tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70390153677016511072024-03-06T00:03:26.687-08:00Nancy on WineA blog about wine and life.Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.comBlogger258125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-78934238610425729772012-04-02T07:26:00.001-07:002012-04-02T07:32:23.510-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfu_SDrMyKdpTxS_xJxA6wDP42QBHE7gkFwsyARxu6ADPxOeS4gUiUqldKo3d2jBVbhVnPwtSrgGb5sAYPqWWjvMJAf9OCcoU52wj7JvbevWy26qUZlHpFKs7NnXcelaJjaOX66gWwaU/s1600/003.JPG"></a><br /><div></div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-33365817219775286592011-05-01T10:28:00.001-07:002011-05-03T14:27:04.391-07:00Dinner party featuring Champagne, Burgundy, Pinot Noir & Riesling brings happy faces<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3GKGqr63JZW7WfrOL9dw0BGcZsb3ccpBT0zCE_IEuyBHjOQlkYtLSn7mhjx0QGhyphenhyphency4OjwifScQ26rP_hx1YXf3PqpEzOTN67dopQgo6-okGtVYWX1KjYCLvfI2RcV5Z8rZl6fjVe8kM/s1600/010.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601800987588884466" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3GKGqr63JZW7WfrOL9dw0BGcZsb3ccpBT0zCE_IEuyBHjOQlkYtLSn7mhjx0QGhyphenhyphency4OjwifScQ26rP_hx1YXf3PqpEzOTN67dopQgo6-okGtVYWX1KjYCLvfI2RcV5Z8rZl6fjVe8kM/s320/010.JPG" /></a>Had the privilege of having some people over last evening that enjoy the intersection of fine wine, homemade food, and good-natured Saturday-night comraderie.</div><div> </div><div>The evening began at sunset, around a fire pit and a platter of salmon rillettes, a recipe I was given for combining smoked salmon with fresh salmon poached in wine, stirred together with creamy mayonnaise and garnished with finely chopped green onion. I was told this is served as an amuse bouche at the famous fish restaurant in New York City, Le Bernardin. I hope to find out some day in person!</div><div> </div><div>With the salmon rillettes, we drank two blanc de blancs Champagnes: non-vintage <strong>Agrapart et Fils 7 Cru Blanc de Blancs </strong>from Avize,<strong> </strong>a house favorite at our place, and non-vintage <strong>Moncuit Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru </strong>from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Both wines were spectacular and had that delicious crispness one finds in Champagne and in particular in blanc de blancs Champagnes..... the Agrapart was terrific to start, with fine structure and clean fruit that immediately points the palate to a place of finesse and beauty, while the Moncuit was richer, more dense and compact, with gorgeous crystalline fruit and balance caressing the palate. </div><div> </div><div>Next came the wines to drink along with the duck. The first opened as a gorgeous <strong>1999 Lucien Boillot et Fils Gevrey-Chambertin </strong>which in spite of its 12 years, was fresh and rich in red fruits, dense on the palate (much more so that I would excpect a red Burgundy), enticing and enchanting on the nose, perfect. This Burgundy was imported by Kermit Lynch, and tasting this makes one respect the importer that much more...<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCPlfErTyCAoFCNpzb2iiqwwc5mRcAly9ejX2DJYAcuMrCtGDx8Mp-dPu7K8LjQ-yIl94RqVhiuDLU58e5iyh07sRtAMbFXVbmHoCi7sb49KEWc2gxvmEycUNnK8IsmBp0O10ArBY3zw/s1600/006.JPG"><span></span><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 320px; height: 240px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601800923764505106" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOCPlfErTyCAoFCNpzb2iiqwwc5mRcAly9ejX2DJYAcuMrCtGDx8Mp-dPu7K8LjQ-yIl94RqVhiuDLU58e5iyh07sRtAMbFXVbmHoCi7sb49KEWc2gxvmEycUNnK8IsmBp0O10ArBY3zw/s320/006.JPG" /></a>Onwards to a much older Burgundy, the <strong>1985 Joseph Drouhin Griotte-Chambertin </strong>a wine from a region I have never heard of, but as I understand it, is adjacent to or near Gevry-Chambertin. This wine showed much more age and development, lightness in body, smoky characteristics, with fruit falling off at this point but still present in cranberry and cherry notes. </div><div> </div><div>After the 2 Burgundies, it was on to California Pinot Noir, one of our favorites being <strong>2007 Clos Pepe Pinot Noir. </strong>We have tasted this wine on various occasions and always liked this wine and this vintage and this is our last bottle, so we hope that there is more to purchase from the winery, which we'll be visiting next week! Rich body of red fruits and spice, celery salt, balanced, not jammy nor oaky, this is a California Pinot Noir that is easy to love.</div><div> </div><div>Finally, we finished with a <strong>2004 Von Buhl Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Auslese </strong>that I had open in the fridge for about 4 days.... but as many know about Riesling, these wines only get better after several days being open. This is an Auslese with a good amount of botrytis, definitely noticeable on the nose, with honey and dried apricot aromas, while on the palate, the wine is lighter than the nose would suggest, which may be attributable to the vintage (2004 a colder vintage than 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009). The wine is not Beerenauslese on the palate, and is actually light on its feet and a perfect ending to a perfect Saturday evening @ 8.5% alcohol.<br /></div><div></div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com62tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-83514780956917574012011-04-04T19:30:00.000-07:002011-04-04T20:11:09.568-07:00Canadian red wine with rack of lamb - not bad for a Monday<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwB-kO9NQyWWe8UOOg6YmrP7zmBFp4P-aCsSsIHeJcHvOgdO2EOxVuDEB7iDQecpr5zyhdPLlLqoiWD2Rvbm76C5I6VLwXxHaC4KjbeK7Gb75rxK8wAkAu9yjc_N9TdvUTNzio7OYHXc8/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591921643067185970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwB-kO9NQyWWe8UOOg6YmrP7zmBFp4P-aCsSsIHeJcHvOgdO2EOxVuDEB7iDQecpr5zyhdPLlLqoiWD2Rvbm76C5I6VLwXxHaC4KjbeK7Gb75rxK8wAkAu9yjc_N9TdvUTNzio7OYHXc8/s320/001.JPG" /></a>The last time I was in my hometown of Vancouver, I saw my cousin Marion, who gave me a bottle of red wine from one of her favored British Columbian producers. I saved it to open tonight since rack of lamb is in the oven. The wine is <strong>2008 Laughing Stock Vineyards, Portfolio</strong> from the Okanagan. More specifically, the winery is in Penticton, a gorgeous town in the Okanagan valley. I have fond memories of Penticton, though I was there prior to the fairly recent boom in the wine industry. The winery is owned by Edmonton-born David Enns who made his first wine here in 2001. Before being a winemaker, he was in the financial industry in Vancouver, which may account for why his whimsical labels look like ticker tapes and the winery and wine names make reference to the stock market. They have 2.2 hectares (5.4 acres) of vines on Naramata Road in Penticton, a very small production family owned winery. 2008 Portfolio is a Bordeaux-style blend made from 53% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc, 12% Malbec, and 2% Petit Verdot. It spends 19 months in barrel 50% new and 50 second use, 100% French oak. I have to say that I very much like the wine! It has a pretty nose of blackberries, blueberries, and creamy vanilla, not oak, and on the palate, the wine is juicy, round, pleasant, with nice weight, without being too jammy or oaky. The wine is going perfectly with my lamb right now, and I'm finding myself curious about making a journey to go visit the winery. Thank you Marion for a great bottle of wine and look forward to seeing you soon!Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-39999722575836254492011-04-02T13:42:00.000-07:002011-04-02T17:36:27.087-07:00Pouring Salwey reds and Hooked Riesling @ El Vino Wine Shop for Venice Beach's "First Friday"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAB3oHrkvmht70rUWbyWVWLspw72jgiaa5d5r-FFMgUaXUByzA1xMxc_v3X623SbxykvChfn1oTYScDxsvWGDj7Pfhq3lF5gg70tXHq8Hi1U1U5vyTXkNwHHW_fJYjFT2JaQlpZC3tVgo/s1600/023.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591089558995074258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAB3oHrkvmht70rUWbyWVWLspw72jgiaa5d5r-FFMgUaXUByzA1xMxc_v3X623SbxykvChfn1oTYScDxsvWGDj7Pfhq3lF5gg70tXHq8Hi1U1U5vyTXkNwHHW_fJYjFT2JaQlpZC3tVgo/s320/023.JPG" /></a><div>The first Friday of every month brings a festive block party to Abbott Kinney Boulevard in Venice Beach, California, a party featuring art galleries displaying their lastest holdings, bars and restaurants opening late, and a wine shop called El Vino that hosts a special wine tasting. This month, on April 1, I was invited by El Vino owner Bart Miali to pour three wines from the Rudi Wiest portfolio for First Friday, when he expected to have between 100 to 150 people come and taste wine! The small, modern, ecclectic shop was buzzing all evening with happy revelers looking to kick off the first warm weekend in spring. People from all over, but mostly locals from around Venice, Marina del Rey, Playa Vista, and Palms came by and bellied up to the bar to taste three wines for $10.</div> The first of the wines we served was the <strong>2008 Salwey Estate Pinot Noir </strong>from the Kaiserstuhl, Baden, which is a terrific little Pinot Noir with forest floor and bright cherry and spice notes. While definitely light bodied, like most German Pinot Noirs when compared with California Pinot Noirs to which most palates here are accustomed, the wine is rich in flavor, and I would say that more people last evening who tasted the wine got it than didn't. Those that liked it praised the wine for its complexity, acidity and overall delicious bright flavor; those who didn't like it felt the cherry flavors in it were unripe (I would describe it more as bright and maybe sour cherry than unripe). This wine is terrific with roast duck breast, duck confit, roast chicken, and cured meats. The second of the wines was also from Salwey - <strong>2008 Salwey "16 Degrees" Red Wine - </strong>a blend of Pinot Noir and St. Laurent, named 16 Degrees as the winemaker felt this wine should be served at 16 degrees Celsius - a clever point that most tasters accept but have a tougher time knowing what it really means - it actually translates to about 61 degrees Farenheit... basically it means just a tad below room temp, and as the temperature in the tasting room and shop as a whole went up due to there being so many people in it, we began putting bottles of this wine into the ice bucket, which nicely chilled it down. The 16 Degrees has a richer color in the glass than does the Pinot Noir, the St. Laurent grape giving the wine more juicy, ripe fruit character, a rounder palate, but also a bit less complexity - a bit more of a fun red wine blend, with a little more stuffing so it can go well with a burger or a steak, even. Finally, the third wine in the flight was the <strong>2008 Hooked! Riesling</strong> from the Nahe region, a Rudi Wiest negotiant wine, where Rudi sourced the grapes and found a winemaker to produce the wine, and he also used an artist he likes out of Berlin to create the label. The Hooked Riesling showed beautifully - it's medium-dry palate was a perfect crispness and fruitiness - like biting into fresh green grapes and apples - that appealed widely to the crowd last evening. It's the perfect Riesling to serve to a varied crowd on a Friday evening, and the price was even better - only $10.99. By the end of the evening, around 10:30 pm, we had indeed served about 100 or more tasters, gone through at least a case of each wine, and sold even more. A good time was had by all, and the wine merchant of Venice, El Vino, enjoyed a successful night.Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com45tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-27842161992110797222011-03-28T19:42:00.001-07:002011-03-28T20:34:16.340-07:00Showing the wines of Schloss Schonborn<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK1gXvT9FOnZT8e3Myhtu_QQrsrnN4YQncGx8G9NE6zPVlGiUXfK8E7nim5AeLbBSnQQlt9Kr_sNUPmFFhwpvuwA8e_txExzXsC-ohcXmOtxXvGcezd3GCG5CWJKTP2gCRAcbIQy6u9sQ/s1600/014.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589327527494692802" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK1gXvT9FOnZT8e3Myhtu_QQrsrnN4YQncGx8G9NE6zPVlGiUXfK8E7nim5AeLbBSnQQlt9Kr_sNUPmFFhwpvuwA8e_txExzXsC-ohcXmOtxXvGcezd3GCG5CWJKTP2gCRAcbIQy6u9sQ/s320/014.JPG" /></a> The first time I tasted the wines of the Schloss Schonborn estate, it was on January 18 of this year - I had literally just gotten off the plane that Tuesday morning in Frankfurt, was driven to the Franz Kunstler estate in the Rheingau, where we walked the vineyard for a bit then had some delicious homemade chili for lunch, then had my first taste of the very exciting 2010 vintage Rieslings, along with Gunter Kunstler's vivid descriptions of how the volcanic eruptions of the spring of 2010 may have caused weather disruptions that disturbed the normal flowering of the grapevines. Right after that, we were whisked to the Schloss Schonborn Estate, a new Rheingau estate in our portfolio. My mind was muddled, but I remember whipping out my camera when our car pulled up as the winter sun was shining on the river and the grass between the naked vines were a vibrant light green, glistening from a recent rain. We were high up on a hillside and the vines went all the way down to the street below, where cars wizzed by, threatening to decimate anyone who might lose their step on the precariously steep vineyard. Established in 1349, this estate was making wine before glass bottles were popularized, before the Americas were discovered, before a lot of things, in other words. Their first wines were stored and served from wood barrels, until 1725 when they bottled their own wines. The estate has been owned by a line of counts, known as the the Grafs of Schonborn. The current Graf owns the estate here in the Rheingau, as well as an estate in the Franken region known as Schloss Hallburg. I would have no recollection on how I found the wines that day back in January when I had just gone 24 hours without sleep, having finished an entire novel on my new Kindle on my flight over to Germany, but fortunately, I took notes on the wines I tasted that day and put stars next to the wines I particularly found delicious. Fast forward three months to last week, when I had the opportunity to work with Schloss Schonborn's winery rep Marc Ramershoven, who flew in to the west coast to work with us in California before he was headed up to Vancouver, B.C. to pour at the International Wine Festival that takes place there every spring (I have never been). Marc brought with him 8 samples of wine from both the Rheingau and Franken estates of Schonborn, and I had a chance not only to revisit these wines again, but to show them to a select group of my customers. