VINOGRAPHY: a wine blog
Wine and food adventures in San Francisco and around the world
~ Recently in Wine Activities Category ~
18th Annual Monterey Winery Association Tasting: August 7, Monterey, CA
One of my personal goals includes constantly educating my palate. I do this to both learn to be a better taster and to know more about wine, but also because, like every other wine lover, I'm out to find the next greatest wine to drink. I try to encourage my readers to do the same thing, and the main way I do that is to push them to go to large public tasting events, where they can try dozens and dozens of wines side by side. For me, there is a sharp dividing line in my past. The time before... continue reading 
- Posted by: Alder on July 25, 2010 10:13 PM
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Napa Wine Library Tasting: August 15, Napa
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 July 23, 2010 9:18 AM
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The World's Best Burgundy? Tasting La La Paulée de San Francisco 2010
I won't be winning any awards this year for "timely reporting." It's now been more than three months since the event called La Paulée de San Francisco came to town, but I'm finally getting my notes from the grand tasting posted here. For those who aren't familiar with La Paulée, it offers the opportunity to spit out thousands of dollars of wine in the space of a couple of hours. In other words, it's one of world's best Burgundy tastings, where attendees get the chance to sample some wines that are made in such small quantities, and at such high... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 7, 2010 11:13 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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South African Gems: My Aspen Food & Wine Classic Seminar
As some of you know, I spent last week at the Aspen Food & Wine Classic, where amongst a lot of drinking, socializing, and eating, I also gave two wine seminars. The first of those seminars was entitled South African Gems, and was an opportunity for me to showcase some of my very favorite South African wines for a crowd of about 160 people. Here's what it looked like, courtesy of my little Flip camera placed on the edge of one of the tables. The video offers the full seminar for those with the patience to watch. The wines I... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 23, 2010 11:57 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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Pinot Days 2010 Tasting: June 27, San Francisco
These days, it's hard to imagine that there was a time when San Francisco didn't play host to an event focused on Pinot Noir, but it wasn't until 2005 that the city got an event dedicated to "the heartbreak grape." Now in it's sixth year, Pinot Days has firmly established itself as one of the largest and most exciting Pinot Noir events in America. If you enjoy Pinot Noir or are still trying to figure that out, this is an event that should not be missed. Pinot Days offers a week of events, from winemaker dinners, to small tastings in... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 3, 2010 10:27 PM
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Golden Glass Wine Tasting: June 12, San Francisco
Once upon a time, the Golden Glass tasting was about as close as you could get to a secret "wine insiders" tasting. Historically under-promoted, and generally not well attended, this tasting began as a smaller Italian focused "slow wine" tasting put on by Slow Food USA. Now in its 7th year, The Golden Glass continues to be co-produced by Slow Food (who recently pulled out of their relationship with the Gambero Rosso tasting), and now focuses other regions in addition to Italy, with a decidedly sustainable, regional bent. Over 100 different wine producers are supposed to attend and pour their... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 26, 2010 10:34 PM
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Tempranillo Advocates and Producers Tasting: June 5, 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 13, 2010 9:55 PM
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2010 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival: May 14-16, 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 2, 2010 9:34 PM
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California Cabernet Society Tasting, May 3, San Francisco
They say "Cabernet is king" for a reason. Even with the surge in interest for Pinot Noir in this country, if I ever bring a bunch of wines to a party, the first wines emptied are almost always the Cabernet Sauvignons. People love them, and with good reason. When good the offer a wonderful combination of power, finesse and fruit. It also helps that they taste like cherries, a flavor which most Americans seem to love. Despite California being home to massive quantities of Cabernet Sauvignon, there aren't many opportunities for members of the public to taste a lot of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 27, 2010 10:23 PM
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Celebrate South Africa Wine Tasting: May 3 & 6, Los Angeles and San Francisco
I went to South Africa about 2 years ago on a press junket and fell in love with the place. A stunning landscape, wonderful food, and amazing potential as a wine region left me with the desire to return. In particular, though, I was struck by the value for money that many of its wines offered, and the diversity of styles and grape varieties that seem to be grown successfully in its varied climates. If you're like me, traveling there without someone else footing the bill is prohibitively expensive, not to mention time consuming. But you needn't trek all the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 21, 2010 11:35 PM
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Austria Uncorked Tasting 2010: May 3rd San Francisco, May 5th New York
Importers, distributors, country trade commissions, and individual wine regions have long put on tastings for the trade and media to showcase wines in the hopes of increased sales and better media coverage. One of the most encouraging trends I see in the wine world continues to be the proliferation of such tastings available for the general public. Let's face it, even someone who has a bottle of wine with every meal only gets a couple hundred tastes of different wines every year. And most people tend to stick with the wines or grape varieties that they know. No matter... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 18, 2010 6:29 PM
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Hospice du Rhone 2010 Tasting: April 29 to May 1, Paso Robles
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, 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 laid-back... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 11, 2010 10:49 PM
