July, 2009:

Get yourself sorted!

Rockabilly Red is a racy little number that comes from Sort this Out Cellars, a new Twitter friend, based in Buellton, CA, part of the Santa Ynez Valley growing region and made famous for certain OTHER varietals in some movie they made there that went upside down and backwards <wink wink>.

Sort This Out Cellars is one of those fun, irreverent producers that I love – and love to promote. While I don’t personally go in for critter labels, different labels and some that are fun tend to draw my attention. Rockabilly Red is one of those wines that has a fun label, with a flaming guitar that really makes you want to sing some Buddy Holly while you drink it!

STOC is a small producer that makes wine from several regions in California. They like to be different, and explore varietals and appellations all over the state that are indicative of our variety. Since they don’t own any vines, they are free to buy the best and brightest fruit that shows off what California does best.

The Rockabilly Red is a saucy number made from Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. On the first day, I found it chewy, with cherries, smoke, leather and tobacco followed by coffee and bittersweet chocolate. It came on strong, but I let it sit overnight, and tasted it again the next day. After 24 hrs, it was starting to show off it’s dark blue and red fruits, and softened up a bit to reveal a lot more chocolate and blackberry. YUM! I would definitely decant this sucker again after a nice visit with the decanter, and really enjoyed the strength. It would pairs well with hearty beef and pasta dishes, and retails for $25. STOC is winery direct, meaning you can’t find it elsewhere, so talk to Felicia and order yours today!

Check it out for yourself! You can also follow them on Twitter and check out their blog here!

WBC 101!

Jul 16th, 2009

by winebratsf.

10 comments

A lot of twitter conversation has been happening this week about the 2nd annual Wine Blogger’s Conference and what people should expect. There are so many new faces this year and I am so excited to meet all of you! My friend, and sometimes partner in wine crimes of all natures, Shana Ray (@sharayray), brainstormed this list with me to provide you with a Newbies Guide to Survivial.

This irreverant look at how to approach the WBC is sure to keep you in stitches, as well as enlighten you to how we roll at the WBC!

Make sure to add #WBC09 to all your tweets! This is a hastag. Hastags allow other people to search on Twitter for specific topics.
Bring your cellphone or laptop charger! There will be a lot of tweeting/facebooking/live blogging going around and we all know how quickly iphone batteries die.
Tweet at your own pace, don’t feel pressured to tweet… Even if us Twitter-holics harass you. This is a great opportunity for you to start tweeting to see what it’s all about! You can sit back and observe for a while, with a search tool like TweetGrid or Search.Twitter.com
Remember that your tweets are for everyone to see. Keep your drunken tweets classy!
Follow people who will be at the conference (Twitter Names of Attendees by Thea) and don’t be afraid to say hello.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions! Last year, I was so nervous because I thought that everyone’s wine knowledge was so much more extensive than mine. Even though that may have been true, the people I met were so humble that they did not make me feel stupid when asked what a Sangiovese was. – Shana
Don’t be afraid to jump in conversations.
Don’t wait for someone to talk to you. This is your chance to network and meet new people so don’t be shy! We’re generally a nice crowd. Just don’t be elitest and we’ll hug you back!
Come with an open mind, everyone likes different things.
Don’t come between a wine blogger and their bacon. Yes, for a second year in a row, bacon will be a topic that will come up almost as much as wine.
Don’t just drink what you know. Branch out and taste new varietals and brands.
Get enough sleep – Don’t party too much on Friday night, you will wear yourself out! Unless you are superman, in which case please stay up all night and go to all the parties, so you can tell us about them
If you sit near Thea, Megan, Ashley and Shana, please do not shush us…. We will attempt to be on our best behavior, but we will not make any promises.
Get out there and mingle! I am as guilty as the rest of you, but try to sit with different folks so you’re not sitting in the same circles. This is a time to make new friends and drinking buddies!
Wear comfortable shoes, especially during the winery tours.
Make sure to keep hydrated and eat up!
You are allowed to use a spit cup. Shana just learned about this new concept of swirl, sip and spit. It is a necessity to make sure you try all the delicious wines that will be made available. What’s a spit cup Shana?
Ask the winemakers and keynote speakers questions! They are there to teach you about wine, so soak up the experience.
Make sure to bring a bottle of your favorite wine to show off! There are plenty of opportunities to taste and share, at dinner, at the BYOB gathering, in your room. This is your chance to show off your local best!
Please make sure you come say hello to Thea and Shana. We will most likely be some of the loudest people around, so it shouldn’t be hard to find us! Also, make sure to thank Joel and Allen for creating such an amazing event for the wine industry.
Bring your sense of humor and don’t take yourself so seriously! We are a funny and sarcastic bunch of people and you will be sure to have an amazing and memorable time! Wine bloggers have been known to imitate the 3 stooges or break into spontaneous rubber chicken dance-offs on occasion.
Given a choice between tweeting and chatting with a live winaux, remember there will be plenty of time to tweet your thoughts at home! Thanks Jefe (@eljefetwisted), this is very true!

