Unexpected Grapes from Unexpected Places!

Yesterday I had  the great pleasure of tasting through a whole boatload of phenomenal wines from regions many of us are unfamiliar with. Such areas as Contra Costa, Amador County, Paso Robles, El Dorado, Temecula, Malibu, Santa Cruz, Livermore, and the Santa Rita Hills. And so many more...
The take-away for me was to spread the word that we all need to get out and try more wines from areas outside our "comfort zone" of Napa and Sonoma.
Some standounts for me were the Tablas Creek Vermintino from Paso Robles, Terra d'Oro's Barbera from the Amador County, Pinot Gris from Balletto in the Russian River Valley, Big Basin Syrah from Santa Cruz, and McGrail Vineyard's Cabernet Sauvignon from Livermore Vally, home of the world's longest continously-burning lightbulb. Yes, these factiods can't be negelected!  :-)
For more info on some of these great areas, visit these sites:
http://www.amadorwine.com/new/pages/home.cgi
http://www.scmwa.com/
http://www.lvwine.org/
http://www.sustainablewinegrowing.org/
http://www.cawg.org/
Explore unexpected grapes from unexpected regions! Have some fun with wine today!!
:-)

The Wine Minute - Musigny Burgundy / Pinot Noir

2001 Musigny Crand Cru Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue - Here's a fantastic Burgundy selection! If you're not familiar with Burgundies, give this video a watch!  :-)

I am very lucky to be Musigny-worthy! The wine was paired with grilled mushroom pizza, and was to die for. Life's simple pleasures, right? Elegant Pinot Noir and pizza. A great combo. Have it today! And don't forget, Have FUN with wine!!

Me enjoying an incredible Burgundy

The Wine Minute, featuring Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva!

In this video, I pair one of my favorite Italian wines, Ruffino Riserva Ducale Gold,  with grilled Halibut and roasted garlic! The natural sweetness of roasted garlic really brings this Italian beauty to life. I highly recommend this combo! :-)

Cheers, and Buon Appetito!

Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva!

Grgich Hills Estate Chardonnay- Come GET some!

Vintage: 2007

If you haven’t had a bottle of Grgich chardonnay in a while, do yourself a favor and stop reading this right now and go buy a bottle, then come back and read this. Yeah, it’s okay. I’ll wait…

I have known about Grgich Hills wines for most of my adult life, yet for some reason, maybe because they were so readily available, I assumed they were common wines. A couple of years ago I sat down with the Southern California Grgich rep. for my restaurant and tasted through the lineup. Boy was I wrong!

The Grgich chardonnay straddles the perfect line between “old world” style fresh and  crisp and “new world” style rich and buttery! It is fresh and clean yet rich and full-bodied, with gorgeous apple, pear, and ripe melon notes.

The winemaker, Mike Grgich made headlines around the world in 1976, when his Chateau Montelena Chardonnay beat out all the great French white Burgundies in the “Tasting of Paris” contest. When it comes to chardonnay, he knows his stuff!

He also makes a dynamite Fume Blanc, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon. But don’t just take my word for it. Go GET some! Salut!

Wine Chat Video

9/5/10
At this wine chat, we kicked around such diverse topics as tastevins, the "meaning" of a cork, what "corked" means, the different styles of Chardonnay, what some great wine values are, and the meaning of life. Well, maybe not that, but lots of info about wine! :-) Enjoy!

Wine chatting with 103.1’s Liz Warner @ LA Times Celebration of Food and Wine.

LA Times Celebration of Food & Wine

9/5/10

I had a great time doing “Wine Chat” with 103.1’s Liz Warner. We chatted about all things wine and took questions from the audience. Special thanks to Grgich Hills, La Fenetre & Pech Merle for the great wines. Salut!

Had a fun interview with examiner.com, talking about food and wine pairings. 

Boys vs. Girls Blind Tasting Challenge

9/4/10
I was honored to be asked to partake in a Boys vs. Girls Blind Tasting Challenge at Taste of Beverly Hills. Our panel included some of LA’s top sommeliers such as Chris Lavin (XIV), David Rosoff (Mozza), Mark Mendoza (Comme Ca), Caroline Styne (AOC, Lucques), Dana Farner (Cut), Diane Deluca (Providence), and yours truly.
We had a blast even judged a two buck Chuck!! End result, the girls won. Better luck next time, boys!

Taste of Beverly Hills!!

Come see boys vs girls in a wine tasting square-off! Some of the best palates in town will be there. Is it really true that women are better than men? Stop by and find out for yourself!
 http://thetasteofbeverlyhills.com/?page_id=1448