Category Archives: Pinot Noir

What a difference a bridge makes!

2 Replies
In my endless quest for a leaner, sleeker physique, Your West Coast Oenophile twice cycled from San Francisco to Muir Beach over the recent seven day span. Nice to reconnect with the Pacific Ocean. Nice to know my legs still have enough endurance at my particular age to make the climb over the slope of Mt. Tamalpais to the flat stretch of shoreline at the foot of Muir Woods. Nice to have a healthy tan, once again, in places the sun doesn’t ordinarily shine…

Anyway, when Sunday rolled around, I felt entitled to a day of leisure. I locked up my 14-speed Trek road bike and headed over the Bay Bridge to Mayberry on the Bay, the quaint little hamlet also known as Alameda Island. Even though it is no more than a stone’s throw from Oakland, Alameda can feel worlds apart, an oasis of by-gone times where people left their doors unlocked and knew all their neighbors. Alameda’s terrain is uncommonly flat, compared with the rest of the towns encircling the Bay, and its prevalent architecture appealing yet without even a hint of modernity.

I worked on the island for a year, following the 1989 earthquake, a rather challenging commute while the Cypress Freeway remained felled. Nowadays, the roadways leading from the Bay Bridge have all been restored, while the Alameda Naval air Station has been decommissioned, two factors that have dramatically changed the landscape here. Both Rosenblum Cellars and St. George Spirits now operate out of the former Navy base, while newcomer Rock Wall’s facilities has recently opened nearby. But what drew me over on Sunday was an eclectic gathering billed as EcoLuxe: Lifestyles of the Green and Fabulous.

A modern, state-of-the-art, sustainable building would probably contrast rather jarringly amid the stately and dilapidated Queen Anne Victorians that dot the residential part of Alameda. The new home EcoLuxe was featuring was actually set on the back corner of a subdivided lot, barely visible from the street, not unlike the carriage houses one finds at some of the grander mansions here in San Francisco. I found myself circling the block two or three times before I realized I was actually at the correct address. Upon arriving, I was effusively greeted by Jerusha Stewart, hostess for this event and self-promoting proprietress of The Last Single Girl in the World.

I am told that Jerusha puts on events—extravaganzas, actually—populated by some of the most beautiful women in the Bay Area. Soon, I may have to find out. This event, however, was more of a low-key affair.
A nice affair, actually. There was a very nice photo exhibit in the garage area. Success the Smart Way offered an array of green cleaning products, along with a raffle for a basket of goodies. Out back, the team from Garden Fare showcased the diverse edible garden they had planted around the perimeter of the patio, offering some of the largest (pomelo-sized!) onions known to mankind. All in all (as I’m sure fans of the old Andy Griffith Show would concur), Aunt Bee would have approved,

Upstairs, noted vegan soul food chef and cookbook author Bryant Terry prepared an organic gazpacho from heirloom tomatoes. Though I am not one to relish the constraints of vegan cooking (no mozzarella?), I have to admit this cold soup was quite refreshing on a warm summer afternoon. Of course, the house itself was quite temperate, having been designed with meticulous attention to green details, including a 2.45kW Rated Solar Energy System, High Efficiency (92%) Heating with heat recovery ventilation, and passive design for natural lighting and ventilation. Architect Sinan Sabuncuoglu employed a host of recycled materials in his building, with liberal use of bamboo and cork flooring, reclaimed Caeserstone countertops and durable Trex decking material forged from reclaimed wood and plastic. In vogue everywhere beyond the expanse of greater Mt. Pilot, highly-efficient recycled cotton denim furnished non-toxic insulation throughout the house.


Back in the 1960s, Aunt Bee would likely have put the kibosh on alcoholbeingserved at an afternoon gathering, but in these modern times, Sostevinobile was pleased to find dedicated sustainable wine producer Bouchaine supplying the libationsAgain, the chilled 2008 Rosé of Syrah was a perfect “grab a few rays on the sun deck” refresher. The 2006 Chardonnay was also quite welcome outside, while the 2006 Pinot Noir seemed to blend nicely with the ambience of the living room. If I had to offer a criticism of this trio, however, it was that none of them truly stood out, seeming rather competent than enticing. In an odd sort of symmetry, this spec house, too, seemed a tad ordinarily, despite all its environmental bells and whistles. Given its setting, sharing a lot with a more dominant front house, it seemed to lack the kind of easy, airy spaciousness that one usually associates with a green environment. Still, I applaud the motivation and efforts of both winemaker and builder alike.

Hostess Jerusha announced that this party was her swan song, for the time being, as she was relocating to sweltering Phoenix sometime this week. I bade my farewells and zigzagged my way across Oakland to inspect the much-heralded Camino, a veritable temple for the farm-to-table movement. Even Camino’s æsthetic, with a complete absence of common spirit brands and a wealth house-made ingredients derived from seasonal produce and herbs. And, of course, to my eternal consternation, every single wine of Camino’s list is imported!
I know I ought to be grateful that such contradictions are providing the niche upon which Sostevinobile is founded, but I felt compelled to express my incredulity. I treated myself to a cocktail made with brandy and vermouth, infused with the house-made bitters and tapped out a few note on my iPhone before heading around the corner for the debut of Lake Chalet.
The folks from San Francisco’s Beach Chalet, a venerable institution they have modernized as a brewpub since its fall into disrepair in the late 1980s, have taken on the remodel of this facility on Oakland’s Lake Merritt. There’s still a few finishing touches that remain, but when all is complete, the three sections of this enormous waterfront complex will hold over 400 seats! the place is beautiful, of course, even spectacular, with its sweeping vistas over the water and dominant position along what is arguably Oakland’s most beautiful landmark. I just don’t see how they can make a go of it.
Driving to the Lake Chalet is a challenge. One-way streets make accessing the restaurant a somewhat arduous proposition, often requiring a loop around several blocks in search of parking. A water approach is a whole other story. Unlike waterfront bars one finds in Berkeley or Tiburon or even along San Francisco’s Embarcadero, the Lake Chalet sits atop an artificial lake that offers no ingress from the San Francisco Bay for any kind of sail or motor boat. Nautical enthusiasts can only dock alongside the restaurant if they are launching from somewhere along Lake Merritt. Filling even a major fraction of the seats here on a regular basis will be an enormous challenge (as a comparison, the recently-closed Pres a Vi in The Presidio also offered an unparalleled setting, a well-respected parent operation, ingress from both San Francisco and Marin, yet never came close to filling their 325 seats during their barely two years of operations).
My visit to the Lake Chalet was brief; my urge to cross the bridge back to the West Bay quickly overcame me. I’ll return someday soon, to be sure. After all, with another birthday on the horizon, I need to come up with a place the Gingko Girl can take me.

Hinduism had damn well better be wrong!

