Author Archives: vvblogman

Can you drink 28 glasses of wine in 3 hours?

You wouldn’t even believe this if I told you.  What if I told you that between 9:30 and 12:00 this morning I drank 28 glasses of wine?  Well, if I had really drank everything I wouldn’t be alive to write this.  Today Larry and I had the fantastic opportunity to go and taste 28 samples of wines from the Russian River Valley, Sonoma County.  We were invited to a “media tasting” sponsored by the Russian River Valley Winegrowers. There were 24 of us media types and a panel of 6.  The panel was moderated by Geoff Kruth, Master Sommellier and Wine Director at the Farmhouse Inn and Restaurant.  The rest of the panel included John Holdredge of Holdredge Wines, Pete Opatz, viticulturalist to Picket Fence Vineyards, Dan Kosta of Kosta Browne Winery, Tom Dehlinger of Dehlinger Winery and the host, Peter Merriam of Merriam Vineyards.  Everything took place at Merriam Vineyards which is on the Windsor/Healdsburg border north of Santa Rosa.  Upon entering the room for the first flight we were greeted with 9 glasses filled with Pinot Noir from different wineries in the Russian River Valley.

Flight 1 – The first flight was Russian River Pinot Noir – Single Vineyard – 2007 – The price of the bottle and my grade of the wine
Balletto Vineyards – Burnside Vineyard – $34.00 B
Coterie Cellars – Saralee Vineyard – $38.00  B-
C Donatiello Winery – Maddie’s Vineyards – $62.00 A-
Dutton Goldfield Winery – Freestone Hill Vineyard – $58.00 B+
Forchini Vineyard and Winery – River Terrace Vineyard – $32.00 B
Freeman Vineyard & Winery – Keefer Ranch – $46.00 B-
Russian Hill Estate Winery – Tara Vineyard – $46.00 B+
Sequana Vineyard – Dutton Ranch – $40.00 B
Suacci Carciere Wines – Suacci Vineyard – $48.00 C+

Flight 2 – The second flight was Russian River Pinot Noir – Blends – 2007 – The price of the bottle and my grade of the wine
Chasseru Wines – $40.00 B
Hook & Ladder Winery – $25.00 B+  **
Hop Kiln Winery, Generations – $40.00 B
J. Lynn Wines – $19.99 B  **
Joseph Swan Vineyards, Cuvee de Trois – $28.00 C
Kenwood Vineyards – $18.00 B-  **
Moshin Vineyards – $36.00 B
Olsen Ogden Wines – $42.00 B+
River Road Vineyards – $27.00 B 
Terlato Family Vineyards – $60.00 B+
Willams Salyem, Westside Road Neighbors – $67.00 B-

Flight 3 – The thrid flight was Russian River Bordeaux’s.  The winery, vineyard, varietal, year, price and my grade of the wine
Acorn Winery – Alegria Vineyard – Cabernet Franc, 2006 – $32.00 B **
Dehlinger Winery – Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 – $50.00 B
Ledson Winery & Vineyards – Merlot, 2005 – $44.00 B-
Longboard Vineyards – Merlot, 2007 – 24.00 B+  **
Merriam Vineyards – Miktos Red Wine, 2005 – $50.00 B-
Selby Vineyards – Azvedo Ranch – Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 – $40.00 B-
Suncy Winery – Hedin Vineyard – Merlot, 2006 – $30.00 C
Windsor Oaks Vineyards – Chalk Hill – Malbec, 2007 – $35.00 B  **

After the third flight we were treated to an awesome lunch at the winery.  During lunch we mingled, and talked about each other business etc.  We also drank more wine!  We had 2006 Merriam Merlot and 2007 Picket Fence Pinot Noir.  Here was the menu:

Arugula & endive salad, avocado, Manchego cheese, caramelized almonds, lemon-truffle vinaigrette
Salad of baby beets, feta cheese, orange & horseradish vinaigrette

Rotisserie pork loin, pomegranate glaze, roasted red grape & farro salad

Wild mushroom & goat cheese spaetzle

Mini Chocolate cakes, caramel mousse mini chocolate chunk & banana bread pudding

                  Peter Merriam, Merriam Vineyards

All I can say is WOW!  Luckily they gave each of us a cup to spit the wine into and a bottle of water at each flight to replenish liquids.  So in reality I probably drank about 1 glass of wine.  But it sounded a lot more impressive saying 28 glasses.  Our day did not end there.  We went on to two more wineries, then out to dinner.  That is another blog for another day.

