Sure you can find a tremendous range of wines at the Chronicle and Family Winemakers tastings, but...they're held in one of the finger piers at Ft. Mason filled with too many Millennials blocking the aisles and the tables. With no food to speak of.
And why pay over $50 discounted ($62 undiscounted) for another Ft. Mason mega tasting, Pinot Days, when you can sample a broad array of reds and whites with some pinks in a much more pleasant environment?
How much better to have a smaller gathering with a wonderful range of nibbles in a great outdoor setting along with some jazz playing in the background. I'm referring to the Mill Valley Wine & Gourmet Food Tasting which has been held for 29 years behind the Depot café surrounded by redwoods.
It's a fundraiser for the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce so the local restaurants really put out a spread. The Mill Valley Market, which carries some clout among wineries because of their large order volume, ensures that top notch wines pour and food vendors offer their nibbles. And what winery or food vendor wouldn't want to show off their wares among this demographic.
We've negotiated a $35 ticket price discount for members and friends--normally $42 in advance, $50 at the door.
Oh yes the wines: How about the proverbial standouts like Silver Oak, Lewis Cellars, Pride Mountain, Nickel & Nickel, and Lewelling Vineyards whose new Cabs received 97 points from Robert Parker. New cult wineries Blackbird Vineyards and Tor Kenward, also Parker favorites, were poured as were classics like Acacia, Heitz, Matanzas Creek, Frank Family, and Mayacamas. Our best of Pinot Noir Taste Off winner, Sonoma Coast. featured new releases along with other outstanding Pinots from other Russian River producers. The best of the Northwest--Owen Roe, Elk Cove, Domaine Serene, and Sineann, will also be represented. Plenty of imports too. The list goes on; more than 70 artisan wineries were in attendance.
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Special Temporary Exhibit at the Old Mint
Followed by Winetasting Reception
if it ever gets here. 
Well, it will be here on Sunday.Discounted Tix to Spanish Wine Tasting
The Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society (TAPAS) is hosting
the most extensive annual tasting of domestically produced Spanish and
Portuguese varietal wines in North America, for the third year, in San
Francisco. Grapes native to the Iberian Peninsula produce some of the
hottest-selling wines on the market right now, but not many people know that
there are excellent and unique domestic versions being grown, too. you'll
have a unique opportunity to sample wines from thirty-nine participating
wineries and learn about varieties like Tempranillo, Albariño, Garnacha,
Graciano, Mourvedre, Touriga, Verdelho, Bastardo and more. Many TAPAS
members are limited-production, family-owned wineries and will be pouring small
lot wines that are not widely available.
These delightful domestic wines originate in Arizona, California, and
Oregon. Chef Marco Rauch will tantalize your palate with "The
World's Most Delicious Paella" to accompany the wines. Local
restaurants and food purveyors from around the Bay Area will be on hand with
samples designed to pair with the Iberian varieties.
Tickets for the consumer tasting are normally $35 in advance, available online at: tapas2010.eventbrite.com , or $50 at the door. BAWS members receive a $10 discount. Type in ~BAWS~ in the Discount Code space.
For directions to the Fort Mason Center, visit www.fortmason.org
. This special event can be reached by Muni bus lines 28 or 22.
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Pinots on Parade: the Best of the Best
Saturday, April 10th
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Cameron Pop Up Gallery
Metreon
4th St. near Howard
San Francisco
Each year Affairs of the Vine, founded by the inestimable Barbara Drady, conducts the Pinot Noir Shootout and Summit. She starts with 270 wines from throughout the state as well as the Northwest. For 2010, a group of 40 expert judges working in panels selected 44 wines that scored 90 or above. The top three were selected by gender. These 44 wines were then reviewed by a group of wine enthusiasts participating in "People's Choice Shootout" last month.
For the past two years, we've tasted a dozen "vin du vin" of this competition. The dozen limited production wines for this year were among the highest scoring wines, most coming in first, second or third by the four different categories (M/F ~ expert/enthusiast). Here are seven of the 12 winners we sipped:
Sonoma Coast Vineyards 2007 Freestone Hills Pinot Noir [winner of the BAWS Taste-Off by a wide margin--92 pts.]
Sonoma Coast, $40.00
450 cases produced
Balletto Vineyards 2007 Winery Block Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley, $34.00
300 cases produced
Lucienne 2007 Doctor's Vineyard Pinot Noir
Santa Lucia Highlands, $38.00
700 cases produced
Shandel's Oppenlander Vineyard 2007 Estate Grown Pinot Noir
Mendocino County, $40.00
250 cases produced
Kendric Vineyards 2007 Pinot Noir
Marin County, $35.00
360 cases produced
Pacific Coast Vineyards 2007 Babcock Vineyards Pinot Noir
Santa Rita Hills, $62.50
88 cases produced
Russian Hill 2006 Leras Vineyard Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley, $45.00
223 cases produced
Leading the tasting was Ted Elliott who has been producing vino for 30 years in the Russian River area and whose TR Elliott Pinots have always scored above 90 in Barbara's events. He discussed the special features of this varietal and why it poses such a challenge to the winemaker. Learn more about Ted's wines here: http://www.elliottfamilycellars.com
We will hold our own informal Taste-Off, rating and ranking these beauties with the results going into our blog ( see last years results: http://blog.bayareawinesociety.org... scroll down to April).