Leave a reply

This isn’t part of my incessant rant against those infuriating outsourced call centers whose mangling of even the most basic tenets of conversational English (“how might I best facilitate the rectification of your importuned perturbance most congruently Mr. Marc?”) manages to elicit threats annihilating Bangalore from this foresworn pacifist. Rather, I speak of their—one would certainly hope—erroneous concept of reincarnation, where even a minor malfeasance could condemn a poor soul to enduring a subsequent lifecycle as an aardvark or some scatophagous species like a housefly.
If there really is reincarnation, I want to come back as Jamaican or a Caribbean Islander. Not because I find the accent so appealing. Nor is it necessarily the allure of a tropical climate or the island cuisine that is primarily focused on fresh fruit and seafood. And rest assured, Your West Coast Oenophile is not secretly harboring a desire to switch from wine to rum. Or ganja. No, in my next life, I simply want to be a professional steel drum player.
Wafts of reggae fusion filled the lawn at the Oakland Ferry terminal Saturday afternoon as the East Bay Vintners Alliance staged their fourth annual Urban Wine Experience. For a moment, it almost seemed that UB40 was entertaining the crowd, but the sound belonged entirely to Bay Area Caribbean stars Pan Extasy, with their star percussionist, Ashton Craig. To call Craig a virtuoso on the steel drum is an understatement—his tantalizing arrangements of The Temptations’ Just My Imagination and Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl to reggae standards like No Woman, No Cry and I Can See Clearly Now provided the perfect backdrop to these sun-drenched festivities.
I was in attendance on behalf of Sostevinobile and, of course, to taste the wines that an eclectic collection of 16 East Bay vintners exhibited. The organizers of this event smartly paired each of the wineries with an individual food purveyor from the East Bay, as well, and I would be remiss in not recognizing the contributions of Adagia Restaurant, Angela’s Bistro, Asena Restaurant, Bellanico, Bucci, C’era Una Volta (a return visit from June’s Golden Glass), Culina, E-22 Café, Fabrique Délices, Levende East, the resurrected Miss Pearl’s Jam House, Pappo, Savory Cook Special Event Catering, Whole Foods, and—truly the last word in culinary circles—Zza’s Trattoria, Enoteca & Catering. As readers might expect, the abundance of Italian cuisine was hardly a disappointment. Various duck dishes seemed to abound, as well; a portent of which may well have been the huge gaggle of 60+ waterfowl I espied as I drove into Oakland, huddled together on nearby Coast Guard Island as if in complete trepidation of what lay ahead down the road.
As I had at P.S. I Love You, I started the tasting with Rock Wall, eager to sample what they were producing beyond Petite Sirah. Though young, I found their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley showed great promise. Standout for me, though, was their 2007 Zinfandel Sonoma County, which I felt exceeded the Reserve version they were also pouring. Over at the next table, parent winery Rosenblum Cellars filled in for the regrettably absent Stage Left Cellars. Frankly, if they would always pour their 2007 Rockpile Zinfandel, I’d be happy to let them substitute for any winery they wished!
Rosenblum also poured their 2007 Fess Parker Roussanne. I generally find Roussanne preferable to Marsanne, except in the case of Alameda’s groundbreaking winery, where the latter varietal has always outshone the former (this afternoon proved no exception). Ironically, Rosenblum’s former winemaker, Jeff Cohn’s JC Cellars poured their 2007 Preston Vineyards Marsanne, alongside an excellent catfish entrée from Miss Pearl’s Jam House; I found it slightly wanting compared to his previous efforts, but satisfying nonetheless. Better exemplifying his skills was the 2007 Smoke & Mirrors, a Syrah balanced out 9% Petite Sirah and 6% Zinfandel. Quite a satisfying wine! At the next table, Rob Lynch’s Irish Monkey can best be described as a quixotic operation with some notable offerings. Their chilled 2008 Chardonnay Davis was most welcome in the 85°F heat, while their 2006 Syrah Lovall Valley was noteworthy in it own right. As instructed, I washed down C’era Una Volta’s creamy polenta plate with the 2006 Sangiovese Amador—indeed, it was splendid.
Valdiguié is not the most complex varietal, despite its tongue-twisting morphology; still, it readily adapts to a blush expression (again, quite welcome on a sweltering afternoon). I chilled down with Urbano Cellars’ version, their 2008 Vin Rosé, Green Valley and also found myself grateful for their 2006 Petit Verdot, Lodi. Unfortunately, their next door neighbor, Urban Legend, had promised to bring a tantalizing selection of Sangiovese, Teroldego, and Nebbiolo, but only mustered a premature sample of their unreleased Barbera. Allora!
A number of familiar faces were pouring this afternoon. Oakland standout Dashe Cellars brought an exceptional 2007 Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley and 2008 Vin Gris, Dry Creek Valley (a blend of 40% Grenache, 30% Zinfandel and 30% Petite Sirah) to match. I also enjoyed their 2007 Dry Riesling, McFadden Farms Potter Valley. French-affiliated Aubin Cellars offered a fetching pair of Pinots from their Verve Label, the 2007 Pinot Noir Monterey Old Vines and the 2006 Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast—I forget which I preferred!
Even if Eno Wines was substandard, it would still be a pleasure to see Sasha Verhage and his wife Kiara. Nonetheless, their 2006 Yes Dear (Grenache, Eaglepoint Ranch), 2006 Acre of Happiness (Zinfandel, Teldeschi) and 2006 In Your Own Time (Syrah, Las Madres) all stood out as exemplary. I’ve also long enjoyed the wines from R & B Cellars, though I had yet to make the acquaintance of Kevin Brown before this afternoon. Ironically, none of their musically-themed labels (Swingville, Zydeco, Serenade) echoed the diverse selection (socca, reggae, calypso, Caribbean Jazz) that Pan Extasy included in its repertoire, which may account for why I was extremely partial to his 2004 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and am eagerly awaiting the 2005 version.
This penchant for quaint names extended to Prospect 772, perhaps my favorite discovery of the afternoon. Along with some intriguing offerings from Bucci’s in Emeryville, including a shaved fennel cold dish, I reveled in their 2008 Baby Doll Dry Rosé, the self-styled pugnacious 2006 The Brawler (a Syrah tempered with 4% Viognier) and their standout 2006 The Brat (a 80% Grenache/20% Syrah blend). Another newcomer, Andrew Lane, blended Syrah, Zinfandel and Valdiguié to make their 2007 Andrew Lane Rosso Napa Valley. More distinctive, however, was their 2005 Andrew Lane Merlot and their multi-vintage Gamay Noir Four Vineyards Napa Valley.
On the food side of things, the Urban Wine Experience began with a Duck Paté and finished with a Duck Confit. This latter concoction paired up admirably with the 2005 Troubadour Paso Robles, an equal blend of Grenache and Petite Syrah from Tayerle. Though not listed on the program, they also poured their just-released 2006 Sun King, a Bordeaux-style red blended from Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Of course, I managed to save some room for dessert, which consisted of pure liquid delight in the form of Mango Wine and Persimmon Wine from Adams Point.
On my way out, I held the iPhone up to Pan Extasy’s bandstand, so the Ginkgo Girl could hear a portion of what she had missed. It would be a shame if she misses any more of these gatherings. Nicely tanned and filled with both good wine and good duck, I strolled through Jack London Square and quiet soberly made my way back to San Francisco (after all, it would have been a shame to meet my end after such an enjoyable afternoon).
I still sometimes think the world is merely a figment of my imagination and therefore feel compelled to remain alive forever. But if I do go and reappear, I had better not downgrade to mallard the next time around. Human (or better) is a must, and if I am not gifted with an uncanny ear for melody, an intuitive sense of rhythm, and agile hands that can hammer out an intoxicating Calypso melody across the gleaming metal surface of a kettle drum, then at least let me come back as tall as fellow locavore pioneer and Caribbean rum authority Thad Vogler!

My Big Green Weekend

Leave a reply

Confession: it’s been a while since Your West Coast Oenophile has honed in the sustainable component of Sostevinobile. All things in due course, so they say, and my focus on putting together such a comprehensive wine program must remain the paramount focus of my efforts (oh, and then there’s the not inconsiderable demands of sourcing the financing needed to power our proverbial environmentally-friendly engine). Nonetheless, my sojourn this past weekend introduced me to an array of sustainable ventures and innovations encircling the San Francisco Bay.

