July 31st, 2008 by meli
Thanks to everyone that came out and joined us on Tuesday for our second mixology contest. We hope you enjoyed the wonderful U’Luvka Vodka inspired cocktails brought to us by Colin Appiah of Discovery Channel’s “Cocktail Kings.”
If you haven’t reviewed a drink and would like to from the event, please visit http://e.urtini.com/.
A big thanks to Gina Milano and the great staff at Le Club for making this an event to remember, regardless of how much we drank. Also, a big thanks to our fearless bartenders who concocted some fantastic new U’Luvka Vodka cocktails.
The winning cocktail was Joel Baker’s “Cougar Trap” that you can find at Bourbon & Branch.
Support your local bartenders by stopping by and ordering a drink from them. Here are the cocktails we had and where you can find them:
Joe Parilli’s “Lato U’Luvka” — Bacar
Jackie Gordon’s “Asian Ginger Lemonade” — The Redwood Room
Joel Baker’s “Cougar Trap” — Bourbon & Branch
Cassidy Wollenberg’s “French Maid” — Le Club
If you’re interested in stocking your home bar with U’Luvka Vodka, here are the fine local San Francisco establishments that carry it:
John Walker
Le Club
The Redwood Room
Aqua
Another congratulations to Steven for winning a bottle of U’Luvka Vodka for the most creative review of the night for the “Cougar Trap”:
“old yet firm - well put together - but Mother wouldn’t approve”
The next mixology contest will be sometime in the last two weeks of August. Stay tuned…
May 8th, 2008 by phil
Last night, Nirvino kicked off May with another Monthly wine tasting event, The Heavy Pour. With 17 wines on tap, the juice flowed with reckless abandon.
In the far corner, folks flocked and you might have overheard more than once “I heart Hartwell!” as Christian and Jona poured their liquid gold. What a gift to have the 06 Sauvignon Blanc and the 04 Reserve Cab.
John Wilkinson, wine grower, wine maker and overall wine empresario was manning the vino pulpit with three magnificent red blends. Preach it brother John, we’re loving it. Next to John, it was hard to miss the charming miss Jamie and miss Michelle pouring Mondavi’s brand new food friendly Solaire Chardonnay and Cab, paired up with some great cheeses. For all the lazy youtube fans like me, check out this short video on Solaire.
Across the room, window to his back, Sewell enthusiastically poured deep with a heavy hand not one, not two, not three but four of his Hatcher wines. What a great Barbera! Holding down the middle of the room were Scotti “The Fisher Man” from Fisher Vineyards pouring an excellent Cab and Chard and Robert from Four Vines who had more than myself saying I’m feeling like a Heretic.
Finally, it was GastronomicDiva, with the big May win for most wine reviews! A 750 of 1999 Dom Perignon. See, writing witty and insightful wine reviews does pay off.
So thanks to Wine Bar and Store for hosting the Nirvino wine hooligans. A special “we can’t thank you enough” thanks to all the incredible wine makers and representatives for pouring heavy and staying late. Thanks to Sarah, Bill and Justin for helping everyone get signed in and excited to drink. And finally thanks to all the loyal Nirvino members for coming out and doing what you do so well, drinking and socializing. Below, you’ll find some pretty pics of yourself courtesy of Bennet Sell-Kline.
May your glass always be Half Full,
Phil, Meli and Christian
Event Photos:
May 5th, 2008 by phil
This past Wednesday, Nirvino kicked off an early celebration of Cinqo de Mayo with a Nirvino House Party celebrating the wines of Spain. Below there are some photos, as you can see everyone had a great time enjoying the wine and food. A big thanks to Brenda for sharing her home and friends with Nirvino.
Here’s a list of the wines we tasted:
NV Pere Ventura Brut Cava
2006 El Hada Viura Rueda Verdejo
2005 Bodegas Castano Hecula Yecla Monastrell
2005 Bodegas Ochoa Garnacha Blend
2005 Bodegas Numanthia-Termes Termes Tempranillo
Tags: , house party, Nirvino, wine
April 4th, 2008 by phil
Wednesday evening, Nirvino kicked off it’s first monthly wine event at Local Kitchen and Wine Merchant. Manolo Frias shared five of his Napa Valley wines from Frias Family Vineyards, the ‘06 Sauvignon Blanc, ‘06 Rose, ‘05 Syrah, ‘05 Cab Blend and the ‘05 Spring Mountain Cab. As people drank the good juice, Local chef Ola Fendert sent out thin crust pizzas, charcuterie plates, and glasses filled with sumptuous white truffle fries for everyone to nosh on. Not a bad way to start a Wednesday night in San Francisco!
Nirvino would like to thank everyone for coming out and adding their charm and beauty to the evening. Also, a big thank you to Mark, Maria, Ola, Carl, Gabrieli and the rest of the staff for making Local feel like a much cooler version of home for an evening. And a special thanks to Manolo for pouring with a heavy hand, staying late, and entertaining everyone who came within arms-length with glass in hand.
Here are some photos from the event:
Your friends from Nirvino,
Christian, Meli and Phil
Tags: Frias Family Vineyards, Local Kitchen and Wine Merchant, Nirvino, Wine Tasting
March 31st, 2008 by phil
After months of sleepless nights, eating pickles and overhearing whispered comments of “is it just me or has Nirvino put on weight?”, we’ve gone and done it and delivered the Nirvino blog into the world. What to expect? Well, you might find some hot new site updates, fun guest bloggers (it takes a drunk village), and hopefully some witty gonzo wine reporting from our whacky world. We’re constantly on the lookout for what’s hot in the wine world to share with our adoring fans. So stay tuned for more to come and click on Grab the Feed (in the upper right) to add us to your RSS feed.
cheers,
The Nirvino Team
chef Vincenzo Esposito: I will try it Great thanks!!!! also great wines I was born in Viterbo and that is Wine ...
Camie: This would be an awesome practice to see adopted for California wines. I really dont ...
Sarah: Cool pics! Last night was so much fun!
Sam: Local venue hit the spot! The people were nice and Frias was quite nice. Manolo (Frias ...
Courtney Cochran: Yo Phil - Congrats & will you please add my blog to your blogroll? Nirvino's up on ...