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The Champagne and Sparkling Wine Conference: April 16-17, New Orleans
Chances are, you don't drink nearly enough Champagne. I don't either, and I try to make an effort. Chances are you don't know as much about Champagne and other sparkling wines as you do about red, white and rosé. Most people don't. And if you're like most people, you haven't been to New Orleans lately. There's a simple fix to all of the above, and it's called the Independent Champagne and Sparkling Wine Invitational. And just like it sounds, it's a conference (and more importantly, a tasting event) dedicated solely to bubbles. I don't know about you, but to me,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 31, 2010 2:12 AM
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Pebble Beach Food and Wine 2010: April 8-11, Pebble Beach, 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 27, 2010 6:53 PM
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Wines of Portugal Tasting: April 5th, San Francisco
I'm currently traipsing around Australia and was very interested to meet a winemaker who was excited about the new section of his vineyard that he had planted with grapes like Touriga Nacional, Tinto Roriz, and others that he planned to use to make a dry red wine in the style of those made in Portugal. Such wines (when they are good) are currently some of the best value red wines on the market today, which is why if I weren't in Australia I would be attending the Wines of Portugal Tasting coming up on April 5th. Known primarily for producing... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 23, 2010 11:59 PM
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2010 Rhone Rangers Tasting: March 27-28, 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, so 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 change for wine lovers to taste through... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 18, 2010 11:26 PM
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San Francisco Vintner's Market: April 10-11, San Francisco
Sometimes you hear an idea and wonder to yourself, exactly why it's taken someone so long to come up with it. And the really good ones make you think, "now why didn't I come up with that?" That's exactly what I thought to myself when I found out about the upcoming San Francisco Vintners Market. It's a farmer's market, but for wine. Simple as that. Walk around, taste a bunch of wines, and buy the ones that you like. So incredibly straightforward it took years for someone to come up with the idea. But now all you gotta do is... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 16, 2010 10:54 PM
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El Dorado Winery Association Tasting: March 20, San Francisco
One of the trends in the wine industry I'm happiest about involves the increasing initiative that wine regions are taking in making themselves visible to the public. Such activities by individual AVAs, or American Viticultural Areas, produce two important results: increased awareness of the individual region, and increased awareness of the difference between regions for consumers. I'm in full support. Public tasting events are one of the chief ways such wine regions are producing this visibility. These events are not only a lot of fun to go to, they are a wonderful education. While visiting the region is the best... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 11, 2010 9:36 PM
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Napa's Best Cabernet: Tasting at Premiere Napa Valley 2010
One of my favorite events each year involves the opportunity to sample some of the best wines that Napa produces in a given vintage. At Premiere Napa Valley, an auction that serves as the world's most expensive "bake sale" to support the efforts of the non-profit Napa Valley Vintners Association, journalists like me get a chance to sneak a taste of hundreds of unique wines that are purchased by the nation's top wine retailers at staggeringly high prices. This year, as every year, 200 member wineries each crafted a unique auction lot of wine that in most cases represents the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 23, 2010 10:14 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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2010 Anderson Valley Alsace Festival: February 20-21, 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 other 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... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 10, 2010 10:35 PM
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Dark and Delicious Petite Sirah Tasting: February 19, Alameda, CA
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 those who attended today's ZAP Zinfandel festival, or the loyal drinkers of Cabernet, or even those who swear by 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... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 30, 2010 11:50 PM
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Winners of the Menu For Hope VI Charity Raffle
You folks are phenomenal. Thank you so much for your support. With your generous donations of both prizes and bids for them, we raised $70,900 for the UN World Food Programme. That's a truly remarkable amount of money, and a testament to the passion and generosity of you, my readers, and the blogging community as a whole. If your name appears in the list below as one of the winners, I will be contacting you over the weekend with instructions on how you can claim your prize (I will put you in touch with the folks that offered it, and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 18, 2010 1:58 PM
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ZAP Zinfandel Festival 2010: January 28-30, 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 14, 2010 10:26 PM
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Boston Wine Expo 2010: January 23-24, Boston
Wine lovers in Beantown, listen up. Right about now you may be wondering just what you're doing freezing your keisters off in the depths of yet another winter. But January provides at least one good reason: 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. Almost, but not quite. However, if I lived anywhere within 100 miles of the Boston, I would be at... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 8, 2010 11:46 PM
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La Paulee 2010 Grand Burgundy Tasting: March 13, San Francisco
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's not hard to feel overwhelmed. It's also quite common to feel a certain sense of frustration, the kind 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... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 7, 2010 10:09 PM
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Menu For Hope Closed at $77,900!
