Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association Trade Tasting: San Francisco 2013

View of Anderson Valley from Lazy Creek Vineyards - Photo Courtesy Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association

On November 20th we were offered the opportunity to attend the first showing of Anderson Valley wines at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center.  The event was hosted by the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association (AVWA).  Founded in 1983 the AVWA is a non-profit group whose mission is to promote the grapes and wines of the Anderson Valley AVA.  www.avwines.com

Anderson Valley seems remote because it is remote.  As the crow flies Anderson Valley is roughly two and a half hours north of San Francisco and once you exit the 101 freeway in Cloverdale onto state route 128 get ready for the beautiful bucolic scenery.  You won't see any billboards, strip malls, seven elevens or fast food chains until you get back to Highway 101 or when you reach Fort Bragg off the coast on Highway 1.  The twenty-eight mile serpentine roadway running from Cloverdale to Booneville is a motorcycle and sports car enthusiast dream.  The town of Booneville, population 1,035 is located in the center of the valley.  Booneville is the hub of Anderson Valley and is where most of the activity and population rest.  In the past the main source of commerce for the valley was logging, but that industry has all but vanished.  The valley's main industries are now all centered around agriculture ( apples, beer, wine and marijuana ).  As of the 2010 census the total vineyard bearing acres in Anderson Valley was 2,244 with Pinot Noir at 1,453 acres being roughly 65% of that total.  Consider for a little perspective that Napa County has eighteen times as much area under vine with 43,500 vineyard bearing acres.  In Anderson Valley Chardonnay planted is at  500 acres and Gewurztraminer accounts for 85 acres.  As one could surmise Pinot Noir plantings are on the rise and interestingly Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer are two varietals that are on the decline in Anderson Valley.  The valley is ten miles from the Pacific Ocean and is about a half to one and a half miles wide and fifteen miles long.  At 30 degrees latitude it's one of the coolest places to grow grapes in California with an average annual temperature of about 53 degrees fahrenheit. 

We'd like to thank Janis MacDonald who serves as the Executive Director for the AVWA and Meg Murray for inviting us to this wonderful event and for their warm and ingratiating welcome when we arrived.  AVWA also host the International Alsace Varietal Festival in February and the Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival in May. 

A majority of the wineries on hand produce wine in the hundreds not thousands of cases making these wines more challenging to find.  You won't come across them at a big discounter in the market place.  Several producers only offer their products via a mailing list which means you'll have to sign up and wait for an opening before you can buy their wines.  Also due to its remoteness some vintners source their grapes from within Anderson Valley but have their winemaking facilities set up in more urban areas.

The tasting was from 11 am to 3 pm, which provided plenty of time for us to taste and chat with the twenty-nine producers that were there.  The overall feel of the gathering was relaxed, casual and informative.  Many of the principals representing the wineries were the winemakers themselves.  It was refreshing to not get the standard verbal rote one hears at larger well established tasting from winery representatives.  Most producers were very engaging and seemed genuinely interested in telling the story of their businesses and their wines.

It's always a bit of a double edged sword to generalize about a regions wines but here goes.  Anderson Valley Pinot Noir from the 2011 vintage exhibit bright red fruits ( cranberries, cherries, raspberries and  plums ), medium bodied weight, with a strong emphasis on aromatics and energy.  This profile can be accented or dwarfed by the actions of the winemaker i.e. less or more time in oak barrels.  All in all we found the wines to be very approachable and easy to drink.  One would have to look back to the 1982 and 1983 vintages to find a harvest on the north coast of California as challenging for grape growers and winemakers.

  In Anderson Valley the spring was cool and wet which delayed the growing cycle for the vines.  Spring was followed by a cool summer.  As harvest approached in October the first of a series of rainstorms came.  When grapes get wet they tend to attract mold and rot.  Moldy and rotten grapes are not the best material for making good wines.  Growers  that picked before the rains may not have gotten the extra sugar in their grapes to produce richer bodied wines but they probably slept pretty well once the rains started, knowing that their grapes were safely fermenting in the winery cellars. 

Some vintners waited for the weather to clear in late October and were rewarded, while others did not fare so well.  2011 was a vintage from a weather standpoint that most vintners would like to forget.  Being a Sonoma County resident and having lived through the 2011 summer that never was I brought my own prejudices to the tasting.  The words of a noted wine retailer " I'm not buying any 2011 Pinot Noir.  I'm waiting for the 2012's" haunted my every swirl of the wine glass.  Fortunately my nose triumphed over my prejudgments and I was able to enjoy tasting some very fine examples of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris.

