Terra d'Oro PORT - Amador County, CA

Well, with the holidays comes dessert and with dessert comes the need for dessert wine. You know.......after that wonderful, deliciously dehydrated turkey dinner or that awesomely-spirally spiral-cut ham with marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole paired with some "lively"conversation with your "coveted" in-laws, you gotta unbelt your britches.

...and while your father-in-law is a few yards deep into some $6.99 a bottle corner-store whiskey, perhaps you might want to step outside for a nice cigar and a depressurization session with a nice glass of port.

Now seriously, it might not be quite THAT bad, but..........Port is an excellent sticky and works great with cigars, with chocolate and even with the in-laws.

In California, we DO have at least a couple of the typical grape varietals that are used for port in Portugal, those being Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz (aka Tempranillo). While there are some wineries that make port with the typical grape varietals, the majority of California port is made from Zinfandel, the most "native" of California grapes.

Amador County is a location for a wonderful AVA, Shenandoah Valley, that is coming into its own and has some ideal growing conditions for both the Portuguese and native varietals used for port. The folks at Terra d'Oro have done a great job with this port and it's a great place to start your journey exploring fortified wines.

With powerful aromas of dark chocolate and black currants and rich, round flavors of figs, chocolate and raspberries, this Zinfandel delivers a delightful dessert finish at a great price.

Check out the winery or 1000Corks.com to purchase this 1/2 bottle (375ml) perfectly sized demi-bottle.

NV Terra d'Oro Zinfandel Port
Retail: $12 (375ml)
Grade: B-

This sample bottle was provided to me free of charge from the PR agency Balzac Communications.

Pinot Blanc, Pinot Blanc...where areN't thou, Pinot Blanc?

Pinot Blanc. (Please follow link...a great read on the subtleties of this great varietal!)

Makes me think of beauty. Most Pinot Blanc in the world is found in the Alsace or to the East and a great deal of it makes it's way into Cremant d'Alsace. (Cremant is the term for French sparkling wine from regions other than Champagne).

..and that makes sense. A great deal of Champagne is "Blanc de Noir" using Pinot Noir grapes...and being a genetic mutation (beware-- geek read, but pretty cool stuff on the GretL gene) of Pinot Noir,  Pinot Blanc serves similarly where it's allowed to be planted, unlike Champagne.

While most Pinot Blanc fruit in the US is grown in California, it's still a relatively unknown varietal and the number of acres to which it is planted is quite small.

Enter: Dry Creek Valley. It's one of my go to places for wines, and while it's not common there, Pinot Blanc is grown by my friends at Michel-Schlumberger Wine Estate. Winemaker Mike Brunson does an excellent job and many of their wines are quite excellent and recommended, however, the single standout is the "La Bise" Pinot Blanc.

It's fermented cool in 100% stainless but don't think of that steeley, cold, green, icy taste and texture. It's restrained, calm, poised but fun and pleasing. Also to note, it's only 12.4% ABV (for the 2010 vintage.) Lower ABV wines are making their way back now, finally. Your palate is thanking you, and Mike Brunson, for this!

For a warm summer afternoon, a haute dinner with halibut, John Dory as well as chicken, or a pleasant, clean glass while you're waiting for that choco-lava cake you're going to split with someone, try a bit of Pinot Blanc and if you're in the Dry Creek Valley, head to Michel-Schlumberger for a Friday evening with music or harvest winemaker lunches. You can find the info on their WWW site (link above).

(P.S.) The SF Gate posted a piece this weekend on Michel Schlumberger. Please take a read there, too!

2010 Michel-Schlumberger "La Bise" Pinot Blanc
Retail: $24
Grade: A

Event - Euphoria Greenville !!!

I get a few emails from PR agencies about events that they'd like covered, mentioned, reviewed -- whatever. I typically don't make mention of the vast majority of them and certainly not in a single post, but when I saw what Euphoria had goin' on, I thought it would be a great mention.

     

It's Music Chow Vino Pallooza all wrapped up into an awesome few days of awesome. Looks like about 10 amazing chefs including several James Beard award nominees and winners will be cookin' it up. There's an interesting (at least to me) wine seminar that's being led by three MSs (master sommalier), all the music one could handle. Just look at the complete list of amazing artistic talent that will be there! ....and not only that, the event is a solid benefit supporting Local Boys do Good, the 501 (c)(3) organization created to benefit local non-profit causes.

There are ticket options you can buy here -- from   a la carte events to full blown VIP all-inclusive weekend passes. Personally, I'd have a really tough time picking from all the amazing dinners, seminars, gigs.

If you're going to be in Greenville from September 22-25th 2011 or can get yourself there, by all means, check this out!...and man, are YOU lucky. I'd sure like to be on the right coast for this one!

