VINOGRAPHY: a wine blog
Wine and food adventures in San Francisco and around the world
~ Recently in Wine Activities Category ~
The Best Pinot Noir in California?: Tasting Pinot Days 2009
The Pinot Days grand tasting event, which took place yesterday at Fort Mason in San Francisco, brings together one of the largest collections of Pinot Noir producers in North America for the tasting pleasure of the public. I was interested to see whether attendance at this year's event would be noticeably lower, but if it was, I couldn't tell. The place seemed just as packed as ever, which is a good thing -- the California wine industry needs all the help it can get in this recession. So needless to say, I was in good company tasting yesterday with 3500... continue reading 
- Posted by: Alder on June 29, 2009 10:32 PM
- Filed under: Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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International Pinot Noir Conference: July 24-26, McMinnville, OR
There are wine tastings, and then there are wine tastings. And then, there are experiences that completely transcend a bunch of tables with vintners standing behind them pouring their wines. I've been to a few "destination" wine experiences, some of which have been great, but none of which have been better than the International Pinot Noir Conference that takes place every year in McMinnville, Oregon. Scheduled over a long July weekend every year, IPNC is one of the most relaxed and intimate wine tasting experiences I've had the pleasure of attending, not to mention the fact that it also involves... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 25, 2009 5:17 PM
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Highlights from the 2009 Aspen Food & Wine Classic
I just returned from a weekend as a speaker at the 27th annual Aspen Food & Wine Classic, the grandaddy of all food and wine festivals. This was my second opportunity to attend the festival as a speaker, and, like the first year, a doubly special honor, as Aspen also happens to be my home town. DAY 0 I got the opportunity to kick off the weekend's festivities as the guest speaker at a luncheon for the Aspen Chamber Resort Association. My job was to entertain, to guide the attendees through the wines selected for the lunch, and to thank... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 22, 2009 9:05 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine Activities
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Pinot Days Festival and Tasting: June 24-28, San Francisco
It's hard to believe there was once a time that San Francisco had no major public wine tasting focused on Pinot Noir. I've only been blogging about wine for the last five and a half years, but when I started, no such festival existed. We had a Zinfandel Festival, a tasting for small family winemakers, a tasting for Rhone varietals, a Cabernet tasting, and more, but not until 2005 did San Francisco get a festival dedicated to what has been called the "heartbreak grape." Now in it's fifth year, Pinot Days has firmly established itself as one of the largest... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 16, 2009 9:10 PM
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Golden Glass Tasting: June 21, San Francisco
There aren't many "secret" public wine tastings in San Francisco, but for several years, the Golden Glass tasting was about as close as you could get to a "wine insiders" tasting. Historically under-promoted, and generally not well attended, this tasting is often described as the single best public wine tasting in San Francisco. I'm not sure that's true, but it certainly is one of the better ones. This event, which is a fundraiser for Slow Food USA, has focused almost exclusively on small Italian wine producers -- apropos of the fact that Slow Food was founded in Italy. In recent... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 8, 2009 11:46 PM
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Marin County Pinot Noir Tasting: June 13, Larkspur
Most of the major appellations of California tend to have their own large tastings, where members of the public have an opportunity to sample a broad range of wines from a specific area. These tastings, as I am fond of reminding you readers, are by far the best way to educate your palate and to learn both what you like and do not like, but also who you like and do not like when it comes to California wine. These tastings are the best places to discover your next favorite wine. This particular wine tasting may be a chance to... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 3, 2009 10:13 PM
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The Best Wine in Washington State: Notes from Taste Washington 2009
The first week of April I got the opportunity to do an "immersion" course in Washington State wine. No, this didn't involve repeatedly dunking me in a vat of wine, amusing though that would have been. Rather, it involved attending the annual Taste Washington wine festival in Seattle. I flew up to Seattle for two reasons. I was asked to give a seminar at the event, which I gladly did, focusing on wineries that made their wine in unconventional places like garages, barns, airplane hangers, fire houses, etc. But mostly I was excited for the opportunity to taste a ton... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 27, 2009 11:17 PM
- Filed under: Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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Wine & Spirits Restaurant Wine Tasting: June 2, New York City
Summer is almost upon us, which means a last minute flurry of wine events around the country before the heat sets in. Especially in New York City. New Yorkers don't seem to get quite as many large public tasting events as we do in California, no doubt in part because of the expense of flying in with a big box of wines to pour for the public. This is a shame, really, as it's a great market for such tastings. Which is why I always try to point out to my New York readers when the opportunity arises to spend... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 26, 2009 10:23 PM
- Filed under: Wine Activities
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TAPAS Tempranillo Tasting: June 14, San Francisco
Sometimes I feel like California vintners don't experiment enough. While they may be trying a wide range of rootstocks, clonal material, yeast strains, trellising methods, barrel regimes, and the various other minor, yet important variables that can make for higher quality wine, far too few wineries are trying to grow different grape varieties from around the world. That's a generalization, of course, and there are plenty of exceptions, but by and large most California winemakers stick to the tried and true: white and red Bordeaux varieties, Syrah, Zinfandel, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir, with occasional branching out into Grenache, Viognier, or... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 24, 2009 10:38 PM
