by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on March 1, 2010
With apologies to whoever wrote that tedious book in the 90s, this event was not for anyone frivilously rich or fabulously overcompensated for being laid off. although it did draw some of both.And then, it did draw a large contingent of underemployed wine bloggers and erstwhile wine lovers.
The primary challenge of the Pinot Summit Tasting, is to select your top 3 wines: 3 out of 40!! Blind! Ha! That may sound easy to you, but even if you have already shaken hands with the majority of these wines, if you love color, if you love art, if you love pinot, this is your paramount.
Colors! Pinots! They went on and on. But thankfully, they were limited to 40 for this tasting. For crayon cravers like me, there are now 133 official Crayola colors up from 64 in 1958 when I first paid them heed. Some 21 have been retired along the way. I don’t know what they are.
Never embraced Green, Lilac or Dark Red out of the early 60s Crayola box, but the wines that wore these color bands were pretty darned amazing. Green was classic Pinot with all the aromas you’d expect in a Burgundy, and then a healthy dose of raspberry, coffee and brilliant acidity. The finish went on until next week.
Gunmetal got a lot of attention: it seemed over the top to me. Gray was woodsy, with currant and licorice and enough wood to ignite its own funeral pyre.
Hot Pink was sexy as a siren with lilacs and rhubarb, a hint of wintergreen and the palest color of all the wiines. This color assignation was no accident. I loved this wine.
If you can call it a “problem,” there were too many great wines to choose from. I’ve never seen so many people going back and back and back again to figure out what their faves were. I had a really hard time picking my top 3: usually, I can nail that within the first hour of tasting: but not this time.
Actually, I am still trying to figure that out.
Some of those wines are really haunting….
(magic decoding ring not included — results coming next!)
by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on February 21, 2010
Once again, Katy Lovell’s outstanding Mourvedre topped the list of most popular wines at the recent downtown Campbell Wine Stroll. The buzz was all about this amazing, vibrant and unique wine. Mourvedre, also called Mataro by the Italians who planted it alongside Zinfandel in some of the older California vineyards, is a Rhone varietal that is usually blended with Grenache and Syrah to create what is known in hip wine parlance as a “GSM.” It’s rare to find it separately bottled, but is becoming more popular as people discover its unique personality.
If you have never tasted Mourvedre, it is a bit like Pinot Noir in body and acidity, with a distinctive smokey, red currant and red licorice nose, often leaning towards salty, bison jerky. The flavors are predominantly red fruits, like gooseberry and pomegranate, and there is almost always a wild gamey component that I call “sauvage.” Sometimes the smokey character is so intense, I’m reminded of smoked oysters. In the case of the Poetic Cellars 2006 vintage, the flavors hint at salty red licorice, rhubarb compote, gooseberry jam and smokey bacon. It’s a fantastic pair with garlic and rosemary lamb rubbed with Bloody Mary salt, venison with cranberry [...]
by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on February 7, 2010
Feel the Love!
Eight Wineries From the Santa Cruz Mountains Join Together for a
“Winter Wine and Chocolate Valentine” Celebration:
Domenico Winery, Saturday, February 13th,
Noon til 5pm
A stellar lineup of local wineries will join together to celebrate all things romantic and delectable for Valentine’s Day, and you’re invited. On Saturday, February 13th, Domenico Winery in San Carlos will fire up the chocolate fountain to the delight of wine and chocolate lovers everywhere.
Domenico is at 1697 Industrial road in San Carlos. Take the Whipple Road exit off 101.
Wineries participating include Aver Family Vineyards, Big Basin Vineyards, Burrell School Vineyards, Domenico Winery, Generosa, La Honda, Waxwing and Poetic Cellars. There is no charge, but bring cash for bottle purchases, as there will be bargains to be had, and chocolates galore.
Featuring blissfully delicious Red Velvet mini-cupcakes by Tulula Bakery in Livermore! (www.tastetulula.com)
Aver Family Vineyards, a new winery with vineyards in Santa Clara Valley AVA, will proudly pour their Silver medal winning 2007 Estate “Hope” Rhone blend, 2007 “Homage” Syrah and 2004 “Heritage” Cabernet Sauvignon. Custom chocolates, too!
Big Basin Vineyards, located in Boulder Creek, will feature their spicy 2007Fairview Road Syrah, the 2006 Mandala Syrah, and the 2007 Monterey-Santa Cruz Syrah, paired unexpectedly and [...]
by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on February 7, 2010
Big Basin to Join Stellar Lineup of Wineries at “Winter Wine & Chocolate Valentine” Celebration at Domenico Winery, Saturday, Feb 13th, noon til 5pm
A fabulous lineup of local wineries will join together to “feel the love” as tjeu celebrate all things romantic and delectable for Valentine’s Day. On Saturday, February 13th, Domenico Winery in San Carlos will fire up the chocolate fountain to the delight of wine and chocolate lovers everywhere. Come taste and purchase Big Basin wines at this rare “off campus” pouring.
Domenico Winery is at 1697 Industrial road in San Carlos. Take the Whipple Road exit off 101.
Wineries participating include Aver Family Vineyards, Big Basin Vineyards, Burrell School Vineyards, Domenico Winery, Generosa , La Honda, Waxwing and Poetic Cellars.
Big Basin Vineyards will feature the spicy 2007 Fairview Road Syrah, the sleek 2006 Mandala Syrah, and the smoothly synchronous 2007 Monterey-Santa Cruz Syra. The wines will be paired unexpectedly and delightfully with savory bites, including bacon-studded brownies. Purists may indulge in Valhrona dark instead.
by Laura Ness - HerVineNess on January 25, 2010
Winners from the Professional Wine Buyers Competition, Held January 18,2010
There were 400 wines, 16 judges and a lot of grimacing at the 2nd annual Professional Wine Buyer’s Competition, organized by Lea Pierce, Lisa German and Nancy Jorgensen, (they run Wine Competition Management, which also puts on the wildly popular National Women’s Wine Competition coming up in March). The Pro Wine Buyers competition includes a collection of wine buyers, sommeliers, restaurant wine list creators, wine industry consultants and a few wine writers, including yours truly. Our job is to award medals to the worthy: to find the well-made, well-priced gems you’d be happy to recommend to your friends: the friends you want to keep.
Our job was also to weed out the stinkers so they don’t end up in your wine cellar. Judging with professional wine buyers is very different from judging with wine writers, reviewers, winemakers and bloggers. A buyers job is on the line with every transaction: they want to keep their customers happy, because happy customers keep on coming back to buy wine, week after week. So they look for solid value wines that will keep their sterling reputations intact and their cash registers ringing. They want to know [...]
Tagged as:
Pro Wine Competition,
wine buyers
