Cafes & Wineries

Most people, when they come visit me in San Francisco and ask to be taken to wine country, assume that they’re going to Napa, but at least half the time, that’s definitely not where we end up.

These well meaning tourists aren’t the only ones who seem to forget that Northern California has many different “wine countries.” Napa casts a long shadow, as it were.

I’ve got lots of love for every piece of wine country we’ve got, and a special place in my heart for Sonoma County, both because it is the place of my birth, but also because I think sometimes it gets short shrift compared to its more famous neighbor.

Sonoma County is several different wine regions rolled up into one — from the chilly fog of the Sonoma Coast and Carneros, to the cool Green Valley and Russian River Valley, to the warmer climes of Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Mountain, Alexander Valley, and the Sonoma Valley — there’s something for everyone in Sonoma.

The main problem however, is that all these regions are spread out over a wide area, much wider than the relatively (in comparison) compact Napa Valley. So experiencing the breadth of Sonoma can be time consuming, no matter how fulfilling it ends up being.

So while it’s a good idea for wine lovers to pay more attention to Sonoma in general, there is one weekend this year when any self respecting wine lover shouldn’t be thinking of anything else: The Sonoma Wine Country Weekend.

The first event of its kind, this weekend celebration of Sonoma County wine is a combination of what have been two separate annual events up until now: The Sonoma County Showcase of Wine and Food and the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction. These two events have been combined into a single weekend that is the single best opportunity in existence for anyone to learn a thing or two about Sonoma wine.

The weekend starts on Friday August 29th, with winemaker lunches at various wineries around the valley. On Saturday the 30th, the grand tasting will take place from 11 AM to 4 PM, where more than a hundred Sonoma County wineries will offer their wines for tasting along with food from more than 60 of the regions top chefs and artisan food purveyors. Sommeliers (apparently some of them famous) will be conducting wine seminars, and almost every wine that you might taste is available for sale (or shipping back home) with the help of the event staff.

The evening of Friday the 29th and Saturday the 30th will also involve winemaker dinners at some of Sonoma’s most spectacular wineries, including Pride Mountain Vineyards at the top of the Mayacamas mountains.

And if that weren’t enough, on Sunday the live Harvest Wine Auction, whose proceeds go to local charities, offers chances at bragging rights and some amazing prizes (and wines) for those who can afford to be generous, as well as a blockbuster meal cooked by some serious Sonoma culinary heavyweights. Rumor has it that there will be just a tad of wine poured at this event as well.

While attendance at the auction and dinner on Sunday is a somewhat pricey proposition ($650 a head) the rest of the weekend’s events are a relative steal at between $75 and $150 bucks.

This is a huge opportunity to soak in the breadth and depth of Sonoma County wine without spending 4 days and 8 hours in the car zipping all over the place. It comes highly recommended by yours truly.

Find out everything you need to know on the event web site.

Sonoma Wine Country Weekend
August 29-31, 2008
MacMurray Ranch, Cline Cellars, (and individual wineries)
MacMurray Ranch
9015 Westside Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448

Tickets, which can be purchased online, are priced as follows:

Friday Winemaker Lunches: $75
Friday Winemaker Dinners: $160
Grand Tasting: $150
Saturday Winemaker Dinners: $160
Sunday Auction: $650

Additional VIP packages are available.

This event will almost certainly sell out, so purchase your tickets now. September just before harvest is one of the most beautiful times to be in Sonoma County.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Serious wine lovers in the San Francisco Bay area get several opportunities each year to indulge their passions for wine. Large, themed tastings like the ZAP Zinfandel Festival or the recent Pinot Days are great opportunities to get a sense of a certain varietal and the quality of the recent vintage in California and events like the upcoming Family Winemakers are an opportunity to taste wines from smaller producers.

It is quite rare, however, despite the nearness of the appellation and the saturation of wine in the Bay Area, for consumers to get the opportunity to get an in-depth or comprehensive look at the wines of Napa Valley. Perhaps it’s just because Napa wines don’t need much marketing help, or perhaps it’s because the Napa Valley Vintners association exhausts itself with its two major events each year, but there just isn’t a real good opportunity for members of the public to survey the breadth and depth of wines from the Napa valley.

Unless, that is, you happen to be a member of the Napa Valley Wine Library Association.

The Wine Library is just what it sounds like: a library with books about wine. Started in the early Sixties by a group of winery owners that realized the irony of having a public library in the heart of Napa Valley that possessed virtually no literature or resources about wine, the library association was built on donations of money and books from Napa’s wine families over four decades. Now occupying a special section of the St. Helena public library and even owning a small vineyard out behind the building, the Wine Library Association is a membership organization that gives its members access to these materials, some of which are rare and historic, as well as to annual tasting events.

Each year the organization hosts a two part event: On Saturday they offer a full day seminar on a specific topic, often a certain AVA or certain varietal, and then on Sunday they offer a tasting event showcasing a specific varietal as represented by hundreds of wineries in the valley.

This year’s event will feature an all-day seminar on August 23rd at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena focused on “White Winemaking — Techniques and Trends”, in which prominent winemakers and vineyard managers from Charles Krug, Robert Mondavi, Spencer Roloson, Stony Hill, and Louis. M Martini discuss the current state of white wine making in Napa Valley.

On Sunday the 24th, over 100 wineries will pour their recent vintages of white wines in the grove at the Silverado Country Club. Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Marsanne, Vermentino, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Grigio, Roussanne, Albariño, Viognier and more will be on offer.

“That’s all well and good,” you may be saying, “but this is a members-only event and I’m not a member of the Napa Valley Wine Library Association.” That’s true. But a check for $60 sent in advance, or a check for $85 on the day of the tasting will do the trick. Membership is available on the spot, and covers the tasting plus any others that you choose to go to for the rest of the year. If you’d like to attend the seminar on the 23rd, there is an additional cost of $150.

Sound like a steal? It is. Unless you’re a member of the trade that attends Premiere Napa Valley, or someone willing to pay in the hundreds or even thousands for a package at the annual Auction Napa Valley, there is generally no other way to get the opportunity to taste so many Napa Valley wineries in a single setting. If you’re serious about learning more about Napa wines, especially if you’re interested in some of the less famous wines of the valley, this is an event you don’t want to miss. I’ve provided an initial list of the wineries scheduled to pour at the bottom of this post organized by the varietal they’ll be showcasing.

