|
|
This really is an event that I can get my heart behind. Make a wish grants wishes to critically ill children, and this charity wine tasting and dinner promises to be a fantastic evening. I am blessed for my (mostly) good health, and for those that are not – please consider donating to help this wonderful cause!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
.jpg)
|
|
To see a brief promo, click here.
When:
|
|
February
6, 2010
5:00pm – 7:30
Gourmet
Food & Wine Tasting
8:00pm -
11:00p Winemaker
Dinner
|
|
|
Where:
|
| Treasure Island, San Francisco
For
directions, click here. |
|
|
What:
|
Focusing on the best talents the culinary world has to offer while
celebrating and supporting the powerful impact that a magical wish has
on a child, the event is located in the dramatic and unique setting of
Treasure Island. Wine and Wishes highlights extraordinary chefs
and winemakers, and provides culinary enthusiasts with an exceptional
experience. This has become the hottest ticket with the Bay Area
culinary set. |
|
|
Highlights:
|
| The evening is divided into two events:
Gourmet
Food & Wine Tasting 5:00 – 7:30 pm, with over 60
tasting stations featuring Michelin chefs and coveted wineries.
Winemaker
Dinner 8:00 – 11:00 pm, an elegant dinner with each
course masterfully prepared by two different award-winning
executive chefs.
2010
Executive Chefs:
1st course: Chef Charles Phan – The Slanted Door
Chef Roland Passot – La Folie Restaurant
2nd course: Chef Staffan Terje – Perbacco
Chef Laurence Jossel – NOPA
3rd course: Chef Dominique Crenn – Luce Wine
Restaurant
Chef Richard Reddington- REDD
Dessert: Chef Emily Luchetti – Waterbar
Chef Patti Dellamonica-Bauler – One
Market Restaurant
Special
Guest: Wish Ambassador, 17-year-old Oliver Banham |
|
|
Fees:
|
|
Tasting tickets: $150
per person
Winemaker Dinner: $350 per person or $6,500/table of 20
VIP Privately Hosted Table: $1,000 per person or $10,000 for a
table of ten. Includes limo, opportunity to
select which wish to “adopt”, premium seating, etc.
|
|
Must be 21 years or older
to attend.
|
|
|
Contact:
|
|
Make-A-Wish (415)
982-9474 or events@makewish.org
|
|
|
Corporate Partners
2010
 
.gif)
|
|
|
|
C is for Cellar Rat, Craggy Range and Cobb. All pinots, and all very different. I’ve reviewed the Cellar Rat before, but every time I open a bottle I like it more. On this night, I was at my friend Amy’s house, who was serving pork butt, and what goes better with pork than pinot?
It was the perfect way to start the evening as we sat around chatting about the ins and outs of pork and wine. As the others started to arrive, we opened the 2006 Craggy Range from Central Otago. Keeping in mind that the 2006 is actually 6 months older than our 2006 due to the southern hemisphere flip, this was a huge wine with lots of cherry, berry and cola flavors. I enjoyed this one as well but was a complete departure from the Cellar Rat.
Our final pinot of the evening, but certainly not our final wine, was the Cobb piont. I tasted this again yesterday along with two other single vineyard pinot noirs from Cobb, and was duly impressed; I was able to discuss the wines with the winemaker, and had the added delight of meeting the new vineyard owner of Jack Hill as well.
- 2007 Jack Hill – This is the first commercial release of this wine from a 2 acre vineyard near Occidental. It was big but not overwhelmingly dark pinot reminiscent of a Russian River Valley pinot without the overwhelming cola-berry characteristics. I tasted blood orange juice, cranberry, raspberries and mild bits of earth. There was just a touch of mushroom at the end, with a hibiscus finish that lingered.
- 2007 Emmaline – is located closer to Sebastopol, but is still influenced by the ocean air. I found it bigger than the Jack at first, with more of the classic RRV cola and cherry flavors.
- 2007 Coastlands - This is Amy’s favorite, and she did try to convince me I liked it best. Yes, I loved it but I’m not sure I could pick a favorite! I loved them all. Coastlands was first planted in 1989, before Pinot Noir when crazy. This tiny 1.5 acre vineyard gave me big bold baking spices, cranberry, strawberry and white pepper. There was also more earth to this wine than the previous two, and there were notes of mushrooms and herbs.
