Napa Insider - Year in Review

Excerpt from: NorthBay Biz magazine
By: Christina Julian

As one year ends and another begins, I can’t shake the urge to reflect. So, instead of bucking it, I’ll embrace it. Here’s the Napa Insider: Year in Review. As with any roundup, there’s lots of ground to cover, and only so many words, so this isn’t meant to be all-inclusive, just some notable mentions.

The year 2011 brought many firsts. One of the most celebrated would have to be the Napa Valley Film Festival, which hosted its inaugural five-day event in November. I’m still recovering from the bevy of events that spanned from Napa to Calistoga, with wine pavilions, cooking demonstrations, countless VIP parties, more than 100 film screenings and celebrities galore. The festival reported total attendance of approximately 25,000 people (5,000 unique visitors), with 50 percent concentrated in Napa, 25 in Yountville, and 12.5 in St. Helena and Calistoga. More than 600 cases of wine were poured. Click here for full article.

NVFF - Is Napa Valley about to become Hollywood's next Sundance?

Hollywood & Vines

Excerpt from the North Bay Bohemian
By Christina Julian

A fleet of Mercedes-Benzes crawl through downtown Napa. Later, they're motoring through the once sleepy streets of St. Helena, where restaurants boom well past midnight. Crowds jam the streets. Traffic is tight. Harvest is winding down, yet these towns clearly are not. Is this Napa Valley, or some Hollywood film in the making?

According to projections, such a bustling scene may be the future of the Napa Valley Film Festival (NVFF), running Nov. 9–13. In its inaugural year, the festival is poised to take over the region with nearly a hundred shorts, documentaries and feature films screening in venues from Napa to Calistoga over five days. Five thousand people are expected to attend, with enough winetasting, VIP parties and chauffeured celebrities to do Hollywood proud—but the question is, will the locals be equally enthused? Click here for full article

It's Always Festival Season

Excerpt from NorthBay Biz magazine
Napa Insider Column
By: Christina Julian

Welcome to the first new “Napa Insider” column in quite some time. As I take the helm, let me tell you a bit about myself. Before Napa Valley became my favorite pick among the places I’ve previously perched, my writing took other forms. First, working in publishing in New York City, later in advertising out of Los Angeles. To the surprise of many of my former city-dwelling cohorts, none of that compares to the Wine Country way of life. Here, you plant roots, watch them grow, enjoy them while they last, then move on to the next bunch when the fruit dries up. With so many wineries to pluck from, I suspect my life’s work is ahead of me.

Let’s move into this month’s topic: festivals. Is it me, or do festivals seem to be cropping up as feverishly as wineries? Not even I, an avid festival goer, could begin to take a bite out of the feast of fests that are sprouting up all over Napa County. Intriguing, considering some of the area’s long-standing renditions, like the Mustard Festival and Art in the Park, have gone on hiatus. I can’t help feeling guilty every time I attend one of the newbies, as if by doing so, I’m sealing the fate of a predecessor, each fest leeching off the attendance pool of another. Click here for the full column.

Do good glasses make bad wine better?

Excerpt from The Weekly Calistogan
By: Christina Julian

I remain forever flummoxed about how to drink fine wine.

Whether I’m throwing open my kitchen cabinet or trolling the aisles of Target looking for the perfect wine glass to receive my grape-filled treasure, I’m transported out of bliss and into confusion over which glass I should use and what brand I should buy.

I’ve become so desperate I’ve vowed to never drink wine out of a glass again and to merely pop the cork and drink it straight out of the bottle as the wine gods likely intended.

But my rational side steps in. Will a cheap glass make a great wine bad or can a fabulous goblet make a hack wine worthy?

Wine expert Robert Parker has said, “The finest glasses for both technical and hedonistic purposes are those made by Riedel. The effect of these glasses on fine wine is profound. I cannot emphasize enough what a difference they make.”

This is a lovely sentiment, but this man drinks only the best wines from all over the world, for free. As a laywoman, I have a hard time fully trusting his opinion. He steers us to the right wines to drink, but do we really need to rely on him and his type when it comes to our crystal decisions as well?

Perhaps it makes sense to consider the glass holder. Are they a delicate and graceful sort, or a clunky and clumsy someone? If the latter, stemless might be the obvious choice, but if you fall nowhere in between, then what? Click here to continue reading

The Last Licks of Summer

Excerpt from the Weekly Calistogan
By: Christina Julian

When I moved to the Upper Valley a couple of years ago, I expected to see people bopping to Sinatra while squishing grapes in large vats and folks dancing to midnight serenades in the vineyards. I would’ve gladly settled for strumming sounds as a sidekick to an al fresco meal. But outdoor entertainment wasn’t as easy to come by as I’d hoped, until I moved to Calistoga. As a former New Yorker, I live for outdoor entertainment come summertime. The fact that dandy weather is as abundant as grapes in these parts doesn’t deter my mission. School is back in session, days are growing short, and time is most definitely running out with only two summer concerts at Pioneer Park remaining. It’s time to get out there and enjoy the last licks of summer. Click here to continue reading.

