Thus, my efforts to become a serious wine collector were put on hold for the past three years.  BUT NO LONGER!  ”How?” I hear you, my one reader, asking.

I am back at home now (though I haven’t been able to have much fun… “Spring Break” for law school means “catch up with all the work you haven’t done / do all the work you’ve been assigned over Spring Break,” and I’m also busy with my very late moral character and fitness application for the state bar and with studying for the MPRE) and, as breaks from work, I have been cooking quite often.  For instance, on Monday evening I made choucroute garnie and on Tuesday I made roasted lemon chicken with roasted pine nut and lemon cous cous and sauteed broccolini.  One of the standout wines from this week?  The 2000 R. López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Rosé Gran Reserva, an 11-freaking-year-old rosé!!!

Made from 30% Tempranillo, 60% Garnacho, and 10% Viura, this wine is an absolutely gorgeous copper/salmon color.  I am at a loss to describe this wine–there’s definitely oxidation from the long aging (four and a half years in barrel and five and a half in bottle before release!!!), something approaching savory and tangy, with metallic notes and just the suggestion of cantaloupe.  I don’t think anyone else in my family really liked this wine: this is not a bottle you’d take to a casual barbecue.  However, at $27.99, this is a fantastic wine to bring to a tasting of esoteric wines, and a terrific way to try a Gran Reserva at a very low price.

I of course purchased this and a few other bottles from Mission Wines in South Pasadena.  I had noticed that they were offering 36- and 52-case wine lockers for rent, and while at the store I inquired about renting one.  Luckily, they had a few left, and I just signed a one-year contract for a 36-case wine locker.  It’s temperature- and humidity-controlled and under lock and key.  Many of the regulars at Mission Wines have lockers at the store.  I detected quite a few choice bottles (CdPs, Barolos, Sea Smoke, Caymus, magnums, etc., etc.) which made me quite envious.

I couldn’t very well leave the locker empty, so I bought two bottles to inaugurate it.  The first is an old favorite, the 2007 Bodegas Alejandro Fernández Tinto Pesquera from the Ribera del Duero region of Spain.  The second is a Bordeaux recommended to me by Chris, Mission Wines’s owner: the 2005 Chateau Potensac from the Medoc appellation of Bordeaux, France.  I intend to keep these two bottles in the locker for as long as I have it… if I can control myself.  Chris was nice enough to give me a discount on those wines and a free glass of Craftsman Brewery’s Heavenly Hefe, which had nice lemon notes atop a solid foundation of wheaty goodness.

Now all that’s left is to fill up the locker.  It can store 432 bottles, so I have a ways to go: at least now I have somewhere to keep my wines!

And of course, eating and drinking.

Added to the bottles thus far consumed during Snowmageddon are the two below:

The one on the left is a Riesling, the 2008 Selbach Riesling Spätlese ($14.99 from MacArthur Beverages).  I opened this for a dinner of mahi-mahi, wild rice, and roasted asparagus.  The mahi-mahi was pre-marinated, courtesy of Trader Joe’s, in a sweet-salty sauce, so I figured that the semi-sweet Spätlese would be a decent match.

According to Phil from MacArthur Beverages, this Riesling is made from grapes harvested from a vineyard in the Saar River Valley.  The vineyard itself is a secret; thus, the grapes are from a good vineyard but might not have been high-enough quality for a top producer’s top wine.  Whatever.  In the hands of a talented winemaker such grapes can gain new life (think of them as, um, halfway kids that end up becoming doctors and lawyers) and become a solid wine.  The Selbach was a very low 8% ABV (NICE!) and had a nose of honey and–strangely–clay.  This was relatively light-bodied, though the residual sugar gave it a hint of viscosity.  Lychee, lychee, lychee.  Very tart finish reminiscent of green apple or quince or some other pome.  I thought that the wine had a very strong entry but spent itself too quickly: the finish didn’t last very long at all.  Altogether not a bad wine–it didn’t end with that plasticine taste that plagues so many other lower-priced whites–and a favorite with the ladies who drank it (thanks, Rebecca, Megan, and Christine for your expert opinions!).

The next wine was awesome!  I have a not-so-secret love affair with Spanish wines and with the wines of R. Lopez de Heredia in particular.  Having had their 1999 “Viña Gravonia” crianza (a white wine made of 100% Viura) and 1999 “Viña Tondonia” reserva (a red made of 75% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacho, and 10% combined Mazuelo and Graciano) not too long ago, I had picked up a bottle of the 2004 “Viña Cubillo” crianza ($24.99/$20.99 on sale), a red made of 65% Tempranillo, 25% Garnacho, and 10% combined Mazuelo and Graciano) at MacArthur.

Being a crianza, the Viña Cubillo was released much earlier than the Viña Tondonia (compare 2004 with 1999–the 1999 Tondonia was released last year while the 2004 Cubillo was released this year); however, it still spent three years in barrel and another three in bottle before being released!