Summer's Here - Time For Our 87th Annual "Rosè Roundup"

Well, now that everyone who's whining about the recent fog and cool temps here in the SF Bay area finally has their way and we're in the start of a nice heat wave, it's a perfect time to roll out our 87th annual review of pink wines otherwise known as "The $20 Dollar Wine Blog Rosè Roundup"

So, to start, let's talk about what rosè' is and what it isn't.

IS:

Pink, good, purposeful or saignee, rich, lean, racy, sexy, delicious with food.

ISN'T:

White Zinfandel, "blush wine" sweet, thick.


What's we're talking about here are wines that are made for people who like wine not those who don't like wine and want something that disguises the taste.

Since we know what we're talking about here, let's get on with the roundup.

First, is the 2010 Unti Rosè . It's the best domestic rosè being produced right now...at least as far as I know. I've tried a lot of rosè  and this is by FAR the best domestic rosè you can get. Luscious, flavorful, expressive and you just know that Mick and Sebastian really care about making this wonderful wine. It's purposeful rosè using Grenache and Mouvedre from the Unti vineyards in Dry Creek Valley in a very Provencal style.

Retail: $23
Grade: A+

Next is the 2010 Grey Stack Cellars Rosè . It's a saignee blend of Syrah and Grenache with 10% Viognier added for good measure. Clean, good with food and some interesting red fruit (strawberry & watermelon) notes.

Retail: $24
Grade: B

The 2010 Russian River Vineyards Rosè  is a Pinot Noir based saignee from the Sonoma Coast AVA. it's completely different than the above rosès in that it's Pinot based and both the nose and the palate are lead to much more citrus, more racy and more summer fruit hints. I'd love this with a fruit and sheep's ricotta salad with picked strawberries.

Retail: $19
Grade: B+

2010 Domaine Le Galantin Rosè is a super value from Bandol, La Provence, France. Bandol is the place! It's where it's at in Rosè! The King of Rosè. Period. Very similar to the Unti or vice versa. Lots of great lushness (although not as much as the Unti), super fruit, freshness, acid. Very versatile pairing opprtunities including salmon, halibut or other white fish, pork, BBQ (yes!), roasted chicked, salads and on and on!
Widely available in better supermarkets and wine shops.

Retail: $17
Grade: A-

2010 Senorio de Sarria Vinedo Rosado from Navarra, Spain is a saignee that's very similar in style, but not it taste to the Grey Stack Two Pinks. Bigger in overall style with less shoulders than the Provence style rosè, it lends great sumer fruit overtones as well. Watermelon, cherries, currants. Very interesting. Fruit from vines planted in 1953. I'd go for pork or paella with this one. Very good QPR!!!

Retail: $10
Grade: B+

The gold standard for ALL of rose is the 2010 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosè. It's the King of Kings and you can't get better than this. It's everything you could ask for in rosè. Fresh and lush, acidic and smooth, soft and wide, racy and lingering. Perfection in a bottle. Goes with almost anything but steak. Awesome! -- of course you have to PAY for awesome!

Retail: seen as low as $34, but normally around $45
Grade: A (yes it's WAY over the price point, but it's a well worth it splurge)


So, whether you enjoy the light salmon color of the Provencal style, or the richer color of the saignees, please find something wonderful to pair with a great bottle of pink and enjoy the warmth of the sun, the warmth of friends and the cool flavors of a great rosè!

What are some of your favorite pinks? Drop a link for us to check out!


Cheers.

Growing Tomatoes at the Beach

I live at the beach. It's great. I've got about a 5 minute walk and my feet are in the sand. Another 5 and I'm on the docks and able to purchase fresh local salmon, crab, halibut and more.

Mavericks - Robert Scoble (@scobelizer)

Even better, the weather is extremely moderate (read: cool). High temps in the height of growing season are in the mid-60s (~18C). My wine cellar is at ambient temperature and that costs me nada. We are the world capital of things like brussels sprouts, english peas, summer squash/zucchini and Mavericks surfing.

Tomatoes? - Not so much.

I mean, there are things that we CAN grow there, like basil. It's nice, if you like small green weedlets for your pesto. You can water it and fertilize it and love it and sing like Pavarotti to it, but it's just not happy.

Also, there's the San Francisco Fog varietal tomato. It's been hybridized like other commercial non self-pollenating plants. Call it GMO-lite. It pretty much tastes the way you'd expect a hybridized sun loving fruit that's grown in the fog to taste.  So WhyTF are we thinking of growing tomatoes at the beach? Maybe I should spend some serious coin and get some greenhouse activity going...get it warmed up with heaters and moistened up and keep the tomato worms at bay.

OK...so I just returned from the 4th annual WineBloggersConference held in Charlottsville, VA this year.

Overriding theme: It was HOT and STICKY !!!(although, I think this map graphic was from a few days before the conference) and when I mean STICKY, think of 115F (46C) heat index. Some folks were lucky enough to choose to head out to the "Outdoor Sauna Wine Tasting" on Friday nite. We stayed close with some friends and went to a great local place for dinner (review/post forthcoming.)