I finally made the trek Saturday to the new Berkeley Bowl West, a paean to both sustainable food and environmental design, with its 140,000 sq. ft. solar-powered facility. There’s a decidedly different dynamic to this outpost, though hard to tell whether it’s just the newness of the site (technically, they’re still celebrating their Grand Opening) or whether something different is indeed underway. The new store seems almost minimalist in comparison with its parent location—not in terms of its selection of fresh produce, which remains quite vast, but in its sense of layout and decor. The new store is clean and linear, whereas the old store seems cluttered and funky.

Described by its architects as “a one-of-a-kind, green, environmentally friendly, and sustainable marketplace”, the former feels like a showcase for green architecture;the latter, an elaborate indoor farmer’s market. The clientele at Berkeley Bowl West looked notably different; still in time, perhaps, a more tie-dyed æsthetic will emerge. Also absent, in a most welcome sense, were the interminable checkout lines that inundate the Oregon Street facility.
The solar rooftop panels at Berkeley Bowl West are expected to generate 149,633 kWh—the equivalent of 179,560 lbs. in carbon dioxide emissions—every year. Amidst the illumination provided by this renewable energy, I made my perfunctory inspection, sampled a few of the freebies, snuck a sun-dried tomato slice from the bulk bins, then wandered across the courtyard to its adjacent satellite, the Berkeley Bowl Cafe, where I actually purchased a ginger ale and cookie to sustain me on the drive up to Carneros (I find comfort food a welcome deviation when the Ginkgo Girl is out of sorts).
I used to drive to Napa via the East Bay quite a bit in the 1980s, so I could look in on the grandmother of a friend who had returned to the East Coast for graduate studies. Since her passing, I’ve tended to head over the Golden Gate Bridge and cross over from Sonoma, which seems less industrial and CHP-prone. No matter what, I made the trek in ample time to arrive midway through the inauguration of Cuvaison’s green tasting room at its Carneros Estate Vineyard.
This new facility was designed by San Francisco architect Douglas Thornley, this pristine structure, along with its companion office space, is again decidedly minimalist in its approach and features a wide array of energy saving technologies, including denim insulation. The design of the tasting room takes maximum advantage of its elevated perch looking out onto the Carneros Valley. It is a vista few wineries can rival.
Cuvaison Estate Wines is a certified Napa Green Winery, both here and at its Calistoga facility, with 1,428 solar panels that generate up to 252kW at the Carneros winery. Its environmental practices focus on Winery Water Conservation and Quality, Soil Management, Solid Waste Reduction and Management, Energy Efficiency and, of course, Wine Quality. With ample helpings of dim sum (what? no potato plastic utensils?) provided by San Francisco’s Yank Sing, I managed to sample five of their current releases. Greeters poured each guest the 2008 Vin Gris of Pinot Noir as they signed in—given the heat of the afternoon, this splendid Rosé almost seemed a necessity. I followed this introduction with a taste of their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, an unpretentious expression of this varietal that had extracted any hint of grassiness. The 2007 Chardonnay Carneros was clean and straight-forward. Similarly, Cuvaison’s 2007 Pinot Noir Carneros and 2007 Syrah Carneros seemed to straddle a mid-point between food-focused wine and the kind of vintage one tends to quaff simply for its inherent pleasure. I told winemaker Steve Rogstad I found these wines “restrained” in their presentation and structure; he seemed immensely pleased.
The views beyond Cuvaison’s terrace, as well as those alongside it, made it hard to pry myself away from these festivities, but I was obliged to trek onward to the quiet Sonoma hamlet of Sebastopol in order to inspect the new operations of Pizza Vino 707. Owner and fellow Hotchkiss survivor Stephen Singer is perhaps best known for developing the wine program at Chez Panisse; ironically, the Eurocentricity of this program amid Chez Panisse’s pioneering S.O.L.E. (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) food commitment provided my impetus for developing Sostevinobile. Stephen produces a remarkably restrained Syrah under his own Baker Lane label, also in Sebastopol. The ostensible purpose of my visit was to taste the Baker Lane Pinot Noir, but the restaurant has yet to stock these wines or the other local vintages they plan to feature, so I held my visit to exchanging a few pleasantries before returning to San Francisco.
On my way home, however, I became sidetracked by the festivities at Sebastopol’s 75-year-old Enmanji Buddhist Temple. Obon Oduri can best be described as Zen line dancing (thankfully without the cloying strains of Billy Ray Cyrus’ Achy Breaky Heart). I couldn’t help but sit along the sidelines and spectate as the ring of kimono-clad women and men in varying degrees of Western attire traipsed around the makeshift platform, waving lotus-shaped fans as they sauntered by.
Zen is, of course, the Japanese expression of Buddhism spiritually akin to the tenets of the sustainability movement, but is frequently coöpted by alternative practitioners here in the western United States. I could not help but marvel at the seeming anomaly of Asian congregants at Enmanji—an oxymoron to those who have ever attended zazen at the Green Gulch zendo in Muir Beach. Nonetheless, to a casual observer, Enmanji seems little different than any other mainstream American parish, with its temple, Sunday school classes, ample parking lot, and combined meeting hall/gymnasium.
Several years ago, I worked up a comedy routine about being the only white student at a Buddhist parochial school, St. Siddhartha’s, where I starred on the senior high basketball squad, the Flaming Monks. Towering above the rest of my classmates at a lofty 5’7″, I was Russell, I was Chamberlain, I was Kareem! (Many years later, I found myself having similar fantasies as I gazed upon a roomful of the tops of heads as I mingled among the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, but this remains fodder for a later blog entry).
In all seriousness, the celebration at Enmanji was a delightful event I felt privileged to have a chance to witness it. Happy to find so many kindred spirits in this remote sector of Sonoma County, I treated myself to an oversized cupcake and commemorative fan before heading back to San Francisco. Along the way, I stopped in Mill Valley to fill my car up with gas and myself with a well-deserved shot of grappa at Piazza D’Angelo before heading across the Golden Gate Bridge.
 

Summer weather in San Francisco can be remarkably fickle. After a gloriously warm day on Saturday, I envisioned rising Sunday morning and cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge for some much-needed solar rejuvenation on the sands of Muir Beach. With a pristine tan invigorating every square centimeter of my dermis, I then planned to ride into Cow Hollow and join

my fellow Dartmouth alums in greeting the Big Green Bus at the San Francisco stop along its nationwide tour. A dense fog and high winds, however, curtailed my trek as I rode through the Presidio; with pale complexion and only minimal expenditure of energy, I rolled downhill and joined the gathering at Perry’s on Union Street.
The tonic of my (would-be) athleticism was countered by the sobering revelation of discovering several offspring of my coevals, now undergraduates at the College, in attendance. Still, we managed to bond as contemporaries in our common zeal for sustainability. Since 2005, 15 students have dedicated themselves each summer to manning a 1989 MCI coach modified to run on reclaimed biodiesel fuel and crisscrossing the continent in this working laboratory for alternative energy and sustainable living practices. With solar panels , deep cycle batteries, a 4000-watt Xantrex XW series inverter, bamboo flooring from EcoTimber and computer cases forged from recycled PET plastic bottles, it is commendable endeavor.
Amid the festivities and comradery, I offered to treat one of the young volunteers to a glass of wine. She ordered a Malbec from (shudder!) Argentina. Oh well! Perhaps in 2010, Sostevinobile will be able to host this annual gathering and share our insights into sustainable viticultural practices with these laudable trailblazers from the Big Green!

