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Harvest Wine Weekend: The celebration of the season starts tomorrow... Begining Friday, October 17 Paso Robles Wine Country will kick off three days of celebration in recognition of the most important time of year - Harvest!
Have you made your plans to attend a wine maker dinner, open house, grape stomp, seminar, or any other unique opportunity during Harvest Wine Weekend? Click here to learn more about what activities are available to you this Harvest Wine Weekend. Or use the clickable buttons to the left for more information. It's not too late to get involved.
New this year: Harvest your own wine country experience by bringing along a camera. Paso Robles Wine Country invites you to photo document your Harvest Wine Weekend experience and share them with your fellow wine enthusiasts. Simply attend one or more of the over 150 events during Harvest Wine Weekend and send us your photos. The Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance will post them after the event weekend. Three lucky entrants will win tickets to the annual Paso Robles Wine Festival in May 2009. Look for the entry tool on pasowine.com beginning Sunday, October 19.
Class occurs 10/19/2008, 11:30-01:00 pm Panel discussion
Riesling is currently the fastest growing white varietal in the US, increasingly sought out for its food friendliness and its aromatic, vibrant character, however, its variety of sweetness can make it a challenging purchase for the consumer. Join Riesling producers for a discussion of this versatile grape and the new ?Riesling Taste Scale,? read more.
Rediscovering Riesling Walk Around Tasting Sunday, October 19 ~ 1:00 - 4:00 pm Elegant, aromatic and food-friendly, Riesling?s making a comeback! The perfect pairing for Asian, Indian, and of course, German and Austrian cuisine, ?The Other White Wine? abundantly deserves its growing popularity. Taste dozens of domestic and international dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling Rieslings paired with artisan foods ranging from sausage to sushi. You?re sure to find the perfect match! read more Pub.: 2008-10-08 09:18:37; Udt.:
During a two-day visit to the Mendocino coast we visited Café Beaujolais (Mendocino), Le Rendezvous (Ft. Bragg) and the Mosswood Cafe (Boonville). We particularly enjoyed Café Beaujolais.
Domaine Weinbach Schlossberg Grand Cru Cuvee St.Catherine Riesling 2004 (375mL) Peaches, pears, orange peel and marmalade on the nose. A rich, viscous and weighty palate with excellent texture and length. Bold, but balanced. 92/100
Domaine Fourrier Les Goulots 1er Gevery-Chambertin 2003 A nose of red berries, candy, violets, chocolate and cinnamon. Touch of stalk to the medium bodied palate. Decent length and structure. Nice. 88/100
P&C Bonnefond Cote Rotie 2001 Licorice, dark chocolate, raspberry and coffee aromas. A juicy, ripe palate with the elements of the wine well integrated. Very good. 90/100
Taylors Vintage Port 1977 (375mL) Vanilla, jasmine tea, licorice and cedar. Palate is smooth and of medium length, but doesn’t have the complexity or depth I expected. A bit of a let down as it is meant to be amazing. 88/100
A few quick things about cru Beaujolais, the smaller, distinctive growing areas of Beaujolais.
1. The Burgundy producers are coming! Prices are relatively low for grapes and real estate. That fact has attracted investment to the region from producers looking to expand: Earlier this year the Champagne (and Burgundy) house Henriot purchased the Chateau de Poncie, a key property in Fleurie. When I asked Joseph Henriot earlier this year about the motivation for the purchase, he pointed to the distinctive terroir (he loves Moulin-a-Vent and Morgon as well as Fleurie) but also the tremendous discount the property had compared to land in Burgundy.
2. Cru Beaujolais can age, maybe even longer than you think Louis Jadot was one of the earliest notable Burgundy producers to acquire property in the Beaujolais region, notably in Moulin-A-Vent. I tried their Chateau des Jacques 1996 a few months ago and was wildly impressed. Jacques Lardiere, the winemaker (pictured right), told me that the best wines can last decades! 3. I’ve got a cru Beaujolais vertical going–in magnum Magnums, twice the size of regular bottles, are generally baubles for captains of industry. But you can get a top cru Beaujolais in magnum for less than a lot of second label Bordeaux. Combine this price appeal with the age-worthiness and you can understand why I have several magnums of Deccombes, Desvignes, and a mini-vertical (three vintages!) of Clos de la Roilette cuvee tardive. Cru Beaujolais magnums also make great gifts; to wit, I just got a magnum of Lapierre Morgon 07 at Appellation Wine and Spirits yesterday.
