HalloWine Party 2010

Sally and I had a few friends over for a "HalloWine" party last Saturday night. The wine theme was "favorites under $20" and Sally was able to pair each one with a finger food, a cheese, and even a Halloween candy! The tasting was blind, so our guests also got to decide whether each wine was a trick or a treat.

1st Place - 2008 Cycles Gladiator Pinot Noir (100% Treat)
This was the only wine to get 100% "Treat" votes. Cycles Gladiator makes an outstanding Pinot Noir, and it tastes even better when you know how inexpensive it is! It has a nice balance of earthiness with fruit and went very well with all our pairings.

• Finger food: mixed veggie tray, pigs in a blanket
• Cheese: smoked Gouda, Camembert
• Candy: Hot Tamales

2nd Place (tie) - 2009 Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc (78% Treat)
This is probably the wine we recommend to friends and family most often, so it was good to see it do well in our tasting. It's a dry Sauvignon Blanc (hence, "Fume Blanc") that is a very smooth drinker and goes well with a wide variety of food.

• Finger food: cranberry feta pinwheels with ham
• Cheese: lemon feta spread
• Candy: candy corn

2nd Place (tie) - 2007 Ravenswood Napa Valley Old Vine Zinfandel (78% Treat)
I've got nuthin' to say about this one because I voted "Trick". It wasn't my favorite, but many of our guests said the wine grew on you, especially with food.

• Finger food: pepperoni pizza bites
• Cheese: aged cheddar, Dubliner
• Candy: Skittles

4th Place - 2008 Blackstone Winemaker's Select Cabernet Sauvignon (75% Treat)
This wine was exactly what a good, inexpensive bottle of wine should be. An easy drinker that's light on flavors, tannins, and alcohol taste so it goes well with a wide variety of food.

• Finger food: open-face London broil sandwiches (mmmmm, soooo good!)
• Cheese: blue Stilton, brie
• Candy: Hershey's Miniatures

5th Place - 2008 Hess Chardonnay (56% Treat)
Hard to believe a Hess didn't fair well, but it drew mixed reviews from our guests. Some really enjoyed its neutral Chardonnay flavors - not too much butter and not too much tart fruit. Others felt the flavor was a little 'off' and they didn't like it with their food.

• Finger food: vegetable egg rolls
• Cheese: Monterey jack, double cream Gouda
• Candy: Reece's Peanut Butter Cups

Vacation Wine Finds

We recently returned from a trip to Hawaii, visiting Oahu and Kauai. Leave it to us to find a local wine shop in the small town of Koloa, on the south shore of Kauai. The Wine Shop is a great little gem not far from the Sheraton Kauai, where we spent an amazing week. For being on a small island, they had quite the variety. We enjoyed exploring the shop and learning about a few local wines and guessing the island price on high-end wines.

Until a few years ago, we had a tradition of hosting a New Year's Eve Party with our friends, with the theme, "Coast to Coast Champagne Toast". It was a fun event in which we served sparkling wine from each US time zone, starting at 9pm with east coast and finalizing at 2am with Hawaii. Yes, we somehow found a pineapple based sparkling wine to serve ~Hula O Maui from Tedeschi Vineyards.

The wine shop carried a few of their other wines, so we decided to give the red blend a try. The Ulupalakua Red can best be described as a good 'third bottle'. Unfortunately, it was not our 3rd bottle. It seems their pineapple sparkling wine is a far better selection, especially at 2am on NYE!

While there, the owners shared with us they were having a free wine tasting event on Saturday night. They were showcasing four 'big wines' and the deli next door was providing an assortment of snacks. We worked it in our 'busy' schedule and attended the event on Saturday night. The place was hopping with locals and visitors. Although we wouldn't define them as big, but enjoyable all the same, we tasted all four wines being served: Buena Vista Carneros Chardonnay, Mobius Cabernet from Sonoma County, Four Vines, and Peltier Station Zinfandel from Lodi. All were good, solid wines with a price point of $25 or less. While tasting, we munched on meats and cheese provided by the local deli and chatted with the wine distributor.