PINOTPHILIA!

2 Replies

Pinot Noir double-entendres have long abounded. Any day now, I half-expect Fred Franzia (or one of his relatives) to come out with a low-end “expression” of the varietal and call it SubPinot. If there were clever marketers in South America, they might come out with Pinot Che, a joint Bolivian-Chilean (shades of Vin Mariani?) effort. Pinot Envy might be a tad facile, but has been used numerous times over the years, so I’m not sure who can lay claim to originating it. The clever folks at Paul Mathew Vineyards push the envelope a bit further—maybe quite a bit further—with their slogan Let Me Put My Pinot in Your Mouth! I am more than happy to pay homage to such deft mastery.
Still, I cannot extricate myself from this thread before extolling my own foray into the esoteric and alliterative practice of Pinot punning. Not long after ATF withheld label approval for my George Herbert Walker Blush—A Kinder, Gentler Wine, I again approached Pat Paulsen with a surefire way to save his winery from being padlocked by the IRS. The concept was utterly straightforward. After 25 years of futilely pursuing the White House, Pat was to hold a news conference announcing that he was giving up politics and assuming the mantle of junk bond king from disgraced financier Mike Milken, who had just pled guilty to six charges of securities fraud and reporting violations (out of an indictment of 98 charges of fraud and racketeering). Following his announcement, he would open an office on Wilshire Blvd. called Paulsen Burnem Baad, which would offer the most worthless junk bonds ever issued. However, foreshadowing the emergence of Wine Clubs that nearly every winery now offers, these bonds would yield their bearers four shipments a year of wine from Château Lompoc, also known as The Wine Served Behind the Finest Bars in America. Each of our four wines would feature a series of twelve scenic labels: Pat playing tennis with the warden at Club Fed, etc. We planned to offer two generics: White Collar Crime and Caught Red Handed, as well as a pair of evocatively-named varietals: Chino Pardonnay, and, of course, Penal Noir.
Pat’s business sensibilities were not as acute as his comic timing. By the time he finally decided to move forward on this idea, the IRS had seized his winery and taken the keys to Asti’s City Hall (having purchased the entire town, Paulsen had declared himself mayor by sheer fiat). Alas, Château Lompoc turned out to be the last direct foray into the wine industry Your West Coast Oenophile attempted until launching Sostevinobile.
I suppose there might be a moral to this story, but, for now, it eludes me. And so it was with great pleasure that I managed, for yet another year, to elude the Gomorrahist gala known as the Pride Parade to undertake the formidable task of handicapping the Pinot Days Grand Tasting last Sunday. With the Ginkgo Girl off on some personal quest, I managed to rise well in advance of the noontime whistle and headed straight from my coffee and morning ablutions to the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason. Though focused on but a single varietal (albeit surreptitiously joined by its Burgundian cohort, as well as a handful of Syrahs), the Tasting managed to exude a distinctly heterogeneous feel, with a panoply of over 200 wineries pouring Pinot Noir and sparkling derivatives from California and Oregon. 

Judging by the turnout, the promoters of this annual event had every reason to feel gay—I mean, elated. Unlike the noticeably sparser attendance at Rhône Ranger and ZAP this past year, the crowd flocked to Pinot Days in full force. If only this were a harbinger for the economy as a whole! Their fortuitousness, however, became my challenge, and within moments of my arrival, I realized there was no possible way to cover every one of the wineries on hand. 

Of course, I might have visited more of the attendees, had I not gotten caught up in a handful of conversations with long-standing acquaintances in the trade (my apologies to the promoters of Pinot Days, but if these talks turn into much-needed funding for Sostevinobile, we’ll all be better off for it). Bill Canihan, arguably the leading vintner in San Francisco’s Marina District, sampled his wonderful 2006 Canihan Wines Pinot Noir and snuck in a taste of his highly regarded 2006 Exuberance Syrah while we caught up on a wide range of wine happenings. Across the aisle, I reacquainted myself with the folks from Olson Ogden, whose 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir matched the show-stopping Pinot with which I was introduced to them three years ago. To their left, another old familiar, Orsi Papale featured a rich 2006 Russian River Pinot Noir. On their other side, I met Joe and Mary Toboni, the husband-wife team behind Oakwild Ranch, as well as their eponymous vineyard that supplies Pinot Grapes to several other Sonoma ventures. A sample of their 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir showed why their grapes are so highly prized by others.
Oakwild Ranch is listed as a San Francisco-based venture with a decidedly Sonoma name; Russian Hill Estate is a Sonoma venture with an ambiguously San Francisco name. I found no confusion, however, in delighting in their 2007 Russian River Pinot Noir and its compatriot 2007 Russian Hill Estate Pinot Noir. Also from Sonoma, acclaimed winemaker Don Van Staaveren showed his considerable prowess with the 2005 Sand Hill Pinot Noir, Durell Vineyard that made me wish I had had enough time to retaste his Three Sticks wines
This time, I did not miss his Eighth Street East neighbor Talisman Cellars, with their splendid 2005 Hawk Hill Vineyard Russian River Pinot Noir. Equally pleasing was the 2007 Longbow Pinot Noir from Arista Winery. Nearby in Santa Rosa, BATON Wines produced a formidable 2007 Laguna Ridge Pinot Noir while Benovia Winery produced a more modestly named 2007 Sonoma Pinot Noir. Normally, I’d have been a bit wary of a winery that lists, as its address, that capital of colorless conformity, but San Jose’s Coterie Cellars came through admirably with both their 2007 Fairview Pinot Noir and 2007 Saralee’s Vineyard Pinot Noir. Also hailing from an urban locale, Furthermore Vineyards offer a 2006 Pinot Noir, Bohemian Vineyard, Russian River Valley that attracted considerable fanfare.
Once again, I became entangled in a long conversation with fellow Dartmouth alum Andy Peay while sampling his always remarkable 2007 Estate Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast. This mired me for quite a while amid the P’s, where the aforementioned Paul Mathew Vineyards showed their wine pedigree with their 2006 Paul Mathew Pinot Noir TnT Vineyard. From Carmel Valley, Pelerin Wines may have lacked business cards but more than compensated with a trio of Pinots: 2006 Cuvée St. Vincent, 2007 Rosella’s, and a wonderful 2007 Santa Lucia Highlands. I’m debating whether Sostevinobile can properly included the geographic anomaly of Périple, an Idaho winery that sources its grapes from California and ferments them here before bottling in Boise (talk about a carbon footprint!), but 2007 Russian River Valley-Pinot Noir Inman Olivet showed little ill effect from the long journey through the Grand Tetons. A more environmentally-friendly trek brought Point Concepcion’s 2007 Cargasacchi Vineyard Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills to Fort Mason, and it proved a fortuitous discovery.
The sweltering heat of the afternoon made the 2008 Ramona Rosé of Pinot Noir from Nicholson Ranch a refreshing relief; its companion 2007 Pinot Noir Sonoma Valley Estate proved no slackard, either. I suspect that Kastania Vineyards derived its name from an Anglicized version of the original, and I suggested that a castagna (chestnut) might be a more fitting emblem than the gufo (owl) they currently employ. Nonetheless, their 2006 Kastania Pinot Noir, Estate Proprietor’s Reserve proved overwhelmingly true to its name. Nearby, the 2007 Pinot Noir Sleepy Hollow Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands from hope & grace displayed as big a wine as its gargantuan name. Sadly, I had time for just one more winery, but I closed out the tasting on a definite high note with Hirsch Vineyard, whose 2007 M Pinot Noir and justly acclaimed 2006 Hirsch Vineyard Pinot Noir proved well worth the wait.
If there was any downside to this year’s Pinot Days, it was the relative paucity of Oregon wineries in attendance. Of course, it is always welcome to see Domaine Serene at any gathering, but with only 5 or 6 other wineries making the trek from north of our state border, one still must surmise that the weakened economy is taking its toll. Notably absent on this day was Styring Vineyards, who nonetheless furnished the event with an evocatively sensual video. The all-too-oft-quoted Miles Raymond could not have put it to word any better, nor could my own alliterative phraseology and innuendos have composed such an ultimate paean to heterosexuality as The Passion of Pinot.