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPu_olMU14YRF_8TuANyWfOSCk0TKMFhmq7Hj2_iyBt9J1NMyv2-r20Fk4vzcPPeqyCDVPttwvQVJBB80O4QrVlwrg4SRD3wz7D6eJl7-L5hTA36vTKjWjVv7PTCFqemfJUSuE8VCXmI/s1600/034.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5589326956394937698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgPu_olMU14YRF_8TuANyWfOSCk0TKMFhmq7Hj2_iyBt9J1NMyv2-r20Fk4vzcPPeqyCDVPttwvQVJBB80O4QrVlwrg4SRD3wz7D6eJl7-L5hTA36vTKjWjVv7PTCFqemfJUSuE8VCXmI/s320/034.JPG" /></a>I have to say that of the wines he showed, the most impressive for me were his three dry Rieslings from the Rheingau. He showed a <strong>2010 Schloss Schonborn Estate Riesling trocken, 2009 Schloss Schonborn Winkeler Hasensprung Riesling Spatlese trocken, </strong>and <strong>2009 Schloss Schonborn Erbacher Marcobrunn Erstes Gewachs Riesling trocken. </strong>All three of them were so uniquely different. The 2010 Estate trocken was so crisp and refreshing and light and fresh on the palate. Great nose, perfect for that plate of oysters or just sipping by itself to get your appetite going. What a great little dry Riesling, terrific fruit, while staying dry, but not austere or excessively lean. Love this wine, will sell lots of it, I am certain. The second one, the 2009 Hasensprung Riesling Spatlese trocken - superb - infinitely different from the 2010 Estate dry - this Spatlese trocken is noble, rich, lengthy on the palate, with stone fruits, delicate mineral, a serious dry Riesling with terrific fruit yet again, but richer without being overly alcoholic. Finally, the 2009 Erstes Gewachs from the famous Marcobrunn vineyard - this is a terrific and delicious wine and shows the beauty of the first growth Rheingau wines. Peaches, limestone, powerful yet crystalline in its purity, mouthfilling, yet not overpoweringly so. This is a wine that can hold up to meat dishes or just drink it by itself and enjoy. Interestingly enough, I looked back in my notebook to that day back in January at the estate and it looks like among the 24 wines we tasted there, I put stars next to 09 Hasensprung Spatlese trocken and 09 Marcobrunn EG. I guess I liked them then and there and I like them here and now. <strong></strong>The rest of the collection we showed were also terrific and top-notch - an interesting Pinot Gris "3 Star" from Franken which is a Pinot Gris harvested at Spatlese to Auslese level and fermented dry and put into a Burgundy bottle to likely communicate that this is a wine more like a white Burgundy in style than any Pinot Gris we tend to think of. This is not a crisp light white, more of a rich, full-bodied white, minus the oakiness one might find with Chardonnay. There were two Roses we showed, one from the Rheingau estate made exclusively of Pinot Noir, called <strong>2010 Schloss Schonborn "PINK", </strong>and one from the Franken estate made from a blend of red local varieties, mostly hybrids of Dornfelder... there was also a Silvaner from Franken and a <strong>2003 Schloss Schonborn Pfaffenberg Riesling Kabinett </strong>in a fruity style from a single vineyard, a monopole vineyard called Pfaffenberg, in the Rheingau. The 03 showed pretty well, not showing its 8 years at all, and maintaining a very decent acid profile, good balance overall. A wine that would be a terrific fruity Riesling by the glass. In all, I'm very happy we have this new to us estate Schloss Schonborn to work with. Everywhere we went during this work-with, wine folks seemed to have a very good impression of the estate, and loved the quality of the wines. I'm looking forward to having these wines in stock; they arrive to our warehouses in May.Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-24319434819633460822011-03-04T21:16:00.000-08:002011-03-04T21:38:37.673-08:00Mystery of the Rebholz Pinot Noir solved<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9W9a5HEF5Kwoy-IaLjLw3kQyIXirBxd5tq39JkTyKzcmkWZg5COD4t5IUABtkUp81LHI3KXZ00D3pnMyfAG6HrP6nGoetA3x-msSXf-aeaRdzdUXMLHdSQS1RhsvwkIpA8sk2umUUPQs/s1600/005.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5580460456866062434" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9W9a5HEF5Kwoy-IaLjLw3kQyIXirBxd5tq39JkTyKzcmkWZg5COD4t5IUABtkUp81LHI3KXZ00D3pnMyfAG6HrP6nGoetA3x-msSXf-aeaRdzdUXMLHdSQS1RhsvwkIpA8sk2umUUPQs/s320/005.JPG" /></a>When I was in Germany earlier this year with my coworkers and management of Rudi Wiest Selections, tasting the new releases from the estates we represent, we were all floored and surprised at how delicious the <strong>2008 Rebholz Pinot Noir (Spatburgunder) Tradition </strong>was. In fact, I think I even heard Rudi Wiest himself say that this was the best vintage of Rebholz Pinot Noir Tradition he had ever tasted. The Rebholz Pinot Noir Tradition is their entry level Pinot Noir - "Tradition" simply means their "basic" wine here - this is not single vineyard, it is essentially their "Estate" offering. But this very basic Pinot Noir is not so basic in its price point; it wholesales for over $30 a bottle and retails for about $45 and is on wine lists for about $70-$80, so because of this, it doesn't get as much play as less expensive Pinot Noirs in our portfolio.<br /><br />Well, the 2008 vintage of this Pinot Noir was so good, that I decided right then and there in Hansjorg Rebholz's tasting room that when I returned to the U.S., I would pull some samples of the 2007 we had in stock (2008 would be coming in several months) and show off the beautiful wine.<br /><br />Finally, two days ago, I opened a bottle and poured it for several of my restaurant and retail accounts. The reaction was interesting - not what I expected. The wine was rich in color and body, which normally appeals well to many a North American palate - but my audience felt the wine showed too much oak on the nose and on the palate. As though the wine was disjointed both in its aroma and in its flavor profile, with too much new oak and cedar showing through. It was surprising to everyone - people have come to expect German Pinot Noirs to be elegant and ethereal and light on their feet, never showing excessive oak like their New World counterparts.... but here they found it in the <strong>2007 Rebholz Pinot Noir (Spatburgunder) Tradition.</strong> I was also confused by this.<br /><br />Day 2, I continued to show the wine, after letting the bottle rest in my fridge overnight. Again, I got the same reaction with the wine. After a second day of lack of success in converting any of my accounts to this wine, I gave up. I left what was left of the wine on my counter.<br /><br />Day 3 - It's Friday night. My husband inquires about half bottle of red wine sitting on the counter. I answered "I don't think it will be any good. It's day 3. It's a Pinot Noir. It's probably no good anymore. Plus, I didn't get very good reactions to the wine when I showed it." I was not really enthusiastic about the wine, as you can tell about my comments.<br /><br />We tasted it anyway. And lo and behold, it was fantastic! Even before I tasted it, actually. I stuck my nose into the glass and the aroma already told the whole story. There wasn't that aggressive oak that everyone was complaining about when I opened it for my customers. Instead, there was a beautiful bouquet of red roses intermingling with black cherries and vanilla bean. Absolutely nothing that reminded me of oak. Nothing! On the palate, the wine is bold while being silky, with some grippy tannins, but very balanced acidity and fruit and structure. Completely perfect in its richness - a terrific Pinot Noir for those who don't like their Pinots too delicate, because this one is not.<br /><br />While I thought this wine on day 3 would be oxidized and unpleasant, it was perfect, absolutely perfect, and this is what I should have been showing my customers all along, this specimen of beauty and strength instead of that tight, angular, unbalanced wine that obviously did not get enough air and breathing room in the last 2 days.<br /><br />I am still at this time enjoying a sip of the beautiful <strong>2007 Rebholz Pinot Noir Tradition, </strong>wishing that this is how it showed when I was dragging it from place to place. If only I had known to open it two days earlier, sat it on the counter, letting it breath a bit around a loosely replaced cork.... if only I knew, it would be on a few more wine lists and in a few more wine shops.<br /><br />Alas I have another sample and I can do just that with it.Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-85613821877845987322011-03-02T11:02:00.000-08:002011-03-02T11:17:50.004-08:00A terrific day tasting the wines of Von Buhl Estate with Christoph Graf<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_iVPOuqehJGIU9haqFMfsy3-ivU0SmUhno6XuBirJGFUL8AB7nBBUcRAtLyglZfd7gnHFIZQOnZ4iZOwf3nbngUWQz9zjgZHg8OBAlqVhNcgkWIq8rg26K0djJEBkekKM2lQu0UkOCU/s1600/081.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579560514769879970" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_iVPOuqehJGIU9haqFMfsy3-ivU0SmUhno6XuBirJGFUL8AB7nBBUcRAtLyglZfd7gnHFIZQOnZ4iZOwf3nbngUWQz9zjgZHg8OBAlqVhNcgkWIq8rg26K0djJEBkekKM2lQu0UkOCU/s320/081.JPG" /></a> Christoph Graf of Von Buhl Estate in the Pfalz, Germany, was down this week in the Los Angeles area showing a terrific line-up of Von Buhl wines. We ended up driving almost 200 miles that day, tasting with wine directors, sommeliers, buyers and restaurant and retail store owners in such diverse establishments as Inn of the Seventh Ray (pictured above) in Topanga Canyon, Spago and Cut and Whole Foods in Beverly Hills, Pourtal Wine Bar in Santa Monica, the Wine House in West Los Angeles, and the Starling Diner and The Wine Country in Long Beach. Yes, we were all over the map, but it was worth it because so many people got to taste Christoph's lovely wines.<br /><br />We had 10 wines in our wine carrier. Christoph started the tasting with two sparkling wines, called Sekt in German - there was the <strong>2008 Riesling Sekt</strong>, made from 100% Riesling grapes harvested in the Pfalz region, and made in the Champagne method - methode traditionelle - that means bottle fermentation, riddling, disgourging the yeast, the whole bit! This is a very complex and delicious sparkling Riesling with tons of flavor for an easy to swallow price. Very impressive.<br /><br />Next came the <strong>2008 Spatburgunder Rose Sekt</strong> - a sparkling wine made again in the Champagne method, but this time with 100% Pinot Noir. This is a very pale colored rose - so pale that many in the American market would not recognize it as a rose. It was more of a pale Champagne color one might say. Some suggested that perhaps this could be called a Blanc de Noirs, but actually von Buhl has a Blanc de Noirs that is much paler than this. The explanation for the pale color is actually that Germans don't really like that really pink color in their Rose sparklings because it means that a lot of red wine was added to make that color - ie. it is kind of articially created instead of more naturally focused to taste. Anyway, the wine is of course delicious, deep in flavor, rich and serious.<br /><br />After that, we tasted the <strong>2010 Pinot Noir Rose - </strong>this is a still Rose that is definitely a pretty pink in color and juicy and very elegant - a beautiful little summer Rose - I sold tons of this one with Christoph! 100% Pinot Noir - and it shows its purity.<br /><br />Next up was something different - <strong>2010 Sauvignon Blanc. </strong>This wine stole the show. First because many people we visited had never tasted German Sauvignon Blanc, and didn't even know that Germany produced Sauvignon Blanc. But Christoph quickly informed us that actually there are 600 hectares of Sauvignon Blanc being grown in Germany, and the German market loves the wine, so it has been doing very well in the restaurant scene. The 2010 Von Buhl Sauvignon Blanc combines the best of the new world and old world styles by having a lively New Zealand nose, followed by a very European palate - more stone, minerality, and clean zesty fruit like one would find in Sancerre. A very pretty wine and modest price tag which makes this wine a shoo-in for restaurant by-the-glass programs.<br /><br />There were 6 more wines after these ones. I'll review that in the next post.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXLYvRuPK3Zo8eSbvtX9-nnYx9nchLnQhkIeu1oKOULDmqI3XVoaoRcbJPe-oI-6a6TpcJOS4GBh-7MyZETbQqBz-X-CM8WrTZeiKYN7L959zhj1YJ4951V0IqfER38Aj68aTwdRtu4c/s1600/079.JPG"></a><br /><br /><div></div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-56541346150443382872011-02-03T15:46:00.001-08:002011-02-03T15:58:19.776-08:00A successful 2010 preview tasting<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZS5bPIT2mUko71Lh-gMVdTxZPro3-_BuH3Z53Hr7UA51_XbD07wCO9AYinVfNPqxYNqLstTa4-bmu6Ud785-Yi-K30sgneWp70u0okSJavX_v-9Gbep1i8_8LOJhpLoUSzhyPLlP-4A0/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569614031896565410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZS5bPIT2mUko71Lh-gMVdTxZPro3-_BuH3Z53Hr7UA51_XbD07wCO9AYinVfNPqxYNqLstTa4-bmu6Ud785-Yi-K30sgneWp70u0okSJavX_v-9Gbep1i8_8LOJhpLoUSzhyPLlP-4A0/s320/001.JPG" /></a> Just returned from a very successful preview showing the of the barrel samples we hauled back from Germany last week. We brought 24 wines from 22 different estates, everything from dry Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Scheurebe, and Pinot Noir, to Rieslings from dry to Kabinett to Spatlese. Needless to say, the wines were stunning and our guests, restauranteurs and quality wine merchants, sommeliers and Master Sommeliers alike were all very impressed with the 2010 white wines and roses and the 2009 and 2008 Pinot Noirs.