Napa Valley Wine Library Association Member Tasting
Sunday August 24th
Silverado Resort and Country Club
1600 Atlas Peak Road
Napa, California 94558
707-257-0200

Annual membership dues for the Association are $60, or $85 if purchased at the door. Only checks and cash will be accepted, I believe, so stop at an ATM or bring your checkbook. Additional details on how to get membership in advance and on the event can be found on the Association’s web site. Please note that the location for the Saturday event is the Greystone Castle in St. Helena

My usual tips for such outdoor public tastings apply: wear loose fitting but dark colored clothing (but keep in mind that it may be very warm for the outdoor tasting). Eat a good meal before going and drink lots of water while tasting. Decide in advance which wineries you would like to visit, and make sure to spit rather than swallow the wine to make sure you get a chance to enjoy (and remember) a number of wines.

The wineries and the varietals currently scheduled to pour are as follows:

Albariño
Mahoney

Chardonnay
El Molino
Fleury Estate
Forman
Grgich Hills
Hendry
Hyde de Villaine (HdV)
Jocelyn Lonen
Keenan
Kongsgaard
Long Vineyards
Mayacamas
Monticello
Muir’s Legacy
Northfield
O’Brien
Patz & Hall
PEJU
Pine Ridge
Pride
Prix
Richard Partridge
Rombauer
Rutherford Ranch
Saddleback
St. Clement
Saintsbury
Sedna
Stags’ Leap Winery
Stony Hill
Swanson
The Hess Collection
The Terraces
Trefethen
Truchard
Tulocay
ZD

Chenin Blanc
Ballentine
Casa Nuestra

Gewürtztraminer
Madonna Estate
Stony Hill
Marsanne
Krupp Brothers

Moscato Canelli
Robert Pecota

Muscato Azul
La Sirena

Pinot Blanc
Saddleback

Pinot Grigio
Madonna Estate

Pinot Gris
Hendry

Riesling
Casa Nuestra
Prix
Stony Hill
Trefethen

Rousanne
Prix
Truchard

Sauvignon Blanc
Broman
Cakebread
Carrefour
Crocker & Starr
Duckhorn
Ehlers Estate
Emmolo
Frog’s Leap
Green and Red
Hall
Heitz
Hill Family
Honig
Jericho Canyon
Joseph Phelps
Long Meadow Ranch
Markham
PEJU
Rios
Rutherford Grove
Rutherford Ranch
St. Supery
Silverado Vineyards
Spring Mountain
Teaderman
Vinoce
Vermentino
Mahoney

Viognier
Saddleback
Seps
Spencer Roloson
Stags’ Leap Winery

Proprietary Blends
Ceja, Vino de Casa
Hill Family, Carly’s Cuvée
Krupp Brothers, Black Bart’s Bride
Prix
Robert Mondavi, Fumé Blanc
Robert Sinskey, Abraxas
St. Supéry, Vertú
Schramsberg, Blanc de Blancs
Venge, Bianco Spettro

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

The Pinot Days event, which took place on the last weekend in June this year, brings together one of the largest collections of Pinot Noir producers in North America for the tasting pleasure of the public.

It’s taken me quite some time to get this report out. Such tasting reports are the most time intensive blogging that I do, especially when the organizers of events like Pinot Days don’t have an electronic list of the wines that are being poured at the event. Which means I need to transcribe the hundreds of wines and scores that I record in my notebook at the event. And that is tough to do with a newborn in the house. But this weekend I finally got a block of time to spend with my scores and crank them out.

I use such events, comprehensive as they are, as a means of judging the overall quality of the vintage in California, if it is possible to generalize in such a way as this. At this most recent tasting, the 2006 Pinot Noirs were on display, and I found them generally good but not as consistent as those who made good wine in 2005 (a problematic vintage in certain places). 2006 seems to have been more consistent in quality across many regions, from Santa Barbara County all the way up to Mendocino than in 2005. However the character of the wines did not seem as strong as in recent past vintages. In particular I found myself encountering a moderate incidence of volatile acidity in the wines, which seemed more prevalent in Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley wines than in wines from the Central Coast areas.

The field of wine also evidences a continued dialing back of extraction and ripeness from levels that seemed to peak in the 2002 and 2003 vintages. This is especially true for the wines from the Santa Lucia Highlands which tend to be some of the most overripe Pinot Noirs made in Northern California. Wines from Garys’ Vineyard, Pisoni Vineyard, and Rosella’s Vineyard, continue to be moderated to saner levels of fruit and alcohol than in the past.

I’m especially excited about the 2006 wines from the Santa Rita Hills and Santa Maria Valley, which seem to be excellent and certainly worth pursuing in greater depth.

I know that some of you have been waiting for this report for some time (and probably given up on ever getting it), but better late than never. I’ve called out the few nice roses I found as well as a couple white wines of note. Also, given the increasingly steep price of most Pinot, I’ve called out those wines that I think represent the best values (under $35).

Enjoy.

Click on the wine names to find online retailers who sell that wine.

PINKS AND WHITES
2007 Patton Valley Vineyard Rose of Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $14.
2007 Hartford Family Winery Rose of Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. Score: between 9 and 9.5. $22.
2006 Fort Ross Vineyard Rose of Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. Score: around 9. Cost: $16. Where to buy?
2007 Coterie Rose of Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. Score: around 9. Cost: $??
2007 Inman Family Wines Pinot Gris, Russian River Valley. Score: around 9. Cost: $ 25
2007 Novy “Blanc de Noir” White Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Score: around 8.5. Cost: $??

BEST VALUES
2005 Ladd Cellars Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $30.
2004 Fort Ross Vineyard Pinotage, Sonoma Coast. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $32.
2006 Patton Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $35.
2006 Joseph Swan “Saralees Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $35.
2006 Mary Elke Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. Score: around 9. Cost: $26
2006 W.H. Smith Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. Score: around 9. Cost: $28
2006 Joseph Swan “Cuvee de Trois” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. Score: around 9. Cost: $28
2006 Copain “Tous Ensemble” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. Score: around 9. Cost: $30
2006 Fort Ross Vineyard “Symposium” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. Score: around 9. Cost: $32
2006 Eno Wines “Never Say Never” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. Score: around 9. Cost: $32
2006 Melville Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills. Score: around 9. Cost: $32
2006 Eric Kent “Windsor Oaks” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. Score: around 9. Cost: $33
2006 Byron Kosuge “The Shop” Pinot Noir, Carneros. Score: around 9. Cost: $33
2006 Londer Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. Score: around 9. Cost: $35