Eccolà, Slow Food! Noi Californiani make SUSTAINABLE wines, too!!

1 Reply

Colleen was a girl of certain type—but she wasn’t. Well into her mid-twenties, she still looked like she retained her baby fat, giving her a soft, slightly roundish appeal. On the surface, she had a complete lack of pretense or guile, perhaps even an aura of naïveté. She wore her hair long, parted in the middle and without any concession to fashion or style; her attire, if memory serve correct, was generally a pair of denim overalls with a plain or calico shirt underneath. She was exactly the kind of girl you wanted to take on a picnic somewhere in a secreted mountain meadow, then make love on a blanket until the sun went down.

At the tender age of 17, Colleen firebombed a McDonald’s. In the stealth of the night, she tossed a Molotov cocktail into a new franchise under construction in Washington, DC and burned it to the ground. She was never caught and the McDonald’s never rebuilt. Leslie Bacon ought to have struck with such surgical precision.

 

Today, Colleen would find a kindred spirit, albeit less prone toward literal conflagration, in Carlo Petrini. Petrini, revered worldwide as the founder of the International Slow Food Movement, first came to prominence in the 1980s for taking part in a campaign against the fast food chain McDonald’s opening near the Spanish Steps in Rome.

Originally, Petrini started out contributing culinary articles(!) to Italy’s Communist daily newspapers Il Manifesto and l’Unità (anyone know who their sports columnist was?). He has edited multiple publications at publishing house Slow Food Editore and writes several weekly columns for La Stampa. In 2004, he founded the University of Gastronomic Sciences, a school bridging the gap between agriculture and gastronomy.

The Slow Food Movement has spread across the Atlantic to North America, where is has found a most zealous advocate in Berkeley’s Alice Waters. Last year, Waters was instrumental in bringing Slow Food Nation 2008 to San Francisco, a highly-

publicized gathering that drew 85,000 enthusiasts to venues in Fort Mason and at the Civic Center, where the plaza was turned into a working Victory Garden that produced over 1,000 lbs. of organic food during its 4-month tenure.

Since 2003, Slow Food San Francisco has sponsored the Golden Glass, a celebration of food and wine that adheres to the principles of the Slow Food Nation. The recent 6th Annual Festival in Fort Mason was its grandest yet. Given the roots of this movement, it should come as no surprise that the focus of the festival was predominantly Italian, with numerous local favorites, including A16, Perbacco, È Tutto Qua, Bacco, Pizzeria Delfina, Poggio, C’era Una Volta, Emporio Rulli, Acquerello, and Trattoria Corso purveying their fare. Local Italian food artisans included Caffè del Doge, Fra’ Mani Salumi, Fresca Italia, Massimo Gelato and Stella Cadente Olive Oil.
The Golden Glass, as the name suggests, also presented an opportunity to sample an enormous selection of wines, again focused on Italian vintages. And herein lies the rub. If Slow Food is dedicated to the preservation of sustainably-operated, local farming, why was this convergence so focused on imported wines (the dozen wineries that did participate represented the first time The Golden Glass has even included California)?
Not that Italian wines don’t have their well-deserved place. After all, I know of no one on the West Coast who grows Fumin or Negroamaro or Grecante, to name but a few varietals, or who even attempt to make a straw wine (passito) like Cornarea’s Tarasco 2005. It has been well-documented, in this blog and elsewhere, that local efforts to produce Italian varietals have had to retrench considerably and are justing to make a revival. But if the true focus of Slow Food Nation—and, by extension, The Golden Glass—is to promote local, sustainable agriculture, then the vast array of wineries in this area that implicitly adhere to their manifesto ought to be the backbone of this tasting (this is, after all, the foundation on which Sostevinobile is building our wine program).
Of the West Coast wineries that did participate, several did display their efforts with Italian varietals. Iberian varietal specialist Bodega del Sur brought their 2006 Sangiovese to contrast with their 2006 Tempranillo and 2008 Verdelho. Berkeley’s Broc Cellars showed their 2006 Luna Matta Sangiovese, along with a 2007 Cassia Grenache that stakes their claim to fame. Ever ubiquitous, Bonny Doon’s Randall Grahm surprised with his 2005 Ca’ del Solo Nebbiolo, a notably worthy expression of this varietal. On the other hand, it was no anomaly that Girasole Vineyards had a 2006 Sangiovese, and restaurateur Lorenzo Petroni premiered his eponymous label with his remarkable 2004 Brunello di Sonoma Poggio alla Pietra and a Super Tuscan style 2006 Rosso di Sonoma.
I had tasted the wines of Verge Wine Cellars but two nights earlier at A Community Affair, but was pleased to resample his 2007 Syrah Dry Creek Valley. Pey-Marin had poured their Pinot Noir the week before at the MALT tasting in Larkspur, but this time accompanied it with a refreshing 2008 The Shell Mound Riesling. Magnanimus Wines distributes organic and biodynamic wines from Mendocino County; I particularly liked Ukiah Cellars 2008 Chardonnay Mendocino and Mendocino Farms 2007 Grenache. From Hollister, Alicats brought a notable 2006 Syrah Gimelli Vineyard, while Sonoma’s Nalle Winery shone with their 2006 Pinot Noir Hopkins Ranch. Edmunds St. John, to whose philosophically-strewn newsletter I have long subscribed, showed the kind of consistency with their 2005 Syrah Wylie Fenaughty I have come to expect from their vintages, while Clos Saron from Oregon House displayed the versatility of the Sierra Nevada Foothills 2007 Pinot Noir Home Vineyard.
The Golden Glass has always been a marvelous event, and Your West Coast Oenophile looks forward to a long, enduring relationship between their parent Slow Food San Francisco and Sostevinobile. This year’s festival was a wonderful opportunity for me and the Ginkgo Girl to catch up with so many restaurants that have come to love us and to share in this most vital advocacy. We are looking forward to an even grander Golden Glass in 2010, with the anticipation of its increased outreach to the rich abundance sustainably -grown wines from California, Oregon and Washington.

Bambi & Thumper

Leave a reply

1991. The Year of the Palindrome (as was 2002). Too long past now to attribute as a “few years back.” It was a cold, drizzly November evening, with the sun setting by 5 p.m. The perfect kind of evening for drinks inside the fireplace at the Pelican Inn. The perfect kind of first date setting that ends in “how do you take your coffee?”
My date had moved West from Indiana only a few weeks before. I think this may have been her first trip to Marin. As we began the climb up Panoramic towards Muir Beach, she took my hand in a premature but not unappreciated sign of affection. It all seemed to be going swimmingly until—WHACK! A young deer darted out in front of my Tercel and went sprawling across the highway. By the time I stopped the car and got out to look, the deer had picked itself up and had darted off, easily as shaken as I was. After inspecting the grill and finding no appreciable damage, save an infusion of deer hairs it took a month to fully clear out, I returned to the wheel and headed back toward our destination. Around the next bend, a sizable jackrabbit ran out in front of my car, again forcing me to jam on the brakes and nearly swerve off the road. “Great,” I thought to myself. “I’ve been with this girl for less than an hour and already I’ve very nearly killed both Bambi and Thumper!”