<br /><br />Rudi Wiest presided over the tasting, having just flown in that morning from New York City, where he had done this same preview tasting on Monday. He had been up since 3 am EST, or 12 midnight PST, and yet he was full of energy, as usual, discussing the wines he loves.<br /><br />A special thank you to our host Randi at our venue, Bottle Rock in Culver City. Beautiful glassware that did our wines justice, a terrific lunch that hit the spot, and everything about the tasting was well timed, which is just so very important.<br /><br />Not sure which wines people loved the most, but from what I heard, these were some wines that got oohs and ahhhs:<br /><br />2010 Dr. F. Weins-Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese<br /><br />2008 Rebholz Pinot Noir tradition<br /><br />2009 Furst Pinot Noir tradition<br /><br />2010 Von Buhl Pinot Noir Rose<br /><br />2010 Pfeffingen Scheurebe trocken (dry)<br /><br />2010 Pfeffingen Gewurztraminer trocken (dry)<br /><br />2010 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling KabinettNancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-69958031242044096562011-01-30T15:59:00.000-08:002011-01-30T16:56:23.889-08:002010 German wine vintage report - a review from 11 days in Germany<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBlb_DxS8xSkOgHg-KjKeMWkk6Ll5EIeZu_6A1nchEC-wq4dFmHWKABEFpE_l0CXDaePLncyy2IU-qIWJDRQ7UR9P7wg2VtEv_LjLASVnD8qQX-BR_uoP7ZS4c0qGhBY_BTvjY_-qk3Q/s1600/043.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568135907192242226" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBlb_DxS8xSkOgHg-KjKeMWkk6Ll5EIeZu_6A1nchEC-wq4dFmHWKABEFpE_l0CXDaePLncyy2IU-qIWJDRQ7UR9P7wg2VtEv_LjLASVnD8qQX-BR_uoP7ZS4c0qGhBY_BTvjY_-qk3Q/s320/043.JPG" /></a> Hello everyone, freshly back from Germany following an approximately 2-week long trip through the wine regions of Franken, Wurttemburg, Baden, Pfalz, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Mosel, and Ahr. Here are my impressions of the 2010 vintage.<br /><br />My reaction was that the wines were surprisingly good. There were murmurs prior to going on this trip that the 2010 vintage was a difficult one, compared to the perfect 2009 vintage, given how cold the weather was in 2010. My taste buds braced for an assault. Instead, they were treated to a happy surprise.<br /><br />So how come the wines were so shockingly good in a vintage some described as cold and difficult?<br /><br />The truth was that the vintage was different. Completely different from the one before it, 2009, and different from many other vintages too. Wilhelm Haag from the estate Fritz Haag in the Mosel, who is now retired in his 70s and has passed his estate onto his son Oliver Haag, but is still involved in the family business for which he was a winemaker for 50 years (from the age of 20 to 70), said he has never in his 50 years making wine seen a vintage like this one: high must weights (meaning very good ripeness levels) AND high acidity. Typically, one sees acidity and must weights working in opposite directions - if you have high acidity in your grapes, it means there is inadequate ripeness, and conversely, if you have a great deal of ripeness, the acidity in the grapes is low. But this year was unique. Both acidity and ripeness (measured as must weight, or density, and in Germany, in units of Oeschle; in the U.S., measured in units of Brix) were high in this vintage. So what resulted were wines of a great intensity of flavor.<br /><br />How did this come about? Well, we heard that good wine was not made at all estates in Germany, but it did seem to occur at all the estates we visited, in other words, top estates. Lesser estates did not always achieve this unique balance of high ripeness and acidity - if they picked too early, fearing the loss of crop to frosts and other naturally occurring problems, they ended up with grapes not quite ripe and full of tons of acidity. The estates in our portfolio tended to pick late. They tended to do a pre-harvest in early to mid-October, clipping off rotting grapes so they would not affect the healthy grapes, then doing a tedious, laborious harvest with two or three passes through the vineyard, picking only ripe, healthy grapes sometime in the end of October to the beginning of November. While they worried about their diminishing yields, they ultimately chose quality over quantity. This focus resulted in the pay-off - sensational wines with very good ripeness levels and very high levels of acidity as well.<br /><br />Speaking of the low yields and high acidity - how did this come about this vintage? It started well before harvest... to the beginning, when flowering took place. Very likely due to the effect of the volcanic eruption in Iceland, which shut down flights all over Europe in the spring of 2010, the climactic pattern had changed and affected the normal flowering of grape vines. What resulted was a very poor flowering, followed by both a much decreased number of berries produced and small size of berries. This stage of the development of the grapes resulted in yields at the estates were visited to be decreased by 30% to 50%. Very signficant.<br /><br />After flowering, the small number of small berries then enjoyed a cool summer in virtually all the regions. Development and ripening occured at a very slow pace. The fortunate factor in most regions was that in the fall, during the normal harvesting season, a high pressure weather front arrived and ripened the small clusters. As the berries were small, ripening seemed to take place rather quickly once some warm weather arrived. This saved the situation for the winemakers who waited long enough to let some of the acidity go down and some more physiologic ripening to take place.<br /><br />So then, in summary, 2010 was a different vintage, but an excellent one for our estates. Yields were miniscule - decreased by 30% to 50% from 2009 (and 2009 wasn't even a high yield vintage, per se). Labor costs increased both in the vineyard and in the cellar (so costs went up while final product went down). Winemakers needed skill and experience to deal with this vintage, so wines at top estates were exceptional, but not everywhere. But when the wines were good, they were top notch, explosive with flavor. But there is not much of it!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IMKIXQJzrL3rQRgAb_mNdPX0zHt7Ho4ursUhhyU3yPFbAIb2KeJXllQRhMuSp4vuSeMan-dYYYz8Vw-W9J7wrhYu5_Kc72m5m4BMan8Iy1CHF8CAxVVGTaCZ6zNQWz2WGso4sGVpnVc/s1600/018.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568135576365795890" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-IMKIXQJzrL3rQRgAb_mNdPX0zHt7Ho4ursUhhyU3yPFbAIb2KeJXllQRhMuSp4vuSeMan-dYYYz8Vw-W9J7wrhYu5_Kc72m5m4BMan8Iy1CHF8CAxVVGTaCZ6zNQWz2WGso4sGVpnVc/s320/018.JPG" /></a> Here are some scenes from our trip and some highlights. Above is the view from the Rudolf Furst Estate's new tasting room, a gorgeous modern structure with a breathtaking view of their vineyards and the town of Burgstadt below. Furst is in the Franken region and makes some of the prettiest Pinot Noirs I have tasted.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8i9exti-uFTfZTKim0Qg8Lj2rzv28nKfwInS_rICvb3KzlgZIriixCmsjzfZlk8A5gQ7dpyLtvnow5FUSm92Pde1hyGD-BtjXmIuYuc6nKVX7vO25ClhNjDAVSf9w0CAVMJ3FI-DNljA/s1600/135.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568135156554656610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8i9exti-uFTfZTKim0Qg8Lj2rzv28nKfwInS_rICvb3KzlgZIriixCmsjzfZlk8A5gQ7dpyLtvnow5FUSm92Pde1hyGD-BtjXmIuYuc6nKVX7vO25ClhNjDAVSf9w0CAVMJ3FI-DNljA/s320/135.JPG" /></a>This is a romantic candle-lit cellar in Von Buhl in Deidesheim, in the Pfalz. We arrived here for a tasting at about 7pm one evening, and started, ritualistically, tasting sparkling wine in their cellar. Though we were tired, we cannot turn down great sparkling wine in a candle-lit cellar, can we?<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOpuKpsGkzkIToop6acrBJyxvQH28QUbTz-M88hu2b9qEORnlVOfrLkbPCu1U-p6_Llw21gSVDEUN0qZa3ATDAxvdMRDe4JVnLB7TlFqIhE2qF0PkeeE0dpoKKbcy9sGPwGFntNsQ407c/s1600/176.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568134581010284258" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOpuKpsGkzkIToop6acrBJyxvQH28QUbTz-M88hu2b9qEORnlVOfrLkbPCu1U-p6_Llw21gSVDEUN0qZa3ATDAxvdMRDe4JVnLB7TlFqIhE2qF0PkeeE0dpoKKbcy9sGPwGFntNsQ407c/s320/176.JPG" /></a><br />Even though I have taken tons of pictures of the Monchhof Estate, I still cannot resist taking more. This time, the resident swans that are usually floating on the Mosel River were in front on the lawn having breakfast, so I snapped a pic of them doing so in front of the iconic winery.<br /><div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568133642246098306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKAD4QCModvcSEMfIgwqFsq2vpROzV-7Hb_ua9EvDUWU-Xff0ZHY5kaZ5E59eMfCbGixl32Du_iEh4G_poosV-y_dPYMzYIU_hQ0F-JTYCjzU_mh6pNDRntIMYamHnuC5X4E7-7ZW8Ms/s320/074.JPG" />We unfortunately had some sad news during the trip. We lost one of our winemakers to a tragic car accident just days after we tasted with him at his estate. Wolf Dietrich Salwey of Weingut Salwey in Oberrotweil in Baden was taken at age 69. Sad. We were happy to have spent some time with him and his terrific wines, which he made with his son Konrad Salwey.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWZDlQCLoLiJXVoMHmaOSGkKyKI9M22irPtNIoNChnyUvYYg5WRqLAcyYZZN57qBlViQvX-pTYHHqcDFyIkrhNkUznRUvuLBH3ozfqdNZ3zml_CQdXJnuoOxGe7TrkGZek32W0JsDaQs/s1600/228.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568133225434175698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNWZDlQCLoLiJXVoMHmaOSGkKyKI9M22irPtNIoNChnyUvYYg5WRqLAcyYZZN57qBlViQvX-pTYHHqcDFyIkrhNkUznRUvuLBH3ozfqdNZ3zml_CQdXJnuoOxGe7TrkGZek32W0JsDaQs/s320/228.JPG" /></a>Finally, here's a picture of Team California, enjoying a much needed beer from Eisgrub Brau in Mainz on the final evening of the tour. We made it! 27 estates in 11 days. 7 different hotels, about 23 hours of total flying time...... but it was all worthwhile because we got a first glimpse of a most interesting and delicious vintage. <div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-28344393273458521012011-01-12T20:41:00.000-08:002011-01-12T21:51:12.542-08:00Champagne, Caviar, and Old Red Wines, Oh My!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilb2089c-GOQIlds_hAd9pJ3B1WGXURk32sM1QeuznQ6enNy2tgCuH7uFzfBf-4jIP-STN_tlCKjOZHrVqn3m6GD2j6t9FMBH5IkBhoQ4MC0qHrPq5cvPjk0eVGv5yqGbgqDYDstreyac/s1600/015.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561527518432387138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilb2089c-GOQIlds_hAd9pJ3B1WGXURk32sM1QeuznQ6enNy2tgCuH7uFzfBf-4jIP-STN_tlCKjOZHrVqn3m6GD2j6t9FMBH5IkBhoQ4MC0qHrPq5cvPjk0eVGv5yqGbgqDYDstreyac/s320/015.JPG" /></a> Last month, during the holiday season, I had the good fortune to be a part of a our wine tasting group's annual Champagne and Caviar party, which is indulgence at its best. Every couple brings a bottle of Champagne and a red wine, and the host supplies the caviar (which we chip in for), and we all bring an appetizer or side dish to add to the festivities.<br /><br />I bought one of my favorite Champagnes <strong>2002 Camille Saves Grand Cru</strong> which is always good - I'm sure I have had it a couple of times before - and while there were many terrific Champagnes poured on this evening, I think I still held this one as my favorite. Rich yet crisp with tons of good acidity and minerality and flavor that goes on and on... wow, I miss it already.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDUte662hJv7OXSRNrCkM8svLzlkywoCahA-vXUFGixpdh0EnfLXfHg0VzebyZDRsfo5DPA8iPp7kYZPJe20sui61NPZsAy2vqHqOqFcziNAeQz38QOC9JRrDcG-YfxutC_4ggx4-Hno/s1600/005.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561527360894791394" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDUte662hJv7OXSRNrCkM8svLzlkywoCahA-vXUFGixpdh0EnfLXfHg0VzebyZDRsfo5DPA8iPp7kYZPJe20sui61NPZsAy2vqHqOqFcziNAeQz38QOC9JRrDcG-YfxutC_4ggx4-Hno/s320/005.JPG" /></a>We had those fine Champagnes with heaps of caviar served on buttery crisp toast points. I don't think I've ever had caviar on toast points (had it with blinis and crackers), and I found that I really enjoyed the light and crisp toast points. The caviar was fantastically salty and fatty like nice tuna belly, but in black eggs form. Very nice with the Champagnes!<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdpHYbTR9nMT15_2Y0SffjYsKe1yxKNTI4zuUunY5IPPla8MkA2GO5s9YNhr4358IvDsOfbGYatKrrVxc1P0bHwaxeEBgfDilXEOGaViE4jhZ9tkMnjWrTvMtPpcXc-j9tDn7GTUe5xI/s1600/008.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561527131887798034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDdpHYbTR9nMT15_2Y0SffjYsKe1yxKNTI4zuUunY5IPPla8MkA2GO5s9YNhr4358IvDsOfbGYatKrrVxc1P0bHwaxeEBgfDilXEOGaViE4jhZ9tkMnjWrTvMtPpcXc-j9tDn7GTUe5xI/s320/008.JPG" /></a> The table of appetizers and side dishes were fantastic and a feast for the eyes and the stomach.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mz66U1xI0SwagMfXiAFPubOINDqSQK3-AzQOWiKCLfnghnZw-rVqFy6NxlXCQJ2_wXQSE5wCzx2FfLirZPpFmHXK1ZsI5Pj9BLE67I3bja-gq3Bwxd2T6eyO8cfQDZHvN-SW2YzZQCo/s1600/013.