Remind me, why did I go to Palm Desert in August?!

I’m back from a week in Palm Desert.  For those of you who don’t know, Palm Desert is about 5 miles due east of Palm Springs, which is about 90 miles east of Los Angeles.  If you like the hot dry desert weather, then you would love it.  If you’re like me who likes it hot outside but not too hot that you can’t even lay out in the shade without sweating like a pig then you would have been frustrating.

We left on the 1st of August for 8 days.  I was so looking forward to this trip, as Larry and I had just got back from the Bloggers conference (which was hard work drinking all that wine – another blog to follow about that weekend).  Larry didn’t even go home, he went from one conference to another, back to back.  We were going to unwind, to have no obligations (except to see my grandmother and family), eat, drink, and get reacquainted with each other; all on a low budget.

We left Dublin about an hour later than planned as Larry’s back decided to spasm just as we were about to pack up the car.  So, guess who had to lift up the ice chest, the suitcases etc. and pack it all in?  Yep, ME!!!  I was so nervous that my back was going to go out doing this.  [Two and a half years ago when Larry, our son Jacob and I went to Palm Springs to have a nice relaxing week there in January, I had a bad back the whole time we were there and Larry had a back spasm while we were there the day before we were to leave to drive home.  Jacob had to load the car for us, as we were invalids!  We have such bad memories of that trip, it was so cold all week, we couldn’t go to the pool once and all the citrus trees were literally freezing each night.]  Larry was in good pain the whole drive there, but with this kind of spasm he is better off sitting than standing.  I drove 5 ½ out of the 7 hours it took to get there.  I forgot to go to the library to rent a book on tape so we just had music and each other.  The Giants had the nerve to be playing a night game so we couldn’t even listen to that!

We got to Palm Desert, checked into our 1 bedroom villa.  This was part of the Marriott Desert Springs Vacation club.  Our unit was beautiful.  It had a separate bedroom with a Jacuzzi tub, shower, a full kitchen with dining room and living room.


                   The view from our porch

There were two TV’s a DVD player and a really nice porch area that faced out to the golf course and lake by the 2nd tee.  Around 8:00 we were off to the local “City Wok”, Chinese restaurant for dinner and a beer.  We ordered their catfish two ways special, which we had in a black bean sauce, Kung Pao combo, freshly steamed edamame and brown rice. The beer went down real smooth and we were extremely impressed with the quality of the food. 

Every morning we had breakfast outside on our patio, read the paper, did a sudoko, watched the world go buy (or the ducks).  It was very relaxing.  Most lunches we had outdoors too but sometimes the sweating got out of control and we had to go back into the air-conditioned unit.  We went to the pool at least once each day and even went to the Marriott pool one day to see if that was something we would want to do more often.  We walked through the beautiful hotel and spent about 2 ½ hours in the 116 degree heat.  Their pools there were very nice, and we found a great spot in the shade under an umbrella, but it was very crowded and noisy.  (What were all these people doing in the desert in August?)  We took advantage of the flag that you put up on the back of your chair to call over the cute little cocktail waitress.  Larry ordered a margarita and I ordered a strawberry daiquiri plus a plate of fresh fruit.  That came to over $40.00!  We ate about half of the fruit there and brought the rest back to the unit and a couple days later made a nice fruit smoothie out of it.  In the end we decided that our local pool by our unit was just fine for the rest of the week.

We only cooked one dinner in.  We made soft tacos, which actually gave us three additional lunches.  One night we brought in Chinese Food, again from the City Wok. 
   Larry in the living room with Chinese food and wine

This time we ordered and spicy chili string beans with chicken and peppercorn chicken with brown rice.  We ordered in pizza one night, and went out to dinner at the Yard House one night.  We went there after we had seen the movie Funny People with Adam Sandler.  Very good movie.  For dinner Larry had an Ahi Crunchy Salad and I had their BBQ Chicken Salad.  Larry had one of their many beers they have on tap, and I ordered a cosmopolitan martini.