A "Back Room" that rocks while the wine rolls

DOWNTOWN NAPA'S ROCKING BACKROOM WINE SHOP MOONLIGHTS AS A TASTING BAR TOO. WE CAN GET BEHIND THE SIP AS YOU SHOP PHILOSOPHY AS WELL AS THE STORE’S CUSTOMER SERVICE MANTRA “WE LISTEN TO WHAT YOU LIKE, HEAR WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR, AND MATCH YOU WITH THE PERFECT WINE.” YOU'LL FIND SOUGHT-AFTER AND HARD TO FIND VINO AS YOU SIP AND SUCK DOWN FEATURED WINE FLIGHTS AND CHEESE PAIRINGS THAT ARE EVER-CHANGING DAILY. LINGER AT THE TASTING BAR OR SLIDE ONTO THE COMFY COUCH AS YOU GIVE YOUR TONGUE A WAKE UP CALL IN THE WINE COUNTRY WAY. SLURP YOUR LATEST INDULGENCE WITH CLASSIC ROCK TUNES BOPPING IN THE BACKGROUND. THEY ALSO HOST SPECIAL TASTING EVENTS (CLICK FOR DETAILS) JUST ABOUT EVERY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT SO YOU CAN KEEP YOUR GOOD TIMES ROLLING RIGHT ALONG WITH THE FINE WINE, MUSIC, AND COMPANY. WACKY WINESENSE RATING: 4.5 GRAPES!

Wacky Goes Ape, err Gape, with Kirk Venge~Tales from the Trail

Fact. It’s been exactly one year since I moved here and was fortunate enough to find myself hip-deep in grapes during last year’s harvest. I hadn’t lived until I got to stick pinky to arm pit into a vat of freshly picked grapes. As a consummate over-achiever, last year’s 2-day harvest stint with Kirk Venge was going to be a tough act to follow. But I’ve outdone myself, by somehow scoring a full-time gig as assistant grape sampler to Mr. King of the Grapes Venge himself (my nickname, not his, he is far too humble for such nomenclature). And it is the job of a lifetime, especially for someone who spends most waking hours and many late nights writing about and or sip’in on da’wine. But this year I am working for my wine which makes the bounty all the more sweet. While harvest was a little late in getting to the party this season, we are now bouncing off the grape walls. The run down to date. First it was cool when it should be hot, then hot when it clearly should be not. It rained, and threatened to follow on with some good old fashioned fall weather, but not before one last heat snap. What does this mean to those in the grape biz? Premature gray and balding hair, unless you’re like Venge, who appears to thrive under these sorts of conditions. Oh, forgot to mention. He was looking for a few more thrills so he decided to erect a new winery facility(Venge Vineyards) smack dab in the middle of harvest. Living on the edge never looked so good. Nor does the new winery and the grapes within. Note to self: learn some tips of the trade from this kid, he knows his stuff. A quick snapshot into my world, with more to follow in the upcoming weeks. It goes something like this: rise at dawn, wake up before the grapes do (pre-sun swelter), throw on a grape-stain resistant frock, pack up your hound, your grape cooler, some baggies for sampling, some water to rinse the juice, and an eye for the changing tides and tendencies of the grapes. At this hour you encounter only other grape-hounds and we are a mixed breed of a whole lot of something, none of which can be repeated to this PG crowd. We run through the fields, row by row, plucking a wide assortment of grapes from an unbearably long list of vineyards, that truth be told could do a much better job of labeling the vineyard rows and blocks. The iPhone GPS can get you only so far, then you have to rely on good old grape intuition, of which I had none initially, but now I am swimming in its sweet juices. As you are running through the field, fetching samples (methods are secret!), you often trip on dead and gangly vines that pierce skin like a blade, yet these road warrior scars never looked so good! You also get a pretty majestic view tooling down the 29 towards Napa during the wee hours of the morning. Gaggles of hot air balloons descend upon our valley, an idyllic vision if you ask me. If you don’t live here, what are you waiting for? This scene and these scents are like nothing you've ever witnessed, not to mention tasted. After combing the valley up and down for grapes, I hit the chemistry lab (I knew I should have paid attention to this junk in school, who knew?) to put my plucky grapes through a battery of tests to reveal Brix, PH, TA. I sound like I know what I’m talking about, right? Just enough to be dangerous. Then my world class mission continues as I track down my master and deliver our classified info. All of which will tell us if the grapes are ready to move off the vine, or if they need to keep hanging on for dear life. And that my friends, my wine-swilling peeps, is where I will leave you for now. My skin is as thick with stick (grape juice), as it is with sweat. My ankles are beat up and scraped, the bags under my eyes are ever-increasing, yet I can’t wait to get up and do it all again, tomorrow! While slinging ads in New York and making movies in LA all had their glim and glamour, they’ve got nothing on this sweet deal. Check back for the latest rantings...live from the trail. May all your grapes be good ones!