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561526927377798354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mz66U1xI0SwagMfXiAFPubOINDqSQK3-AzQOWiKCLfnghnZw-rVqFy6NxlXCQJ2_wXQSE5wCzx2FfLirZPpFmHXK1ZsI5Pj9BLE67I3bja-gq3Bwxd2T6eyO8cfQDZHvN-SW2YzZQCo/s320/013.JPG" /></a> Then we moved on to some exciting red wines. This <strong>1982 Chateau Gruaud Larose,</strong> a Bordeaux from Saint-Julien, was Johan's red wine of the night, and had all the characteristics one desires from a mature Bordeaux - silky tannins, earthiness, some red fruits after all those years.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmRBkRHD7amqI97VzjuIWR0dWmHJpyDB_WioH5bw84WcHVd7ieqCnvlNVZ17m2f1arpzzPVLSk_mE0jHF5NIdD-uwIdAVmPSRD9TWY7oCr5VavTq_YcgiG95adzAkiq9nfY_xo8dr2W9w/s1600/014.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561526778496743250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmRBkRHD7amqI97VzjuIWR0dWmHJpyDB_WioH5bw84WcHVd7ieqCnvlNVZ17m2f1arpzzPVLSk_mE0jHF5NIdD-uwIdAVmPSRD9TWY7oCr5VavTq_YcgiG95adzAkiq9nfY_xo8dr2W9w/s320/014.JPG" /></a> This <strong>1987 La Jota Vineyard Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon </strong>tasted also a bit like a Bordeaux to me though I don't recall exactly the specific tasting notes...<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3XAXdyI1Z_GovcDqgr3XcovGjDhkLwqJICKg_Qj21VGNPaOcK4UytHC4KIq-Q9BwFvUagv9XfbRxHyKCgZKsv2Nv8ZNKfqV0V4Jki3CPTQtM9928G_NgRBk7cBwWL722wPObcuUY1ig/s1600/016.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561526631073096754" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq3XAXdyI1Z_GovcDqgr3XcovGjDhkLwqJICKg_Qj21VGNPaOcK4UytHC4KIq-Q9BwFvUagv9XfbRxHyKCgZKsv2Nv8ZNKfqV0V4Jki3CPTQtM9928G_NgRBk7cBwWL722wPObcuUY1ig/s320/016.JPG" /></a> </div><div>The <strong>2008 Burrowing Owl Pinot Noir</strong> was plummy and rich, with some oaky notes, a nice little young Pinot Noir.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDGGdOjkI-k_iIcoFFesIUeTQQlh7F7OplJYezFHE3sSrP2uXv2qTy4fApS4XPiEB_zC2kskRt_8HXgt8H_AGz3TuMTCWK4nQ6ep20mGg8KpxEI6OyCYPM10dgAyUbmgWdjAgsjpJlbk/s1600/018.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561526506612226354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrDGGdOjkI-k_iIcoFFesIUeTQQlh7F7OplJYezFHE3sSrP2uXv2qTy4fApS4XPiEB_zC2kskRt_8HXgt8H_AGz3TuMTCWK4nQ6ep20mGg8KpxEI6OyCYPM10dgAyUbmgWdjAgsjpJlbk/s320/018.JPG" /></a><br />A lot of folks like this <strong>1992 Dunn Vineyards Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, </strong>which also drank like a rich, fruit-forward aged Bordeaux. I quite liked it as well, though for me it was a toss-up between it and the Larose (real Bordeaux).<br /><br /><div>Finally, there was this <strong>1990 Robert Chevillon Nuits-Saint-Georges</strong> (Burgundy)<strong> </strong>which was very good, smoky, still with a lot of fruit.... some others in the group were not so fond of it, but I was!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNP8ciBiiYDrZ94GxGtPCIo2LtyJynOHm2fz9q2GKacF9kKIKwrGjPo-Jqc79bsno7Nrq2M08K_l81P8bwzFQJ-TK8wEez66JHJztEn9lC9KS00B-9z35w4pBXHXkqMpWKlUGtMFj1tBY/s1600/019.JPG"><strong><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561526322687096402" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNP8ciBiiYDrZ94GxGtPCIo2LtyJynOHm2fz9q2GKacF9kKIKwrGjPo-Jqc79bsno7Nrq2M08K_l81P8bwzFQJ-TK8wEez66JHJztEn9lC9KS00B-9z35w4pBXHXkqMpWKlUGtMFj1tBY/s320/019.JPG" /></strong></a>All in all, a very exciting night for wine and caviar lovers! </div></div></div></div></div></div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-22980131346621507972011-01-09T14:45:00.000-08:002011-01-09T14:52:17.501-08:00Young Bordeaux<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4TJzUk_OZITDSo954QfvbrGYoCUz5n_OQrFWzX6_sAx5NFHF76ZZFGk9P_2SeiaCYXGB5jklp5VHlMvxjBGyy4VoUIGtXAghah_da_DwHIwzjWyAOip1ry14J_yqDH9SqZodk3UHFGzA/s1600/106.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560321217264580146" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4TJzUk_OZITDSo954QfvbrGYoCUz5n_OQrFWzX6_sAx5NFHF76ZZFGk9P_2SeiaCYXGB5jklp5VHlMvxjBGyy4VoUIGtXAghah_da_DwHIwzjWyAOip1ry14J_yqDH9SqZodk3UHFGzA/s320/106.JPG" /></a> Among the wines consumed over the Christmas and New Years holiday season was this one: <strong>2001 Calon-Segur </strong>from Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux, France. I acquired this fun wine from my friend Adam Zuckert who represents the portfolio The Old and Rare Wine Co., which has some interesting wines such as this Bordeaux and many others.<br /><br />This 9 year old wine was fresh and youthful, silky and medium-bodied, without too much age or development on the palate. It seemed like it was ready to easily age another 20 years and would likely taste more interesting and better after maybe another 10 years. The wine did not show excessive tannin or green pepper aspects, which for some reason I was concerned that it might - it might be that I have tasted another vintage of Calon-Segur before in the past and experienced grippy tannins or over-the-top green pepper flavors. But not in this 2001. It was well balanced and very easy to drink.<br /><br />We enjoyed this with a roast leg of lamb and it was very enjoyable. I would buy this wine again, cellar it longer, and open it among good friends or family.<br /><br />I'll post some more wine notes of some other wines enjoyed over the holidays shortly!<br /><br />Hope you all had some delicious wines over the holidays.Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-75555511736287358502010-12-16T11:25:00.001-08:002010-12-16T12:10:05.764-08:002010 Wine Year in Review<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNPDpek6XSLCMpBZzEJPe-Ci7nsIHe87WupKiu9eqayR1c9TNJW6u0og_lA6BwOxYtRbZI9dIcV_zNkqrWcShHbW97t9w1ZK-8ZTg3NdoQIU0AlZN07zsU81nv6-_abFXgxijRJhVW1A/s1600/Germany+Feb+2010+052.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5551374184701509154" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNPDpek6XSLCMpBZzEJPe-Ci7nsIHe87WupKiu9eqayR1c9TNJW6u0og_lA6BwOxYtRbZI9dIcV_zNkqrWcShHbW97t9w1ZK-8ZTg3NdoQIU0AlZN07zsU81nv6-_abFXgxijRJhVW1A/s320/Germany+Feb+2010+052.jpg" /></a><br /><div>It's that time of year to reflect on the year that will soon be in the history books. Not only that, it feels like a decade has just gone by, in the snap of a finger and a thumb, awfully quickly.</div><br /><div></div><div>In an effort to recap, I'll review some of the top 10 moments (or situations) in wine that I have experienced this year:</div><div></div><br /><div>1. Tasting a series of German Rieslings that were all over 50 years old, the oldest of which were from the vintage 1921. It was amazing to be in a room full of wine tasters, among them people whose names I had heard before but finally met for the first time - Bruce Sanderson, Bipin Desai, Claude Kolm, among others - and none of us were as old as many of the wines passing our lips. Wines made before either of the World Wars. Tasting through time. Tasting from the great estates, who are still making wine today, having passed their estates onto the next generations. Very amazing.</div><br /><div>2. Tasting 1971 wines (my vintage) both on my birthday while I was in Germany, at JJ Prum - tasting a 1971 JJ Prum Goldkapsel, with the Prums, the Wiests, and my good friends and coworkers; and subsequently back in Los Angeles with my husband and friends, who brought a 1971 Cheval Blanc to open at a birthday dinner - outstanding. Thank you.</div><br /><div>3. Taking part in hosting Rudipalooza with 6 German winemakers, driving them all over Los Angeles and Orange Counties, San Francisco, and even Napa. Crazy stuff. Overdid it. Overworked everyone. An exhausting 6 days with multiple tastings, wine dinners, one-on-one account visits. Completely amazing to work with Bert Selbach, Hanno Zilliken, Karina Stuhler, Jan Eymael, and Johannes Haart. </div><br /><div>4. Bert Selbach giving me a bottle of 1998 Eiswein, personally, and Gunter Kunster giving me a bottle of his 08 Kirchenstuck dry Riesling. Wow!</div><br /><div>5. Being in Germany while the Vancouver Olympics were going on, therefore not being able to go, but sporting the red Canada hoodie in support of team Canada, and sometimes even the red mitts. Watching some of the Olympic coverage on TV, especially the one night in this awesome small hotel in Fellbach where I got the best suite in the whole place - replete with living room, kitchen, and loft bedroom - I did not want to leave this hotel! Watching the Olympics late into the night then reading my novel - yes, that made me late for the next morning's meeting with Schnaitmann..... woops. Hate being late!</div><br /><div>6. Working the Northern California market. This was a highlight of my working for Rudi Wiest this year. Being able to go up to Northern California once a month and share our wines with knowledgeable Bay Area wine lovers. Working in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Walnut Creek and the Napa Valley was a pleasure beyond compare. The entire spirit of this area is very attractive to me - people are pleasant, happy, healthy, knowledgeable and embrace the world of wine. My stint up there has ended, but I have come away with a great appreciation of this part of California.</div><br /><div>7. Amazing dinner at Mille Fleurs in Rancho Santa Fe. This was part of the weekend extravaganza that was the "50 Years and Older Riesling TBA Tasting" hosted by Rudi Wiest, featuring the wines from 1921 on up to 1959. This is one of the best dinners I have experienced, with wine pairs that were almost exclusively German - and dry German wines at that, with the most memorable being Pinot Noirs from Becker and Furst, and dry white wines from Rebholz and Salwey. I wish all naysayers of dry German wines could have been at that dinner because there would be no naysayers after that. Also very fun was socializing with Fritz Becker and Hansjorg Rebholz at that dinner, along with Bruce Sanderson and other fun people (who is not fun when belly is full of top-notch food and awesome wines?).</div><br /><div>8. Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon, which actually took place in Santa Ynez. This happens every year the weekend of Mother's Day in May - not on Mother's Day, but on the Saturday, the day before. A great many of us from our running club, AREC, headed up on this particular weekend to run a half marathon from Santa Ynez to Solvang, through some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. One feels like someone doing the Tour de France - well, at least I did. The entire weekend was a cornucopia of friends, the countryside backdrop, local wines, cute restaurants, wine tasting, and relaxing. For me, there is nothing as soothing as visiting a wine region. This particular weekend in May had all the best. Oh, and I got to meet Peter Cargassachi on this trip too!</div><br /><div>9. Champagne and caviar dinner at Petrossian. In July, I celebrated with my husband one of my best sales months to date. I offered to take us to Petrossian, the caviar place in West Hollywood. And with us we brought a delicious bottle of Champagne. That was awesome. Since that first time, we have gone again, the second time with an out-of-town friend, who also agreed it was a great way to enjoy life. </div><br /><div>10. Surviving yet another year in the wine business. This year marks Year 5. I started officially Dec 13, 2005. 2010 was a fun, interesting and intense year, year 2 of working for German wine importer Rudi Wiest. It feels good that many of my customers are friends now, and they seem to like me. I look forward to what comes in 2011! </div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-18301885715678993592010-12-11T21:10:00.000-08:002010-12-11T21:40:36.052-08:00Amazing Multi-Course Dinner at Matt & Cheryl's House - w/German Riesling & an Italian mystery red<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigMabpSiKeiSA9PS2psFujkEtSKl3-23nCxpmk7fFsO2CiIPzt-qxydHt3CBz1IEqUnBUBaDSoK5CShe0fvPUduKRnP5nVVrSli_J5WXM_wGT8I66nTKUMlBHsJyq6TqfuZBptovJhqz4/s1600/007.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549662533448437922" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigMabpSiKeiSA9PS2psFujkEtSKl3-23nCxpmk7fFsO2CiIPzt-qxydHt3CBz1IEqUnBUBaDSoK5CShe0fvPUduKRnP5nVVrSli_J5WXM_wGT8I66nTKUMlBHsJyq6TqfuZBptovJhqz4/s320/007.JPG" /></a> About a month ago, Johan and I accepted an invitation to a dinner in the home of Matt and Cheryl.<br /><br />We met Matt and Cheryl just recently, when they invited us to their wine tasting group, where we tasted Bordeaux wines and Bordeaux-style wines from the new world. It was an interesting wine tasting group - all wines were tasted blind, but with food - food that was constantly pouring out of Matt's kitchen - exotic foods like veal meatballs, gravlax, roasted bone marrow, and various other rich meaty dishes that went so well with the wines... the food coming out of the kitchen was amazing and endless, it seemed, and Matt was chef orchestrating these delights.<br /><br />Naturally, there was not so much spitting of wines being tasted, when tender morsels of inspired food were being eaten with the sips.<br /><br />After this wine tasting, where we became acquainted with many members of this wine tasting group, we got a nice invitation to a private dinner, and so we went.<br /><br />Little did we know it would be a multi-multi-multi course dinner that was utterly amazing! I didn't even get to take pictures of every course being served - there were so many - and the creativity of the dishes was beyond compare! Starting with a delicious chicken liver spread on crostini, then going to rice/bacon/egg/preserved vegetable dish that was intensely savory, then to two pasta dishes...<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_DqdkUXu1eSKfOzaLh2puTcUz3b_JwydOhx0Ysy2Tuny57iqYxDyAXRr6jKDTal-5zOzEfqQNIbnMXLRZqxyZHFwegTAnk_fo2ilfbhpaiqOWpzDXU7nkvZH0lFg5XSoegmsozAsSCQ/s1600/004.