4. Gamay is wildly food friendly! And at 12.5 percent alcohol, you can have a couple of glasses too and still be able to function after dinner.
5. It’s mostly less expensive than red Burgundy!
6. How would you change the region? In 1395, Duke Philip the Bold outlawed the humble gamay grape from Burgundy, protecting the premium pinot noir by fiat. What would you do differently if you were the Duke of Beaujolais? I asked Jacques Lardiere what he would do differently if he made his wine in Moulin-a-Vent outside of the appellation system, which mandates certain controls, such as planting the grape gamay. He said, “I would plant pinot noir.”
Don’t forget to join us tonight at 8 PM on Twitter Taste Live raising a glass of local wine or a cru Beaujolais! use #ttl in your comments or follow me.
Note to self: Never, under any circumstances, fly cross country in the winter time using Chicago's O'Hare aerostop as your connecting hub. As good as the flight times look on paper, keep in mind, they are pure fantasy. That sweet...
Note to self: Never, under any circumstances, fly cross country in the winter time using Chicago's O'Hare aerostop as your connecting hub. As good as the flight times look on paper, keep in mind, they are pure fantasy. That sweet 45 minute layover from SLC? How's about 4.5 12 hours!? And that snappy 1 hour layover from Ottawa back to SLC? Try 3 hours. Oy veh. I need a drink. And speaking of drinks, can I interest you in a Chiroubles?
G. DuBoeuf Chiroubles 2005 ($10) - Had this wine originated from a more 'serious' French wine region, chances are it would be selling at 3-4 times the asking price. However, seeing as it comes from the immensely under-appreciated region of Beaujolais, you can grab it for ten damn dollars. Chiroubles is one of 10 Beaujolais Crus (i.e. premier growing sites). I might not describe this wine as, "exploding from the glass like a massive bouquet of violets," as Parker-proxy Pierre Rovani does. I would however describe it as an ultrasexy rendition of the Gamay grape - with scents of fresh blueberry and violet-blossom. In the mouth, DuB.'s Chiroubles does it nice and smooth with silky tannins and simple cherry-blueberry flavors. Snatch this wine up forthwith and sip it with a plate of bistro frites.
As much as I love books and in particular books on wine, it is apparent I have too many of them. At last count there was over 70. Most have been idle and untouched for years, collecting dust and musty smells. Recently, I gathered the least loved, mainly the ones full of tasting notes and numbers (perhaps that is a lesson for writers of wine blogs too) and visited several second book merchants. I had low expectations which proved excessive. I had thought someone would at least offer $10 for my twenty books. In the end, no one was interested, the purveyors of trashy second hand novels said my books on wine were worthless. . . Of course this unsupported secondary market means that occasionally treasures at bargain prices can be found. In the image above (which are some of the books I kept), there are two such finds. A first edition of the World Atlas of Wine set me back 50 cents (Church fair in the rural town of Albany) and George Saintsbury's classic book was only two dollars.
For those interested in old wine books, in particular books full of tasting notes and numbers, I'd suggest visiting your local Good Samaritan store, I've heard that some new stock has just arrived.
by Martin Field Lunch was at Bilson?s in Sydney. Foster?s Group winemakers were hosting a roadshow for winewriters from all over. I?d asked for the vegetarian option at lunch and was dreading a glutinous risotto or an over-oreganoed, limp-wristed pasta. Should have trusted Bilson?s reputation, the chef presented as a main, one of their entrée items: Fricassee of Wild Mushrooms with Truffle and Poached Egg. Picture: a beautiful platescape of a perfectly poached egg surrounded by sautéed Shimeji mushrooms, King Brown mushrooms, chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, fresh black truffles. Anointing the egg is a ?salt? of marinated chanterelles, thinly sliced King Brown, black truffle slices and cepes. The accompanying sauce contains cepes, chanterelles and King Browns. Crowning the dish is a tiara of latte-hued foam made with madeira and mushroom cream. Not as complicated as it sounds but as delicious a course as ever I?ve been served. Went down very well with a goblet of Castello di Gabbiano Chianti Classico 2006.
Ringing in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, this cheap wine was an equal match to the FishEye Merlot. From Ripon, California, this wine lets the fruit speak for itself. Along with the dark plum taste, I also experienced a little pepper in the nose.
At only 8 dollars a bottle, I found this to be a great wine. I had mine with Spicy Montreal seasoning. Try it! Rating: 7/10 Price: 7.99 Place of purchase: L&L Grocery Vineyard Info: FishEye Winery Ripon, CA www.fisheyewines.com
The price of this on Wine Market is currently $39.99. The price will rise tomorrow afternoon. Get in now if you want some of this lovely Barossa Shiraz.