What an excellent wine!  Very light, clear in color, with a tremendous nose of bright berries, it positively exploded with flavor.  Think of a cross between juicy and savory and you get this wine.  Strawberry-rhubarb pie mixed with umeboshi?  Licorice and some herbs, too.  Tart and acidic, but with tannins waiting in the background to give the wine structure.  Lip-smacking wine, and easy, easy drinking.  I found this a more approachable wine than the Viña Tondonia.  One caveat, however: this wine seemed to fade in the glass after about half an hour.  Thus, I would open and drink this bottle straightaway and not keep it overnight.

Here’s what Lopez de Herdia had to say about this vintage of the Viña Cubillo:

Classified by The Regulating Council as excellent this 2004 has become one of the historic wines of Rioja. This harvest was not only good in quality but in quantity both in our own vineyards and in the whole D.O. Rioja.

Do yourself a favor and get a bottle of this wine.  It is excellent and everything a classical Rioja should be!

The concrete reason for my trip was to visit two of my former residents (and current friends), Semra and Kana, and their awesome apartment up in the hills on North Side.  There was a sentimental reason, too–namely, that all of my residents and thus the vast majority of the people I knew in Berkeley would be graduating and leaving for the big vast world after college.  

There was a oenological reason, too: I wanted to drink a lot of great wine!

Again, as in my New York post, I’m going to just write down phrases that will hopefully serve to jog my memory when I’m looking back after a few decades.  =)

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Wednesday, May 13
Flight in to Oakland.  BART to Downtown Berkeley and up Euclid, right on Virginia.  Up up up Virginia.  Apartment.  Met up with Kana, went down to get lunch at Poulet. Realized they had only $5.00 corkage. Went to Andronico’s and got two bottles–a bottle of the Domaine E.C. (Emile Cheysson) “Clos les Farges” Chiroubles Beaujolais cru for lunch with our poultry, and a bottle of the 2000 Senorio de P. Pecina Rioja crianza for later.  A huge amount of delicious food at Poulet with a lightly-chilled bottle of the Chirouble (perfect!).  Some of the Rioja later with Kana and Semra at home. Wandering around seeing the sights.  An iced Americano at the Free Speech Movement Cafe. Met up with Stephanie with two of her friends outside the newly-created East Asian American Library on campus.  Fat Slice and La Burrito.  Home, more drinking of the Rioja.

Thursday, May 14
Unsuccessful run at both Gregoire and Vintage Berkeley (they both open at 11 am). Hung out with Aileen. A wonderful subsidized lunch of a pork tenderloin sandwich, fries, glass of Ampelos Rosé of Syrah, and citrus-infused panna cotta at Adagia. An iced Americano at Strada. Shopping with Semra and her awesome roommate Hilary at Andronico’s (for late-night snacks) and Kermit Lynch (for late-night drinking). Some more of the Rioja, which had developed into a very different wine–away from earth but more towards a mushroomy, old-wine sort of taste; not unpleasant but wholly unexpected.

Out to SF. A cappuccino at the SFMOMA cafe. Dinner with Dre at Osha Thai. Back to Berkeley. Back to Andronico’s for more ingredients. Cooked a series of three snacks. First, shrimp ceviche (cooked Bay shrimp with a salsa of tomato, avocado, cilantro, onion, serrano and jalepeno pepper, garlic, salt, and lime juice) and tortilla chips served with the 2008 Denis Jamain Reuilly pinot gris rosé–clean, crisp, and very very light, with just the hint of berries and minerals. Second, garlic shrimp (shrimp cooked in the shell with olive oil, garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper) served with the remainder of the rosé and some of the absolutely gorgeous 2007 Domaine A. Et. P. De Villaine “La Fortune” Cote Chalonnaise Bourgogne. Third, filet mignon rolls (filet mignon sliced thin, half a fingerling potato, a circle of leek, and goat cheese) served with the remainder of the Bourgogne and with some of the brooding, restrained, iron-fist-in-a-silk-glove that is the 2007 Clos la Coutales malbec from Cahors (I had been disappointed with this wine in DC, but I am happy to report that that bottle was a clear aberration). Drunk, drunk, drunk.

Friday, May 15
Hung out for a while at the apartment, then went to Nefeli Caffe for cappuccinos and a pizette with Semra and Hilary. My first time at North Berkeley Wine Imports. Browsing wines to the tune of the great Dark Was The Night album. Picked out some more bottles. Dropped off at Strada. More iced Americano. Dropped off my bags at my new place with Stephanie on Durant. Met with Kana at Strada again for another iced Americano, met a new Phi Delt (my old fraternity) who had been initiated long after I had graduated, found out from him that some Phis were at the Bear’s Lair. Went to Bear’s Lair. Met up with Patrick, Matt, Evan, and some new Phis and Jess B.; ran into my old residents Danny, Alicia, Jessica, and Catherine. Dinner at the I-House with Dana. Wine with Michael, Emma, Jed, Jose (the old Adagia crew) and Atsuko (who was hired long after me). First the 2007 Domaine Diochon Moulin-a-Vent “Vieilles Vignes” cuvee–nice fruit, impressive structure. A unique Ballantine petit verdot that opened up beautifully in the glass courtesy of Jed. Last, the 2005 Bodegas Monte De Reina Tinta de Toro Edicion Limitada from North Berkeley Wine Imports: lush, dark, with full body and nice tannins. Then Brian Martinelli, Teeny, and Chuck showed up; I hitched a ride in Brian’s Le Sabre to the Smokehouse, where I conquered the near-mythical double chili-cheese dog with a side of fries and a Coke (double as in two hot dogs in one bun).

