Last week I was at two wineries who have taken the wine tasting experience outside. What a great alternative to the crowded, standing room only, traditional winery tasting bars. Frog’s Leap Winery in Rutherford is one of the most beautiful places in Napa Valley. They are organic and sustainable, and the ground around the winery features a working garden and hen house (they sell to local restaurants) and pond. The red barn is a wine country icon. The seated tastings are something fairly new for Frog’s Leap, so if you haven’t been in a few years, be sure to check it out next time you’re in Napa. The tasting is four wines, and you sit outside on the big veranda of the Vineyard House, with a terrific view. Reservations not necessary, but in the summer you might want to make one. Cost is $15 per person. Of course you can…
EAT – Peaches in April
No, it’s not peach season, not yet. We won’t get to bite into fresh, juicy peaches until mid-June at the earliest. But if peaches are dried or frozen, then you can eat them year-round. And last night at Flea St. Cafe in Menlo Park, CA, that’s exactly what we did. Owner Jesse Cool hosted peach farmers Mas and Marcy Masumoto, who have a peach farm south of Fresno, CA, called Masumoto Family Farm. Mas is known for writing Epitaph for a Peach, his journey to save the Suncrest peach variety. It’s a treat to meet him; he’s as passionate about peaches and farming in person as he is in the pages of his book. He’s also just written Wisdom of the Last Farmer. We had a five course meal, with peaches features as a crema on Dungeness crab and wrapped with salumi as appetizers, a peach soup with short ribs,…
DRINK – V. Sattui at 125 years
What can you say about vintner Dario Sattui? He’s full of passion, whether he’s talking about wine, or his castle winery, Castillo di Amorosa. Listening to his story at an event to mark the 125th anniversay of V. Sattui, he just comes alive telling his most improbable story of how he made it in the wine industry. Suffice it to say he went from sleeping in his car to running the wildly successful winery in St. Helena. He’s done it his way, from selling direct to consumers, to building on the east side of Hwy 29 so that it’s an easy right turn off as visitors drive through Napa Valley. He would even pay customers to sit at the picnic tables to entice people to stop in at the winery. He doesn’t have to do that now. Most of all, Sattui’s story is inspirational, and after listening to him talk, you feel anything is possible too.
Here’s a clip from the story we did on Sattui and his castle on In Wine Country
DRINK – Play Winemaker for a Day
Conn Creek Winey in Napa Valley has a cool program where you get hands-on experience blending wine. It takes place it their AVA Room (American Viticulture Areas), where you step into the role of winemaker as you sample 15 single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon wines straight from the barrel. These 15 wines are all from the 15 appellations, or wine growing regions, that are in the Napa Valley. Conn Creek uses many of them for its signature Cab blend, Anthology. Blending is a critical tool in the winemaker’s toolbox, because often a blend will turn out to be way better than a single vineyard wine. These barrels are grouped according to flavor and body, going from soft and light to big and bold. As I taste and make notes, a few favorites pop out. Once I’d decided on the Cab components, I still had more decisions to make. One is choosing…
DRINK – Barrel tasting in Livermore Valley
ll Livermore Valley is one of my favorite wine growing regions in northern California. It’s easy to get to and is not over run with traffic and tour buses (not yet anyway!) If you’re not familiar with this area, it’s south east of San Francisco, in what the locals call the East Bay. As in many wine regions, there’s an annual barrel tasting weekend, where you can visit the wineries, talk to the winemaker and taste barrel samples. The first stop was at Bent Creek Winery, where they were not only offering samples, they were also doing a blending demonstration. You first tasted samples of Cab from barrels with two types of wood — French and Hungarian oak. There is a difference, one was rounder and softer (French oak) the other much bigger in tannins (Hungarian oak). Then you blended the two samples and the result — it tasted better…
SHOP EAT – Cartier Jewels and Chocoholics Paradise
I have to say Saturday was a great day. It started with going to the Cartier and America exhibit at the Legion of Honor museum in San Francisco. Talk about bling! More diamonds, emeralds and rubies than I’ve ever seen in one place. The focus was on American women who bought or wore Cartier jewels. At the turn of the 20th century it was fashionable for women of a certain social status to wear tiaras, whether or not they were royalty, and you’ll see a lot of them here. Seems like a quaint trend, can you imagine wearing a crown now? Some of Grace Kelly’s jewels are on view, including her 10 carat diamond engagement ring. Then there’s the set of jewels that Mike Todd gave Elizabeth Taylor — diamond and ruby necklace, bracelet and earrings. Wow. And, many of the Duchess of Windsor’s pieces (aka Wallis Simpson). Also on…
SHOP – Sarah Pacini knits and Crea Concept
It’s always so much fun to discover a new designer or line of clothing. I just came across the Sarah Pacini line (from Belgium) and I just love it! Knits are the focus, and the shapes and construction are very architectural. They’re easy to wear and flattering. Moderate price point, so one piece won’t break your bank account, but you’ll get so much wear out of it. The other line is the French company Crea Concept. A similar aesthetic as Sarah Pacini. Knits featured here too. Great layering pieces and easy and comfortable to wear. What’s fabulous about both lines is that they are unique — and not so widely available that you’ll see lots of other women wearing it. No doubt you’ll get a lot of compliments wearing these tops, dresses, bottoms.
DRINK – Wine Around the World #80sips
Do you know about Bottlenotes? It’s an online wine social media community, and totally unpretentious. Here you can share your own tasting notes, learn about and buy wine. They have a well-edited selection in their wine portfolio. You can also get The Daily Sip, the wine equivalent of Daily Candy. Bottlenotes also organizes wine tasting events, where you can meet up with other members and taste and talk about wine (yes in person!). Called Around the World in 80 Sips, it’s a great opportunity to taste wines you may not ever come across — like a passionfruit wine from Thailand. This event was held at Crushpad, the custom crush facility in San Francisco. Crushpad is relocating to Napa Valley, so this was probably my last time for visiting the city location. The tasting takes place amid all the barrels of wine aging. These wines stood out for me and should…
Drink – Premiere Napa Valley #premiereNV
It’s the beginning of the wine social season if you will — Premiere Napa Valley. This past weekend trade and media descended on the valley to taste special barrel lots created by Napa Valley winemakers that are auctioned off on Saturday afternoon. It’s a chance to meet the winemakers and owners, and to network within the industry. There are winery open houses, dinners, wine and more wine. This is when you get a good feel for the vintage. Here, the 2008 reds made their debut. There were many issues with that growing season, including frost and fires. Yields were low. Winemakers who’ve been holding their collective breath can breathe a sigh of relief. Almost everyone I talked to is very pleased with the wines. To me, they are restrained but complex, with long finishes. PNV is also about buying wine. All the auction lots are exclusive to the Premiere Napa…
DRINK – Drink wine around the world in 80 sips
Bottlenotes, an online wine community, puts on the coolest wine tasting events. Don’t miss the next one, in SF on 2.27.10 Bottlenotes offers $10 off the ticket price for “Around the World in 80 Sips” for my blog readers (loyal fans that you are!). Last year’s event was lots of fun — and there were interesting wines from South Africa to New Zealand, plus lots of gourmet goodies to try. The event takes place amid the wine barrels at Crushpad, a micro custom crush facility, from 6pm-9pm. To get your discounted ticket, visit Bottlenotes and enter the coupon code SHOPEAT at checkout. I look forward to seeing you there! If you do attend, please add any tasting notes, etc to the comments section of the blog. Would love to know what you think about the wines!