You people are awesome. Thanks to your help as donors, bidders, and all around generous humanitarians, as of midnight on 12/31/09 when the Menu for Hope raffle closed, we raised $77,900 for the UN World Food Programme. Every single cent of that money is going to poor farmers in Africa, and you deserve a round of applause. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, the waiting begins. Check back here on Vinography or on Chez Pim on January 18th for the announcement of the winners! Hope your 2010 is off to a wonderful start. Thanks to you, mine most certainly... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 3, 2010 11:03 PM
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Menu For Hope Extended until 12/31!
There's still time to win some really fabulous prizes, as our annual Menu For Hope. charity raffle has been extended until the very last moment of 2009. For anyone that doesn't read Vinography regularly, and may have missed all the hoopla thus far, here's how it works. A $10 donation to the World Food Programme gets you a raffle ticket and a chance to win the item of your choice from one of hundreds of fantastic things around the world. I am the host of the wine related prizes, of course. Since I posted the original list, I've added several... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 30, 2009 11:20 PM
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Two More Days to Win Fabulous Wine Prizes
We're headed into the final stretches of the holiday craziness. If you're like me, you've already started to consume wine in rough proportion to the number of presents left to wrap, and you find yourself wishing that everyone else around you would start drinking, too. But even as the stress of the holidays mount to a fever pitch, we need to make sure that we keep it all in perspective. We're all incredibly lucky to be sitting under a roof somewhere with electricity and heat and clean water and food in the fridge. There are those whose survival, let alone... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 23, 2009 11:06 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine Activities
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Pinot Days Southern California: January 17, Los Angeles
Given the dramatic increase in popularity of Pinot Noir in America in the past few years, it should come as no surprise that Pinot Days, a festival dedicated to the grape, would be so successful. It is surprising, however, that this festival has never been held in Los Angeles until now. For some reason I don't fully understand Southern California often gets short shrift when it comes to big wine festivals. But no longer. After successful runs in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York, Pinot Days is coming to LA. I know it's hard to think about what you're going... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 22, 2009 11:12 PM
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Menu For Hope VI: Win Some Wine (and Other Great Stuff)
How would you like to spend a week in Tuscany at a private villa, drinking aged Brunello di Montalcino, all the while knowing that you're enjoying the experience because you helped poor farmers in Africa? That, my friends, is the beauty of the charity event called A Menu For Hope. This is the sixth year of A Menu For Hope, the grassroots charity event for wine and food bloggers that started in response to the horrible Tsunamis of 2004. Last year's event raised more than $60,000 for the UN's World Food Programme, which set up a special arrangement so that... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 13, 2009 11:40 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine Activities
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Menu For Hope is Coming. Will You Donate a Wine Prize and Become Famous?