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549661616254439842" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_DqdkUXu1eSKfOzaLh2puTcUz3b_JwydOhx0Ysy2Tuny57iqYxDyAXRr6jKDTal-5zOzEfqQNIbnMXLRZqxyZHFwegTAnk_fo2ilfbhpaiqOWpzDXU7nkvZH0lFg5XSoegmsozAsSCQ/s320/004.JPG" /></a><br />The above is just one of two pasta dishes serves - delicious thick homemade noodles in a rich meat sauce - might have been veal if I recall. The other pasta dish, which I didn't catch a picture of was the ear-shaped pasta with sausage and broccoli-rabe.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYR6YeRCN9rc063v5uYSzDh5rh_5eLTTbLi9-B9CP51fd1OoD-KtdxDlwc9-QWC5bLuZO582LqOidnXK6gICFa5MyMFyzlwx20-TeRkJt0_XniOSQHsQfmSIhpD3irdFzreH0hZk0sQP8/s1600/010.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549659735568398898" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYR6YeRCN9rc063v5uYSzDh5rh_5eLTTbLi9-B9CP51fd1OoD-KtdxDlwc9-QWC5bLuZO582LqOidnXK6gICFa5MyMFyzlwx20-TeRkJt0_XniOSQHsQfmSIhpD3irdFzreH0hZk0sQP8/s320/010.JPG" /></a> Above here is the pork shoulder roast with a cherry sauce, and a side of curried cabbage.<br /><br />Below is a homemade custard with a fruit paste that I believe was passionfruit.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeHyszrrrSRGX_cC2KAjR2fH1_VVeqr09OxHL5r6f_EqWdY6oQWJUrNuTPU1TvKdj4TFWSbK-91e_C6mUnVQjmh4cSAd9QIyxkjOeMrbugApM6nk0gVul6K1NAUcE1uea9cSsLIhMRvk/s1600/011.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549659409243908546" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVeHyszrrrSRGX_cC2KAjR2fH1_VVeqr09OxHL5r6f_EqWdY6oQWJUrNuTPU1TvKdj4TFWSbK-91e_C6mUnVQjmh4cSAd9QIyxkjOeMrbugApM6nk0gVul6K1NAUcE1uea9cSsLIhMRvk/s320/011.JPG" /></a>Not just one dessert but two - below is the chocolate covered pop-corn on a spicy homemade ice cream.</div><div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1F_SXsOMEcGNxHVlxnetQdPdsKAVjYZk5nAXsgoWUd1Zm8HJZamuFYP2qYXwsiAdUJpHz3WoW7tiN3WosSP1dwuPpqvNbYyJSs4AQo069moPXwd47Zzv1h8EBOqeW7HsGI4n3Op93pws/s1600/012.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5549659210525201458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1F_SXsOMEcGNxHVlxnetQdPdsKAVjYZk5nAXsgoWUd1Zm8HJZamuFYP2qYXwsiAdUJpHz3WoW7tiN3WosSP1dwuPpqvNbYyJSs4AQo069moPXwd47Zzv1h8EBOqeW7HsGI4n3Op93pws/s320/012.JPG" /></a><br />As someone who occasional hosts a dinner party - I am stressed to served an appetizer, a main, and a purchased dessert. Sometimes others will bring an appetizer, so I'll only be responsible for the main, with a starch and a vegetable. Sometimes I'll screw that up. But nevermind, I'm pretty okay with the main dish and I tend to serve decent wines, so I get away with it. But 8 course dinners? How does Matt pull it off? I just don't know how he does it!</div><div> </div><div></div><div>For this dinner, we had 3 wines. Two are pictured above - we started with the <strong>2001 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Riesling Kabinett </strong>which was delicate and pretty and a great wine to start with and pair with many of the dishes. Then we moved on to a surprise red wine from Italy - I did not guess it was from Italy by the way - a <strong>2004 Bressan -</strong> I'm totally not familiar with this wine, but I enjoyed its earthy goodness. Finally we ended with a <strong>2008 Schloss Lieser Niederberg Helden Riesling Auslese, </strong>which was quite sweet, rich, balanced and enjoyable. </div><div></div><div>All in all, an amazing meal - and by amazing, I mean I could not have pulled it off myself, and don't know how Matt does it - but I imagine he can do it because he practises and cooks for others and enjoys it all. It certainly is inspiring to someone like myself, who struggles to put out one or two courses for guests!</div><div> </div><div></div><div>I'll have to strive higher. </div></div></div></div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-72796076907888618072010-12-10T11:48:00.000-08:002010-12-10T11:56:19.656-08:00The holidays, from the wine distribution sideThe holiday season, from the wine retail side, is one hectic long unending month of working from morning till night filling orders. One feels like one of Santa's elves. Everyone needs to shop and gifts need to sent out via UPS and they need to be picked up and packaged and everyone would like it all to be done today, yesterday if possible. So if you work in wine retail, and I imagine anything retail, the month of December means a great deal of time on your feet, a lot of problem solving for customers, and not a lot of time off.<br /><br />On the wholesale distribution side, I'm finding it means a lot of conflicting things and trying to make two sides agree on things. It's being the middle man and finding a way to get things done in an expedient way. What I mean is that some of my customers are waiting for wine and wish they could get it yesterday, but I can't get it to them till next week, and that's a just a bit too late for comfort. Meanwhile, other customers would rather not take things that we have ready for them to take. It's a balancing act, and it isn't easy. There's a lot of urgency and pressure because of the holiday season. It would be nice if things were all flowing easily and quickly and I hope for it to do so, but so far, it is a test of juggling supply and demand and hoping that one meets the other. But I guess in economics and in life, it is rarely that. That which is in high supply is rarely in high demand, and vice versa. I suppose that's why some lament that people often want what they can't have, and don't want what they can. This seems particularly heightened during the so-called holiday season.<br /><br />So here I am. I'll attempt another day of trying to balance supply and demand and get people to take the supply we have and wait for the supply we don't!<br /><br />Happy holidays!Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-8768095116800900432010-12-04T16:11:00.000-08:002010-12-04T16:24:51.560-08:00It's time for Christmas Beers<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fCJhFyNd2a54B9yegREdboEaqKqgQPtGOBbsZr8SZw1e5OMIzGaBLMKGXabrah273o26IyatNjvPsvTe7PvI2jkMThVdf_95zL49vhor-28iYXsYAqP3JWGTYnTfX04IqZezmImw8RM/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5546984462448682498" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3fCJhFyNd2a54B9yegREdboEaqKqgQPtGOBbsZr8SZw1e5OMIzGaBLMKGXabrah273o26IyatNjvPsvTe7PvI2jkMThVdf_95zL49vhor-28iYXsYAqP3JWGTYnTfX04IqZezmImw8RM/s320/003.JPG" /></a> December is here, and it's time for Christmas beers, if you like gently spiced Belgian ales with that nice roundness in the mouth, richness on the palate, and a hint of Christmassy spice that makes you think you are in a jolly, dark pub somewhere in Europe, with the snow falling heavily outside, and you inside fortifying yourself with something as satisfying and appropriate as a glass of rich red wine.<br /><br />On the eve of December (Nov 30), we headed out to our local Irish pub which features "pint night" every Tuesday, wherein a beer is chosen as a special, and you get to keep the glass. This night was dedicated to Delerium Noel, from the fine folks in Belgium who make Delerium Tremens (a golden ale) and Delerium Nocturnum (a dark brown ale). As we are fans of this brewery, and their glasses adorned with pink elephants, we looked forward to trying their Christmas ale.... and it was good! Not heavily spiced, just a hint of spice, but mostly a golden ale with a rich body, something that you feel good about drinking even when it is cold outside, not some summery beer that makes you feel cold when you don't want to be.<br /><br />Another one we tried this week was the Christmas ale from Achouffe, which is another Belgian brewery whose beers are best recognized by the labels that sport the red-hatted gnomes. I believe the brewery is in the Ardenne forest somewhere, which separates the French-speaking part of Belgium from the Champagne region of France. This was also a rich, full-bodied golden ale with a gentle hint of spice, and maybe a refreshing citrus note as well. Also delicious.<br /><br />As places adopt more specialty beers on their lists, it gets more fun to try these specialties, and I think it contributes much more to the holiday spirits than fighting at the malls for electronic toys and gadgets. Buy your gifts online, or shop on a Tuesday morning, avoid the crowds, and enjoy a Christmas ale this season.<br /><br />Enjoy your Noel!Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-3963564483624059472010-11-30T12:33:00.000-08:002010-11-30T17:43:53.753-08:00Showing my German roots<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggoX70lBrSvtmqeoGQ5CJdaGjpo7u43wuyF4V5hrixOvk7bfp5sPRWbyrvGsqy4ldmjF0F5ytiQ32OkQy-rn8BHwTp98eoYVr6JmzlKNUp8FGE55GRzADu8FJFYJc3H4XIPstpLGZLJZw/s1600/071.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5545443735442177394" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggoX70lBrSvtmqeoGQ5CJdaGjpo7u43wuyF4V5hrixOvk7bfp5sPRWbyrvGsqy4ldmjF0F5ytiQ32OkQy-rn8BHwTp98eoYVr6JmzlKNUp8FGE55GRzADu8FJFYJc3H4XIPstpLGZLJZw/s320/071.JPG" /></a> Either I don't have a good memory of cold weather in Southern California, or this has been one of the coldest Novembers I have experienced here. Cold weather with sunshine - not a bad combination - the days are bright and beautiful, but short and sweet, and crisp and cold too. I've always liked to call cold wintery weather good eatin' weather, calling for more hearty dishes and desserts. So it seemed natural that my own cravings led me to the Authentic German store Alpine Village in Torrance, where the butcher shop makes its own sausages and smokes its own hams, and sells the best ham hocks for making split pea soup that I know of.<br /><br />I've made this soup a number of times, and it is always in a slow-cooker that works wonderfully - the recipe is easy, and the olive-green split pea soup turns out rich and thick and full of ham flavor - all because of that very good smoked ham hock.<br /><br />While I didn't grow up as a child eating pea soup, it was available, and when it was, it was known more as a French Canadian staple that you could get out of a can. But I did grow up in a place that surrounded me somewhat with German foods. How did that come about? I'll tell you all about it.<br /><br />Yes, to look at me, you'd think I'd be more suited, appearance-wise, to selling Sake than Riesling. True, I'm not blond and blue-eyed, and would look a bit weird hoisting liter-sized beer mugs full of wheat beer while wearing a low-cut dress. Fortunately, I'm not asked to - ever. But yes, I grew up exposed to more Black Forest hams and wurst than sushi and sashimi. Though I like them all just as much, now.<br /><br />For example, did you know that my father studied German as a foreign language when he was in university? It's true. It wasn't French or Spanish. Maybe German was what was offered, or it was the popular second foreign language to study during his time, but yep, my dad gave me tips on how to say "Guten Morgen," "Auf Wiedersehen," (I say Auveederzen) and "Das ist sehr gut!" (das is zer gute!)<br /><br />Anyhoo, when my family moved to Canada, we moved to an area where immigrants seemed to gravitate toward. Lo and behold, the immigrant wave who was there before us seemed to be Germans. We lived closed to a German bakery that baked the most wonderful cakes, that it seemed natural that they were named "Wonder Bakery." We would get Swiss rolls there, which were giant jelly-roll type cakes, except they weren't jelly rolls, but they were rolls of chocolate cake with the most irresistable chocolate frosting. I have yet to find Swiss rolls anywhere else since. There were also the most luscious binge-inducing layer cakes, for $4.99 - the most beautiful and full-bodied chocolate cake with a layer of custard through the middle and frosted all over with chocolate icing. Not to mention all the apple turnovers, pies, cookies, rum balls, and all sorts of breads and things that the place cranked out.<br /><br />Of course, the bakery no longer exists, except in memory.<br /><br />I remember when I was a kid and went to that bakery and loved it, and heard rumors about the kid who was the kid of the owner of the bakery and that he was really obese and life was hard for him.... I felt bad for the kid.<br /><br />Nearby, there was a Konditorei. I never knew what this word meant, but now I know it means pastry shop. This was a fancier establishment, with a European-inspired window with lots of fancy pastries and cookies. But I never liked the baked goods as much as I did from the more humble, more pedestrian, and I think busier Wonder Bakery.<br /><br />Next to the Konditorei was the Delicatessen. My father was a particular fan of this authentic German deli. They had the best bread and made sandwiches from their wide assortment of sausages and other meats. My dad always recommended requesting the "Kaiser buns" on which to get your sandwiches made - I was not a fan of buns usually, but these buns were on another level - bread that was so crisp and delicate on the outside, and so soft and chewy on the inside, like a cloud, but not a wet, mushy cloud in your mouth, a flavorful, slightly salty dough that was something special contributing to a sandwich, not just a wrapper for your meats. Then there were the fillings - your choice of thinly shaved Black Forest ham, or various wurst, or meatballs. Again, these meatballs were no regular meatballs, but super flavorful ones.<br /><br />I don't remember the name of this deli, but I do remember how authentically German it was, how homemade everything tasted, and how I naturally took to it.<br /><br />Of course, this deli and the next door konditorei are now both long gone.<br /><br />Like immigrants in many places, perhaps they retired, their kids got good educations and went into various professions, and the shop served its purpose. And with the shop went all those delicious goodies from a place far away.