We had dinner at my Aunt Frankie and Uncle Ray’s house one night.  My 94-year-old grandmother and cousin Danny live there too.  My 85-year-old great-aunt Beatrice also joined us.  Aunt Frankie made delicious lamb chops, a cheesy potato casserole and green beans to go with the meal.  We had brought a Merlot from Murietta’s Well Winery in Livermore to share with everyone.  After dinner we sat and talked and enjoyed a piece of peach pie with banana nut ice cream.  Another night we met Aunt Frankie, Danny and Grandma at Applebee’s and had a nice early dinner (5:00).  After dinner Larry and I went to the movies and saw the most recent Harry Potter movie.  We then went to the Cheesecake Factory and enjoyed dessert.  I had their lemon cheesecake and Larry had their carrot cake.  I haven’t gone out for dessert in years! ☺ 

As the week went on Larry’s back got better and better.  We never did any exercise except in the pool.  We met very nice people at the pool each day.  We got a lot of work done that we had brought to do.   We also did a lot of reading, knitting, watching DVD’s and visiting.  Toward the end of the week the weather got a little bit cooler and I was able to layout in the sun the last two days. 

I was wondering why did I choose to go to the desert in August!  Then I figured it out.  One, it is a quieter time there.  Two, it will for sure be warm!  Three, we can stop on the way home in the San Fernando Valley and visit a lot of our family.

 
                     Lori and Grandma Millie  
                                              
Four, and most importantly, I wanted to see my almost 95-year-old grandmother.  She has been a very large part of my life and it is challenging to get to see her but once a year.  This trip makes it twice this year, and that makes it all worthwhile. Family is very important to me; you just can’t take them for granted. I don’t know how much longer she will be around but for me to see her smile and hear her laugh and to be comforted that she is happy was all I needed to make my vacation complete.

Ame Restaurant Wine Challenge

Hey San Francisco Bay Area locals! Here’s one for you. Ame Restaurant in San Francisco has issued a challenge:  Dine at Ame, order the 3-glass flight of wines, and if you correctly identify the varietals, the wine flight is free!  Running through the month of August.  Seems like a no-lose deal.  Great dinner, and free wine, assuming you’re as good as you think you are at wine tasting.  Have fun!

Wine Bars – The new way to sample many different wines all in one place

One of the newest hippest places to go to when in a downtown area is to go to a wine bar.  Why you may ask?  Well the main reason is that if you like wine, they usually offer a very large selection.  Some wine bars offer tastes in 2, 4, and 8 ounces besides the glass and or bottle.  I love the different sized samplers as it give you a perfect way to sample different wines.  When you find a wine that you like you should write down notes about what you liked so you could go and find it to have at home.  Usually these wine bars offer tapas or small bites to select to go with your wine.  It’s a perfect, casual and fun place to go with other wine lovers.  

A few weeks back I went to meet up with my friend Liz for just that.  We agreed on meeting at Vinoteca in Danville.  Neither of us had been there as they were pretty new to town.

Vinoteca was beautiful with its wood floors and tables, some couches with short cocktail tables and tall cocktail tables covered with black tablecloths with tall stools.  Liz and I were greeted very nicely and were taken to a nice bar table.  We looked at the menu, which is very nice, filled with beverage and tapas choices.  The food menu is divided by categories of Nibbles, Bocadillos (small grilled sandwiches), Greens and Things and Petite Plates.  The wines they offer are mostly from Europe.  This was a nice change of pace for me.  I didn’t know what to order so I asked my waiter and he made a great suggestion.  You can order the wine in 3 different sizes – glass, carafe and bottle.  Besides the wines they offer, they also make blood orange sangria that they serve with lunch, and they have draught beer from Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Pacific Coast.  They also have some bottled beer, ports and espresso drinks to end the meal with.  

