We’re proud to announce the launch of our brand spanking new mobile website designed for Wine Riot and other wine events. We here at Second Glass know how difficult it is to wade through hundreds of wines at a tasting and remember what you like. So we created a mobile site to solve this problem. Point your mobile browser to http://m.secondglass.com. We highly suggest starting a profile now so you can hit the booths and start tasting at the Riot.

Easily surf from booth to booth at Wine Riot and on your mobile phone as it works with all major phones including iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Palm. When you stop at a booth quickly browse all of the wines available. If you love the wine, give it two thumbs up, if you generally enjoy it, give it one thumb and if the wine isn’t your style, give it a ‘meh.’ All of the booths, producers and wines complete with the region they’re from and price are already entered in the site, which means no typing. It’s that simple.

Every wine you mark automatically is put in your ‘My Wines’ list for later browsing. That way, when you hit a wine store or restaurant next week, next month or next year you’ll be able to pull up your favorite wines. Show the wine buyer at your local wine shop and they’ll be able to help you find that exact wine or point you to something very similar in quality and style.

Don’t know what to try next? In real-time we list the top 20 wines at Wine Riot. We’ve put together a formula that weighs both how much people like the wine and how popular it is to create a listing. You can see which wine comes on top along with the booth number so you can easily find the tasty treat.

Free Wi-Fi is provided by Anaptyx for all of your browsing pleasure. If you recently bought an iPad, Wine Riot is your place to test it out!

Sign up for a FREE account in advance at http://m.secondglass.com and get the most out of the Riot!

200+ Wines to:

• Impress Your Date

• Pair with Pasta

• Make Your Boss Love You

• Throw a Raging Party

• & More!

The Second Glass Annual Wine Guide is your 48 page cheat sheet for the wine world. It doesn’t matter if you’re a seasoned wino or a wine novice this guide will help you throughout the year. Along with our own contributions we polled the best wine buyers in Boston to find out what they think are the hottest wines for 2009 and 2010. 70% of the wines in this guide are under $25 with at least 50 wines less than $10. We have $100 gift wines, $50 splurge wines and $15 every day sippers. There are dozens wines from every major region in the world and even some from lesser known places like Israel, Turkey, South Africa and New Mexico.

[ Click Here to Flip Through the Guide Online ]

Where to Get the Guide:

The Second Glass Annual Wine Guide is available for purchase at dozens of Boston area shops for only $2. You can also get them for FREE at any Second Glass Crash Course or event.

For Sale Online

- or -

Available in Massachusetts Stores

• Brookline Liquor Mart -1354 Commonwealth Ave, Allston
• Auburndale Wine and Spirits – 2102 Commonwealth Ave, Auburndale
• Bauer Wine and Spirits – 330 Newbury St, Boston
• Beacon Hill Wine and Spirits – 63 Charles St, Boston
• Wild Duck – 96 Salem St, Boston,
• Wine Gallery – 516 Commonwealth Ave, Boston
• Huntington Wine and Spirits - 301 Huntington Ave, Boston
• Wine Emporium – 607 Tremont St, Boston
• Liquorland – 1033 Mass Ave, Boston
• Bottles – 372 Commercial St, Boston
• Cru – 1750 Washington St, Boston,
• Bin Ends - 236 Wood Rd, Braintree
• Wine Gallery – 375 Boylston St, Brookline
• Liquor World - 13 White St, Cambridge
• Winestone – 1160 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill
• Wine Gallery – 166 Province Hwy, Dedham
• Castillo Liquors – 228 Meridian St, East Boston
• Albert Winestein – 84 Fairmount Ave, Hyde Park
• Blanchard’s Wine and Spirits – 741 Centre St, Jamaica Plain
• Beacon Hill Wine and Gourmet – 538 Main St, Melrose
• Esprit du Vin – 25 Central Ave, Milton
• Vinodivino – 899 Walnut St, Newton
• Solera – 12 Corinth St, Roslindale
• Ball Square Wine and Spirits – 716 Broadway, Somerville
• Downtown Wine and Spirits – 225 Elm St, Somerville
• Blanchard’s Wine and Spirits – 418 LaGrange Street, West Roxbury

We at The Second Glass believe that it is possible to appreciate wine and still have a kickass time. That is why we invented our Second Glass photo booth and insist on it following us everywhere! Hundreds of you grabbed signs, put on funny hats and made silly faces at Wine Riot II on September 25 and 26, 2009. Even if you didn’t attend, check out the pics and see what you missed. We’ll see you in April!

If you love the photography, it’s done 100% by Mike Ritter from Ritter Bin Photography. He’s available for hire and we love him!