Think of this as the early warning system. Our annual Menu For Hope campaign is right around the corner. In its sixth year, this charity event brings together bloggers from all over the world to raise money for the United Nations World Food Programme. It's an awesome event that raises tens of thousands of dollars each year for hungry children around the world. For those who are not familiar with this initiative, it is essentially a raffle, with prizes donated by bloggers (or other kind folks who want to participate but don't have blogs). Participants post a description of their... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 24, 2009 8:46 PM
- Filed under: Food Activities , Ramblings and Rants , Wine Activities
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PinotFest 2009 Tasting: November 21, San Francisco
One of the longest running wine tasting events in San Francisco is also one of its best. While the city often plays host to really huge public tastings like ZAP, Family Winemakers, and PinotDays, some of the better tastings are more intimate and focused. Both words appropriately describe PinotFest, a low key event held every year at Farallon Restaurant. Despite practically non-existent marketing or announcement, PinotFest quietly pulls together 50 or so top producers of West Coast Pinot Noir every year for a dedicated crowd of Pinot lovers in San Francisco. Attendees get nibbles from Farallon's kitchen, and access for... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 8, 2009 1:39 PM
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San Diego Bay Wine & Food Fesival: November 18-22, San Diego
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we're spoiled by a proliferation of wine tasting events that afford the opportunity to taste a lot of different wines in one sitting. Elsewhere in the country, such events are more rare, and consequently, slightly bigger deals when they do happen. The San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival describes itself as the largest such event in Southern California. I'm not sure whether that's by attendance or by the number of wineries pouring, but either way it's a big event. More than 170 wine and spirits producers, along with more than 60 restaurants... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 28, 2009 11:26 PM
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Tasting the Wines of Lodi
I suppose you might measure my enthusiasm (or insanity) for learning about wine by the glee with which I look forward to the opportunities to taste several hundred wines from a particular region, vintage, or variety. The public tastings that afford any wine lover the chance to taste in this fashion are the single most valuable way to educate the palate as well as to find out what's going on in a particular place or vintage. So when the chance came to hang out on Treasure Island for a few hours to taste the wines of Lodi a couple of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 27, 2009 10:41 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews , Wines under $20
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Pinot Days 2009 Tasting: November 13-14, Chicago
While those of us on the West Coast are still lingering in the illusion of Autumn, the chill has descended upon the shores of Lake Michigan, and Chicagoans must be sure they're drinking red wine, both to warm themselves, and to steel themselves psychologically for the punishment of Winter. In November, however, there's one particular red wine that most folks in the Windy City should be drinking: Pinot Noir. Once upon a time there were only a few big-time, high-quality wine events around the country, and they tended to cluster heavily on the two coasts. These days, however, we are... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 25, 2009 10:08 PM
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The Best Wines of the Year: Tasting the Wine & Spirits Top 100
The difference between a good public wine tasting and a bad one can be quite dramatic. The bad ones are in crappy locations, are poorly organized, offer no food, and only mediocre wines. The good ones are, well, just the opposite -- nicely organized, well catered, and offer great wines. And the best ones? Well, they throw in a jazz quartet, and all you can eat oyster bar, a dessert bar, and wines that sometimes retail for hundreds of dollars, if you can find them, at all. All of which nicely describe the annual Wine and Spirits Top 100... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 17, 2009 9:59 PM
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Pinot on the River Festival 2009: October 23-25, Healdsburg, CA
Now is a wonderful, if slightly manic time to be wandering around wine country. Harvest is, for some, complete, and wines are bubbling and burbling their way through fermentations. For others, any day now they will be making mad dashes into the vineyards to get the fruit in before the first major rains. Either way, it's the time of year that wine country really becomes wine country. As the afternoon sun angles low, life gets pretty idyllic around Sonoma, and the timing is good to relax with friends and a nice glass of wine. Which is why, I suppose, around... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 11, 2009 10:30 PM
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Lodi Wine Festival on Treasure Island: October 11, San Francisco
I have been quite happy to see an increase in the frequency and number of public wine tastings held by regional or appellation specific organizations over the past few years. It seems that many people have woken up and realized that if they are not Napa, they've got some work to do in educating and building relationships with consumers. As a result, opportunities continue to pop up for Bay Area wine lovers to learn a lot more about the wines of some lesser known California appellations, without hopping in the car for a drive. The latest of these such... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 30, 2009 9:40 PM
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Monterey Wine Festival 2009: October 1-2, Monterey, CA
Wine tastings come and go, and while most are a good opportunity to taste a wide range of wines of a given kind or from a specific place, but on occasion they have something more to recommend them than simply the chance to educate your palate. The Monterey Wine Festival is a great chance to taste a lot of interesting wines from a lesser know wine region, both from local producers, and many other wineries that make wine from grapes sourced in the region. But as far as I'm concerned, the real reason to attend the Monterey Wine Festival is... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 25, 2009 10:26 PM
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Masters of Wine Champagne Tasting: September 28, San Francisco
I need to come clean about something. It wasn't too many years ago that I really didn't care for Champagne. After all the weddings and at least 15 New Years Eves and countless other occasions, I was pretty underwhelmed with the stuff. It was astringent, chalky and the pleasure of the bubbles didn't really make up for the flavor. But then one day someone handed me a glass (I don't remember exactly what it was) and I came to a horrible, immediate realization. Up until that point I had just never had any GOOD Champagne. My lack of experience with... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 21, 2009 9:08 PM
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Top Wines of Sonoma: Tasting Notes from Sonoma Wine Country Weekend