Fast-forward to June 2009. This past weekend, I found myself once again pedaling from San Francisco to Larkspur for a return to the 2009 Marin County Pinot Noir Celebration. This annual tasting benefits the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT), a most worthy preservation project that has safeguarded over 40,000 acres of West Marin farmland for perpetuity, and features the growing roster of wineries producing Pinot Noir below Sonoma County. As it has been every year, the array of Pinots has been wide and consistently quite

good, from well-regarded stalwarts like Dutton-Goldfield and Pey-Marin to boutique operations like Precedent Wines and Miller Wine Works. But the star of this event has to be its succulent barbecue, generously supplied by the Point Reyes Vineyard Inn and Devil’s Gulch Ranch, featuring our

aforementioned Disney friends in the guise of Rabbit Sausage and Barbecued Venison! Let it be known that Your West Coast Oenophile is generally not long on sentimentality!

The 15-mile trek from Pacific Heights to the Historic Escalle Winery in Larkspur does much to stimulate one’s appetite, and let’s be honest, a heaping helping of savory grilled forest fare demands that a good Pinot Noir be lustily imbibed, not tepidly swilled and spat. But with the tasting running uncommonly until 7 p.m., there seemed plenty of time to work through the 16 wineries pouring their expression of the fickle Pinot grape.
In general, I was a bit surprised in the contrast between these wines and the Pinots I had recently tasted at Larkspur’s Sideways tasting. At the May event, each of the wineries showed decidedly better with their 2007 vintage than with their 2006. Here, the converse held true for those wineries who had comparable selections. An interesting anomaly I have yet to fathom.
Being an inveterate Classicist, I beelined over to the far corner where Sean Thackrey was pouring his 2006 Andromeda, a pure expression of Pinot Noir that contrasts with the intricate, esoteric blends like his noted Pleiades XVI, a mélange of Syrah, Sangiovese, Mourvèdre, Barbera, Carignane, Petite Sirah and Viognier, among myriad others. A man who culls many of his winemaking techniques from ancient Hellenic transcripts, he and I will have to discuss Aristophanes’ peroration from Πλάτωνος Συμποσίον the next time we encounter.
The winemaking community in Marin being a small, tight circle, it was not unexpected that I would encounter several of the producers I had met at previous festivals. David Vergari continues to refine his style, as exemplified in both the 2006 Marin County Pinot Noir and its 2007 successor that he poured. That ever-ebullient raconteur Mac McDonald, disappointingly, was off at another engagement, but the  2007 Chileno Valley Marin County Pinot Noir from his Vision Cellars was still splendid despite his absence.
Even though angioplasty’s efficacy is currently being challenged in some medical circles, the wines of patent-holder Dr. Thomas Fogarty (and, presumedly, his residuals) remain undiminished; his 2006 Corda Family Vineyards, Marin County Pinot Noir easily testified too this endurance. His assistant winemaker, Nathan Kindler, also debuted his own venture, Precedent Vineyards, with a noteworthy 2006 Pinot Noir, Chileno Valley Vineyard. And the Corda Winery, who produces Fogarty’s Pinot grapes, brought forth their own moderately-priced 2006 Marin County Pinot Noir.
The two revelations of this event included Brookside Cellars, with a 2006/2007 duet of their Pinot Noir Marin County, grown at Nicasio’s Moon Hill Vineyard. Even more memorable was the erotophonic Orogeny Vineyards, whose justly-priced 2006 Pinot Noir Redding Vineyards was close to orgasmic (I can’t wait to try their various expressions of Chardonnay).
One slight limitation to events such as this gathering is that only one varietal is served. Such was the case Saturday, although Gary Miller of Miller Wine Works did slip me an illicit taste of his Syrah. The one official exception to the afternoon was Point Reyes Vineyards, whose sparkling NV Blanc de Noir, Marin County, made solely from Pinot Noir, provided a refreshing contrast to the still wines of the afternoon.
I’d be remiss in not mentioning the very forthright 2006 Kendric Vineyards Marin Pinot Noir. Stewart Johnson’s Kendric Vineyard in Northern Marin also supplies the grapes for Miller Wine Works. Remiss, however, is a term I’m tempted to apply to both Stubbs Vineyards and Moon Hill Vineyards, who departed well before the 7 p.m, closing and prevented me from making further acknowledgment of their wines. They may want to stay on for their full commitment in 2010.
Having sampled all the available wines, I hopped back on my bicycle and wobbled over to the Bay Club Marin, where I had pre-arranged to rendezvous with The Ginkgo Girl. Still spinning from the tequila-infused Ginger Cake I had lovingly crafted for her very significant birthday the night before, she had declined to join me at the tasting but drove up so we could attend Marin Theatre Company’s presentation of What the Butler Saw. Joe Orton’s posthumous masterpiece, a scabrous satire with Aristophanic overtones, had nothing to do with Pinot Noir, but then the allusive title has no bearing whatsoever on the play. Somehow, a very apt symmetry to close the day with.

Why wine is better than beer. Or liquor. Or sex.

Leave a reply

OK, scratch the third comparison. Sometimes Your West Coast Oenophile can get a tad overzealous when starting a new blog entry. But, with the possible exception of grappa, wine is, according to my unabashed claim, notably superior to the vast array of alcoholic potables because it is a communal beverage. Whisky, ale, gin—these drinks are designed for individual consumption. Wine is meant to be shared, with friends or with strangers, in happiness or in sorrow, with all partaking from the same bottle. It is this unique, convivial quality of wine wherein lies its distinctive beauty.

The month of June began as all months should, with a celebratory kickoff. I received an invite from a loose collective of women heralding from assorted Napa wine ventures to join them for lunch and wine tasting at San Francisco’s Ferry Building—in other words, a marvelous excuse to break up the tedium of a Monday, to crisscross the City on my 14-speed Trek, and to meet new friends (I still haven’t figured out how I was included in their mailing) who share similar passions.
Being a long-time fan of Taylor’s Automatic Refreshers in St. Helena, any chance to patronize their outpost here has “Gott” to be good. And it didn’t hurt to be accompanied by a sextet of female denizens of the viticultural arts. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago when it seemed the only woman in the wine industry was Jill Davis!