Summer Swings at Oxbow’s Public Market

It’s about time that us locals (and tourists posing as locals can apply) got a break and the Oxbow Public Market was just the place to provide it. One-stop shopping for all your indulgent food and drink needs. Locals' night (every Tuesday night) serves up a bounty of food, frolic, and slurp-worthy beverages. Too much to cover in one quick swoop, but here are some shenanigans that I suggest you partake in. While I love to slurp wine as much as the next, this Tuesday I found something almost as enticing. Sucking down cheap Hog Island oysters and brew skies. And I don’t mean cheap in the sense that you will spend the night in the emergency room spewing out sullied seafood and PBRs, no siree. Cheap as in succulent oysters ($1 pop – I kid you not) and Class A beer (3.50 a pint) all on the cheap from 5-7PM. And you even get to be entertained as you slurp and suck. Live music (6-8PM) hums in the background ranging from jazz, standards, blues, techno (well, not really) and beyond. I followed up with killer, knock-you-off-your-diet-for-life cupcakes at Kara’s. I thought about eating one of everything she had to offer but opted instead for a Sweet Vanilla (inside and out) and Fleur De Sel. Each made me cry tears of food joy for different reasons. The butter cream frosting was just the right balance by not being overpowered with butter and not so sweet as to make you go into sugar shock. For local's night you can get cupcake minis for $1 (one per/person minimum – so augment with the reg. size). I have it on good accord that the banana caramel one could convert even the most devout non-sugar fiends. Cheese, cheese and more cheese at the Oxbow Cheese Market. Belly up to the cheese bar and order yourself a slice of the Caveman. And I don’t mean that strapping young gent that’s eye chickies from the wine bar, it is a cheese my friends and a damn tart/tangy/tongue defying blue one at that. I had to be peeled off the cheese fridge. Finally when my belly and liver could take no more I slid out to the terrace and planted my butt in a chair and enjoyed the sites of new friends and old dancing in some of the delights that bring this fair city to night – a night where food and drink finds are friendly to the locals that help make this joint and town hop. Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.5

A Toolbox Worth Its Weight in Wine!

I’m not usually one to get too hung up on gender issues, but when my kind, femalekind, does noteworthy things that do not involve nail polish or high heels I think it’s worth recognizing. My latest diddy, Tool Box Wine Co, is having an on-going ‘coming out’ party at the Gustavo Thrace tasting haunt in downtown Napa. Since I am all about low to no-pretense tasting spots, this one hits the mark all over the place. You can’t help but to frolic balls out all over the place as you sip your wine. If you’re the playful sort this could include engaging in rounds of pinball and darts as you swill your wine and peruse “Bottle Shock” movie memorabilia (whereby Gustavo Brambila was immortalized beyond just his wine). I had a hard time finding a reason to leave this delightful perch. The tasting room peeps are as friendly as you’d expect, except most tasting rooms aren’t that friendly anymore so they defy the norm by being an overly jovial bunch. You’ve got a broad spectrum of wines to wet your whistle, choosing from the Gustavo/Thrace label or the Tool Box collection. I will spend time on the latter, starting with the catch phrase behind this new wine label, using their words, not mine. “Three Napa Valley girlfriends got together to raise a glass, celebrate life & share the importance of a good screw to hold things together.” Their catchphrase, the wine, and the vibe of the tasting room make me smile, as I suspect it will do the same for you. They also understand that financial times are tough these days so every single bottle of Tool Box wine is a mere, are you ready? 14 beans a bottle! And they taste dandy too. The Sauvignon Blanc was crisp, light, and loose, like the ladies behind the wine (kidding, totally kidding). The Cabernet was bouncy. Or maybe that was the pinball, who knows I sucked it down regardless, with great pleasure. So I have to bounce myself (yes I am over the age of 15 and I did just say that, I'm giddy and proud to wear the shoes), but do yourself a favor and make a pit stop at this tasting room for a rollicking good time. Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.5 Grapes!

Spin your way to svelte now, so you can slurp wine later!

Stop the flab, rediscover your abs! Wednesdays, 6-6:45PM, at Epiphany Yoga & Pilates Center. Let’s face it, that wine swilling habit of yours is wreaking havoc on your midsection. So here is your chance to work off all that vino from the night before, and or to crush those bad cycling nightmares you’ve been having quicker than a bunch freshly plucked grapes! Never spun before? No worries, that's what teachers are for. Accomplished peddler? I swear on my best bottle of vino, that you’ll sweat yourself senseless. Even Dwight on ABC’s the Office is doing it, proving that getting your spin on can be fun and funny in one breathless pump of the pedals. Bring your yellow goggles if you dare!

If you're still on the fence here are some mantras to kick your bootie off your rump and over the hump…

• Sweat now, svelte later
• Stop swilling, start spinning
• Stop the flab, rediscover your abs!
• Spin now, slurp (wine) later
• Spin your way to thin!