Saturday, May 16
MacArthur BART station to meet up with Ratha. Lake Merritt. A cappuccino and eggs scrambled with lox, cream cheese, and chives at the Lakeshore Cafe. Through the Farmer’s Market. A walk around part of Lake Merritt. Visit to Ratha’s place. BART back to Berkeley. Picked up a whole bunch of books at Pegasus and Pendragon (including first editions of Near the Ocean by Robert Lowell and Praise by Robert Hass). An iced tea (for once) at the Free Speech Movement Cafe with Lauren. Dinner at Angeline’s with Jeff, who is going to the Philippines for his internship. A brief detour on Addison to see Semra one last time at her British friend Ben’s apartment. Some Becks on the roof. No wine all day. Home, and sleep.

Sunday, May 17
Packing for LA. Iced coffee at Peet’s with Stephanie. Brunch at La Note, consisting of a cup of coffee and the omelette de pommes de terre (open-faced potato and caramelized onion omelet) for me and the cote nord (eggs soft-scrambled with goat cheese over French bread) for Steph. Airport. LA.

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This trip was bittersweet, as always, but not for the usual reasons. This trip was bittersweet more for the fact that an era had passed, and that I’d have to stay in SF or Oakland the next time I went up to Berkeley. I certainly had more money during this last trip than I ever had while in college, and I had a great time, but some things can’t be bought and certainly cannot be reproduced: scraping together change for an Americano, grilling cheap frozen hamburger patties on a rickety old deck, holding hands while watching the sun set over the Bay.

And now I might very well be older than they were at the time.

(My torts professor summed it up quite nicely when he quipped, “It’s a strange feeling when both the president-elect AND the chief justice are younger than you are.”)

Now that I’m a quarter century old, I feel as if I should be an adult.  I certainly feel adult-like at certain moments–for instance, when I cook dinner, or when I go to the Ritz-Carlton for drinks (that one time!)–but sometimes feel as if I’m a child playing grownup. I think many of my peers feel the same way.

All that aside, it IS nice to get together and do grownup stuff–like hold wine tastings.  My roommate and I decided to throw a wine tasting; I decided also to throw a wine tasting before that wine tasting to get the feel of things.

I’ll spare you (and myself) the details of the parties.  The first coincided with the arrival of Margie’s friend Ruth from Michigan and Alisa’s friend Kami from Arizona.  The second coincided with Margie’s birthday.  All in all, fortuitous timing.

This was the first wine tasting event I hosted, so I was anxious to do it right.  To that extent, I went to the Wine Specialist and talked to J.C. (their Spanish wine buyer) for over an hour, picking out wines.  The combined wines over both tastings were:

• 2007 | Visión “Cono Sur” | Sauvignon Blanc | Casablanca Valley, Chile
• 2007 | Verget du Sud | Chardonnay | Vin de Pays du Vaucluse, France
• 2007 | Mulderbosch | Chenin Blanc | Stellenbosch, South Africa
• 2006 | André Lorentz | Riesling | Alsace, France
• 2007 | Jean Descombes | cru Beaujolais | Morgon, Beaujolais, France
• 2007 | Maipe “Rosé of Malbec” | Malbec | Mendoza, Argentina
• 2006 | Domiciano de Barrancas “Cosecha Nocturna” | Malbec | Mendoza, Argentina
• 2007 | Oracle of the Stars | Pinotage | Western Cape, South Africa
• 2007 | Thorn-Clarke “Shotfire” | Shiraz | Barossa Valley, Australia
• 2007 | Cueva de las Manos “Bonarda Old Vine Reserve” | Bonarda | Mendoza, Argentina

I bought a few repeats, as well.

There was also a Chilean cabernet sauvignon that I wasn’t intending to serve (and so didn’t write down) but ended up serving after the first tasting; we also went through a few other bottles from my own “collection” and from others.

The theme for both tastings was “1.5 Generation Wines: Between the Old and New Worlds.”  Many of the varietals–sauvignon blanc, syrah/shiraz, and malbec, especially–have had great success after being transplanted to different parts of the world.

The first tasting was a bit more improvised–I didn’t have any food to go along with the tasting, but we more than made up for that by drinking a lot of wine.  The second tasting was more planned–Alex and I made appetizers such as pork sausage fried with apples and cider, lox with chevre and green garlic on melba toast, roasted Hungarian peppers with Greek goat cheese on sliced baguette, hummus, dark chocolate drops with raspberry, etc.  Daphne brought some spicy tuna rolls and vegetable rolls, as well.  Delicious.

I won’t comment on all the wines, but only the notable ones.