Complete List of Scores

WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9.5
2006 Elke Vineyards Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $38
2006 Derbes Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $45
2004 Derbes “Les Pinots” Pinot Noir / Pinot Meunier, Russian River Valley. $44
2005 Calera “Ryan Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Mt. Harlan. $40
2002 Calera “Mills Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Mt. Harlan. $48
2006 Peay Vineyards “Pomarium” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $52

WINES SCORING BETWEEN 9 AND 9.5
2006 Freeman “Akiko’s Cuvee” Pint Noir, Russian River Valley. $52
2006 Fort Ross Vineyard “Estate” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $39
2005 Fort Ross Vineyard “Reserve” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $49
2004 Fort Ross Vineyard Pinotage, Sonoma Coast. $32
2006 Eric Kent “Stiling Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $42
2001 Elke Vineyards Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $55
2005 Elke Vineyards Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $45
2006 Demetria Estate “Le Belier” Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills. $45
1999 Clos Saron Pinot Noir, North Yuba. $N/A
2005 Calera “Mills Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Mt. Harlan. $45
1997 Calera “Reed Vineyard” Pinot Noir (out of magnum), Mt. Harlan. $75
2007 Auteur “Ophelia” Pinot Noir (blend of Oregon and California fruit). $38
2006 Auteur “Shea Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon. $70
2006 Arista “Longbow” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $48
2006 Ancien “Mink Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Napa. $45
2006 Patton Valley Vineyard Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon. $35
2006 Peay Vineyards “Scallop Shelf” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $52
2005 Pelerin “Rosella’s Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $48
2006 Saintsbury “Lee Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Carneros. $45
2006 Hartford Family Winery “Fog Dance” Pinot Noir, Green Valley. $$45
1998 Domaine Naddef “Les Champeaux” Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru, Burgundy, Fance. $??
2006 W.H. Smith “Marimar” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $48
2006 W.H. Smith “Maritime” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $54
2006 Pappapietro Perry “Pommard Clone” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $49
2006 Pappapietro Perry “Peter’s Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $49
2004 Michaud Pinot Noir, Chalone. $38
2002 Michaud Pinot Noir, Chalone. $N/A
2006 Melville “Terraces” Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills. $52
2006 Melville “Carries” Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills. $52
2006 Londer “Canby Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $50
2006 Londer “Paraboll” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $30
2005 Ladd Cellars Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $30
2006 Ladd Cellars “Gaps Crown” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $??
2006 Kindred “Amber Ridge” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $$44
2006 Joseph Swan “Saralees Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $35
2006 J. Wilkes “Block Q” Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County. $55
2005 J. Wilkes “Block Q” Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County. $55

WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9
2006 Goldeneye Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $55
2006 Freeman “Keefer Ranch” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $46
2006 Freeman Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $42
2006 Foursight “Charles Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $46
2006 Fort Ross Vineyard “Symposium” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $32
2006 Flying Goat Cellars “Rio Vista Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $40
2006 Eno Wines “Never Say Never” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $32
2006 Eric Kent “Windsor Oaks” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $33
2006 Mary Elke Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $26
2006 Demetria Estate Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills. $40
2006 Demetria Estate “Cuvee Sandra” Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills. $60
2006 Copain “Kaiser En Bas” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $50
2006 Copain “Tous Ensemble” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $30
2006 Copain “Cerise” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $45
2006 Clos Saron “Home Vineyard” Pinot Noir, North Yuba. $45
1994 Clos Saron Pinot Noir, North Yuba. $N/A
2003 Hereszytn Clos Village Vielles Vignes, Gevrey Chambertin, Burgundy, France. $37
2006 Byron Kosuge “The Shop” Pinot Noir, Carneros. $33
2006 Byron Kosuge “Hirsch Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $50
2006 Byron Kosuge “Manchester Ridge” Pinot Noir, Mendocino. $40
2007 Auteur “Sonoma Stage” Pinot Noir, Sonoma. $60
2006 August West “Graham Family Vineyard” Russian River Valley. $48
2006 Arista Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $40
2006 Arista “Mononi Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $56
2006 Ancien “Toyon Farm Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Carneros . $45
2006 Pey-Lucia “Frisquet” Pinoe Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $39
2006 Saintsbury “Stanley Ranch” Pinot Noir, Carneros. $45
2006 Saintsbury “Brown Ranch” Pinot Noir, Carneros. $65
2006 Siduri “Ewald Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $??
2006 Hartford Family Winery “Lands Edge” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $45
2005 Skewis “Reserve” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $50
2006 W.H. Smith Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $28
2005 Huber “Baden” Pinot Noir, Malterdinger, Germany. $42
2006 Pappapietro Perry “Laura’s Family Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $49
2006 Miner Family Vineyards “Garys’ Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $55
2006 Miner Family Vineyards “Rosella’s Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands . $55
2003 Michaud Pinot Noir, Chalone. $38
2001 Michaud Pinot Noir, Chalone. $N/A
2006 Melville Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills. $32
2006 Londer Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $35
2006 Londer “Estate” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $50
2006 Joseph Swan “Cuvee de Trois” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $28
2005 Joseph Swan “Trenton Estate” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $52
2005 Joseph Swan “Great Oak” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $38
2006 Inman Family Wines “OGV” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $45

WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8.5 AND 9
2006 Handley Cellars Pinot Noir, Mendocino. $25
2005 Handley Cellars “RSM Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $52
2006 Goldeneye “Migration” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $32
2007 Gary Farrel “Bien Nacido Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley. $50
2008 Gary Farrel “Hallberg Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $50
2006 Freeman Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $42
2006 Flying Goat Cellars “Dierberg Vineyard” Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley. $42
2005 Eno Wines “Fairview Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $38
2006 Elke Vineyards Rose of Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $18
1998 Elke Vineyards Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $$60
NV Mary Elke “Booneville Bath” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $18
2007 Caloir “Romas Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $44
2007 Caloir “Monument Tree” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $44
2005 Tardy “Au Bas de Combe” Nuits St. George, Burgundy, France. $54
2006 Calera “Mt. Harlan Cuvee” Pinot Noir, Mt. Harlan. $30
2006 Bouchaine “Estate” Pinot Noir, Carneros. $39
2006 August West “Rosella’s Vineyard” Santa Lucia Highlands. $48
2006 Arista “Toboni Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $56
2006 Ancien Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $??
2006 Pelerin “St. Vincent” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $38
2005 Philo Ridge Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $32
2005 Copeland Creek Pinot Noir, Sonoma. $25
2006 Roesseler Cellars “Dutton Ranch” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $38
2006 Roesseler Cellars “Sanford and Benedict” Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara. $48
2006 Saintsbury Pinot Noir, Carneros. $35
2006 Saintsbury “Toyon Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Carneros. $45
2006 Saintsbury “Cerise Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $45
2006 Siduri “Muirfield” Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon. $??
2006 Siduri Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $??
2006 Siduri “Sonatera” Vineyard Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $??
2005 Skewis “Legenfelder Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $44
2001 Skewis “Floodgate Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $N/A
2006 Suacci “Carcienne” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $48
2005 Tandem “Sangiacomo Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $48
2005 Tandem “Van Der Kamp Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Mountain. $48
2006 Halleck “The Farm” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $50
2005 Huia Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand. $30
2006 Tantara “Bien Nacido - Old Vine” Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County. $48
2006 Tantara “Dierberg Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley. $52
2006 Tantara “Pisoni Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $60
2006 Ladd Cellars “Moore Ranch” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $35
2006 Ladd Cellars “Swicegood” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $??
2006 J. Wilkes “Hillside Bien Nacido Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County. $42

WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8.5
2006 Handley Cellars Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley. $30
2006 George “Vintage IV” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $50
2006 Gary Farrel Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $42
2006 Flying Goat Cellars “Rancho Santa Rosa” Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills. $44
2006 Enkidu “Gina Marie” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $42
2006 Enkidu Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $28
2006 Dovetail Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $39
2006 Dovetail “Indioli Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $52
2006 Clos Saron “Texas Hill” Pinot Noir, North Yuba. $40
2005 Domaine Prince de Menode “Ladoix” Burgundy, France. $31
2005 Serveau “Les Sorbets” Morey St. Denis 1er Cru, Burgundy, France. $73
2006 Bouchaine Pinot Noir, Carneros. $24
2006 Roesseler Cellars “Red Label” Pinot Noir, California. $28
2006 Roesseler Cellars “Griffin’s” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. $35
2006 Roesseler Cellars “La Encantada” Pinot Noir. $46
2006 Tandem “Auction Block” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Mountain. $60
2006 Tandem “Silver Pines” Pinot Noir, Sonoma Mountain. $60
2006 Tantara “Garys’ Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Santa Lucia Highlands. $52
2006 Native 9 Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County. $55
2006 Inman Family Wines “Meredith” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley. $45
2005 Sonnet “Kruse Vineyard” Pinot Noir, York Mountain. $40

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Size isn’t everything, they say, but sometimes it’s mighty impressive. The yearly Family Winemakers tasting in San Francisco has as one of its many claims to fame that it is the single largest tasting of California wines in the world. That alone would not be reason for excitement, were it not for the generally exceptional quality of the wines that are on offer, year after year.

Regular readers know that this tasting is one of my favorites every year. It provides an opportunity to sample the wares of smaller, family-run wineries, many of whose wines are made in such small quantities that they do not receive wide distribution. Because most of these wines are made in such small quantities, by folks who often take extra care in their creation, a trip around the tasting is a very clear window into the quality of recent vintages in California.

If you’ve never been to a large public tasting of wine, then this might very well be the best one to experience for the first time. Such tastings are a fantastic way to learn about wine in a way that you simply can’t anywhere else — by tasting many dozens of wines in comparison with one another.

So set aside a few hours on Sunday the 24th, buy a ticket, and enjoy some of the best that California has to offer.

Family Winemakers Public Tasting
Sunday August 24th, 2:00 PM until 6:00 PM
Herbst Pavilion
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco, CA 94123-1382

Tickets are available for $45 in advance through the Fort Mason Ticket office. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door on the day of the event for $55.

Trust me when I say you want to buy a ticket in advance. Also trust me that you want to park far, far away from Fort Mason and then cab, walk, or take a bus to the event, as street parking, or even parking in Fort Mason’s paid lot is nearly impossible.

Finally, do yourself a favor and observe my tips for large public tastings: wear dark clothes; come with your stomach full, drink lots of water, plan which wineries you want to visit using the list on the web site, and for Pete’s sake, SPIT! You may think that you need to swallow to enjoy the experience, but you really don’t. You’ll be able to taste many more wines and will actually learn something, instead of ending up a stumbling drunken fool that the rest of us make fun of.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Wine country means a lot of things in California, a state with winegrowing regions stretching most of its 800 mile length. For most residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, we tend to think of Wine Country as Napa or Sonoma. Increasingly, however, wine country must also include the East Bay. The cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda are now home to dozens of “Urban” wineries that are producing some of California’s most sought-after wines. Recently united by an organization known as the East Bay Vintners Alliance, this group of 15 winemakers is holding its third annual Urban Wine Experience event on the second weekend of August.

The 15 East Bay Vintners are:

Adams Point
A Donkey And Goat
Andrew Lane Wines
Aubin Cellars
Dashe Cellars
Eno Wines
Irish Monkey
JC Cellars
Lost Canyon Winery
Periscope Cellars
Prospect 772 Wine Company
Rosenblum Cellars
Tayerle
Two Mile Wines
Urbano Cellars

The Urban Wine Experience is like tasting wine in wine country, just without the wine country (and the long drive to get there). Held At the Meadow at Jack London Square in Oakland, this event offers attendees the opportunity to taste over 50 wines from all 15 members of the Alliance. The event will include food from local restaurants and food purveyors, as well as music from the Cajun All Stars.

Attended by more than 600 people for each of the last two years, this event will likely sell out again, so plan accordingly.

The Urban Wine Experience
The Meadow at Jack London Square
Oakland, CA 94607
( map )

Advance tickets are $45 per person and are available for purchase online. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door for $60 per person.

Attendees are strongly encouraged to take public transportation to the event. The Lake Merritt BART station is very close to Jack London Square, and a free shuttle service will be offered between the station and the event.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

These days, with a newborn, I don’t get out to many large tasting events, but one I decided I shouldn’t miss this year was the annual Golden Glass tasting in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. This tasting is an annual fundraiser for Slow Food USA, and has been called the best single wine tasting event in San Francisco by more than a few wine lovers I know. In addition to having a reputation for pouring a lot of great wine (mostly Italian) the Slow Food focus attracts many of the top artisan food producers and restaurants from around the Bay Area. So the snacks are pretty good.

Generally the Golden Glass is on a weekend that conflicts with many other wine tasting events for me, so I often don’t get a chance to attend, but this year I carved a couple of hours out of my schedule to wander the hall and check out what the event had to offer.

