the line builds for The Macallan tasting event

Our friend, Valeria, became a US citizen last week. Congratulations! Not only is she intelligent, beautiful and easy company, she also adores Scotch, which is of course how I ended up at this promotional tasting for The Macallan the other day in San Francisco. Now I like Scotch too, though don’t really know much about this drink “invented by the Irish but perfected by the Scots” to paraphrase our MC at the event.

This was free but you had to be on a list. Valeria signed us up. She’d apparently been to a Dewars tasting and some sort of multi-Scotch event in the past few years so remains in the know.

my pic isn't perfect, but she can't be comfortable in that outfit, now can she?

We met a bit early but already the line was forming. There were these over-the-top gorgeous young women reviewing everyone’s registration. It was a chilly day but these lovelies only sported ridiculously high black heels and extremely short black cocktail dresses. I wondered how some of them kept their elegant postures and hairstyles in place what with the Pacific wind and steep hill. It must be the magic of youth.

The other guests were a mixed bunch leaning heavily towards men. What is it about Scotch and men? And why haven’t more women discovered this elixir of the pagan gods? Perhaps The Macallan people could refocus their image a bit to attract American women (and other-than-straight guys)? We did keep wondering where the tall, amply muscled male hosts wearing absurd clothes with heads of shining golden or rich black hair were milling about, but alas, neither of us could locate them. Too bad. Most likely they were behind the scenes sampling The Macallan 18 year. Yum!

I also wonder about the capital “The” that always proceeds the name, Macallan. Have any of you ever considered that? It sort of reminds me of the all-caps, “JUSTIN,” from that celebrated Paso Robles winery of the same name. Maybe it’s just me, but I think that it looks a little pretentious.

But then what do I know?

congratulations Valeria

The Macallan 1954 is even pricier, at $9K

the MC for The Macallan tasting event--I loved his kelly green patterned slacks

Anyway, eventually we all got led into the hotel where we surrendered out The Macallan cards in exchange for our first sample of The Macallan 10 year. The room rapidly filled up. We couldn’t help sampling the various appetizers that floated around. I liked the little fried crab thingies quite a lot and had several. We had our pics taken behind the official Hollywood red carpet style screen by, you guessed it, one of the stunning hostesses in high heels. In a case to one side were “vintage” bottles of The Macallan on display. The 1967, the least expensive, had a list price of $4.5K. One in a Lalique bottle, which looked amazing, cost $15K. For just a moment there, I envied the rich.

our Macallan Hollywood moment

Soon enough they ushered us into an adjoining room where tables were laid out to accommodate the entre thirsty horde. We chatted a bit with our neighbors then the show really began. Our delightful taste leader bounded on the stage to the crash of applause. He was chatty, informative and relatively funny. (I didn’t quite understand or appreciate his apparent joke, “We used to make an eight year old only for the Italians.” People did laugh though I thought it was sort of an insider Euro thing.) He answered his own question, “How do you drink your Scotch?” with the witty, “Neat, with water, ice, in a dark room…” That kind of thing. I didn’t know, for example, that “60 to 70% of the color, flavor and character comes from the wood” barrels in which Scotch gets aged. He went over other Scotch fundamentals: the who, what, where and how stuff. The why we were about to discover on our own.

We’d already enjoyed the 10 year though didn’t really take notes. As to the rest, Valeria and I had definite opinions, but found the taste sensations difficult to describe. I didn’t really identify the “chocolate” flavors for which The Macallan is rightfully so famous. Oh well. At the end, a surprise taste of the expensive 18 year (about $150/bottle in the US) was served. That was nice.

our Macallan tasting line-up

12 year Sherry Oak: This seemed “rugged” with a nose of freshly turned earth, alcohol and an enticing hard-to-pin-down perfume. It starts out minerally, becomes fruity and finishes spicy and hot.

15 year Fine Oak: We were warned that this “changes drastically” if you add a splash of water. Unfortunately, our samples were so tiny that the “splash” drowned the drink. I’ve no doubt that with a larger sample I would easily detect it opening up more fully. Even so, it was very different from the 12. This had a lighter more delicate nose, was smoother with lovely caramel notes and a much longer finish. The added water brought out a bit of vanilla and citrus.