There were a number of wines we did not try because we were already familiar with them so they are not on our listing.  Most noteworthy of those are La Crema Winery, Roederer Estate and Scharffenberger Cellars.  Listed below in three categories and alphabetical order are our recommendations.

Outstanding

• 2011 Black Kite Cellars Kite's Rest Vineyard Pinot Noir 
• 2011 Black Kite Cellars Redwoods'  Edge Pinot Noir
• 2010 Waits-Mast Family Cellars Londer Vineyard Pinot Noir
• 2010 WindRacer Chardonnay
• 2010 WindRacer Maggy Hawk Pinot Noir
• 2011 Witching Stick Pinot Noir
• 2011 Witching Stick Fish Rock Mendocino Ridge Pinot Noir

Very Good

• 2011 Champ de Reves Pinot Noir
• 2010 Anderson Valleys Roma's Vineyard Pinot Noir
• 2011 Couloir Wines Monument Tree Pinot Noir
• 2011 Expression Wines Annahala Pinot Noir
• 2011 Fulcrum Wines OnPoint Christinna's Cuvee Pinot Noir
• 2012 Handley Cellars Pinot Gris
• 2010 Handley Cellars Reserve Estate Pinot Noir
• 2010 Handley Cellars RSM Pinot Noir
• 2012 Husch Vineyards Vine One Chardonnay
• 2011 Husch Vineyards Pinot Noir
• 2012 Lichen Estate Les Pinots Noir & Gris
• 2009 Navarro Vineyards Methode a l'Anciene Pinot Noir
• 2012 Philo Ridge Vineyards Gewurztraminer
• 2010 WindRacer Pinot Noir

Good

• Elke Vineyards Brut
• 2012 Elke Vineyards Pinot Noir
• 2011 Expression Anderson Creek Pinot Noir
• 2010 Goldeneye Winery Gowan Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir
• 2012 Handley Cellars Estate Vineyard Chardonnay
• 2012 Handley Cellars Riesling
• 2007 Harmonique Elegance Pinot Noir
• 2010 Knez Winery Demuth Chardonnay
• 2011 Knez Winery Pinot Noir
• 2011 Lazy Creek Anderson Valley Pinot Noir
• 2011 Philo Ridge Vineyards Viognier

Don't be disappointed if you can't find some of the wines we recommended, but make sure you catch the next wave of releases from the new vintage (2012) which will start coming on line this spring.  If Anderson Valley winemakers  can offer wines this charming and approachable from the 2011 harvest the 2012 wines ought to be something we should all be looking forward to enjoying as well.  After meeting most of the presenters at the event we got the impression that the Anderson Valley growers and winemakers were a close-knit group as they help each other in business matters  and spend time together as friends  outside of work.   Here's a few people we met at the show that made a lasting impression on us.

• Most energetic and passionate - John Grant  winemaker - Couloir Wines
• Most informative - Mila Handley winemaker - Handley Cellars
• Most down to earth - Fred Buonanno Tractor Butt/ Owner Philo Ridge Vineyards
• Most charming and engaging - Ann Fashauer - Witching Stick Wines

Cheers!

7 Holiday Wine Suggestions

Hard to believe it’s Thanksgiving again.  The change in the seasons, holiday get togethers with family and friends, playoff baseball and football games give us many opportunities to share some of our favorite foods and wines.  The variety of foods that can be found on holiday dinner tables are numerous.  The taste sensations can range from, sweet to sour, savory to umami and salty.  Trying to find one wine that pairs well with your families honey glazed ham or smoked turkey, your sisters cornbread stuffing, Uncle Jim’s stuffed mushrooms and Grandma’s pumpkin pie would be a fools errand.  The key to making a good impression with respect to wine choices is diversity.  You’ll have a better chance of success by offering several bottles with a wide range of flavor profiles.  Just open up a few of your favorites and some of our suggested bottles, place them all on the table and let your guests pick which wines they want.

---

Our first suggestion a 2012 Moscato D’ Asti “Bricco Quaglia by La Spinetta is an excellent way to welcome your guest to your home.  This Moscato is the real deal and not some quickly rushed to the market mass produced bottom shelf pretender.  La Spinetta is most famous for their Barolo and Barbaresco but those wines are way too serious for most holiday gatherings.  100% Moscato at 5.5% ABV the “Bricco Quaglia” has an intoxicating aroma of green apples, apricot and white peaches.  On the palate it’s slightly sweet with a good balance of acidity and a delicate sparkle.  Priced between $18 - $22 you’ll want to stock several bottles in the fridge because we guarantee this wine will be a runaway favorite.

