The Accidental Wine Blogger

NOTE: I cut this section below from my post on the Wines of Burgundy because it did not seem relevant to the story. But then this morning I awoke to see twitter all a twitter about the latest wine blogger bashing. So I thought I’d include it here separate from the original post:

I guess this goes without saying that I write these posts for my own enjoyment and don’t expect to influence anyone about anything, but I think any journey worth taking is also one worth sharing. I say this because I got a “Who do I think I am?” response from a person at the Burgundy event when I told them I have a wine blog. I responded to them by saying --“Why do you care what I write unless you believe it in some way diminishes what you do? I don’t let anyone define me so why would you?” The person just stared at me.

It’s not like anyone but my friends and family are reading this? Right? Anyway I thought it was funny and I suggested they actually read my blog so they could rest assured I was not someone to fear, nor was I corrupting or influencing the wine buying public. Hey, we’ve got Wine Spectator for that. Just kidding. I subscribe to WS and find it very entertaining and informative. I’m not dissing them. Cue Rodney King—”Can’t we all get along…?”

Full Disclosure: Last year I moved to Sonoma County and decided to learn about the vineyards that are all around me. Through twitter I met some local people and attended a live twitter tasting at Estate in Sonoma. I had a great time and became friends with many of the people I met there. Although I am mostly a travel writer, I started my “wine blog” a year ago because I wanted to attend the Wine Blogger Conference in Santa Rosa and you had to have a blog to register. So overnight I became a wine blogger. The title of my blog, Come for the Wine, is actually taken from the title of my book about my adventures (and major misadventures) when I lived in Italy and the full title is Come for the Wine, Stay for the Surgery. (Although it might as well be titled: Eat Red Meat. Drink Red Wine.)

After I started the blog I really embraced the oppourtunity to learn all about all aspects of wine in the area I live. In the process I’ve met some life long friends and had more fun than I could imagine thanks to the generosity of the local wine blogging community. I don’t write reviews really, I just write about what I find interesting and fun. But it never ceases to amaze me how hopped up people can get over wine bloggers. My experience noted above was kind of a shocker. I don’t take my self that seriously so I was surprised anyone else would. But I do take learning seriously and I learned a tremendous amount in the last year because of my blog. In one year I’ve been to tastings both live and on twitter, picked grapes at crush, visited crush pads at the peak of harvest, toured wineries and vineyards, blended a bottle of Cabernet, learned about the scents in wine and wine barrels, tested different types of wine glasses, met winemakers and sampled a lot of great wine. Having a blog gives me a chance to filter and distill what I experience and an outlet to share it with anyone who is interested.

So am I a wine blogger? I don’t know. I think of myself as a writer (a travel writer mostly) with a blog, and right now it happens to be about wine. But if I keep this up I might have to admit that yes I am a wine blogger --The Accidental Wine Blogger. Hey maybe that should be the new name for my blog!

2010 Diageo Chateau & Estate Burgundy Tour

Recently I was invited to attend the 2010 Wines of Burgundy Tour held at the St. Francis in San Francisco. Outside the weather was dark and stormy, but inside, once the tasting commenced, things instantly became warm and cozy.

This event was for the trade, so most everyone there was well acquainted with the wines and the growing regions, but it was all new to me. I found it helpful that each table had a map indicating where the wine was from and I loved the big map at the entrance that showed the entire Burgundy region. I subsequently learned that the wines of Burgundy are classified by the vineyard location not the winery name or producer’s name.

I really appreciated the lower alcohol level of the wines. The majority were in the range of 13 to 13.5 % and I found it a huge difference, a good difference, compared to the wines of California that I normally drink. I became interested in wine when I lived in Italy and most of my wine experience is with Italian wines that have lower alcohol levels as well. Overall I found the wines of Burgundy to be true food lovers wines and more in line to my tastes. I recently completed my third Wine Sensory Experience class and believe it has deepened my ability to appreciate wine and understand the complexity of what I taste.

The vintages we tasted were mainly Grand Cru or Premier Cru from 2007 and 2008. Of the 35+ wines I tasted here are my top three whites and reds:

WHITE WINES

#1 Domaine Philippe Colin

The 2007 Premier Cru Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chenevottes was a delight-- a virtual vanilla cream peach puff of pleasure.

But it was the Grand Cru Chevalier-Montrachet 2007 that gob-smacked me. I am still thinking about it five days later. It was classic and elegant like a signature scent. If Chanel No. 5 was a wine this might be it. Despite being14% alcohol it had a food friendly demeanor with a long loving embrace of a finish. It was the essence of ambrosia. I was completely captivated by this wine. It made me smile and I burst into an impromptu song inspired by Maurice Chevalier singing ‘Thank Heavens for Little Girls’ in the movie Gigi--

“Thank heavens for white burgundy

The grapes ripen in the most delightful ways!!”