17 year Fine Oak: This is made in an identical fashion as the 15 year. It had a pleasant smell, rich in vanilla and caramel. It was rich and smooth and more full-bodied that the 15.

18 year: This one was really citrusy with incredible cherry, vanilla and oak flavors. It was so rich and good that I immediately complained about my minuscule sample size. Boo-hoo! I want more.
This was super commercial but it didn’t really matter. The event was fun, and I’d probably never try all of these on my own, so it was a wonderful opportunity to learn and enjoy.

This was a first: we went to a Williams Selyem pick up event and it didn’t rain. It wasn’t cold either. In fact, it was so sunny and warm that I wore shorts and sandals comfortably. The car said that the ambient temperature at the winery was 91 degrees. Ah, miracle! I love Indian summer.

Jasmine standing at the vineyard's edge with two empty Williams Selyem wine glasses--it's almost too sad--empty glasses!

If you’ve been following us at all, then you know that I’m a little pinot noir crazy, at least in the past few years. Strangely, I didn’t really enjoy the stuff before. It seemed so watered down and sharp compared to hearty zinfandels, syrahs or even cabs. I guess I’ve changed. So often I feel overwhelmed by powerful zins and cabs these days. Don’t get me wrong. They’re fun to drink, sort of like having a big slice of cherry pie à la mode. But I can’t eat big desserts too often and, in any event, they don’t usually work as a side dish to the main course. Pinot noir shines with food, and they’re even tasty all by themselves.

Jasmine and I went last Friday. It was way less crowded than the usual Saturday scene. The volunteer staff kept remarking how “Friday’s the day” and urged us to come on future Fridays. One even said while he poured us some of the vin gris that Wms Selyem has trouble getting volunteers for Saturdays due to the throngs of thirsty people.

Williams Selyem estate vineyard with mountains in the background

Like previous visits, several current releases were available for tasting. Plus there were a number of local vendors of other artisanal food products on hand, offering tastes and things for purchase. Since Hegui couldn’t come (he worked instead—poor thing!), I got a bottle of Dry Creek olive oil for him, as he really enjoys it. After we sampled the wines once or twice, Jasmine selected a lovely sour dough round which we had with cheese in the shade. We talked, sipped a bit more wine, and really enjoyed the marvelous sunny warm day in wine country. What could be better than that?

Wine Spectator poo-pooed the 2010 pinot vintage and it’s true that these wines were less “wow” compared to last year. Nevertheless, we enjoyed them all and a few, like the Central Coast and Westside Road Neighbors pinots were memorable. Jasmine is particularly creative in her wine descriptions, which made tasting even more delightful.

we saw several of these absurdly unwelcoming warning poison oak rattlesanke signs thorughout the winery

2010 unoaked chardonnay: a transparent yellow diamond color with a nose of dried apricot and tropical fruit that led to more apricot with a citrusy finish.

2011 vin gris: this is a rosé of pinot noir. A transparent salmon pink with aromatic strawberries and Maraschino cherry, it tasted of sour cherry and mineral with a lovely pink grapefruit finish. Mmmm!

2010 Central Coast pinot noir: ruby with plum, smoked bacon, and eucalyptus leading to rich, plum filled peppery flavors. Jasmine says, “Kinda elegant.”

2010 Sonoma County pinot noir: a darker ruby with raspberries and blackberries and was that a hint of sage? It was fruity but less focused than the Central Coast. The finish was long and creamy. Comparing the two, we preferred the Central Coast overall. J: “It was drama all the way. If it was a woman, she’d have long black hair and be very dramatic.”

2010 Sonoma Coast pinot noir: ruby with some earth and fruit—sort of like “straw with berries underneath.” Full bodied with red fruit, Jasmine thought it was “very good like grape juice.” “It’s a party wine,” not too complicated but fun.

enjoying the Friday "crowd" at Williams Selyem

2010 Russian River Valley pinot noir: deep ruby with a subtle nose of berries, floral and smoky notes. Richer still, smooth and with more depth, this full bodied wine has ample red fruit, lots of pepper, hints of caramel and a nice finish.

2010 Westside Road Neighbors pinot noir: ruby with rich fruit and floral notes, some eucalyptus and a bit of vanilla. This was delicious! It grabs hold of your mouth and won’t let go. We detected red and blue fruit esp. sour cherry and plum, with a great mineral earthy component.