<br /><br />Fortunately for me, my taste memories have led me seek out foods from all sources. And when I learned of Alpine Village in Torrance, home of an annual big Oktoberfest celebration in the fall, I went there to seek out some of the familiar flavors of my past. While I haven't really found Kaiser buns, I have found <em>weiners </em>which are the best "hot dogs" in the world. I cannot eat hot dogs in the packages found in the supermarket or at the Staples Center when I'm there for a hockey game - they are incredibly salty and lack any meat taste. But <em>weiners</em> which you can purchase from Alpine Village Market remind me of those exact ones I had when I was a kid, and my parents bought them from the deli, and at that time I recall they were called <em>European weiners. </em>They have that "skin snap" you get when you bite into them, and they taste a world different then the weiners or frankfurters or hot dogs you get in the supermarket. Try them sometime.<br /><br />So, the weather has been turning me on to this type of food. And maybe subconsciously I am getting my mind and body in gear to head to Germany in less than 2 months. I need to build myself up for the severe weather conditions. I have also watched a couple of German movies over the past couple of weeks (I didn't choose them, but I enjoyed them). I'm starting to pick up the language. It's starting to be like French, where at least I can pick up a few words in a conversation, and I know when they are saying "danke," "Und?" "tschus," "nicht," "spater," and.... I guess that's it.<br /><br />So that's it! I'm off to go warm myself up with some of that pea soup I made. If you're in the Southland and want some good <em>wurst</em>, and other <em>Deutsches</em> goodies that are <em>sehr gut</em>, visit:<br /><br />Alpine Village Market<br />833 Torrance Blvd (the Torrance exit off the 110 Freeway)<br />Torrance, CANancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-82779219907050943692010-11-18T12:37:00.000-08:002010-11-18T13:29:05.512-08:00German wines aren't sticky, the notions are<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS5oCjRcoY5LZzLyQJl60IFbIX8iFLMbSqx7QJcCQr29de0QSJrlymCAGv-s4eNxUMTl3U3ukonEqZ5x8AP5EoUbM-A5E6Jgkk7i6Njmo1JGUXZzppyuuGhyphenhyphen1Tdc8SsSamABjHdUuOBkQ/s1600/Germany+2007+Rudi+Wiest+trip+009.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5541001472716785410" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS5oCjRcoY5LZzLyQJl60IFbIX8iFLMbSqx7QJcCQr29de0QSJrlymCAGv-s4eNxUMTl3U3ukonEqZ5x8AP5EoUbM-A5E6Jgkk7i6Njmo1JGUXZzppyuuGhyphenhyphen1Tdc8SsSamABjHdUuOBkQ/s320/Germany+2007+Rudi+Wiest+trip+009.jpg" /></a><br /><div>"German wines really haven't taken off in the United States," an elderly gentleman firmly announced at the last social wine tasting I attended in Orange County. He was a man with solid beliefs, beliefs he shared openly, such as the government being too big, and Meg Whitman being the better candidate for Governor. I told him that German wines take off well enough for me to make a good living at it. "Well," he scoffed, "you make a good living at selling them, but I still don't think they have taken off here. They might make good wines in Germany, but there are a lot of good wines, and I just won't pay to drink German wines."</div><br /><div>The fact that one old-school gentleman doesn't want to spend his hard-earned cash on German wines is fine with me and doesn't warrant much more than shrug of the shoulders, but the generalizing is what turns me off and has me shaking my head. YOU don't want to pay money to drink German wines, therefore, all of American probably don't want to.... is this a logical conclusion?</div><br /><div>Fast forward to yesterday, I am in a German owned restaurant in a very nice city, hilly, full of trees, quiet. It is close to lunchtime, and I have brought 4 dry German white wines for the owner to taste, as he has already made it clear to me that dry German wines are where it is at, and the sweet Mosel stuff, in his opinion, is just not as good as the dry wines of Baden (where he is from), Wurttemburg, Franken, and Rheingau. So I brought him a Riesling Spatlese trocken from Robert Weil, a Silvaner from Hans Wirsching, a Pinot Blanc from Salwey, and a Pinot Gris from Heger. He likes the wines, appreciates that I even carry German wines that are not the typical array found in my competitors' wine bags. Appreciates that I know where Baden is, where Franken is, where Wurttemberg is, etc. because I've been there, more than once, soon to be 4 times. Anyway, he's happy with the wines, but he laments that his customers don't get it and don't want quality and aren't willing to pay for it. I nod sympathetically.</div><br /><div>Several of his wine-loving customers start streaming in the door; they are carrying bottles of wine and heading for a large table set for 12. Noon is approaching, and it becomes clear that they have convened to share a lunch and a wine tasting. Owner waves a few patrons over to join in the tasting of my wines, which I happily oblige, because the more people that taste Rudi Wiest Selections wines, the better, because then more people become educated about them. </div><br /><div>Three people sit down to taste, and 2 of them love the wines, expound how fresh and zippy the <strong>2009 Hans Wirsching Silvaner </strong>is, how tasty the <strong>2006 Robert Weil Estate Riesling Spatlese trocken </strong>is..... then the loudest of the customers announces, "I just don't like German wines, because they are always sweet!"</div><br /><div>Owner says to him, these are not sweet wines, they are bone dry. I don't even have to speak; my customer is doing my job for me. </div><br /><div></div><div>Well, his customer, mind already made up, says the wine on his palate, because it is German, is sweet.</div><br /><div>Then, same customer says, "But I'll tell you what. If you bring me an Eiswein, then I will taste that! There's NOTHING in the world better than a German Eiswein."</div><br /><div></div><div>My customer, the owner of the restaurant, turns to me, and says, "You see, these guys.... they want Eiswein, they don't get how rare that is, how expensive that is. They want me to break open an Eiswein for them, then yeah, they'll taste it and get excited. But will he buy a bottle off the list?" </div><br /><div>He may not. His bizarre evaluations, such as saying the dry wine in front of him is sweet, but at the same breath asks for an Eiswein, may make him not a great candidate for making rational decisions. But yes, there are customers who will buy an Eiswein off a restaurant list. And there are customers who will order a dry German wine off a list, too. And all variations of wines in between.</div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div>Shocking, but yes. But we do need to get over some hurdles. Hurdles in people's brains.</div><br /><div></div><div>Each day is a teaching opportunity, every inhale through the nostrils and every sip folks take of these wines, whether dry or fruity/sweet is valuable. It's a chance for the thinking person to evaluate something for what it is, instead of rejecting reality. That's the alternative to pulling out an old file from the mind that tells one to just spew out what's already in there.</div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-20003402128654400942010-11-09T18:43:00.001-08:002010-11-09T19:04:50.717-08:00Germany Version 4.0 - coming soon<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5cge0CBy2JrHQYvb1QFaqeHgCivIgG4S9gUHVd6mFYKYtnpZqzNsb2fH_GszFDxdz-2QPtvkMkCdMXep9_n04WnIHF_m5pmgG3uWA182iOMzqfJzABgPBGRoabikEpCNIiPcOvdDGlrc/s1600/Germany+Feb+2009+044.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537751649211078610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5cge0CBy2JrHQYvb1QFaqeHgCivIgG4S9gUHVd6mFYKYtnpZqzNsb2fH_GszFDxdz-2QPtvkMkCdMXep9_n04WnIHF_m5pmgG3uWA182iOMzqfJzABgPBGRoabikEpCNIiPcOvdDGlrc/s320/Germany+Feb+2009+044.jpg" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgkDvFfC6F_xdoi1DDkW3Pb5vr1aUGjS5RDcUfoMRLkhsc2ojpPO5aYGHwmBqoXEDR1JR3cNCT-PWnp7CHGr5Ubr1dOKm-racPsb3ZYjLEP0kmBk7D3M5hrVca1W5D0lmlBU3gKlh2Uw/s1600/Germany+Feb+2009+044.jpg"></a>So the annual Rudi Wiest corporate trip has been booked for January 2011, a mere 2 months away. 10 days in Germany, plus two days of flying, during which I will unfortunately miss my husband's birthday, but we'll celebrate early, in style.<br /><br />I've named it Version 4.0 as it will be my fourth Germany trip, my 4th Rudi Wiest trip, and my 4th trip to these estates nestled in the valleys of the Rhein, Mosel, Nahe, and Main rivers. These estates that I've come to know so very well, better than I thought I would imagine knowing. I remember my first trip back in the fall of 2007, when I was so elated to put names of vineyards I learned on bottles to actual hillsides, and met the people behind the wines. Now, more than 3 years later, the winemakers, while still on pedestals, are more like friends than strangers. Such is the environment created by my importer boss that makes this business so intimate. No longer are names and people a mystery, but are instead the meat and potatoes of the business. And so it becomes less like a wine business than a people business. And in the end, that is what really counts.<br /><br />This year, we'll be flying out in January instead of February, so expect more cold, more snow than last year, more yeast in still unfiltered wine, more untamed acidity, more wild flavors of fermentation. We're adding a new Rheingau estate, so I look forward to visiting a new property. And I look forward to seeing familar faces, those friendly rosy faces of those families that pass their craft on from generation to generation.<br /><br />In particular, I look forward to tasting the Pinot Noirs of <strong>Friedrich Becker Estate </strong>and <strong>Rudolf Furst Estate. </strong>Both estates make hauntingly delicious Pinot Noirs that remind me of what I love in red Burgundy (though they are not exactly like red Burgundy, but just as complex and compelling). I also look forward to the Mosel Rieslings from <strong>Dr. F. Weins-Prum, Rheinhold Haart, Fritz Haag, </strong>and <strong>Monchhof. </strong>And it is always a treat to taste in the Pfalz estates of <strong>Von Buhl </strong>and <strong>Rebholz, </strong>estates known for their terrific dry wines.<br /><br />I'm already beginning to get excited about going to Germany again. On the negative side, it will be cold and it will be work. But on the plus side, it will be a good time to hunker down with the team, exchange ideas, taste the new 2010 vintage, and see our favorite winemakers again. Oh, and eat some delicious German food - always a treat.</div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-83661703914618534642010-11-05T21:11:00.000-07:002010-11-05T21:36:03.978-07:00Happy Friday<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFB-gliFAVJAveUXXTR6xC-lqWnAPOnqjSsRGD5nM-5DDTqQjkbGhESGxxgptjr0tSSnXYpIUscJOF60BdNdaiecH655BJNwd0Sa9MxpYK7X7AWjSwYoMH1rvbj6jMEfNL9O8_mksXVtY/s1600/002.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536285224786618354" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFB-gliFAVJAveUXXTR6xC-lqWnAPOnqjSsRGD5nM-5DDTqQjkbGhESGxxgptjr0tSSnXYpIUscJOF60BdNdaiecH655BJNwd0Sa9MxpYK7X7AWjSwYoMH1rvbj6jMEfNL9O8_mksXVtY/s320/002.JPG" /></a> It was a long week with a lot going on, but it ended up being a good, productive one. So what better way to celebrate than to make a great meal at home? And open some decent wines to wash the food down with?<br /><br />The week included finally getting over the illness that had me totally flattened - I guess we all take our turns getting sick, and this time, it was my turn. My mom actually pointed out something astute about why I might have succumbed to illness this time, as usually my immune system isn't too bad - last month, I lost a territory - Northern California - a very beautiful place that I enjoyed working in very much... but it was meant to be a temporary gig, so I had it coming - at any rate, losing the territory meant not only not being able to go to San Francisco for work anymore, but also losing a rich source of income. In other words, a little stressful for little Miss Commission Earner. Anyway, perhaps that fueled my desire to work the Southern California market just a little bit harder, working days a little bit longer, doing a few more tastings well into the evening, until I caught a bug and got laid up for a couple weeks.<br /><br />Now I'm fine, recovered. And this week, I even bought a new car! Yay, got wheels again. A good thing, after experiencing several car-less days. No, it is not easy to get around in Southern California on the transit system. It is about as efficient as walking, and that's not so efficient.<br /><br />But I digress. The week was a good one, a productive one, and I'm glad we're into the weekend. Time for some R&R, some getting back into running so my slightly atrophied muscles can get back in the game.<br /><br />To kick that off, a little Friday dinner starting off with an aperatif of <strong>2007 Von Hovel Estate Riesling</strong> - tasting pretty good right now, not super sweet, but definitely refreshing. It's got a new slick and classy black label - do you like it?<br /><br />Then onto a red wine from Piedmont, Italy - a Barbera d'Alba from 2008 vintage - I still don't know what the real name of the wine is, since the label is old school and promotes the region more than it promotes the name of the winery. But you see the label above. I like this wine a lot. It seems a bit new world style to me - like a rich, fruit-forward Californian wine without the high alcohol to boot - but I like it. It's not as high acid or high earthiness as some other Italian wines.... but I like it. At $15.99 from The Wine County, the wine is a steal and a deal. Get some! Whatever it's name is.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWMjx0AZeCKfk4niiXMfsnNnAKsAJuTAfoQNNsmCkhWsvW5jmfw4yD82rcm2ldLLXVlG-MfuBCWeoW5tvdGbTTtLmMEH062Kkp0pu5fNrS5I4mCT72n33zYGcs8eAoNEC9EpS4o0F8s4/s1600/003.