I had a glass of ’07 Vaza, Crianza, Tempranillo, Espana, which was just perfect with the Tapas we ordered.  Liz had the ’07 Olvena, Chardonnay, Somontano, Espana also good but served a bit too cold.  They serve the wine in a Luigi Bormidi glass (which I’ve never heard of before.)  We ordered marinated olives, salted almonds; sheep’s cheese-stuffed Majool dates wrapped in pancetta; smoked pulled pork, caramelized onion with Piave cheese Bocadillo, and chicken and salt cured ham croquette with spicy sofritto.  When the boys came to join us Larry ordered a ‘07 Albarino, Paco & Lola, Rias Baixas, Espana and Werner ordered an ’07 Pinot Grigio, Benvolio, Furili, Italia. 

To add to what Liz and I had eaten the boys ordered heirloom tomato salad with spicy oregano and baked feta; grilled calamari with yellow fin potatoes, chorizo, piquillo peppers and arugula, and a black cod with heirloom tomato gazpacho and couscous.  Everything was delicious and served on different styled plates.  We were all full after having these dishes.

The service was fantastic and it was crowded for a Thursday night.  They have a live band in there Thursday-Saturday from 9-11, but by 9:30 when we left they still weren’t there.  I would highly recommend Vinoteca for lunch, an aperitif to dinner or for dinner.

Riedel – The Right Wine Glass for the Right Occasion

Having just got back from the Wine Bloggers Conference 2009 in Santa Rosa California where I sipped, drank and spit over 300 different wines from over 200 wineries between Napa county, Sonoma county and Portugal.  I am convinced that it makes a big difference as to what kind of glass the wine is poured into.  We were fortunate enough to have had the sponsor of Riedel glass at the conference, so all the wine that we tried were poured into the Riedel “O” glass (no stem).  This was a perfect glass for all the tasting we were doing.  It doesn’t have the stem, which keeps your hands from warming up the wine, but when you are dealing with hundreds of people going through hundreds bottles of wine, this worked out the best for this situation.  They are so easy to fit into the dishwasher and are hard to knock over and break.

Claus Joseph Riedel who was born in Austria and passed away this past March at 79, will always be remembered as the man who revolutionized the wine glass.  He transformed what was an earmark social status and aesthetic discernment to a serious tool for the dedicated wine connoisseur.  Riedel, a ninth generation glassmaker, began rethinking and reinventing the shapes of the stemware back in the fifties.  By the time Riedel died his company was making 40 precisely engineered glasses for all kinds of wines and spirits in its flagship hand-blown Sommeliers range.

Kathleen Talbert, who heads her own New York public relations firm and represents several top-tier vintners says, “My first choice is always Riedel”.  “The quality of the stemware and the designated glasses for different varietals truly enhance the appreciation of any wine.  Using proper stemware is as important to the wine experience as serving the wine at the proper temperature”.  Talbert always inquires at the restaurant as to the brand of wineglass it has.  If she is not satisfied then she asks if she can bring her own glassware.  

Once you have the right glass it is important not to over pour the wine, something restaurants tend to do in a rush to make you finish the bottle.  You need to swirl wine in your glass with sufficient room to aerate it beyond the limited exposure it receives while in transit from bottle to glass.  The capacity, height, and balance of Riedel’s shapes are ideal for just that.  

In your home you could be easily satisfied with having 5 different styles of Riedel glasses.  For the perfect drinking set you will want two glasses for reds, Bordeaux and Burgundy, two for whites, Montrachet and Chablis, and one for dessert (port and late harvest).  If you drink mostly red wine for example you could get away with two glasses for the red and only one glass for the white.

The Riedels’ mid-priced Vinum line, which are machine-made instead of hand-blown are four times less expensive.  You should be able to get a glass for about $25.00 as opposed to $100.00.  The contrast in quality seems negligible in terms of the price.  They also go into the dishwasher just great which is especially nice if you are hosting a multiple-wine dinner.  

In the end it all comes down to an informed personal taste.

You’ve heard of Speed Dating but what about Speed Blogging?

There are 275 wine bloggers in one room here are the Flamingo Hotel.  We just finished lunch and are eagerly awaiting the “speed blogging” to commence.  How this works is that for 6 minutes we have a winemaker come to our table.  We taste the wines, learn about the wines and the winery and winemaker’s philosophy, then have a question and answer period.  I will try my hardest to write a little bit about each winery.  After 6 minutes are up they ring a bell and then the next winemaker comes to our table.  It got kind of crazy but somehow we had 13 different wineries most from Sonoma County come to our table to showcase their wines.

