’t agree more, and today’s wine is the perfect example of that sentiment. In fact, when giving an interview in 2005 to City Bites Magazine, Lee said his very favorite Barolo and Barbaresco producers were Altare, Sandrone, Mascarello, Giacosa and, Neil Peart drumroll please, Scavino.

The spiritual epicenter of the Nebbiolo grape is the Barolo region, a tiny area of fog-gripped hills that surround the village of the same name. The Barolo region is slightly south-west of another mecca, the white truffle capital of Alba, so I’m pretty sure this is where I want to live out my golden years. In 1921 Paolo Scavino built his winery in Castiglione Falletto, one of the eleven communes of the Barolo appellation. 1921 was also the first year this humble Barolo was made. Today the wines are made by Paolo’s grandson, Enrico Scavino, along with Enrico’s very talented daughters, Enrica and Elisa. The Scavino’s now have the rather rare luxury of owning grand cru vineyards in six of the eleven villages of Barolo: Castiglione Falletto, Barolo, La Morra, Roddi, Verduno and Serralunga. That’s quite a nice grouping of vineyards to draw fruit from when making their basic Barolo!

This is Enrico’s sixtieth year of making Barolo but you can’t exactly call him an old school traditionalist. The Scavinos try very hard to bridge that gap between the more modern style of Barolo and the kind of traditional Barolos that are untouchable for ten to twenty years. And it is quite a testament to their winemaking abilities that the Scavino’s remain highly respected in both Barolo camps. It’s no wonder James Suckling of the Wine Spectator once exclaimed “Scavino is a master of Barolo!”

The Nebbiolo grapes for the 2005 Barolo come from the townships of Castiglione Falletto, Barolo and La Morra. In Castiglione Falletto the historic vineyards of Vignolo and Rocche Moriondino are tapped for fruit, while in the village of Barolo the Nebbiolo fruit comes from the Vignane and Via Nuovo vineyards. The small vineyard of la Morra is the third commune of Barolo. the grapes were harvested in early October and then maceration and fermentation occurred in steel rotary temperature controlled fermenters. Malolactic fermentation followed in oak barrels and then the juice was aged for twelve months in French oak barriques, a further twelve months in large French oak casks and then finally twelve months in bottle. So the Scavinos aren’t exactly short changing anybody with their basic Barolo. According to Enrico, the Scavino philosophy is to “make a bottle that is representative and that is made with grapes from prized vineyards, but in percentages that are too small to be vinified separately.”

When I tried this wine a few months ago I thought it had a very classy, very typically Barolo perfumed nose of flowers that ran somewhere between rose petals and violets, along with dark, briary raspberry fruit and bits of earth and smoke. Have you ever had a wine that smelled so good you actually forgot to take the first sip? I came dangerously close to that with the 2005 Scavino Barolo. It was either the wines’s intoxicating perfume or its dazzling color of dark ruby with flecks of orange that caused my attention to stray for about twenty minutes. Or it may have just been twenty minutes in Geddy time. Either way, I was both distracted and impressed.

Once I actually got around to drinking the wine I found that very friendly fruit Scavino is known for, along with wonderful acidity. There was no tar to be found, but the rose petals were back, along with a nice note of pine scrub. How could anybody taste this wine and not want to start seeking out the nearest batch of pasta and white truffles? When Antonio Galloni of Piedmont Report fame reviewed this wine for the Wine advocate, he wrote, “the 2005 Barolo reveals an expressive core of perfumed red raspberries, spices and sweet herbs. This sexy, elegant wine possesses lovely balance and tons of style. Over the last few years the house’s Barolo has established itself as one of the most consistently outstanding wines in its class. The 2005 is simply delicious and highly recommended. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020.” Now I found the fruit to be a bit darker than this reviewer but I can’t quibble with his enthusiasm. When Galloni writes “sexy,elegant wine,” for some reason I have this image of Bono in wrap-around sunglasses urging a Tuscan beauty to slip off her boots so they might dip their toes in a piazza fountain. This is a heck of a nice bottle of Barolo, even at the original price of between 50.00 and 70.00, depending on what part of the country you live in.

But in honor of forty one years of Rush and sixty years of Enrico Scavino’s winemaking, I’d like to make you a special offer. Our local importer of Scavino wines has a special deal going on right now and I’d like to pass it along to to the Storyteller faithful. You may buy the 2005 Scavino Barolo for 39.00 a bottle. Anybody that buys six or more bottles will get the wine for 37.00 a bottle. I have placed an initial order and at last count it looked the importer had about 110 bottles left after that. So please let us know as soon as you are able if you are interested in this wine.

Friday Night Wine Tasting, February 19, 6:00-8:00PM: Marcus Goodfellow and Matello Wines!

OK Willamette Valley Pinot Noir lovers, do not miss this tasting. One of our favorite winemakers and friend of Storyteller, Marcus Goodfellow, will be at the store this Friday evening from 6:00-8:00PM. The spotlight will be squarely on Marcus’ 2008s as we pour samples of his Willamette Valley and Winters Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir. The Willamette Valley quickly sold out after Matt Kramer’s love letter in the Oregonian but Marcus was nice enough to save a stash of it just for this tasting! In addition to the 2008s, Marcus will be pouring a group of wines from the Matello library. Those library wines will be for sale Friday night only. There is no charge for this tasting, hope to see you there.

Saturday Wine Tasting, February 20, 12:00-5:00PM: New Arrivals from Oregon and Spain

Join us on Saturday as we open a few new bottles from Spain and Oregon. One of the wines will be the 2008 Evening Land Vineyards Willamette valley Pinot Noir if I can keep any in stock long enough. There will be no charge for this tasting.

2008 Oregon Pinot Noir Hit List

2008 3 Degrees Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (18.00…99.00/six-pack…192.00 case of 12)

Great second label wine from Maysara Winery. Just like the Maysara wines, it is all certified biodynamic estate fruit. Winemaker Tahmiene Momtazi, one of America’s youngest winemakers, has been getting a lot of well deserved press lately, including a nice mention in the latest Wine Spectator. The wine is named in honor of Tahmiene and her sisters Hanna and Naseem and is meant to represent their three very different personalities. The wine is nice and rich, with aromas and flavors of black cherry, forest floor and brown spice. Prett darned pleasurable stuff for under twenty bucks a bottle! Have something hedonistic planned? Pour this.

Cheers,
Michael Alberty
Head Storyteller

Visit www.StorytellerWine.com >>
5511-B SW Hood Ave, Portland | (503) 206-7029 | 1.800.753.2531

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