If all of this exercise nonsense is making you squirm, please forward this blog link to anyone that would squeal at the chance to spin on your behalf. For info on classes, location, and online signup, read on:

Epiphany Yoga & Pilates Center (drop in rate $16)
1299 Pine Street Saint Helena, CA 94574
707.963.9642
www.napaspin.com or www.epiphanyyogacenter.com

TAR - bringing theater arts back without busting the bank!

Times are tight and dollars scarce, but that’s no reason to assume the entertainment circuit is faltering as much as the economy. Coinciding with the kick-off of summer, Theater Arts Revival (TAR) is stepping onstage to jumpstart the performing arts scene. How you ask, sarcastically, since the theater scene is dead in these parts, right? Think again my wine swilling peeps. Try TAR's mission on for size: bringing theater and arts programs back to the community without busting the bank and or being bored to tears with tentative shows and the people that attend them. Stand back, catch your foot before you stick it in your mouth. The company’s inaugural show “Pastiche,” is a musical comedy of the absurd. What am I talking about, exactly? If carnivals make you cringe and cackle, these performances will offer a bounty of both, right along with a glimpse into all things good and evil in the wacky world of carnies, and you know how much we here at WineSense love the "wack" factor in all that we choose to promote. But don't take our word for it, the Bohemian voted this stage romp their critic's pick of the week. Here is a taste of what the show will serve up, along with wine, cookies, and a silent auction with many goods up for grabs including sought after garb from Carlos Santana himself. Carnival Pastiche is a second-rate, small time freak show that’s seen better days. A fake Hungarian countess, who may’ve spawned the “cougar” craze sits at the helm of this posse of misfits that includes sideshow attractions, singers, dancers, gypsies, dreamers, and even an Elvis impersonator, none of whom can sing or dance! No, not really, just wanted to make sure you're paying attention. These carnies can croon as good as Sinatra and howl as good as Michael Jackson. When Pastiche’s glossier, alter-ego-of-a-show competitor, Pablo Fanque’s Faire accidentally burns down (foul play anyone?), the fabulous Fanque players (the ones that did NOT get kicked off Dancing With The Stars and America Idol) threaten to replace Pastiche for good. The show is loosely based on characters from the John Lennon song, ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,' which was written about a real carnival and its performers. So turn off the boob tube, temporarily cork up your wine bottles, and grab your footloose-and-fancy-free alter ego, and prepare to be Razzle Dazzled, as you sing your way through this and other loosely recognizable Broadway show tunes that are sure to make you sizzle and stick to your seat. Performances are set to take off at Calistoga’s Tucker Farm Center at 8PM on Friday and Sat (May 28-29) as well as a 3PM Sunday matinee on May 30th. So go on, shut down your BBQ for a couple hours and get your "wack" on for one night or more. Score some seats now before all the good ones get slurped up!

They came, they went, they CHEER!ed

Frankly, I'm still recovering from all the spellbinding wine, food, and frolic that this month's CHEERS! St. Helena served up. And no, not from too much wine, I'm a professional. I was traveling. Read on for a full wrap-up of the good, bad, ugly, and evil (hint the latter 3 aren't really applicable).Lots of happening things to report. First, CHEERS! was full of frolic just as it was last year, but bigger! Or, as I will now reference the events from this day forward, CHEERS! Full Throttle! Am I dangerously close to sounding over-the-top? Great, I’m doing my job. Random bits of goodness that was uncorked. Gaggles of informal street music performing up and down Main St., in addition to the 3 headlining bands. Thank you CHEERS! for helping the town to rise to this acoustic occasion. We quite literally rocked from blues, to classical, and classics. Well done! Miner (who I lavished on about at the end of last year) poured what I like to call their "pink lady" wine, otherwise known as the Mendocino Rosado. The perfect "lady's lunching/bridal shower wine." Light, fruity, frilly. You feel fancy drinking it. I can't thank you enough Schramsberg, you can "blanc de blancs" me anytime you please. Don't just sit there! Play your seat, won't you? - Chris Vorland, took me up on the offer as he banged bongos and his wood crated seat (is this really a drum disguised as a milk crate?) while strumming a guitar, as he sat tucked in a corner of the always posh Martin Gallery. Between the music, swank decor, and the Orin Swift Prisoners wine that was flowing freely I was hard pressed to find a reason to escape that spot. But more adventures awaited. Varozza Vineyard's Petite Syrah, I hesitate to even get myself started on this wine, as I may never stop yammering on about it. Brevity is the new pink, so here I go: sturdy, zippy, cherry-berry delightful. This wine sings like a Sinatra song. Quintessa's 06 Faust Cab. Rich, robust, rockin. Speaking of rocking (an unexpected new theme for my posting) as I wind down my rantings for the moment. The Odd Fellows' after party bash showed us that St. Helena is not a sleepy wine town after all. When we put our minds to it we can host a shindig when we want to. I'm not sure how they got CRV (CA Rasta Vibes) to play all night long, but thank god they did, they rocked like only a big city band could. Rumor has it that the Odd Fellows might make this post-party thing a stable of the First Friday scene. So CHEERS! to all that showed up, slurped, poured, and opened up shop for one of the highlights of the season. Missed this months rendition? Get yourself together, you have one month to prepare for the next First Friday CHEERS! social. Until then keep your wacky ways about you.

