VINOGRAPHY: a wine blog
Wine and food adventures in San Francisco and around the world
~ Recently in Wine Activities Category ~
Still Seats Left for the Sake Dinner at Manresa
Some of the best meals of my life have been from the kitchen of chef David Kinch at Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos. I'd take half a tasting menu from him over anything at the French Laundry, any day of the week. Which is why I'm humbled at his continued interest in collaborating with me to provide an unparalleled dining and drinking experience for a few adventurous diners every once in a while. David and I both have an enduring love for Japanese cuisine. If you've ever eaten at Manresa you may have noticed this influence in Chef Kinch's cooking.... continue reading 
- Posted by: Alder on August 27, 2008 7:35 PM
- Filed under: Food Activities , Ramblings and Rants , Wine Activities
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Slow Food Nation Wine and Food Event: Aug 29 - Sept 1, San Francisco
It's a pretty good time to be alive. I don't find myself often wishing that I had lived in earlier times. However, there are events in the past that I would give my right arm to have been able to experience first hand. One of my top choices for time-travel destinations would certainly be the 1893 Worlds Fair in Chicago. I'd love a week to explore the wares of the world amidst Olmstead's gardens. There may not ever be another event so grand as that, but when it comes to American food and wine, Slow Food Nation may very well... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 22, 2008 9:57 PM
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Tasting the Wines of San Francisco's East Bay Wineries
Wine country is now 15 minutes from downtown San Francisco, thanks to the surge in wine producers that are popping up all over the East Bay (and in San Francisco proper, too!). Oakland, Alameda, and Berkeley are now home to more than a dozen wineries that range in size from a couple of people and a couple of barrels, to some of California's most lauded wineries. A couple of years ago, these wineries got together and formed a marketing association that would help them all gain more visibility. This organization, known as the East Bay Vintners Alliance, has begun to... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 20, 2008 8:38 PM
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Sonoma Wine Country Weekend: Aug 29-31, 2008
Most people, when they come visit me in San Francisco and ask to be taken to wine country, assume that they're going to Napa, but at least half the time, that's definitely not where we end up. These well meaning tourists aren't the only ones who seem to forget that Northern California has many different "wine countries." Napa casts a long shadow, as it were. I've got lots of love for every piece of wine country we've got, and a special place in my heart for Sonoma County, both because it is the place of my birth, but also because... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 18, 2008 8:21 PM
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Napa Valley Wine Library Tasting: August 24th, St. Helena
Serious wine lovers in the San Francisco Bay area get several opportunities each year to indulge their passions for wine. Large, themed tastings like the ZAP Zinfandel Festival or the recent Pinot Days are great opportunities to get a sense of a certain varietal and the quality of the recent vintage in California and events like the upcoming Family Winemakers are an opportunity to taste wines from smaller producers. It is quite rare, however, despite the nearness of the appellation and the saturation of wine in the Bay Area, for consumers to get the opportunity to get an in-depth or... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 11, 2008 9:06 PM
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The Best Pinot Noir in California?: Tasting at Pinot Days 2008
The Pinot Days event, which took place on the last weekend in June this year, brings together one of the largest collections of Pinot Noir producers in North America for the tasting pleasure of the public. It's taken me quite some time to get this report out. Such tasting reports are the most time intensive blogging that I do, especially when the organizers of events like Pinot Days don't have an electronic list of the wines that are being poured at the event. Which means I need to transcribe the hundreds of wines and scores that I record in my... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 9, 2008 9:23 PM
- Filed under: Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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Family Winemakers Tasting: August 24th, San Francisco
Size isn't everything, they say, but sometimes it's mighty impressive. The yearly Family Winemakers tasting in San Francisco has as one of its many claims to fame that it is the single largest tasting of California wines in the world. That alone would not be reason for excitement, were it not for the generally exceptional quality of the wines that are on offer, year after year. Regular readers know that this tasting is one of my favorites every year. It provides an opportunity to sample the wares of smaller, family-run wineries, many of whose wines are made in such small... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 3, 2008 11:13 PM
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Bay Area Urban Wine Experience Tasting: August 9th, Oakland
Wine country means a lot of things in California, a state with winegrowing regions stretching most of its 800 mile length. For most residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, we tend to think of Wine Country as Napa or Sonoma. Increasingly, however, wine country must also include the East Bay. The cities of Berkeley, Oakland, and Alameda are now home to dozens of "Urban" wineries that are producing some of California's most sought-after wines. Recently united by an organization known as the East Bay Vintners Alliance, this group of 15 winemakers is holding its third annual Urban Wine Experience... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 25, 2008 10:21 PM