Learn

Wine Riot is more than just a “wine tasting.” It’s a full-blown educational experience bedazzled in a carnivalesque atmosphere. The more you know about wine, the more you’ll enjoy it, so we created an event where it doesn’t matter if you know the difference between red and white. This event is all about showing up, grabbing a glass and learning what you’re drinking. The best part is even if you do happen to know your Pommards from your Pomerols, there’s still a lot to learn.

We’ve recruited some of the top wine professionals in New England to talk about wine. Alex DeWinter from Grill 23, recently voted Boston’s Best Sommelier, will be dishing out knowledge about Valpolicella. Joseph Carr, owner and Winemaker at Josesph Carr Winery in Napa Valley will be telling his story and we have the folks from Farnum Hills giving you the full history of cider in the US from prohibition until now (in 20 minutes!).

Also look for winemakers at the booths, like Bill Russell from Westport Rivers and Marco Montez from Travessia Winery.

The point is, we have a building full of incredibly talented, knowledgeable and influential wine professionals. Have a good time, drink some great wine, but most importantly, learn something!

Explore

We’ve worked hard to make sure every major wine region of the world is represented. Taste Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile, France, California and Australia back-to-back. Dance from Hungary to New Zealand to Spain. Sip local and then sip exotic. We did this intentionally. When learning about wine, it’s important to compare and contrast. That’s why we have professionals like John Hafferty, the man behind the innovative store Bin Ends. He is personally teaching Crash Course Seminars on wines like alt-Sparklings and weird grapes you can’t pronounce. We’ve also enlisted the help of Jeff Golden, the man behind the selection at Downtown Wine and Spirits, to take you on a tour of Europe. He’ll be busting intel at courses on Bordeaux, Chianti and German wines.

Remember

We have a printed guide listing every single wine available at the event. We’ve included handy-dandy check boxes with “like it” or “love it” so you can mark you favorite wines and share them with friends and family this holiday season. We also have all the wines listed online and will keep the website up forever and ever.

Schmooze

Our last event attracted quite the diverse crowd. We had wine experts chatting with wine novices, the hip hanging with the square and young people kicking it with the “young at heart.” We’re comfortably packing hundreds of fun people in a giant courthouse filled with booze. If you can’t strike up a conversation with a new friend here, you won’t be able to do it anywhere.

Shake Yo Booty

We have DJs busting the jams all weekend. No, this isn’t one of those “let’s combine wine and music concept events geared to reach the Millennial audience” type things. It’s just that we like good music as much as we like good wine and feel while you’re walking around making new friends and sipping delicious beverages that you should be listening to some kickin’ tunes. We have DJ Red Foxx on the decks Friday and Saturday night. Who knows, maybe these folks will come back and break out the “jump rope” routine.

Eat and Hydrate

Drinking water is an essential. You don’t want to turn into a drunken mess after only a few sips, so take advantage of our FREE bottled water from Polar. We have enough for every single person to have at least one bottle, if not more. Drink it! And drink LOTS of it!

Also take advantage of all the food we have available. The Savant Project, Tavolo and The Daily Catch will all be selling food, so eat it! Not only is it delicious and affordable but it will help you to continue to taste

Enjoy the Riot and don’t forget to stop by our booth for awesome tattoos!

Galicia: Where the Exquisite Albariño Grows

Dramatic cliffs, wind-swept beaches, foggy fishing towns, and a bagpipe soundtrack. Sounds like Ireland, right? Actually, we’re talking about Rias Baìxas, a wine region in Galicia in the Northwest corner of Spain.

Galicia owes both its musical tradition (bagpipes are called “La Gaita” here) and its fair-skinned brethren to Celtic settlers who were established in the region as early as 11th century B.C. The native tongue here is “Gallego”, a distinct language that resembles a blend of Portuguese & Spanish. Rainy and verdantly green, Rias Baìxas is famous for its exquisite Albariño, Spain’s most well-known white grape varietal.

History

Like so many of Europe’s wine regions, Galicia has been planted since Roman times. When phylloxera decimated the region at the turn of the 20th century, winemakers began to plant hardier grape varietals from other parts of Spain, like Palomino and Garnacha Tintorera. The new imports flourished in their Celtic-influenced home, but produced a wine of poor quality that degraded the region’s reputation.

About 25 years ago the Galician wine industry switched back to the indigenous grape varietals for which they are now famous, the most notable of which is Albariño, the belle of the Rias Baìxas ball. She’s the prettiest, most popular girl in school, but try as you might, you cannot hate her: Spanish Albariños are lovely, high quality whites, that taste especially delicious when paired with Galiacian specialties like pulpo and other fruits of the sea.

