hgolightly

oh, also, i'd love some advice on indebleu. anyone know what they'll do for rest. week yet? have they been part of one yet? i don't recall seeing them...

here's our schedule, i know it will be trimmed closer to the week:

Mon. TenPenh

Tues. IndeBleu

Wed. Acadiana

Thurs. 1789

Fri. Seasons (most likely to cancel)

Sat. Colvin Run Tavern (probably cancel due to dietary requirements)

Sun. 1789 (probably cancel)

At MacArthur, they can sometimes be really busy with phone and internet business and seem abrupt...

Talk to Tom, the older guy who runs the Italian section. Or Steve. I don't find either of them pompous. There's also a younger guy who works in the Italian/Spanish section whose name I can't recall, but he has red hair, and he is also very friendly and helpful.

If you live in the nabe, you're near me (I'm 2 blocks from MacArthur). Another place that has surprisingly good prices is Balducci (former Sutton Place Gourmet), and the new wine guy there who replaced Mike Dolinsky (who was a wine educator at heart) is nice and chatty. As long as you are on New Mexico Ave. you might as well go into Ace Beverage in the Foxhall Square building next door to Balducci, and see if Joe, who has been posting here a lot, is there.

The guy in the Spanish section is very nice. he has helped us on many occassions, however, there are a couple who always look down their noses at us even when they aren't busy. we still love the store and go ofted, weekly actually, but like i said, we try to go prepared to avoid taking up anyone's time.

thanks for the recommendations on paces to go. i always forget about sutton. it is a little further up the hill from us but close enough to swing by.

over the weekend we ended up with the thousands of other last minute shoppers at Tysons and on the way home stopped by the Total Wine in McLean. they always seem to have a great selection but we just aren't that familiar with them. anyone have thoughts or suggestions on who to talk to there?

Don't limit yourself to a single varietal in the bottle. I'm no fan of 100% merlot, but that grape can make a blend delicious. Jake Parrott was importing, I believe, a cab/merlot blend from South Africa, Monterosso? Quite nice.

very true, i have found a merlot blend to be just fine, however, shouldn't i focus on 100% varietals in the beginning and then move on to blends?

Where do you live? There are a few really fine wine shops, like MacArthur Beverages in DC, Arrowine in Arlington, Rick's in Alexandria, The Vineyard in McLean where you will find really good, friendly and patient wine consultants who will help you choose good wines based on your preferences and your budget.

MacArthur's is our regular haunt, we go in weekly as we live very close. i have found the service to be rather impatient and pompous so i try to go in with ideas since i never get much help from the staff...

Can you tell us what you normally drink for red wine? That might help with suggestions.

sorry, completely forgot. lately our taste have focused on Spanish red but we also love pinot noir. he used to like merlot but i can't stand it...i think he's lost taste as well. cabernet is good, a former fav of mine, but i think if we had a really nice bottle???

hello all, please forgive my posting if it has been covered previously--it is my first post here after lurking for a bit.

i am buying the new Windows on the World Complete Wine Course for my husband for Xmas and would like to add a few bottles of red wine. we love wine but are only beginning to learn about great wine and i would love some recommendations. could anyone please suggests some relative inexpensive bottles--we are only learning at the moment--that would be nice beginners for us to use with the book??

Many thanks,

Holly

loved Galileo as always; they contine to do a fabulous job with RW.

Teatro del Alabardero, however, was a major disappointment. went last night and their menu consisted of very little. plus, other than the complimentary shot of gazpacho, you couldn't really see a "spanish" influence in the food.

the menu starts with the gazpacho and one choice between a salad with duck confit and goat cheese or chilled patato leek soup with smoked salmon and shrimp. next, for the entrees, you had a choice between mahi-mahi or steak (so uneventful that i can't even remember the finess)--the mahi was good but dry in spots and chewy. for dessert you had a choice between bread pudding with raisins and apricots and chocolate mousse with strawberries.

have a reservation for Teatro Goldoni but from what i'm hearing i think we might cancel it...

since i usually only go to one or 2 i am making the most out of this RW. my dinner line up is below:

Monday= Galileo's

Wednesday= Taberna del Alabardero

Friday= Teatro Goldoni

Sunday= Ceiba

looking forward to them all, especially Taberna as we are traveling to Spain in October.

Any comments or suggestions? i have previously been to Galileo's and love it and Ceiba is the last of the trio i have tasted...