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536285096200918482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWMjx0AZeCKfk4niiXMfsnNnAKsAJuTAfoQNNsmCkhWsvW5jmfw4yD82rcm2ldLLXVlG-MfuBCWeoW5tvdGbTTtLmMEH062Kkp0pu5fNrS5I4mCT72n33zYGcs8eAoNEC9EpS4o0F8s4/s320/003.JPG" /></a> And for food, I picked up a couple of steaks from How's Market in Torrance. They have the best U.S.D.A. Prime beef that I've seen in a while, and the prices can't be beat. Friend Bennett introduced me to this place, and I'm not sure I've bought steaks anywhere else since. They are that good, like an old fashioned butcher place, even though they do package some of their steaks. My favorite is the rib eye because I'm not afraid of a little fat - I mean, that's the best part! I'm not a fan of ingesting a whole lot of animal fat all the time, but when I get my one steak a month, I want some marbling! But if you're not a fan of fat, they have some great filet mignons and other leaner cuts, as well as lamb, pork and other butcher specialties.<br /><br />So I turned those steaks into the following two plates:<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRpdPZN7gb-y5KkMEoJ5PhIbk2NQ1VB1GIv-WhZpdAvkbzhfhV1vsWgr_mmirTFN07iKfxB6euplzkgD1y39oOQMhQmf0uj66b50l2yzGEClk1IdSgKmd321MMIhYYo6mLoCCgvRNaBdA/s1600/004.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536284958290340578" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRpdPZN7gb-y5KkMEoJ5PhIbk2NQ1VB1GIv-WhZpdAvkbzhfhV1vsWgr_mmirTFN07iKfxB6euplzkgD1y39oOQMhQmf0uj66b50l2yzGEClk1IdSgKmd321MMIhYYo6mLoCCgvRNaBdA/s320/004.JPG" /></a> My initial idea was to barbecue the steaks, since during the day we hit the 90s for temperatures outside - it looked like the middle of July. But come dinner time, it was pitch dark outside, and I didn't feel like firing up the barbie - I broiled the steaks and they turned out quite nice. Did some potatoes in the oven (oven roasted potatoes) and steamed some broccoli and cauliflower (because they are tasty and very good for you).</div><div> </div><div>Above is hubby's plate, below is mine, which is a bit messier, due to me trying to pile on more of those healthy veggies.<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcwTPnk0IE4av_mBfWcBvzJsvh_M8cYY8LRZSIZ1-DB2WHDE9afNLr2qbrS7O0tlAWBlH7RfHa1mHRMexUoQ6gA8JhEZK7h3Hwtpe4ZzlehMwG7scTNcXU_z5bzHeta2AUwq7OpZVqMfg/s1600/005.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5536284842675909666" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcwTPnk0IE4av_mBfWcBvzJsvh_M8cYY8LRZSIZ1-DB2WHDE9afNLr2qbrS7O0tlAWBlH7RfHa1mHRMexUoQ6gA8JhEZK7h3Hwtpe4ZzlehMwG7scTNcXU_z5bzHeta2AUwq7OpZVqMfg/s320/005.JPG" /></a> A very satisfying meal all in all. The steaks were juicy and tender. The potatoes were crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The veggies were done soft enough, and offered the perfect non-rich side to the rich meaty main event. The Barbera went well with the food, and it all went pretty well with Duck's hockey on TV. That's a team in the NHL that belongs to Orange County. We are supportive even though many LA Kings fans hate the ducks. But we're okay with Orange County. They have a lot of nice restaurants there, and we have some friends that live down there too.</div><div> </div><div>Have a great weekend, everyone! I hope you're eating and drinking well, and making merriment with your loved ones. Cheers.</div></div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-26826063526823981662010-10-31T13:52:00.000-07:002010-10-31T14:15:27.162-07:00Goodbye, car; hello, holiday season<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SlsoCfaoTXvOFDosPdGvD5sOGHv8C-vb66LmbWwS8_SMKCyAVPoT8JQ7OJqSKISruxqyhHe2BSyk0Y0YO_Xup7q5ccSKHTdIX0f3i5efRg-e3Q8G7JIilBh48oLp5idpBgS8A7X4wW8/s1600/011.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534316155136838002" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2SlsoCfaoTXvOFDosPdGvD5sOGHv8C-vb66LmbWwS8_SMKCyAVPoT8JQ7OJqSKISruxqyhHe2BSyk0Y0YO_Xup7q5ccSKHTdIX0f3i5efRg-e3Q8G7JIilBh48oLp5idpBgS8A7X4wW8/s320/011.JPG" /></a> One thing doesn't have anything to do with another, except that both happened this weekend. I had to say goodbye to my loyal car of more than 10 years, the car that has gotten me to many a place and has been my office for the last 2 plus years while I have been doing outside sales. But even before that, it got me to jobs, runs, some near-by vacation spots, and much, much more. Here it is being towed away by the charity it has been donated to. Sigh. Goodbye, beloved car.<br /><br />Okay, onto Christmas. Yes, it's Halloween today, and that means - last day of October. Meaning, tomorrow is November, one more full month before December madness. This weekend, to numb the pain of giving away my car, I stocked up on wines for Christmas at The Wine Country.<br /><br />I have now 4 special wines planned for sharing with family at Christmas - this year, they will be all European in origin. Sometimes I do a few California wines, but most often, it is special wines from Germany, Austria, Champagne and other parts of France and Italy that tend to be shared.<br /><br />This year, I'll have 2 wines from Germany, and 2 wines from France.<br /><br />They will be:<br /><br />Both German wines were given to me by hand, in person, from the winemaker who made them. How sweet is that? The memory of receiving these gifts is still strong. Both were given to me this year by German winemakers who had travelled here to the U.S. to promote their wines. The first was Gunter Kunstler, winemaker and owner of Franz Kunstler in the Rheingau - he gave me a bottle of his top notch dry wine <strong>2007 Kunstler Kirchenstuck Riesling trocken. </strong>If this is not a GG (Grosses Gewachs, or Grand Cru) wine, then it is damned close! Gunter had specific instructions for a food pairing for this wine - he said make a roasted veal chop and top it with a cream sauce and shaved black truffles. Yum yum! I'll see if I can do the wine justice this Christmas season. I think a nice white meat like veal would be perfect with this rich yet elegant Rheingau dry Riesling.<br /><br />The second hand-given wine was from Bert Selbach of Dr. F. Weins-Prum. He is one of my favorite Mosel people. The first few times I met him, I found him to be quiet and withdrawn. Later, when he got to know me better, I found him to be one of the warmest people ever. Bert Selbach is the sole owner and winemaker at the wine estate and his wines are always so focused and pure and classically Mosel, in my opinion. Not too fat, not too rich, not too anything - just clean, crisp, bright acid with crystalline fruit. Very delicious wines, and so well priced. He was here in June for Rudipalooza and gave me a bottle of his very unique <strong>1998 Dr. F. Weins-Prum Bernkasteler Johannisbrunnchen Riesling Eiswein. </strong>This is a 750 ml bottle of Eiswein. I am very excited to share this with others. I did taste it when Bert opened a couple of bottles at an event in June and of course it is unbelieveable - Mosel Eiswein from 12 years ago in a perfect Eiswein vintage...... it cannot be less than perfect.<br /><br />Okay, then there are 2 French wines, and I picked these up at The Wine Country today. I'll first talk about <strong>2007 Domaine de Montille Beaune Premier Cru "Les Sizies" </strong>which was featured yesterday in a tasting with the winemaker and owner Etienne de Montille and importer Michael Sullivan, owner of Beaune Imports out of Berkeley, California. I didn't make the tasting, but I have had these wines before and they are consistently lovely to the point of out of this world. Admittedly, I have not had much Burgundy lately........ haven't bought any and have been out of the loop of tasting them. Today, Sunday, I went in to The Wine Country and there were the leftovers of yesterday's tasting. There was not only the 2007 Les Sizies, but also de Montille's Nuits St. Georges...... I got a taste but more importantly the aromas of both wines...... out of this world! There's just something about great Burgundy! Spring for these premier cru wines, they are worth it. I was actually shocked that the Les Sizies was under $50 a bottle as I could swear that a few years ago, the wine was elected wine of the year by the staff and the wine was at that time at least $65. Perhaps that was at the height of the Euro vs the American dollar. At any rate, the wine is gorgeous and a steal and I'm happy to have picked up a bottle for the Christmas stash.<br /><br />Finally, there is a bottle of <strong>2001 Calon Segur </strong>which is a Bordeaux wine that I special ordered. The reason I chose Calon Segur, while I don't personally have any history with the wine..... my in-laws drank this wine when they got married more than 50 years ago. Can you believe it? Now that's history! A wine well regarded over 50 years ago is still fetching the dollars today. Now that's a classic. I hope to surprise them with this wine this Christmas season, though if they are following this blog, they will not be too surprised, but that's okay...<br /><br />So there's 4 wines. If I don't get into them earlier... for example, that Sizies is calling my name..... if I can hold on to them till the holidays, then this is my set for the Christmas season. Not too shabby eh?<br /><br />The lovely thing I adore about wine is that it is for sharing. I love that I have the memory of winemakers sharing their craft with me, and I love that I in turn can share these wines with others. And at the end of the day, I like to see what I do for a living as sharing great wines with many people. And why not. It's a little bit of peace and happiness to all, even in times of loss and letting go.<br /><br />Okay, I know, it's just a car! I'll get over it!Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-6428438962517898052010-10-28T18:50:00.000-07:002010-10-28T19:25:30.057-07:00Where I don't see going to have a glass of wineSo funny thing... this week, as I started to feel better, my car died. My trusty little green Honda Civic finally decided to quit. On a Tuesday. Were there any signs? Only 30 minutes before it died did it give me any indication. It's normally fantastic air conditioning - I mean, literally, the car can be 110 degrees inside and once I start it up and turn on the AC, it cools right down to a comfortable 65 in mere minutes. Not bad for a little economy car.<br /><br />So, on Tuesday, as I was headed back home from 3 very good account visits in Santa Monica and Venice, the air conditioning started to not work as terrifically as it usually does. It was spitting out lukewarm air instead of ice cold. Weird, but I didn't think it was terminal. A bit later, as I was coasting down the freeway, the "check engine" light came on. Not good. But again, didn't think it was terminal. And, the AC started picking up again... yay! Did I specifically check the temperature gauge of the car? No, not specifically. My eyes didn't wander to that part of the dash... but in retrospect, that would have been a good idea. But there was no smoke coming out of my car, and I decided to continue driving toward home till there was a safe place I could pull over.<br /><br />Well, I pulled into my local post office, went in to stock up on Bart Simpson stamps.... found out they had some new cool ones called Sunday Funnies - got some of those too - came out, thought, well maybe my car got over it, maybe the check engine light won't go on after I start it.<br /><br />The car started, but it wasn't making pretty noises. Something was definitely amiss. The check engine light remained on. The car sputtered a bit. I drove toward the exit of the PO parking lot. Then the car stalled, right at the exit.<br /><br />I managed to turn the engine and maneuver the car over to a parking space. I managed to call AAA (what an awesome service - yay AAA!) The rest is history - car towed, the diagnosis - major overheating leading to major internal organ damage, and what they said could not have happened quickly (meaning what?? that I've been driving with a messed up car for ages and I missed all this? my fault, I guess).<br /><br />Anyway, short story long, today, I'm on my feet, walking if I need to get anywhere. I needed to go to the ATM machine, so I walked a little over a mile toward downtown in my village to go to the ATM.<br /><br />On my way, I checked out a new wine bar. It was closed, but I pressed my nose to the window to check it out. I had heard that it had opened. I wonder how it does. My impression is that I'm not impressed. I'll tell you why.<br /><br />I likely won't go drinking there. It's the location. It's located at the base of a tower of a nursing home. This nursing home is in a historic building in the downtown of my village. It has a high-end restaurant at the top, on the 13th floor or something like that. I have been there. It's nice. The food is average. I'm not a huge fan of the location, though, because it's in a nursing home. And now they have a wine bar on the first floor, a tiny place. And I'm wondering, who wants to go to a wine bar on the first floor of a nursing home?<br /><br />My issue is that wine is more than a beverage. It's an aura. A fantasy. A romantic escape. It's not that the aura is unreal or not realistic, but it is a delicious fantasy and it doesn't jive mentally with the image of your heirs putting you in an institution when you're 90 because your mental faculties have left you and you're demented and can't swallow and you're prescribed a pureed diet with thickened liquids and you are not allowed to drink any alcohol because you're on 10 different medications. Wine has nothing to do with the sad end that befalls people when they are institutionalized and demoralized and need to walk with a walker and need caregivers to wipe their butts and give them baths and cut up their food. When people are drinking wine, they are thinking romantic wonderful good-life thoughts, sitting in a chateau overlooking gorgeous vineyards, sunny day, birds in the air, your lover looking into your eyes, conversation flowing, the food coming out of the kitchen the best and freshest you've ever tasted, the restaurant staff loving you for appreciating the finer things in life, you're laughing, enjoying, feeling like this will go on for all eternity, and it will because you'll always have fine wine, you'll always have your terrific cellar full of gems, you'll always have your neighborhood restaurant where they love you and you are always welcome, and you'll always have your lover, your friends, your beautiful family members all around you, laughing and loving and being and enjoying the best that life has to offer.