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Carneros Heritage Festival: May 30, Sonoma
Carneros is one of California's most distinctive and special winegrowing regions. While wine lovers can argue for hours about the concept of terroir, few California wine aficionados can dispute that Carneros possesses a unique and dynamic climate that is forged from geography and weather. As summer heat spikes into the 100's just a few miles away, Carneros remains cool, even chilled by ocean breezes and fog banks, making for perfect cool-climate grape growing conditions that favor the Burgundy varietals of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Additionally, it represents a bit of an oddity when it comes to California appellations, as it... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 14, 2009 10:11 PM
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Paso Robles Wine Festival 2009: May 15-16th, Paso Robles, CA
Anyone who hasn't yet discovered Paso Robles wines is missing some of the most interesting and dynamic wines that California has to offer. And anyone who hasn't discovered Paso Robles, would do well to mosey on down there for their 27th Annual Wine Festival in a couple of weeks. Once a sleepy undiscovered little wine town, Paso has become the epicenter of a wine explosion in the last decade with wineries popping up like Spring crocuses every year. The limestone terroir of western Paso Robles in particular is producing some absolutely stunning Syrahs and other Rhone Varietals that every wine... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 2, 2009 12:21 PM
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Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival: May 15-17, Philo, CA
California Pinot Noir lovers take note. Wine lovers with a free weekend, listen up. It's Spring, and the wine events are coming fast and furious. It seems like every week there's a new wine tasting to go to. But some are more worth paying attention to than others. Anderson Valley is known for two things in California, and not coincidentally, it has more or less two major wine tasting events per year. The first, the International Alsace Varietals festival took place a few months ago, and I was sadly prevented from attending. The second is the annual Pinot Noir Festival,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 27, 2009 10:17 PM
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RAP Pink Out! Rose Tasting: May 12, San Francisco
It's almost impossible to write about pink wines these days without invoking some sort of cliche. Even the (true) claim that rosé wines are no longer out of fashion has been recycled so many times that I'm cringing just typing it. The fact of the matter is that after years of being vino-non-grata, pink wines are finally back in the awareness of American wine drinkers. After the success of Sutter Home White Zinfandel sent wine lovers running for the hills every time someone offered them a glass of rosé, discerning palates are returning to pink wines in huge numbers. How... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 21, 2009 9:58 PM
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Hospice du Rhone Tasting: April 30 - May 2, Paso Robles, CA
Most wine tasting events focused on a specific style or type of wine that take place in California suffer from a single, but important deficit: they feature almost exclusively California wines. Go to a Pinot Noir event, and you get 95% California Pinots, etc. There are a few notable exceptions to this event, however, and one of my favorites is the annual fete for Rhone style wines called Hospice du Rhone. For those who have not had the pleasure of attending Hospice du Rhone, it is a unique treat for anyone who enjoys this kind of wine. Attendees spend a... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 12, 2009 10:31 PM
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Pebble Beach Food and Wine Experience: April 16-19, Carmel, CA
Once upon at time, there was but one major event for food and wine enthusiasts looking to experience some of the top chefs and wines of the United States. The Aspen Food and Wine Classic was the ultimate experience for epicures and wine lovers who could afford to attend the multi-day showcase of taste. Other events equally focused on bringing together fine food and wine and the people who love them have followed. Strangely, for many years none of these events took place in California. Eventually, though, some people realized the travesty represented by this fact, and started an event... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 30, 2009 10:35 PM
- Filed under: Food Activities , Wine Activities
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Taste Washington Wine and Food Festival: April 4-5, Seattle
I may be a little bit like a broken record when it comes to large public tasting events. I can't underscore enough to my readers how valuable they are for their ability to help novice wine lovers turn into experienced ones. There is simply no better way to educate your palate (or even just find out what kind of wine you like and do not like) than to attend a large public tasting. Such tastings are all the more valuable when they are focused on a particular style of wine, or a particular region. When it comes to regional tastings,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 16, 2009 10:16 PM
- Filed under: Food Activities , Wine Activities
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Rhone Rangers Tasting: March 22, San Francisco
I love watching the green buds burst forth on the trees this time of year, hard on the heels of the cherry blossoms. Yes, it's California, and the groundhog doesn't agree with me, but the barest hint of any season gets me excited, but especially Spring. And with Spring in San Francisco comes lots of wine tasting events, and a few really good ones. The Annual Rhone Rangers Tasting in San Francisco is certainly one of the Spring highlights for wine lovers in the Bay Area. Held at Fort Mason, like all the other big tastings, Rhone Rangers offers the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 5, 2009 12:01 AM
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San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition Tasting: February 28, San Francisco
If there is one public wine tasting event that rivals San Francisco's yearly ZAP Zinfandel tasting for sheer size and chaos, it could only be the annual Chronicle Wine Competition Tasting. Every year the San Francisco Chronicle (with a lot of help) holds a wine competition, judged by more than 60 wine professionals, in which they award medals to their top choices from among over 4,700 wines from all across America. This competition has grown over the last 8 years to be the largest competitive tasting of American wines in the world. The judges hand out hundreds of medals and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 24, 2009 10:44 PM