The Visión “Cono Sur” is an excellent sauvignon blanc–midway between the Old World (minerals, concentrated) and the New World (lush, grassy) styles, this was a real crowd pleaser.  The Maipe “Rosé of Malbec” was an intense blood red, almost as dark as the Beaujolais or a pinot noir.  It had a bit of a rubber boot nose, but this gave way to some nice berry fruit that ended on dried notes of raisin.  The Oracle of the Stars pinotage was a favorite–smoky, nice acid–and a steal at $7.99.  It’s definitely a wine I’d keep around for dinner or easy drinking.

Jordan and Margie donated a bottle of 2005 Bodegas Arrocal tempranillo from the Ribera del Duero region of Spain.  We poured it in a decanter and swished it around.  I happen to love tempranillo from Ribera del Duero (Tinto Pesquera, anyone?)–they’re intense and dark, with earth and tobacco.  “This is going to be evocative of a dry, dusty riverbed,” I announced drunkenly as I poured out tastes from the decanter.  Yup.  It WAS like a dry, dusty riverbed.

Overall, I really enjoyed the process of hosting a wine tasting, and people seemed to like it.  Then again, who wouldn’t like to pretend they’re adults and get drunk off of good wine?

I work on the sales team for the business department; there are other departments with their own sales teams. The estate planning sales team recently moved into the ground floor suite with my team. To “facilitate” this move, the LegalZoom administration funded a wine and cheese mixer in one of our conference rooms for Wednesday.

Needless to say, I was very keen on who, exactly, would be choosing the wine. I was delighted to hear that Heather from HR was the one assigned to purchase the food and wine. Heather knows her wine: in the days leading up to the event I e-mailed her repeatedly about her wine preferences and what she thought she would purchase. Tempranillo? Some sort of Rhone-style blend? As for whites, she settled on an unoaked or at least neutral-oak chardonnay.

Fast forward to Wednesday. I was in a foul mood from work and ready to just pack my bags and go home. And yet, deep down inside, I felt a pull (probably from my liver) towards the conference room. At 6:20 pm I decided to just get a quick glass (or cup, rather) of wine and get back to sending out a few more e-mails.

As is often the case when alcohol is involved, I never did get back to my work that night.

There was a huge cheese, cracker, and fruit spread and a sliced vegetable spread. Sparkling apple cider (which later was delicious mixed with jug wine, but I’m getting ahead of myself here), water, and wine wine wine! I’m not the biggest fan of chardonnay so I didn’t catch the name of the example on hand, but there were bottles of rosé and red.

I started out with rosé because I love rosé and hell, it’s spring. We had bottles of the Marqués de Cáceres rosé, which is made from 80% tempranillo and 20% garnacha–er, grenache, depending on where you’re coming from.

I’ve seen this wine often at Trader Joe’s and other stores but had stayed away because I wanted to avoid that terrible cheap plastic taste endemic to inexpensive rosés and whites. I should have known better. This rosé was wonderful! Upon the tasting I was hit by its bracing acidity, which was balanced by a relatively full–for a rosé–body and unctuous mouthfeel. (Unctuous is such a nasty-sounding word, isn’t it? But sometimes, you gotta make do with the best word for the job.)

It was clean, fresh, refreshing. Very fruity–berry, as in strawberry, red berries–and dry. I was very happy with this wine and ended up drinking maybe four plastic tumblers of the rosé. At around $7.99 a bottle, this is PERFECT for spring and summer. I’m thinking picnics, with roast chicken and French bread. It was a good match for the mild, soft cheeses on the spread, too.

I transitioned to the red–another denizen of Trader Joe’s–the 2006 Pont du Rhône from the Côtes-du-Rhône appellation of–you guessed it–France. Côtes-du-Rhône is a huge area of land that technically encompasses the entire Rhône valley but usually refers to the Southern Rhône. (I’m going to stop putting the accent or circumflex over the o–it’s taking forever to put that thing into my text!)

According to Mr. Mark Oldman, “Given [the] variation in geography, and the wine’s blend of different grapes, it’s difficult to pin down an exact profile for Côtes-du-Rhône [JOON'S NOTE: gotta be true to the text here despite what I said in the previous paragraph!]. It will often be medium-bodied red with varying degrees of blackberries or raspberries, smoke, pepper, and other spices.”

The Pont du Rhone was a great example, then, of this style. I couldn’t find its exact composition, but it seemed to be primarily grenache, which meant it had berry and pepper and a lighter body. The nose had a bit of herb, a bit of cherry. It was surprisingly smooth, very gentle, and also a great match for the cheeses at the event. I could imagine having this wine with some good steak frites, maybe even with a goat cheese pizza.

The best part of this wine was its price: $4.99! It is a huge steal and a good everyday wine.

My teammates were there, as were others from the new sales team as well as the customer support team, which also sits in the same room. Heather was there sharing stories about tasting wine with her husband. James, the manager of the estate planning sales team, was relating how he is in a band and how his knack for motivating lazy bandmates is relevant to his day job.