Speed blogging:

1.    Schramsberg, 2006 Blanc de Blancs.  Not huge champagne fans, but this is good.  Schramsberg was the first US made sparkling wine.  Light, refreshing, has bubbles; not much more to say.
2.    2007 Bella Zin with 8% petite sirah, 3% syrah.  Lily Hill Estate, in Dry Creek Valley, a good place for Zins.  $38 each for this.  Raspberries.  OK fruit, but not my style.  My brother-in-law has always liked Bella, but not for Larry and I.  
3.    Twisted Oak Winery, which is in Calaveras County, Sierra Foothills.  $35 per bottle.  Wine is called River of Skulls:  88% Mourvedre, 12% Syrah.  Nice blend, soft, drinkable now, except that it won’t be released for another 3 weeks.  Proprietor is El Jefe, or Jeff.  Go visit.  
4.    Northwest Wine Academy, 2007 Barbera.  No winery came by on this rotation, so Josh H opened this up.  
5.    Fish Eye, 2008 Pinot Grigio, Central Valley, $6.99 each.  Brand launched in 2005.  Good nose, tropical and grapefruit; OK taste.  Lightweight summer wine.  
6.    Line 39, 2007 Lake County Petite Sirah.  39 degrees used to be the name.  
7.    Pinot Evil, pinot in a box, eco-friendly, French.  NV.  3-liter box.  Cheap, but not so bad.  
8.    Cupcake Vineyards.  2007 Cabernet Sauvignon.  Nick.  Soledad.  55% Monterey County, 45% Livermore; 85% Cab, plus Merlot, Petite Verdot.  $13.99.  Good value.  (They hired a local cupcake company and had chocolate and strawberry cupcakes for us with their wine inside the buttercream frosting).  YUMMY!
9.    Snows Lake Vineyard.  Think about mountains, clean air, 72% Cab Sauv. 28% Cab Franc.  2005.  Snows Lake “Two”.  Best wine so far, hands down.  Could lay down for a few years.  
10.      Cline Cellars, 2007 Ancient Vine Mourvedre.  Contra Costa County.  $16.  Plums, cherry.  Charlie, winemaker, poured for us.  Even better than the Snow!
11.      Tandem, Chardonnay, 2007.  Greg Lafollete.  Ex-Flowers.  Wife is the power, treats him like a horse, “puts blinders on”.  Partnership.  Manchester Ridge not tasting, clone Dijon 809.  Basket press.  
12.      Foggy Bridge 2007 Chard, organic, SF Bay appellation (Livermore).  Good acid, nice fruit, not a lot of oak, but sour finish that lingers.  100-acre vineyard in Livermore.  $18/ea.  
13.      Bacchus 2008 $35.  Napa.  Steve winemaker, Jill.  Sauvi, Semillon, Birbola fiola blend.  Good stuff, goes with Bouillabaisse.  Best white.  T-shirt:  what would Bacchus do WWBD?

Russian River + Turning 50 = Fantastic Day

Last week I took my friend Chris who had just celebrated her 50th birthday up to the Russian River in Sonoma County.  A few days prior we were at her house to celebrate with her family and friends, but I wanted to take her out for a “special day”, something she would remember for a long time.

We left the Dublin area around 11:30 and arrived in Sebastopol for lunch around 1:00.  We were given the suggestion of K & L Bistro on South Main street, downtown.  A very cute place, not too large, but quant with dark woods and art placed around.  It felt very Parisian.  I ordered their “Stimulus Lunch” (the special of the day), which included a cold cucumber gazpacho soup and salmon served with vegetables and red baby potatoes.  Chris ordered their Spring Risotto, which is described as having in it – Meyer lemon, asparagus, tomato confit and goat cheese.  Both of us enjoyed our lunches very much.  Neither of us had wine with lunch as we knew that wine was in our near future.

