Parallel - A White Wine Worth Waxing-On About!

Oh how I don't typically find myself falling for white wines (especially Chards) once the summer psuedo-swelter stops sizzling, unless I happen to uncork a very good cause. In this cause Parallel Wine's fantabulous 2008 Chardonnay. I'll be brief since I am knee-deep (finally) tending grapes this harvest. In a word-divine. In a longer roll of my taste-filled tongue word: delightful-toasty-pinepple-y sensation. A sweet sip' of a deal. I can't be certain, but I believe I may have detected a bit of what can only be referenced as "toasted-marshmallow bliss" in there somewhere. So when you are ready for something white to wet your whistle this fetching fall season, look no further than this sweet little diddy of a wine. You'll be glad you did. That's all for now folks, I'm hitting the grape trail. Harvest "field" reporting to follow, as the plucky suckers start hitting the bins. Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.5 Grapes!

A Hunter that Bounds to be Better - Bounty Hunter

NOTHING COULD BE BETTER THAN A PIT STOP AT THIS SPOT. BOUNTY HUNTER IS BOUND FOR GREATNESS WHETHER YOU'RE PARKING FOR DINNER OR JUST SIPPING VINO AFTER A TOUGH DAY ON THE TASTING TRAIL. THIS IS ONE HECK OF A WINE BAR AND RESTAURANT WITH OVER 400 BOTTLES OF WINE, 40 AVAILABLE BY THE GLASS. THE BOUNTY OF WINE ASIDE, THE BISTRO FARE AND ARTISAN BEERS WILL KEEP YOU GOING LONG AFTER YOUR BODY POOPS OUT. DESPERATE FOR FUEL? HERE'S A BIRD THAT DEFIES THE NORMS – THE BEER CAN CHICKEN. A FULL CLUCKER PLOPS TO YOUR TABLE ON A NEST OF TECATE BEER, PRIMED FOR A CHOW DOWN. OH HOW SWEET THE WORLD OF WINE AND FOOD CAN BE IN THIS NAPA WINE COUNTRY WONDERLAND.

9/11 - We Will Never Forget

This is the one time of year, where Wacky WineSense head scribe, hailing from NYC, goes serious, to commemorate 9/11. With the passing of each year as our distance to the events grow deeper, it becomes even more important than ever to reflect.....

We Will Never Forget
By: Christina Julian

I don't just remember that tragic day on September 11th, nor when trite references to the horror blip by on the news. I remember it every single day of my life, as do countless others—those of us who were in New York, people all over our world. We saw, we experienced, we lived though something unimaginable, something that couldn't have possibly happened in our lifetime, yet it did.

The smell of its aftermath still lingers large in my memories as does everything about that day: The view of the tip of Manhattan on fire as my brother and I hauled over the Queensboro Bridge to escape. Images of missing persons wallpapered our city. Flyers tacked on subways, walls of restaurants, lampposts, and churches. Flyers of the hundreds and thousands of people that went missing. People that would never find their way home, people who were lost forever.

I remember waking up from the most horrific nightmare, one that repeated for days and years to come. I remember the street side vigils, the gatherings in the park, the countless memorial services. The bomb scares, the evacuations, being stuck on the subway thinking this was it, only to learn of the next threat—Anthrax.

People changed forever.

Children lost parents that they had yet to get the chance to know and love. They lost their innocence in an instant. They grew up overnight without ever knowing it.

Many people just like me were unable to get out of bed, to move out of our apartments, to go to work—to picture our lives moving forward. Yet with every one of those visions, I witnessed something softer. Taxis stopped honking and people started caring. We helped others as we struggled to help ourselves. In an instant a city that was known for its crusty nature cracked to the core, we the people broken. But through all of those experiences, the indelible memories that will never erase, we triumphed in the midst of our tragedies. We were granted the chance to witness and move beyond the unimaginable—buildings melted, people jumped, mushroom clouds danced, heroes fought to rescue. We survived, our world moved on, and we prevailed. My memories will never slip away, yet I am able to move forward.

Grace’s Table - Hands down! The Best Hand Formed Hamburger Around

Let me get this rant-party started. You can feed your food fix morning, noon, and night at the open air eatery, Grace's Table. If you enjoy the great outdoors, snag an outside café table or sneak a seat next to the floor to ceiling window. This family-owned gem has “global comfort food” written all over it. From the gooey-delicious cornbread with lavender butter and grandma’s style pasta and meatballs, to the, wait I am supposed to waxing on about the burger. Sorry, it's hard not to get sidetracked with all the glutonous food that abounds at this glam yet casual joint. The hand-formed burger (made with oh-so-much-care) is a heart breaker. I fell in love all over again with classy, classic, premium red meat. The bun and homemade mustard will wake your palate up as will the not-too pickled fresh-made pickles. And if all the quality cow and cooked to perfection patty aren't good enough for your insatiable tastes, pile on some primo toppings like the Portobello mushrooms and blue cheese. Yum, yum and yum. Top this tower off right with some gigantic O-rings as the icing on top of this divinely delicious meat-cake. The variety and fresh ease of air at this little sweetheart-of-a-spot won’t ever disappoint. Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.9 Grapes!

Napa’s Uptown Theater is Anything But Uppity!