2009 Forchini Vineyard “South Knoll” zinfandel: opaque reddish purple. The nose was blackberry and fruit compote. This was “over the top jammy” “something that you’d put on waffles.” It overwhelms your senses before you even take a sip. Fat, it was so full and rich, with loads of fruit and a mild peppery finish. This was a “stand alone” wine, perhaps best suited for grilled beef or maybe breakfast.

Hegui holding our bottle of Wine Spectator's 2011 wine of the year with the magazine article about Kosta Browne

I’ve been shying away from our “drink me” category for a while. There’s just way too much competition to sustain it. But since it’s not every day that we try a bottle of Wine Spectator’s “wine of the year,” I couldn’t resist.

That’s right: wine of the year! Drum roll please…

I was delighted when WS named the 2009 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir its number one wine. Mostly because I had three bottles of it stashed away in my cellar. A work friend signed herself and her husband up on Kosta Browne’s purchasing wait-list about six years ago. Both names advanced to the active member list last spring, right around the time I was getting into pinot. So she offered to let me buy one of the shipments. That first one had the Sonoma Coast bottling. Wow. It was like winning the lottery twice. First, I got some of this hard-to-get wine at a good price and then the WS decision in 2011.

Despite the thrill of victory, I’m still a bit skeptical about the idea of naming a top wine. Really it is a bit silly. There are many good and great wines, but part of what makes them good is that they’re distinctive, and thus, hard to compare. What do you think?

Perhaps ranking things this way is an American obsession? Or maybe it has a sales element? According to CellarTracker, the price per bottle almost tripled after the WS announcement. That’s good for business.

Wine of the Year: 2009 Kosta Browne Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir

We opened this winner for Easter dinner and shared it with our friend and fellow wine-lover, John. All of us (maybe not Hegui, who isn’t too into pinot) were expecting fireworks and to uncontrollably gasp, “ahhhhhhhh!”

It didn’t happen. John’s immediate response, “How can this be wine of the year? I think some of the Williams Selyem pinots are better, don’t you think?” pretty much summed up what we were thinking and feeling.

Don’t get me wrong, this wine is tasty. My work friend suggested that perhaps we had drunk it too young. Could be? Though the WS people drank it even younger than we did. I don’t know. How could the wine live up to all the magazine hype? That’s a lot of pressure.

It was a ruby color with a nose of red berries. Full bodied with red fruit, mineral and a long finish; it was rich and smooth—almost cabernet like in texture. We drank it all, that’s true. Plus I saved the bottle for my “trophy” collection, mostly because this was Wine of the Year!!!!!!

I’d say this one is worth trying, and it is. Though now that the price has skyrocketed, perhaps something else?

the Three Graces

We’ve been to Clos du Val in Napa Valley many times over the years and always had fun. Most recently we had a lovely wine tasting and picnic event with some marvelous fellow bloggers from the Bay Area and Sacramento. Actually, Hegui selected this place for our picnic as we have such fond memories.

The facility is gorgeous Napa. A huge ivy covered building surrounded by vineyards with the romantic mountain range in the background boasting stunning rocky escarpments. This visit I had time to really look at the display vineyard in front where they demonstrate numerous styles of vine training: spur, head, cane and cordon spur all with various spacing. It was quite interesting though I wonder how one actually decides which training style works for their vineyard? With so many options available, it must be an art.

Inside the tasting room is spacious and elegant. We had called ahead so had a large table in the adjoining “Pinot Room,” at least I think that’s what our charming host, Linden, called the place.

The winery has what for Napa is a long and prestigious history. Founded in 1970 by John Portet, they had a bottle of their 1972 cabernet sauvignon (their first wine ever released) selected for what became that famous Paris Tasting in 1976. The web site is splashy and to me at least seemed a bit over-the-top with the various oversized fonts, blinking images and statements with all the intense bullet points. Certainly it doesn’t reflect how I feel about Clos du Val, which is more elegant and almost homey. That is if my family lived in an opulent mansion in wine country. Here’s an example of what I mean from their “vision” page:

It has been said that we at Clos Du Val ‘march to the beat of our own drum’, and if our founding principles of individuality, independence and expressionism are a bad thing, we respectfully disagree.