Then the event started winding down. People started leaving, but there was still wine left to be drunk. The evening was about to get even better, though from a wine perspective you might say it was going to get a lot worse.

I shall spare the minute details of the rest of the three hours we were there in that conference room. Suffice it to say that Jonathan Lewis from LegalZoom yore dropped by, that we pooled money to buy packs of cigarettes and wine, and somehow Jonathan P. managed to finagle two jugs of wine and three packs of cigarettes from the big, black cashier at Long’s (for the price of one jug and one pack of smokes). 11:30 pm, with about eight glasses of wine, eight cigarettes, a Big Mac combo, and six Chicken McNuggets in me, I finally called it a night.

At that moment, saying bye to my coworkers, I told myself that maybe LegalZoom wasn’t so bad. If only they institutionalized Wednesday Wine Night–might be good for morale.

7 | 2004 Arzuaga Navarro Crianza | Ribera del Duero, Spain | $29.99
This was the seventh wine of the series, second round of overtime. Dave from Mission Wines was kind enough to pour the party a tasting of this really excellent tinto fino (as tempranillo is known in this region) from the dry river of Duero. Being a crianza, it was aged for thirteen months in oak. I was expecting it to be huge and powerful, expecting some forceful tannins (I’ve found tempranillo from Ribera del Duero is “stronger” or more assertive than those from Rioja), but this wine was surprisingly smooth. Plummy, a little hint of leather. I think this wine probably benefited from my having tried the tannic firebombs of the Barrel 27 and the Tejada beforehand. I would love to compare this one to the Tinto Pesquera, which is another wonderful tinto fino from Ribera del Duero.

(95% tinto fino, 3% merlot, 2% cabernet sauvignon)

8 | Sean H. Thackrey “Pleiades XVI” | Bolinas, California | $23.99
This is a crazy wine. Dave poured this for the party and told us to try and guess what it was. I sniffed and got menthol. A lot of menthol, as in eucalyptus. I also detected a bit of anise as well as other herbs.

This picture is from an older vintage, but you get the picture.

The taste was amazing and yet, very polarizing. No one else in my group liked it at all. Erica compared it to drinking rubbing alcohol. Someone else said it was like Listerine. I can understand: the menthol did impart a bit of a fiery element to the wine, and it did have a fair level of acid. However, it was complex and unlike any other wine I’ve ever had. Tar and citrus, earth and fruit. I don’t know quite how to describe it other than it’s probably the most interesting wine I’ve had in a while and one that every “serious” wine drinker should pick up.

I guessed syrah, though the color was way too clear for just syrah. The color made it look like a pinot noir or gamay, but it didn’t have any of those varietals’ flavor profiles. Maybe some Italian wine–nebbiolo or barbera. I was thinking maybe a blend. And I couldn’t explain the menthol.

Dave put it together for us. It WAS a blend, of everything from syrah, barbera (yes!), carignane, petite sirah, sangiovese, and viognier, among others. And the intriguing part is that this blend was fermented in open-air vats that sat under–what else–eucalyptus trees. Wow! The Pleiades XVI is, obviously, the sixteenth iteration of this particular blend and was bottled in January 2008.

Now, the “tasting” was over, but we weren’t ready to throw in the towel. We picked up two bottles of wine to drink:

9 | 2006 Amancaya Malbec / Cabernet Sauvignon | Mendoza, Argentina | $19.99
Yikes! This was more expensive than any other malbec I’ve ever had in my life, but then again, it had unparalleled lineage: Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) of Bordeaux. This wine combined the power of Argentine malbec and the finesse of Bordeaux. It was purple, but bright and not brooding. Black cherry, plum, licorice. Good tannin. Overall, the combination of 50% malbec and 50% cab was win-win.

10 | 2006 Elizabeth Spencer “Special Cuvee” Pinot Noir | Sonoma Coast, California | $32.99
Probably shouldn’t have had a pinot noir after all the strong, tannic wines, but eh. The Elizabeth Spencer was still good. I already wrote about this wine earlier, so I’ll just link to my previous review.

Then Kirk, one of the regulars, came around with a bottle of zin from a recent trip to Paso Robles:

11 | 2005 Minassian-Young Estate Zinfandel | Paso Robles, California | $20.00
I’m not too familiar with zinfandels. It seems that a lot of them are just overly jammy and simplistic. This zin, from winemaker David Young, was delicious. Yes, it was jammy but not cloying. It had a good structure of tannins to keep it from becoming something you’d swill from a jar. A lot of boysenberry, evocative of Fig Newtons. Long, long finish. Great wine from a very new vineyard.

So there you have it. One of the best–and longest–tastings I’ve had ever. Actually, the second-longest: my first consisted of 24+ wines, when I was a barista / runner at Adagia. That was crazy.

Joining me in the 25-and-under group were some fellow “Zoomers”: Jonathan (not Jonathan Lewis from entries past), a film major from USC; Will, the Guatemalan martial artist who can squat-press over 1,000 pounds; Erica, of Coloradan extraction; and her boyfriend, Jack, the New Yorker accountant.