---

The 2012 Conundrum is a proprietary blend of California white wine.  This wine is from the house of Wagner Family Wines, makers of the iconic brand Caymus Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon.  A bottle of their Cabernet will set you back $130, but for about $20 to $24 you can buy into all of their excellent winemaking expertise and bring a bottle to the table that everyone will offer a comment on.  The website www.wagnerfamilywine.com tells us the wine is made up of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Muscat Canelli and Viognier, although they don’t tell you the percentage of each varietal.  The Wagners have farmed in Napa Valley since 1906 and they source the grapes for this wine from Napa, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Tulare counties.  If we had to use one word to describe this wine it would be “exotic”.  The Conundrum name is appropriate as it is a truly unique wine.  Honey baked apples, musk melon, peaches and vanilla spice on the nose followed by more of the same on the palate.  The wine has a thick and rich mouth feel with good acidity for balance.  Try not to open this one up before dinner is served because it just might disappear before the turkey is carved. 

---

The 2012 Philo Ridge Vineyards Gewurztraminer from Ferrington Vineyards Anderson Valley is a 100% vegan wine.  Not everyone is a carnivore: now you’ve got all the bases covered.  You’d be surprised how many wines can’t meet the vegan designation.  Philo Ridge is 5.5 miles up an all weather dirt/ rock road, two miles off the electrical grid and it’s 100% solar powered.  If you find yourself in Mendocino’s Anderson Valley you don’t need a four wheel drive vehicle to taste their wines though, they have a tasting room right on highway 128 in Boonville.  At 0.049 g/l of residual sugar (that’s dry) and 14.1 % ABV this Gewurztraminer will amaze your guest with its strong floral aromatics and its rich full bodied texture.  It’s packed with flavors of stone fruits, lemon, lychee and spice.  The pescatorians in your group would enjoy this Gewurztraminer with seared scallops or broiled salmon.  Philo Ridge’s Gewurztraminer will most likely be the most polarizing wine at the table.  Watching your friends and family debate over the best pairing combinations and the merits and shortcoming of the wines will be a lot more fun than bringing religion or politics to the table.  Fred Buonanno aka Tractor Butt owns the winery with his wife Heather and they only produced 195 cases of this wine so it will require more diligence to track down, but it’s well worth the hunt.  $15 to $19

---

If you’ve listened to some of our pod casts you know that Bill’s wife is a huge Pinot Noir fan.  Obviously Bill gets to try lots of Pinot Noir and this is one of his favorites.  Pinot Noir is right at home on your holiday dinner table because its naturally high acidity matches well with most holiday fare.  We discovered this wine several years ago.  The first vintage we tried was 2009 and I believe that may have been the inaugural vintage for the Cazar label.  The 2012 Cazar Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir is a declassified/ second label for Chasseur.  Bill Hunter is the winemaking savante and owner of Chasseur wines.  A declassified wine is a wine that does not meet the prescribed standards of the first or top wines of a producer.  For example in Bordeaux France, Chateau Latour’s second label is Les Forts de Latour.  A current vintage of  Château Latour will cost you about $1600 and the Les Forts de Latour cost about $250.  Is the Latour six times better than the Les Forts de Latour?  Not hardly, but at these elevated price levels, scarcity, marketing and prestige enter into the equation.  Chasseur is best known for their Pinot Noirs from the “true” Sonoma Coast areas around Freestone, Occidental and Sebastopol, but they also make some wonderful Chardonnays.  Chasseur Pinots retail around $60 a bottle and the Cazar Pinot Noir retails at  $20 to $23.  The 2012 Cazar Pinot represents a chance for you to show a little insider knowledge and offer your guest a fantastic bottle of wine at the same time.  Displaying a beautiful medium ruby hue Cazar’s Pinot on the nose exhibits a red fruit profile of pomegranate, cranberry, cherry and earth notes.  On the palate you’ll notice raspberry, black cherry, spice, cola and that hallmark of structure and silky texture that you find in all of Bill Hunter’s wines.  From the blockbuster 2012 vintage in California, a farmers delight, don’t miss out on this one.