Food bloggers are the best. Thank you for all the lovely messages, comments and kind words both here and at Twitter. And thank you to my friends who aren't food bloggers and have also been there for me this past fortnight. When you are feeling rotten it is nice to wake up to lovely messages from around the world.
I particpated in the latest round of Blog By Mail organised by Stephanie ant Dispensing Happiness. My parcel of authentic Aussie goodies went to Deb in Hawaii at Kahakai Kitchen.
I was the lucky recipient of a parcel of goodies from Leigh at Kumquat Connection. Such a delightful name for a blog don't you think?
Leigh's collected goodies from Chicago included Rooibos Tea, Burts Bee Hand Salve, Smashed fruit strips, Roasted pumpkin seeds. a gourd shaped candle, artisan jam from a company in Maine, a huge maple leaf cooker cutter - and when I first saw them - I thought how did that get through customs - a set of erasers in the shape of peanuts. Leigh also made a lovely hand crafted card featuring my favourite pink flowers.Thank you Leigh it was lovely to receive a little bit of your autumn colour in our spring.
My friend S dropped in over the weekend bearing gifts of figs, mango and this beautiful bunch of white asparagus. Wooooonderful.
It's hard to believe that a year has almost gone by and Christmas Time is here. In getting into the holiday rhythm, I went looking for some music only to find most of it unsatisfying (surprise, surprise). There are exceptions, and here I think is one of them.
December 1965, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was aired and became an instant standard. Most people will remember the Charles Schultz cartoon along with the catchy tunes. Upon listening to the recent 2006 re-master of this album by Fantasy records, I was amazed. This is so much better than coming out of a 14 inch mono TV. Arranged & composed by Vince Guaraldi, there is an underlying quality of happiness and cheer to the music. Perhaps it brings back happy memories of my childhood but I think it is intrinsic to the music. Guaraldi to me, has the lyrical qualities of Bill Evans together with the rhythm and swing of a Dave Brubeck - it is a shame he died of a heart attack at an age of 47 between sets at a jazz club. Thought I would share this one with you, the album code is FCD-30066-2 in case some of you are interested.
Merry Christmas, good health, peace on earth and may joy come over the world.
This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.
The difference in perception of this wine and the Dulka Cabernet we just covered is quite huge - the wine makers from Fru?ka Gora do seem to know how to add some magic to their wines and add a special touch to it (OK, it costs twice as much, but is well worth it!).
Score: 5/10 Price: 240 RSD (?3) Retailer: Widely available in Serbia and Montenegro
2006 Muga Roija Blanco $12.99 Wine label said: Nothing much… it’s barrel fermented and imported by Jorge Ordonez. Whoopdeedoo. Vineyard66 says: As I am still researching Spanish wines, I’ve noticed that my good friend Bill from California has been spouting off about Muga Roija. Of course, he was speaking about the red wines the area is famous for. I [...]
Two weekends ago we visited friends who live in Zug. Just 20 minutes drive away is the (bottom of the) hill of Rigi which reaches almost 1,800 metres. It was a picture-postcard kind of weather, so I include for you my postcards… a rigi - canton zug
It would be hard to guess that this came from the same vineyard as the recent Faiveley Santenots. The Faiveley was more butch, and perhaps longer - an ‘hommage’ to the style of Lafon - but the width and complexity of fruit here seems more ‘Volnay’ though the oak needs to fade a little more. [...]
If you?re interested in designing your own custom wine cellar there are a number of options available to you. The best news is that there are wine cellar designs for everyone from the avid do-it-yourselfer to the complete woodworking novice.
There are modular wine racks that are available in different grains and finishes, with the least expensive generally being a wood such as pine. Most modular wine rack dealers will offer other materials such as red cedar or finished wood as well. Of course you can always save some money and finish the wood yourself if you desire a particular type of finish or color for your wine cellar racks.
There are many wine racking companies that offer crown molding and skirting pieces so that you can easily combine different styles of wine cellar racking materials and types. This approach can yield some very unique custom wine cellar designs.
There are built in glass racks that are made to fit snugly within a rack system. A good place for one of these individual units would be above the table top piece mentioned above. This would add to the ambience as well as functionality of your custom modular wine racking system.
If you want something a little different than the traditional wood wine cellar racks, there are attractive metal trellis rack pieces that are very economical, yet stylish. These tend to look classier than the wood modular wine racking pieces, especially for placement in bar areas that will be viewed by visitors.