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Italian Wine Tasting Notes From The Golden Glass 2008
These days, with a newborn, I don't get out to many large tasting events, but one I decided I shouldn't miss this year was the annual Golden Glass tasting in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. This tasting is an annual fundraiser for Slow Food USA, and has been called the best single wine tasting event in San Francisco by more than a few wine lovers I know. In addition to having a reputation for pouring a lot of great wine (mostly Italian) the Slow Food focus attracts many of the top artisan food producers and restaurants from around... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 26, 2008 10:37 PM
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Taste3 Conference: July 17-19, Napa
I know how you think. You're sitting there, scratching your head, wondering, "now what on earth am I going to do here in the middle of the summer to exercise both my brain and my taste buds in a sophisticated way?" It's a good thing I caught you early on in your musing, otherwise you might have frittered away the whole summer in frustration, trying to come up with something suitably intellectual and delicious to occupy your time. So instead of sitting there updating your cellar list in Excel, or converting that old rolodex of recipes into a new digital... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 21, 2008 6:05 PM
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Blogging From Paradise: Day 2 at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic
Day two of Aspen's Food and Wine Classic was blessed with the same weather as the first. Crystalline blue skies, 75 degrees and sunny. I gave my second Napa's Next Superstars seminar to a nearly full auditorium at the Given Institute, and after hanging around to chat with some of the attendees about the wines, I was free. With all my seminars behind me I had the opportunity to finally explore the Classic as a spectator instead of a speaker. The first thing I did was head down to the Grand Tasting tent to get a few bites of food... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 14, 2008 10:54 PM
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Wine Blogging From Paradise: Day One of the Aspen Food & Wine Classic
I just finished my first day at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, and my second day back in my home town for the first time in 14 years. It's been quite an honor to be asked to speak at this year's classic, but so far it has been an incredible pleasure and a deeply nostalgic experience. Returning to the little town where I grew up (most people don't think of Aspen as so small, but in my day there were about 9,000 permanent residents -- my high school class had 72 people in it) is a very surreal experience.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 13, 2008 10:15 PM
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Pinot Days Festival and Tasting: June 26-29, 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 four 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 fourth year, Pinot Days has firmly established itself as one of the largest... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 9, 2008 11:12 PM
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Marin County Pinot Noir Tasting: June 14th, 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 May 28, 2008 10:15 PM
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Golden Glass Tasting: June 8th, 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 was often considered by some of my wine friends to be the single best public wine tasting in San Francisco. It may well still be. However, this year's Golden Glass tasting is taking a different approach to its wines. In past years this event, which is a fundraiser for Slow Food USA, has focused almost exclusively on small Italian wine... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 22, 2008 9:43 PM
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Wine & Spirits Hot Picks Tasting: May 22, Los Angeles
The American wine industry is pretty excited these days. Sales are up, and the demographics are looking good: the youngest generation of alcohol consumers (known as the "Millennials") are much more interested in wine than any other generation before them, and there are a lot of them -- almost as many as the Baby Boomers. In many ways, the Millennial generation has caused the wine industry to finally realize there's a market in younger wine drinkers, a group that has long been ignored by both the wine media and most wine producers. While the beer and hard liquor industries... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 17, 2008 9:56 PM
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Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival: May 16-18, 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 May 12, 2008 9:04 PM
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RAP Pink Out Rose Tasting: May 13, 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 rose, discerning palates are returning to pink wines in huge numbers. According... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 27, 2008 11:29 PM
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The Mountain Wines of Napa: Tasting Notes From Altitude
We live in a world of marketing, where everyone struggles to distinguish their product from the competition and where seduction is the name of the game. Winemakers and producers seemingly must participate in this cacophony of messages in order for their wines to attract the attention of consumers. This competition for eyeballs in the store (or online), and then share of wallet (or, one might say, share of cellar) leads to an awful lot of hype. Wine labels and web sites are now chock full of all sorts of claims and phrases, leaving consumers to sort out the honest descriptions... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 26, 2008 11:25 PM
