Have you finished your Christmas shopping? Most of us will wait ’till the last minute. Thought a few more wine gift ideas would be helpful. The hottest wine accessory, gadget…Vinturi. It is a wine aerator that you use while pouring a glass of wine. That means it acts like a mini decanter – it gets air into the wine and opens up bouquet and flavors. It is a two-handed operation. Uncork the wine, hold the Vinturi over the glass and pour. You’ll hear a sucking sound — that’s the wine being aerated. Best for red wines, but can be used for white wines too. I’ve seen wineries use it in their tasting rooms so what you taste is the true wine.Comes with rubber stand and a travel pouch and retails for about $30. You can usually find this at a wine shop, or you can order online. I did my…
DRINK – Soulful wines
There are 100 point wines, wines that age beautifully and cult cabernets. But I’d rather drink a wine with soul — one that stirs my soul, one that is expressive and a delight to drink. Nothing’s better than discovering a new soulful wine. In this case, I found two! over dinner with friends at Wood Tavern in Oakland. The restaurant is a great place — always packed but it still feels so comfortable. And the food as it turns out is soulful too. On to the wines. The first, a Priorat, 2004 Joan Gine´ from Spainish producer Buil Gine’. I love Priorats, they are fragrant, fruity (think lush red cherry) with minerality and well-balanced and just delicious. You don’t see many Priorats on wine lists, but I always order it when I see it. The Joan Gine’ does not disappoint! It’s made from Grenache (Garnacha), Carignan and Cabernet Sauvignon. [retail…
DRINK – What to drink for Hanukkah?
Hanukkah has begun. It’s time for lighting the menora, 8 nights of gifts and best of all latkes and jelly donuts. But the wine? Manishevitz doesn’t do it. My pick is bubbly. Sparkling wine pairs terrifically with crisp latkes (fried potato cakes) or sufganiyot(fried donuts filled with jelly) which are traditional Hanukkah foods. Actually bubbles go with ANY fried food and this is a holiday that celebrates oil. Go ahead, try a glass with French fries or potato chips. Why sparkling? The bubbles help cut through the oil and refresh the palate. Plus sparkling wine is versatile and goes with both sweet and savory dishes, so you only need one wine. Yes, French Champagne is expensive, but the American sparkling wines are more affordable and equally fantastic, if not better in some cases. For every day value you can’t go wrong with Domaine Ste. Michelle, a producer in Washington state.…
SHOP – Holiday gift idea
What to get the wine lover in your life who has everything? Here’s a gadget (we all know how wine geeks love their toys!) Nuvo Vino is an infrared thermometer you use to check your wine’s serving temp. Super easy to use, you push the top button down and the other end opens up to reveal the thermometer. You don’t dunk this in the wine. Instead the infrared collects the surface temp. In my homegrown experiment, I had a white wine I wanted to open. In the bottle the unchilled wine temp was 74 degrees Fareheght. A little too warm to drink in my opinion. After chilling in ice for about 25 minutes, the wine poured into a glass was at 49.5 degrees. That’s in the optimal range of serving temps for this wine, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. After sitting in the glass for about…
EAT – Top Chef Quickfire
Yes, it’s true, I’ve been a Top Chef fan from day 1. Some times the show irritates me, but mostly it’s entertaining. Are you like me, when you see what the quickfire challenge is, you try to come up with what you’d do? I’m always amazed at what (most) of the cheftestants create. My biggest question has always been, how does it REALLY taste? Well last night I got to find out. There’s a new Top Chef cookbook out, The Quickfire Cookbook, and there was a book signing event at Purcell Murray, the fabulous kitchen showroom. Three local San Francisco cheftestants were there — Jennifer Biesty and Ryan Scott from season 4 and Jaime Lauren from season 5. Each made one of their quickfire challenge dishes. They were ALL good. I think the crowd favorite was Ryan’s lamb patties. I also loved Jaime’s chickpea soup, with vadouvan spice, and…
DRINK – Where don’t they make wine?