Please feel free to add your comments if you have any more advice for newbies or any questions for us or other second timers! We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones.

See you in just over a week!

Shana and Thea

A collection of wines

Jul 14th, 2009

by winebratsf.

2 comments

Previously, I have written about the importance of supporting the little guy. I still think it’s very important to find boutique wines that are limited production and unusual, so we can spend our dollars differently.

The Winery Collective, an urban tasting room and wine bar here in San Francisco, is currently offering a Summer Sipper series at their Cannary location. During the summer season, they are opening the Del Monte Courtyard, a gathering space for sidewalk cafes and buskers, as their outdoor winebar in a serises of tasting events.

Winery Collective is a destination winery tasting room in Fisherman’s Wharf, that focuses on boutique California wines. It is owned and operated by small, family winemakers, and lets the consumer taste dozens of small production wines in one spot. They also offer a by the glass menu, as well as chocolate pairings.

The Sunday Sippers Summer Wine Tasting Series is an opportunity for wine lovers in the Bay Area, as well as visitors to San Francisco, to taste unique wines not readily found in other outlets. The current schedule for the San Francisco Summer Wine Tasting Series includes the following wine regions:These events have different themes, and range in price from $15-25 (prepaid), offering upwards of 20 different wines to taste as well as the opportunity to speak to the winemakers of these boutique cellars.

Last weekend, the summer series kicked off with a tasting of Lake & Mendocino county selections. It was a great aftertoon to sip some cool whites in the rare San Francisco warmth, and I look forward to the next one.

The current summer tasting schedule is:

July 19^{th –}SF Wine Pour

Taste 100 wines in one spot! Unique opportunity to taste all over the state in one afternoon.

1-4:30pm over 100 wines for $25 (advance) / $35 (door) TICKETS: http://sfwinepour.eventbrite.com/

July 26^{th –}Napa Valley

August 2^{nd –}Sonoma

August 9^{th -} Urban Wineries

August 16^{th –}South Central Coast / Paso Robles & Santa Barbara

Hope to see you there!

Winery Collective is located in San Francisco’s Wine Tasting District at 485 Jefferson Street @ Hyde Street next to The Cannery and 1 block from the Hyde Street Cable Car Turnaround. Open daily 11a-9p for wine tasting.

Giving them the Finger

Jul 5th, 2009

by winebratsf.

6 comments

The Finger Lakes wine region in upstate New York, was not one that I expected to be drawn to. I had always had that joke in my head that the Finger Lakes were low quality, high sugar, wines for the masses. Happily, I can report that I was wrong.

Recently, I was invited to participate in TasteNY, where several bloggers around the country each were offered 12 Rieslings from the Finger Lakes to taste and share. These were offered as no strings attached samples, and we were told that we could blog and tweet about if we wanted to, but the real goal was to get the word out that these wines existed and were an exciting region to explore.

Being from California, and more specifically, the Bay Area, where I have at least 4 wine growing regions nearby, I am somewhat narrowly focused on where my wines come from. I like to taste things before I buy them, and it’s difficult tot find a place to taste such variety outside of the comfort of my own couch. This has caused me to have a love affair with California wines, but also, more negatively, to live with wine blinders on. For that reason, I always love the opportunity to taste outside of my comfort zone, and to share with friends.

