I’ve been busy getting all the details figured out for the “Message in a Bottle: Ocean to Ojai” writing workshops that I’m doing with Danika Dinsmore as part of Ojai’s WordFest March 19-27, 2011.
A week or so ago I checked out venues for the winemaker dinner and open mic for Thurs March 24 and stopped by Old Creek Ranch Winery to talk with owner John Whitman and winemaker Michael Meagher. We also enjoyed some tasting: the petit sirah from the barrel is out of this world delicious!
And while I can’t make any promises, it’s looking likely that the cherry trees will be blooming at Old Creek Ranch Winery!
Here are all the fabulous details–menus and wines to come soon!
Writing instructors Gwendolyn Alley of Ventura, California and Danika Dinsmore of Vancouver, British Columbia join forces Thursday, March 24 to offer a unique writing workshop that engages the senses and ignites the imagination. Message in a Bottle: Ocean to Ojai – Waves, Wines, Words, an event during Ojai’s WordFest, will take its participants on a journey that begins with a whale watching cruise, continues at small family owned working ranch, and ends in the majestic Ojai Valley. … Read More
Since I was absolutely born to rhone wild, I am very excited that “rhone wines not from the rhone” has been announced by Wine Cast’s Tim Elliott as this month’s theme Wine Blogging Wednesday #71 (founded over 6 years ago by Lenn Thompson of the New York Cork Report.)
Tim suggests participants: “Pick any wine made from a variety best known in The Rhône but not made in that famous French region. It doesn’t matter if the wine is white, pink or red; still, sparkling or fortified. Whatever you choose just needs to be made from primarily a Rhone grape and come from a region not in France.”
“If you need some inspiration,” Tim says, “just check out this link.” He encourages participants to go beyond Syrah and Grenache and try something new.
So if you’re born to rhone wild –just not from the rhone!–postWednesday, March 16th. If you announce your entry on Twitter or Facebook, please be sure to add the hashtag #wbw71 to your status update. Send Tim an email at winecast (at) gmail (dot) com with a link to your post so he can produce a summary after the event. You can also just email him your write-up. Read all of Tim’s WBW#71 prompt here.
Now to figure out what to choose! I’m planning on going to a New Zealand tasting that day in LA. Even a syrah from NZ would be a wild rhone! I wonder what else rhone wise I might find there?
This week, fans of Paso Robles wines will come to Los Angeles where over 40 wineries will participate in a series of events, tastings, and dinners. Tomorrow they will flock to Vibiana, a restaurant in downtown Los Angeles (214 S. Main www.vibianala.com), from 6:30-8:30pm to taste their fill. Appetizers will be provided by Room Forty; tickets are $60. Learn more about the Paso Robles Grand Tasting and purchase tickets here.
I’ll be attending the afternoon industry event and plan to share some of my finds here! Which ones are favorites of yours? Which wines should I be sure to taste? I have to admit, I am familiar with only a few of these wineries (Eberle, Bianchi, a few more), but what I know I love and I am looking forward to seeing what they’re doing in this region so close to home. In particular, I will be searching for my favorite rhone varietals. Maybe I’ll even source myself a Hospice du Rhone ticket for this year’s event April 28-30 in Paso Robles!
Pickett has a new book out, Vertical, and I’m going to ask him to come north to read and sign books and possibly even join us for a winemaker dinner during the “Message in a Bottle” writing workshops I’m leading and organizing that take place in Ventura and Ojai March 23 and 24.
Nearly two years ago I wrote the following blog post about palate fatigue. It’s one of the Top 10 posts on this site so I thought maybe I should review my advice and see if I still agree with it!
Fortunately, I do.
During the past week, I tasted a lot of wine: about 2 dozen wines at Bridlewood with winemaker David Hopkins, 15-20 wines at three Ventura County wineries on Friday, a couple of bottles on Saturday at home for blog posts, on Sunday another 20 or more wines at 4 Ventura County Wineries, two more wines on Monday, then on Tuesday about 50 wines at an industry event in Los Angeles. That’s a lot of wine, but I didn’t have any problems with palate fatigue (no hangovers, either).
So in addition to the ideas about palate fatigue in the post below, I’ve learned this about attending tastings:
1) Drink lots of liquids before (and after) the tasting; don’t drink water during. I like protein shakes before.
2) If you taste a lot of wine often, you don’t get palate fatigue like you do as a beginner.
3) Dump. Spit. Dump. Spit. Dump. Spit. You’re not going to offend anyone!
4) When in doubt, don’t drive. When your palate is fatigued, maybe this is a sign for you to stop tasting. There was a woman at the tasting Tuesday who insisted she could drive home. While I prayed the valet didn’t give her her keys, we went for sushi and let the traffic die down. I didn’t want to be on any road she was on.
5) Wear dark clothes!
Keep reading for more tips on what to do about palate fatigue.