The 2012 Meiomi Pinot Noir pronounced “may-oh-mee” is another wine from the Wagner family.  This is a tri- appellation Pinot Noir with grapes sourced from Monterey, Santa Barbara and Sonoma counties.  It’s deep garnet color is complimented with a very forward rich and ripe fruit nose.  In the mouth, candied cherries, black cherry cola, vanilla and lots of oak,  Not a shy Pinot Noir: this one’s more of a hammer and a crowd pleaser amongst those that like big fruit forward Pinots.  At $18 to $22 a bottle it is a great value.

---

La Bastide Saint Dominique’s 2010 Cotes Du Rhone Villages is composed of 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 15% Mouvedre and 15% Carignan.  The estate was founded in 1976 and the winemaker Eric Bonnet is in the process of converting their vineyard holdings to organic farming.  This wine features a red fruit aroma of cherries, plum and kirsch.  On the palate those flavors are accompanied by some pepper, sage, licorice and earth notes.  At 14.5% ABV this is a full bodied wine with just the right amount of fruit, rusticity and tannin to compliment a variety of fall season dishes.

---

Our last recommendation is the Yalumba Muscat Museum Reserve.  This is a late harvest wine whose fermentation is arrested by fortification with neutral grape spirits.  The Aussies affectionately call these types of wines stickies.  You’ll want to hold this wine in reserve and not put it on the table with the other wines.  After the table has been cleared most of your guest are by now in sensory overload and are trying to digest all the different types and amounts of food and beverages.  Once the cakes, pies and other desserts make their way to the table that’s when you break out the Yalumba Muscat.  Remember it’s a fortified wine and it clocks in at 18% ABV,  so a little goes a long way.  This is a wine for sipping and savoring.  In the glass it features a deep amber color that runs clear at the edge.  The nose shows over-ripe raisins, burnt sugar, caramel, dark molasses, with a hint of Vick’s Formula 44.  It’s very sweet but has great acids that hold the balance beautifully.  The finish last forever and it’s lip smacking good.  It’s packaged in half bottles and cost $17 to $20.  Make sure the cooks and the dish washing crew get a glass before the rest of your guest.  It’s a nice gesture and a great way to say thanks for all their hard work.

---

We hope you find our seven wine suggestions for the upcoming holiday season helpful.  Listen to our pod cast to get more insight and learn about a few more wines we recommend.  Cheers!

Tortured Wine - Tips to Avoid Heat Damage

Most wine once purchased is consumed within 24 hours.  Once you’re walking out of the retail store with your wine treasures in hand what’s the best way to protect your investment until you consume it?  What are some signs that your wine may be heat damaged?  What does heat damaged wine look and taste like?  In this pod cast we’ll answer these questions and offer some tips on how to take care of your wines so that they can show their best when you’re ready to enjoy them.  

Unless you’re a big time collector or wine investor who will be storing wines for many years you don’t have to obsess over wine storage.  Treasury Wine Estate recently dumped 33 million dollars worth of wine (1/2 million cases) that was past its prime.  Clearly they will sell no wine past its prime.  Jokes aside it’s important to remember that all wines have a shelf life unlike distilled spirits that can last indefinitely because of the high amounts of alcohol they contain.  The minute most wines leave the producers care they can become subjected to less than ideal transport and storage conditions.  Unless you’re in the unique position to buy directly from the winery there isn’t much you can do to ensure that your wine is treated properly before your buy it, but there are steps you can take to care for your wine once it’s in your possession.  Becca offers a fine article if you want to geek out on the damaging effects of heat exposure on wine.   

