Wine Bar Discoveries

Some of our best wine finds have been discoveries while attending events at local wine bars.  Many of them offer special tasting events or even just a wide selection of wines by the glass.  Both are a great way to explore wines you may never find, or try otherwise.  Here are a couple of wines we discovered while attending local tasting events with friends. 

2011 Tomàs Cusiné “Auzells

We discovered this wine at a Spanish wine tasting event at Village Vino.  It is a blend of 31% Macabeu, 27% Sauvignon Blanc, 16% Riesling, 16% Chardonnay, 5% Albariño, 3% Müller Thurgau, and 2% Muscat. If you are like me, I didn’t know what half those grapes were, much less how to pronounce them.  The important part was that it tasted really darn good.

Auzells is a medium body white, with aromas of citrus and pear.  We found these flavors to carry over to the palate.  It was delicate, but not bland.  Light and crisp, with flavors that stayed strong throughout.  It paired very well with maple mustard chicken and roasted root vegetables. 

This wine is distributed to restaurants and specialty wine shops. Keep an eye out for it, it’s really quite tasty!

2010 Writer’s Block Cabernet Franc

We discovered this wine at a Cabernet Franc tasting at Bacchus Wine Market & Tasting Room.  I love Cab Franc, but it is harder to find this varietal not hidden as part of a blend.  This event was an opportunity to taste 6 in a single setting.  Count me in!  

Writer’s Block is produced by Steele Wines, in the Lake County area.  The 2010 is a blend of 92% Cab Franc, 4% Merlot, 2% Malbec, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon.  It did not disappoint.  Thick, full flavors that hit you from the time you pop the cork.  We immediately smelled green pepper, coffee, and a little tobacco that carried over with a growing flavor of rich, dark berries that finished with bold tannins.  Excellently balanced, with no burst of alcohol. This is a very solid wine, and at under $20 a bottle, an excellent anytime wine. 

Check out your local wine shops and bars for upcoming events.  You never know what you may discover! 

Upcoming Events

Village Vino (full list and details)

April 2: Oregon Pinot Tasting with Raptor Ridge

April 12: Cune Winery with Lucia Ramos

April 15: Patz & Hall with owner Anne Moses

Bacchus Wine Market (full list and details)

March 28/29: Wines from Eastern Europe

April 4/5: Wines from Portugal

April 11/12: Cabernet Sauvignon

Red, White, and Beer

Wondering what to serve while celebrating this weekend?  With the help of What to Drink with What you Eat, here are suggested pairings with traditional, and not so traditional July 4^th grub.  Because sharing a cold one is sometimes the way to go, we’ve added a few favorites to the list, creating our Red, White, and Beer recommendations ~ Happy 4^th!

You should find all of these at large beverage stores, such as BevMo, Specs, and TotalWine - all are under $20

Hot Dogs

RED: A to Z Pinot Noir

WHITE: Seghesio Pinot Grigio

BEER: Anchor Steam

Hamburgers

RED: Smith & Hook Cabernet Sauvignon (especially with cheeseburgers!)

WHITE: about as “white” as you may want to get is Rose – go with any Spanish one

BEER: Abita Amber

BBQ

Any meat with smoky and/or sweet sauce

RED: “The Franc” – Cosentino Cab Franc

WHITE: Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Riesling

BEER: Blue Moon White Ale

Grilled Meatloaf

RED: Plungerhead Old Vine Zinfandel

WHITE: Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc

BEER: Shiner Bock

Apple Pie

By this time, I’m sure you’ll just want a nice cup of coffee.  If not, a little sherry always goes nice with pie.

Raymond Burr

Raymond Burr VineyardsOn our recent road trip through California Wine Country, we visited a number of new wineries recommended by fellow wine lovers.  One of these stops was a recommendation from our friend, Michele ~ Raymond Burr (yes, as in Perry Mason).  She discovered this place on a wine excursion to Napa/Sonoma, and we are so happy she shared it with us! 

Raymond Burr is a small production, 100% estate grown vineyard located in Healdsburg.  The tasting room is intimate, but has a great patio area with huge shade trees and wonderful views of the valley.  For those of you who are fans of the actor, you’ll enjoy all the memorabilia throughout ~ we focused more on the wine.  During our visit, Frank served us a tasting of their current releases of Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, their Bordeaux-style blend “Quartet” and my personal favorite, Cab Franc.

