Cheers to a Happy & Prosperous New Year 2012!
To remedy all that stress and concern about all the holiday shopping yet to be done, the Granada Bistro has a solution… Enjoy the sounds of MALIK with our wine pick of the week, Zweigelt by Biohof.
Malik being Malik
Hope to see you there… Thursday and Friday starting at 8:30 PM.
CHEERS!
We started the night with a recap of the Deductive Tasting Method then dove into discussing the two regions.
Some basics:
Burgundy
Primary Grape Varieties:
White- Chardonnay, Aligote
Red- Pinot Noir, Gamay
Vineyard Classification: Complex system of land ownership. Thousands of tiny vineyards each with multiple owners thanks to Napoleonic Code and inheritance laws which split property equally amongst children.
Regional appellations: 56%, Village: 30%, Premier Cru: 12%, Grand Cru: 2%
Bordeaux
Primary Grape Varieties:
White- Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle de Bordelais
Red- Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot
Typical Bordeaux Blend:
Medoc (left bank)
-70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and minor varieties
St. Emilion and Pomerol (right bank)
-70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc
Time for Blind Tasting!
I brown bagged four different bottles and using the deductive tasting method, the Swirl Girls swished, sniffed, and slurped our way through all of them.
Chardonnay, Bouchard, France 2009
A simple, delicious chardonnay from Burgundy. Easy to drink. Nothing magical or offensive. We recommend it as the second bottle of wine you drink, not the first.
Chardonnay, Liquid Farm, Sta. Rita Hills, 2009
I threw in a stumper from California, but the Swirl Girls would not be fooled. They guessed it down to the region and all agreed this wine ROCKS.. Our very own Wine Nerd Nikki Palleson is responsible for this ‘deliciousness’ (as she would say)
Pinot Noir, Chambolle-Musigny, Bouchard, France 2009
A little young. Some of the Swirl Girls mistook it for a Cru beaujolais, but its nose was intoxicating and has potential to be a spectacular accompaniment to a Thanksgiving feast.
Bordeaux, Chateaux Gree Laroque, France 2004
The clear winner of the night. Not only was it interesting, complex, and pleasing to the palate. We decided it was like drinking a very sexy, intelligent, outdoorsman.
Cheers to that!
Alice is not a girl that works at Granada Bistro – but “she” is pretty special. She’s our vintage framed chalkboard. She is our portable advertisement. Once a week, we take her about town, leave her somewhere clever, upload her picture to Facebook and wait to see who will bring her home for a prize (a free glass of wine).
I had heard stories of Alice being stolen in the past but I did not believe it until I had to come face to face with an Alice thief.
Last Thursday night, after a night out in downtown San Luis Obispo, I was eating at Enzo’s 24-hour eatery when I saw Alice perched by someone’s table. This is odd since I had “lost” her in Bubble Gum Alley earlier that day and assumed someone would have brought her home to Granada. I asked the man sitting at the table where he had found her and if I could take her back to work with me. He replied shortly, “No. It’s mine now.”
I begin negotiating with this man, telling him what we use “her” for and that she is very important to the bistro. Throughout all this, my boyfriend, who is now convinced that I name ALL inanimate objects, is shaking his head at me in pure confusion. Finally, he offers to pay the Alice Thief $5 to let me take her and I am completely overjoyed.
The entire walk home, I wonder to myself which is worse – that someone actually had the nerve to steal Alice or that I actually paid $5 to take back a chalkboard. Regardless of that question, Alice is home safe now and if you ever see her about town, please take up the call of duty and save her from evil Alice snatchers!
Now Accepting Reservations
Guests can now experience dining at Granada without having to wait for a table. Reservations are accepted by phone and email.
Phone- 805-556-4211 Email- granadabistro@gmail.com
Weekend Specials
W.O.W. Glass $8 Bottle $30 Retail $20
Pinot Grigio, Toree di Luna, Italy 2009 Synonymous with Sunny weekend dining. Aromatics of pear followed by minerality and acidity. Drink this all day!