The gentleman pouring thought my song was hilarious and agreed it was the kind of wine that can possess people. So I guess my response was not all that unusual. (Thea Dwell was there too and she can vouch for this exchange.)

# 2 Domaine Jean-Louis Chavy

Puligny Montrachet Cru Les Perrieres 2007

Ooh La La – I liked this one very much. It was a harmonic convergence of wild honey and spicy tropical fruit, with a good balance of acidity and oak. It reminded me of a light flakey croissant with a creamy butterscotch finish. All breakfast pastries should be this good.

# 3 Domaine Alain Chavy

Grand Vin de Bourgogne Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Folatieres 2007-- Honestly, I don’t know what all the designations on the labels meant, but the wine needed no translation--It was full of flavor, bright citrus and crisp apple with a tiny hint of musk scent. This was a wine that begged you to order room service and spend the day getting to know one another.

RED WINES

# 1 Domaine Georges Roumier

Morey-Saint-Denis 1er Cru - Clos de la Bussiere 2007

Amazing. I wanted to run-away with this wine. I found hints of chocolate and leather and what I wrote in my notes as “warm puppy belly”. And that was it. It had that happy scent of warmth and pure joy a puppy has that makes you want to just to snuggle up to it. Okay, so maybe I should have been spitting more before I came up with that description. But a restaurant owner I met tasting at the same table agreed that warm puppy belly summed up that wine most succinctly, so don’t be surprised if you see that as a tasting note somewhere soon, paired with pork belly or something like that. But remember, you heard it here first.

#2 Domaine Jean Grivot

Nuits-St. Georges 1Er Cru “Aux Boudots” 2007

This wine was the epitome of French to me: Pepper and spice and everything nice with light tannins and a bouquet to take me away. Catherine Deneuve in a glass.

#3 Domaine De Courcel

Pommard Les Rugiens Premier Cru 2007

In my notes I wrote: “Wow!” Honest and bold. It smelled like French teen spirit and it rocked in a most delightful way!

Can your palate change in an afternoon? Probably not, but you can certainly be awakened. Later that same evening I tried a Cabernet with a 14.5% alcohol level and it was like drinking syrup or Smuckers jam straight from the jar. Ugh! In the past I liked this heavy style of wine, but suddenly I was put off by it. I also tried a Pinot Noir made in Dry Creek I’d recently bought, but now it seemed way too harsh and it just made me sad to drink it.

I longed for the refined and delicate French wines I’d had that afternoon. There was something ethereal, transcendent about them. I wanted to experience more. So thank you France for the wake up call. It was a truly educational and palate expanding. And thank you to Marie Griffin and Jill Deaver for extending me an invitation. Next stop France!

UPDATE:

After I posted this I saw an article that stated this would be the last year Diageo would be the importer of he wines. So that’s sad news, but now I feel even more fortunate that I was able to taste and experience these exceptional wines that for the most part are well out of my price range.

CORRECTION: Although Diageo has chosen not to participate in the 2008 or 2009 Bordeaux futures, they WILL continue bringing these fine Burgundies into the States.

Wine, Women, and Italy

A few weeks a go I attended a book event at Book Passage featuring Susan Van Allen and her new book 100 Paces In Italy Every Woman Should Go. Susan gave great slide presentation on the goddesses in Italian art and tips for women traveling to Italy. The event included a wine tasting of Ruvei Barbara d’Alba made by Marchesi di Barolo, one of the women owned wineries mentioned in the book. Marchesi di Barolo located in the Piedmont region is run by Anna Abbona whose family has owned the winery in the city of Barolo since 1929. The estate of Cantine dei Marchesi includes some of the finest vineyards in the district.

In honor of International Women’s Day which is (today) Monday March 8th I am going to open a bottle and toast the special women in my life past and present.

So here’s to you ladies. Enjoy a wine from a woman run winery or winemaker today, and get yourself a copy of 100 Places In Italy Every Woman Should Go by Susan Van Allen.

Cupcakes, Meatballs & Pinot

Any weekend that includes cupcakes, meatballs or pinot noir, is bound to be great in my opinion, but a weekend that includes all three is outstanding. I got to experience such a trifecta with cupcakes courtesy of Sift Cupcake Bakery in Santa Rosa. Meatballs from Serena Lourie and Alan Baker in Healdsburg at Pastapalooza! And Pinot at The Pinot Noir Summit produced by Barbara Drady and held in San Rafael. Albeit the last one was experienced vicariously via tweets because I was detained at a prior event and did not make it to the Summit in time for the grand tasting, but that’s the beauty of Twitter, it’s almost like the real thing.

