Newsletter Archive

Super Heroes at Home

     We met Gregg Segal a couple years ago when he was photographing our store for a magazine. Now, if you're getting us press and making us look great, you can have a show anytime you want, but Gregg'swork is just gorgeous, with a sly twist of humor that fits in at CoWineCo perfectly.  But Gregg's work in his own words is a hell of a lot more interesting than our babble. 

"Tourists expect to find the Hollywood they’ve seen in movies as they make their way to Grauman’s Chinese Theater but instead are greeted by costumed entertainers, some dressed as icons like Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson, others as super heroes such as Batman and Superman. The people wearing these costumes are much like the tourists in that they have a shared reverence for the fantasy of Hollywood. Many have come with hopes of making it in the industry – but their freelance work on Hollywood Boulevard may be as close as they come to realizing their dreams. Masquerading as icons and posing for pictures with tourists from all over the world affords them an illusory sense of stardom. More than anyone else, they define contemporary Hollywood, conveying the community’s aspirations and its fringe-level reality.

I followed the super heroes home to highlight the contrast of the fantastic and mundane. Though in costume, the super heroes are unmasked by the ordinariness of their apartments and their routine chores. While I photographed Batman, a family pulled over to take his picture. He strode up to them with super hero confidence and the children approached him with awe. He was Batman because he was Batman to them. Then later, in his apartment, when he’d taken off his mask and cape and was reheating leftovers in the microwave, he was merely ordinary. I could see what it was that drew him back to Hollywood Boulevard."

Please join us for the Super Heroes At Home Opening

Saturday, August 23rd, from 4-6 pm

gourmet cheeses from Auntie Em's Marketplace

wines by the glass ranging from $6-$15/glass

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Beer Me

Arriving tomorrow (Saturday), three new beers for your Summer pleasure (** join us on Sunday for our Lazy Sunday tasting to taste the Telegraph California Ale -- see tasting schedule below)

Telegraph Brewing Co. California Ale (Alcohol by volume: 6.2%; O.G.: 15° P / 1.059):

Telegraph California Ale is their flagship beer and is their interpretation of the unique ales that were commonly brewed up and down the West Coast in the 19th century. It is an unfiltered medium-bodied beer, with a rich amber color and a rocky, white head. The beer is crafted using domestic American ingredients and fermented with a unique yeast strain that accentuates the hoppy spiciness, while also imparting fruity and subtly tart flavors. The aromas are spicy and earthy, reminiscent of the rich agricultural valleys surrounding Santa Barbara. 

Telegraph Brewing Co. Stock Porter (Alcohol by volume: 5.7%; O.G.: 14° P / 1.056):

Staying true to original porter brewing techniques, they blend fresh brewed beer with oak-barrel aged ale to create our Stock Porter. The aged beer is a higher-alcohol, dark mahogany-colored ale that is matured in American-oak casks for two months. They then blend it with lighter, freshly brewed ale resulting in a divine combination that reveals spicy, vanilla, and chocolate aromas married to a fruity, refreshing acidity. The name “Stock Porter” was the moniker 19th century pub keepers gave to the more expensive Porter that had been aged in their beer cellars, as opposed to “Mild Porter”, which was a less complex, less expensive, and less characterful brew.

Hair of the Dog "Fred" was created by the folks up in Portland to honor beer writer and historian Fred Eckhardt. This golden strong ale incorporates ten hop varieties from five different countries. Through the use of aromatic and rye malt, the beer achieves a unique balance of flavor. The brewers hope that Fred will inspire you to share your knowledge with others as Fred has with them. Fred is 10% alcohol by volume.

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Hometown Pairing - Round 2:  SuperDave

     Continuing with our Hometown Pairing series, we next move to Dave's Chillin' and Grillin' , one of those places that makes Eagle Rock a unique, neighborhoody place in the middle of a big city.  In addition to providing great service and delicious sandwiches, Dave can (and will) provide you with the most detailed description of every ingredient of his sandwiches from the exact fat content to the mood the driver was in when he delivered that crate of pork sausages last Tuesday.  It's truly remarkable.  So.....let's get to why we're really here....what to eat and what to drink with it....

     Every Friday and Saturday, Dave and his staff run a deal on their mouth-watering meatball and sausage hoagie.  The sandwich comes dressed up with melted provolone, grilled onions, grated cheese and this great spicy/tangy pepper spread (you would be very, very, very silly not to get the pepper spread) for $6.  After selflessly tasting a dozen different wines with the meatball and sausage wonder, we settled on the 2007 Mas Malbec from Mendoza Argentina for $11.99/btl.  The vanilla, plum, tobacco and smokey notes from the malbec pair perfectly with the sweet from the meatballs/sauce and the spice of the sausage and pepper spread.  Let me see if I can tell this story in pictures...

There....now you get it.

Any Dave's or other local eatery pairings of your own?  Comment HERE on our blog. 

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Regular Wine Tasting Schedule

*** We hold tastings twice a week on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons , and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays the bar is open for wines by the glass . Please see our calendar for details on any given day: www.cowineco.com/calendar ***

Wine Tasting: A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama!

Friday the 15th

5:30-8:30pm

(wines by the glass also available from 4:00 to 11pm)

$15/person

5 wines and gourmet cheeses from Auntie Em's Marketplace

Please RSVP to: info@cowineco.com or (323) 478-1985

On this day in 1914, the Panama Canal opened to the public, connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. 

Funny thing about the Panama Canal....no one in the U.S. Gov't believed their head doctor in Panama that mosquitos carried malaria and yellow fever so the whole thing almost went into the toilet until an impromptu golf match between Roosevelt and his doctor.  Somehow, over a golf game, President Roosevelt finally thought there might be something to this mosquito thing and turned the project around years later.  That doctor is not mentioned much in history but he single-handedly saved tens of thousands of Americans by not quitting his post.  Tonight we're drinking to him, Dr. Gorgas, and the gallons of rum it must have taken to keep him in that miserable spot.

wines 

Aubuisieres Vouvray Silex, Loire, France

Kiona Chenin Blanc, Washington

Klostor Pinot Noir, Pfalz, Germany

Sarah's Vineyard Besson Syrah, Santa Clara Valley, California

Haut Palett Bordeaux, St. Emilion, Bordeaux, France

Lazy Sunday Tasting

Sunday the 17th

1-4pm

$12/person

4 wines and gourmet cheeses from Auntie Em's Marketplace

No RSVP necessary

wines

Telegraph Brewing Co. California Ale

(other 3 wines TBD)

Wine Cellar Wednesdays

Every Wednesday

4-9pm

No corkage fee on any bottles in the store!

Grab anything off the shelf for the price of the bottle, ask the nice bartender for some glasses, sit, and enjoy

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See You Soon,

John and Jen

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Because, after tasting the wine all day, after four o'clock I can't remember my son - let alone tell you anything about him. It is a miracle that I remember it is after four o'clock.

~ Clouseau's Father, Trail of the Pink Panther