They Do Things Different In Wine World

99 bottles of beer, 60 bottles of Grenache, 200 bottles of Red, White & Whatever, 3 Fire Dancers, 1 pot of Gumbo from Zin Resturant, and a Beer Wench on the Roof.

That's the partial list of what I encountered at a recent Birthday Bash for William Allen (aka @SonomaWilliam) here in Wine World-- the mystical devils triangle of wine, food & people in Sonoma County, or SoCo as it’s affectionately known.

Back in the day, before I lived in Wine World and became acquainted with the wine blogging elite, dinner parties were a more somber affair. We’d dine, we’d talk directly to each other, actually look people in the eye as we conversed. When guests arrived a bottle of bubbles might be poured. Then with dinner an appropriate wine for the meal would be served. When that sole bottle was done, and if the meal was still in progress, the host might say-- “Should we open another bottle?” The guests would demure “Oh, I don't know. Well, maybe, but don't open it unless everyone wants more. Don’t open it just for me.”

How quaint! Perhaps those were the days to which Mr. Thoreau was speaking when he said--"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." Maybe they were just waiting for the host to open another bottle. Ha!

Not anymore. Welcome to Wine World! Since moving to SoCo dinner parties, in fact all parties are an all out wine-o-rama. Ten dinner guests? Expect to see 30 bottles or more on the table. In SoCo the bottles seem to multiply faster than tribbles on the Star Ship Enterprise.

Things are different here.

Parties in Wine World are not drunk fests. (Well okay, actually some of them are, or I should say for some people they are) but the majority of the guests are just true oenophiles, so enthusiastic about a wine that they want to share it with you, and tell you all about it.

In reality, although there may be hundreds of bottles out at a party, not all are opened or even finished. Save for the really exceptional wines which are drained quickly. It’s like the salad bar. You taste a little of this, try a little of that, then maybe go back for some more bacon bits and skip the jello.

Add to all this the furious tweeting that goes on and you may find you spent half the night looking at your phone instead of the other guests. Unless of course there are fire dancers in attendance--then everybody is looking up at the show.

Often at these parties you'll find a few folks walking around with bottle held close to their chest, they’ll pull you aside and say- “Hey--You gotta try this.” A small amount is poured into your glass. You swirl, sniff, sip and nod your approval. Before you can thank them, they are off pulling aside someone else like some guy in Times Square clandestinely selling watches from the inside a trench coat.

Thankfully for my health and sanity, I don't attend too many of these bacchanal’s. But it always amazes me when I do. It’s made me re-think what wow-factor really is. After you attend one of these blow-out affairs with first rate food and fire dancers providing the entertainment, you realize your idea for Pony Rides and Happy Meals at your birthday party is just not going to cut it.

With some things it’s best to know you can’t compete.

C'est la vie' – That’s life.

Ridge Lytton Springs Wine Blogger Tasting III

This past Sunday Christopher Watkins, the Tasting Room Manager for Ridge Monte Bello, held a vertical tasting of Zinfandels from the Ridge Lytton Springs Library as well some select Cabernets from the vault at Ridge Monte Bello. This was an exceptional line up of wines and one might expect a formal setting and a hushed silence of reverence for the tasting. Instead it was serious amount of fun, a relaxed and casual day of tasting out on the crush pad at Ridge Lytton Springs. It was a scorcher the day we sat down to try the wines, but the crush pad stayed a cool 80 degrees in the shade. Hard to know if this temperature affected the wines on the palate, but I felt the heat made it slightly more difficult to capture the nose.

Chris assembled a terrific slate of writers and bloggers for the event and you can a find a full roster and links to the participant’s blogs here:

It’s great to sit with a group of enthusiasts to talk and tweet about wine on a high intellectual level. Okay, so that’s not exactly what happened at my end of the table. One thing about tweeting is that it makes initial interaction rather stunted. I was actually talking to Liza on twitter @BrixChix_Liza via tweets, even though she was sitting right next to me. Oh what a weird world we live in. Eventually we lifted our eyes off our phones and met our tablemates.

I had the pleasure of meeting David Tong and Richard Jennings among many others. Also in attendance was the notorious Ron Washam who pens The Hosemaster of Wine blog. Ron is an expert blogger baiter calling out the ridiculousness of bloggers and their antics in carefully crafted and parody filled prose, so I was expecting more of a general drubbing from him that day. But instead he merely threw out a few stale zingers and behaved himself for the most part. I think maybe it’s because the people at the table were serious about wine and serious about writing about it and sharing it with others, but for the most part don’t take themselves very seriously. So it’s hard to get your hooks into someone who agrees that what they do is not brain surgery for rocket scientists. Or some other fractured metaphor of false aggrandizement.

Maybe he was just caught up in the moment of sending his first tweet.

Oh dear, Ron tweeted, the world as we know it has ended. Anyway, enough about Ron, on to the wines.

The vintages we tasted included the Lytton Spring Zinfandels from 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, & 2007.