Climate

The five sub regions that compose Rias Baìxas have an Atlantic climate with heavy rainfall and high humidity. It’s so damp there that the grapes must be cultivated on trellises to avoid mildew and rotting. These swampy conditions and cooler temperatures allow grapes that produce crisp, bright, higher acid whites.

Soil

The soils are “poor” in this region, which is a good thing when it comes to wine. The grapes must struggle to produce good fruit in the acidic, loose, sandy soil. Their plight is our gain, resulting in aromatic, crisp white wines that are delicious with seafood.

Varietals

Most wine made in Rias Baìxas is Albariño, usually as single varietal wine. Though 90% of plantings in the region are Albariño, eleven other grapes are permitted for cultivation, including Loureira, Txeixadura, Godello, Caiño, and Torrontés. A blending grape in Galicia, Torrontés appears as a single varietal wine in Argentina, which some believe could be evidence of a massive migration of Galicians to Argentina, where the colloquial term for Spaniards is “Gallegos”.

Though white wines are Rias Baìxas’ strong suit, red wines permitted for production include Mencía and Brancellao.

Vineyard plots tend to be very small in Rias Baìxas, which means all harvesting is done by hand. An increasing number of winemakers have begun to put their wines through full or partial malolactic fermentation, making them creamier and fuller and enabling the wines to age. Most Albariños do not see any oak, but some modern winemakers are moving towards barrel fermentation with French, American, and even native Galician oak.

Wines to Try

Sip these on a patio somewhere as you soak up the summer sun:

Pazo de Galegos Green apple and green almonds on the nose with lively acidity on the palate, grassy flavors, green apple and lime skin with a dry finish. This wine is perfect as an aperitif or with light seafood starters.

Pazo Señoráns One of the most prestigious houses in Rias Baìxas, this very highly rated wine is made by influential female winemaker Marisol Bueno. This wine has golden delicious apple and light flintiness in the nose. The palette is weighty with flavors or pear, golden delicious apple, and longer finish with more mellow acidity. A great wine for lovers of French chardonnay, especially Chablis.

Do Ferreiro An organic wine made from older vines, ranging in age from 50-200 years located on 8 different vineyard plots in close proximity to the ocean. This wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts then aged on the lees, giving it a softer quality with slightly different fruit than the aforementioned wines. Muscadet drinkers will like this wine, which is made from grapes cultivated in granite and sand soils. Not as aromatic as the other Albariños mentioned with a slightly briny nose and lots of green apple peel. Nice minerality with soft acidity, fuller quality in the mouth and limey tang. A soft, elegant wine.

Kirsten Amann is a freelance writer and publicist specializing in wine, cocktails, and food. She is a founding member of the Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails (LUPEC Boston), and writes extensively on cocktails for LUPEC Boston under the byline “Pink Lady”; check out what she’s mixing up at lupecboston.com.

Tyler was on the NECN Morning Show again, this time talking about great wines for summer BBQ’s. Watch the video then and below, see the list of wines with a listing of stores where they are available for purchase.

2007 Altovinum Evodia – $12

This is a 100% Garnacha from the mountain village of Atea in the Calatayud region of Northeast Spain. This wine doesn’t see any oak, which allows for the bold yet extremely bright fruit flavors to come out. We got juicy, red berries with a bit of spiciness and little to no tannin when we coiffed this Spanish temptress.

This is one of those wines that drinks like a champ, but for some reason, is priced way lower than it could be. From the expert hands of European Cellars comes a wine that has just started to invade the market. Look for it at your favorite wine bar soon.

Brix – 1284 Washington St, Boston
Downtown Wine & Spirits – 225 Elm St, Somerville
Whole Foods Market – 340 River St, Cambridge
Wine Emporium – 607 Tremont St, Boston

2007 O’Reilly’s Pinot Noir – $18

2007 Kung Fu Girl Riesling

VIP Riot – Friday, April 17

Check out all the kickass pics from the photo booth at the VIP Riot.

Riot One & Riot Two – Saturday, April 18

Check out the pictures from the photo booth at Riot One & Riot Two on Saturday, April 18, 2009. These are some pics you don’t want to miss!

Photos by Mike Ritter at Ritter Bin Photography

Costumes by Dorothy’s Boutique

Orinoco, a cozy little Venezuelan restaurant in my hood, is the perfect place for dinner for one. You can sit on your stool, nosh on delicious arepas and watch the neighborhood pass by. Because of its diminutive size, the high culinary quality, and its affordability, the place is usually packed; tonight was no different and I was onto my second glass of wine, a Torrontes – a rose-petal scented white from Mendoza, Argentina.