While past years have been almost exclusively Italian in focus, this year a significant number of producers from New Zealand were on hand, as well as smatterings of other regions like Australia, Spain, Germany, and Argentina. I cruised these areas, and after a little consideration, decided to focus my tasting efforts on the Italian contingent (which still made up more than 60% of the wine being poured).

After all the hype about this tasting from folks I know in the business, I have to say I was disappointed in the quality of the wines. That goes for both the Italians, which I tasted, and the rest of the producers, many of whom I was familiar with. Don’t get me wrong there was plenty of good wine there. But there wasn’t a lot of amazing wine being poured. Compared to the Tre Bicchieri tasting, held about two month’s earlier, this tasting was lackluster. However, there were some excellent wines to be found amongst a crowd of decent ones, so my scores follow below.

The food at the event was definitely some of the best I’ve had at any public wine tasting event, and might alone be worth the $50 entrance fee.

WHITE WINES

WHITE WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9.5
2006 Cantina Prod. San Pauls Sauvignon Passion. $35

WHITE WINES SCORING BETWEEN 9 AND 9.5
2004 Barone Pizzini/Pievalta Verdicchio Castelli Jesi Class. San Paolo Pievalta. $30
2006 D’Antiche Terre Greco di Tufo. $21

WHITE WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9
2007 Cornarea Roero Arneis. $26
2006 Pierpaolo Pecorari Sauvignon, Kolaus. $32
2005 Primosic Collio Ribolla Gialla di Oslavia Riserva. $20
2007 Ronco dei Tassi Malvasia Collio. $25
2007 Ronco dei Tassi Sauvignon Collio. $25
2007 San Michele Appiano Alto Adige Sauvignon Sanct Valentin. $45

WHITE WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8.5 AND 9
2007 Castello di Neive Roero Arneis. $16
2006 Collavini Broy Bianco Collio . $??
2003 Collavini Ribolla Gialla Brut. $35
2006 D’Antiche Terre Fiano d’Avellino. $21
NV Gigante Schiopettino Cof. $32
NV Gigante Pinot Grigio Cof. $25
2006 La Boatina Pinot Grigio Collio. $25
NV Livon Braide Alte. $30
2006 Marchesi Incisa della Rocchetta Roero Arneis . $??
2006 Marotti Campi Verdicchio Castelli di Jesi Classico Salmariano. $16
2006 Marotti Campi Verdicchio Castelli di Jesi Classico Luzano. $18
2004 Primosic Collio Bianco KLIN. $35

WHITE WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8.5
2006 Barone Pizzini/Pievalta Verdicchio Castelli Jesi Class sup. Pievalta. $19
NV Gigante Friulano Cof. $25
2007 Livon Ribolla Gialla. $28
2006 Pierpaolo Pecorari Pinot Grigio, Olivers. $32
2006 Pierpaolo Pecorari Pinot Grigio. $30
2006 Primosic Collio Pinot Grigio Murno. $16
2004 San Michele Appiano Alto Adige Pinot Nero Sanct Valentin. $45

WHITE WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8 AND 8.5
2006 Accomo - Bricco Majolica Langhe Bianco

WHITE WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8
NV Barone Pizzini/Pievalta Franciacorta Brut Barone Pizzini. $37
2006 Busso - La Badia Moscato d’Asti. $20
NV Livon Tiareblu. $25

RED WINES

RED WINES SCORING BETWEEN 9 AND 9.5
2001 Prunotto Barbaresco Bric Turot DOCG. $90
2001 Prunotto Costamiole Barbera D’Asti. $70
2005 Prunotto Mompertone Monferrato. $28

RED WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9
2007 Cantina Prod. San Pauls Pinot Bianco Ploetzner. $25
2007 Caprai Grecante Grechetto Colli Martani . $??
2000 Cascina Adelaide Barolo Riserva Per Elen. $105
2004 Cascina Adelaide Barolo Riserva Vigna Preda. $100
2003 D’Antiche Terre Taurasi DOCG. $40
2003 Il Molino di Grace Gratius. $50
NV La Montagnetta Rosato Ciaret . $??
2003 Marchesi Incisa della Rocchetta Barbera d’Asti Superiore Sant’Emiliano . $??
2006 Marotti Campi Lacrima di Morro D’Alba Orgiolo. $22
2004 Podere Ruggeri Corsini Barolo Corsini. $45

RED WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8.5 AND 9
2004 Attilio Ghisolfi Barolo Bricco Visette . $??
2004 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Ovello. $50
2004 Cascina Adelaide Barolo Fossati. $85
2004 Cascina Adelaide Barolo Riserva Cannubi. $84
2003 Fornacina Brunello di Montalcino DOCG . $??
2003 Il Molino di Grace Chianti Classico Riserva. $30
2006 La Montagnetta Freisa Bugianen
2003 San Michele Appiano Alto Adige Lagrein Sanct Valentin. $45
2003 Tenuta Caparzo /Borgo Scopeto Brunello di Montalcino Caparzo. $50
2004 Valle Reale Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Valle Reale. $21
2003 Valle Reale Montepulciano d’Abruzzo San Calisto. $38

RED WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8.5
2006 Accomo - Bricco Majolica Dolcetto Diano Sori’ Bricco Maiolica. $20
2005 Attilio Ghisolfi Barbera d’Alba Vigna Lisi . $??
2004 Caprai Sagrantino di Montefalco Collepiano . $??
2005 Caprai Rosso di Montefalco . $??
2006 Cascina Adelaide Barbera d’Alba Vigna Preda. $36
2003 D’Angelo Aglianico del Vulture Caselle. $35
2005 Fornacina Rosso di Montalcino . $??
2004 Le Fonti Chianti Classico Riserva. $45
2007 Marotti Campi Rubico . $??
2006 Poderi San Lazzaro Sangiovese Polesio. $18
2005 Poderi San Lazzaro Grifola. $60
2003 Sassotondo Ciliegiolo Riserva San Lorenzo . $??
2007 Sassotondo Rosso Maremma Toscana . $??
2006 Valle Reale Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Vigne Nuove. $15

RED WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8 AND 8.5
2006 Cantina Prod. San Pauls Lagrein Gries. $28
2004 Castello di Neive Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano. $50
2006 Castello di Neive Pinot Nero I Cortini. $30
2003 Le Fonti Fontissimo. $60
2006 Poderi San Lazzaro Rosso Piceno Superiore Poderi 72. $20

RED WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8
2004 Accomo - Bricco Majolica Nebbiolo Cumot. $28
2003 Busso - La Badia Barbera d’Asti Clotilde. $28
2006 Cantina del Pino Nebbiolo Langhe. $20
2005 Cascina La Corte Barbera d’Asti La Grissa . $??
2005 Cornarea Roero. $32
2003 D’Angelo Canneto Rosso Basilicata. $28
2006 D’Angelo Sacravite Rosso Basilicata. $18
2005 Le Fonti Chianti Classico. $30
2005 Podere Ruggeri Corsini Langhe. $20
2007 Ronco dei Tassi Collio Rosso Cjarandon. $25

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

I know how you think. You’re sitting there, scratching your head, wondering, “now what on earth am I going to do here in the middle of the summer to exercise both my brain and my taste buds in a sophisticated way?” It’s a good thing I caught you early on in your musing, otherwise you might have frittered away the whole summer in frustration, trying to come up with something suitably intellectual and delicious to occupy your time.