We decided to conduct an experiment in an effort to show what could happen to your wine if it is exposed to extreme temperature variations and high heat for an extended period of time.  Our test subjects were two bottles of 2011 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County.  You can purchase this wine at Costco for around $13.  Martini’s Cabernet represents an excellent value and is true to type displaying black fruit, cassis, a deft use of oak, vanilla, spice and round smooth tannins.  Conventional wisdom maintains that if you expose your wines to temperatures over 80 degrees for any period of time the wine will be ruined.  For this experiment we left one bottle in the confines of my wine closet where the temperature is fairly constant and rarely exceeds 66 to 68 degrees, not the ideal conditions for wine but more than adequate for short term storage ( 1 to 5 years ) of wines suitable for extended aging.  The other bottle we placed in the trunk of my daily commuter a BMW 2002.  This car does not get the garage treatment at home or at the office so the wine was subjected to the best and worst of conditions that Northern California had to offer at the beginning of our summer.  The bottle went into the trunk on 4/28/13 and was removed three months later on 7/27/13.  While we had a relatively mild summer this year it’s fair to speculate that the temperature fluctuations that the bottle in the car trunk was exposed to were extreme.  Diurnal temperature swings of forty degrees or more are the norm in Sonoma County and these swings were certainly magnified by the trunk space.  As the surrounding air warms, the wine and the air in the bottle warms up and expands.  The Achilles heal in the container is the cork.  The cork gets pushed upwards or the wine/ air seep up through the gap between the cork and the glass.  The excessive expansion and contraction of the wine/air draws air through the cork and hastens oxidation.  Our trunk bottle clearly showed the visual effects of heat damage with a protruding or pushed cork.  Miraculously the tin foil was able to keep the bottle from popping its cork.  We removed the tortured Cabernet and allowed it to rest in a cool dark place for several months before we opened both wines to do a side by side comparison.  Check out the pod cast to find out how our tortured bottle of wine faired.

Here are seven tips to ensure that your wine purchases show their best side.

• Don’t store your wines in the kitchen above the stove, on top of the refrigerator or near windows.  Wines should be stored in a cool, dark, vibration free area.
• Don’t store your wines in the refrigerator for long periods of time/ three or more weeks.    It dulls the flavors.
• Treat your wines just like you would treat your recently purchased perishable groceries.  While transporting keep them in the air conditioned passenger seat not the trunk.  If you’re traveling all day and making several stops take a cooler with ice packs to protect your wine from heat damage and cover them so they are not exposed to direct sunlight.  Wine is packaged in dark bottles to protect it from the light.  The suns ultra violet rays are bad for your eyes and they can also shorten the life of your wine.  Consider making your wine stop the last stop of the day to minimize the wines exposure to elevated temperatures.
• Don’t buy wines that show a pushed cork or seepage on the capsule.
• Do allow your wine time to settle and recuperate when you receive wine that has traveled a long distance over several days.  Sometimes wines that have just been bottled or have been shipped recently can seem out of balance and exhibit muted flavors (bottle shock/ bottle sickness).  Your wine will show better if it’s allowed to rest in a dark cool place for a couple of week.
• Do store wines that have natural corks on their sides.  Ask a clerk at any retailer for an extra wine box and make sure you get a box with the inserts in place.  Turn that box on its side and you have a perfect short term storage vessel for your wine.
• Be happy if the retailer you’re purchasing from says they won’t ship your wine during the hot season.  It’s safer to ship wines in the spring and fall.

We hope you enjoy the pod cast.  Cheers!

Guest Post - Let’s Look At Lebanon and Two of Its Vineyards

---

Tip of that Hat to Carlo Pandian for this excellent post on wine from Lebanon!  More about Carlo at the end of the post.

---

Due to its history of conflict over the last few decades, the reputation of the Lebanon might not necessarily be associated with wine production. But look at little closer and those seeking out something different for their vinous consumption might be pleasantly surprised. This country enjoys international repute for its fine bottles, so read further if you’re on the lookout for some glorious reds that are steeped in tradition but could well offer something extra…

If you are already familiar with Lebanese wines, one name that might spring to the mind and the lips is Chateau Musar. Its international reputation precedes it, having made its mark on the UK wine scene way back in 1979 when the renowned wine expert Michael Broadbenet named it the discovery of the Bristol Wine Fair. Established in 1930 by Gaston Hochar, his sons have continued to run the estate, adopting natural, minimal intervention wine making practices to ensure vintages of world class quality but still stand out as being completely unique and complex. According to Anna Von Bertele, wine specialists at Roberson Wine, “natural winemakers essentially try to do things as simply and, er, naturally as possible, minimising the use of chemicals and artificial yeasts (or artificial anythings for that matter) and intervening in the wine making process only when absolutely necessary”. Using those blends of those traditional French varieties mentioned earlier, they also have their hand in another form of tradition, producing white wines made from those indigenous varieties, Obaideh (a relative of the ever-popular Chardonnay) and Merwah (this one is related to Semillon).

But what about other Lebanese producers that we really should have heard of?  One such name is Chateau Kefraya, the second largest producer in the Lebanon. Again, these the 300 acres of vineyards sit in the Beqaa Valley and this winery is probably best known for its flagship wine, Comte de M, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Mouvedre. If you’re new to Lebanese wines, Chateau Kefraya is an ideal place to start your journey – its prices are a lot more attractive than its fellow aforementioned neighbour. This is probably due to not being quite so much under the influence of extreme international demand, but being no less enticing because of this.
 