If you would like to add a table area to your wine cellar while increasing the storage capacity of your cellar at the same time, a wine bin table may be the best addition to your modular racking system. There are taller, wine tasting tables that hold just over 100 bottles or about 180 bottles of wine, and there are shorter wine rack tables that hold more than 200 wine bottles in case bins.
There are many online dealers and manufacturers of wine cellar racking pieces that also offer custom computer design services to help you achieve the exact wine cellar layout that you have in mine. With many of these professional services you can then have the plans sent to you and decide if you will build them yourself or have someone else build them for you.
With all of the wine cellar design options available to you, there are many ways to accomplish the perfect wine cellar design for you and your situation. There are many wine enthusiasts online communities and the like where you can find others interested in the same things that you are and maybe gain some other ideas about wine cellars and the design aspect of creating your own wine cellar.
Founded in 1729, Ruinart is the longest established sparkling wine house in the Champagne region of France. Named after Benedictine monk Dom Thierry Ruinart, the winery is located in the city of Reims, where ancient crayères (chalk pits) serve as cellars that offer constant temperature and humidity, thus allowing the wine to age as long as 12 years. These crayères were hewn from the chalk sub-soil by the Romans, who used the chalk as building materials. Also used during World War I to escape the bombing, these cellars were classified an historic monument in 1931.
Join us as we sit down with Ruinart’s Cellarmaster Frédéric Pana?otis to discuss Ruinart’s history, its vineyard sources, and of course its various cuvées.
Was this my first chef d'oeuvre? Not sure. But it was my most prescient, there's no question. See, this is what I did: I looked, I listened, I drew my own conclusions. Mark you, I'd never been to Montalcino, but Italy is really the same all over, no matter what they like to believe up north. Here's what I want to know. If little ole me could figure out what was going on in Brunellolandia,...
Iggy’s at the Regent Hotel in Singapore is the recipient of quite a bit of hype, with various awards and reviews proclaiming it to be among the best restaurants in Singapore and the world. It seems very few people have anything but good words to say about it. Wednesday the 25th of June saw me visiting this restaurant for the first time.
My expectations were high, but I will be one joining in with the praise for this establishment after my experience. The food we tried was sensational with both classic and surprising combinations of flavours that worked brilliantly together. The service was overall very good and with one or two minor tweaks could have been excellent.
Four courses at lunch (an amuse bouche, two entrees, a main and dessert) was an entirely reasonable $70AUD (including GST and a mandatory 10% service charge) per person plus wine.
The wine;
The list is heavily tilted toward white and red Burgundy, the prices are quite decent for a high quality restaurant. I was impressed when I asked to keep the bottles, they offered to remove the labels if I wished instead, and I was presented with them laminated and in perfect condition at the end of the meal.
Serriger Schloss Saarsteiner Spatlese Riesling 1986 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany) - 8% alcohol - Golden coloured. Initially a bit closed, but as it warmed and shook off the confines of being in bottle for almost 22 years it blossomed beautifully with notes of honey, orange peel, lily petals and minerals. The palate showed fine, detailed acidity to balance the ripe fruit characters. Very good length and balance initially, with the mouth-feel and components coming together even further with time in the glass. Drinking very well now, but will hold for another 5 years. 91/100
Rossignol-Trapet Chambertin Grand Cru 2002 (Burgundy, France) - 13.5% alcohol - This was decanted for around an hour and a half. Deep ruby red in colour, the nose is expressive and sensual with aromas of red cherry, rose petals, strawberry, light earth and black truffles. The palate shows great finesse and depth. The structure is excellent, with tannins playing their role in the background and acidity giving great freshness to the mouth-feel. There are layers of subtle flavour and complexity to this wine that kept me enthralled with every taste. Delicious and approachable now, but it will get even better over the next 12-15 years. 93/100
The food;
Sweet Corn “Cappuccino” with Chocolate
Sourdough roll with garlic and herb infused olive oil
Charcoal-grilled bonito with white anchovies, mizuna salad, olives and peppers, citrus dressing
Roulade of kurobuta pork belly with red cabbage salad, whole grain mustard dressing
Fresh Burrata mozzarella with vine-ripe tomatoes, basil and extra virgin olive oil
Home-made potato gnocchi with truffle salsa and soft-boiled egg
Classic onion soup served with crusty bread loaf
Braised kurobuta pork cheek with onion confit
Home-made Wagyu beef burger with white truffle sabayon
Confit of duck leg with rosemary potatoes, mesclun
Grand Marnier soufflé with home-made Java vanilla ice cream
Baked chocolate molten cake with Java vanilla ice-cream
It’s pretty easy to call a wine sweet: it has a perceptible level of residual sugar in it (five grams of residual sugar is often considered the threshold of perception). Sweet wines generally start at about 45 grams of residual sugar (RS). Some wines, such as Tokay, have require a minimum level 60 grams of RS and rate wines by sweetness with six puttonyos being instant diabetes.
