2010 Westerly Sauvignon Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, $14.99: Certainly a style of Sauvignon Blanc we’ve yet to encounter. It’s not citrus or herbal. But complex and intriguing. Perhaps the cause of all this is that the wine comes from the warm foothills of the Santa Ynez Valley. A singular experience to say the least.

2011 Les Cousins Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, $34.99/$26.99: The winemaker, Mike Etzel, is an old friend of ours. Still we can be objective about his wines. If in doubt, check out the wine press and see the raves his Beaux Freres winery continually attracts. This is a lighter, fine, sensuous Pinot. As one of our Courtesy Clerks bugled, “Tastes just like Vosne-Romanee” (one of the most revered Burgundies).

2011 La Guera White, Central Coast, $19.99: An idiosyncratic blend of Viognier, Albarino and Chardonnay. It’s a soft and easy slamming white. Winery owner and founder, Edgar Torres, calls it a “fiesta wine.” Could be, our Courtesy Clerks started dancing the “Harlem Shake” after a couple glasses.

2011 Coppola Rosso, Califronia, $9.99/Sale $7.99: Certainly not as bloody as The Godfather. But this is a wine you could see Don Corleone drinking every night with the “famiglia.” A soft, round, delicious red with a touch of Sicilian feistiness. Just don’t let Sonny drink too much. We think Michael could handle a couple drams.

France

2010 Domaine Saint-Damien Gigondas, $31.99: Gigondas has been one the constant stars of the Rhone river valley. Granted the prices have risen in the last ten years, but they are still are less expensive than Chateauneuf-du-Pape. And they can provide equal pleasure. This gives you composed Papal flavors derived from Grenache and Mourvedre grapes. And, if you have never visited the village of Gigondas, it is to see or dream of over a bottle of this lovely wine.

2011 Bousquet du Sanglier Viognier, VDP Vauclues, $10.99: Good grief what a pretty Viognier from southern France. It’s so crisp and clean, and to the point. There is none of the “bubble gum viscosity” that infects so many Viogniers from heated southern climes. Plus, it is organic too.

2012 Commanderie de la Bargemone Rose, Coteaux D’aix-En-Provence, $16.99: The lightest of hues and delicious aromas of strawberries, apple and red currents. It is without doubt our “coy seducer” of roses this year.

2012 Domaine De Fontsainte, Corbieres, Gris De Gris, $15.99: Always one of our stalwart roses. And the latest vintage has just come over the transom. It’s fresh, clean, satisfying awaiting a windy day in Corbieres or a serene spring afternoon on your back deck. There is also some food potential here.

2010 Mas Carlot, Clairette de Bellegarde, $12.99/Sale $10.99: Talk about exotica! This is a shockingly small production white wine produced between Nimes and Arles, yes, where Van Gogh’s famous yellow bedroom existed. It can only be made from the Clairette grape. Anyway, it has a pale golden color with seductive floral aromas of honeysuckle and violets. The fruit is soft and the acidity low. Something to drink on the broken bridge in Avignon and watch the Rhone River trickle by.

2011 Domaine de Bernier Chardonnay, Val De Loire, $11.99/Sale $10.99: Here’s an unusual Chardonnay from the Loire River Valley, where Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc normally reign. It’s a crisp, clean Chardonnay with some unusual characteristics. We’d like to try it with some Loire river fish or sea urchins from the west, snagged off Brittany.

2011 Domaine Fabrice Gasnier Chinon, Les Graves, $16.99: Cabernet Franc is a cryptic grape. It’s unlike Cabernet Sauvignon…normally less tannin, but not always. Here we have one in a fruitier style, with no oak. Thus you get to experience what a naked Cabernet Franc tastes like.

2009 Clos Des Moiselles, Cotes De Bourg, $14.99/Sale $13.99: You know, you can get some truly satisfying Bordeaux from lesser locales when it is a fine year. Most important, you don’t have to pay insane prices for them. This is a prime example. It comes from the “right bank,” where generally, Merlot is king. It’s full bodied, but soft, with tobacco and leather nuances in the bouquet. There are wild berries, spice and a dash of oak. A dandy intro to the world of Bordeaux without having to take a mortgage.