All in all, I loved all of the Cobb wines and can’t wait to try them next year (if not sooner!)
C is a great letter for Pinot Noir lovers like my self!
D&D. Those two letters evoke so many memories for those of us who grew up in the time of TRON, Atari, and The Dukes of Hazzard. You remember D&D, right? Yes, that that obnoxious role playing game with pewter dragons and triangular playing boards in the 70s and 80s? Yes, I mean Dungeons & Dragons, the full time obsession of most of my male contemporaries for the better part of 10 years.
FORTUNATELY, I am NOT actually referring to the Freaks & Geeks Game of Champions in this post. THe D&D I speak of is the penultimate event for Petite Sirah lovers, hosted by P.S. I Love YOu, the trade organization dedicated to furthering the adventures of Petite Sirah producers and lovers.
Dark & Delicious is the quintessential Petite Sirah food & wine event which is held once a year. This year, it will be on February 19th at Rock Wall Wine Company on the old Alameda Naval Base.
If you know anything about Petite Sirah, you know it is a dark and brooding beast that will leave your teeth purple and your tongues numb. But y7ou will love it. Petite Sirah is the colloquial name for Durif, which is the result of a Peloursin grape being pollinated by Syrah. It was often referred to as Petite Sirah, because people mistakenly thought the grapes were small Syrah grapes, and thus a legend was born. The newly created offspring was named for François Durif, a botanist at the University of Montpellier, France. Because of it’s high resistance to downy mildew, it was widely cultivated in the early 20th century; however, the mass produced wine wasn’t exactly complex, and so there poor Petite Sirah was relegated to being a filler wine for low brow jugs everywhere. Even today, it is almost purely a new world wine, but baby you’ve come a long way!
So far, there will be 41 producers pouring at this event, which will also have some great food pairings. I am really looking forward to this event, because i will get to taste some old favorites like Twisted Oak and Mounts Family Winery, but also because I will have the change to taste 40 OTHER Petite Sirahs! Tickets are $60 per person in advance or $70 per person at the door. Yes, I know that it’s a lot of money, but where else can you taste this much PET with this fabulous food?
 Why are you so in to pinot! I mean it’s like a thing for you.
Yes, that is a line from the movie Sideways, in which Pinot Noir played a central character, and yet, it is so true in my world. For me, Pinot Noir has a certain j’ai n’est c’est quoi, that certain something that you cannot put a name on. It has an allure, a mystery, that cannot quite be explained with worlds.
Pinot is so diverse. Yes, you can probably say that about many varietal(as my friend Randy pointed out recently) but Pinot in particular has such a wide variety of styles, even within a small growing area. There are hundreds of micro climates that influence pinot, just as the fog influences the weather. Pinot Noir is grown around the world, and varies greatly. And yet, it’s made from the same grape. Are these wines different? Are they the same? Is there a commonality you can find? All of these things inspire me to seek out new pinot noirs.
This Passion for Pinot, leads me to return to my favorite stomping grounds in the Russian River time and time again. It also leads me to spend a LOT of money on Pinot noir, and to attend every Pinot tasting I can including Pinot Days, the huge tasting at Ft. Mason, and the Pinot Noir Summit. This year, I was delighted to be invited to be a judge for the Pinot Noir Shootout, which is where we, the panelists, tasted literally hundreds of entrant wines for final voting and inclusion in the Finals at the Summit. BOY oh boy were there some interesting wines during the judging! There were good, there were bad, and there were down right scary. OF course, there was also the sublime and the occasionally off wine, which is to be expected in any large tasting.
The time has come to put our judges hats (and taste buds) to the test at the 8th Annual Pinot Noir Summit, presented by Affairs of the Vine, on February 27, 2010.. As a wine consumer, you can bring your taste buds along to taste what we taste and make your own decisions on the winners and losers. This is a rare opportunity for you to taste the top wines blind, and vote for your favorite. An added feature is that we tally the votes by male / female, in an effort to see if gender effects taste.