On Friday, I attended the Grand Opening of Sift (@Sifted) in their new Santa Rosa location. We got a tour of the new facility from Shana Ray @sharayray and of course got to sample the cupcakes. There was a special sprinkle application zone and a custom frosting area where one could custom blend frosting with wine. The event was catered with small plates of food including some mighty tasty mini curry corn dogs!

I think I had a little too much fun with the photo booth that was brought in for the occasion and the props that were provided to enhance the photo booth experience. Who know feather boas could be so flattering?

Unfortunately we had to leave the party before the fortune teller began reading palms so that was a drag, but I’m sure the only thing she would have seen in my future was more cupcakes.

Next stop, Healdsburg for Pastapalooza at the home of Alan Baker @cellarrat and Serena @slourie. Alan and Serena hosted a pasta fest of epic proportions. Three kinds of sauces and 200 homemade meatballs! Serena claims she has no Italian ancestors but her meatballs say otherwise. At the party I finally met Deborah Kravitz (@whatdebpours) in real life and got to meet many other new folks as well.

In the meantime, I can't wait for Alan’s next wine release under the new label Cartograph. You can follow on twitter at @cartographwines , but you'll have to get in line behind me to buy some when it's ready.

On Saturday Barbara Dradys (@wineevangelist) annual Pinot Noir Summit took place. As I mentioned above I was unable to make it, but I almost felt as if I were there via all the great tweets that attendees were sending out. I'm marking my calendar early so I will not miss out again next year.

The Best Women's Travel Writing

I know you may be shocked to hear this, but despite having a blog about wine, I actually write about other topics as well. And if you read the sub-head of the title banner above you'll see it says All About Wine, Food, Travel and Everything Else In The Universe. So obviously I was trying to keep my options open when I started this blog. Anyway I'm excited to announce one of my travel stories about Italy will be included in this year's edition of The Best Women's Travel Writing edited by Stephanie Elizondo Griest. Be on the look out for the book at store near you soon. In the meantime, you can read my contributor interview along with others on Around the Bloc a web site by maintained by Stephanie.

Also mark your calendars for Sunday, June 6th when a group of us will be reading from the book at Book Passage in Corte Madera, California. It should be fun.

The Conn Creek Barrel Blending & Cupcake Pairing Challenge

On Sunday December 13^th Thea Dwelle, (AKA: Obi Wine Kenobi) in partnership with Paul Asikainen, Guest Services Manager of Conn Creek, hosted a bloggers blend-o-rama in the Conn Creek AVA Room in Napa Valley.

Just last week I participated in The Wine Sensory Experience in Calistoga where I challenged my scent abilities, so the AVA Room Blending Experience seemed the logical next step in my wine experience portfolio.

The AVA room was designed to create a blending experience offered nowhere else. According to Paul the tax licenses and bottling permits needed to allow guests to blend their own wine and take it home were intricate and mind boggling to say the least. But the end result seems certainly worth the effort in my opinion.

The room has nineteen barrels in all, fifteen barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon representing the diversity of American Viticulture Areas in Napa Valley and one barrel each of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec & Petit Verdot. The Cabernet barrels are grouped according to five fruit complexity profiles— Soft, Supple, Complex, Rich and Bold. Each barrel had notes about climate and soils (including a soil sample) and a map indicating where the AVA is located.

The tables were set with beakers and glasses and a blending book for note taking giving the AVA Room the air of a very high-end test lab. (If high school had been this deluxe I might have majored in Chemistry.) Paul gave us an overview of the blending process and then we were set free to begin. The first step is to taste from each barrel and note what samples appeal to you most. Then after you have an idea of what blend percentages you’d like, you fill your beaker accordingly and then test it in the large tasting glass.

This is more work than you might think, and a lovely buffet lunch was provided to help us keep our strength as we blended. Inspiration can come from almost anywhere and it was a selection of cupcakes on the buffet that led to my wine blend philosophy. It seemed there were as many different cupcake flavors (red velvet, pink champagne and black cherry) as there were Cabernet Sauvignon AVA’s and I was inspired to create the perfect Cabernet to pair with cupcakes, something bold and complex to complement the sweetness of the cupcake.

My final blend was as follows: 40% Stags Leap District from the Clo Du Val Vineyard. 40% Rutherford, Hozhoni Vineyard. 10% Rutherford, Conn Creek Estate Vineyard. And 10% Merlot. I ended up choosing all moderately warm climates across the board. And all had volcanic soil components as well.

The AVA Room Barrel Blending Experience was tremendous fun and very educational to have access to all the Cabernet samples in one place. The only thing I found difficult about the experience was the math conversion—going from a 100 % beaker to the 750 ML blending beaker. Luckily for this journalism grad there was a conversion chart in the back of the blending book and Paul graciously helped me out when I realized I was filling my large beaker with the wrong percentages. (Hint: start with the big percentage first and work up)

Once your blend is done you choose a bottle and a cork and in one swift pull on the corker you have a sealed bottle. Final step-- design and apply your label and that’s it.