We were in for a treat: a wine broker was present for the tasting showcasing wines from his portfolio. This portends well because importers, winemakers, and brokers are pretty keen to put forth their best; Saturday was no exception. The five wines on the “official” tasting list were:

1 | 2006 Lioco Chardonnay | Sonoma, California | $19.99
I hate to admit it, but my palate’s not very refined. I sipped this chardonnay and thought I detected vanilla and oak. Hell, I was dead certain I detected vanilla and oak. The broker came over and told us some more about the wine, including the little fact that this chard had not been aged in oak. At all. It had not even touched neutral oak. All stainless steel. I did taste a lot of fruit–very tropical–and some nice acid. A bit of butter–not a big butterball like many other California chardonnays I’ve had. Overall, one of the better chardonnays I’ve had, though I would have to say that I still have never encountered a chardonnay I wanted to take home with me.

2 | 2005 Miura Pinot Noir Silacci Vineyard | Monterey, California | approx. $60.00
Leave it to a woman to say it: Erica, upon tasting this pinot, declared, “Ooh, it tastes expensive”, by which she meant this was a very good pinot noir. Black cherry. Smooth, velvety. Like sleeping on satin sheets, except instead of sleeping you are drinking and instead of satin the sheets are waves of intense fruit flavor. Pretty darn good, though it still has not usurped in my mind the supremacy of the Sea Smoke Southing.

3 | Barrel 27 Grenache | Paso Robles, California | $22.50
Grenache is a grape I feel I should like, for some reason. It originated in Spain, where it is called garnacha. It is generally spicy and berry-flavored. It is light–it is low-tannin, somewhat low in acid, and of a thin color. You can probably find a lot of wines made from grenache in the supermarket aisles, either alone or blended. Some of my favorite wines–including the Charles Cimicky Trumps–include grenache. Grenache is also the dominant part of wines from the Southern Rhone in France, including Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

And yet, I had not up to this point really encountered a good, solid wine made solely of grenache. I’ve had Little James’ Basket from Chateau de Saint Cosme, which is a blend of fruit from both new and old vines, but I wasn’t enthralled: I think the lack of heft was a bit off-putting for me. The Barrel 27, however, was substantial, with cherry or cranberry, spice. It started smooth but ended with a mouth-puckering note of tannin. This may be because 2006 marks the first vintage of this wine from Barrel 27. Nonetheless, pretty solid wine and one I would definitely purchase again.

4 | 2004 Tejada Tempranillo / Grenache | Lake County, California | approx. $40.00
I didn’t really like this one, unfortunately. I found it extremely tannic–even more so than the Barrel 27. According to the broker, the vineyard from which the grapes of the wine were picked is relatively young, leading to the high levels of tannin.

5 | 2004 Worthy “Sophia’s Cuvee” | Napa Valley, California | $29.99
The real winner of the “regular” tasting. Smooth, lush, sweet (maybe from oak?), the scent of roses and fruit wafting from the glass. I especially enjoyed the moderate level of tannin in this wine after the last two tastings.

This cuvee is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot, and merlot. This was probably the regulation consensus favorite among the tasters. A very powerful, yet feminine wine. Memorable. I would probably take this wine to any important romantic dinner.

Now, for the first round of overtime.

6 | 2004 Egelhoff Cabernet Sauvignon | Napa Valley, California | $75.00 +
Being an older guy at a fraternity had its perks. For instance, I hosted people in my room during any of the many parties and get-togethers thrown by the chapter. Of course, there were meek, excited undergraduates who were fresh from Cow Town or Overprotected Suburb U.S.A. and looking for fast times and free booze. At that period in my life I was a big fan of Early Times whiskey, which came in a plastic bottle, yes, but I thought was delicious and gave Jack Daniels a run for his money. (Hindsight has corrected me of that erroneous line of thought, thankfully!) Before parties I would take the plastic bottle of Early Times and pour it into a fancy glass decanter, then serve the five or six underclassmen who were lucky enough to find themselves in my IKEAd-out room. I still remember the look in their eyes as they accepted this precious liquid from a real glass decanter!

Well, same story for me, now. I’m the naive “freshman” and am thrilled to be served wine from a decanter, especially if the wine being served is the Egelhoff cab. This cabernet was brought by the wine broker and was a special “bonus”–another reason to try to go to tastings at which brokers or importers or winemakers are present.

Man. The bouquet was incredible–flowers and black fruit, a veritable cornucopia of aromas. Big, yet refined. I found that the wine started full but lightened in body once in the mouth. Double cherry, dusty, dusky cherry. Wood and spice. A long, long finish. Smooth and well-balanced tannins. The decanting probably helped a lot in this regard.

This was actually my favorite wine out of the six I had tried thus far–however, “Sophia’s Cuvee” would still probably be my choice as it’s a delicious, accessible, and sexy wine–and heck, it’s less than half the price of the Egelhoff.

