Octavin Sauv Blanc Goes to See the Beach Boys at Ventura County Fair’s Seaside Park

Last night we decided to take a picnic to to see the Beach Boys at the Ventura County Fair’s Seaside Park Grandstand.

(Actually, the Beach Boys were playing at the Fair inside the Fairgrounds–we planned to watch from the beach outside the Fairgrounds as you can see from the accompanying photo!)

We packed up a dinner of Trader Joe’s beet and chicken salad (supplemented with more greens, tomatoes from our garden and pine nuts), TJs chicken wine country salad, pita bread, humous, home made pasta salad with roasted vegetables, carrot sticks and sharp cheddar cheese.

Snooth.com  has claimed August as “Pinot Grigio” month with this site snooth.com/GTI (and a new wine to spotlight each month in the works), I thought we’d start celebrating with a sample of a 2010 Italian Pinot Grigio, Attems, that I thought would be a good match with the chicken. I pulled the plastic cork as we were packing up, tasting it to make sure it was good and to take a few tasting notes on it for a blog post. Mmn, good! Melon…honeysuckle…tropical fruit…rich…nice!

But when I went to pack it in my pannier with the rest of the picnic and our plastic GoVino glasses, I wondered if I was making the right choice. Was the glass bottle going to break or spill? I probably shouldn’t have opened it first. I thought about how there were going to be four adults–was there going to be enough?

I opened the refrigerator and there was a Silver Birch New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc Octavin sample sitting there in the fridge where my husband put it when it arrived the other day.

Hmmn, I thought to myself–I wonder if this Octavin wine is good enough to bring to share with friends, one who has a discerning palate? It’s certainly portable. It wouldn’t get knocked over and spilled. There would be plenty–the box holds the equivalent of four bottles. But was it heavy? Actually, no–and the size is quite compact.

I opened it by pushing in the cardboard, pulling out the nozzle, giving it a twist and out came the wine in a squirt. It certainly had familiar New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc characteristics: very pale in color, lots of bright citrus (grapefruit, lemon, lime) in the nose, fresh and crisp on the palate (can you say citrus and green apple?), almost sharp, with a clean finish and 13% alcohol. There isn’t a whole lot of complexity here but that’s okay! This is a picnic at a concert! You can find it just about anywhere in its distinctive turquoise 8 sided box for around $20. (I know–it’s amazing how inexpensive good wine can be when it’s not in an expensive bottle!)

So that’s how a box of Octavin NZ Sauvignon Blanc got into my pannier while the pinot grigio went in the fridge for another day! Off we rode on our bikes along the beach path to see the Beach Boys at the Ventura County Fair’s Seaside Park Grandstand where it pleased my friends (if not my husband–he’s a bigger pinot grigio fan than a sauv blanc fan!)

Since all four of us last night who tasted it are long time Burners, the Octavin Sauv Blanc will definitely go on my list of recommended wines for Burning Man! More reviews of wines for Burning Man to follow!  You can see that the Octavin is right at home on the bumper of a rental truck!

As much fun as our picnic was last night, tonight we’ve got a chicken roasting on the barbeque and we’re staying home for dinner–we’ve got a date with that bottle of Attems pinot grigio! (Review soon!) Then we’re riding our bikes over to the Fairgrounds with some other Burner friends and their kids to watch REO Speedwagon at 7:30pm.

Yep, that’s us–we just roll with the changes! For the full line-up and the skinny on fair entertainment, read on…

The Ventura County Fair every year offers “free” Grandstand Entertainment with your $12 paid admission to the Fair! But even better, if you’ve had your fill of the fair and you don’t want to pay $12 just for the “free” entertainment, you can ride your bike along the beach bike trail and find a spot where you can hear the concert and even watch it on the jumbotron which is wh … Read More

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It’s a Croft Pink Port & a Pinot Noir Smackdown Thurs. August 18, 2011

I’m not sure which invitation came first–the one for a Thirsty Girl twitter tasting of Croft’s Pink Port or to participate in the Pinot Noir Smackdown.

After all, I was on the road all of July and into August doing research for my wine and family and sustainability project. I could barely get service for my phone much less wireless for my computer!

I do know that I said yes to both, of course–and at some point I realized I had two wine dates for the same night! Yes, both the Croft Pink Port twitter tasting AND the Pinot Noir Smackdown twitter tasting are being held on August 18, 2010. Woe is me!

Now I have to admit this won’t be the first time I’ve juggled two dates–you know, going out with one earlier then another later. I didn’t make a practice of it but it did happen a time or two. Or three.

So juggling two wines dates should be easy, right? Right! And you’re welcome to join the fun! (I’ll get to how in a minute!)