Spain

2011 Rojo Garnacha, Tierra De Castilla, $11.99/ Sale $9.99: Spain just keeps sending us quaffable, little delights. This velveteen beauty gives you red fruit and soft loveable flavors. You could enjoy it alone or with many foods, from lasagna to lamb chops. But, we’d prefer it at a dinner with Penelope Cruz.

2011 Rioja Madre Rios, $13.99/Sale $12.99: A unique Rioja because it is composed of the Graciano grape, not the normal Tempranillo. It seems to have a little more body than the everyday Tempranillo. In Rioja, they often say “gracias no” (no thanks) to Graciano, but this version is most agreeable.

2008 Marques De Caceres Rioja Reserva, $29.99/Sale $19.99: For us, Rioja continues to hold the top spot in Spanish red wines. Though there are scores of new contenders, most just don’t have the finesse. Not to say that we haven’t tasted some fantastic Spaniards that weren’t Rioja. But here you have that finesse and style that have made Rioja renowned the world around.

2005 Valderiz Ribera Del Duero, $33.99: Though eight years old this packs a punch. It’s dark and mouthfilling. A combination of American and French oak barrel aging provides strength, harmony and complexity. California Cab lovers would go nutty over this wine.

Italy

2008 Azelia Barolo, $39.99: This Barolo comes from the bottom reaches of the revered Castiglione Falleto hill in Barolo. Though a youngster it gives soft, approachable Barolo flavors, not the tannic brute you might expect. So there are dried roses in the nose and cherries in the flavor. A great value!

2010 Damilano Marghe, Nebbiolo d’Alba, $16.99: When you purchase Nebbiolo d’Alba from a great vintage, you almost get a wine of Barolo stature, at a third of the price. This gives the fetching cherry and dried roses of the grape, but with a tongue twisting touch of tannin. A fine intro to the greatness of the Nebbiolo grape.

2007 Casaloste Chianti Classic Riserva, $33.99/Sale $24.99: Considering the fine year and superb maker this would have to be a superlative Chianti. It is still showing youth with its dark color and firm flavors There is detectable Tuscan earth thrown in to complex matters. Could age many years more, easily a decade.

Australia

2010 Heartland Shiraz, Director’s Cut, Langhorne Creek, $33.99/Sale $30.99: Of course, Shiraz is the local hero of Australian wines. Many are a bit overtly jammy and fruity for us. Not this. It has smoke, dirt and intestinal fortitude. It easily could be taken for a top shelf Syrah from France’s Rhone Valley.

Argentina

2010 Ruca Malen Petit Verdot, Mendoza, $16.99: Malbec has hogged the limelight in Argentina, but the Argentines can make estimable wines from other grape varietals as well. This lovely Petit Verdot is dark red in color. It gives you plums and cherries on the nose and dances tango in your “boca.” The tannins are soft, but serious. Try something Argentine other than Malbec.

Just $49 plus tax and tip will land you a seat, with proceeds benefitting CASA.

Call Coaltrain @ 719-475-9700 to make your reservations.

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It’s made from Colombard and Gros-Manseng which are star grapes in this part of southwest France. The wine has a lovely nose of peach, citrus and white flowers.

The flavors are fresh, fruity and flinty. No oak on this beauty. An ideal spring and summer quaffer.

They are full flavored and so arousing on the palate. Another thing we particularly like about this “CDR” is its reasonable alcohol level, 13 percent.

So many wines these days hit 15 percent which we believe is a bit too much for blissful stupefaction.

Grab this sultry beauty before she wanders off with somebody else, which won’t be so very long (the supply is limited).

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Visit Coaltrainwine.com on your phone’s browser to go to the mobile website which has a quick button to get the App.

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Editor’s apology: Espinosa is perpetually trying to curry favor and fortune with his outré notions. That is why he has been recently assigned to our European bureau in Kiev, though he begged for Guatemala City, Zona Una, his home rum tasting turf. But he was last seen, sleeping on a cardboard box on the Ramblas of Barcelona, wine bottle by his side. A true professional, wherever he lands.

Barcelona—You knew it would come to this…the end of wine lists as we have known and loved them. There was something ineffably adventurous and romantic about paging through a printed wine list, perusing the wines, vintages and prices. But, the end of this looks to be near. Alas, it has already come to Monvinic, winebar/resto in ever restless Barcelona. At least, that is what I, Raul Espinosa, and several International Junior Courtesy Clerks discovered on a recent foray.

