Discover New Wine with Old Adventures

San Francisco is one of our favorite cities and we find a way every year to escape up north for the weekend.  With each trip we aim to mix in new adventures with our old favorites ~ whether it is where we stay, choose to dine, or a local activity.   

Our new adventures this trip included a first time stay at the historic Palace Hotel, couple new deli spots for lunch, visit to Coit Tower, and a movie tour.  For our old favorites we hit the Wattle Creek tasting room in Ghirardelli Square, caught a play at A.C.T., and enjoyed dinner at Scala’s Bistro. 

A few years ago while tasting at Wattle Creek, we fell in love with their Malbec.  When we asked about purchasing, yep, the wine was only available for wine club members.  We took the bait on their crack dealer model, and joined to get the wine.  It was only appropriate to pick up a bottle this trip to enjoy with our dinner at Scala’s. 

At first introduction, our server noticed we had our own bottle of wine.  When she discovered it was a Malbec she was very surprised.  Turns out our server is from Argentina, and with good reason, loves Malbec.  She was not aware of a local winery that made one.  As it is a favorite varietal of ours, we took the opportunity to ask her for recommendations.  She rattled off a number of wines and we struggled to keep up with the names.  She was quick to pick up on it, as when she returned, she had made a list! 

It was fun seeing her enthusiasm in discovering a local Malbec.  And now, the hunt begins to discover one of her favorites:  Filus Reserve, Filus, Tierra, Nieto, El Ombu or El Arbol, and San Telmo. 

You just never know when or where you may discover a wine, or create a discovery for someone else!

Le Cadet - Delicious, hard to find, and inexpensive!

Wine can be a real adventure.

We recently tried an outstanding French wine while enjoying a meal at the Smoking Goat in San Diego's North Park neighborhood. It was a 2010 Vin du Pays de Vaucluse Le Cadet de Montirius, which is a Rhone style blend of 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, and 10% Merlot. It is a smooth wine with light fruit and light tannins that pairs well with a lot of food.

It was good enough to merit a purchase so we set out to find some.

Unfortunately, none of our local wine shops carried the wine. A less-enthusiastic wine drinker may have given up the chase at this point but we were undaunted. Out went the All Points Bulletin: "Can you get this wine?"

A week later, success! Our new friend Karin at Bacchus Wine Market tracked down the Le Cadet. Bad news, they had to special order it so there was a one case minimum order. Good news, our price per bottle was $11.43 after our case discount.

Buying a whole case is a lot of wine, even for us, but that's where it pays to know people who love wine too. Our friends Amber and Paul agreed to split the case with us which made the purchase a bit more reasonable.

This little adventure contained many elements of a great wine story. We discovered it together while out on a date. It ended up being more exclusive because we had to track it down. The wine provided an opportunity to share a few bottles with friends. And, the price was very reasonable.

Great Deals on Great Wines ~ BevMo Wine Sale

It’s time again for the BevMo 5-cent sale ~ buy one wine, get the second for 5 cents.  This sale is available for ClubBev members ~ purchase one bottle at regular price, and get second of same bottle for only 5 cents.  While the sale applies to select wines, there are over 200 to choose from.  When this limited time sale comes around, we are frequently asked for recommendations of what to buy.  There are so many great wines included, you can hardly go wrong with any pick.  But, if you are really stuck… here are three we’ve enjoyed ~ all with price points of $19.99

Bridlewood Syrah Reserve '06

We discovered Bridlewood earlier this year from a recommendation of a friend.  While visiting the winery, we had the opportunity to taste the Syrah Reserve.  This wine has a sweeter nose, with a touch of earthiness.  It is a full bodied wine, with soft, but powerful tannins.  It has pinot noir-like qualities, but carries the punch of a true syrah.  Interesting, and very enjoyable. 

Lake Sonoma Zinfandel '08

In 2010, one of our favorite stops during our annual trip to Napa and Sonoma was Valley of the Moon.  While there we also had the opportunity to taste Lake Sonoma wines as well.  The zinfandel is a complex wine from start to finish, with abundance of ripe raspberry & strawberry flavors, enhanced with subtle notes of smoke, white pepper and a touch of vanilla.   Very enjoyable ~ especially for the price!