So instead of sitting there updating your cellar list in Excel, or converting that old rolodex of recipes into a new digital form, you can head up to Napa and go to Taste3. I honestly don’t know whether the damn thing is called “Taste Three” or “Taste Cubed” but it’s a big taste with a little three after it, and it may well be the coolest food conference ever devised.

Those of you in the high tech industry can think of it as TED for food and wine. For those of you who have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, here’s (maybe) a more accessible explanation. Think about a conference where, instead of one cooking demonstration after another, some of the world’s foremost scientists, intellectuals, musicians, writers, chefs, and winemakers come together to discuss a wide range of issues having to do with everything from the aesthetics to the ethics of food and wine. There are lectures, demos, performances, and of course, some tastings. But it’s all highbrow, you know?

OK, so perhaps that didn’t quite capture it. The thing of it is, the conference is nearly impossible to describe well. It doesn’t quite fit the mold of anything else out there in the world of food and wine. So rather than resort to metaphor, let me just tell you how the conference works, and who’s involved. The whole thing is set up as a series of themed sections, each hosted by a moderator, and comprised of a series of short format presentations by some amazing people.

Here are a few examples from this year’s roster:

• Dan Barber, owner of Blue Hill & Blue Hill at Stone Barns talks about his restaurants, career, and his Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

• Journalist Novella Carpenter talks about the current phenomenon of urban farming.

• Editor-in-Chief of Gastronomica, Darra Goldstein talks about food as a path to peace in the Middle East.

• Chateau Musar Winemaker Serge Hochar on the passion for wine that kept him from fleeing civil war in Lebanon.

• René Koster, director of the Dutch “Restaurant of the Future” project, talks about how we make food and drink choices.

• Artist Laura Letinsky shares her haunting photographic images that evoke unseen people and relationships using the detritus of a meal.

• Author Christopher McDougall talks about the health and nutrition secrets of Mexico’s legendary Tarahumara runners.

• Entrepreneur Barry Schuler shares his ideas for mapping the wine grape genome.

• Author of The Billionaires Vinegar, Benjamin Wallace talks about forgery and fakes in high stakes wine collecting.

As you can see, this isn’t your mother’s food event. I’ve never been to the event, but I hear nothing but rave reviews from everyone who’s gone.It’s apparently great brain food. Check out the whole program on the event web site.

Taste3
July 17th - 19th, 2008
Culinary Institute of America
Greystone Castle
2555 Main Street
St. Helena, CA 94574 (map)

Tickets are $1950, and discounts are available for those in the industry. Ticket price includes lunches, winemaker dinner, and gala dinner and reception. Tickets will likely sell out by early July so they should be purchased in advance online.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Day two of Aspen’s Food and Wine Classic was blessed with the same weather as the first. Crystalline blue skies, 75 degrees and sunny. I gave my second Napa’s Next Superstars seminar to a nearly full auditorium at the Given Institute, and after hanging around to chat with some of the attendees about the wines, I was free.

With all my seminars behind me I had the opportunity to finally explore the Classic as a spectator instead of a speaker. The first thing I did was head down to the Grand Tasting tent to get a few bites of food — a lunch constructed out of small samples of grilled rib eye; rum cakes; brownies; grilled lamb and salad; crab cakes; roasted fingerling potatoes; fresh gazpacho; and bits of Spanish cheese. Plenty of other people had the same idea:

It’s a pretty astonishing sight this gathering of thousands of food and wine lovers under one huge canvas awning.

After this pastiche of a light lunch I headed over to one of the event venues to watch the second annual Sommelier Challenge — a panel session hosted by Lettie Teague, the Executive Wine Editor of Food & Wine magazine.

Not your usual panel session, this event pitted four of the country’s top sommeliers against each other in a sort of “sell-a-thon” where they are asked to speak to the audience about different wines, after which the audience votes on who they think did the best job.

This year’s lineup of sommeliers was a formidable cast of characters:

Each of the sommeliers, including the audience, had five glasses of wine in front of them:

2007 Santa Rita Floresta “Leyda” Sauvignon Blanc, Chile
2006 Tablas Creek Esprit d’Beaucastel Blanc, Paso Robles, CA
2005 Vietti “Tre Vigne” Barbera d’Alba, Piemonte, Italy
2005 M. Chapoutier “Les Granits” Rouge Saint-Joseph, Rhone, France
2005 Celler Can Blau “Mas de Can Blau,” Montsant, Spain

When I saw this session’s listing in the program, I assumed this would be a blind tasting, but instead of putting each of these guys palate’s to the test, they were instead being evaluated on their schpiels. Each would be required to speak about one of the first four wines as if they were providing a recommendation of the wine to a restaurant patron. Then each would get a shot at performing the same task for the fifth and final wine.

After Teague’s introductory remarks, the serious looking Bobby Stuckey (last year’s champion) introduced the audience to the Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. Stuckey took an enthusiastic, if traditional, approach to the task, pleased that he had been assigned the wine that, in his view was a perfect match to the Summer day we all walked out of into this session. He praised Sauvignon Blanc’s qualities, and offered his tasting note for the wine, noting its low alcohol level and food friendliness.

I thought this was an excellent wine — one of the better Sauvignon Blanc’s I’ve had from Chile. Here are my tasting notes:

2007 Santa Rita Floresta “Leyda” Sauvignon Blanc, Chile
Pale green-gold in the glass, this wine has a vibrant nose of grassy, juicy gooseberry aromas. In the mouth it is crisp, lean, zingy with acidity, and explosive with lovely kiwifruit, lime, and starfruit flavors. Score: around 9. Cost: $23. Where to buy?