Two weeks ago, under idyllic clear skies, I joined about 700 other wine lovers to wander around a winery lawn in Sonoma County soaking up the bounty of Sonoma. Known as TASTE Sonoma Weekend, this event combines two previously separate annual events: The Sonoma County Showcase of Wine and Food and the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction. The main attraction consists of hundreds of wineries and scores of restaurants plying their wares under beautiful white tents set up on the lawns of the Gallo-owned MacMurray Ranch winery. Perhaps one of the single best opportunities to taste through a large swath... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 18, 2009 11:12 PM
- Filed under: Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting, 2009: October 14, San Francisco
I beat the drum a lot about public wine tastings. They are the best way for wine lovers to educate their palates. Period. There's just no substitute for tasting a lot of wines in a single "sitting" to learn what the differences are, and more importantly, what you like. One of the other nice things about public tastings, put on as they are by big organizations, or in this case, publications, is that they often allow you to taste wines that you might not get a chance to taste otherwise for some reason -- whether that is because of their... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 16, 2009 9:55 PM
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California's Best Boutique Wines: Tasting Family Winemakers 2009
For those unfamiliar, Family Winemakers is a marketing association that represents family owned wineries throughout California. By virtue of its focus, this means that the membership consists of many of California's boutique wine producers. The annual tasting put on by the association every year claims (with reasonable credibility) to be the single largest tasting of California wines in the world each year, and remains one of my favorite wine tasting events. This tasting has become a victim of its own success, however, and has grown to a simply unmanageable size. Unmanageable, that is, for anyone looking to thoroughly explore the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 6, 2009 10:12 PM
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Joy of Sake Tasting 2009: September 10 - SFO, September 24 - NYC
I absolutely love the fact that we've reached a point in this country where I don't need to explain why a sake tasting in San Francisco or New York might be an enjoyable way to spend an evening. In the five years since I've been writing this blog, sake has gone from obscure to obvious, hardly known to hip. The availability and visibility of sake in the US has blossomed, driving by fine dining establishments and the increasing popularity of all things Japanese. Despite this, however, the average wine lovers' knowledge of sake is extremely limited, mostly by virtue of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 2, 2009 9:28 PM
- Filed under: Sake , Wine Activities
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Sonoma Wine Country Weekend: September 4-6, 2009
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. My well meaning friends 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 a bit of love for every piece of wine country we've got here in California, but there's a special place in my heart for Sonoma County, both because it is the place of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 20, 2009 9:51 PM
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Family Winemakers Tasting 2009: August 23, 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 6, 2009 11:03 PM
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The Last Drops: Miscellaneous Tasting Notes from IPNC 2009
I like to tell people that when it comes to reviewing wines, my tasting notes are the least important part of the wine review. As you know, I like to focus on story: the people, places, and history behind a wine. But sometimes, I get the opportunity to taste a lot of really damn good wine, and I can't simply do individual reviews of all the wines because I haven't got the time. So on rare occasions, I write a little report like this one. If you recall from last week and the prior weekend, I spent a couple of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 5, 2009 11:38 PM
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Napa Wine Library Tasting: August 16, Napa
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 3, 2009 9:08 PM
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Notes from the Al Fresco Tasting at IPNC 2009
I go to a lot of wine tastings, and have come to really appreciate those that are done right. It may not be immediately apparent how easily a large public tasting can be screwed up, but all it takes is one small thing to make it a really miserable experience. For instance, a lack of spit buckets has turned more than one big tasting event into a nightmare. The spacing of the tables, the labeling of the stations, the number of wines available, the availability of water, the offering of food, the temperature of the building -- these can all... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 27, 2009 9:58 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Red Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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Jancis Robinson Talks About Her Career in Wine at IPNC
As part of this weekend's International Pinot Noir Celebration, Jancis Robinson, Master of Ceremonies for the weekend, sat down in a (blessedly air conditioned) auditorium on the campus of Linfield College and spoke about her life and career in the world of wine to a group of interested (sweaty) attendees. Here's what she had to say, to the best of my transcription ability. "I'm so old and I have so much to say about my life in wine, there's a lot to talk about. I'll start with how I got into wine. I was raised in a village of 45... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 26, 2009 2:45 PM
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Oregon's International Pinot Noir Celebration: Day One
Under the towering trees and across the sprawling green lawns of Linfield College in the little town of McMinnville, Oregon, several hundred people are plowing through the International Pinot Noir Celebration at the kind of pace you would expect for 80 degree days filled with Pinot Noir and good company. My day began with breakfast on the lawn and a welcome by Master of Ceremonies Jancis Robinson. Jancis recounted her memories of past IPNC attendances, going back to the early years of the festival, which was pioneering in its singular focus on Pinot Noir. Perhaps the most interesting moment in... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 24, 2009 7:40 PM
- Filed under: Red Wine , Wine Activities , Wine Reviews
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SF Chefs. Food. Wine. Weekend: August 6-9, San Francisco
For a town as food and wine rich as San Francisco is, the city has few large public celebrations of its qualities as a world-class culinary destination. Most food and wine events in San Francisco tend to be single-event, large public tastings, where attendees can wander around, sampling food or wine from an array of purveyors and producers. Such events are great, but they're not the best showcase for the breadth and depth of the talent and resources that San Francisco has in either the food or wine department. Enter the "SF Chefs. Food. Wine" event coming up in about... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 20, 2009 10:17 PM
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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Menu For Hope Campaign Extended with New Prizes!