In order to remain as authentic as possible, Orinoco’s wines are (almost) all from South America, which might seem strange because many people seem to think that South American wines are shit. This is a misconception, of course — South American wine is one of the continent’s great exports, up there with Brazilian bikini waxes, Bolivian marching powder, and Gisele Bundchen.

South American Wine: WTF?

The history of South American wine can be summed up as follows:

Spanish conquistadors come along, deliver a big-time smackdown to the indigenous heathens. Having had enough with the raping and pillaging, the Spanish plant their own vines – basically the Pais grape. A lot of crappy, sweet wine is made for 300 years, including pisco, which is basically the South American version of Everclear.

Eventually, Chile and Argentina achieved independence. Political instability ensues. Crappy wine is continued to be made because it’s too expensive to invest in things like French oak.

Chile and Argentina sort of get their shit together toward the end of the 20th century, and invest in their wine industry. Robert Mondavi, the Mouton-Rothschilds, and Michel Rolland take notice of their great terroir and all fly in to tell everyone what to do. Exceptional wine is finally made.

What Should I Expect from Chilean Wine?

Chile’s Maipo and Colchagua regions have a similar geography and climate to Sonoma Valley: Sheltered to the west by mountains and cooled from the cold current fog that finds its way through small coastal ranges between the valley and the Pacific. Unlike Sonoma, many of Chile’s vines haven’t been devastated by phylloxera and thus can still be grown on their own roots.

Still at Orinoco, I order the 2006 Santa Ema Carmenère made from the principal grape of Chile, which used to be a major grape in Bordeaux. The glass is a nice, basic example of the grape with a soft, round character of red cherries, dark chocolate and black pepper. Chile also produces a ton of consistently great red blends with both Cab and Merlot. I order the skirt steak with mojo criollo and dig in.

Incidentally, up until about 10 years ago Carmenère was often confused with Merlot, which led to problems because it ripens 3 weeks later… so, the wine made from the undeveloped grapes tasted, well, craptacular – like an unripe green bell pepper. This is one of the reasons that Chile’s reputation for wine remained so low until recently.

If you want some California-style Chardonnay, look to Chile’s Casablanca Valley. The trend in the valley is to use a lot of new American oak, which gives their wines a cedar-like, toasty quality if that’s your thing.

What’s Argentine Wine All About?

Like Chile, Argentina’s wine has seen a lot of investment and uptick in quality. Argentina’s principle wine region also grows Bordeaux-like red grapes, but its real claim to fame is Malbec, a grape that is still found in France. It’s generally darker, inkier, and richer than Carmenère – closer to Merlot in plumpness. The 2007 Alamos Malbec I had with the second half of my steak at Orinoco was A-okay – a bit acidic, but juicy with some leather and tobacco undertones.

Sean Martin of Albert Winestein was nice enough to invite me to one of his tastings to sample some Argentine wine, so I headed over to Jae’s in the South End after my fab dinner at Orinoco. (As an aside, tasting wine in the basement bar of a sushi restaurant is a strange thing to do, made stranger because the tasting was a private event for Brown University alumni – big ups to my new Brownie friends for letting me crash their party!)

A more interesting Malbec that Sean poured at the tasting was the ’06 Ben Marco. Deep purple in color, it was lush and all about black cherry, leather, and freshly turned dirt. This is wine made to be paired with wild animal meat — the deer you just shot, the cow you just tipped over into a mushroom patch. Parker rated it 91 points, and it’s a steal at 20 bones.

You can also get some interesting whites from Argentina – refer to the Torrontes at the beginning of this article – or the’07 Mapena, a grapefruit-scented Sauvignon Blanc that had more body than versions from New Zealand.

So Why is South American Wine so Cheap?

For one, because not a lot of people necessarily want to buy it. It’s simply not an established wine region, so the demand is low. And with the precipitous deflation that has gripped the region earlier this decade, production costs are still quite low. You can therefore get some great wine for great prices. However, with the economy improving in recent years, wine tourism on the rise, and higher quality now commonplace, the prices are already going up.

So if you want a decent Bordeaux-style wine for bargains, look south. And, if you see Gisele, tell her to return my call. We can make it work.

Bryan Maleszyk is a digital strategist who is drunk on life. He occasionally blogs about technology and business – when he’s not eating or drinking.

We spend the weekend at the Boston Wine Expo. The first part of each day was spent tasting some great wines from around the world but at 1:00, when the doors opened to the public we started shooting in our photo booth. Funny props included an Imperial of 1996 Lynch Bage, some Dom P, hilarious signs and some fancy spectacles. We’ve been touting fun, entertaining and unpretentious content, so we figured we would prove it. These are some photos you won’t want to miss!

Photos by Mike Ritter