Have fun with friends at a local wine event

It's amazing how many wine events there are in town. We're in San Diego, but the same seems to be true nearly everywhere. There are special tastings, winemaker dinners, classes, and festivals. Huge crowds aren't our favorite scene, but the are plenty of smaller, low-key events to choose from.

Finding Fun Events

Start by signing up for The Juice. It's a free email newsletter from LocalWineEvents.com that can be customized to send you a weekly listing of wine events in your area.

Do you have a favorite wine bar? Many have their own email newsletters, Facebook pages, and Twitter feeds, so sign up to get their updates too. If you're in San Diego, we recommend Village Vino in Kensington. They were recently named the best wine bar in San Diego by San Diego Magazine and regularly have special tastings and classes that can be a lot of fun. For example, we attended a wine and cheese pairing class a few months ago that was edulicious! (That's educational + delicious.)

Elyse Winery at Village Vino 

I met our friends Dave and Sarah at Village Vino last Tuesday for a winemaker event. (Sally was on a business trip and couldn't attend.) Ray Coursen, Elyse's winemaker and owner, was on hand to pour his wine and chat about Vino. We split some hummus and a flatbread while sampling five of Elyse's wines. It was a great way to catch up with friends after work.

My favorite was the 2008 Le Corbeau. It's a Grenache blend that is very versatile with a wide varieties of food. The 2007 Le Corbeau was outstanding and Coursen told me that the 2008 will taste just as good after another year of aging.

Every bottle can't be a winner - even if it's wine you like

It’s always interesting to try a favorite wine a second time. Last weekend, Sally and I shared a bottle of 2008 Halter Ranch Cotes de Paso. The last time we drank this wine, we gave it rave reviews (“If you taste something good, don’t let it get away”) and I lamented not buying a second bottle after we enjoyed it at a restaurant. Sally later surprised me with another bottle as a present, but it was a bit of a mixed bag the second time around.

We drank the wine with a wonderful feast Sally made comprised of some of my favorites: French onion soup for starters, veal brisket with root vegetables for the main course, and tiramisu for dessert. The meal was incredible. The wine was very good, but it wasn’t on par with the first time bottle.

The first time, we gave the wine our coveted “ingredients to dessert” nod, meaning it was good enough to open while you were cooking and would still taste delicious by the time you got to dessert. Assuming you had some left, of course! The second time around, we felt it definitely wasn’t in this class. Even the tasting notes were a little different, with the flavor profile being pleasant, but a little less robust and refined than the first time.

It's even interesting to compare our flavor notes:

Bottle #1: cocoa, earthiness, and blackberry

Bottle #2: strawberry, apple, and raisin

I may now have to revise my earlier statement that if you discover an outstanding wine, you’ll need to buy two bottles. I now think you need three, just in case bottle #2 is a dud!

 

If you taste something good, don't let it get away!

I've recently had some outstanding wines, made a mental note to buy some later, only to find out that the wine was no longer available. The moral of the story? If you drink something you really like, buy it!

The latest was a 2008 Halter Ranch "Cotes de Paso" Rhone-style blend. It was a delicious blend of 41% Grenache, 30% Mouvedre, 18% Syrah, 7% Counoise, and 4% Cinsault. These types of wines are wonderful with food and pair well with a wide variety of dishes. 

The Cotes de Paso was what Sally would describe as an ingredients to dessert wine. You can open it while you are cooking and enjoy it without food. The wine will hold up through your appetizer, your main course, and even your dessert. Ingredients to dessert.

The wine's flavors were a nice mix of cocoa, earthiness, and blackberry. We enjoyed it with a burger topped with short ribs (yes, it WAS awesome) and short rib pappardelle at Cucina Urbana, one of our favorite restaurants in San Diego. It only cost $34, which was a steal for such a tasty treat.

Now, the sad news. The winery is sold out of their 2008. I guess I'll have to head back to the restaurant and see if I can pick up a bottle or two!

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.

Two Red Wine Finds

We recently discovered two new red wines, representing both ends of the spectrum ~ a high-end Cab, and an affordable Rhône.  If you happen to see either of these on a wine list, give them a try!

DeBeikes Oakville Estate Cabernet Sauvignon ($100)

100% Cab

This wine had a surprisingly spicy nose for a cab sav, but on the mouth its identity was very clear. It was very structured throughout, bold with a strong finish that didn’t linger too long. It was quite enjoyable on its own, but would go excellent with a hearty dish – bring on the steak! Check out this video review of the wine by wine-street.com

You can purchase the wine directly from the winery for $100 (plus shipping & tax). If you are in San Diego, check out Mosaic Wine Bar where you can pick up a bottle at the bargain price of about $78 (does not qualify for 5 cent sale). 

2010 Montirius "Le Cadet" ($10) 

50% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, 10% Merlot

We discovered this classic Rhône wine while dining at The Smoking Goat (awesome!) in San Diego. The nose was full berry with a hint of white pepper. The berry continued through as the earthiness developed in taste.  It has well balanced acidity. A very versatile wine ~ great pick for dining out as it works with a variety of options. We enjoyed with our spicy red snapper and grilled pork chop meals.  What makes this wine even more appealing is the price tag. The average retail price is about $10. The difficult part is finding it!  It looks like the best bet for purchase is online. 

Cheers!