Merry Christmas to all! Today was supposed to be the final day of A Menu For Hope, our annual charity raffle, but it has really picked up some steam in the last few days so we're extending it through the end of the year! A number of new prizes in all regions have been added. So go find some fabulous prizes and bid on them: You can find wine related prizes here on Vinography. Prizes from Europe *including* the UK at Ms.Adventures in Italy Prizes from US: West Coast at Matt Bites Prizes from US: East Coast at Steamy Kitchen... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 25, 2008 8:27 AM
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Win Dinner for Six, Free Wine, and Vinography as Your Sommelier
One of my greatest joys in the world is turning people on to good wine. And I love when I can do it in person. It's the season of giving, and as you know Vinography is the proud sponsor of all the wine prizes for this year's Menu for Hope charity raffle. I've made sure there are a lot of fabulous prizes to win, partly by talking generous folks in the wine industry into donating some really choice things. But I haven't yet donated a prize myself this year. So let's change that, shall we? My friend and fellow blogger... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 16, 2008 9:24 PM
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Announcing A Menu For Hope 2008: Win Fabulous Wine Prizes
How would you like to go a luxury wine vacation all the while knowing that you're enjoying Napa luxury because you helped to feed some hungry schoolkids in Lesotho, Africa? That, my friends, is the beauty of the charity event called A Menu For Hope. This is the fifth year of A Menu For Hope, the grassroots charity event for wine and food bloggers that started in response to the horrible Tsunamis of 2004. Last year's event raised more than $90,000 for the UN's World Food Programme, which set up a special arrangement so that 100% of the proceeds went... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 15, 2008 7:43 AM
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Donate a Prize to A Menu For Hope, Become Famous!
This is the official request for prize donations for the 5th Annual Menu For Hope charity raffle, sponsored by wine and food bloggers around the world. For those who are not familiar with this initiative, it is essentially a raffle, with prizes donated by bloggers (or other kind folks who want to participate but don't have blogs). Participants post a description of their prize (or get me to post one for them if they don't have a blog) and do all they can to attract donations (which will be made made on the designated donation web site) in increments of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 14, 2008 4:29 PM
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Wine Bloggers Get Charitable
Ok all you wine bloggers out there, listen up. Later this week, the 5th Annual Menu For Hope campaign will be announced. This annual charity raffle, coordinated by top food and wine bloggers around the world raised $91,188.00 last year to feed school children in Lesotho in a truly awesome display of reader generosity and blogger power. This year's campaign will go from December 15th to December 25th. For those who are unfamiliar with the event, you should check out the main event posting from last year, as well as my wine specific event page. Here's how it works: 1.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 8, 2008 11:18 PM
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The Best South African Wines, Part II: Cape Wine 2008 Scores
I went to South Africa to learn about South African wine, and the primary way for me to do that is to taste. So taste I did -- probably more than 500 wines by the end of the week -- spending two full days going from booth to booth at the Cape Wine 2008 expo trying to taste a wide cross section of South African wine while at the same time making sure to hit some of the producers I knew were among South Africa's best. The end result? Scores for more than 350 wines, and a very rapid education... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 16, 2008 10:11 PM
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The Joy of Sake 2008 Tasting: October 23, San Francisco
I absolutely love the fact that we've reached a point in this country where I don't need to explain why a sake tasting in San Francisco might be an enjoyable way to spend an evening. In the five years since I've been writing this blog, sake has gone from obscure to obvious, hardly known to hip. The availability and visibility of sake in the US has blossomed, driving by fine dining establishments and the increasing popularity of all things Japanese. Despite this, however, the average wine lovers' knowledge of sake is extremely limited, mostly by virtue of not having tasted... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 17, 2008 11:15 PM
- Filed under: Sake , Wine Activities
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Chicago Pinot Days Tasting: November 15, Chicago
