More images from Las Vegas…

The first of the much anticipated, debated and villainous bloodless bullfights in Las Vegas finally was held yesterday. There was not many people in the stands, so little Don Bull, the self promoted and larger than life empresario, postponed the start of the “Corrida” so more gente would come. Estimates had the crowd at 300 to 500 people. Matadores Eulalio Lopez “Zotoluco”, Alfredo Rios “El Conde” and Julio Benitez “El Cordobes” fought six California toros from the Manuel Costa ganaderia. Four of the six toros represented the ganaderia well, with the fourth “Nos Veremos” #94 weighing in at 505 Kilos being the best of the encierro and winning enough praise to where it was given the “Indulto”. None of the toros were actually killed, hence bloodless but as is tradition the 5 other toros will be sold to the rodeo circuit. “Nos Veremos” will return to Manuel Costa’s ganaderia and put to stud, deservedly so. Reaction to the “Corridas Incruentes” has not been warm from both the bullfight world and the Animal Rights groups. Much of this kickback from “Taurinos” around the world is ill informed since California has had a formal bullfight season for 30 years organized by the Portuguese communities of the California central Valley. Costa is one of 30 plus ganaderos in the state which have supplied the California corridas. All the Las Vegas corridas will use California toros. Manuel Costa’s toros performances gave many so called Taurinos a lesson as to the seriousness of the California bullfight effort and the quality of Toros Bravos. Now its a wait and see if the remaining corridas will draw the crowds Don Bull is hoping for.

While in Oregon wine tasting, we took time out to drive into Portland to check out the USL Portland Timbers play. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Timbers back when I was in high school. I use to support my local San Diego Sockers, but I followed Portland when I could. I was jazzed earlier this year to learn the Portland Timbers had been allocated a spot in Major League Soccer in 2011. They will join the Seattle Sounders and the Vancouver White Caps to revive the Pacific Northwest rivalries of the old NASL. I have always known of the level of support the Timbers had, but when we had a chance to actually attend a game at PGE Park we were treated to a rare treat. The atmosphere was electric. Flags, banners, chants, smoke bombs, scarves and genuine knowledgeable football fans. It was great. Add to the fact Portland is top of the league and beat the visiting Miami F.C. 3-2 for their 23rd consecutive win. I later found an article USAToday ran on the Timbers and their fans. The article was written on the very game we attended. So, come 2011, I will don my Timbers shirt and support the new MLS team. Thats up until San Diego is awarded a franchise, if ever.

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I spent a week in Salem, Oregon wine tasting. We were able to visit some nice wineries in the Willamette Valley region. The valley is prime growing area for not only Christmas trees and Willamette Hops (pictured below in Hops heaven), but Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio wine varieties as well. Dundee Hills is by far the most written about Appellation in the Willamette Valley with Domaine Drouhin and Domaine Serene (we did not visit Ponzi) the most visited and famous wineries. We found these two wineries to fall into the same stuffiness which big financed wineries seem to feel they have to present to sell their wine. No denying the beauty of the two “Domaine” properties, but the wine itself and the tasting rooms were a let down to the overall experience. Not all was bad in Dundee Hills. Lange, Torii Mor and especially Argyle and DePonte wineries were pleasant to visit. North of Salem and just west of Dundee Hills is the small town of Carlton. On the map it looked as if the area would be littered with small vineyards, but in fact the town is a collection of warehouse wineries and store front tasting rooms. There were too many “wineries” to visit in a one mile block radius, but we stumbled across Seven of Hearts Wine Tasting Room and its owner, Byron Dooley. The little winery is not even on the map yet his wine/chocolate shop (Byron’s wife Dana is the chocolatier) is a testament to the owner/winemaker/vineyard manager/distributor’s dedication and love affair with his product. The wine was genuinely good and the efforts of the owner are evident in his product. It was a real treat to meet Byron and share is accomplishments. Closer to Salem, is Willamette Valley Vineyards which does a nice job with its highly distributed portfolio, but despite being Oregon’s biggest winery, the tasting room experience is not over done and is complimented with a beautiful winery. Around the corner we found Left Coast Cellars. Left Coast was by far the best winery of our trip. A small winery who’s tasting room is a converted barn, the wines are world class especially the 2006 Latitude 45 Pinot Noir which out performed any Pinot Noir we tasted the entire trip. Other wineries visited in the Eola/Amity area were Eola Hills, Bethel Heights and Stangeland. Worth mentioning is Witness Tree Winery. This lowly winery located in the heart of the Eola/Amity Appellation is by far the worst case of a mismanaged winery we have ever encountered. With Estate grown Pinot Noir and other varieties, the winemaker is the owners son and all of the wines were butchered to a point where you couldn’t tell the difference between a Pinot Noir and a Viogner! A real shame considering we tasted some great wines from neighboring wineries, Bethel Heights and Cristom. Oregon has real nice winemaking going on. The Pinot Noirs in general rival Santa Barbara county but cannot compete with those produced in Carneros. It was a nice get away to the Pacific Northwest and we benefitted by sampling a region which has made its mark on the American landscape yet has managed to stay quaint.

Although this news report is kinda cheesy, the video below is about my favorite little shop in Salamanca, España. La Boutique del Torero is a small store located adjacent to the Plaza Mayor and houses an impressive collection of Taurine and Flamenco items catering from the tourist to the professional. A nice collection of adequate capotes, muletas, espadas, ayudas, traje de luces and trajes camperos for toreros and many fine Flamenco items. As an Aficionado Practico on a budget, I found the prices to be very fair. If you can’t make it to the beautiful city of Salamanca, they have a wonderful web site with plenty to choose from: www.boutiquedeltorero.net.

A year after Cayetano Rivera had planned to debut his much heralded Traje Goyesca from Armani, the playboy torero was able to don the suit triumphantly in the traditional Corrida Goyesca in Ronda on Saturday. It was an all around festive afternoon which Cayetano had to postpone last year due to a season ending goring he received in Palencia. The verdict, a snazzy looking creation by the famed designer which outclassed all other suits on the sand. Almost a shame to stain it with blood. Too much horizontal motif took away esthetically from the overall design. As for the color, a metalic lilac was a great choice.

José María Manzanares, saludos tras petición y dos orejas.
Miguel Ángel Perera, oreja y dos vueltas al ruedo tras aviso, dos orejas en el sobrero de regalo
Cayetano, oreja y dos orejas.