To someone like me visiting this winery, who is not an expert on cabernet of any stripe, identifying the “individuality, independence and expressionism” is tough, as the place seems like grand old-school Napa to my naïve eyes. But ultimately I have to agree with them, that’s not “a bad thing.”

a lovely garden wraps around the trellis demonstration at Clos du Val

Clos du Val trellis demonstration guide

the grand vine-covered tasting room

We tried two tastings, a mix of reds and whites and another red-only reserve tasting. Overall the group really liked these wines. I bought a couple bottles and even impulsively joined their club when Linden gave me a discount and waived all of our tasting fees. Since I liked the wines, it seemed to make sense at the time.

another group of three graces

2010 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley: Very pale yellow with a citrusy nose, esp. grapefruit. It was crisp, had good body and as expected lovely citrus and even some tropical flavors.

2009 Reserve Chardonnay: A transparent golden color with green apple leading to lovely yellow fruit and mineral notes with a good finish.

2009 Pinot Noir, Carneros: Ruby red with rich spices leading to red fruit, loam and minerals, well balanced with good body and finish. This is quite different from the Russian River Valley, but delightful just the same.

2008 Reserve Pinot Noir, Carneros: This one spent 14 months in oak. Also ruby with vanilla, spice, red fruit. This is smooth, with medium body and a long finish. If I understand correctly, this wine is not made every year.

2009 Merlot, Napa Valley: Black color with rich red fruit, good body and finish, everyone enjoyed it.

2008 Three Graces: A Bordeaux style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (90%), Merlot (6%) and the rest split between petit verdot and cabernet franc. Linden claimed that it is his favorite in the line-up. These three daughters of Zeus are sort of the mascots for the winery and appear on all their labels. They’re supposed to represent independence of mind, body and spirit.

The wine itself was a dark red with a rich nose of red stone fruit, tobacco, forest floor, and toffee. It had ample fruit and exciting spicy notes on the good finish. Only 10 barrels were produced.

2007 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Stags Leap District: This is 94% cab with the rest, merlot. This was my favorite. An almost black color with lots of dark fruit, vanilla and spice with supple tannins and bursting with flavor on the long finish, it doesn’t get any better than this.

2007 Clos du Val Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon

2000 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon: 88% cab, the rest, merlot and is it cabernet franc? This one was offered to get a sense of how the wines age. It was black in color. The nose had green bell pepper, dirt and tobacco, spice and perhaps that V-8 juice quality that I sometimes detect. This led to red fruit, full body with supple texture and a long finish.

1997 Cabernet Sauvignon: this is 100% cab. Red to black in color, Hegui thought that it smelled of “dirty socks.” Certainly it did have that green pepper and earth nose. The fruit’s still detectable with a good finish. The wine had an interesting mineral/metallic flavor we enjoyed.

The Pivot vineyard was pivotal for the establishment of Littorai in this spot

Littorai barrel room

We’ve been talking about taking the tour of Littorai for months. Really ever since we went last fall for their members event. Now that we’ve done it, it is funny to think about how naïve I’ve been. For example, I didn’t actually know that Littorai embraced organic and biodynamic practices as part of their wine production philosophy.

I took a mini-break just now from writing to look at the labels on a bottle of the 2009 Littorai Les Larmes Pinot Noir Anderson Valley. It doesn’t mention biodynamics. So perhaps it isn’t that odd that I didn’t know about it until the tour, though probably I shouldn’t have been surprised as biodynamics has received a lot of traction and, though sometimes mixed, generally positive press in recent years.

On the day of our visit it was overcast and threatening rain. Margie Truter was our delightful, well-informed guide. We arrived about 20 minutes early but were greeted cheerfully just the same. It was only the two of us for the tour, which made me feel like we were celebrities or something. I liked it.

