A Pinch of This

Tonight Taster A and I will observe our annual tradition of watching Sleepy Hollow followed by Mad Monster Party. I don't have any spooky wine so, we'll just have to play it by ear!

Please enjoy this short Animagic clip featuring creepy cooking. Happy Halloween!

Gary V. Upstaged at WBC?

Yeah, that title is sensationalized--I do that sometimes. I actually have to give props to Gary Vaynerchuk for flying out to Sonoma for the Wine Bloggers Conference on his own time (think he was in the area for one day) to give a keynote to us rabble rowsers. His actions truly are as inspiring as his words (if not more). He's just a hard, hard worker, bottom line.

That being said, I'm afraid this video by Tim Zahner stole the show, just a little bit. Check it out. (Warning: If you've never watched Wine Library TV, you won't get it)

Saralee's Vineyard & the Russian River Valley

Having read about Saralee's Vineyard over a year ago, I was pretty excited to have the opportunity to visit during the Wine Blogging Conference. She's kind of a big deal in Sonoma County. Saralee greeted us and gave us the lay of the land and then handed us off to wine-makers Rod Berglund, and Daniel Moore to lead a hike. They both source grapes from Saralee. Daniel gets the coveted Roller Coaster Ridge Pinot Noir and Rod takes the Pinot Gris from Turkey Hill. Rod does loose some fruit to the wild turkeys if you were curious.

As we walked, Rod and Daniel talked about the local soil types, and the fog patterns that set the Russian River Valley AVA apart stating "fog is the one unifying factor." They also both talked at length about the controversial Gallo petition to expand the AVA. The Russian River Valley Winegrowers Association is taking no official stand on this matter, and I'm sure I don't blame them (*see Wine & Politics). A full write up on this petition before the TTB has been posted at Appellation America.

We were served a tasty spread including homegrown heirloom tomatoes (in homemade wine vinegar), homegrown figs, sandwiches and homemade aioli and mayo. Of course, both wine-makers poured us some of their wines as well.

As we enjoyed our lunch, Saralee came to our table and our Zephyr guide coaxed her into telling us (humbly) of her work volunteering with the student vineyard for El Molino High School. The students grow the grapes and local wineries take care of the vinification and sales. All the proceeds go back into the program. Last year, they sold 50 cases of their Lion's Pride label to the Bohemian Club which I thought was quite something. Some of us at the table were ready to re-enroll in high school! It's just really cool that kids in the valley have the opportunity to be immersed in the wine growing industry that surrounds their community.

image courtesy of Russian River Valley Winegrowers Foundation

Wine Book Club Fifth Edition: Wine & Politics

I don't know why it's always surprising to learn of the profound influence of politics over our lives. From the title, I thought I was in for a rehash of circumstances I was already somewhat familiar with but, I was definitely in for a surprise. For a summary of Wine Politics by Tyler Colman, the subtitle says it all: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink. However, whatever opinion you form about what that content entails is most likely influenced by an understanding of the wine industry that has been shaped by PR to some degree, no matter how much of the sordid history of bootleggers and liquor lobbyists you are familiar with already. In short, this is stuff you probably did not know.

What I found in this book were many stories that I was aware of already from reading Matt Kramer and the like but, with an added layer of detail that illuminated everything from the formation of the French Appellations, to how distributors maneuver in an entirely new light. The author, Tyler Colman (aka Dr. Vino) weaves together many observable and oft discussed conditions in the wine industry with little-known catalysts to form some pretty stark revelations.

He admits in the Forward a tendency toward a dry academic tone but, compared to the book I'm reading right now for a course, I found this book to be a breath of fresh air. It's also short, which makes it an easy read. I am recommending this book to anyone interested in learning about wine.

Thanks to Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20 for both choosing this book for review, and for founding the Wine Book Club.

Home from WBC

Wow! I can't believe this is the first chance I've had to post anything about the weekend I just had! I just rolled into Boston this morning at 6:45am from sunny Sonoma County where I attended the first North American Wine Bloggers Conference.

I can't even begin to go into everything that happened in the two and a half short days of the conference, but the biggest highlight for me was definitely meeting a lot of wonderful wine bloggers and industry people who I've only known by avatar up until this point. I just wish there'd been enough time to meet and get to know everyone. There are several people that I respect who's hand I never actually got a chance to shake.

And, what would a Wine Bloggers conference be without wine. As this week progresses, I will post about some of the over two hundred wines (no I didn't even come close to sampling them all) wines on offer that stood out for me. But, for now, I'm closing in on 25 hours since I slept in an actual bed, and I'm looking forward to going to sleep in my own timezone. Nightie-night!

Albariño by the Sea

Good Albariño is grown near the sea on the Atlantic Coast. Rias Baixas is located on the Northern Portugal boarder. This offers Atlantic breezes to cool the grapes during the evening. The Albariño wines are softly perfumed, have real depth and interest. The grapes are grown on a system where the vines are strung overhead in a canopy fashion with the grapes hanging down. This keeps the blistering sun off the grapes and allows good circulation. Albariño vines tend to be low yielding and the wines may tend to be a little pricy. This bottle is not a concern. I’m happy to pay the price for what we received.


A minor factoid; this Albariño started out on the western coast of Spain on the Atlantic. Taster B and I are enjoying it on the eastern coast of Massachusetts. Pictured here is the Albariño with a background of the Atlantic with the peach colored sunsets that we get here this time of year.

Albariño
Burgaño

Vintage: 2007
Rias Baixas Denominacion de Orixe
Alcohol: 12.5
Price: $14.99

Color: Straw
Intensity: Pale
Aromas: Melon, peach, pear, guava, vanilla, mushroom, ash, hazel nut, pineapple
Flavors: Lemon, grapefruit, nutmeg, kiwi, passion fruit, guava, peach.
Body: Medium
Acidity: Crisp
Sweetness: Off dry
Finish: Moderate

Summary: This is our first Albariño. It is crisp, light, bright, zesty and complex. It is like a Pinot Grigio/Gewürztraminer blend. The flavors and aromas explode out of the glass. This is a really fun wine.

Tonight we had this with dirty rice. I would recommend this with salmon, haddock, seared tuna, chicken picante, or pasta primavera. This would also do well with cheese and crackers. A very versatile wine.

It's Gonna be Good

It's hard to believe that one week from tonight I will be en route to the first North American Wine Blogger's Conference in Sonoma! It's been a year since Taster A and I were last in Sonoma. I'm really excited to meet all the wine bloggers that I've been getting to know on Twitter for the last ten months. Sadly, Taster A has to stay home and work but, the good news is I get to share a room with Sonadora from Wannabe Wino which should be a blast!

Technically, the European Wine Bloggers Conference at the end of August was the first conference of wine bloggers. That conference was held in Rioja and a lot of wine bloggers watching from this side of the pond started to get really excited about the upcoming conference in Sonoma when we saw how much fun they were having! The conference agenda is packed and guest speakers Gary Vaynerchuck (last time I checked) and Alice Feiring definitely have attendees all fired up! I hope to learn a lot and come back with lots of ideas about how to make this blog *even* better.

Also one week from tonight is the fourth Twitter Taste Live featuring Jed Steele! I have to miss it because I'll be in-flight but plenty of tweeps in the wine 2.0 community will be participating and if last month's event is any indicator, it should be a riotous good time. Anyone can participate but time is running out to order the packs from Bin Ends. Even if you don't have the wines, it's still fun to tune into the twitter-stream and watch the progression of tipplings and tweets.