Here you are presented an iPad-like device upon arrival to your seat. We attempted to be in the formal dining room, but were lacking the proper Mallorcain shoes. You can look at wines according to country, varietal, maker, appellation and more. For instance. if you hit Barolo/Barbaresco. Up comes a listing of wines from Bruno Giacosa, Sandrone, Produttori dei Barbaresco and others. No one can criticize the efficacy of Monvinic’s system. Though it certainly isn’t as humane as the old wine lists with crossed out wines and penned in vintage changes.

But this quickly becomes ancient history when the wines arrive. We started with a Gramona Cava. There are some 60 bottles by the glass from all over the world, ranging from about 10 Euros to 20 Euros in price. The international selection of wines is impressive. It’s the most extensive I, Raul Espinosa, Junior Courtesy Clerk, have seen in any Spanish bar/resto. I noted this to our server and she said that Monvinic has six sommeliers, all specializing in different parts of the wine world. Of course, the word “sommelier” made me nervous and shaky, reflecting on those people called “sommeliers in Los Estados Unidos.

But they can help somewhat while flicking through the iPad’s prodigious offerings. After the Gramona Cava we opted for a 1996 R. Lopez de Heredia Rioja white. The plan was to demonstrate the traditional, oxidized style of Rioja whites to my support team, who had only experienced fresh white Riojas. The sommelier fetched the bottle and returned with a slight frown. “I think it is just a bit off and this is the last one we have,” she sighed. We tried it and it indeed was very so slightly off. But, as proven alcoholics, we decided to keep it. After all, old wines normally take on their own, eccentric personalities, much like a Coaltrain Junior Courtesy Clerk.

For the rest, we stuck with Spain. That is where we were, after all. The selection is vast, including “the usual suspects” and options entirely new to a lowly Courtesy Clerk. After considerable popping around on the iPad (and wearing out the battery at one point) we decided on a 2010 Adegas Guimaro from Ribeira Sacra made from Mencia grapes, then a white Godello, AS Sortes, made by Rafael Palacios, which we normally have at Coaltrain. And in honor of Monvinic’s owner we ordered one of his Priorats, 2009 Ferrer Bobet. Most agreeable, but a bonk on the head with the high alcohol.

Since we weren’t allowed into the formal dining room, we sat in a somewhat comfortable corridor next to a glassed wine library (open to all patrons, by the way). In that corridor, astride contemporary chairs, over coffee tables, we sipped the wine and munched on the dozen or so traditional tapas offered in that plebian section. Had we gotten into the dining room we could have tasted the serious dishes created by Chef Sergi de Meia. His food is refined Catalan. And he is a proponent of local ingredients. In fact, he projects photos of his suppliers on the dining room walls. In the future, we will buy expensive clothes, Mallorcain shoes. reserve ahead and take a shower. Warning, good luck figuring how to exit the bathroom.

We went to Monvinic three times in a week while in this excruciatingly boring city and every visit was like a Dali erotic print (no, it wasn’t easy getting the clerks out of Dali’s museum, up the road in Figueres). Of course, the wine selection was a factor in all this. And the enthusiasm and knowledge, and bizarreness of the staff certainly contributed to it all. It’s impressive to enter a wine venue and find the crew actually taken with wine. That’s rarely the case.

Perhaps most important, after the three visits, the Coaltrain exploratory team learned to live with and be somewhat comfortable with the iPad wine list. Though it will never provide the romance of a printed wine list, it worked darn good. Even for weary old, Luddite like me, Raul Espinosa, Junior Courtesy Clerk (on the promotion waiting list).

Monvinic is at, Carrer Diputacio, 249 which is a cross street of the Paseo de Gracia (one of Barcelona’s major boulevards), a few blocks away from the central Plaza Catalunya. Phone 34 932 72 61 87.

Editor’s note: Espinosa has been removed from the promotion waiting list.

CLAUDE GAUDIN was here from France and provided wines from several of his Bordeaux estates. He has a very logical winemaking philosophy, “wine is the vine; the vine is wine.”

2009 Chateau Barreyre, Bordeaux Superieur, $20.99: Here Guadin gives a plush Bordeaux with delicious blackberry fruit.

2009 Laronde Desormes, Bordeaux Superieur, $23.99: This gives a bit more earth and the anticipated Bordeaux barnyard than Gaudin’s above production. But it still has all that big 2009 fruit.

