Waaaaaay back in May, Myles and I hired a babysitter (who showed up late), raced up to Millbrae to catch BART up to the city, missed that train, got on CalTrain with a bunch of Giants fans and then took an UberCab to Hotel Palomar for an Elizabeth Spencer Winemaker Dinner. Phew. As usual, we were the youngest in the room (why do people our age not go to these things?). But, we weren’t there to feel old, or young for that matter, we were there to drink wine.
All wines poured that evening were from magnums, and while I’m not entirely sure that makes a significant difference on how the wines taste, it was certainly different! We’ve never so much as bought a single magnum, so my experience is quite limited. We started with their Mendocino Sauvignon Blanc, a personal favorite. While I’ve always tended to prefer New Zealand Sauv Blanc for its acidity and citrus flavors, this wine is one of my American favorites. It’s always crisp and delicious and this night was no exception.
We drank the 2006 ES Block Seven Chardonnay with our salad. One thing that I really love about Elizabeth Spencer is that they know how to do Chardonnay my way. They seem to purchase their chard grapes only from the Sonoma Coast, and while I know certain versions they have do not complete malolactic fermentation, some do AND see oak AND I still like them! We actually opened a 2007 ES Sonoma Coast last night and I loved it!
We drank the 2006 ES Block Seven Pinot Noir and 2005 Mount Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon with the main course (salmon or filet mignon). I had the fish, which was fantastic and the wine was an excellent compliment. We wrapped the evening up with a 2005 Syrah. It was an intimate event and Myles and I both had the chance to sit and chat extensively with both the winery owners (be that Elizabeth and Spencer). And even though we didn’t win a magnum in the drawing at the end of the night (boo!), and had to finish the evening off with a pretty random couple we met that night in the hotel bar to properly utilize our hired babysitter, it was a fantastic evening. Here I am with Elizabeth Pressler (you can see Spencer over her left shoulder in the background):
Sonoma trip! So, we’ve spent time in the town of Sonoma, but before this past July had not really ventured any further north in Sonoma County. After getting a little out of control at the school’s fundraising auction last March (oops!), we ended up with a weekend in Northern Santa Rosa at an adorable little farm on the edge of a vineyard. We took the kids (and another family) with us.
The weekend wasn’t entirely all about wine (there was the rooster who lived across the street...), but Myles and I, of course, ventured out for some tastings. The two highlights for me: visiting Ridge Lytton Springs after enjoying several wine bloggers tastings down at their Monte Bello location and discovering a little winery called Moshin Vineyards in the Russian River area. They had this wonderful rosé, that was really pale orange, not pink. It was so yummy we drank it within a couple weeks of coming home and I’ve regretted only buying one ever since!
Lastly, my wine club finally met for the first time since February near the end of August. Man, I had missed it! I hosted, and so I chose the theme: New Zealand. My earlier summer “research” of figuring out which cheap Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was best resulted in choosing a winner and then quickly discovering that I didn’t like the fuzzy feeling on my tongue when I woke up the next morning. This girl prefers quality; no more cheap wine. BUT, the fun part of our evening was that none of the wines I chose were Sauvignon Blanc. I wanted to see what else they could do there, and we were definitely not disappointed. There’s usually something I don’t like at every wine club meeting, but I honestly liked everything! Here’s what we sampled, but not in this order:
- 2010 Te Whare Ra Chardonnay Marlborough
- 2007 Craggy Range "Zebra Vineyard" Pinot Noir Central Otago Bendigo
- 2010 Mission Estate Winery Syrah Hawkes Bay
- 2010 Craggy Range "Te Kahu" Bordeaux Blend Gimblett Gravels
- 2011 Spy Valley Pinot Noir Rosé Marlborough
- 2007 Pyramid Valley Vineyards "Kerner Estate" Pinot Blanc Marlborough
- 2010 Seifried "Sweet Agnes" Botrytis Riesling Nelson
- and a Riesling that I can’t remember because it wasn’t on my original shopping list, but recommended at K&L and now they don’t carry it anymore. Oy!
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