We started in front of the wine production facility but quickly turned toward the newly installed organic gardens near The Pivot vineyard. (It’s called The Pivot, English accent please, because this is the hill that convinced Heidi and Ted Lemon to buy the property. This “pivotal” hill with its proximity to the Ocean and its southern exposure apparently enchanted the couple with its winemaking potential.)

flowers were everywhere

I like the purple ones a lot

dandelion flowers are cultivated for their health benefits for the vines

the chamomile flowers were marvelously aromatic

The garden had flowering chamomile and dandelion, stinging nettle and some other plants (or in some cases things that my mother would probably call “weeds”) that are either composted with manure from organic cows, chipped grapevine cuttings and other plants from the grounds; or are dried and put into huge sacks which get used as giant “tea bags.” Sometimes the plants are put into pots and buried for a year or so, then added to the rest. This Littorai-made compost gets spread in the various vineyards and the “dandelion tea” is sprayed at various times on the vines. They believe that these plants contain various essential minerals and nutrients that aid in grapevine development and health.

here Margie is telling us about the various minerals and nutrients to be found in the garden plants

Littorai uses the cane method of pruning their vines

these red trees seemed so cheery and welcoming on this overcast day

Down the hill lie a small creek and a wood. Unfortunately we didn’t see these. Apparently there are certain reeds, I think they’re called horsetail, that the staff use as a natural fungicide.

We did troop through part of The Pivot vineyard and saw several small hills of organic compost in a meadow nearby. Margie referred to them by their year of production (2010 or 2011) just like vintage wine. I suppose there might be something to that. It seems that they allow these hills to sit for a year or two to fully develop. I picked up a sample of the 2010 which seemed more like a rich soil than poo. (Of course I washed up afterward!) They turn it only once, so it isn’t that much work once you’ve gotten started. They’ve this cool window onto the 2011 pile that allows you to see how the compost changes over time.

chamomile on a drying rack

rock samples from The Haven vineyard

they use these large sacks of stinging nettle like tea bags to fertalize the vineyards organically

carpenter bee hives

These folks recycle their own water in reed filled lakes near the old building where they dry the nutritive plants. We saw numerous lovely free range chickens and some adorable ducks there. They had some geese until quite recently but eliminated them after they started getting aggressive. The team actively cultivates honey and, is it carpenter? bees, as they’re both very productive pollinators. Some of the flowering plants like the French lavender are there to keep the bees happy year round.

The idea of biodynamics is that everything on earth and in the universe is interrelated in a literal as well as a mystical or spiritual sense. That second part is where you start to lose some people. In our post-modern age, there’s frank hostility to most stuff that science, or perhaps social media, cannot explain.

Personally, I’m of two minds on the matter. Preserving the environment makes perfect sense, which in an agricultural setting translates into exactly what you find at Littorai: reduction of waste, composting and recycling, avoiding toxic chemicals, and eschewing monoculture. And there’s no reason to disbelieve that plants contain essential nutrients. Think vitamin C in citrus fruits for example, or for you real diehards, “medicinal marihuana.” As to the more um… abstract parts, well, to each his or her own. Personally, I think that it is rude to find fault with others’ spiritual practices, don’t you?

rock samples from Hirsch vineyard

side view of Littorai winemaking facility

a happy stain on this barrel

Biodynamics does raise some interesting questions beyond the metaphysical. First off, before the rise of mass automated agriculture in the late 19th and Twentieth Centuries, wasn’t this more or less how everyone farmed? I do wonder about biodynamic grape and wine production in the context of Northern California merely because we’re talking pinot noir, a plant from Europe. And for that matter, are chamomile, stinging nettle, etc. native? In that sense biodynamics and the locavore movement are not related, despite getting blurred together at times.

2010 Littorai Sonoma Coast and The Pivot pinots noir

In any event, the farming practices at Littorai sound like they are minimally harmful, which is a good thing. Certainly the wines that the Lemons produce following them are marvelous. We tasted several that day: the 2010 Thieriot chardonnay, the 2010 Hirsch and The Pivot pinots, 2009 Cerise and Savoy pinots, and the 2010 Sonoma Coast pinot blend. Sadly I forgot my pen in the car, so didn’t write down our tasting notes to share here. The chardonnay was wound tight with lots of fruit and mineral notes, and as always the pinots were all delicious yet each beguilingly different from one another. I splurged a bit that day as you might imagine. I suppose that we’ll just have to return to Littorai soon to share our tasting with you, our faithful readers.