Next in line was Richard Betts who spent a few minutes good naturedly suggesting that Sauvignon Blanc was perhaps a bit too pedestrian and simple a wine for a day as lovely as the one we were having (which prompted protests from Teague who admitted that she bought that particular Sav Blanc by the case). Betts suggested that as a sommelier his job was to be “an enabler” — an advocate whose sole goal was to turn you on to something you’d really like. Instead of Sauvignon Blanc, he suggested, the audience might prefer something more truly Summery, like the complex peach and floral qualities of the Tablas Creek white. He spoke about the wine like it was an old friend, referencing the history of the Perrin family behind it, and shared his own rambling tasting note.

I’ve had this wine several times, and always enjoy it, but I have to say, at the time, I preferred the Sav Blanc.

2006 Tablas Creek “Esprit d’Beaucastel” Blanc, Paso Robles, CA
Pale gold in color, this wine truly does smell like a summer’s day — nectarines, white flowers, and other tropical fruits. In the mouth the wine is silky and weighty on the tongue with flavors of elderflowers, peaches, and orange blossoms that linger in a moderate finish. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $40. Where to buy?

Stuart Roy was up next, and began by suggesting that the lineup was truly unfair, but such was life, as he had clearly been given the best wine of the group. He went on to offer an explanation to the room of where the wine came from in Italy, and professed his love for the few Italian regions whose names included both the name of the grape as well as the place they came from, in this case, Barbera from the town of Alba. He waxed fanatical about the wine, making special note of its acidity and minute long finish, and suggested that it would be one of his favorite wines to recommend to any diner looking for a red wine with their food. Roy was articulate and knowledgeable, but came across as more formal than Stuckey and Betts. I certainly shared his appreciation for the wine however, which was excellent.

2005 Vietti “Tre Vigne” Barbera d’Alba, Piemonte, Italy
Dark ruby in color this wine had a gorgeously floral nose that slipped sideways between violets and lavender with undercurrents of leather and red fruits. In the mouth it was smooth, even polished on the palate, with dusty tannins, beautiful acid balance, and flavors of dried cherries, leather, and sweet flowers that lingered in the truly memorable finish. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: a steal at $24. Where to buy?

Finally, John Ragan got the chance to set the record straight about who really had the best wine on the table. He went on to speak about how Syrah was a trendy grape at the moment, but that its true home was in the Northern Rhone (he actually said that was the birthplace of Syrah, but I believe the Syrah grape’s origins have been traced back to the Middle East). He seemed quite familiar with the producer and this specific wine, describing the single vineyard it came from, and praising the degree to which, in his opinion, the wine personified the true essence of Syrah. Ragan was likeable and knowledgeable, but his pitch seemed to be missing the hook that might have won me over as a diner. The wine was, indeed, classic, however.

2005 M. Chapoutier “Les Granits” Rouge Saint-Joseph, Rhone, France
Dark garnet in the glass, this wine has the classic white pepper, black fruit, and wet earth aroma of Syrah. In the mouth it is frankly beautiful, perfectly balanced with great acidity and subtle dusty tannins. The flavors are deeply mineral in quality, encased in a blanket of dark blackberry and mulberry fruit, and dusted with white pepper. A long finish completes a picture perfect Rhone experience. Yum. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $60. Where to buy?

The most interesting part of the challenge involved the recommendation of the final wine, a brute of an old-vine Grenache from Spain that was heavily extracted, and heavily oaked. Stuckey and Roy both endorsed it as a big wine from a great region that would make folks looking for a major red very happy. Interestingly, and in my mind to their credit, both Betts and Ragan said that they couldn’t, in good faith, recommend the wine to us.

“Smell it,” said Betts.

“What do you smell? OAK!” He went on to suggest that the wine offered no real sense of the place it came from, and was more of a vanity piece than a wine of character.

Ragan agreed, saying “This wine has no fingerprint, no trace of its true identity. Wine has to take you someplace special, and this one doesn’t.”

The Montsant was indeed a heavily oaked concoction.

2005 Celler Can Blau “Mas de Can Blau,” Montsant, Spain
Dark purple in the glass, this wine smells of the sweet vanilla of French Oak wrapped around super-ripe cherries. In the mouth it is tight and angular, with flavors of sawdust, sweet oak, leather, and dried red fruit. The tannins are somewhat abrupt and chewy, and the finish not particularly striking. Score: around 8. Cost: $45. Where to buy?

After some closing remarks by Teague the audience was polled and the winner was…

Bobby Stuckey for a second year in a row, by a rather wide margin. Personally, after all was said and done, I was pulling for Betts, but the crowd clearly seemed to favor Stuckey. Stuckey and Betts are best friends, and after receiving his prize of the precious champions airbrushed t-shirt, Stuckey offered to let Betts wear it for the second half of their usual joint morning run tomorrow.

The session was a lot of fun, and a good reminder that some of the country’s best sommeliers are quite young, personable, and incredibly approachable. They inspire confidence and curiosity in wine drinkers, and that is a very good thing.

Original post by Arthur Krea

I just finished my first day at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, and my second day back in my home town for the first time in 14 years. It’s been quite an honor to be asked to speak at this year’s classic, but so far it has been an incredible pleasure and a deeply nostalgic experience.

Returning to the little town where I grew up (most people don’t think of Aspen as so small, but in my day there were about 9,000 permanent residents — my high school class had 72 people in it) is a very surreal experience. The geography of the place is ingrained in me — I know the streets, the buildings, the location of the mountain peaks, but in a purely intuitive way I couldn’t tell you how to get most places, but I could walk there myself. A lot has changed, as Aspen continues to go through a development boom, but so much remains the same. This is still the place I remember and occasionally dream about.

Oddly, however, everything seems….smaller. The buildings are smaller than I remember them, the distance between landmarks much shorter, even the interior spaces of some favorite shops and restaurants have a diminutive quality that even as they provoke pleasures of memory also add a bit of unease.

As I walk around the town, I seem to think I recognize so many people. In some of the younger ones, I wonder if I’m seeing the grown-up versions of the elementary school kids I saw on the bus when I was in High School. Others, I’m sure are probably longtime locals that I’ve seen a million times before.

Aspen is in the full bloom of a gorgeously green spring, today there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the temperature hung around 70 all day long — classic summer weather for Aspen — nothing unusual there. What was unusual, however, was the sight of people carrying their skis and boots towards the Gondola for a day of skiing. Yes, that’s right, skiing on June 13th. Call it lucky Friday the 13th.