My hostesses each brought a sampling of their own wines, ranging from Orin Swift’s ever-popular 2007 The Prisoner to the somewhat dyslexically-labeled 2008 Abi Blanc (a 100% Viognier) and 2007 Adi Rosé (of Syrah) from Beth Adams’ new Abigail Adams. From stalwart Patz & Hall, Anne Moses brought two of her finer Pinot Noirs, the 2007 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and the 2007 Jenkins Ranch.
Another familiar label, Viader, was ably represented daughter Janet, who organized this gathering. Her Howell Mountain offerings consisted of their eponymous 2005 Viader, a proprietary Bordeaux and their elegant Cabernet Franc, the 2005 Dare. From Buehler Vineyards, gregarious Italophile Misha Chelini graced the table with their 2008 Russian River Chardonnay and 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Quaintly named Jelly Jar Wines, a venture of Shannon Pistoni and her husband, proved to be no misnomer—their 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel was jammy indeed and quite pleasing to the palate. Finishing off the event, fellow pentasyllabic Italian surnamed Melissa Leonardini also chipped in with her Orin Swift 2006 Papillon, a traditional Bordeaux blend and the 2007 Volunteer, a side venture of her and her husband.
Amid such pleasant company and delightful wines, it would have been a shame to swill and spit, and so I allowed myself to forgo the illusion of further productivity for the afternoon and happily imbibe. Perhaps I may

have even consumed one  drop too many, for I somehow managed to forget to eat my obligatory Taylor’s Veggie Burger. Oh well, as the crew packed up their effects to head back to Napa, I gladly accepted the proffering of a nearly-full bottle of the Volunteer (I might have taken more, but where to carry on a road bike?). I managed to cradle the leftover portions we had ordered and passed them out to some transients sleeping on the grass beside the immortal Vaillancourt Fountain. Even for these desultory fellows, not a bad way to kick off the month.

All aboard!

Leave a reply

Sometimes public wine tastings are all about the wine. Sometimes it’s the event itself that takes center stage. This past month, Your West Coast Oenophile has attended two tastings put on by the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association (SCMWA); both gatherings proved to be impeccable.
I waxed rather eloquently in a previous posting about their trade tasting at Trevese in Los Gatos. My most recent encounter was for their annual Wine with Heart benefit, held for the second time at Roaring Camp in Felton. The afternoon could not have been more pleasant.
I suspect I am not alone in having climbed Highway 17 from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz innumerable times since the late 1970s without ever veering off near the summit and discovering a vibrant community nestled in the hills. Perhaps this semi-clandestine location is what has allowed Felton to retain its quaint charm. In any case, Roaring Camp features a recreation of a turn-of-the-century whistle stop and still operates a Southern Pacific rail line that runs to the boardwalk far below. 
Many wineries gave both time and tastings quite generously to this event; their contribution to the medical research this event helps sustain is quite laudable. But, like a good Lothario, I compulsively seek out that which I have yet to conquer. Ahlgren Vineyards started me off with a stark contrast the understated 2005 Ahlgren Sémillon and a boisterous 2004 Ahlgren Cabernet Franc. From Campbell, Pinder Winery (not to be confused with Pindar, a meretricious Boeotian lyricist from the 5th century BCE, as well as a modern-day Long Island winery) displayed their Rhône-style virtuosity with their 2006 Viognier and 2004 Mourvèdre Contra Costa. Aptos Creek Vineyard, a decidedly boutique affair, offered a 2004 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz County that made one wish it were not such a rarity. The same could be said for the 2007 Chardonnay from Bruzzone Family Vineyards. A third micro-producer, formerly known as Dragonfly Cellars but transitioning to their taxonomic equivalent, Odonata Wines, sampled the remainder of their 65-case special 2006 Durif. 
Keeping things local, Hunter Hill Vineyards resonated with a 2005 Estate Syrah Santa Cruz Mountains and a 2005 Estate Merlot Santa Cruz Mountains. Fernwood this afternoon (not to be confused with Fernwood 2Night (nonetheless made mirth with their 2006 Central Coast Petite Sirah and 2006 Il Cane Sangiovese. Not to be outdone in the pun department, Burrell School brought a wide selection of their academically-themed wines, the standout being their aptly-named “Spring Break,” the 2005 Syrah Estate Pichon Vineyard. Handcrafted Pinot Nor from Clos Títa included their eminent 2005 Pinot Noir Cuvée, Santa Cruz Mountains. In keeping with the Santa Cruz aura, two organic wineries were showcased: Silver Mountain Vineyards with their 2003 Alloy (a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot) and Zayante Vineyards, whose 2007 Santa Cruz Mountain Estate Clos du Z combines Grenache, Petite Sirah, and Syrah.
. This highly-coveted designation has to be resuscitated for the amazing 1997 Blanc de Blanc Méthode Champenoise Sparkling Chardonnay from Equinox . A one-man sparkling operation, this 100 percent Chardonnay spent nine years en triage, and was bottled with no dosage. If only he had brought his 2006 Bartolo Fiano as well!
But regrets were not to be had on this gloriously sunny afternoon. After the tasting portion had closed down, guests were treated to a ride on Roaring Camp’s Santa Cruz, Big Trees & Pacific Railway halfway down the mountain toward Santa Cruz. It reminded me of the train ride Dr. Zhivago and his family took from Moscow to Yuriatin. Only it was warm here. And the train cars were open-air. And these were not the Urals. And I don’t recall wine freely flowing in the movie. Several of the wineries brought their leftover bottles along, and generous glasses from Naumann Vineyards, Byington , Cooper-Garrod Estate and Bonny Doon kept everyone well-oiled for the ensuing 1½-hour trek.
Of course, all good things must come to an end. Back at the camp, the Ginkgo Girl and I took in the lingering rays of sunshine before heading back to San Francisco. Even she had to agree, it had been a most splendid afternoon.

Top 10 Reasons Why I Am NOT Miles Raymond!

Leave a reply

10. His beat-up Saab convertible is far less eco-friendly than the car I drive
      (41 MPG highway).

  9. I have a full beard, not the  sculpted scraggle he wears.
  8. I have NEVER used the word soupçon in describing a wine.
  7. Prep school portrayals like A Separate Peace are so unflattering.
  6. Friends don’t let friends marry Armenians.
  5. My mother’s hordes her secret cash stash in a 2,000 lb. vault.
  4. The plays I write are filled with sardonic humor.
  3. San Diego State???
  2. Anyone who knows me knows I’d have gone for the Asian babe. Then
       again, it was Sandra Oh, named by Maxim as the #3 Unsexiest Woman
       in the World, behind Sarah Jessica Parker and Amy Winehouse.
   1. Robbe-Grillet? Château Cheval Blanc? Richebourg? This guy is a closet
       Francophile!
  

The folks who produce Pinot Days invited me up to a mini-preview tasting, along with a special showing of Sideways at the Lark Theater last night. I hadn’t seen my friend Sasha Verhage of Eno in ages, not since he and his fellow wineries at 805 Camelia had generously donated $1,000 in wines to the fundraiser for my playwrights’ group, Play Café in Berkeley.
Being that yesterday was Bike to Work Day, I decided to be extra-diligent in my sustainable transportation practices and brave the 16 mile jaunt from my humble abode in Pac Heights to Larkspur on my 14-speed Trek. Somehow, I managed to veer off the path I had carefully mapped out after crossing East Blithedale, but the ever-reliable Maps application on my iPhone quickly routed me back to Camino Alto, alongside Masada, Bill Graham’s former hilltop estate. (note to self: it will be a very long time before I cycle 16 miles to a wine tasting again).
I still managed to arrive 35 minutes before the curtain, plenty of time to compose myself and sample the Pinot Noir selections from the three participating winers: Eno, Ketcham Estate, and Suacci Carciere. Each winery brought their 2006 bottling and their current 2007. While the earlier vintage showed quite nicely for each, clearly the 2007s were more lush and textured, a well-balanced, nuance wine with subtle wafts of—good God, I am becoming Miles!
The movie was still quite entertaining after several years, and several of the locations were quite familiar to me this time. Unlike Miles, I was able to leave the venue quite clear headed and wound my way down to the base of Marin County. There are few experiences quite as serene as pedaling across the Golden Gate Bridge in the moonlight, but, alas, a most unwelcome fog was barreling through; with little scenery to distract me, I raced across the span in a valiant effort to stay warm. Back in San Francisco, the fog was heavy enough that it actually condensed in several spots through the Presidio, further delaying my arrival.
Back at home, the Ginkgo Girl was already under the covers. “What took you so long?” she asked. It was a moment Miles could onl
y have dreamed about. I quickly took a hot shower, but by the time I came back to bed, she was already sound asleep.