Next we went to Dutton Goldfield, where Brandon a.k.a. WinemakerB, is the assistant winemaker.  They share their tasting room with Balletto Vineyards.  So you can taste two for the price of one!  We tasted and compared chardonnays, had some D.G. Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Syrah.  Brandon took Chris and I for a quick tour of the winery.  They were cleaning out a lot of the barrels, letting them dry, then sterilizing them and plugging them shut.  After those steps they get racked again and wait for the harvest.  Balletto was getting ready to bottle yet another wine that is ready.  

After Dutton Goldfield we went to Gary Farrell Winery.  They are on Westside Road in Healdsburg, but not very close to town.  Gary Farrell is known for its Pinot Noir.  Their tasting price is $10 for the premier and $15 for the limited release.  We tried their ’07 Sauvignon Blanc, Redwood Ranch*, ’06 Chardonnay, Russian River Selection, ’06 Pinot Noir Russian River Selection, ’07 Chardonnay*, Westside Farms, ’06 Pinot Noir, Ramal Vineyard, ’06 Pinot Noir, Starr Ridge Vineyard* and the ’06 Pinot Noir, Rochioli Vineyards*.  The ones mentioned that have an “ * ” were my favorites.
 

The views from the tasting room were incredible!  They are up about 1,000 feet or so, nearly the top of tree line.  All you see are trees, blue sky and the hawks swaying in the wind.  

Our next stop was at Porter Creek Vineyards.  They are also on Westside Road but much closer to the town of Healdsburg.  They are a certified organic winery. 

Their tasting room is in what used to be a single car garage and is now a historic structure.  It’s decorated with local artwork.  The winery is up the road a bit, not visible.  But what is visible is some of the many acres of vineyards they have.  Jonathan was there pouring for us and we tried their ’07 Viognier, Timbervine Ranch*, ’06 Pinot Noir, Estate Point, ’06 Pinot Noir, Fiona Hill Vineyard, ’07 Carignane “Old Vines”, Mendocino County, ’06 Syrah, Timbervine Ranch*, ’06 Zinfandel “Old Vine”*.  I really enjoyed my tasting experience there.  We closed them down for the day but didn’t feel any pressure to leave.

We then drove to downtown Healdsburg, (one of my favorite wine towns).  We parked, grabbed our Giants folding chairs, walked to the town square and placed our chairs in a great spot awaiting the upcoming “Jazz on the Square” they have every Tuesday night during summer.  We took a walk all around the square, which was having its Farmers Market.  Chris bought a couple nectarines and I bought last of the season cherries.  We peaked in some of the art boutiques and unique shops around the square.  Luckily most of them were closed.  We had to stop into my favorite candy/gelato shop, Powells Sweet Shoppe.  There we treated ourselves to a kid’s size scoop of chocolate peanut butter gelato.  We also bought some candies for later.  We then made our way to the Oakville Grocery market, which is known for its deli with meats and cheeses, they also have different bread choices, condiments plus much more.  While we were there they had two huge chioppino pans, about 3 feet in  

diameter.  The chef was making two differenty types of chioppino.  One pan had chicken, sausage,vegetables and rice (foreground).  The other pan had seafood with different cut up fish and huge prawns on top with vegetables and rice.  Had I known about this in advance I would have waiting the extra 20 minutes, but we ordered sandwiches instead.  Chris had their curried chicken sandwich with mango chutney mayonnaise, and leaf lettuce on a Dutch crunch roll.  I had (to keep with the French theme) an apple wood smoked ham & brie sandwich with whole grain mustard, leaf lettuce and red onion on a Dutch crunch roll.  We got a bag of chips and drinks.  Just as we got to our chairs we had enough time to take out our sandwiches from the paper wrapping and then the music started.  The band was great and the people watching perfect.  There were people of all ages from babies/toddlers to the very experienced folks.  They had an area set aside for those who wanted to dance, and there were plenty!  We stayed for 1-½ hours and headed back to the car to drive our 1 ½ hour drive home.  

Yes, this was a long day (10 hours), but it couldn’t have been more perfect!   Three wineries, one tour, two meals, good friends having a great time and plenty of beautiful scenery along the way!