What’s the opposite of sweet? Dry. All the discernible sugar has been converted to alcohol during the fermentation process. Tricky since you might think the opposite of dry is wet and, well, all wine is wet. Dry doesn’t have to do with high tannins, which might make you go “chomp, chomp” and think “OMG, my mouth is drying out! I need water!” It’s just close to zero grams of residual sugar.
And there’s a middle ground of “off-dry,” or slightly sweet. Silly term, I agree (what is it, moist?). Slightly sweeter than that can be called medium dry. If you want to get all wonky geeky, off-dry might be five to fifteen grams of RS and medium dry, from fifteen to forty. Some countries and/or regions are so wonky geeky that they have specific terms and laws for these levels.
Oddly enough, a wine with a lower amount of residual sugar can sometimes taste sweeter than one with a slightly higher amount; it’s often a question of balance with acidity and one category that can be hard to discern in this regard is Champagne, which also as carbon dioxide zooming at your palate as well.
I bring this up because it came up in the comments of this recent posting about “light” as a wine style. And it comes up regularly in my NYU class. If you want to see sweet and dry in action, try tasting these two Leitz wines or a Northern Rhone syrah against a ripe, sweet version of the same grape from somewhere in the New World (but not all are ripe and sweet).
This is the first cabernet from the bonny team at Donny Goodmac. It’s made from 20 year old vines growing on a steep-ish slope - which managed to avoid most of the frost troubles of that vintage. You need a subscription to The Wine Front to see this part of the post
There was a time not long ago when Mornington Peninsula reds were considered overpriced and thin.Here we have a wine that the market has pushed into triple figures. Indeed while I believe that this had a release price of $90-odd, the few places I’ve seen it have been selling it for more like $200 … for [...]
It's almost the end of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I wanted to send along some links to stories I've written this October about breast-conscious winemakers whose rockin' projects support breast cancer research. Let's start with American Roots Winery, a project started in 2005 in support of Lori Ondaro, a single mom who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. When the news hit, Lori and her family were blindsided by the news that this time the cancer had spread throughout her entire body. Lori's heroic story can be found here, at WineCountry.com, along with details on the critically-acclaimed wines her family's winery now produces, with proceeds going to support breast cancer research. (Pictured, Lori & Family.) Yay, family!
This also a terrific time to recognize the many other wineries whose programs support breast cancer. Read on for highlights of some of my top picks, which include Cleavage Creek Cellars, whose name makes good on the winery's unique geographic situation as well as its mission. Read about the rest
[07/19/2006, 06:16]
The Argentinians consumed in May 2,55 liters for inhabitant Better results that in April the producers of wine obtained on the internal Argentine market. In agreement to statistical information delivered by the INV (Vitivinicultura's National Institute) of Argentina, the consumption of wine for inhabitant reached in May the quantity of 2,55 liters, relying on the general population of the country.
If one was counting only the major ones of 18 years, this number would rise up to 3,84 liters. This indicates an increase of 7,66 per cent with regard to the same month of the year 2005.
While, the wines liberated to the consumption in this May, always according to numbers delivered by the INV, added the 967.503 hl., that represents an increase of 8,9 % with regard to the same month of the year 2005 and 12,79 more % with regard to last month April.
The origin of these wines they were in the main from the province of Mendoza, followed by the province of San Juan.
This increase is justified by the campaign of advertising that is realized at present in the Argentina to increase the internal consumption.
Amazon.com, the online purveyor of books, apparel, and just about everything else, has announced its plans to enter the wine sales business. Beginning as early as mid-October, the online retailer will offer a selection of more than 300 wines from all over the United States to customers in 26 states. The company indicates that the selection will represent a wide cross-section of US producers, not just wineries in California, Oregon, and Washington State.
Shipping and taxes, as ever with online wine sales, will likely be an issue. Amazon says that customers of the Amazon Prime service (which carries a $79 annual fee) will get free shipping. Still, it's an intriguing development.
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Class occurs 10/19/2008, 11:30-01:00 pm 
2. Cru Beaujolais can age, maybe even longer than you think
This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.
It's almost the end of 