The Finger Lakes area is New York state’s largest wine producing region, but certainly not the only. There are more than 100 wineries and vineyards, that are clustered around the small Finger Lakes. The climate that has developed as a result of the lake effect keeps the summer warmth in the soil through the winter, and mitigates the cold northern new York climate. The grapes are naturally protected from frost, and results in a similar climate to the Alsace region of France and some parts of southern Germany. The primary vinifera varitals that are produced here are Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Vidal Blanc, Seyval Blanc. There are also some native American varietals produced here, but there are not as well known.

On the day I planned to taste these 12 wines, I invited several wine lovers and wine bloggers over to my house to help me drain the bottles. The only thing I asked them to bring was food that would pair well with the wines, and we had some tasty tid bits as a result. We of course had a lot of Thai food, something that is a natural pairing in my mind, as well as some excellent cheeses and other snacks. The spicy Thai food really paired well with the wines, which ranged from bone dry and minerally, to slightly sweet and refreshing.

the 12 wines we experienced were:

Heron Hill Winery 2005 Old Vines Riesling
Ravines Wine Cellars 2006 Riesling
Red Newt Wine Cellars 2006 Reserve Riesling
Sheldrake Point 2006 Reserve Riesling
Atwater Vineyards 2007 Dry Riesling
Wiemer Vineyards 2007 Dry Riesling
Dr. Konstantin Frank 2007 Dry Riesling
Hazlitt 1852 Vineyards 2008 Homestead Reserve Riesling
Anthony Road Wine Company 2008 Semi-Dry Riesling
Billsboro Winery 2008 Dry Riesling
Fox Run Vineyards 2008 Riesling
Lamoreaux Landing 2008 Red Oak Vineyard Riesling

I did not take copious notes on this occasion, but I will tell you that my personal preference was for the dryer versions of the wine. Even paired with the sweet spicy curries and sauces, the petrol, grapefruit and mineral characteristics of the bone dry Rieslings were refreshing and a lively alternative to Sauvignon Blanc. All of these wines are value priced under $20, so they are very affordable as an everyday white that is not the standard Chardonnay or Sav Blanc which is de rigours.

I highly recommend that you go out to your local wine shop and seek out some of these wines. I know I will!

It's Super! It's Saintly! It's LIVE!

Jul 1st, 2009

by winebratsf.

1 comment

I am really excited to be co-hosting St Supéry for Taste Live on July 11th. Since St Supéry has been producing outstanding wines from their 1500+ acres in Napa Valley since the early 1980′s, and since I have written about them several times before here and here, I am really looking forward to this opportunity to taste them along with you on Twitter with several groups around the country, and hundreds on line.

At St Supéry, their wine making history stems from the Skalli family’s French roots, and Bordeaux varietals are the particular focus. Additionally, St Supéry is well known for their Moscato and Chardonnay.

We will have the opportunity to taste through the following delights and talk live the returning star winemaker, Michael Scholz. Scholz is a 6th generation family winemaker from Australia’s Barossa Valley, and has created the distinctive sty le that has made St. Supéry a landmark destination in Napa Valley. He is new to Twitter, and will be answering questions about the wines for us as we taste.

St. Supéry farms according to sustainable viticultural practices, including use of c over crops, estate composting, and natural predators. On my recent adventure at the winery, Vineyard Manager Josh Anstey showed us how they do this, and walked us through their demonstration vineyard as well as thier practices.

In 2008, Wine & Spirits Magazine named St. Supéry “Outstanding Winery of the Year”, and it really shows! Their signature property, The Dollarhide vineyard, is an historic cattle and horse ranch nestled among the hills of Napa Valley. It was here that Robert Skalli, the wineries founder, planted the Bordeaux grapes in the early 1980s, and developed the Rutherford estate property as the home of the winery and their first class Cabernet Sauvignon vineyards.

These are just a few of many reasons why you should join us for our tasting on July 11th! We will be experiencing four superstar star wines:

If you are here in the San Francisco Bay Area, head on down to the Jug Shop on Polk & Pacific, where you can taste live some of the winery crew. For full details, you can visit their events page here.

If you want to host your own Taste Live with St Supéry, you can find out how by going over to the website now!

See you in the Twittersphere at 6pm PT on July 11th!

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To learn more about Twitter Taste Live, click the logo!