In addition to learning about the wines, we also learned a little about local liquor laws. Turns out, at many of the restaurants you can bring your own bottle, with a corkage fee. A good tip for next time! We also learned Kauai is one of the few places where you can actually take an open bottle out with you. Think that is one law we may not have to take advantage of too frequently!

The Wine Shop has been in business for 4 years, and we look forward to visiting them again on our next trip to Kauai ~ Mahalo!

Smiling with a sip of Simi

Yum. This is typically the first word that rolls off my tongue after a sip of any Simi wine. For the 2006 Simi Alexander Valley Chardonnay, it was wow!

I like my Chardonnay balanced with a soft, buttery taste and little splash of fruit - not citrus tasting. This wine totally delivered. It was light and refreshing, very drinkable ~ I am sure we had a meal with this bottle, and I cooked it, but couldn't tell you what it was!

We picked up this bottle (as well as many others) while visiting the winery in 2009. This Chardonnay was among our favorites we tasted that day, as noted by the very large smiley face written on my tasting notes. It is 100% Chardonnay& barrel fermented. At first pour, we knew this wine was going to be different from most chardonnay's. It is very light in color, almost clear. The nose had a light smokey oak, but yet a hint of sweet... we knew we were in for a treat.

The only downside to this wine ~ they made a very limited production, and it was only sold at the winery. If you are lucky to get your hands on one, snag it and enjoy!

Day 2: Three Perfect Days in Napa and Sonoma Valley

This is Day 2 of our recent wine tour to the Napa and Sonoma wine regions.

Wine

One our second day of tasting we made our way a bit North towards St. Helena and Calistoga before heading back into Napa. Here are the highlights.

Cade. This is a sister winery to Plumpjack and they also make very good Cabernet Sauvignon. The tasting is $10 per person, which was a steal considering the exceptionally good wine, the scenic view from the hills above Napa Valley, and the beautiful, modern tasting room. We both enjoy softer, drier Sauvignon Blancs rather than the acidic, citrusy style, and their 2008 Sauvignon Blanc was right on the mark for us. Their 2006 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon was a classic Cab with dense, complex fruit on the mouth and wonderful soft tannins that will go nicely with food.

Cuvaison. We had to visit Cuvaison because they consistently make some of our favorite wines, their Pinot Noir was the winner of our recent 'Pinot-palooza' challenge, and they have a new tasting room in Calistoga to boot. Let's just say we started the day as members of only one wine club (Wattle Creek) and are now members of two. Here are our highlights from Cuvaison:

• 2008 S Block Chardonnay. We recently drank the 2006 version and 2008 really holds up with a nice balance of buttery oak and light acidity.
• 2007 Diablo Syrah. This is a very balanced Syrah that has a rather earthy taste throughout.
• 2007 Block F5 Pinot Noir. This may just be the Pinot to take the next Pinot-palooza title. Nice, delicate fruit and an earthy finish that works before, during, and after food.
• 2006 Brandlin Vineyard Zinfandel. Strong fruit upfront (and butterscotch?!) with a subtle pepper finish. This will be versatile with a lot of food -- a great pick to bring to a restaurant.
• 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Big fruit, big tannins, sticks to your teeth without blasting you with alcohol. Yum.

Foile a Deux. Their wine is all very drinkable, and their 'Menage a Trois' table wines are an outstanding buy. Their Menage a Trois red lists for $12, but we've seen it for as low as $6.99 a bottle. It makes for a great mid-week wine to go with all sorts of dinner.

Robert Biale Vineyards. The previous night we hung out in Silos Jazz Club for some wine and jazz. Keith, the manager, has a good eye for local wine and he introduced us to Robert Biale's "Black Chicken" Zinfandel. As the story goes, "Black Chicken" was code for Zinfandel during Prohibition when Aldo Biale took orders over their party line and didn't want the neighbors to know he was selling alcohol. It's a fun story and a fun wine. (Be sure to make an appointment if you visit.) They also feature other great Zins and a few other varietals.