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New York Wine Expo & Tasting: February 27-28, New York
OK New Yorkers, listen up. Most of the time, America looks your way with envy. You've got the best restaurants, the best films, the best theater, the best art scene, it goes on and on. But one thing you ain't got so much of is good public wine tasting events. Which is why there's always a bit of jealousy in the voices of my friends in New York when we talk about the wine events that happen every month or so here in San Francisco. So here's your chance to fix that in a big way: The New York Wine... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 14, 2009 2:37 PM
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Dark and Delicious Petite Sirah Tasting: February 20, Alameda
I've referred to it in the past as "the beast." Possessing tannins that need to be tamed through intelligent winemaking, Petite Sirah can truly be a monster of a wine. One of the least-well -known red grape varieties that are commonly grown in California, it does not command legions of rabid followers like Zinfandel or Cabernet or even Syrah, from which it takes its misleading name. In the right hands, however, Petite Sirah can be a stunning wine -- deep, resonant, and rich. Petite Sirah has been grown in California for a long time, but apart from some limited success... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 10, 2009 10:11 PM
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Anderson Valley Alsace Varietals Festival: February 21, Boonville, CA
With all the fanfare surrounding Cabernet and Pinot Noir coupled with the obsession this country seems to have with Chardonnay, it's sometimes hard for people to remember that California produces a lot of different kinds of wine. It's even harder, it seems, to get people to drink some of it. Enter what may be the most unique wine festival in California and perhaps the country. Some of the most under-appreciated and least consumed wines in the state are those made from grapes like Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Riesling. There aren't a lot of places in California where these... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 28, 2009 10:07 PM
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La Paulee Grand Burgundy Tasting: March 7, New York City
Every budding wine lover faces what can often seem like a daunting mountain to climb. There are so many wines in the world to learn about and experience, it easy to feel overwhelmed. Novice wine lovers also often feel a special sense of frustration, characterized by an ambition that far outstrips our own means to fulfill it. Many of the wines that passionate wine lovers wish they could taste are simply out of reach -- too rare, too popular, and too expensive. When I was first starting out in my journey down the roads of wine, the most mysterious and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 18, 2009 1:27 PM
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Announcing the Menu For Hope 2009 Wine Prize Winners!
Thank you all for your patience while we whipped our random number generator into place so that we could be sure that the raffle was fair and square. Finally, though, the time has come to announce the winners of the fifth annual Menu For Hope charity raffle. This year, despite everything going on with the economy, we raised $62,206.86. That is a staggering figure and an incredible testament to your generosity and support for such a worthy cause. Thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you. You have provided so much to people who have so little. If... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 15, 2009 9:17 PM
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ZAP Zinfandel Festival: January 28 - 31, San Francisco
It's that time of year again. I know of no other event that seems to bring out the inner wine lover in so many San Franciscans more than the annual ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers) Festival. It never ceases to amaze me how many people turn out with such enthusiasm for this single varietal festival. Don't get me wrong. I love Zinfandel -- unabashedly so. But I tend to forget how many other people do too. Especially those that live in San Francisco. Of course it's not just San Franciscans that turn out for this one-of-a-kind weekend. People come from... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 6, 2009 10:16 PM
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Join Vinography at The Aspen Food & Wine Classic '09
Now that you're wrapping up your Winter holidays, it's the perfect time to plan your Summer ones. In my opinion Summer holidays should be filled with beautiful scenery, great wine, and delicious food. If you agree, then perhaps you'll consider joining me at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic 2009. I grew up in Aspen, and as a kid, I worked as a catering scamp at the Classic, hauling crates of dishes around, not really knowing what the whole thing was about, other than there was lots of free food. Last year I had the double pleasure of not only... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 2, 2009 10:24 PM
- Filed under: Food Activities , Wine Activities
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Last Day to Get Fabulous Wine Prizes for a Steal!
OK folks, here's the deal. Today is the last day of A Menu For Hope charity raffle. You've got until Midnight tonight, Pacific Time, to buy raffle tickets for some seriously awesome prizes. Every raffle ticket increases your chance of winning said prize, and every ticket buys healthy, nutritious lunches for school children in Lesotho. What could be better than that? It's important to realize that even a single $10 ticket can win you some seriously good loot. One of the most popular prizes last year (and this year), the Meadowood vacation package, was won by someone who bought a... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 31, 2008 3:50 PM
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Boston Wine Expo: January 24-25, Boston, MA
Wine lovers in Beantown, listen up. It won't be long now before some of you may be asking yourselves what on Earth you're doing freezing your keisters off in the depths of winter. But there is at least one reason for sticking around through January besides the New England Patriots, and that, my friends is the Boston Wine Expo. There are very few reasons that I'd venture out to Boston in the middle of winter, but let me tell you, the Boston Wine Expo is almost enough of a reason for me to jet on out there from San Francisco.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 27, 2008 5:56 PM
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