Hegui and I in The Pivot vineyard at Littorai

I adore the wines from Carlisle. Aside from my delight with the name (see previous Carlisle post here for more info on that) I like how their wines taste—and I have to admit that I’m a bit tickled to finally be on their purchasing list after waiting what seemed like, well, a while. I’m sure that there’s a story there somewhere. Perhaps more to come on that…

2010 Carlisle Sierra Mar Vnd Syrah

The mailing list pick-up event is held in Santa Rosa at the facility where Mike Officer creates these luscious wines. So it’s not exactly easy-on-the-eyes. Think industrial park here, but not one of those downtown Manhattan-style places with tons of glitz. Mainly this place is functional. Even so, and this is only our second visit so it’s hard to generalize, the event is an extremely nice experience. We went in sometimes heavy rain last Saturday, so the crowds that we noticed the first time were largely absent. I suppose that they’re hoping that next Saturday will be sunnier. Already that was pleasant for us, as we didn’t get jostled around that much by the many other also-excited Carlisle patrons.

a cold and rainy day at the Carlisle winemaking facility in Santa Rosa

the less-than-optimal weather seemed to keep people at home: we liked it

We’re always greeted in a very friendly way by the folks who run the event. They offer gourmet pizza gratis as part of it, also nibbles of dark chocolate. These go well with the lovely syrah and zinfandels that we were able to taste on the premises. Two were in bottle and two were barrel samples. The latter were both extremely exciting though not nearly as polished as the bottled wines, much as you’d expect.

2010 Santa Lucia Highlands Sierra Mar Vineyard Syrah: This was a purple black color with aromas of blue fruit that carried over to the rich taste with mineral, some spice with a long finish and very refined tannins.

2010 Sonoma Valley Monte Rosso Vineyard Zinfandel: Deep red with cherry and moss on the nose, this had ample red fruit and full body. It seemed more accessible now compared to the syrah, but that’s no surprise.

daffodils and chocolate surely mean springtime at Carlisle

2011 Russian River Valley Montafi Ranch Zinfandel barrel sample: This was purple black in color. Hegui thought it had “an astringent smell of a barrel” but he was quick to add “the taste is good.” I liked it too. Certainly there’s a lot happening here: loads of fruit, spice, some lovely acidic sourness and some chalky flavors makes us think that this is a wine to look forward to sometime down the road.

2011 Napa Valley Hayne Vineyard Zinfandel barrel sample: If I understood right, this is a new source of grapes for the winemaker. I looked just now on their web site but it does not seem to have been updated yet.

Similar color to the Montafi Ranch, it had a more “twizzler” nose and could this one be even more rich? It was loaded with red and black fruit, and almost fizzed in our glass. Very exciting!

We can’t wait to come back this fall for more!

Vino Vino is an amazing find in San Pedro Square Market in downtown San Jose. This tiny, unpretentious wine bar should be the model for the locavore wine lover. I’ve lived in the Bay Area coming up on nine years now and I cannot ever recall encountering a wine list that had more labels from Morgan Hill than Sonoma; or Livermore than Napa. That is until we arrived here. This is a revolution in the meaning of terroir.

welcome to Vino Vino, San Jose

Vino Vino interior with the gorgeous wine on tap to the left

The place is tiny and cozy. It does have a sort of “wine dive bar” vibe, just like General Manager Morgan Klee was quoted in the Mercury News, though in a good way. They’ve a full menu of mainly bistro fare. We loved their huge wine on tap selection but were sold on their elegantly spare ideal: drink locally. Vino Vino is worth a look.

opening our tasty bottle of 2009 Nicholson Zinfandel, Santa Clara County

welcome to David Bruce Winery

David Bruce is sort of a mystery winery, nestled in the Santa Cruz Mountains between San Jose and, you guessed it, Santa Cruz. I write “mystery” even though the WC tasting crew recently enjoyed a lovely afternoon there simply because I’m struggling to learn more about the winery and its practices for this post. For some reason, my browser won’t open their official site page, which is how I usually cobble together all the random facts that I throw into stories like this. Wikipedia is back and says fairly tersely that the place was founded by a dermatologist, David Bruce MD, in 1961, that they were one of the wineries to have a bottle of their chardonnay selected for the now famous French v. California wine tasting event in Paris in 1975 (it finished last), and that these days, they’re mostly known for pinot noir.

Well, that’s a bit dry, don’t you think?