Yesterday it snowed briefly in town, but more importantly a look at the socked-in tops of the mountains showed that it was blizzarding up there. And this on top of the still-heavy snowpack that remains at the highest elevations. No one can ever remember skiing this late into the season before.

Of course, most people in Aspen this weekend aren’t thinking about fresh tracks, they’re thinking about fresh chefs, new dishes, and fabulous wines. For those who aren’t familiar with the Food and Wine Classic, it is two and a half days of food and wine seminars, cooking demonstrations, parties, and a “grand tasting” tent where hundreds of wineries, food purveyors and other companies offer samples, tastes, and other informational tidbits to attendees. It is widely regarded as the premier wine and food event in the country.

This morning I gave three seminars, one entitled Napa’s Next Superstars, and one entitled Sake For Wine Lovers (which I gave twice) to festival attendees.

The first seminar, Napa’s Next Superstars was my attempt to introduce people to several wines from Napa that were either brand new to the market and destined to be great or were flying under the radar of most consumers. I distinguished superstars from “cult wines” by virtue of the fact that these were wines that the attendees could actually get a hold of with a little bit of effort on their part (provided their home states didn’t prevent them from doing so).

The wines I poured for the attendees were:

2005 Blackbird Vineyards “Proprietary Red Wine,” Napa Valley

2005 Meteor Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

and then I threw in a ringer wine, that I thought stylistically fit with the grouping above, but was made far from Napa:

2005 Star Lane Vineyard “Astral” Cabernet Sauvignon, Santa Ynez Valley

My review of this wine will be forthcoming shortly

I was particularly happy to be able to offer the very first tasting of any kind for members of the public for both the Meteor and the Star Lane, as both are just now being released. The seminar was attended by nearly 90 people and I was very happy with how it went. I’ll be giving the same seminar again tomorrow (Saturday) morning.

My second (and third) seminars of the day were my Sake For Wine Lovers seminars, which were designed to be introductions to sake, as well as an opportunity to taste some of what I (and some others) think are some of the best sakes in the world.

I poured the following sakes as part of the seminar:

Asahi Shuzo Dassai “Niwari Sanbu” Junmai Daiginjo, Yamaguchi Prefecture

Ohyama Tokubetsu Junmai Nigori, Yamagata Prefecture

Reviews on the Ohyama and the Kamotsuru will be forthcoming shortly.

I also had a chance to wander through the main tent to check out what was on offer, and was surprised that it was heavily dominated by wineries, which the thousands of milling attendees and their glasses seemed thrilled about. I didn’t have much time to stop and taste, but I noted with pleasure the presence of some really top wineries, such as Massolino from Italy’s Piemonte Region, Movia from Slovenia, Hofstatter from Italy’s Alto Adige, and more. The Washington Wine commission also had a table there with some excellent Washington state wines, and the country of Spain had their own little private tent, which I put on my list for tomorrow’s exploration.

This evening American Express Publishing (the parent company of Food & Wine Magazine) threw a spectacular party at the top of Aspen Mountain (yes, the same mountain they were skiing on today). Invited attendees rode to the top of the mountain in the Silver Queen gondola as the sun was setting, and emerged at the top to be greeted by a fire juggler, a belly dancer, and a Moroccan style feast of epic proportions.

All in all, it was quite a day. I spent most of it working to prepare for, and then giving my seminars so I haven’t had much of a chance to taste any wine or really generate anything that you might enjoy reading, other than this recap. The evening before the event however I did have a chance to taste some extraordinary wines out of magnums at the much anticipated Magnum party. I’ll likely review some of those later, but one of the treats I’ll share with you now was an unusual California antiquity:

1973 Freemark Abbey “Cabernet Bosché” Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Helena, Napa
Light ruby in the glass and sprinkled with sediment, you’d never know this wine was 35 years old simply by looking at it as the color, while light, was pure and free from the brownish tinges that mark older wines. The nose offered gorgeous aromas of juniper, sawdust, and redcurrant that could only have come from slow, beautiful development over time. In the mouth the wine is delicate and dry on the tongue, with flavors of eucalyptus cedar, leather, and tart cherry fruit that remarkably still has some juice to it. The wines pretty aromas were only outdone by its long, languid finish. This was never, and will never be a world class wine, but I tell yaw, it emphasized my growing belief that some of the best undiscovered values of the wine world are the relatively ordinary Napa Cabernets from the Seventies and Early Eighties. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: about $40 if you can find it.

More to come…

Original post by Arthur Krea

It’s hard to believe there was once a time that San Francisco had no major public wine tasting focused on Pinot Noir. I’ve only been blogging about wine for the last four and a half years, but when I started, no such festival existed. We had a Zinfandel Festival, a tasting for small family winemakers, a tasting for Rhone varietals, a cabernet tasting, and more, but not until 2005 did San Francisco get a festival dedicated to what has been called the “heartbreak grape.”

Now in it’s fourth year, Pinot Days has firmly established itself as one of the largest and most exciting Pinot Noir events in America. If you enjoy Pinot Noir or are still trying to figure that out, this is an event that should not be missed.

Like many such events, Pinot Days occurs over the course of a long weekend, beginning sneakily on Wednesday, June 25th with a small winemaker dinner with cult pinot producer Kosta Browne. The festival kicks off for real on the 26th with a series of winemaker dinners at various restaurants around San Francisco. The festivities continue on Saturday with educational seminars, and the weekend finishes up with the main event: the grand tasting of 180 different producers from around the globe pouring more than 300 different wines. The tasting, as in past years, is heavily focused on California producers, but increasingly draws in participants from Oregon, Washington, New Zealand, and Burgundy.

For details on the various activities as well as a list of the producers who will be pouring their wines for the grand tasting, check out the event web site.

Pinot Days Grand Tasting
Sunday June 29th
1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Festival Pavilion
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco

Tickets for the grand tasting are $65 and should be purchased in advance online, especially if you don’t want to stand in a long line at the event. Tickets for winemaker dinners and other activities range from $80 for the seminars to $150 for the dinners.

Parking at Fort Mason is easier now that it is a paid lot, but for large events like this, you’d be better off parking several blocks away and walking. Or better yet, taking public transport.

Like all such large public tastings, you will enjoy yourself more and learn a lot more by following my simple guidelines: get a good night’s sleep, wear dark clothes, come with a full stomach, drink lots of water, snack a little, and SPIT YOUR WINE!

Original post by Alfonso Cevola