When I ditched the boards of Broadway for a leisurely wineward way of life I never expected to pine for my roots. I’d be too busy swilling all that fine wine! But some habits are hard to kick. The longer I’ve been here the more I’ve found myself lingering on past memories of the lullabies of ole Broadway. Thankfully, somebody “up there” has been listening to my wining, and finally delivered a slice of live theater heaven, courtesy of one fanciful Uptown Theater, a shinier, spanking new venue to scratch our live music and entertainment itch. And like a good NYC Broadway counterpart, the acoustics at this jumping joint are worthy of the weight of our wines. Toss in some “arty” eye candy with the stupendous ceiling murals and photos and you’re in for a toast-worthy treat. Lucky for you the Uptown answers that call too as you’re allowed to bring your vino into the theater, enabling you to enjoy your music with our favorite local fruit and pastime on tap and in your hot little hand. So sit back in your comfy cozy seat and soak up the sounds and pleasures of a wine country way of life with a stop off at this smashing spot. Even my piss-poor sing-along ways won’t destroy a bound-to-be-beautiful night at the Uptown. Wacky WineSense Rating: 5 Grapes!

Swanson’s Sip Shoppe Feeds the Adult Candy Store Fix

At the risk of sounding redundant I will repeat myself for this very good cause. Wine should be fun. Life is serious, wine doesn’t need to be, or so speaks this low-brow wine junkie that will remain nameless (ok it’s me, Ms. Wacksense). Enter Swanson Vineyard’s Sip Shoppe, answering my call for a care-free, unique take on a tasting room. For those high-brow readers in the crowd, defer to Swanson’s formal tasting salon, this "shoppe" is gonna be way too footloose for your tastes. Low-brow readers, here is a wake up call for your peeps and palate. The Sip Shoppe is a wine spin off from the classic soda shop and jerks era (soda jerks, not dating ones), but lucky for us, the “candy” of choice is vino instead of soda pop floats and suckers. The décor is eye candy if I ever saw it with red pinstripe walls and intriguing wall adornments. A delightful outdoor sipping spot. The jovial food and snack pairings conjoined with your wine are downright dizzying (my personal favorite – the Dizzy Lizzy snowball whose garnish is some damn fine Pinot Grigio drizzle) if not bizarre in some instances, but for us here at Wacky WineSense, we thrive at the school of slightly off center, so we felt right at home here. Each wine taste (different tracks available depending on your taste buds) is paired with a tasty morsel of some sort (caviar, snow cones, candy, and more). Another favorite concoction – The 06 Petite Syrah with a slab of Clark’s Bark (a smash up of dark chocolate and toffee, and who knows what else). These folks realize that a day on the tasting trail can be hard work in these parts so don’t forget to ask for a “Rhodie” before you hit the road, and no we are not encouraging drinking and driving, we are talking about a New Orleans style iced coffee delight that’s made up of cold pressed coffee, 2% organic cow juice, and god help us, a dollop of brown sugar. But let us not forget about the real business at hand, the stuff behind the pinstripes, what Swanson has become infamous for – the wines. The Sauvignon Blanc, layered, fruity, crisp – a sheer delight. The Petite Syrah, rich, daunting, and for lack of a better word, dreamy in all of its intensity. The Alexis Cabernet and its drop dead deep fruit intentions will leave you and your loved ones screaming for more. So if it is fine wine you crave, make it point to slip slide into the Sip Shoppe or drop in “announced” to the Salon for a more formal tasting. Wacky WineSense Rating: 4.8 Grapes!

Crying for cookies is a sweet deal with Annie the Baker

St. Helena’s weekly Farmer’s Market (Fridays 7:30-12) bears many fruits, but you know that all ready. I'm here to talk about a treat of a less plucky variety, but a much sweeter deal, brought to you by one Annie the Baker, the mind and spatula behind the cookies that taste more like the dough than the finished deal, which is what makes them a steal. Not to be confused with the Steelers football team (easy to do since Annie's booth at the market pays homage to the team in color scheme, the life-sized mascot and flaming yellow VW Beetle (her bakery mobile!), reminding us of her pigskined roots). Annie entertains you at the moment you step into her delicious domain. But all arrows point elsewhere once she slips one of her magical cookies into your eagerly awaiting paw. With one bite of the peanut butter with milk chocolate chip cookie I shed my first tear, and by the time I finished up my taste test I was weeping like a colicky baby. All of her cookies strike a unique balance between sumptuous chewy cookie dough and dense flavorful baked cookie punch. Her newest weep-worthy incarnations are the tuxedo (dark and white chocolate with macadamea nuts) and the newest of all, and another favorite is the Cocoa Loco which is perfect if you are gonzo for the gooey goodness (cocoa powder, milk and dark chocolate and other mysterious but addictive delights). Damn this cookie, adding another notch to my already overstuffed to-do list, as I am now all but forced to make weekly pitstops at the market and Locals' Night at the Oxbow Public Market, in order to snatch up her cookies. I guess it's a good enough cause as any. Better actually as the payoff of these bites is as consistent as they come. Check out her Facebook page (ANNIETHEBAKER) so you won't be left in the sugar dust. Wacky WineSense Rating: 5 Grapes! (must eat)