The standouts for me included:

1992– Lavender notes and on the nose and good tannins

1993—A yeasty almost lemon cupcake-y scent with long finish. I was quoted as saying this made me want to have a cigarette and I don't even smoke.

2003—Interesting salty soy like quality. Umami as Chris says. Perhaps would make for a good sushi Zin.

2005—Hints of green pepper and fruit forward with a touch of grapefruit. Me likey very muchy.

2007—Full lush and worthy of an animal sacrifice on the BBQ.

We also tasted Cabernets from Ridge Monte Bello 1991, 1992 & 1994.

I thought all the Monte Bello Cabernets were complex and multi-faceted, but the 1994 had the perfect aligning of the planets for my palate.

We discussed foods that would pair well with the wines and came up with everything from tempura to guinea pig. We also theorized that if wine had been aboard the Apollo 11 moon launch they might never have left the capsule for the first moonwalk. Imagine what might have resulted. —

“That’s one small sip for Man and the rest of this Zinfandel from Monte Bello for Me. Huston, I’m staying here in the capsule and drinking this Monte Bello. It’s literally out of this world.”

How we got on to the subject of space travel is probably my fault, but that’s the fun of tasting. Everyone has a unique frame of reference to call upon in describing wine.

Here are a few screen shots of what others had to say:

You can search twitter for the hashtag #Ridgewines and read more of the tweets that where unleashed during the tasting.

Thanks to Christopher and also to Brandy Alexander (yes, her real name) for organizing and hosting the event.

Hands on Harvest PART II

As I said in my last Hands on Harvest post, I learned more about the land and vines at Gloria Ferrer's Carneros region estate than I thought possible in two days. My palate was put through some rigorous paces as well with a parade of wine and food pairings.

I am a big fan of Va de Vi the sparkling wine Gloria Ferrer introduced last year, and familiar with all their sparkling wines as well, but I did not know they also made still wines, Pinot Noir in particular. You can find out more about the wines and history of the Ferrer family on their site. But for this post I wanted to focus the aspects of the land in the Carneros area that I found most interesting on the tour.

Walking Tour with Mike Crumly

Sustainability is a big buzzword these days. It’s bandied about for everything from hotels to shampoo. Sometimes is hard to know what exactly it means. During the Hands on Harvest we were led on a walk around the Circle Bar Ranch property by Mike Crumly, VP Vineyard Management, and given some insight into what sustainability can mean for a vineyard.

The Riparian Corridors & Land Conservation

I didn’t know that some species of birds won’t fly over big tracks of open land. They prefer to flit from tree to tree, so it’s important to break up big plots of vines with some trees to give the birds and other animals a path across the land. The riparian corridor at the Circle Bar Ranch was man made. Native trees and shrubs were re-planted in the gulch that cuts across the ranch and reinforced with mesh fabric to control slit build up that protects the watershed downstream and rocks to prevent erosion as from rainfall run-off in the winter months. Preserving the land is sustaining the land. You wouldn’t know from looking at this that is was all recreated.

Bluebird Boxes

The western Bluebird is most threatened when Oak woodlands are reduced by commercial development of land. The use of bluebird boxes gives the birds a nesting place and helps maintain their populations in the vineyards. During the rainy seasons the vineyard crew builds bluebird nests. Like the Keebler Elves making cookies, they build the boxes at the winery workshop and then thru a partnership with WillMar Center for Bereaved Children, the boxes are painted by children struggling though grief. Gloria Ferrer sells the bluebirds boxes in the tasting room and all profits go to the WillMar Center.

When Mike held up the bluebird box and told us the story of how healing an act it was for the children to work on creating a “safe home” for the bluebirds, I thought we were all going to bust out in tears. I think I even saw a tiny tear in Mike’s eye. I tell you, that guy is all heart.

The Midden & the Artifacts

One of the most fascinating features on the property was the Miwok midden. During a land survey prior to the vineyard development, evidence of a Miwok Indian Village was discovered. Artifacts including arrowheads made from obsidian and grinding tools made of stone were located and documented. A archeological survey identified the section of land as a Midden, a place where the hunter-gather tribes discarded their “kitchen’ trash such as mussel and oyster shells and an occasional body too. I guess you could say the midden is like a like a huge garbage disposal, a stone age KitchenAid so to speak, with room for any relatives who happen to kick it around the dinner table. Although the midden is adjacent to the active vineyard, the area is fenced off and left undistributed.

The Geology and the Trenches

When I saw the first trench I thought maybe this event was really an elaborate ruse to lure us into a trap and “harvest” our kidneys and other organs and then bury us in the freshly dug trench. I could barely walk at that point anyway so it seemed like a good idea. But that was not the case. The trench was part of an object lesson on the geology of hillside growing conditions.

I’ve been of tours where the geology is discussed before, but there was something about Mike Crumley's presentation and his ability to break down the information into component parts that suddenly clicked in my mind. To see the difference in the soil depths along the hillside slope was amazing. And then to connect that to the stress placed on the vines as evidenced in the differences in leaf canopy created by the shift in soil depths was startling. I’d never noticed that before, but then again no one had ever pointed in out and explained it so clearly either. Apparently it’s dappled light that makes the best Pinot grapes and thus the canopy on the “struggling” hillside vines is most desirable.