Hey Chicago, listen up! If you live in the Windy City and you love wine -- you know who you are -- then there's someplace you better be on November 15th. Once upon a time there were only a few big-time, high-quality wine events around the country, and they tended to cluster heavily on the two coasts. These days, however, we are in in the midst of a gold rush of sorts, as people figure out that there's both good money to be made in putting on large scale wine tastings, and plenty of people who love to go to... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 13, 2008 11:09 PM
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Pinot on the River Festival, October 24-26, Russian River Valley
Now is a wonderful time to be wandering around wine country. The harvest is mostly complete, so there's less chance of being hit by a wine truck, and while there's still a lot going on at wineries, things have faded from the manic atmosphere that pervaded the last four weeks at most places. All of this means that as the afternoon sun angles low, life gets pretty idyllic on the wine roads around Sonoma, and the timing is good to relax with friends and a nice glass of wine. Which is why, I suppose, around this time of year we... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 7, 2008 9:55 PM
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Wine & Spirits Top 100 Tasting: October 14, San Francisco
I've beat the drum a lot about public wine tastings, but there's just no getting around the fact that they are the best way for wine lovers to educate their palates. There's just no substitute for tasting a lot of wines in a single "sitting" to learn what the differences are, and more importantly, what you like. One of the other nice things about public tastings, put on as they are by big organizations, or in this case, publications, is that they often allow you to taste wines that you might not get a chance to taste otherwise for some... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 28, 2008 7:36 PM
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San Francisco's FallFest 2008: October 11, San Francisco
It seems like every major city has dozens of food and wine festivals every year. San Francisco, compared to many urban centers, tends to be more selective in what it puts on, however. And that's a good thing, because I've certainly been to enough crappy food and wine events with lousy food and wine (and too little of either) to last my lifetime. Honestly, the first time I attended FallFest in San Francisco, I expected it to be yet another mediocre attempt at a gourmet food and wine festival. But I was more than pleasantly surprised that first year, and... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 21, 2008 2:46 PM
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Sake Day Tasting: October 1, San Francisco
Japan has given many things to the world that I cherish, but few of them have an unofficial holiday that gives me the excuse to celebrate them. But every October first, along with sake lovers all over Japan and around the world, I get to observe Nihonshu no Hi, also known as Sake Day. Like wine, no one knows exactly when sake first made an appearance. In a similar fashion to grape wine, the knowledge that fermented rice eventually yields an alcoholic beverage was probably discovered in accidental and then later deliberate stages, as innovative and curious folks explored ways... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 18, 2008 10:13 PM
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Notes from the Manresa Sake Dinner
Last week, I was joined by an adventurous group of diners and drinkers for a completely unique meal at Manresa Restaurant in Los Gatos, California. The result of months of discussions and planning between myself, Chef David Kinch, and Wine Director Jeff Bareilles, The Sake Dinner was an extraordinary experience. To my knowledge, no non-Japanese, U.S. restaurant of the caliber of Manresa has ever done a tasting menu exclusively to be paired with world-class sake as we did last Wednesday night. Chef Kinch created a special eight-course meal that drew on his deep love of Japanese cuisine and its influence... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 16, 2008 11:28 PM
- Filed under: Food Activities , Sake , Wine Activities
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Wine 2.0 Event and Tasting: September 18, New York City
Internet technologies are changing every aspect of life and commerce in industrialized societies. While the wine industry is often slower to adopt new technologies than some, wineries, wine retailers, and wine consumers are all benefiting from the creative application of technology, whether that's through easier ways to buy, sell, learn about, or market wine. As critical as I can be of some of these applications of technology, I'm convinced that the wine industry (or the world, for that matter) will never be the same. There are a lot of wine tasting events out there that afford wine lovers the opportunity... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 12, 2008 9:52 PM
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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
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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
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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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