Had a BLAST on the Fouth of July in the Sierra Foothills

Larry and I left to go up to the Sierra Foothills to visit my Mom and Bob on Friday.  Our destination was Pollock Pines, which is off hwy 50, ten miles east of Placerville.  On our way up there we stopped at Terre Rouge winery in Amador County.  One of the things I really like about this winery is that they allowed us to bring in our dog, Elmer Fudd.  He was on a leash and they have their own dog that roams around.  We sampled a few wines and liked their Syrah blend the best.  We had been there last February, enjoyed their wines and got on their mailing list.  In April we found out that they were having a photo contest to see who could come up with the best picture for their wine label called Tete a Tete, which means “head to head”.  Shortly after Larry and I had our brunch at The Epic Roasthouse in SF this spring, Larry sent in a picture that we had taken of Narsai David, local wine and food producer and connoisseur and the chef, Jan Birnbaum.  We captured a great picture of the chef and Narsai at the end of the meal discussing how things went.  This picture is what Larry submitted it to this contest.  Well, to our surprise he won!  So on our way up to my Mom’s we stopped and picked up our case of wine.  Yes we won a whole case of their “Tete a Tete” Rhone Blend!

To hear more about this story I’m going to lead you to Larry’s article.  We got to Mom and Bob’s and enjoyed a quiet afternoon sitting in the sun; it was still 90 degrees up there at 5:00 p.m.!  Mom made dinner; baked chicken breast breaded with toasted onions, coleslaw (a family recipe) and a zucchini and cheese casserole.  That night we watched the Bank Job.  Mom fell asleep; I tried to keep up with all the characters.  All in all I think it was a B- movie.

On Saturday after a nice walk we got ready to go meet our friend Al at the 4th of July parade that Pollock Pines has every year.  It was cute.  Nothing to write home about, just plain cute.  There were the horses, little leaguers, and the fire trucks.                                 

There were some very cool old cars and of course the statue of liberty.  It got a little strange when a dune buggy or two went by and a truck pulling a bulldozer.  Well there were some interesting things but everyone was throwing candy to the kids.  I even got some too!  Afterwards we went to some friends of mom’s – Lydia and Andy’s house.  It’s a 2-bedroom cabin with a very large backyard that includes a deck with a Jacuzzi and a very inviting swimming pool.  We kicked back some beers and visited while just hanging in the pool.  It was very refreshing.  We went back home and took a little nap.  We had a nice bbq dinner, which consisted of skirt steak, salad, baked baby red potatoes and frozen fresh lemonade.  Larry opened the bottle of Tete a Tete we had just picked up.  Very nice, full-bodied, very rich in fruits, not much tannin – ready to drink.  For dessert we had Dryers 1/2 fat ice cream flavor called Red, White and No More Blues.  Very good, vanilla ice cream blended with strawberries and blueberries.  Of course we had a little chocolate syrup and some had whipped cream as well.  Afterwards we sat and watched another movie.  This one was not very uplifting, Dought.  Very well acted, not too long, but difficult subject matter.

Sunday morning I slept in until 10:00!  I woke up to Larry watching Wimbledon men’s final match.  It was crazy; Federer and Roddick were tied in the 5th set and were on the tiebreaker for the match.  They were so evenly matched that it didn’t get finished until nearly 11:00.  I was rooting for Roddick, but I like Federer too.  We packed up and left to head home with a few stops along the way.  Mom and Bob tagged along in their own car.  We headed back to Amador County but went to a different part that we had never been to.  Our first stop was C.G. di Aire.  I had never even heard of this winery.  Arriving we found a sign that said, “watch out for rattlesnakes” and “no dogs in tasting room”.  Since we had Elmer with us, and it was warm out we had to hook him up to one of the picnic benches.  No big deal.  Their outdoor area is beautiful and very peaceful.  There is a nice waterfall that leads to a Koi Pond with lily pads.            

