Congratulations to Yvonne Foucher, owner of CataVinos Wine Shoppe and Tasting Room, for achieving the unthinkable – three years of doing successful business in Tucson. Foucher celebrated with more than 300 of her closest friends and patrons (one and the same) on Saturday, September 4. The event featured 12 Arizona wine distributors pouring 50+ wines to sample. Musicians Chuck Aubrey, Anna Warr, Mike Kuhn, and great food from the Lao Student Club rocked the house.

CataVinos is not just a little store to stop by to pick up some wine, although you can do that. You’re more likely to stick around and enjoy the themed taste testing with strangers, soon to become friends. Priced at $15 or less per bottle, Foucher claims that most every wine in the shoppe has been tested and approved by a ‘board of taste testers’ that was created during the first months of the business to set the standard.

In recent months, CataVinos has opened a new tasting room plus began hosting regular monthly events like Cheers to Books (third Wednesday) and the GLBT Meet & Greet (first Wednesday). It’s become a favorite venue for parties and company events as well. Many CataVinos regulars taste wines out of Riedel glasses with their names on them – Foucher’s tribute to loyal patrons.

How has CataVinos survived throughout one of the most volatile economic eras of our times, especially in Tucson, where small retail businesses come and go before the ink dries on their sign? “White knuckles and incredibly loyal and loving customers,” Foucher says.

Cheers to many more years of CataVinos wine tasting to come!

Blood Into Wine DVD release party at Club Congress

There will be a special Blood Into Wine screening and DVD release party at Club Congress in Tucson on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 7:00pm. This fast-moving and entertaining movie recounts the story of Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan on his road to producing some very fine Arizona wines at Caduceus Cellars.

If you stop by ZIA Records to pick up the Blood Into Wine DVD or Blu-Ray (available September 7), you’ll get priority entrance to the screening. Club Congress will have a great selection of AZ Stronghold and Caduceus wines that are featured in the film available for sale.

Sonoma Winery’s green efforts saluted

Greenopia has awarded the Benziger Family Winery in Sonoma, CA, top honors in its wine guide. Their release reads, “Benziger has addressed nearly every impact to make it the greenest wine we came across in our study.”

Anyone who has visited the Benziger Winery knows that they are very proud of the various environmental initiatives that they do. They produce a variety of green wines including organic, sustainably grown, and biodynamic. Likewise, Benziger has incorporated some elements of green building design in its facilities, including solar power, and its wines are bottled with natural cork which has the smallest life cycle impact of all wine stoppers.

The Benziger Family Winery further reports that they are rolling out a new label with improvements to its packaging. The new glass bottles are 30% lighter (amounting to 286,900 pounds of glass saved per year). The labels are comprised of 30% post-consumer waste and the inks used to print them are soy-based.

elle is moving on up …

After 11 years of serving its loyal customer base at its Broadway Village location, elle Wine Country Restaurant is moving to a new location. Its last day of serving diners at 3048 E. Broadway is tentatively set for Sunday, September 12. elle will undergo a name and concept change and relocate to Campbell Plaza at 2968 North Campbell (Northeast corner of Campbell & Glenn).

elle’s describes the new location as a hipper, trendier restaurant person. It will showcase a brand new, intimate, contemporary look, feel, and taste, while remaining affordable. Look for it to debut in early October this year.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 5th, 2010 at 10:29 am and is filed under Vineyard, Wine Events, Wine General, Wines. Tags for this post: anna warr, AZ Stronghold, AZ wine, Benziger Family Winery, Benziger wines, Blood Into Wine, Caduceus, Caduceus Cellars, CataVinos, CataVinos Wine Shoppe & Tasting Room, Chuck Aubrey, Club Congress, elle, Foucher, GLBT, GLBT Meet & Greet, Greenopia, Lao Student Club, Maynard James Keenan, mike kuhn, Riedel, Tool, wine tasting, wines, Yvonne Foucher. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.