Wine is made in all 50 states of the USA, in Mexico, in Canada, South America, Europe, China, Africa. And now you can add Georgia to that list, although we’re 7000 years behind in recognizing this country as a wine producer. One winery wants to change that and held a debut party of sorts in San Francisco. Bagrationi is a sparkling wine producer, making bubbly since 1882 when they became the first winery to do so in the Georgia region. The winery’s representatives in the US were pouring 4 wines. Two of them, the classic brut and classic extra dry are made in the methode Charmat, from three grape varieties I’m pretty sure you’ve not heard of: Chiuri, Mstsvane and Tsitska. Methode Charmat means the wine goes through the 2nd fermentation — which is responsible for the bubbles — in big tanks. If you drink Prosecco then you’ve had a…
DRINK – What’s in our glasses for Thanksgiving
I usually get assigned the task of bringing the wine for holiday events. For Thanksgiving you always see wine experts recommending a good Pinot Noir or Riesling to pair with the meal. Not for me this year. I’m serving bubbly. If you think about it, Champagne or sparkling wine goes with just about any food, and the bubbles help cut through some of the rich foods that are part of the Thanksgiving meal. Best of all, I got a deal. Seguras Viudas makes terrific Cava, the sparkling wine of Spain. It’s refreshing and lively. I picked up this magnum for only $9.97. Yes that’s right, $9.97 at Cost Plus markets. There were still plenty of bottles when I got mine yesterday. So a magnum is 1.5L which equals 2 standard bottles of wine. The funny thing is Cost Plus has the 750 ml standard bottle of the same Cava for…
DRINK – Tasting the “new generation”
Now this is the way to hold a seminar…with wine tasting between and even during sessions. Three California wine organizations held this event at Cavallo Point (in Ft. Baker on the Marin side of the Golden Gate). The 40-something and younger winemakers were pouring their wines, and talking it up on subjects ranging from wine styles to the impact of social media. They’re a passionate, dedicated group and their wines are worth discovering, or trying again. Karl Wente’s wearing thong sandals, which pretty much sums up the casual laid back atmosphere for me. One vintner said he thinks the California style is going back to the basics, with natural yeasts and fermentations. Star Lane and Dierberg Estate Winery – winemaker Nick de Luca was pouring a ’08 Dierberg Chard that was crisp and fruity, with a kiss of barrel. I’ve been to the Star Lane ranch property, in the Santa Ynez…
EAT – Lunch at RN74
You know how it is when you really really want to like a restaurant but come away a little disappointed after a meal? That’s what happened at RN74 in San Francisco. Had a lunch meeting there; and while it’s the first time I went for a meal, instead of for wine and munchies, I was expecting a good experience. Serivce was the biggest letdown. We were a party of 3 at a 4 top. The server didn’t take away the 4th place setting until we were halfway through our entries. Plates were cleared immediately and we felt rushed. They took the butter away before we were done with it. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s lots to like about RN74. First and foremost, it’s a great space. Industrial yet an air of an old-world French wine country restaurant. Love the train/airline schedule boards, and the prices even flip every so…
DRINK – The price is right
I’m always asked what’s a good wine at a good price? For me, good price is under $20 a bottle. Under $10 is even better. Somewhere in between is where Layer Cake falls. This wine is made by Jason Woodbridge. The crazy thing is he also makes Hundred Acre, an amazing Cab that sells for $300+ I’ve tried it and really liked it, almost enough to think about buying one bottle. But Layer Cake fits my budget. I bought a bottle of Shiraz at Trader Joe’s for $14.99. It was a deep, rich and opulent wine, especially for this price point. The Shiraz is grown and made in Australia, under Woodbridge’s supervision, and all the Layer Cake wines are made in a similar manner to Hundred Acre. Even the labels are top notch — great design, raised fonts. I have a bottle of Primitivo at home – also $14.99 at…