Conditions in the country have been challenging to say the least. But what has been carved out of the conflict are unusual wines of the utmost quality and complexity. Ones that any self-respecting wine lover needs to seek out and experience.

---

About Carlo:  Carlo Pandian is a wine enthusiast that loves tastings the products of wineries from all over the world. He shares tips and tasting notes from Lebanon with the community of Vino101. Connect with him on Twitter @carlopandian. 

Pleasant Surprise - 2010 Fontanafredda Barbera

How do you decide what wine to pair with your meals?  Do you pick the wine then decide what food to have with it, the reverse, or neither?  I’ve always viewed wine as a compliment to the food on the table and as such a wine should make the dining experience more pleasurable.  How one arrives at the endpoint is irrelevant.  Eat and drink what you like.

What to open up?  We had the salad prepared, the pasta was almost ready.  We’re snacking on some toasted seeded sourdough bread that’s been brushed with olive oil and garlic.  It’s time to select a wine to go with the meal.  We’re having Pappardelle pasta with a light tomato sauce so we don’t need a full bodied wine which would overpower the flavors of the dish.  Usually our default wine to go with tomato based pastas is Valpolicella.  Most Valpolicellas are light to medium bodied and clock in around 12.5 alcohol by volume.  The only Valpolicellas we had on hand were of the Ripasso and Amarone style (way too serious for our weekday fair ).  Check out our podcast on Valpolicella to learn more about these wonderful wines.  To our delight we discovered a bottle of  2010 Briccotondo Fontanafredda Barbera that we had somehow previously overlooked.

Fontanafredda was established in 1858 and its current owners are Luca Baffigo, Oscar Farinetti and Eataly.  They make a full line of  wines from the southern Piemonte region. The wine is 100% Barbera and is aged partly in new Allier oak barrels and partly in Slavonian oak casks for around five months.  Displaying a medium ruby color, finished with a real cork the nose exhibits violets, red fruits, earth, mushrooms, leather and licorice.  On the palate you’ll notice red plums, cherries and smooth tannins combined with a zippy acidity.  The finish is of medium length, crisp and clean.  I believe this Barbera is aimed at the international wine market and the Biccotondo seems to always hit the right marks from vintage to vintage.  This not a showy wine ( lavishly oaked ) and at about $10 to $13  a bottle one shouldn’t expect it to be so.  Briccotondo Barbera represents a solid bargain and delivers a wine with generous fruit, good balance, remarkably easy to drink and that – I would recommend this wine to my friends factor.

Very food friendly you’ll find it pairs well with burgers, soups, salumi, cheeses, tomato based pastas, sausages and pizza.

Masters of Wine 9th Annual Champagne Tasting!

We recently attended the 9th Masters of Wine at the Ferry Plaza building in San Francisco. We love the Ferry Plaza location because it gives us an excuse to drive to Larkspur, ditch the car and take the Ferry directly to the event. No worries about parking concerns or traffic congestion, just beautiful views and a relaxing ride to the affair. The ferry docks right next to the Ferry Plaza and the tasting is conducted on the upper level. We chose to get there early because that affords us the opportunity to check out the merchants and food purveyors on the first level. If you’re ever in the area don’t miss the Cowgirl Creamery, Hog Island Oyster Company, Mariposa Baking Company and the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchants. One could spend hours exploring the Plaza as it is a gastronomes mecca.

This Champagne tasting has quickly become one of our annual favorites to attend mainly because it is so well organized and the Champagnes on offer are of top quality. “The vision of the Institute is one of knowledge and integrity” and they, pardon the baseball metaphor hit it out of the park with this event. The tasting was held in two sessions 5 to 7 and 7 to 9 and since it was Monday a school night, we opted for the early session. A fair number of the more prestigious wine tastings are held on Mondays or Tuesdays because the event organizers are seeking to introduce their products to restaurateurs and members of the trade. This tasting is open to anyone that has a genuine interest in Champagne and wants to experience the opportunity to taste the different styles from many of the top houses from the Champagne region. There were over eighty wines available and if you had any questions there were four master sommeliers on hand to answer them.  Real Champagne is never inexpensive and the vintage and prestige cuvée of many of the producers can carry some eye popping price tags. That fact alone makes this tasting a great value and if you are a Champagne lover put it on the calendar for 2014.