Supposedly, we will drink these blends in a blend-off-challenge to be held at the 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, Washington. But I don’t know if mine will last that long. I’m ready to open it right now. For more details and information on The Conn Creek AVA Room Blending Experience visit their website here.

Scents and Sense Ability: The Wine Sensory Experience in Calistoga

Early this week my friend Kerry Eddy, of Tom Eddy Wines, invited me to The Wine Sensory Experience in Calistoga to take the scent challenge offered in their wine education classes. Dare I take a test in which I go head to head with an experienced winemaker? Heck yeah! Bring it on.

The Wine Sensory Experience is not as science fair or Exploratorium-esque as it sounds. It’s actually one part wine education, one part tasting room, and one part gift shop. T’Anne Butcher, who has been involved in her families wine business (W.H. Smith Wines) for over 30 years, decided to open The Wine Sensory Experience to give groups a casual and fun way to learn the basics of scents and aromas that can be detected in wine. This is something I’ve always been curious about and I have even toyed with buying one of those scent vial test kits to hone my olfactory skills.

Here’s how it works: Five to six opaque glasses with glass lids are set up and arranged according to aroma types such as Fruit, Pinot Noir, Herbal, or Barrel scents. Then you sniff each glass and try to guess what it is. This is NOT EASY!! You are provided with a clipboard and test sheet that lists each flight of scents with blanks where you write in your response.

With our pens at the ready, we began the test. Kerry started with the Barrel scents while I tried the Fruit Aromas. We then moved around the stations recording our answers until we had completed them all. Afterwards T’Anne gave us the answers.

I correctly guessed the blackberry, liquorice and bacon fat scents, and All Spice too. I flubbed apricot, mistaking it for strawberry and also mistook vanilla for coconut. I was completely stumped by scent # 5 on the Pinot Aromas even though I absolutely knew it was a familiar scent. I guessed celery root and then wrote down cabbage as a base note. The answer? Wasabi- or more commonly known as Horseradish!

Another revelation was the scent I considered to be distinctly “barnyard” was actually white pepper. But as soon as T'Anne mentioned it was white pepper, I could suddenly smell it. It’s like those negative space puzzles where you stare at an image and only see a face and then, once it’s pointed out, you see a goblet or different object altogether.

I was amazed how such a simple exercise opened up my eyes, not to mention my nasal passages to the dynamics of scent. Also I was happy to learn that my recent Lambrusco mishap did not permanently damage my sense of smell as I had feared.

The next exercise involved Barrel Component samples that allowed you to see and smell how barrels play a part in the flavor profiles of wine and the differences in American and French oak barrels that had been toasted. The heavy toasted samples looked black and charred like charcoal briquettes, but they were the least oak smelling. I loved the scent of the no toast French oak and was surprised how delicate it was compared to the medium toasted American oak.

After the scent tests we tasted some of W.H. Smith wines and I felt like I was sniffing wine for the very first time. Once our sensory experience was done, and the tasting completed, it was time for some very serious business-- shopping! T'Anne carries a clever selection of wine and non wine merchandise and I came away with the door mat in the photo below that parodies location maps that state “You are here”.

The Wine Sensory Experience was exactly that-- an experience. It was fascinating, intriguing and challenging. I now find myself taking sniffs of everything at the market and I try to associate the smell and aroma to a mental trigger so I can identify the scent again when I taste wine.

T’Anne changes up the scents according to the season so you could go through the experience several times and not be presented with the same aromas. I plan on going again in January when my sister is in town. I think this would be a great prelude to a day of tasting or even just a fun outing on it’s own.

Private groups of 6 or more can be arranged and T’Anne mentioned that she had just booked a session for a group of executives from Goggle. So maybe sensory exercises are the next big thing for off–site team building. It sure beats the heck out of the ropes courses that were all the rage in the past. I mean really, I don’t need to jump off a tower to test the trust of my peers thank you very much. I think a team building exercise at The Wine Sensory Experience would be far more stimulating and creative than one that includes the possibility of falling to one’s death.

Classes are $25 a person and consist of eight sensory exercises involving different groups of scents such as Fruit Aromas, Herbal Aromas, Pinot Noir Aromas, Oak Barrel and more. When you consider that some wine scent aroma kits cost upwards of $300, the class is an absolute bargain. Plus you get the guidance of a professional like T'Anne, something you won’t get sniffing vials on your own at home

For more information about The Wine Sensory Experience you can check out the website here. (Oh and by the way, my friend the winemaker? You'll be glad to know she scored way better than I did!)