Hop Aboard the Good Times Express – CHEERS!

Time is short and money tight, what better reason to celebrate! Leave the economic woes behind and enjoy where you are – smack dab in the middle of another season of sun, fun, and frolic. The bears have left their winter caves with the promise of a bright and bountiful spring and summer season – exactly what CHEERS! aims to deliver, if you’ll let them. I’ll be concise since there is lots to do before the good time express gets rolling at 6PM tonight, in and around the main drag of the town of St. Helena! Join the Wacky WineSense community as we hit the streets to enjoy wine from gaggles of your favorite local and generous vintners, stroll and shop until you drop, boggie and bop to local bands, learn to juggle and decide to believe in magic for just one night (magicians will be on hand to help you ‘get’ the trick). New in town? Make some friends. Townie local? Outstretch your social wings and introduce yourself to someone new. So sip, mingle, jingle, and jazz. Most of all, toast the town and the onset of another season and reason to CHEER! If your still swinging when CHEERS! rolls up their reindeer games at 9PM, hit the Odd Fellows POST-PARTYto extend your very good time.

Some ODD FELLOWs Keep the Good CHEERS! Flowing with a Post-Party!

For the short attention spanners of the community – CHEERS! after-party this Friday. Read on to learn more! If you live in the Up Valley or threaten to keep up on it’s antics you should be aware that this Friday (May 7) marks the onset of another CHEERS! season of slip, slurp’in, and slid’in good times. If none of this sounds familiar it’s time to step out from under the rock you’ve been sleeping under in your fruitless attempt to ward off the wet season. More on the actual CHEERS! shindig later this week. For now, let’s cut to the “after” party high-jinx. If you’re like me, CHEERS! is so much of a good thing it leaves you yearning for more. Why should a good time have to end at 9PM when most tweens are allowed to stay up well past nine, shouldn’t we, as residents and visitors to St. Helena be allowed to stay up too? Hell Yes!

For those of you that are with me on these sentiments, the good fella’s of the St. Helena chapter of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows are answering our call by keeping the good times rolling this Friday. The after-party kicks up its boots at 9PM, exactly when CHEERS! is rolling up its wine soaked carpet. Here is what ten of your hard or easy earned beans will buy ya:

1. Entrance to the hippest (my words not theirs, they're far too humble to boast) post-party in town (located in the exclusive and often times elusive Odd Fellows Lodge @ 1352 Main Street - entrance between I.Wolk and Martin galleries)
2. Live Music provided by CRV = boogieing and bopping until you drop
3. Fresh Mex plates from Villa Coronoa, beer, and more wine (all available for purchase)
4. Be a part of random acts of kindness - a portion of the proceeds from the event will go back to local communities in need
5. You’ll finally receive answers to your burning questions about what “gentleman’s” clubs like the Odd Fellows are really up to during their secretive meetings.

It’s a tell-all kind of night! So yell and tell everyone you know.

The year in wine, food, and frolic

Favorite wines….I once stated that Venge wines are Vi-vi-licious, and I stand by my words and then some. These folks make some damn fine wine. If my word isn’t good enough for you, if you must, then at least trust Robert Parker. He and I apparently see eye to eye on this one, especially when it comes to the Family Reserve Cab (a big winner of our blind wine tasting). Not sure which to try? Try and buy them all as I for one can’t begin to pick a favorite because they are all so damn slurp-worthy. Good news is coming to a town near year as 2010 breaks ground on the Venge’s Calistoga winery. Cavus, the 2004 and 2005 Cab. This wine was so hefty, heady and downright delicious they had to peel me off the walls of the tasting room of Acme Fine Wines (a great spot for Friday happy wine hour, pouring new vineyards each week). These folks enjoy a wineward way of life and it shows with each and every sip of their wine that you slurp. There is a god in Zinfandel heaven and his/her name is Chase Vineyards. Their Zins are as good as they get as is their home town hospitality. The fact that they throw a damn good party (July Fest, harvest and beyond) is just icing on top of an already death-defying cake. Best event of the season, this should come as no surprise – CHEERS! St. Helena. I have sung their praises so many times I am making myself sick, but I’ll do it again because good deeds should go noticed. Each and every first Friday of the season (May-Oct) these folks topped themselves time and time again by bringing together the community, entertaining the visitors, and giving just about everybody a reason to celebrate, what with all the wine (60+vineyards), street food, bang up bands and so much more. I can’t wait to get me some more of this action come spring time. Best restaurant desert – Jolie’s coconut cream pie. Dark chocolate, twirled with caramel, fresh vanilla cream, hand shaved coconut, and crust created with care make this desert a weekly staple. Best side dish – Press’s truffle macaroni and cheese, paired with the creamed spinach. This mac n cheese melts in your mouth all night long, cooked to perfection and coated in only the finest cheese. To die for, and well worth it to score this savory delight. Best cookie in the Valley, Annie the Baker’s peanut butter drop cookie. It made me cry on my first weekend in Napa, and every time I have the pleasure of sucking down one of these blissfully decadent delights I slobber all over myself. More “best ofs” to follow, I need to give my fingers a break. But get busying on the list so far if you missed out on any or all of the above. I dare anybody to top this stuff in 2010, go ahead, make my year!