I was thoroughly impressed and thankful to have been exposed to some very good wines. But, much to my delight, I wasn’t done. Our party had two more bonus tastings courtesy of Mission Wines, one more bonus from one of the regulars, and two bottles we bought to continue the buzz. We had 11 wines on Saturday, and in the interest of some semblance of brevity I will review the second five at a later time.

Manning (Peyton? Eli? Archie or Cooper?) or, if you will, womanning the bar was Debbie, a delightful woman who crossed over years back from Colorado to pursue a love of wine. Heck, I would drive hundreds of miles for wine. In fact, that’s the primary reason I head up to Berkeley so often (sorry Jonathan!). She served us the five wines on the menu, as well as two more “bonus” pours.

The wines were:

J. Hofstatter “De Vite” Pinot Grigio | Alto Adige, Italy | 2005 | $11.99
We took turns writing tasting notes. My notes for this wine were “uber-light.” Kat’s notes were a star surrounded by a circle, along with the word “unfabulous”, which I’m not even sure is a word (thanks, spell check!). This pinot grigio was too light, too insubstantial. It was citrusy, which isn’t a bad thing, but to my palate at least it also seemed to have that plasticine taste I abhor in whites. As Mark Oldman notes in his Guide to Outsmarting Wine, much pinot grigio is “often like experiencing an IKEA rug, Ben Stein’s voice, or a dose of Paxil: neutral, monotone, and devoid of highs.” And watery. The region of Alto Adige is apparently home to some more “interesting versions” of pinot grigio, but this particular bottle was not one of them.

Heidi Schrock “White Blend” Muscat | Rust, Austria | 2006 | $26.99
A much better wine than the first. Exhibited a huge, sweet bouquet like honey or roses that gave way to an extremely dry, austere wine in the mouth. Like smelling a rose then, maybe in a fit of passion, eating a petal. Katherine gave this wine five stars.

(Note about Kat’s ranking system: she only gives either one star or five. So she really likes a wine or really hates it. Much like how most people judge her. Kidding again!)

Elizabeth Spencer “Special Cuvee” Pinot Noir | Sonoma Coast, California | 2006 | $32.99
You know–I’m not really a big fan of pinot noir. I know, I know–who am I to argue with Miles from Sideways, right? The best pinot noirs I’ve had were very different in price. I tried the heralded Sea Smoke Southing pinot noir from the Santa Rita Hills of California–oh God. It was probably the best wine I’ve ever had in my life. That one two-ounce taste set me back like $8.00, I think, but it was worth it. The MacMurray pinot noir from the Russian River Valley, which is around $17 – $20, is a great, easy, and affordable pinot noir.

Usually, though, pinot noirs seem too… light for me. I like wines (and women) with a bit of heft. I also like wines (and women) that stain your teeth. (The implications here frighten me… forget I ever wrote that.) The Elizabeth Spencer pinot was… like heaven if it were on the California coast line. Plum, prune, earth, balanced so delicately and with such trembling fragility. A poem in a glass, if ever there was one. And an expensive poem, at that.

Kat gave this one five stars. She didn’t write anymore notes after this one.

Seghesio Zinfandel | Sonoma County, California | 2006 | $17.99
Jammy. Pretty decent. Good with chocolate. Nothing really to write home about, though.

Atalays de Golban Tempranillo | Ribera del Duero, Spain | 2005 | $23.99
A moderately full, tannic wine that to me reflects the dry river Duero in Spain. Pretty good, though you have a comparable tempranillo in the Conde de Valdemar Rioja reserva for less money (around $17.00). For a great Ribera del Duero, though, go for the Tinto Pesquera crianza: so complex, with loads of flavor and spice (around $35.00).

I pointed out to Debbie that all the Ribera del Duero labels have structures… like towers, or castles, or other man-made edifices. At this point, though, I was pretty buzzed so I could not for the life of me remember the name “Tinto Pesquera.” She nodded at me and smiled, just as many people seem to do with me.

Bonus Wines
The first was a barbaresco from the Produttori del Barbaresco collective in Piedmont, Italy. Made from nebbiolo, this was very, very light–lighter than the Elizabeth Spencer pinot noir–but substantial nonetheless. I got the taste of raisin, licorice, red… stuff. Light but not fragile. Kind of… another incarnation of what the pinot noir might have been, perhaps?

The second was some wine made by some customer of Mission Wines! He bought the grapes himself and made them into a wine that was powerful, extremely spicy–peppery, even–and tannic as heck. No one knew what kind of grapes he used as he himself was not there at the moment. But it was cool to be able to sample a wine from someone who presumably lives in South Pasadena or a neighboring city.

WINE PICK OF THE WEEK
Probably pretty obvious, but the Elizabeth Spencer was the clear winner for me. The next time I have $32.99 + tax lying around, I will head over the Mission Wines and buy a bottle. It won’t be soon.

But as Mark Oldman points out in his entertaining, easily-accessible, and informative book Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine: 108 Ingenious Shortcuts to Navigate the World of Wine with Confidence and Style (link to Amazon here!), there are many low-cost, high-value wines out there from winemakers I felt were “too big” or “too successful”.

Call it the Green Day syndrome of wine.