David Bruce vineyard in winter

We dared the treacherous mountain roads to visit David Bruce because we’ve had and enjoyed numerous bottles in the past. I’ve seen the wine at local grocery stores and our great friend, John, has even been given some as corporate gifts. (That’s fabulous, isn’t it?) So we like the stuff. Plus we’re fairly unfamiliar with the Santa Cruz Mountain winery scene, so starting with something familiar sounded like a good way to go.

The winery tasting room itself was pleasant if a bit non-descript. We arrived towards the end of the day, so had the place virtually to ourselves. Two very enjoyable staff, Blake Upton and Michael Beck (I wrote their names down when we were there) helped us. What seemed particularly unusual were the wines that got poured. These were old. I mean “old” in quotations I should clarify. None of them were from the latest vintages—usually 2009s at most places right now, with some 2010s and 2011s, especially whites, making an early showing.

David Bruce tasting room

The 2004 Estate Chardonnay was particularly surprising, and delightful. In fact, they were having a promotion on their older wines. Should you buy a half case of mixed pinot noirs or their syrah/petite sirah blends from three older vintages, they’d give it away at half price and throw in a matching half case of 2003 chardonnay. Many of the other wines were half off per case. That’s quite a sale and we were perplexed. It almost made me think that they wanted to dump the wine because it was junk, though when we tasted, we liked it a lot. Blake, or maybe Michael, told us that the winery was in the process of refocusing and wanted to reduce inventory and in future produce smaller volumes. Something like that.

So it’s a good time to visit David Bruce for their super deals on unusual and exciting wines. I’m constantly hearing about the pleasures of aged California wine, and here’s your opportunity to try it without the pain of cellaring the stuff yourselves for years on end.

some really aged David Bruce

2004 Estate Chardonnay: a golden yellow with a powerful nose of peach and apricot jam, the ample and rich yellow fruit were balanced with some mineral notes, a hint of butter and a long finish. This was an amazing wine.

2007 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley: a beautiful ruby with strawberry notes, red fruit, particularly cherry, with hints of earth and tobacco, this was medium to full body.

2007 Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley: A deep red, almost purple color, we detected Spanish moss and forest floor with some red fruit. Fuller than the RRV with lots of red and purple stone fruit—think plum and cherry—it was a bit spicier with lots of mineral. Good.

2005 Pinot Noir, Santa Maria Valley, Bien Nacido Vineyard: A rusty red with truffle, barnyard and mocha notes leading to strawberries, sour cherries, and caramel, this had brisk acidity and a long finish.

2002 Estate Syrah/Petite Sirah: Opaque purple with a cherry and leathery nose, this wine was nice and dense. Full bodied with red and purple stone fruit and graphite, it had a good finish and an almost creamy texture.

Well, I’m a little out of my element here. We of the WC tasting crew braved the second annual Winter KraftBrew Beer Fest in San Jose this past weekend. Though we pride ourselves on being locavores, beer as they say, “is a whole different animal.” Frankly, I felt out of my depth.

welcome to the Winter KraftBrew Beer Fest 2012

Held at the San Jose Women’s Club, the location couldn’t have been more perfect. It’s on the same street with what looked like at least a dozen fraternities connected to San Jose State U. I was having flashbacks to my college days. As you can probably imagine, this “free” event was mobbed. We stood in line for admission for more than half an hour, followed by lines to buy tickets which you exchange for beer samples, lines for beer and lines for the limited food selection. I like people watching, so this didn’t really bother me all that much. Plus, a couple weeks ago I decided to grow a beard, so there was huge opportunity to look at various facial hair styles while waiting. Beer drinkers do seem to like whiskers.

We were part of a group of around six or eight—the numbers kept changing as people came and left. So between us we probably tried at least three dozen ales, porters and stouts. I didn’t keep close track of the tastes or the names. My first, was it the Brasserie de Saint-Sylvestre Gavrouche Biere de Garde, or did Hegui try that one? Whichever it was had the nickname “Terrible” which sounded right to me. At any rate, the young guy pouring, who happened to be sporting a crazy long blond Three Musketeers-style mustache, said it was sort of like a beer version of pinot noir. That sounded promising. And it was good: kind of grapey.

