Since wine can be made anywhere these days, it’s no big surprise that Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda, CA (also known as the East Bay) are home to many urban wine brands, both established and start ups. So what if there are no vineyards in the city (that I’m aware of). At this past weekend’s Urban Wine Experience in Oakland, the local wines were showing rather well, paired with bites from local restaurants. The public event was held by the East Bay Vintner’s Alliance. I found a lot to like, and some really good values. There were many good Rhone varietal bottlings, and that made me happy, since j’adore Rhone wines. I might just need to do a little East Bay Rhone wine tour. These are the standouts: One of my last sips of the day was at Stage Left Cellars. It’s a fairly new player in the urban wine scene.…
DRINK – An audacious wine, Petite Sirah
According to Dictionary.com, audacious means extremely bold or daring, recklessly brave or fearless. I think that’s a great way to describe Petite Sirah. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s beautiful, and yes, adacious. The PS grape does well in many growing regions in California: Mendocino County, Lodi, Paso Robles and of course, Livermore Valley. Each region produces a slightly different style. Some have more bright cherry fruit, others more complexity and tannins. PS I Love You is the name for an annual gathering of Petite Sirah winemakers, growers and groupies. Don’t know Petite Sirah? No, it’s not a smaller variety of the Syrah grape; it’s its own varietal. Often used in blended red wines. But, more and more wineries are making this single variety. In 1975 there were roughly 20 producers. By 2009 that number has grown to 700+. A big question at the Petite Sirah symposium, how mainstream can Petite…
DRINK – Get out of the tasting room for a killer view
It’s not enough for a winery to have a tasting room these days. They’ve got to offer an “experience” and make it unique. The folks at Kunde Family Estate understand this. The winery is a 100% estate winery, on 1850 acres, with 700 acres of it planted to vines. It’s a beautiful property. If you saw Bottleshock, much of the movie was filmed at Kunde. The boxing ring is still there. Sure, Kunde has a tasting room, and you can stand at the bar, or sign up for a seated reserve tasting. But the best way to experience Kunde is to get out of the tasting room for one of the best views of Sonoma wine country. Fourth generation family winegrower Jeff Kunde’s always thinking of what’s next. I met up with him at the winery to see his latest project, the Mountain Top Tasting. It was Jeff’s idea to…
DRINK – Why I’m not at the Wine Bloggers’ Conference
Everything comes down to choices and priorities. That’s why I’m not attending the 2010 Wine Bloggers’ Conference (WBC) in Walla Walla, Washington this weekend. The reason is perfectly clear: Wine Women & Shoes is happening in Napa, and there was no way to attend both. Yes, shoes win out over wine. In fact, I always compare what something costs to how many pairs of shoes I could buy. An $800 bottle of Screaming Eagle? That’s at least two or three pairs of shoes. Personally I’d rather have the shoes. Oh don’t get me wrong, I love wine and spend way too much money on it as it is. But shoes you can wear more than once, and perhaps even for years. Wine is a one time deal. Once you pop the cork, it’s gone. Anyway, that’s my reasoning. Anything to justify buying yet another pair. No doubt I’ll be following…
SHOP – Riedel Sample Sale
Sample sales are legendary, at least in the fashion world. The venerable wine glass company, Riedel, jumped into the fray with its first sample sale ever in New York City. I had the good fortune of being in NYC on sale day. Chelsea Market was the location, and I arrived a little more than 30 minutes early, and was 5th in line. By the time the doors opened, more than 50 people had cued up. The calm before the storm: What we found – boxes and boxes of glassware and decanters. If you were looking for the Riedel Amadeo decanter, this was the place to get a deal. Most prices at up to 70% off retail. Also saw a lot of “tasting sets” with varietal specific glasses. I snapped up O Chardonnay glasses and tubes of the O Cabernet/Merlot glasses. I lost out on the last box of champagne flutes.…
DRINK EAT – Auction Napa Valley 2010
Recession worries seemed to fade as wine lovers opened their wallets and raised paddles bidding up the prices at the 30th Auction Napa Valley, held over this past weekend. There was lots of good food and great wine flowing throughout the event. I went to the Taste Napa Valley and Barrel Auction on Friday, at Rubicon Estates. I love this annual event, and it’s a great one to go to even if you don’t make it to the live auction on Saturday. Dark skies and cool temps threatened rain, but it held off. At Taste Napa Valley, wineries pour whites and rose´and many of Napa’s top restaurants dished out bites. You could nosh on anything from chickpea fries to pulled pork sliders from BarBersQ and watermelon sorbet with chocolate chips (for seeds!), topped with fleur de sel. Martini House served up a creamy mushroom soup that was an inspired pairing…
DRINK – Pretty in Pink
Spring is now here! The pink wine was flowing at the Pink Out! event in San Francisco. It’s an annual happening celebrating Rose´wines, put on by the Rose´Advocates & Producers (RAP). It’s a great reason to break out your pink clothes and accessories. Real men do drink and wear pink! And yes, that’s my pink shoe. Rose´ wines are fantastic — dry and crisp and light, perfect for warm weather drinking. Rose´ is made from a variety of grapes, from Pinot Noir to Syrah to Tempranillo. I tasted old and new favorites, so here’s my shout out list. My “go to” Rose´ bottlings: Lucia – a Rose´ of Pinot Noir from the Pisoni family. Zippy with lots of strawberry Blackbird “Arriviste” -A beautiful Rose´ of Merlot Azur Rose´ – I first discovered Julien Fayard’s delicious Rose´ at last year’s Pink Out. It’s as good as ever, a classic southern France-style…
DRINK – Check out the Sip Shoppe at Swanson Vineyards
I am really excited about the new tasting room about to open at Swanson Vineyards in Napa Valley. Sure, they’re known for Merlot, and for the elegant Salon wine tasting experience. That’s an intimate sit down tasting, paired with caviar and chocolates. Super luxe, right? But it’s also limited to groups of 8, a couple times a day. What if you want to stop by and try a few bottlings? Up until now, you were SOL. Although they’re not taking text reservations (not yet anyway!), soon you’ll be able to phone up and stop in at the new Sip Shop. The bright red and white striped room is whimsical and fun. Not your average tasting room! Here you can sip flights of Swanson’s wine, paired with some small bites. One signature pairing will be the Swanson Pinot Grigio matched with American caviar on a potato chip. Mmmm. Opening is planned…
DRINK – Beyond the Tasting Bar
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,…