The Wine Minute with Jonathan Mitchell - Ian Blackburn

In this Wine Minute, I am with my buddy Ian Blackburn of Learn About Wine, as we taste Argentinian wines at his event at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood
Ian's company, Learn About Wine, put on this trade event to promote the wines of Argentina. There were hundreds of incredible Malbecs, Cabernets, Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and blends. Some of the highlights for me were the wines of Clos de la Siete, made by 7 French Bordeaux makers who are in Argentina making fabulous Bordeaux-style blends, and the wines of Bramare, made by Paul Hobbs down in Argentina. His Cobos line is the super-premium, with a phenomenal Malbec and a KILLER Cabernet Sauvignon. To learn more about the great wines served at this event, go to Ian's website, learnaboutwine.com.

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!!
:-)

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!