Quite a number of picnic tables in the shade and lots of room for children to run around.  The building itself wasn’t too exciting.  The folks behind the bar were nice; they answered all of our questions.  There was no tasting fee.  The winery is not at the tasting room but is about 16 miles n.e. In El Dorado County.  At the winery they have facilities for events.  They had a Rose’ and Sauvignon Blanc that we really enjoyed.  They also had a Zinfandel, Syrah, Petite Sirah and other red varietals for us to try.  I enjoyed their Syrah the best, but everyone has their own tastes.  They do not allow limousines.  They have a nice schedule of tasting events throughout the year.  Each month they have a “Tasting with the Winemaker”, for example this Saturday the 18th they are having a vertical wine tasting of Petite Sirahs.  If you like Zinfandels mark August 15 on your calendar they will do a vertical tasting with their Zins.  The winemaker/proprietor is Chaim Gur-Arieh, Ph.D.  In 1998 he and his wife bought the 209 acres they have there and developed 40 acres of it.  He designed his winery to have gravity-feed into the tanks and has new technology to helping him to make his wines.  Afterwards we drove about 3 minutes down the road into Plymouth.  There we had lunch at Incahoots.  They offer pizza, bbq, and sandwiches.  A perfect menu with a lot of different items.  Mom had the pulled pork sandwich; Bob, Larry and I got their BBQ sampler plate, which includes tri-tip, sausage (we got spicy), chicken, and pork and beef ribs.  Their baked beans are the best ever.  It’s a Santa Rosa style where they are cooked on the grill and pick up the mesquite flavoring.  The last winery we went to was Nua Dair, which is Gaelic for New Oak.  The winemaker/owner, Mark McMaster, was in the wine making/barrel room to greet us. 

Mark is a UC Davis graduate and makes wine in his spare time, as he runs his own CPA firm.  I’m sure we could have brought Elmer inside but we had already tied him up outside.  There was no tasting fee and we tried his Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Zinfandel, Barbera, Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon.  All of his wines are 100% of that varietal.  I liked his Barbera and Syrah the best.  The area outside offers a couple picnic benches, nothing much else.  We enjoyed our time with Mark.  We said our goodbyes to Mom and Bob and we each headed off towards our perspective homes.  On our way we stopped at Chocoholics Divine Desserts chocolate factory in Clements, which probably has maybe 1,000 population.  Very nice store, we bought some chocolate raspberry sauce (no fat!) and had a chocolate milkshake (fat!) and walked through the self-guided tour of the factory.  They offer tours for larger groups too.  It would have been perfect if the factory was active, but being a Sunday it wasn’t.  Chocoholics is famous for their “Body Frosting”.  They even have a couple games to play with the chocolate frosting such as; Truth or Dare” and “Strip Chocolate”. 

We got home before 6:00 and had a nice light dinner.  The cats were happy to see us and they didn’t leave us any surprises!  Good kitties. ☺   The weekend was great; it had a bit of everything and that is just what I needed!  I hope all of you had a Happy 4th of July celebrating “The Land That We Love”.

Pinot Noir Lovers – Be Alerted To The Pinot Days Grand Festival This Weekend

The 5th Annual PINOT DAYS GRAND FESTIVAL PUBLIC TASTING is happening this
Sunday, June 28, 2009 from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm at the Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason
Center, San Francisco.  Cost is $50/ticket.

The Grand Tasting will showcase 200 producers of pinot noir.  This is
California’s largest
single gathering of pinot producers, as well as
its most varied.  If you go you will be able to
sample up to 400 pinots from
every important region in California, Oregon, New Zealand,
and
Burgundy. 

As winemaker Ed Kurtzman, Freeman Winery
says, “For anyone who already loves Pinot,
this is an excellent
opportunity to try many new wines as well as some well-established
favorites.  For those who don’t have a lot of Pinot experience; my bet
is that they’ll be in
love with this grape by the end of the weekend.” 

Enjoy the countless pinots and sample a variety of artisan cheeses & other specialty foods. 
They will feature a pinot
production demonstration in which you can learn about the
making
of pinot from the vine to bottling and every step in between. They will
also offer a
number of pinots for auction, benefiting various
charities.

Larry and I will be volunteering at the silent auction booth until 2:00 pm.  Then we will
be set free to taste away!  If you are a twitter friend come find us @WineTravelLori and
@WineTravelLarry.  Brandon, aka @winemakerb, assistant winemaker for Dutton Goldfield) will be
there pouring on Saturday.  If you are going to be there then I suggest that you go
“clink a toast” and say hi.

Please, if you go, reply about it on this blog next week we want to hear all about your experiences.

Happy Pinot Drinking!!!!!!!!