“Nobody goes there no more. It’s too crowded!”

Leave a reply

I have a friend—I mention this with a rather detached sense of bemusement—who is vying for the title of Most Dourest Man on the Planet (if you knew him, this would not seem a redundancy). Fortunately, he has a histaminic reaction to wine and almost never drinks it; otherwise, I might have titled this entry “Sour Grapes.”

One of the pillars of his “campaign,” so it seems, is to become the living embodiment of the truism “Misery Loves Company.” Although Your West Coast Oenophile is demonstrably younger and vastly more well-preserved than such a palpably decrepit fatalist, this dour fellow incessantly strives to cajole a kind of pathetic empathy, commencing his pronouncements with such leveling phrases as “when you get to be our age” or “guys like us.” Perish the thought!

Recently, he sought my concurrence with his conjecture that, having reached that point in life known as the “declining years,” “we” no longer have the tolerance to wait on line an hour or so to get into this new hot spot or that fancy nightclub. “On the contrary,” I protested. “I never had the patience for that!”

To this day, I cannot fathom the rationale in lining up for a place which will be packed to the rafters and as deafening as a crowded subway station. Why endure the indignity of being herded like cattle just to endure the further indignity of a venue where you cannot move more than an inch at a time or hear what the person beside you is saying? Is this really how people connect with each other?

Which brings me to the phenomenon known as the overcrowded wine-tasting event. Last Monday, I obliged myself to attend both the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association tasting in Los Gatos and the California Cabernet Society’s Spring Barrel tasting in San Francisco. How I managed the two, I am still trying to fathom. Don’t get me wrong—these were marvelous events, with opportunities to sample some incredible wines. It’s just that the pleasure I used to derive from such gatherings is diminishing as I find myself becoming more and more overwhelmed by the crush—not of grapes, but of attendees.

There is an æsthetic to wine tasting, perhaps even a need for a touch of solipsism, in order to enjoy fully the aromas, flavors and texture of a well-executed vintage. The more tranquil the setting, the more conducive to the pleasure of the indulgence (as we deliberate the design for Sostevinobile, this attribute will remain a paramount consideration). Granted, I am trading a large degree of serenity at these tastings for the convenience of meeting with 40 or 60 or 100 wineries, all in a convenient, centralized location, but with wine cradle slung about my neck, a pen clasped in one hand and a program guide steadied by the other, the task presented me—taking copious notes, exchanging pleasantries and business cards, and remaining focused through four hours of standing and sipping—becomes rather daunting, if not onerous. Especially amid a throng of several hundred with the same agenda as mine.
But enough with my lamentations. To paraphrase a familiar saying, “there’s no crying over spilt (spit?) wine.” And certainly, I have to offer tremendous plaudits to the good folks from the Santa Cruz Mountain Winegrowers for their selection of a setting for their wine expo. Those familiar with Los Gatos know it as an oasis of charm amidst the monolith sprawl of light industrial campuses that dominates Silicon Valley. Largely overshadowed by the culinary meccas of San Francisco, Berkeley and the Napa/Sonoma axis, Los Gatos (along with its neighboring Saratoga) now boast three of the 28 Bay Area restaurants to garner stars in the prestigious Michelin guide. Ensconced in the former Coggeshall mansion, a picturesque Queen Anne Victorian located along the major downtown thoroughfare, Michael Miller’s Italian gem, Trevese, readily reveals why it warrants this coveted accolade. 
In between delectable canapés of mushroom mousse and smoked sturgeon, I fended my way through my fellow trade attendees and managed to sample pourings from each of the 29 wineries present. New discoveries included the 2006 San Andreas Red, an estate-grown Bordeaux blend from the boutique Black Ridge Vineyards. Its companion winery, Heart O’ The Mountain, the former Alfred Hitchcock estate in Scotts Valley excelled with its 2006 Pinot Noir Santa Cruz Mountains. Winemaker Frank Ashton of the whimsically named Downhill Winery introduced me to his 2008 Torrontés, a white wine that usually heralds from Argentina and a perfect counterpart to his 2007 Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow. Echoing Downhill’s Iberian-style affinity, Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards offered an array of Spanish and Portuguese varietals, including their 2008 Verdelho Alta Mesa, their Douro-style 2005 Concertina, and a 2006 Touriga Pierce Ranch; of course, I’d be remiss not to cite their 2006 Durif McDowell Valley, a wine that tripped me up in a recent blind tasting at Vino Locale.
Saratoga’s Cinnabar Winery most impressed me with a trio of their wines, a 2004 Petit Verdot from Lodi, their Bordeaux-style 2006 Mercury Rising blend, and an intriguing interpretation of their 2004 Teroldego. Similarly striking was the 2007 Viognier Santa Cruz Mountains from Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards, and both the 2008 J. D. Hurley Sauvignon Blanc and the 2006 J. D. Hurley Merlot from Gilroy’s Martin Ranch Winery. Tiny Sones Cellars offered a striking 2006 Petite Sirah, and an excellent array of Pinot Noirs were displayed by both Muccigrosso Vineyards and Sonnet Wine Cellars.

Hitherto unfamiliar wineries are primary focus when I attend these tastings, so my neglect to cite wines from well-established operations like Bargetto, Burrell School, Clos LaChance, (smooth as ice) Fleming Jenkins, Kathryn Kennedy, Michael Martella, Mount Eden, Roudon-Smith, Savannah Chanelle, Storrs, the angioplasty of Thomas Fogarty and, of course, Ridge, is not meant as a critique. Their inclusion on Sostevinobile’s roster has been pre-ordained. Or, as we Italians often say when confronted with formidable prospects, allora!
Formidable could not even begin to describe the task that await me later that afternoon at San Francisco’s Bently Reserve. My trek to Los Gatos had left me with barely an hour to wind my way through 93 purveyors of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Bordeaux-style Meritage blends. And each was presenting not only their current releases, but their 2008 barrel samples. Throw in a crowd of 400 or more, and you begin to realize what a Herculean task confronted me. Even with a number of old familiars, like Jordan, Beaulieu Vineyards and Arrowood; recent acquaintances like Adelaida Cellars, Justin, and Ty Caton; and a slew of participants from April’s Napa Valley with Altitude and the Acme Atelier tastings, I was barely able to make a dent.
When I was in graduate school, the Women’s Locker Room attendant also maintained the sign-up list for the squash courts at the Smith Swim Center. Looking up from the registry one evening, I found myself gazing at four naked coeds, pristinely bathed and eagerly awaiting their towels from the dispensary. To put it bluntly, it is nigh impossible for any 19-year-old, all pink and fragrant from a fresh shower to look bad; similarly, it is quite a feat for any Cabernet at the level presented last Monday not to be good. I will make individual amends with all the wineries not mentioned here as I meticulously make my way through the roster in the California Cabernet Society program guide. For the time being, however, let me offer kudos to those I did manage to savor: Kenefick Ranch, Arns, Sequum, Garden Creek, Corison, Roberts + Rogers, Ascentia, Atlas Peak, Martin Estate, Delectus, Steven Kent, and, as a most appropriate finial to the apex of this event, the wondrously-named…Allora!