Tapas
Roasted garlic and sambal buttered shrimp skewers over a bed of wilted greens
Soup
Local organic vegetable and pasta soup
Panini
Savory herb & carnitas with spicy pepper jack and dijon
Dessert
Bread pudding topped with tipsy (organic) strawberries
Weekend Line Up:
Borracha’s Brunch
Saturday & Sunday 10am-2pm
Mimosas, Bellinis & Sangria paired with a special brunch menu (in addition to our regular bistro menu)
Lounge:
Next door to bistro, our candelit lounge featured music on the weekends.
Friday 6.10 Malik; Euro Lounge
Saturday 6.11 Latin lounge
2009, Torre di Luna, Pinot Grigio, Italy
Synonymous with Sunny weekend dining. Aromatics of pear followed by minerality and acidity. Drink this all day!
Pinot Grigios are awesome on a sunny day but they aren’t very respected in the upper echelons of wine snobbery. Mostly because many of them are mass production wines. Not so with this Pinot Grigio coming out of Trentino Alto Adige. Not only is it a small production winery, all the grapes are handpicked and cultivated by a small family owned winery.
In general, Pinot Grigio is a light-bodied, high-acid, delicate white, although the top producers turn out wines that have more of everything: more intense aromas, flavor and weight—though Pinot Grigio is ever as rich and full-bodied as a Pinot Gris, the French wine made with the same grape. Yet the Italians dominate by virtue of amount: There’s a ton more Grigio than Gris.
Try this with our shrimp skewer tapas or a Granada house salad.
Cheers!
Our W.O.W. (Wine of the Week) is this 2009 Merlot from Mezzacorona, Italy. 
W.O.W. (Wine of the Week)
Sauvignon Blanc, Tolloy, Italy, 2008 $8|$30 Take a sip of this lightly mineral, herby, crisp wine & image lounging in mountains of Italy! Perfect pairing to caprese.
Specials by Chef Kimberly Lemons
Soup du Jour $8 Savory Black Bean Soup with Roasted Pepper Salsa and Sour Cream
Panini du Jour $10 Pulled Pork with Spicy Olive-Pepperchini Tapenade and Gruyere
Tapas $10 Greek Meatballs served over a spicy yogurt sauce
Dessert
Cheesecake $8 Thelma is back from England and making her best f**king cheesecake once again.. Cheers to that!
Weekend Line Up
Lounge: Doors open at 7pm, show starts at 9pm
Friday Night: Dionysius spins Drum n Bass, Downtempo with a funky twist
Saturday Night: Malik Jazz, Basso Nova, French
Borracha’s Brunch Saturday & Sunday 10am Bellinis, Mimosas, Sangria served alongside our delicious and decadent brunch menu
Salud!
W.O.W. Glass $8 Bottle $30 Retail $20
Pinot Noir, Candoni, Italy 2009: Fruit forward and earthly.. Hard to find a Pinot this tasty for the price. Cheers to that!
Specials by Chef Kimberly Lemons
Flatbread $12
Burrata mozzarella, sauteed mushrooms, Roma tomatoes and wilted greens, drizzle of spicy aioli
Soup $8
Roasted garlic and beet soup
Panini $10
Pulled pork with jalapeno blood orange chutney and grilled capsicums (fancy word for peppers)
Dessert $8
Chocolate and butterscotch cheesecake with Oreo cookie crust
Happenings
Borracha’s Brunch
Sat & Sun 10am-2pm
Sangria | Bellinis | Mimosas | Brunch | Tapas | Music | FUN
Friday, May 13th
Dionysius: Seriously good electronic music
9pm-1am
Saturday, May 14th
DJ C|Murph: Eclectic, Ambient, Deep house
9pm-1am
Pinot Noir is always challenging to find in a price point to serve at $8 a glass.. But every once in a while, we stumble upon a treasure. This Pinot Noir from Veneto, Italy is a delicious balance of fruit and earth. Notes of olives, chocolate, and spice with a medium body and substantial flavor despite its delicacy.
The Candoni family has been making Pinot Noir for 150 years. They pride themselves on being a family business where tradition and innovation are combined with a drive for perfection and a strong work ethic. Each bottle is rendered a unique piece of art by a serigraph reproduction of an Etruscan fresco painting, paying homage to the lifestyle of eating, dancing, and playing.
Stop by for a taste!