2010 Chardonnay ($28) - Less than 313 cases produced

Portuguese style ~ crisp citrus flavors with a well-balanced creamy finish, without being buttery.  Great food wine.

2010 Cabernet Sauvignon ($38) – 91% cab, 9% Malbec

Smooth cab that is very drinkable on own, as well with a juicy steak.  Berry nose, with bold cab flavors slightly mellowed by the bright fruits of the Malbec.   Very tasty and excellent value (we brought some home!).

2010 Quartet ($44) – Bordeaux-style blend

Blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.  Bright fruit on the front palate, grows in intensity, and has a very smooth finish.  Universal food wine, and definite crowd pleaser.

2010 Cabernet Franc ($38) – 100% Cab Franc

No secret I am a fan of this varietal, and can be hard to find (good ones).  I was thrilled to see it!  Classic green pepper nose, light fruit forward flavors with smooth, well-balanced tannins and a hint of cinnamon on the finish.  Rich layers of great flavor – this one came home, too!

The wines are not distributed, but can be ordered online for shipping.  If you like big wines, it’s worth ordering on recommendation alone ~ thanks Michele for discovering and sharing this great find!

 Jeff and Sally outside Raymond Burr tasting room

Two very short stories about sharing wine

If you've read this blog before, you know we firmly believe that shared bottles are the best bottles. Over the past week, we enjoyed two excellent bottles that were shared in a roundabout sort of way.

2008 Rusack Anacapa
A rainy day at RusackWe took my parents to the Santa Ynez wine region last April for a weekend of wine tasting. One of the wineries we visited was Rusack, which was recommended by our friends Karin and Jeff. That turned out to be a great stop and we all bought some of their flagship wine, Anacapa.

My parents were kind enough to share their two bottles of 2008 Anacapa with us for Christmas dinner. The 2008 version is 82% Cabernet Franc, 16% Petite Verdot, and 2% Merlot and was a perfect pairing with prime rib roast. It had an herbaceous nose, with cherry on the front palate that gives way to darker fruit tastes like blackberry. The mellow tannins start early and went very well with the meal. This was a very nice Christmas treat!

2009 Storybook Mountain Vineyards Zinfandel
Enjoying a nice Zinfandel at Row 14 in DenverSally and I were in Denver last weekend to watch the Boston University men’s hockey team play Denver University and catch the Broncos – Chiefs game on Sunday. On Sunday night we ventured out for dinner and found a cool restaurant called Row 14.

We were out to dinner on a day that ended with the letter “y”, so naturally we wanted wine. Choosing wine from a restaurant wine list can be a challenge, but fortunately we found a bottle that our friends Gaby and Steve recommended we try. These folks know great wine, so we went for it.

Right they were! The Storybook Mountain Vineyards Zinfandel was pure Zin. A raspberry nose gave way to darker fruit on the palate with a light pepper finish. It was very smooth and went down far too quickly. This winery is definitely a contender for our next trip to Napa!

What wine did you share over the holidays?

August 30 is Cabernet Day

Yes.  It is true.  Today is Cabernet Day!  Today is a day to celebrate and appreciate all things cabernet ~ including cab franc, and cab blends.  August 30, 2012 marks the third annual International Cabernet Day.  According to organizer, Rick Bakas, “The idea came about in 2009 when the wine economy was in the toilet and I was trying to find ways to connect wineries with consumers. It helps the industry and doesn’t cost anyone anything.”

So, how do you celebrate?  It’s easy.  Open a bottle of cab, drink, and share.  Join the conversations on twitter using the hashtag #CabernetDay.  According to wine-searcher.com, last year more than 6,000 people shared over 17,000 tweets using the #CabernetDay hashtag, reaching an estimated 4.2 million people in one day.  That’s some considerable wine sharing!

Check out prior posts on some of our favorites cabernets:

2006 Cade Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

2006 Plumpjack Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

2004 Plumpjack Estate Cabernet Sauvignon

Ehlers 2004 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon "1886"

Cabernet Franc ~ tasty all on its own

Call Me A Cab Party