Young Winos of LA

This Saturday, we’ve got a Young Winos first — a nationwide tasting conducted completely online.  At 4pm Pacific (7pm Eastern), Winos near and far will be gathering in four local chapters across the country and opening up four bottles of the same wine, the 2004 Azamor Red from Alentejo, Portugal. As the intrepid Winos sniff and sip, they’ll type their responses, questions, and tasting notes in the chat room at youngwinos.com. Also joining the chat will be winemaker Alison Luiz-Gomes of Azamor, and importer Tempe Reichardt of Bibola.com, who can answer any questions the participants may have.

If Patch here can figure out how to use the chat room, then hopefully those San Francisco kids can do it too!  (Hahahaha…. oh boy.  No, but they’re really not very smart.)

The wine in question is a delicious one — we tasted it last month — so the whole experience should be really cool.  The problem, of course, is that it’s only one bottle.  That’s why the LA chapter has decided to follow-up the online tasting with a classic early-summer, late-afternoon, wine-potluck / barbecue / dinner party hybrid. Is there any other kind?

Here’s information on how to join the fun, whether you’re here in LA or some other unfortunate place:

If you’re elsewhere in the world: First of all, do you have a local Young Winos chapter? If so, simply contact your chapter head to find out when and where the group will be meeting to participate in the online tasting! The chapters that are down for the party are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Central Coast, and New York’s Capital Region. Each chapter will have it’s own bottle of the 2004 Azamor Red for the tasting!

If you don’t have a local chapter: No worries — you can buy a bottle of the Azamor Red and have it shipped to you. Bibola has graciously offered the Young Winos a 15% discount on their entire selection, including the Azamor Red (which currently sells for $19 before the discount). Simply follow this link to create a “Young Wino” account on Bibola.com and reap the benefits of 15% off!

If you’re in LA: come out to our place in Sherman Oaks!  Get there by 3:40 for some sparkling pregame action, then stay for the online tasting and the wine-potluck / barbecue / dinner party hybrid. Here’s a little more explanation:

–By “wine potluck,” we mean that you should bring either a bottle of wine or some kind of dish (or both, if you’re feeling particularly inspired). Any kind of wine is appropriate: a crisp white, or maybe a nice rosé, or even a summer red. Sparkling wine would be nice. Maybe wine with pieces of fruit floating in it, a la Sangria? Or even beer would be appreciated. (We’re being pretty loose with this whole “wine” designation.)

–By “barbecue,” we mean that the grill will be fired up and available for your use, so feel free to bring something uncooked and primed for the coals.

–By “dinner party,” we mean that people will be bringing food. Any kind of food is welcome: aforementioned barbecue items, or salads, or appetizers, or desserts. Be creative, and throw caution to the wind.

As for the residents of 4261 Dixie Canyon Avenue, we’ll be making a turkey. That’s right: there’s going to be a delicious roasted turkey at the center of all this madness. Any of you who missed the Winos’ Thanksgiving ’08 festivities can put your demons to rest here, as we’ll be using the same legendary recipe.

Here’s your schedule of events for Saturday afternoon in LA:

3:40pm — Show up for online tasting, pregame with some bubbly.
4:00pm — Online tasting begins. Drink the Azamor red and chat with Winos near and far.
4:15pm — Online tasting is done… start drinking other things.
5:00pm — Continue to drink.
5:30pm — Still drinking.
Evening — Fire up the grill, cook items.
Eventually — Take the turkey out of the oven, carve it up.
Rest of the evening — Continue to drink and eat food.

Sound like fun? Shoot me an e-mail and let us know you’re coming, and I’ll send you the address! Give us a sense what time you’ll arrive, so we’ll know if you’ll be there for the online tasting, the ensuing festivities, or both. (Also, if you have some idea of what you’re bringing, you can let me know that as well.)