The People

One thing that stood out for me was, given the size of the Gloria Ferrer operation, everyone there seemed very relaxed. They seemed to enjoy each other’s company and had as much fun as their guests. I really felt like they would be great folks to hang out with for a few days. Oh wait, I guess I did that. So if the whole point of Hands on Harvest was to give an in depth view to the land, the wines, and the people of Gloria Ferrer, all I can say is—Mission Accomplished.

A Tale of Two Harvests

Last year I participated in my first harvest (which I wrote about here) and all I got was a warm beer and a taco at the end of a grueling day of manual labor. But oh what a difference a year makes!

As I said in my post last year, the most important thing I learned was to politely decline any subsequent invitations to Harvest. But then I got invited to the Gloria Ferrer Hands on Harvest event on September 13 & 14th, and all I can say is OMG! The Hands on Harvest exceeded my wildest expectations. I learned more about winemaking and the particular vines at the Carneros estate than I thought possible in two days. My palate was put through some rigorous paces as well with what seemed like a never ending parade of wine and food pairings.

I live tweeted the event with the hashtag #GFHoH, but later discovered many of my messages were saved to draft instead of going out…oh the joys of technology. There is much to share about what I experienced so I’ve decided to break it up in to two separate posts. For now, here is a quick pictorial of Hands on Harvest.

The Vertical Tasting of Royal Cuvee

Vintages from 1990 -1997, I was impressed by the consistency of color across all the vintages and particularly liked '90, '92 and '94.

"Champagne is like a bed, it's meant to be shared" ~ Bob Iantosca

Wake up and smell the vineyards

The “Gentleman’s” Harvest

Breakfast Al fresco

Left to Right: Tom Burnet, President; Elvia the Cake Lady; Bob Iantosca, VP Winemaking; Harvest Guest, Gerald Murphy of Revival Bar & Kitchen

Sustainability Walking Tour with Mike Crumly

Artifacts from the Miwok Midden

The Riparian Corridors

The Bluebird Boxes

Mid-morning replenishment-- Oysters & Bubbles

Grafting Demonstration

Geology Lesson in the Trenches

Pinot Pairing Lunch!

The Crush

The Caves

The People

I 'd like thank the entire staff of Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards for an exceptional event, forever changing my idea of a harvest experience.

Stay tuned...next post will go in-depth to the history & geology of the Circle Bar Ranch including the particulars of our Sustainability Walk led by Mike Crumly. If only Mike had taught my high school geology class I'm sure I would have attended more often and learned something along the way!

Book Passage Travel, Food & Photography Conference Redux!

For the second year in a row I attended the annual Book Passage Travel Writing & Photography Conference in Corte Madera, California. This year the conference included a Food writing track and there were so many opportunities to sample wine and other spirits it almost felt like a mini wine blogger event. I thought the added focus on food and wine for travel writers was a perfect pairing, especially for a wine blogger like me. I think the gap may be closing between wine blogger and travel blogger conferences.

In addition to the Food writing track, I sampled the session on Writing for Newspapers and Magazines, and some of the Photography offerings as well. I sat in on a photography session with Bob Holmes and Andrea Johnson where I learned composing a photo is not that different from approaching a story. Bob and Andrea collaborated on the book A Passion for Pinot, and their session evening included special guest Jean-Charles Boisset from Boisset Family Estates who poured some Pinot from DeLoach in Sonoma.

The alumni ranks at Book Passage are full of success stories about finding agents, inking book deals, meeting a collaborator, or just getting the confidence to send out that first piece and get published. I got to relate my own personal success story at the opening gathering on Thursday night when I announced I will be the editing the next Travelers’ Tales humor anthology --Leave the Iguana, Take the Mascara: Funny Travel Stories And Strange Packing Tips.

The conference has a magical quality that creates an atmosphere of possibilities. But it's more than the combination of faculty, karaoke, alcohol and camaraderie that make it special. It’s the people that you meet. I’m always as impressed by the students as I am by the faculty.

The Book Passage experience is intense. It's exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. The four jam-packed days are inspiring and give you a buzz and euphoric feeling about your work that is priceless. Although I think some of the buzz and euphoria this year was due to the Absinthe. Oh, did I mention the Absinthe tasting? Oh yeah, that was amazing! Afterwards everyone got that glassy eye glow. Recognize any of these people below?

At the closing ceremony, awards were handed out to the winners of the photography and travel writing contests. I won a prize for my entry in the travel writing contest. The winning story was read aloud by Don George. Don's dramatic readings are always a highlight of the conference. I think he could read the back of a cereal box and make it a transformative moment.

If you are looking to boost to your travel writing career or just want to get inspired by a great group of people, you should consider attending Book Passage next year. And if you do go, here's a tip: Stay late every night. All the real connections happen after hours. Especially on karaoke night.