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Randall Grahm philosophizes on his life in the wine biz
March 27th
Mechanics Institute
The founder of the Bonny Doon Vineyard has for years written with quirky humor about the wine industry, often with the underlying seriousness of someone who cares passionately and knows a great deal about his subject. Now his essays, poems, lectures, and more are gathered into a single collection -Been Doon So Long - that’s sure to please lovers of wine and literature.
Hilarious literary parodies, satires, song lyrics, and his own unique version of Dante’s Inferno, titled “Wine Hell” are included, along with snippets of history from the “Rhone Ranger wine movement” and Bonny Doon’s series of quirky labels. Randall should be in rare form: he's calling his book tour "the Bataan Death March".
Randell was forthright on his experience in the industry, discussing his conversion to the terroir school of viticulture and winemaking. He read excerpts from his book including an hilarious send up of Portnoy's Complaint
Here's an snippet of this man's great wit: http://www.beendoonsolong.com ...
Afteward we broke bread over at the Metropol Café.
Cost: Free $12 fee waived for members and their guests .
Randall Grahm founded Bonny Doon Vinyard in 1983. He was inducted into the Who’s Who of Cooking in America in 1989 and the Vintners Hall of Fame just this month. Named Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year by the James Beard Foundation in 1990 and 1993, and nominated again this year for his book, he frequently contributes to the magazine World of Fine Wine. He lives in Santa Cruz.
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A Day in the Wine County
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The day provided plenty of sunshine. Our luxury coach left downtown SF at 9:30 a.m., stopping at the parking lot across from Spengers in Berkeley.
We started our outing by getting a private look at the Franzia family's amazing 92,000 sq. ft. Napa "Palazzo" which bottles up to 55,000 cases of wines/day, translating to 216 million bottles a year–more than twice the output of all the Napa County wineries combined. Industry "bad boy" Fred Franzia and his family (Bronco) own the fourth largest winery in the US producing over 20,000,000 cases a year of various brands from 20,000 acres of grapes grown throughout the state.
We then travelled over to Artesa Vineyards & Winery in the Carneros which is gorgeous this time of year. We reached the Visitors Center via a sweeping staircase bordered by cascading waterfalls. The stairs ascend past beautiful fountains, reflecting pools and sculpture, leading to panoramic vistas of Napa Valley, Carneros with its fields of mustard, and the San Francisco Bay.
One step over the threshold and the setting transforms into a spectacular modernist interior, full of rich woods, expanses of glass and dozens of smooth columns. The building is often compared to an art museum. And, indeed, its walls and vast spaces are filled with works by our celebrated Artist in Residence.
From Carneros to Yountville to see some of the wonderful new architecture and stop in at Michael Chiarello's Napa Style in the V Marketplace and at the Napa Valley Museum. We drove by the proposed location of what promises to be the largest "Monthly multi meetup mingle" planned for later in the summer/fall.
The afternoon was devoted to a bus tour of downtown Napa capped off with admission to the Napa Riverwalk Mustard Festival to taste regional foods and current releases from 39 wineries, gourmet products and mustards from around the world located at Riverfront, historic Napa Mill and other river walk locations. The $35 ticket cost was included in our $65 fee. Extra drink and food tickets will be provided.
Highlights of this Signature Event included a live remote broadcast of Martha Stewart Living Radio, a Sunset Magazine pavilion, plus fine arts and crafts presented by juried artists and artisans, and live performances of jazz, world, and classical music.
We arrived back satiated 
by 6:00 p.m.
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Major California history exhibit + reception featuring historic wineries
Over the past two years, we've toured through virtually every major museum in the City except one... the California Historical Society. Enjoyed wandering through their galleries full of memorabilia going back to the founding of the State. The exhibit, Think California, explores a number of themes:
~Coming to California focuses on the migration following the Gold Rush and other periods when people from around the world sought become wealthy, to find social opportunity, or to flee their problems
~Scenic Splendors features outstanding paintings and other items of natural sites from the CHS collection
~Bounty of the Golden State highlights the Golden State’s abundant agricultural industries through such items as advertising printsand fruit-crate and wine labels
~Earthquakes, Floods and Volcanoes includes artwork and stories on Mother Nature’s other side, including the Mt. Lassen volcano eruption and Hayward's Great Earthquake of 1868
~Freeways, Traffic, and Early Transportation explores California’s contributions to pre-automotive means of transportation, including rail, electric rail, Pony Express, and others
~Seeing the Sites includes memorabilia on the state's iconic tourist spots as well as unexpected places and events
~Drama, Harmony, and Hollywood showcases early silent-film photographs, drawings of noted entertainers, and sheet music
We chatted with winemakers representing some of the oldest, historic, family-owned California wineries, including Foppiano, Charles Krug, Gundlach Bundschu, Wente Brothers, Guglielmo, & Pedroncelli. And tasted their latest releases while sampling appetizers.