Miner’in for Wine? Look No Further

I love when I cry tears of joy. Preferably when it is about good food, wine and let us never forget frolic. My latest sobfest came with a jaunt to Miner Family Vineyards. From the moment I stepped foot into their love cove (they were more than happy to welcome me in the door and into their wine family, after a not-so-friendly step into a winery that will remain nameless, hint: Tre—then, a welcome surprise) I knew I had discovered sweet greatness. Sweet in several senses – first hospitality, one of the most jovial crowds and tasting personell (especially head tastemaster Steve Gage) I’ve ever had the good fortune of stumbling into. You would be surprised that in the ever-vast landscape of tasting rooms, dubbed the “hospitality industry,” how all too often I am greeted with anything but. All the more sweet for those wineries that have never lost sight of the basics–pouring fine wine with a smile. After a long, soggy-wet, not totally fun day spent on the tasting trail I have renewed hope for the industry. The next sweet deal was the vibe at this jumpin joint. All I can surmise is that people, just like me, were so damn happy to be treated to fine slurpin wine in a warm and hospitable enviroment that all they could do was bop & hop. The last sweet sensation was the wine. Not a bad taste in the whole lot. I loved them all, fruit forward, and financially affordable. What a smacking good combo! Proving that there is good wine out there that you don’t have to spend a fistful in order to enjoy. The Viognier – splashing and smashing, its light and fruity sensation made me dance. The Chard, not my favorite style wine but this one was downright delectable, a great balance of exactly what I want, more fruity than buttery. The Sangiovese, oft messed up and not given its rightful place in the wine bunch, these folks mined a good one. Light and fruity yet substantial in taste. And the grand daddy of them all (price tag jumps up here) The Oracle. Each year they pick the best grapes of the litter to form this ever-changing Bordeaux blend. Hefty yet smooth, classic tendencies while showing off some distinctly different flare. So, check your ties, nametags and snobby pretense at the door and slide into this sweet little grape of a winery. Then, sit back and enjoy the vino and the company, in the comforts of what feels like the perfect non-dysfunctional familial home that we all strive for (ok me). Wacky WineSense Rating: wine and hospitality 5 Grapes!!!

Terra Valentine Forever Has My Heart

I was lucky enough to squeak into 2009's last CHEERS to Taste (the hospitality arm behind CHEERS St. Helena) function at Terra Valentine. These folks get the meaning behind "the season of giving." They gave all night long, starting with a sparkling moonlight view of the valley below and continuing by hosting a bounty of cheer-givers including (all served up gourmet edibles) Go Fish, Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen, Martini House, Meadowood and private chef Christopher Greenwald, of Bay Laurel Culinary, as well as the sweet and soulful sounds of former CHEERS! cohort, Doug Streblow, but it was the wine itself that was the most sparkly star of all. There is so much to comment on, but I must widdle it down to a few of my favorites. I almost lost track, there were so many vinos to choose from. It was borderline confusing and most definitely enthralling as they poured wine all over the place and out of a bounty of nooks and crannies through the maze of a winery, which only added to the fun. The 2008 Russian River Viognier was light and fruity yet oh so satisfying, a sweet opening to an otherwise heady night. There was the 2007 Amore, Sangiovese, a super Tuscan style wine that I loved almost as much as the town itself. This darling was as divine as it was deep, a welcome surprise. Fruity and slick on the finish with an ever so slight trace of spice. I could go on forever but I’m running low on time so I will close with my passion for the 2006 Wurtele Single-Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, while it is single vineyard, this wine will never be lonely, not with the deep cheery fruit tendencies and smooth yet bold finish. Who needs men when you can drink a wine like this? This winery is one Valentine worth celebrating, day after day, year after year. So get your butt up Spring Mountain for the sole pleasure of the damn fine wine and equally awesome view. Terra Valentine, won’t you please, please, please be my Valentine this year? Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.8 Grapes!

Blind Wine Tastings Rule!