When you check in you receive a small booklet that contains the Institutes vision and mission statement and a listing of all the wines that are available to taste with ample room for notes between each listed wine. The wines were presented on eleven tables and the wines on each table matched a page in the booklet.  There were a few exceptions but for the most part the wines were presented in a serve yourself format.  It’s interesting to note that no nondosage (no sweetener added) wines were on offer this year, although there were a few sec (medium dry) and demi-sec style (sweet) wines.  I’ve never seen these types of sweet Champagnes for sale at any retail stores we frequent so we had to give them a try. There was little activity at this table, however these styles of sweet Champagne were all the rage in the 1800’s.  The wine lady really enjoyed the Demi-Sec Traditionelle NV Champagne A. Margaine.  The types of Champagne available were Non-Vintage, Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Blancs Vintage, Vintage, Rosé, Rosé  Vintage and Dose. There seemed to be more people in attendance this year than in previous years but it was still comfortable and easy enough to move around.

To get a good baseline of each producers house style I elected to focus on the non-vintage wines. Each Champagne house blends several wines from different years to produce an annual Champagne that is similar from year to year. When you find a Champagne house that makes a style you prefer you can expect that same consistent style in every bottle of non vintage Champagne they produce. Vintage Champagnes are not made every year and as such do not offer this consistency and can vary more in style. The quality level of the Champagnes at this tasting was very high. This was a rare opportunity to enjoy the really good stuff in one setting and if you’re already a Champagne fan or you want to learn what all the fuss is about make room on your calendar for next years event. We’ll see you there.

Tip of the hat to Nancy Johnson for trying to accommodate our teams schedule.  We really appreciate it! 

Here are some of some of our favorites in alphabetical order.

Brut Majeur NV, Champagne Ayala

Brut Special Cuvée NV Champagne Bollinger

Brut La Grande Annee 2004 Champagne Bollinger

Brut Cuvée D NV Champagne Devaux

Brut Tradition NV Champagne Jaques Chaput

Brut Grande Cuvée NV Champagne Krug

Brut Grande Cru NV Champagne Lamiable

Brut Royale Reserve NV Champagne Philipponnat

Follow Up on Family Wine Makers

Finally!  Our follow up post to Family Wine Makers Tasting!

What a fantastic event!   A show not to miss!  Why?  Here you get to meet and talk with  the people who actually make (vint?) the wines.    These are small business owners (real people!) following their dreams and passions to produce world class wines.   You get their stories and the insight on their wines as you taste.

We did learn a few things at this event.  One key learning is to plan for this event.   We allocated a half day for the event and barely got through a 1/4 of the offerings.  A strategy we often follow is to look for those winemakers who have something unique to offer.   Next year we will plan our tastings and plan more time at the event.

 The tasting for 2014 is scheduled for August 17th in San Mateo.  Mark your calendars and get your tickets early.   This is event worth your time and money!

Here are our favorites from this years show:

Double Thumbs Up! 

Bien Nacido - Santa Maria Valley - 2011 - Chardonnay

Dutton-Goldfield Ranch Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2011

Eonian - Napa Valley Red 2010

Fort Ross Chardonnay 2005

Fritz Estate Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2011 

Grgich Hills Napa Valley Chardonnay 2010 

Jax Cold Creek Ranch Carneros Chardonnay 2011

Mi Sueno Los Carneros Chardonnay 2009

Darms Lane Chardonnay 2011

Ramey Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2010

Thumbs Up! 

Benovia Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2011

Benovia Bella Una Pinot Noir 2009

Donelan Sonoma County Nanice Chardonnay 2011

Frogs Tooth Torrontes 2011

Jax Y3 Napa Valley Chardonnay 2012

Solomon Hills Chardonnay 2011

                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                               

Institute of Masters of Wine (North America) Champagne Tasting

We are looking forward to attending this fantastic event on Monday in San Francisco.   As we've discussed on the show,  attending a tasting event is a great way to rapidly increase your knowledge.     

The event features excellent producers and a number of different styles.   If you're interested you need to snag a ticket quickly as this event typically sells out.  

Hope to see you there!

Family Winemakers Tasting - THIS WEEKEND!

Our tickets to the 23rd annual Family Winemakers Tasting in San Francisco came yesterday. Yeah! 

Al and I are looking forward to attending this event.  These are the folks that put their heart and soul into their wines.  All small producers with case production around 5,000 less.   The scope of the event is fantastic with over 180 wineries and more than 800 wines.  We'll be at the tasting and will follow up post event with our favorites and stand outs.