 If you saw my post on last year’s summit. you will see that not only do the gender of the tasters matter, but the judges and the public also had different opinions. That is part of the fun of these events – you can fancy yourself a wine judge for a day! In addition, the Pinot Noir Summit offers some world class seminars on Pinot Noir. This year, some of the topics are:
- When Pinot Sparkles! Sparkling wine is traditionally made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and / or Petite Munier. Taste some examples of Blanc de Noir, the sparking Pinot noir, and find out how these wines are made.
- Food & Wine Pairings – What should you pair with your Pinot? With such a wide variety of styles out there, one Pinot is not equal to another. Taste for yourself!
- Winemaking 101 - Pinot Noir is called the heartbreak grape, and for good reason. Find out what the unique challenges of pinto producers are, and what decisions are made when making a world class wine.
- Discovering New Stars – What’s hot in Pinot Noir these days? Ever since Sideways launched Pinot in to the stratosphere, there have been rockstars emerging. Taste some of the latest and learn what sparked their interest.
- It’s a Small World – A Global perspective on Pinot Noir – Pinot is produced around the world. what makes and Oregon Pinot different from a Santa Maria Valley Pinot? What about Chile? burgundy? It’s all the same grape, so why are the wines so different?
- Sustainable? Organic? Bio Dynamic? What is all this…manure and what impact does it have on the wine? The subject has been a hot debate in the industry, and you can hear frm the farmers as they share the wine they produce.
Once you taste the wines blind, and participate in some of these fantastic discussions, you will be invited to a Pinot Noir reception, where the bottles are revealed, and you can see what you voted for. This is one of my favorite parts of the summit, because there are often surprises thre. Will you love that $100 wine? Or will you love the budget bottle? Find out!
Finally, the awards will be announced, and the Shootout Winners will be announced. Go Pinot!
The full day of events is $125, and worth twice that amount. But, if you’re in a hurry or on a budget, you can opt to attend the evening reception only for $75.
I hope you can join us, and see our winning wines!
Signed, Pinot Princess
 In this case, a bottle of Broll Mountain Vineyards 2004 Syrah from Calaveras County. I first discovered Broll Mountain through a chance meeting at a ZAP volunteer event, where @brixchick_liza and i met Roger & Ginger, who are retirees who work part time at Broll Mountain. As chance would have it, the winery is in Murphys, which is one of my favorite wine getaways. you might know about my addiction to all things twisted and rubber. Rubber CHICKENS that is.
This wine is deep and dark, with an earthy blackberry nose, with a touch of cherry syrup. It drinks quite dry, and evokes flavors of vermouth, with smoked meats. After a few sips, I’m finding it has quite a floral note to it, and I am almost drinking liquid violets and rose petals, with some great dark fruit behind it. It’s quite tannic but i think it would be awesome with food, and it has a lingering dark chocolate was only $19, so I definitely buy this again if i came across it.
“Nose is earthy, brambly attack with plums and black cherry. A classic Syrah, meaty black fruit with olives and raspberries, cherries and rhubarb. Tannins and dark chocolate finish. Excellent paired with meats, cheeses and hearty food.”
 TorreBarolo Have you been to Italy? Are you longing to go? Are you dreaming of going? I must say, my trip in 2007 was amazing, and I would love to go back and spend some more time there. That said, an ex-pat named Megan owns this gorgeous property in the Piemonte region.
In an effort to draw people to the region, and to boost the exposure of her property there in beautiful Barolo country, Megan is giving away 3 nights at the house shown to the left. This property is 17th century tower in the heart of the Langhe wine region, which would be ideal for a wine lover from all over, but particularly you European wineaux, and maybe even some of us from the US. Robbin Gheesling I’m talking to you!
The contest is pretty simple – you are entered to win (or is that wine?) 3 nights at TorreBarolo by becoming a fan on Facebook. All of the fan names will be put in a drawing on Feburary 1st, and the name drawn gets the getaway.
As for the region, I’m not that up on my Italian but the Piemonte is known particularly for Barolo and Barbaresco wines. There are also many other wines produced in the nearby Langhe valley. Megan also mentioned that TorreBarolo is only 15 minutes away from Alba, which is known as the world capital of truffles – and I don’t mean chocolate!