CHRISTIAN BEYER also came to our festival from France and regaled attendees with stories of Alsace and his family’s tradition dating back to 1580.

2011 Domaine Emile Beyer Riesling “Tradition,” $18.99/Sale $17.99: Judging by orders, this was the most popular wine of this year’s “Wine Fest.” It offers invigorating citrus flavors, dominated by lime. Not fat or flabby in any way. It’s a fab food wine. Believe it or not with sauerkraut it shines. Also it’s dandy with real Munster cheese, from the Vosges Mountains.

2010 Domaine Emile Beyer Riesling Grand Cru, Pfersigberg, $40.99: About as good as Riesling can be made anywhere on Earth. It provides essences of smoke, baked peach, yellow apple and beeswax. The palate is full, bright and lively.

Other Wine Fest Faves

2009 St. Eulalie Minervois, La Liviniere, $20.99; La Liviniere is the high-rent neighborhood of the Minervois wine zone. It definitely offers the most class and finesse without the bothersome bell pepper aspects of other Minervois “hoods”. This has silken, dark fruit. We think this comes from the high percentage of Syrah. It’s as fine a Minervois as we’ve seen out there. And, Lordy, we’ve passed a lot of time tasting there in rental farmhouses. We don’t recommend that.

2010 Clos La Coutale Cahors $16.99: Clos la Coutale has established itself as the ultimate American restaurant Cahors. This is because it is not so dark and brooding as the Cahors’ norm. The reason is that it is blended with Merlot to soften the famed Malbec of Cahors. IT drinks beautifully and was a hit at our wine pairing luncheon.

2009 Leon Barral Faugeres, $36.99/Sale$33.99: Faugeres is in the wild, windy south of France, called “Languedoc,” because the locals used to speak Occitan, not French. Certain makers, like Leon Barral, have executed a formidable quality leap. This is due to adding more Syrah grapes into the blend and advances in winemaking technique. A buxom country lass, indeed, that is a great accompaniment to hearty fare.

2010 Domaine de Triennes Viognier, Cotes de Provence Sainte Fleur, $17.99: Two of the most renowned personages in Burgundy, Aubert de Villaine (Romanee-Conti) and Jacques Seysses (Domaine Dujac), own this southern French estate. And they’ve done a miraculous job with this wine (and everything else they’ve produced). Though from the warm south, this Viognier maintains its vibrancy and balance. It even displays minerality derived from the limestone abounding in the vineyards. This can rival the top wines of Condrieu, the mother lode of Viognier.

2009 Domaine Pommier Chablis, $24.99 /Sale $21.99: The Kimmeridgian soil that half of the grapes for this wine are grown in is composed of limestone and marl containing marine fossils. Only natural yeast is used for the fermentation and the wine is
aged on its lees for six months in stainless steel tanks. The result is a wine with minerality, richness in the mid palate and a fresh, crisp finish … really delicious and great with lobster bisque, shrimp scampi, sea bass…

2011 Gilles Noblet Pouilly Fuisse, $24.99: Impeccable balance. Intriguing flavors. More in the style of a big time white Burgundy (Meursault, Puligny) than a lesser Macon from whence it comes.

2010 Seguin Pouilly Fume, $28.99: About as good as you’ll find the Sauvignon Blanc grape rendered. There are apple and citrus flavors offered in an elegant package. It is no wonder that Pouilly Fume and Sancerre are the prime sources of Sauvignon Blanc.

2010 Cave Saint Cyr Beaujolais, Morgon, $24.99: The Saint Cyr family has been making Beaujolais for four generations and, judging by this wine, they have mastered the job. This is richer and more complex than the normal Beaujolais. It is much more in the style of a Burgundy of Pinot Noir derivation.

But the most germane point is that you can sip an occasional glass and the wine won’t degrade, like those in a bottle.

And, as a medium bodied red, you can enjoy it with all kinds of food or all by itself. Just don’t drink the whole box! For God’s sake.

Truly irresistible. If anyone still thinks all roses are sweet, they should try this. It will be a palate enlightening experience.

Our last wine dinner at the Warehouse was very impressive – great food very thoughtfully paired with delicious wines.

Stay tuned for final details, but the Warehouse has been doing a great job keeping these dinners reasonably priced.

Reserve with the Warehouse directly: 719-475-8880