Its very affordable to attend, a great way to meet wine makers, winery owners, and taste your way through California wines.  If you find yourself in the SF Bay area this weekend don't miss it!   Details here:

Tickets 

Participating Wineries 

Program 

It's hot - Whatcha drinkin?

Al and I were talking about the pod cast last week.   We've been experiencing a heat wave here in Northern California.   Temps in the 90s+ during the day and 70s at night.  Our usual temps are in the low 90s for high and high 50s at night (gotta love that coastal fog!).   Needless to say we both said "Its hot!" followed by whatcha drinkin? 

When the weather turns hot I think of cold frosty carbonated things -namely beer!   For me lighter beers work well in the summers.   This summer my fridge has been stocked with Trumer Pilsner,  Lost Coast Great White, Sierra Nevada Summerfest, Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat,  Rose from Modus Operandi Winery and Paradise Ridge Sauvignon Blanc.   I've also had some yummy Rose a friend of mine made.   All adding up to  a refreshing summer...   

In Sonoma County if you live in a home near the coast that was built before 1990 chances are that your home doesn't have central air conditioning.  Most people squelch the heat with ceiling fans, a trip to the movie theater, a drive to the coast and as Bill has offered a good quality cold beer gets the job done as well.  What type of wine do you drink on those hot summer days?  We'll share some of our current favorites.

Inama Vin Soave 2011 Soave Classico is the entry level Soave for Inama.  They make two others from single vineyard plots that are barrel fermented.  This wine is 100% Garganega from thirty plus year old vines and is raised in stainless steel from start to finish.  The wine is allowed to go through malolactic fermentation and is matured in steel for eight months prior to bottling.  This Soave has a golden straw color with apple, pear, lemon and spice on the nose.  The palate shows apple and pear fruit, medium body, with a rich creamy texture on the mid palate.  The finish is medium length, crisp and mineral.  Try it with bruschetta, roasted chicken, seafood and salads.  The moderate alcohol of 12 % and the round full flavors make this wine a real crowd pleaser and easy on the wallet at $12 to $15 a bottle.  importer: www.DallaTerra.com

We've been firing up the grill on a regular basis and our go to red has been Ca' De' Medici's Terra Calda Lambrusco.  With a slight chill this fizzy red is a perfect partner for bbq chicken, burgers, pizza and sausages.  To learn more about this wonderful wine and other Lambrusco's check out our pod cast and www.Lambruscoday.org.  Put Terra Calda on your wine buying list but be forewarned, you won't be able to keep enough in the house.  importer: Tosco Wines Inc.

Summer time equals lot of Riesling in our household and we've been popping corks and twisting caps on several German wines.  We first discovered Reinhold Haart's wines through the www.winerambler.net a blog primarily dedicated to German wines.  I'd seen Reinhold Haart wines on shopping trips but for some reason I had never purchased a bottle.  If you enjoy German wines you really only have to try one Reinhold's offering and you'll become hooked.  Don't let the long name scare you; Reinhold Haart's 2007 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Riesling Kabinett has become our house Riesling for the summer.  At twenty dollars a bottle our budget does not allow for us to open a bottle every night, but then that would be too much of a good thing.

When we first tasted this Piesporter we tried it along side a 2008 Weingut Pfeffingen Herrenberg Ungstein Riesling Trocken from the Pfalz region of Germany.  Besides an excellent lesson in how two wines made from the same grape can vary so differently in style because of terroir and wine making input, this excercise helped reinforce why so many people treasure rieslings from the Mosel.  Good quality Mosel riesling is all about powerful yet delicate aromatics, purity of fruit and a razor thin tightrope of tension between the fruit and acidity of the wine on your palate.  The bouquet of the Pfeffingen spoke loudly, however the Reinhold whispered softly yet had so much more to say.  This Piesporter barely shows its age with a light pale golden color.  The bouquet of slightly honeyed apricots and nectarines shows through on the palate as well.  Impeccably balanced with a long clean finish this wine drinks well above its retail price of $20.  While drinking well now this Reinhold will continue to develop complexity for several more years.  Buy some and cellar some if you have the discipline.  Undoubtedly one of the best bang for your buck Mosel Rieslings we've come across in some time.  importer: www.rudiwiest.com 

That's what we've been drinking.  How have you been beating the heat lately and what have been some of your beer and wine discoveries?