After a while they started to blend together: that’s really bitter, very chocolaty, smells like stale coffee, has no taste at all, sort of fizzy like fermented tomatoes, etc. You get the idea. I’m just not a beer person. I did like this Santa Cruz IPA though I didn’t write down the name, so will probably have trouble finding it again.

It was a gorgeous night with clear skies. The moon was this huge crescent shape and Venus was very bright. People were really schmoozing and flirting with one another. This was a kid-friendly event, which is sort of weird when you think about it, but we saw several. I was aghast to observe a very pregnant woman with one of the children. I think that she must have been the designated driver for the flushed bearded guy that was hanging around them, glass in hand. Just a guess.

They ran out of French fries, if you can believe it. Who goes to a beer fest without French fries? We ended up having pizza afterward, but with a local zinfandel instead of more of the brewed stuff. I know: I’m incorrigible.

Our Friends Wit and Amie sent us this link with pics from the site Metroactive. We show up in the in their page

We were originally turned onto Robert Young by our good friend, Ben. We went for a wine country excursion there about six or seven years ago. He recommended them as it was our first trip ever to Healdsburg and Anderson Valley and we didn’t know what to expect. Robert Young really made an impression. Sadly, we hadn’t the chance to return until the past couple months when our great friends, Karen and Veronica, visited from Reno. We had three days of Sonoma wine country, so we mixed it up with the Russian River Valley, Healdsburg area and Anderson Valley. Naturally I suggested Robert Young.

welcome to Robert Young Estate Winery

The first thing that I always notice on the curvy ride to this fine winery is its sheer beauty. I know that I’m frequently telling our readers about the loveliness of wine country, but here it isn’t hyperbole. The views of the valley, the hillside and the charming Young home are post-card perfect. Our pictures don’t do the place justice at all.

Alexander Valley view

the Young home with some gardens

The Youngs still own the winery and surrounding property. It has been in the family for five generations and has seen a number of changes: they used to produce cattle, grow wheat and even prunes before Robert Young was persuaded to plant grapes in the early sixties. It is the classic California story.
Best known for cabernet sauvignon and Bordeaux style blends, they also have a number of enchanting chardonnays—can you believe I’m even writing that?!?

The tasting room is tiny and pleasantly intimate. Since we were in a group of four, we shared the regular and the small lot tastings between us. Pat Warren, the current winemaker, Kevin Warren’s wife, was our tasting room guide. She’s a real fan and her enthusiasm was contagious.

some grapes on the vine at Robert Young

I’ll list the chards first followed by the reds:

2008 Alexander Valley Chardonnay: A transparent golden yellow with a lovely creamy texture that bordered on buttery but wasn’t quite there. Lots of yellow fruit.

2009 Alexander Valley Chardonnay: A pale transparent yellow with really nice tropical fruit and green apple notes.

2009 Area 27 Chardonnay: A pale transparent yellow with a green grape nose, this was crisp, fresh and full of delightful fruit.

2009 Barrel Select Chardonnay: More richly colored than the Area 27 with ultraripe apricot and peach, and some vanilla, this was rich and creamy with a long finish.

Robert Young merlot

Robert Young winery interior

2008 Alexander Valley Merlot: Deep red with a subtle nose, it had medium body, refined tannins.

2008 Alexander Valley Petit Verdot: This 100% Petit Verdot was a purple to black with a caramel nose, chewy tannins and a long finish. This had all the stuffing!

2008 Big Block Cabernet Franc: A dark red to purple with an exciting smoky aromatic nose full of red berries, plum with rich tannins and a good finish.

2006 Scion Cabernet Sauvignon: This is a blend of 80% cab, 10% merlot, 7% cab franc and the rest, petit verdot. Purple black in color with a V8-juice nose we detected rich fruit, mineral with a long finish. This is good drinks.

Robert Young Scion

2007 Scion Cabernet Sauvignon: Red to purple with lots of ripe red fruit, chewy tannins, this was delish.

2008 Bob’s Burn Pile Cabernet Sauvignon: 100% cab, this was a dark red to purple with eucalyptus, V8, vanilla, clove on the nose with great fruit, smooth rich supple tannins and a long finish. Mmmm.

So that’s it for our wine country excursions in 2011. It’s been a great year for us, and we hope for you, too. Can’t wait to see where we’ll visit in 2012. Happy New Year!!!

winery humor