For Thanksgiving this year I decided to “trade up” on my typical Turkey Day pastimes. It’s the wine country. There is more to life than football in these parts – namely wine! I would like to claim that I came up with the brilliant idea of holding a blind wine tasting but the credit belongs to an up-and-comer of CIA’s culinary program - give this kid A+ for overachiever! Each guest at the orphans/out of towners Thanksgiving Dinner that I attended was instructed to bring one bottle of 2006 Cabernet in addition to a soggy green bean crunch casserole type side dish. Buying wine as a new resident of the Napa Valley is a stressful affair because I’m forever out of my own league. After one too many hours spent trolling the aisle of BevMo and Trader Joes I gave up and opted for a brand name that I was familiar with – Rodney Strong. I thought I would impress and annoy people by bringing a wine from the Alexander Valley. Napa people don’t seem to drink or talk too much about “the other” valleys that make up the “wine country.” I hoped the ensuing controversy would cloud my ineptness. When I arrived at the party, while most clacked away in the kitchen the two ringleaders of our blind wine tasting were hard at work collecting the Cabs, plastering them with tin foil to hide the obvious details, logging wine name, region, and price and finally tagging each bottle with an identifying number. We had eight wines in total with eight people tasting (2 wusses remained nameless when it came time to tally the votes). When all the evidence was hidden the wines were placed on the dinner table, ready to be tasted before we dove into our bird. Up until this point I was dining with an admittedly cordial and friendly crowd. Twenty minutes into our taste test tensions began to rise. While I expected to learn something about wine I did not expect to learn unsightly things about human nature, which is exactly what I soon got. The more that we tasted the more vocal people became. Booze does that to people I guess. We were each given simple wine ballots with a numbered list to write notes next to each wine bottle contestant and to ultimately rank our top 3 favorite wines in order of preference. Some were more reserved with their comments “good nose, nice balance, yummy…” others not so much “thin, no good, 2 Buck Chuck, light weight pansy wine, yuck!, sucks!” Ours was not a diplomatic crowd. As the heckling began things got even more interesting. The dainty soon talked trash and the boisterous got demur when some surprising trends started to unfold. As a mildly objective by-stander I made it my business to observe human behavior. I took notice of the following facts. People were wildly polarized in their passion about their favorite and least favorite wines. There was also unity amongst two wines that almost everybody agreed on, as stellar and tasty (my translation not their words). Then, as far as all the other wines in between, people had vastly differing opinions about what they liked and disliked. Not to speak in clichés but one person’s passion was another’s poison. That is where the heckling high-jinx started to unravel further. One of the wines that I was waving my fork at with glee was being poo-pooed by several of my neighbors and a wine or two that others thought were “rank” and disgusting” (their words, not mine) someone else thought was “divine.” People bordered on belligerence when someone suggested ripping off the foil that hid the bottles true identity prior to everybody finishing their taste testing. I can’t be a hundred percent certain, but I am about 99.9% sure that some flicked forks, others flung food and certain people had to pin down other people when they threatened to taint the results too soon. I also noticed that some of the less boisterous of our bunch seemed to get swayed over time by the opinions of others, some sort of twisted drunken peer pressure that caused people to back down from their wine choices when friends balked, while others hopped on a wine’s bandwagon when folks waxed on about their preferences. OK, I guess I have dragged out the suspense for too long by this point so wait no more. For obvious reasons I will not get into specifics about the wines that were not in the top 3, because, well I value my life. What I will tell you, is that you would be surprised to learn what wines were dubbed “rank” among many other randy references and how expensive those wines were (upwards of $99). I will note that price points ranged from $3.99-$125.00.

Here are the vinos that ran off with top honors of the night:
#1 – Rodney Strong’s Alexander Valley 2006 Cab $25.00 (yes Virginia there is a Wine Clause)
#2 – 3 – there was a tie for second and third favorite:
Venge Vineyards 2006 Family Reserve $125.00 & Mica’s 2006 Cab $60.00

Other brands that were in the running included Bennett Lane, Rare Earth, Reverie, Rockbrock and Sbragia. And you cynics in the crowd, in case you’re wondering, I had nothing to do with the voting I’m just reporting on it.

For me, the most remarkable result of all, the one that should be your key take away from this ranting and rambling story, is this. Wine is very much a personal game and even more of a personal preference. When we are not biased by the media, our neighbors and even our birth right, something remarkable happens. People simply drink and enjoy wine the way it was meant to be – one sip at a time, for the sheer pleasure and joy of it. In all the hubbub here in the Valley it seems that we all too quickly forget that wine was meant to be one of the simple pleasures in an otherwise complicated world. Just like people, no two wines are created equally nor do they hold the same meaning for anyone, other than yourself. So stop reading all the wine mags, shut the lip of that needling neighbor of yours, knock your mate out of your ear and listen to the only voice of reason that matters – yourself. You’re the one drinking it so, so slurp whatever you damn well please and enjoy it!

And in closing (finally!) I will admit it here first. Apparently, I am a cheap date. One of my top three wines was rock bottom on the price and popularity scale. I blushed for only a moment when I learned of the results, and then I reminded myself of something important. I moved to the wine country to get rid of all the “woulds and shoulds” of my world in favor of living my own version of the American Dream, one which includes drinking the wines of my own choosing.