There is a ton to do in the region, so if you’re interested in a free place stay, fan up TorreBarolo. Good luck!
I wasn’t paid for this post, or given a free trip to Italy either. I just thought it was cool!
 First – apologies for this post being late on arrival. As some of you may know, I have been dealing with some personal issues that have been hammering me in to the ground like Wile E. Coyote under an Acme Anvil. I’m trying to come up for air, so here goes. Please excuse the lack of video, since I still don’t entirely know how to work my Flip. I will learn someday, but not today. And the lack of pictures is mystifying since I swear I took some of at least the bottles, but they are lost. C’est la vie, tech fail!
One recent Sunday, before the madness of Christmas, and after the food orgy of Thanksgiving, a crew of bloggers descended upon the good graces of Paul Askiman and Conn Creek Winery’s AVA Room to create our own personalized blends of wine.
The Conn Cree AVA Room is a one of a kind wine adventure, where mad scientists wine lovers, and it this case, some bloggers, can learn how Conn Creek blends its flagship wine Anthology.
The AVA Room was developed in Conn Creek’s search to find the best Cabernet Sauvignon that Napa had to offer, and in doing so, they found fruit sources from almost all of the 14 sub appellations in Napa. In this secret room at the back of winery, next to the gardens, you will find 15 different barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon and a barrel each of the classic Bordeaux blending grapes Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petite Verdot.
The Cabernet barrels are grouped by major profile, like Soft, Supple, Complex, Rich and Bold. One of the fascinating things about this experience is that as a wine ages in barrel, it may not stay in its category, as it becomes more complex or develops some backbone and loses some of the plush fruit upfront. This is what makes wine such a tremendous beast. Each Cab barrel starts out as 100% new French Oak, and eventually matures in 50% new / 50% neutral Oak, which also contributes tot he changes in the wine profile.
I apologize in advance for not remembering all of the different component wines – I just lost my mojo and can’t find my booklet. If i do, I’ll be sure to share!
 The base wine contenders that I particularly enjoyed were:
- Atlas Peak – Stagecoach Vineyard
- Rutherford – Conn Creek Vneyard
- Stags Leap – Clos du Val Vineyard
After sampling the different options for the base wine (the Cabernet) I got to work creating my master blend.
First, I tried 50% Atlas Peak – Stagecoach, 15% Rutherford Conn Creek, 25% Stags Leap Clos Du Val, and a splash of Petite Verdot and Cab Franc. While I liked this wine, it was the first one i tried and I found it a big of a fruit bomb with blackberry pie, subtle spice, and firm tannins. I thought I wanted a bit more structure, so I moved on to Blend 2 while keeping careful track of this beginning.
The 2nd try was
- 45% Atlas Peak
- 15% Conn Creek
- 20% Stags Leap
- 20% Cab Franc.
This was totally different than Blend 1, and it was too earthy and I wasn’t sure if I liked it. Back to the drawing board.
Blend 3 was another experiment.
- 50% Rutherford Hozhone
- 15% Conn creek
- 20% stags leap
- 15% cab franc. Given that this was a totlaly differnet base wine, it wasn’t waht i was looking for.
My final blend wa a variation on Blend 2, which after much tasting and talking, was widely agreed upon (mostly by Marcy Gordon) to be the best. Yep THE best. Therefore, I ended my Dr. Bunson Burner experiments with:
- 45% Atlas Peak
- 15% Conn Creek
- 20% Stags Leap
- 5% Petitie Verdot
- 15% Cabernet Franc
As I put the finishing touches on my blend, we snacked on Sift Cupcakery baked goods, and the little ginger man called out my name. Thus, was born, the 2009 GingerMan Bordeaux Blend that I hope to enjoy at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla in June. I really enjoyed making this wine, but I know with a little time to settle together and meld the flavors, it will become even better. I look forward to writing about that tasting in the coming months.