My first date is with a few bottles of California pinot noir: 2009 Sonoma Coast Vineyards Freestone Hills, 2009 Windsor Sonoma Russian River Valley  and 2010 Windsor Vineyards Pinot Noir, Sonoma County courtesy of Ed Thralls who describes the event in this way: Continue reading →

My Whirlwind Tour of Oregon Pinot Noir

How did I get from Idaho and Walla Walla back to California for the Petite Sirah Symposium? By way of some Oregon Pinot Noir of course!

Read on to get a taste and see where I went and what I did; more in depth blog posts to come about my stops in Willamette Valley AVAs including Barrel Fence in the Dundee Hills (pictured) and Coleman Vineyards in the McMinnville AVA (photos below).

After a Whirlwind Tour of Oregon Pinot Noir, Back in California for Petite Sirah! When I last checked in from my road trip, I had arrived on the coast of Oregon following a few days in the Walla Walla AVA (American Viticultural Area) and around Boise (the Snake River AVA)…  Read More

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PS I Love You: Let me count the ways!

This is part 2 of a 2 part series. Here’s Part 1: a-few-petite-sirahs-from-the-ps-i-love-you-symposium-tasting

It is unfortunate but true that people are typically unfamiliar with the marvels of Petite Sirah. Hence the need for a Petite Sirah advocacy group like PS I Love You and for events like Dark & Delicious.

I’m fortunate that I was turned on to Petite Sirah back in my days working at Ridge and that I put a bottle of Storrs PS away in the cellar and forgot about it for 10 years which allowed me to taste the beauty that PS can become.

I’m also grateful that I’ve been able to whet my palate and taste a lot of PS wine in the past six months, thanks to invitations from Jo Diaz to attend Dark and Delicious as well as the PS Symposium.

I hope that these notes will encourage YOU to go out and try out a Petite Sirah or two for yourself! And while you’re at it, pick up a bottle or two to lay down in the cellar for 10 years or so!

Here are the rest of the wineries represented at the Petite Sirah Symposium tasting Tuesday July 26 along with notes about some of them. Sorry I couldn’t taste, take notes, and write about them all!

  • Diamond Ridge Vineyards ~ Lake County
    Winemaker Clark Smith aka Grape Crafter (pictured) gave one of the PS Symposium’s enology presentations where he discussed the impact of various barrels–French, Hungarian, American, and neutral– on the same Petite Sirah and at the tasting, he provided us with samples of the various wines he made. Personally, I really liked the one in the Hungarian Oak–this was a no fooling around, leather and chains with some blueberry pie thrown in version of PS.  He also did a French oak that tasted familiar, and American oak which was a bit on the sweet side with a lot of vanilla and not as much fruit. Lake County is above the fog line but cooling lake breezes keep the grapes from cooking.
  • Don Sebastiani & Sons ~ Sonoma
    This Petite Sirah was the standout wine for me in a twitter tasting of The Crusher recent releases. In one of the tweets, I said it was  “like the vampire that takes you in the night!” The California State Fair Wine Competition gave it a double gold/Best of Class award. Continue reading →

Petite Sirahs From The PS I Love You Symposium Tasting: Part 1Wineries A-C

I usually avoid writing the kind of blog post that just lists a bunch of wines.

I like to tell stories.

And I think story telling is my strength.

But sometimes it is necessary to just resort to a few keys words to convey a story about wine when you’re trying to talk about many wines.

In this case, many bottles of wine–but they’re all Petite Sirah.

I am trying to remember if I’ve ever been to a tasting of one varietal like this other than Dark & Delicious which is also Petite Sirah and I’m scratching my head. I’ve been to New Zealand new release tastings where there was mostly sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir…but that wasn’t the point of the tasting.

I went away from Tuesday’s PS I Love You Petite Sirah symposium and tasting flabbergasted at how different these wines can be based on terroir and wine maker style and vintage and more. To suss out terroir a bit more, instead of organizing the tasting alphabetically, I’d love to attend a Petite Sirah tasting organized by AVA!

So here are the links to many of the participating Petite Sirah wineries, most of whom belong to PS I Love You, the Petite Sirah industry advocacy group organized by Jo Diaz, with a few of my notes from the wineries alphabetically from A-C. Continue reading →

What to eat with your Petite? Ideas from Ellen Landis at PS I Love You Symposium

After over three weeks on the road, and tasting wine in Idaho, Walla Walla Washington and the Willamette Valley in Oregon, I made it Monday July 25 to Jim Concannon’s birthday dinner to celebrate his 80th and Petite Sirah at the PS I Love You Petite Sirah Symposium Tuesday July 26 at Concannon Winery in Livermore. (Links to participating wineries and those discussed below the jump; here’s a blog post by Jo Diaz about the events. Pictured below is Jim Concannon’s son John honoring him; pictured above is Karen Leslie who sat next to me).