Dandy and Dancing at Dutch Henry

Whoever said that dancing was dead clearly missed the rocking good time that Calistoga’s Blues and Jazz Festival offered, especially the “wine in the vineyard” segment. For the good or bad of that event I started at Dutch Henry (one of the six vineyards participating), and never made it elsewhere because I had such a ducky-good time. I’m always talking about the wine so I want to start by first noting the ambiance at this jumping joint of a winery. Bocce ball courts, pristine new wine caves, charming barnyard tasting and backyard boogying, what could be better? They have left the pretense back where it belongs (LA, anyone?). Everybody feels at ease at this place, whether you want to relax and picnic, tour the brand spanking new caves (I got lost they were so fascinating), or sip fantabulous wines in a welcoming and comfortable barn-style tasting room that smells all wine and no barnyard poop. It’s charming all the way around, as is the wine. Down right slurp-worthy. They were all delectable. Here are two of my personal favorites. The Argos – a Cab, Cab Franc, Merlot blend that had me at BING! cherry. Deep and substantive. I would like to cuddle up and sip this baby fireside with a fat book and a warm slab of beef. The 2003 Cabernet made me howl, literally. I’m not sure why, but its sturdy complexity might have had something to do with it, or maybe it was the day of tasting and boogying to blues that did it. No the wine was just that tasty. So get your ducks in a row and make a quick dash to Dutch Henry. You’ll be glad you did. Wacky WineSense Rating for wine and frolic: 4.75 Grapes

The end of a very good year - bon voyage CHEERS! St. Helena

The fat lady has sang her last tune. The CHEERS! season has left the building. What do we have to show for our months of support? We will always have the memories. Blocked streets, streets with meat and treats. Bopping bands, lovers holding hands. More wine in a two block radius than one man or woman slurp in a year. But most of all we will be able to look back on a time where the oft quiet and sometimes stuffy streets of St. Helena opened up her arms to embrace the community that supports her. I regretfully write the last of my event wrap-ups for the 2009 season. With a pilot season like this, we can be sure that the CHEERS! show will be renewed for next year (or lets sure as hello hope so). Woodhouse Chocolates. We all know how good they are. Christ, people come to St. Helena just to score some of that magical gooey sweetness, not the mention the bonafide chocolate themed art sculptures that rival the Sax 5th Avenue windows during holiday season in NYC. But just because we know, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t remind everyone how truly delicious they are. As a confirmed choco-holic I can confidently say that the rock-salt milk and dark chocolate caramels that they have served up for free, yes free, each and every CHEERS! social are almost orgasmic. Not almost, they are. Slick, smooth, crunchy, chocolate with a sultry kick. Sweetness that just keeps on giving long after the taffy has been sucked down your food tube. I guess it is safe for me to come clean. Each month I would eat my ration – one milk, one dark. Then I would wait an hour or so, and despite being at the other end of the strip, I would haul it back to Woodhouse to slip another helping of those chocolate pillows down my throat. Two more of the dark chocolates. Then I would get some of my party people to give me their ration. My waistline might never forgive me, but my belly will forever thank me. The boy scouts of our fair city served up birds, lots of bbq birds. Protein that I was in dire need of, to soak up all the wine I was feverishly tasting. It was the last night of CHEERS! 2009, somebody had to do it. Yay Scouts! Service with a suited up smile. On to the wine! I never see or get enough Meritage. But I found a spanking good one from the folks at Ehlers. A light yet bold bowl of fruit comes to mind. Also, a little tweet of tang. Their Meritage made me merry! The Eagle Eye wine, dubbed Voluptuous, that's its name, and it was a voluptuous red blend both dry and sweet-tart, plus the bottles themselves were a work of art, yest art on a bottle. A husband and wife team, he masterminds the wine, and her the art that paints each and every bottle. Tom Scott Vineyard’s Barn Burner Cab. This baby went so well with my dark-choco bites (Woodhouse), at $125 not an economic stimulus wine, but worth every penny. The fact they were giving away this stuff for free was downright dandy. Smooth with a kick. It was as pretty in color as it was in taste. A workhorse of a wine! Five Vintners Zin. A roll off the tongue fruity tootie pie delight! I don’t even fully understand what that means, other than damn good wine. Orin Sift Cellars never cease to surpise my each and every social. Their wine is like young love, every day you discover something new to adore. One month I love Prisoners, then another I salivate for the Papillon, which was my love this CHEERS! I fell under the spell of this blueberry-dipped chocolate of a wine. I was so under its magic, I think I might have started kissing radom people to the left and right of me at the tasting counter. Or maybe I was just tongue kissing the glass and the wine that it was holding. Who cares, it was love at first slurp. I want to cuddle up with this vino on crisp fall and winter nights. Divine to the last drop. And last but not least Turley’s Howell Mt. Zin, a wine that I am no stranger to, but it never ceases to amaze me in its brilliance. Spicy, slick and smooth, just like I enjoy my m_n, well you don’t need to know that. So in the end, as sad as I am to see my CHEERS! social scene draw to a close, it was time. Just like my former home of New York, it is always good to leave people loving you as opposed to remembering you in a less appealing light, because you didn’t say goodbye soon enough (Sorry Seinfeld, as much as adored you I wished you said “when” just one episode sooner). So I raise a glass to good times past. Until next year, 3 cheers for CHEERS! Wacky WineSense rating: 5 grapes x 5 grapes x 5 grapes, forget it - good times all season long!