The moral of this story is – for $95 you get 2 hours of hysterical fun and a LOT of wine, education on the different sub-AVAs of Napa Valley, a priceless learning experience of how the Pros do it, and…your very own bottle of wine to take home. This is a MUST do if you are a wine geek, and you find yourself in Napa. Considering that many Napa Cabs cost $95 just for the wine, this is a tremendous value and I reccomend it to any one who wnats a unique experience in Wine Country. In Fact, I gave my mother a “custom blending session” gift at christmas, and my dear old brother was asking where his was. I told him I’d consider it for his birthday if he was a good boy.
There are several places that do custom blending sessions for consumers, including Judd’s Hill (3 bottles), Bennet Lane, Fontanella (case only), and Ravenswood (half bottle). There are probably more, but I haven’t heard of them – yet. You can also avail yourself of Crushpad’s FuseBox, where you can blend your own samples at home and then send away for a case of custom labeled wine. I really think that for the value and the experience, Conn Creek gets a gold medal!
Conn Creek can be found on the Silverado Trail at Conn Dam Road in Napa. They graciously hosted us in the AVA room and were lovely! Thanks again for your hospitality Paul!
 http://www.winebloggingwednesday.org Thunder and lightening and rain oh my! What is it about winter weather that makes me want huge red wine. Maybe it’s the way it warms me up, maybe it’s the romantic notion of red wine in front of the fireplace. Whatever the reason, Michelle Lentz over at Wine-Girl has asked us to cozy up with a glass for Wine Blogging Wednesday.
As you may remember, Wine Blogging Wednesday is the brainchild of Lenn Thompson, whereby bloggers and wineaux around the world, blog on a particular theme once a month. So this month, it’s all about what you drink when you’re tucked up inside while the weather outside is frightful.
So, while I have been known to tipple the Scotch and swig the Irish, wine is my passion – so off to the cellar i went. A syrah popped out at me, in this case a 2005 Petroni Syrah that was a gift from my friends Chuck & Paige WOW! When I first poured this wine i could tell it was a bruiser, which is just what i would want on a day like today when we have had thunder, lightening, flash floods and sunshine. Oh and howling wind. No, I don’t like in Iowa, I live in San Francisco! Anyway, back to the wine.
When i poured the first glass, I could see this would be a big daddy. It was almost black in the glass, and the aroma is of blackberry jam on the stove, followed by stewed plums and cherry brandy. The first sip makes me smile, because I taste coffee and bacno fat, while i chew on the big blue fruit. The finish has a touch of black pepper, which adds an interesting finish to the wine.
 The 2005 syrah i sa blend of two blocks, both located on their estate in Sonoma Valley. Both of these blocks are hillside plantings, which Petroni feels makes for phenomenal syrah growing. The first block is the Hooker’s Creek is on the lower, gentler South East facing slope on the eastern edge of our property. This is the main source for the syrah, and the remainder is from the Diablo block which is located on a steep south facing slope in volcanic soil. this is where the bruiser quality comes from.
Each block lot was fermented separately, which gives the winemaker more control over the finished product. After the fermentation, the lots were blended and aged in 35% new French oak for 16 months, which gives a touch of spice and sweet toastiness without overpowering the wine. Only 150 cases were produced of this big bold racy wine were made, so at $48 it really is a STRONG BUY if you are a syrah fan like me. It’s not overpowered by fruit, and there is a lot of interesting stuff going on in the layers beyond the first sip.
The only thing I’m missing on my snow day here in the rain in a fire in the fireplace, but alas – it’s a spare the air day and I’m not allowed. So I’ll pump up the heat, tuck my toes under a blanket, and watch some of my saved Tivo shows while sipping on this luxerous bottle. Thanks Michelle for reminding me to slow down and enjoy the rain days! Err, snow days.
 The Letter A!
You remember those closing credits on Seasame Street right? “Seasame Street is brought to you by the letter…”? Well my friend Amy @educatedpalates, told me about the Alphabet Challenge that she was participating in with some other bloggers. The Alphabet challenge pushes us to try wines frmo every letter of the alphabet. you could go crazy and do it all by varietal, A to Z, but I’m not sure I know of any Z grapes I’d want to try, and i’m certerain that I do NOT want to try white Zinfandel.