Participating winemakers included:
Louis Foppiano Jr., a third generation California winemaker and Vice President of Foppiano Vineyards, will be pouring wine and may spin a yarn or two about his colorful childhood growing up on the vineyard in Sonoma County.
Julie Pedroncelli St. John, from the Pedroncelli California winemaking family, brings both wine and tales from her family farm vineyard in Dry Creek Valley that has zinfandel vines over 100 years old.
Gary Guglielmo’s family has been producing wines in the Santa Clara Valley since 1925 during the Prohibition era. Although his grandfather produced wine for churches, he also had a base of European customers. A trap door that led to a hidden cellar below the office still exists today, as does the cellar, barrels and all.
Peter Mondavi, Jr., a third generation member of the Mondavi family, now leads the vision for the historic Charles Krug Napa Valley brand. Peter Jr., the second son of Peter and Blanche Mondavi, was born and raised on the historic winery property.
An Amazing graze
2301 Monarch Street,
Alameda, CA 94501
The trade association for Petite Sirah producers, PS I Love You presented its annual event Dark & Delicious which provides an tasty food and wine experience. No other wine marketing organization offers such a range of gourmet treats (consider that the madhouse that is ZAP charged the same as D&D and served only bread and cheese). No drink tickets or food tickets metering out how much you can consume. "Pets" people don't abuse the availability of unrestricted tastes.
This year the event was held at Shauna and Kent Rosenblum’s new winery Rockwall Wine Co. housed in a converted 40,000 square-foot airplane hangar that was once part of the Alameda Naval Air Station and due north of a defensive rock wall which made up the perimeter of the base.
With 41 top Petite Sirah wineries and 26 leading Napa and Bay Area restaurants and/or food caterers, there’s nowhere else that you can enjoy such an evening for the regular price of $60 per person. But thanks to the generosity of Jo Diaz, the Executive Director, we were able to obtain for BAWS members and their guests a special discounted price of $39
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We invited a select group of Santa Cruz Mountain vintners, in town for a trade tasting in the afternoon, to showcase some of their current releases before returning home.
We swirled, sniffed and sipped then rated and ranked 18 different wines from various parts of the AVA. This follows our "Taste Off" format combined with our walk-around tastings. The results are now posted on our blog. We will also raffled off some special prizes.
We sampled limited production wines from:
Mount Eden (see this laudatory article from the Wall Street Journal)
Silver Mountain
Cooper Garrod
La Honda whose Cab won a double Gold at the SF Chronicle competition)
Poetic Cellars
Heart o' the Mountain (whose estate vineyard was once owned by Alfred Hitchcock). Their Pinot Noir came in 2nd out of 267 Pinot Noirs from around the world at the 6th annual Pinot Noir Shootout hosted by Affairs of the Vine. It was also awarded 95 points by the expert tasting panel.)
Vine Hill
A large variety of nibbles were also served to pair with the wines.
The Santa Cruz Mountains has been recognized as a premium wine producing region since the late 1800's when local winegrowers first began to win acclaim for their wines in national and international competitions. Few of these original wineries survived prohibition, but many new wineries have developed since the 1940's.
In 1981 the Santa Cruz Mountains Viticultural Appellation became federally recognized, one of the first American Viticultural Areas to be defined by geophysical and climatic factors. The appellation encompasses the Santa Cruz Mountain range, from Half Moon Bay in the north, to Mount Madonna in the south. The east and west boundaries are defined by elevation, extending down to 800 feet in the east and 400 feet in the west.
The number of wineries and the acreage planted in the Santa Cruz Mountains has increased dramatically in recent years as the area has become recognized as a unique grape-growing region. The individual microclimates, marine influence, mountain terrain, distinctive soils, and low crop levels, all contribute to the production of intensely concentrated fruit.
There are now over 70 small, family-owned wineries in the region. The small size of these operations allows the winemakers the opportunity to handcraft their wines and to maximize the potential of the grapes. The same spirit of innovation, independence, and determination that distinguished the great winemakers of the 19th century lives on today.
A Pop Up Tasteria
Splendor in the Glass and on the Wall
Metreon
[former Sony showroom]
4th and Howard Streets
San Francisco
Saturday, December 12, 2009
4:00 - 6:30 p.m.