Now, these were record heat indexes, not by much, but, when we think of Virginia in ANY summer, it leads our minds to chiggers and locusts and heat indexes and, well, outdoor sauna wine tastings.

I saw a recent post saying that 47 Virginia wineries presented their wines at the conference. Many thanks to them for coming out. I truly do appreciate your efforts to put your best foot forward and show your wares to the WBC community. While I found a couple of wines that were very nice and a few that were outright drek and just plain out parts cleaner, the vast majority were positively and extremely unremarkable. That's unfortunate. The community is certainly looking to play not just on what seems to be their strength in Cabernet Franc and Viognier, but in other varietals including some that are just plain tough to grow in the best of environs. Unfortunately, I just don't think Viognier is a varietal that belongs solo. Needs it's partner Syrah up north and the menage-a-trois including Marsanne and Rousanne down south.

Now, back to that dinner. I was chattin' with my pal, the MD at a medium size (10000 case) winery about the crazy difficult growing conditions and he mentioned a discussion he had with one of the locals in which he discovered that they had sprayed (sulfur) 12 times already this season. 12 times by the end of July. Veraison recently started or is just starting for the majority of folks. Ugh. Another pal and I were chatting about the conditions and he said one of the locals responded to his question "what are the difficulties with the growing conditions?" with the comment "Yes. All!"

It's true. Growing grapes here is challenging to say the least. Wet, hot, still.....even in the most moderate of seasons. Vinifera, for the most part, just doesn't like it wet. Powdery mildew, Downy mildew (maybe not when so hot) and other leaf-spotting fungi. Bleck.

One can employ some progressive strategies for growing like Smart-Dyson trellising, and that might help a bit if it's warm and dry, but if the air is still and wet, then there's no where for the wet to go. BAM, instant mildew and fungus, save for our (well, their) friend "Thiolux featuring Sulfur Dioxide!"

Now back to that tasting of 47 VA wineries and their wines. LOTS of them had some really good sulfur stank. Most others were just sloppy... lazy....boring with a HINT of sulfur. Some tried to hide things. Others just didn't.

So, while it's certainly true that VA can make good wine, at what cost? Literally? Probably alot. Figuratively? Dunno....but lots of other stuff I don't like.

I'm thinking that VA sounds like a good place for my tomato farm.

The 7 Habits of Slightly DEFECTIVE Wine Bloggers (2nd Annual Edition!)

After our wildly (well.....whatever) well received and touted and perhaps even award winning (or not)  roundup of WBC10 with a post on "The 7 Habits of Slightly Effective Wine Bloggers", we're following it up this year with the 2nd annual "New and improved 7 Habits of Slightly DEFECTIVE Wine Bloggers"


1) Get a Life

Dude...the MC guy for the awards and dinner?C'Mon, who hired this guy? I thought the cheese was for dessert. Get this guy off the stage!!!


Oh.....and he had a staff of like 97 girls around him doing PR and other stuff...whateverthefuck "stuff" is. BTW, one of them REALLY liked the 2nd "RYE-SLING." Really?

Yep, really :(




2) You TOTALLY Gotta Do Interracial Speed Dating

Both the white ones and the RED ones!






3) Don't Drink Stuff from Strangers

There might be worms in it.

FOCK. I wish I would have known this BEFORE #wbc10.




4) Be Yourself

If you're a social media geek, don't try and be a wine geek....Oh..and "Bro-Founder" is as lame as "That's almost as lame as a sunggie. LOL JK. NOTHING is as lame as a sunggie."

True.



5) Pace Yourself

Look, we've got parties, tastings, speed datings, outdoor sauna tastings, mulled wine outdoor sauna tastings. There's ALOT to do. If you don't be mellow, you'll end up in a hotel room with Adrienne Curry.......and your registration fee DOESN'T include a happy ending. It DOES however include a personal injury waiver.

6) This Whole Planking Thing is Lame

Stop it. You're taking this WAY too far.

I SAID, Stop It!
















Now, C'MON!









7) Get Control of Yourself

Listen here, pal. The whole screaming at the top of your lungs, trying to be the life of the rubber T-Bone salt lick party is tiring and trite. I mean, it's been done before with rubber chicken and with rubber beef strip. If we get some real food, I suspect this behavior will stop and I won't have to ask Hymie to put you in a locked room and throw away the room.




Bonus Tip

Even though it's hot & humid and there's just disgusting weather, remarkably mediocre food and mostly (but not all) extremely average beverages, relish the time you spend with your fellow bloggers, dear friends and new family members whether you've known them for years or just met them at the conference, and whether you see then regularly, or just once a year when we join together and celebrate our common love of sharing our love for wine with each other and with the world.

Cheers!