Most of the others who are participating are doing it out of order, but I thought it would be more of a challenge, as well as a push to get some more Century Club grapes under my belt, if I did it starting with A. I could start with Albarino, because I have some in the cellar, but given the chill in the air and the misty fog, I’m not much in the mood for a chilled white. So i will start with A is for Audelssa.
So I am going to try to Producers and Varietals, starting to with the letter A.
A is for Audelssa, that makes my mouth sing.
A is for awesome, cuz that’s just the thing.
A is for audacious for that is what i found
A is for Audelssa, who makes Glen Ellen Proud.
On my recent visit to Audelssa, I tasted through thier current releases with Amy aka @educatedpalates. I had never been there and I was excited to try out the juice. Audelssa focuses on artisinal wines in the Bordeaux tradition, and is also releasing Rhone blends this spring. I must say, I particularly enjoyed their Bordeaux blends Summit and Summit Reserve, and am looking forward to the Rhone.
The 2007 Summit is a Right Bank style belnd of 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 12.5% Cabernet Franc, 10% Malbec, and 4.5% Petite Verdot. I found it earthy, rich and chewy with a flavor of underripe blackberries and a floral aroma. At $52, while it was interesting, I’d like to wait to see how ti develops in the next couple of years. HOLD
My favorite of the tasting of 5 wines was the 2007 Summit Reserve, which is 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc. Only 100 cases were produced, and it was a deliciously rich blend with plum & blackberry flavors followed by cloves and spice. The lush wine was complex, with really nice blue & black fruit but a nice backbone and finish. It’s a bit pricey at $125, but I’d say it’s worth the splurge for a special occasion. If you have deep pockets, BUY this wine.
Stay tuned for B-Z and thanks to all our group participants!
So, as you know, we here at the WBC Scholarship are all about getting a diverse group of bloggers together in Walla Walla to have some great wine, learn a few things, and have a great time. As you may have read, before & after the official conference, there are excursions to the Yakima Valley and Red Mountain regions. In addition, several of us are going to Portland for some pre-WBC tasting and fun.
I’d also like to mention that the good folks over at WineCHATr are holding a contest for out of state (non-Washington) bloggers, for a 3 day road trip through wine country. The WBC-or-Bust campaign is hosting 12 bloggers from Seattle to Walla Walla, and they taste wine, explore the wine regions of Washington, and get to know each other for 2 days before the Wine Bloggers Conference.
The road trip begins on June 23rd in Seattle, where you will be picked up downtown and taken out to Woodinville for an afternoon of wine tasting! The itinerary is:
- Food & Wine Pairing at Ste. Michelle
- Woodinville Grand Tasting at Willows Lodge
- Lunch at Barking Frog.
- Palate Refresher at Pike Brewery
- Ending up at the downtown Renaissance Seattle Hotel
- A grand Winemaker dinner will close out Day 1
Day 2 you will be carousing through Red Mountain and Yakima, to visit some premier growing areas and wineries. More information will be available shortly on that day, and you will end up in Walla Walla at the Marcus Whitman for the kick-off to the WBC!
In order to qualify for the “WBC-or-BUST” campaign wine bloggers need only signup on WineCHATr.com, add a contest badge to their website, and then blog about Washington wine. At the conclusion of the campaign 12 bloggers will win a seat on the all expenses paid road trip headed to Walla Walla and the 2010 WBC.
The contest ends in April 2010 and a total of 12 bloggers will be chosen on the following basis. Two winners will be chosen for posting the most Washington wine related blog entries (minimum of 150 words required for each post). Six additional winners will be chosen for the best category based posting:
- Top 2 Best Washington winery posts
- Top 2 Best Washington wine or tasting note posts
- Best Washington growing region post
- Best Washington vineyard post
For all the details on how to enter, head on over to WBC or Bust for the complete rules and instructions.
Special thanks to WineChatr and WBC or Bust for their support of the WBC and the WBC Scholarship! Creative ideas like this are always welcome, and the unique experience for out of state bloggers is guaranteed to delight. plus, it’s easier and cheaper to fly to Seattle, so enter and good luck!
|
|
.jpg)