When I applied for the “dream job” as Caretaker of the Great Barrier Reef I discovered a whole community of fellow applicants–warm, interesting people who share my interests. Same thing around this time as an applicant for the Murphy-Goode’s Wine Country Lifestyle Correspondent. One of the cool people is Andy over at Andy’s Goode Life Blog where she’s hosting a blog carnival by asking us to respond to these three questions: When I drink red wine … Read More
Most people don’t know Petit Sirah or if they do, they confuse it with syrah or shiraz. According to the advocacy group PS I Love You, Petite Sirah is the offspring of Syrah: “Every grape variety has two parents. In the case of Petite Sirah, those two parents are Syrah and Peloursin. That means that half of the genetic makeup of Petite Sirah came directly from Syrah. Syrah is the father of Petite Sirah in the true genetic sense.”
That more people don’t know their sirahs from their syrahs is a shame because it means they’re missing out on a big, juicy, inky “dark & delicious” wine!
It’s not surprising that more people don’t know about Petit Sirah: it’s commonly a wine used in blending, adding color and body and umph.
But when it’s good, or very very good, a winemaker will bottle straight PS –and that is an uncommonly good pleasure!
As you may know from reading this blog, I cut my wine teeth working at the Ridge tasting room up Montebello Road back in my 20s. They knew how to make some incredible PS then (and they still do).
So if you come across a petit sirah at a wine tasting, you should definitely ask to try it. Just last weekend, at Ventura’s Valentines n’Wine Passport Weekend, my husband had a few wonderful petit sirah experiences, especially Ojai Vineyard’s Petit Sirah…what a dreamy PS… and now he wants more!
A great way to discover how great Petit Sirah can be is by tasting a lot of it by several different winemakers. And since PS is such a great food wine, an even better way is through pairings of food with Petit Sirah.
For over five years, each month wine bloggers gathered around a virtual fire to discuss a wine related theme or prompt. For a number of reasons, about a year ago Wine Blogging Wednesday waned and fell by the virtual wayside.
But some of us blew on the embers (by some tweets, blog posts, and other social media means), and lo and behold, Lenn Thompson of the New York Cork Report got the fire going once again!
This month Wine Blogging Wednesday #70 comes to you from Ryan and Gabriella Opaz of the award winning blog catavino.net. Their prompt, not surprisingly from bloggers who specialize in wines from Iberia, is to blog about a Spanish wine today, Wednesday February 16 and to let them know about it!
On Monday February 7, I wrote about a Spanish Amontillado sherry for the Secret Sherry Society which I paired with Belgian chocolates and which was hard enough to find! I found it equally difficult to find any obscure Spanish varietals that would allow me to an obvious way to get creative.
For this post, trying to find some unusual angle, I considered visiting a local wine bar, The Wine Rack, which sells Spanish wines made from familiar varietals like cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay that taste familiar to American palates and are under $20. Owner Seana even offered to open any wines I wanted for me to taste (and write about!)
Instead, I went to the Ventura Wine Company, which, while lacking much of a selection of unusual Spanish varietals, did offer a few of one of my favorites. I settled with choosing a varietal I love grenache, or, as it’s known in Spain, garnacha, and tried two versions of it, a Vina Borgia Campo de Borja 2009 which retails between $6-10 and a Tres Picos Borsao 2008 which can be found from $15-20. Continue reading →
The label is clearly a winner for romantic occasions: it features a person diving off a rock, possibly struck by cupid’s arrow!
We’ve chosen this wine a few times because it’s a good value ($20 retail but often on sale) and we really like it with simply grilled salmon, rice, and a vegetable (in this case, we had asparagus; it pairs just fine). We often grill salmon when we’re camping or having a cookout at the beach and we love that most New Zealand wines have easy open screw tops. You might also like it with lamb or duck.
In the glass, the Wild Rock Cupid’s Arrow Pinot Noir has lots of color and it’s full of red fruit, especially fresh raspberry and cherry with some plum. There’s a nice earthy quality too–almost like you’re walking in an herb garden. Like most pinot noirs that I’ve had from New Zealand (and I’ve had a few!), it’s easily approachable with nice body and character. It’s not going to overwhelm your date like a cab might–but it’s not going to underwhelm them either! While you’ll probably finish it up the first night, I kept it cool and it lasted surprisingly well for a few days.
According to Wild Rock folks, this pinot noir is made from Pollard and Dijon clones, grown sustainably on hillsides in central Otago which is way way south of any place else where they grow wine. The grapes are 80% hand picked, fermented in stainless steel and using indigenous yeasts before 10 months in French oak barrels.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Or whatever you’re celebrating that brings you here!
(Please note that while I have purchased this wine in the past, this particular bottle was a sample.)
The Valentine angel is a handcrafted felted doll made by my friend Borbala Arvai…see more of her work here:
I’ve been busy getting all the details figured out for the “Message in a Bottle: Ocean to Ojai” writing workshops that I’m doing with Danika Dinsmore as part of Ojai’s WordFest March 19-27, 2011.
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 