Dinner
Barbeque and wine go together like peas in a pod, and the Bounty Hunter in downtown Napa does it right. It's a bit funky - their small room is part restaurant, part wine bar, and part wine shop all in one space, but it works. Come prepared to make some new friends, taste some wine, and have some awesome BBQ. (Their beer can chicken is quite the sight to see -- the whole bird comes out sitting on a beer can.)

Day 1: Three Perfect Days in Napa and Sonoma Valley

Sally and I have just returned from our annual tasting trip to Napa Valley and the surrounding regions. This year, we spent two days tasting in Napa Valley and one day in Sonoma Valley. As always, it was a terrific trip with lots of great wine, food, and adventures!

Wine
We spent most of Day 1 tasting at wineries in the town of Napa.

Jarvis. It's worth the trip up here for the tour itself! They are located in the hills east of downtown Napa and you can get some impressive views from the grounds. The entire wine-making operation is located in caves dug into the mountain, so it is a very unique experience. We half-expected Oompa-Loompas to appear while we were on our tour because it has many Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory qualities. Their wines are incredibly flavorful and delicate and the wine maker has clearly paid a lot of attention to detail. This comes out in the taste and the price ($90+ for most of their wines).

Details: $40 per person for a 1.5 hour tour. Call 1-800-255-5280 ext. 150 or book online.

Cosentino. We visited their Napa wine room (they are also in Lodi) and enjoyed some big, very drinkable wines. Our favorites were the '07 Napa Chardonnay (crisp without being too acidic, very nice for every day drinking), a '06 Sangiovese (smooth and well-balanced to go well with a variety of meals), the '07 Zinfandel ("the Zin", jammy and yummy), '06 Estate Zinfandel (peppery taste with a smooth finish, a good pair with 'earthier' food), and the '05 Cabernet Sauvignon (a solid cab with soft tannins that would go well with food).

PlumpJack. Their Estate Cabernet Sauvignon is a special treat. We always stop by for a bottle of their current release when we are in Napa.

Jessup Cellars. We got a hot tip (and a coupon for a free tasting) from the Napa Valley visitors center. What a great experience! We were offered a cheese plate as we walked in and were invited to sit down at a table. Their wine room has a lot of small tables in different nooks and corners and everything is surrounded by art. Our host sat down with us and explained the wine as she poured and we tasted. The highlight for us was definitely their '06 Zinfandel Port, which was sweet with a pepper finish. Yum!

Lodging
We stayed at the Napa River Inn. This place is a real gem. It's located in the heart of downtown Napa, so there are many restaurants within walking distance (important after a long day of wine tasting). Their service is excellent and the rooms are comfortable and nicely appointed. Spend a couple extra bucks to upgrade from their standard room and you'll get a fire place and/or a balcony (we had both). Their complex also has two restaurants (Celedon and Angele), a wonderful bakery (Sweetie Pies), and a wine and jazz club (Silos).

Food
Breakfast: We always start our days in Napa at Sweetie Pies for three reasons. First, their light pastries and coffee is outstanding. Second, its a good source of scoop since many locals drop by in the morning and are happy to share some tips. Third, we get a free breakfast with each night's stay at the Napa River Inn.

Lunch: Our lunch was at another favorite stop - Oakville Grocery in Oakville. Their deli is amazing and the bistro tables and picnic tables scattered around the grounds are a great way to enjoy a light meal while taking in views of Napa Valley.

Dinner: We dined at Ristorante Allegria, which offers good "comfort" Italian food at reasonable prices and is stumbling distance from the Napa River Inn. Their service is always warm and friendly and their bar will serve up your favorite cocktail or a nice glass of wine. What's not to like?