Wattle Creek Triple Play Red '06

Wattle Creek is one of our favorite wineries ~ we especially enjoy their red wines.  The Triple Play is a versatile, big red wine.  It’s a blend that is mostly a Syrah with some unique characteristics.  It is what I call an ‘ingredients to dessert’ kind of wine ~ enjoy on its own while you cook and with dinner.  For more of a review, read 2006 Wattle Creek Triple Play

BevMo is running a fun promotion along with the sale called the 2 Bottle Challenge.  Here’s how it works:

• grab your wine and enjoy each bottle in two completely different ways, capture with pictures
• upload your photos to facebook.com/bevmo
• check out the other photos posted and vote for your favorite

Sounds like fun ~ we will be playing along… and hope you do, too!  If BevMo is not in your area ~ you can still play along with us ~ share your photos and tell us a little about the wine on facebook.com/sharethebottle. 

BevMo 5 cent sale runs 9/14-10/24. 

2007 Heitz Cellars Zinfandel

We generally don't like to read a winemaker's tasting notes before trying a wine. They tend to be full of marketing hyperbole and describe subtle or exotic flavors (barnyard funk, anyone?) that are too obscure for our palates to find. 

On the other hand, it can be fun to read the winemaker's tasting notes after you taste a wine to see how much you agree. We recently enjoyed a bottle of 2007 Heitz Cellars Zinfandel at our favorite neighborhood Italian restaurant, Antica Trattoria. Winemaker David Heitz's notes were spot on with our observations.

"Ours is a medium-bodied wine that delivers the unadulterated characteristics of the varietal. Marvelously balanced and softly rounded, the delicious core of wild berry flavors picks up a touch of spice before building to an elegant finish."

Zinfandels tend to have a higher alcohol content than some other wines. At 14.5%, this one isn't too extreme, but the wine was so smooth you could hardly tell it had any alcohol at all. And, it went wonderfully with our meals. Jeff had a veal chop while Sally enjoyed a nice bowl of capellini.

A couple sitting next to us in the restaurant noticed how much we were enjoying the wine and asked if the bottle was on Antica Trattoria's wine menu. Sorry - we brought this one in ourselves!

The best part? Heitz is either extraordinarily kind with their pricing or they don't know how much of a gem they have on their hands. You can still pick up a bottle of the 2007 direct from the winery for $22 per bottle. You might pay $15 - $20 more per bottle for a similar quality Zinfandel at some other wineries, so snatch some up if you can. 

Visit the Heitz Cellars online store

CADE ~ great wines, great experience!

photo linked to cadewinery.comPlumpjack has always been a favorite of ours. So, you can imagine our excitement when we learned their sister winery, CADE, opened a new tasting room. With the tagline Live Green, Drink Green, we were intrigued and had to visit ~ what a great discovery!    

The drive to the winery alone is amazing. CADE is located on Howell Mountain, and has views spanning Napa Valley from North to South.  The day we visited it was overcast in the valley, but we sat high above the clouds at CADE.  We enjoyed our tasting in the lounge area, taking in the amazing views while sipping the equally enjoyable wine.  CADE is Napa Valley’s first LEED Gold Certified Winery ~ a distinction earned for their sustainable farming practices, as well as design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. The tasting room showcases their commitment to the environment.  Very cool. 

CADE winery produces four wines, two of which are high on our list:

Cabernet Sauvignon ~ Howell Mountain ($72)

98% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Merlot

This is a big cab ~ with big fruit and big tannins. For those that like a bold red wine, you’ll love this one. The nose has fruits of black cherry and currants, with a hint of smokiness. The flavors carry through in taste, adding in a dash of cocoa powder. There is no question on what to eat when you pop open this bottle ~ meat and cheese...a juicy blue cheese burger would be awesome with this one!  

Sauvignon Blanc ($26)

93% Sauvignon Blanc, 6% Sémillon, 1% Viognier

Another great screw cap wine!  This is a very lovely sauvignon blanc that has an interesting balance of citrus, crispness, and a little bit of oak.  It is a very versatile wine ~ great on own, and pairs well with lighter fare such as salads, grilled chicken/seafood and vegetables, or even herb flavored goat cheese.

If you find either in your local wine store, or on a restaurant list, give them a try.  They also have a list of nationwide distributors available on their website.  And, if you are in the Napa Valley area, visiting the winery is a must ~ it’s an experience you won’t soon forget! 

Wine is hanging out on our new bistro table found on our pizza and wine adventure...thought it appropriate to display on a re-purposed wine barrell!