What to eat with your Petite? If a summer time dinner or lunch outside under the table grape arbor at Concannon is any indication, it’s barbeque tri-tip, chicken, and beans!

But there is more to life than barbeque, so at Tuesday’s Petite Sirah symposium, Ellen Landis, Sommelier, proprietor of Landis Shores Luxury Inn, and author of Ellen on Wine shared some of her ideas on which foods pair best with Petite Sirah. I tried valiantly to take notes which she spoke; unfortunately, many of them were lost when I lost my internet connection! But basically, her main point was:

Drink what YOU like.

Since there are different styles of Petite sirah, the question really is which style goes with which food.

A basic rule of thumb is to match or contrast–match heavy meals with heavier wine styles, match flavor profiles or contrast them. Avoid pairing delicate dishes (like sole) with a powerful wine like Petite.

Here are some specific ideas:

How to gain creaminess with Petite Sirah? Landis suggest beef stroganoff paired with Rock Wall 2009. She also had specific suggestions of which Petite Sirah would go best with beef or pork tenderloin. At lunch I sat with Rock Wall winemaker Shauna Rosenblum (and yes I will be blogging about her soon! What a great story!) and tasted her Rock Wall 2009 Gamble Ranch that afternoon. This wine retails at $30 and is very rich and creamy in a cream soda or root beer float kind of way, very spicy, maple syrup, and chocolate malt.

Ellen Landis noted that the French pair red wines with fish–so don’t be afraid! She says try a blackened salmon with a PS; Ellen paired hers with a fruity Michael David PS which is 50% PS with 50% Petite verdot.

While most of us think of Petite Sirah as going with meat, vegetarians can enjoy PS with eggplant parmagiana with a variety of petite sirah styles. PS stands up to the fullness of the sauce and the creamy mozzarella allows the tomato sauce to work well and not clash.

Cheeses with Petite Sirah are great as a dessert course. For most palates, the wine should be as sweet as the dessert Continue reading →

A Few Lessons & Photos from the Road: Idaho & Walla Walla

Hard to believe I’ve been on the road since July 2! In that time I’ve tasted wines from Idaho, Montana, and Washington, and I’ve spent quality time at wineries in Idaho and in Washington. I’ve tasted some fabulous wines from the Snake River AVA (Cold Springs vineyards pictured with owner Bill Ringert, Snake River winemaker Scott pictured, Cinder winemaker Melanie Krause pictured, Zhoo Zhoo and Hells Canyon family pictured below ) as well as Walla Walla (Sinclair Estates, Dunham Cellars, Amavi) and I’ve got lots of stories to share as well as tasting notes (subscribe!!)

Yesterday, Tuesday July 19, I spent the morning at Dunham Cellars with Eric Dunham then tasted through a number of wines including two reserve wines and a wine that Eric is making with actor Kyle MacLaughlan.

Then as a huge windy rainstorm rolled in, I did some writing at Walla Walla Roastery including the post that follows which I published at my The Write Alley blog. In it, I share two stories from the road–one about synchronicity and one about doing what you love which came from my interview with Eric.

My last stop in Walla Walla was to taste the wines and learn more about Amavi Cellars; pictured above is the beautiful new tasting room. There I met with Eric McKibben, son of Norm McKibben who was one of the first people to plant wine grapes in the region which he subsequently made into wine at Pepper’s Bridge (Amavi’s sister winery).

Now, after a day of soaking at Bagby Hot Springs,  I’m staying with friends on the coast in Newport, Oregon and gearing up to visit more wineries and learn more stories! I’m off to McMinnville tomorrow afternoon!! I’m ready for some Oregon PINOT NOIR!

Yesterday, Tuesday July 19, I spent the morning at Dunham Cellars with Eric Dunham then tasted through a number of wines including two reserve wines and a wine that Eric is making with actor Kyle MacLaughlan.

I have more stories to tell about these wineries in a subsequent posts, but in the meantime, here’s the post with two lessons from the road accompanied by photos of Eric Dunham with paintings that grace his reserve labels.

Tuesday Tips: Serve Up Some Synchronicity & Do What You Love I’m writing to you from Walla Walla Roastery, located not in the cute Main Street downtown of Walla Walla but out at the airport, home to a multitude of wineries! I spent the morning at Dunham Cellars interviewing winemaker Eric Dunham for my Wine Predator blog and a bigger wine writing project about family and sustainability. I’d like to say that I’d planned on talking with Eric but it just happened that way. I’d actually gone out there to talk … Read More

via The Write Alley