At any rate, one of the producers he mentioned numerous times as consistently satisfying was Chateau Ste. Michelle. Never mind that this winery is in Washington state and has a name like a bad French domaine. It is Washington’s oldest “and most acclaimed” winery, and its labels can be seen in supermarket aisles everywhere:

For “hip” young wine drinkers like me, this ubiquity was a death knell.

Luckily, I’m poor. On Sunday evening I was at Trader Joe’s in South Pasadena shopping for groceries with my brother and he graciously offered to buy a bottle of wine. I immediately went to the delicious Marqués de Riscal rioja–easily recognizable by its Times Square bodice of gold wire mesh–but was repelled by the price of $15.99 (a low cost for a great wine, but I didn’t want to have my brother pay too much for my drinking habits). Then I caught sight of the 2004 cabernet sauvignon from Chateau Ste. Michelle. It was reasonably priced at $10.99. I decided to give Mr. Oldman a shot, though he’s from a certain university that ranks poorly in my favor at this particular moment.

So far, Mr. Oldman is one for one. The cabernet is immediately drinkable from the first pour, which was a concern for me. I thought 2004 would be too recent for any cabernet (not enough time to let the tannins soften, perhaps), but hey, I’m guessing that Chateau Ste. Michelle doesn’t make its entry-level cabernets for aging. But all the better. This wine was fruity–jammy, even, maybe like a zinfandel–and redolent of vanilla. More fruit than earth. Plum–prune–dark, withered fruits came to mind.  (Whatever happened to the California Raisins?)  The tannins were smooth; it was lighter bodied than I would have anticipated in a cab. My family loved it–even my teetotalar brother and sister (my mom sat silently in a happy quasi-alcoholic stupor). It was great with some Scharffen Berger 82% cacao dark chocolate.

Which leads me to pronounce Chateau Ste. Michelle as the Sam Adams of wine: available nearly everywhere and much higher in quality than, say, the Coors Light of wine (Charles Shaw). Of course, I will have to try a few more of Chateau Ste. Michelle’s offerings to form a solid opinion, but I was very impressed nonetheless. Pick up a few bottles of the cabernet the next time you’re at Trader Joe’s!

Dinner was at the dependable Monsieur Marcel, which has a wonderful ambiance in the evening. A beautiful, dark brunette smiled to me from the wine bar (at least, I thought it was me!), so things were already taking a turn for the better as we were seated.

I had a glass of rosé from Chateau de L’Escarelle–in Provence–made from cinsault and grenache. It was wonderful–absolutely breathtakingly fresh, full of ripe strawberry, not in the least bit cloying. It was light but had substantial heft for a rosé. And at $6.49 a glass (one of the less expensive wines on the menu) it was nice to my wallet. This wine reminded me of another wonderful rosé, the Rosé of Syrah from Ampelos Cellars of the Santa Rita Hills in California:

Will had a glass of the 2004 tempranillo from Bodegas Ercavio. It was fruitier than other tempranillos I’ve had–less vanilla from oak. (Maybe this is because Bodegas Ercavio is not in Rioja, which has a reputation for oakiness.) It was a light, pleasing red, and well-priced at $6.99.

I had the Croque Marcel, basically a French panini consisting of grilled smoked turkey and goat cheese, with a side of frites. The top was covered with what the menu described as “mornay sauce” but what I will describe as heaven. Will had the coq au vin, a stew of chicken slow-cooked with mushroom, carrots, onion, and celery, served with a side of potatoes au gratin. The food, combined with a few Dunhill Lights and the aforementioned wine, made me forget LA for just a moment and feel like I was in Paris. (The table next to us was full of loud Frenchmen, adding to the atmosphere.)

After this dinner we wandered around the Farmer’s Market and the Grove, and I decided to check out the Cost Plus World Market. My previous post on champagne had elicited A LOT of positive reviews of Cost Plus on Yelp! and there was one a mere two-minute walk from Monsieur Marcel.

I have to say I was pretty impressed. Many different wines, many for a few dollars less than at your more frou-frou wine stores. In terms of Spainish wine, for instance, you can find a Conde de Valdemar Riserva for $14.99, and Marqués de Riscal for $12.99.

Will and I were looking around and a young woman says something indistinct to me. I turn around, and she says, “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you worked here!” (a comment I get quite often at different sorts of stores–the Gap, Banana Republic, Jiffy Lube).

A few more words exchanged showed that she was looking for a malbec. I LOVE MALBEC! This woman and I searched the wine section and found the Argentine wine shelf–they had a few malbecs.

Then my eyes settled on the malbec reserva from Bodega Norton, priced at around $12-14. Then, below that the “regular” malbec from Bodega Norton for the bargain price of $7.99!

I had come across Bodega Norton frequently in magazines and online reviews. This estate was established in 1895 by an English engineer, making it the first winery in the now-famous Mendoza region of Argentina. I related this to the woman, who picked up a bottle. She either was won over by this information or was just tired of my going on and on about wine!

Whatever the case may be, I decided to pick up a bottle for myself–tasting notes will follow soon!