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Wines of Portugal Tasting: April 22, San Francisco
I'm a little late to the game on this one folks, so apologies for the last minute notification. But if you're not busy on Tuesday evening and you are either a fan of Port or interested in one of the more interesting up-and-coming red wine regions of the world, you may want to pay attention. We get plenty of opportunities to taste California wines around here, and some chances to explore France and Italy, but Portuguese wine tastings are rare in most of the United States. This tasting has been billed as the largest Portuguese wine tasting in America. Of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 20, 2008 9:51 PM
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Wine Blogging Wednesday #45 Announced: Old World Riesling
Seven years ago, I didn't really know anything about Riesling. Seriously. Most of the Rieslings I had tasted at that point were purchased in supermarkets. Which meant that they were all from California or Washington, and that almost without exception, they sucked. I had yet to begin exploring the wines of Germany and Austria (I would shudder at the thought of decoding those inscrutable five-syllable names) and when it came to the wines of Alsace, I tended to pass over Riesling in favor of Gewurztraminer and Pinot Blanc. I had probably tasted one or two Rieslings from the Clare Valley... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 12, 2008 11:38 PM
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Napa With Altitude Tasting: April 23, San Francisco
If you've been drinking wine long enough, especially California wine, you've probably heard the phrase "hillside fruit" or "mountain fruit." While both phrases are certainly overused (I've seen some vineyards that produce "hillside fruit" that are about as steep as my kitchen floor) I cannot deny that I believe there is something special about fruit that is properly grown on steep slopes and mountainsides. I've had too many fantastic wines from such vineyards, whose generally sunny but cooler slopes produce slower maturing fruit that often has a distinct brightness and juiciness that I find hard to resist. Everyone knows Napa... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 9, 2008 9:26 PM
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Eat, Drink, and Be Green Earth Day Event: April 20, Sebastopol, CA
For the dedicated wine drinker, every holiday is a wine holiday. Not like we really need an excuse to celebrate wine, of course, but if you're going to celebrate anything, its best to do it with wine. Of course, certain holidays lend themselves more to a wine theme than others, and Earth Day may be one of the most wine friendly around. When you're busy celebrating the Earth and our environment, what better way is there to celebrate than to drink something that is truly the product of that Earth? Add to this the fact that Spring is in the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 4, 2008 7:45 PM
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Chianti Tasting: April 21, New York City
For as great a wine town as it is, fantastic public tasting opportunities don't come around all that often in New York City. Sure, if you know people, and especially if you're in the business, there's always some place to go to taste a few great wines. But there are rarely large public tasting events like those frequently held in San Francisco, where consumers can spend a little bit of money to taste a huge number of wines. As you know, I consider such events the best possible education wine lovers can get. There's nothing like being able to compare... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 28, 2008 11:00 PM
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The Best Grenache in California: Tasting Rhone Rangers 2008
Maybe I'm getting old, but I just didn't have the energy to taste 300 wines last weekend when the Rhone Rangers came to town. This is always one of my favorite tastings each year, as I deeply enjoy Rhone style wines in all their incarnations, from the crisp whites of Marsanne and Roussanne to the rich dark Syrahs, and everything in between. My usual approach consists of starting at one end of the hall and tasting through the wines like a bulldozer goes through a crowded square. This usually yields a great cross section of wines and lets me highlight... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 23, 2008 11:30 PM
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Wine Blogging Wednesday #44 Announced: Gary Says "Drink French Cab Franc"
What happens when the wine blogosphere meets the movement that is Gary Vaynerchuk and his nation of Vayniacs? We're about to find out, because Gary, the enfant terrible of the wine world and man behind Wine Library TV is the host for the 44th monthly Wine Blogging Wednesday. Gary's announcement of this fact comes at about 13:45 into his latest show, if you want to hear it from his own lips. The details, however are as follows: On Wednesday, April 2nd, bloggers from around the world (and presumably Gary himself?), and hopefully a bunch of his Vayniac fans will all... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 19, 2008 10:38 PM
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The World's Best Burgundy? Tasting La Paulee de San Francisco
It's not every day that I get to leave a wine tasting knowing that I've probably spit out a volume of wine that would cost more than the entire contents of my own personal cellar. OK, I'm probably being slightly hyperbolic, but I did spend last Saturday tasting wines that for the most part I will never be able to afford to own. The Grand Tasting at La Paulee de San Francisco offered an opportunity to taste approximately eighty top Burgundies from recent vintages alongside food samples from some of San Francisco's top restaurants, including Coi, A16, Boulevard, La Folie,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 6, 2008 11:20 PM
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