<br /><br />This is why people drink wine. It is all these things. All the good things in life.<br /><br />And that's why I don't think wine bars belong in nursing homes, hospitals, another places where those delicious thoughts clash in our brains and make us frown.<br /><br />Wine is about the good life and the never ending good time.<br /><br />Sante!Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-46595164393885694072010-10-27T17:59:00.000-07:002010-10-27T18:11:33.457-07:00ProhibitionI'm on a 10-day course of antibiotics, and have taken myself off all alcohol. And prior to starting the antibiotic, I had not been feeling great (little did I know I had pneumonia). So there were several days of self-imposed non-drinking even before the prohibition of the antibiotic treatment. At this point, I'm about 5 days from finishing my course of drugs, and starting to feel better (GREAT compared to before), so wine looking really good. I even had to go to a wine dinner (of which I was one of the hosts) and not drink (much). Today I had a taste of a really good Spanish tempranillo put in front of me - I had to taste - the wine had a terrific, enticing nose, like a really good red wine should, and the palate was nice and meaty, smoked meat.... great. What I would have given to have a glass of that. But sigh..... I want to get completely better, so had to do without.<br /><br />What I'm learning in my temporary prohibition is that life is sweeter with wine. A glass of Riesling here after work, a glass of rich red wine there later with dinner, it's not a bad thing. And I've got a great bottle of one of my favorite Champagnes sitting in the closet waiting for me (non-vintage Billiot.... yum) - this was supposed to be our celebratory Champagne after running a half marathon, but since I bailed on that (sick), I couldn't celebrate either (would have been a waste).<br /><br />Well, when I finish this course of antibiotics, I think that Champagne's getting opened!<br /><br />Oh, the wine dinner the other night - yes, a wild game dinner paired with German reds, and some German Rieslings thrown in for good measure. I was under the weather so enjoyed the evening somewhat but not to the full extent that it should have been enjoyed. Others told me it was terrific, so that was good! My favorite items at dinner were the boar sausage (so flavorful - really, we should eat more boar) and the sitka deer medallions from Japan. I have never heard of Sitka Deer - it sounds like something from Alaska. But it was tender and delicious. We even had venison liver which was quite interesting....<br /><br />What showed well: <strong>2007 Schnaitmann Samtrot, 2007 Schnaitmann Lemberger, </strong>and <strong>2007 Heger Pinot Noir. </strong>I also liked the dessert wine which was paired with a hunk of Cambozola blue cheese: <strong>1999 Bert Simon Wurtzberg Riesling Gold Cap.</strong> Fresh and zippy after 11 years.Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-27920878219789247752010-10-23T20:10:00.000-07:002010-10-27T18:12:56.441-07:00Vegas then, Vegas Now<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9s1Osc_z_E84jRP5sVClEpwBH34pPEDw4-vQ4KLeeiuOb3tcamtkJ8FamZnL6l2sc5RYizy-MFe14qy9jPmgdWBlgVb_TdS49As3MZObPVaFQU0ke_XBGWHSWdJqH8NLvJEl2Sx94hd0/s1600/017.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531456925132180274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9s1Osc_z_E84jRP5sVClEpwBH34pPEDw4-vQ4KLeeiuOb3tcamtkJ8FamZnL6l2sc5RYizy-MFe14qy9jPmgdWBlgVb_TdS49As3MZObPVaFQU0ke_XBGWHSWdJqH8NLvJEl2Sx94hd0/s320/017.JPG" /></a><br /><div>About a month ago, my husband and I went to Vegas for a weekend to meet friends and partake in a hockey tradition called Frozen Fury. It's a pre-season game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche - a group gets together and converges there and make a mini-group-vacation out of the weekend.</div><br /><div></div><div>I looked forward to going, not so much for the hockey, though I don't mind hockey at all, but because I have always loved the excitement of Vegas. The adult Disneyland, the forbidden fruit of gambling, the neon of the strip, the old school charm of downtown, intermingling with my own childhood memories of our first family trip to California when we made a side trip to Vegas, with our parents and grandparents. I even remember my grandmother loving the lights when we drove up the driveway to our hotel, and how we got upgraded from our reserved rooms (which which given away by mistake) to suites, and how that made us feel like VIPs. That was back when I was 11 or so and living in Vancouver.</div><br /><div></div><div>Yes, that was the first time I went to Vegas - when I was only 11 or so, my siblings even younger, the adults taking turns to go on the casino floor to gamble, or to go to shows, while the kids got to go to Circus Circus and win armfuls of stuffed animals - really good ones - better than the ones at the local PNE (Vancouver's annual summer fair). Later times I went to Vegas including one time when I was already living in Los Angeles, and my grandmother came down with my two sisters and met me there - that was a whole lot of fun also, but it was also when I realized my grandmother wasn't doing that well - she took a lot of time to walk from one casino to another, and finally just felt too worn out and took to the bed one evening. But on a positive note, I do remember on that trip I played a lot of blackjack and won.</div><br /><div></div><div>Another time I went to Vegas was after I graduated from my MBA program in 2001, and my dad and sister came down for my grad, and the day after we hopped into my car and drove out to Vegas and spent the night, again, terrific fun. I remember being so pooped after arriving there that night, but my sister had the energy to go out for a late night stroll on the strip.</div><br /><div></div><div>Other positive memory was around the year 2006 or so when I worked for The Wine Country and bought wine for a couple of different departments - Germany/Austria and Southern Hemisphere. That meant that I had to taste wine from different vendors to choose what to stock in those departments and build departments that were attractive and made sense. There was a tasting presented by a group of Australian producers who were in the U.S. mostly to make a presentation to Robert Parker for the Wine Advocate - they had been on the east coast, and the importer was trying to schedule them to fly to LA for a tasting, but in the end could only arrange a tasting in Las Vegas. I was invited to the tasting with an offer to pay for the plane ticket if I chose to attend. I chose to attend! Booked the flight - a same day flight - flew to Vegas in the morning and flew back in the evening, as my husband opted not to come with, I opted not to stay the night, so it ended up being a single day event.</div><br /><div></div><div>It was in the middle of August. It was 80 degrees in Los Angeles at the time, 100 or more in Vegas. I flew there without luggage, just my purse and a notebook I think, boarded a shuttle, surprised the shuttle driver with no luggage and tipped him anyway, got to Cesar's Palace, found the restaurant where the tasting was held, and found my way to the tasting room. Was faced with about 15 winemakers from Australia, all showing about 9 red wines each and 1 white wine. In August in Las Vegas. Everyone was dying for cold, crisp white wine, but there was about 8 of the those among 100 high alcohol robust Shiraz, Cabs, and Grenaches. </div><br /><div></div><div>The tasting was good and a good deal of fun anyway. The people were terrific and I was happy and excited to be there, and still high from being flown over to Vegas for the day to attend a tasting. "This is my job!" I thought to myself, and the glamor of it extended to how I felt about Vegas.</div><br /><div></div><div>After the tasting, even after spitting each wine, I was under the influence. There was a couple of hours to kill before catching my flight back to LA, so I headed to onto the strip to one of my favorite places to gamble, O'Shea's. There, I played $5 blackjack for an hour or so, winning money, and enjoying myself as I did so. Then I grabbed a shuttle to the airport, flew home, and closed another great visit to Vegas. My only regret is that I didn't push hubby to go with me and spend the night there.</div><br /><div></div><div>Then in 2008, I went to Vegas with hubby for Frozen Fury for the first time. Drove with a friend at night and got there around 2 am as though we were characters in a movie. Had a great time again playing blackjack everywhere and I won money everywhere. Went to Lotus of Siam for the first time and bought everyone dinner along with a bottle of <strong>07 Gunderloch Jean-Baptiste </strong>and one of their bottles of single vineyard Donnhoff Spatlese after picking up my jaw looking at Bank's awesome wine list (about 10 pages of German wines, maybe even more, on Sommelier Bank's amazing list - a must-see if you haven't seen it). Terrific wines, delicious food, fantastic pairing.... and my friends liked it too... Great times, even though this was the fall of 2008 and Vegas already showed that look about it that it was falling into recessionary times. The bon temps were not rolling so much; tables were only half open and the dealers were looking a little more glum than usual.</div><br /><div></div><div>Fast forward to October 2010 - Frozen Fury 2010 - first off, the friends and company and hockey were terrific. I wouldn't have changed a thing here. But the town, it has gone to hell. Or, I my tastes have changed. Or both. Maybe gambling doesn't excite me as much now that I'm in full time sales where every day my work is a gamble, and mostly, I win, whereas in a Vegas casino, forget about it. I could swear that in the old days it was so much easier to win in Vegas - it was like they wanted you to win there, so you would love being there and come back - but now, they want you to lose it now, lose it large, lose it fast, and don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out. </div><div></div><div>The gambling is what is supposed to be "the thing" in Vegas - it is now horrible. Minimums are high. Dealers are unenthused. They are obviously not making much money, that tells me. When dealers are making money, they are happy, they are chatty, they make the whole experience fun, and then they get tipped more. This must not be what is going on. The whole gambling experience there is now very dreary and depressing. At least that was my experience. </div><br /><div></div><div>The skank factor is way up. Dancing girls in skivvies are the biggest asset now in Vegas, not good solid entertain or fun gambling, but young girls in stripper costumes pretending to strip or pole dance everywhere - in gambling pits, on tables in restaurants, you name it. Perhaps I'm old or a prude, but it's not my cup of tea.</div><br /><div></div><div>Service - the absence of this in a tourist town is striking. The staff are clueless, not interested in helping, give you the feeling of trying to rip you off, and do not make you feel like you're on vacation. Pass. I can go to Santa Ynez or Paso Robles and feel like queen for a weekend in a small inn, dine in small cozy restaurants and go wine tasting, and feel like I'm on a real vacation instead of constantly battling with employees who are clearly hurting and being screwed over by an overzealous, awful management company in a town that's going to pot.</div><br /><div></div><div>I could go on. I looked at condos in this town because of the idea of investment property. You can buy a beautiful almost new condo in this town for less than $200,000 (unheard of in LA) but it is in a virtually empty building where no one else hardly lives, and the management fee for month is close to $900/mo. Pass.</div><br /><div></div><div>The soul and all that was good to me about Vegas has been sucked out of the place, and replaced with a skeleton. A blogger that I read and enjoy called Vegas Rex, who has that dark sense of humor I enjoy in writing, said something like Vegas used to be the spoiled girl who had daddy's platinum credit card; now she is some troubled girl who ran away from home and is turning tricks behind the truck stop. Distrurbing reference, but totally agree. Las Vegas used to give me an image and idea of fun, partying, gambling, short-term excess; now it has left me wanting to avoid it for the forseeable future.</div><br /><div></div><div>Give me San Francisco, Vancouver, Napa, Santa Ynez, Paso Robles, any of these places for a weekend instead.</div><div> </div><div>P.S. I did go to a Van Morrison concert and that was fun. Van Morrison singing Brown Eyed Girl - I didn't think I would get to see that in my lifetime, but I did!</div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-53274009798917303362010-10-15T12:40:00.001-07:002010-10-20T19:36:02.801-07:00Experience<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeQA2NPZEQa3K720t7-0UQPDWWqQH76SqrvHTcITYrhe2AeRVjBUK0OLqS-IrSvSGHU5U1Vui6Dy4wMZP5l8F5BPbeWG_M0IaMFxeF80gALPxX9_7cZeX8ervXAcpWakSVJXOKoys9KQ/s1600/Paso+Robles+May+2009+010.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529152541572544482" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeQA2NPZEQa3K720t7-0UQPDWWqQH76SqrvHTcITYrhe2AeRVjBUK0OLqS-IrSvSGHU5U1Vui6Dy4wMZP5l8F5BPbeWG_M0IaMFxeF80gALPxX9_7cZeX8ervXAcpWakSVJXOKoys9KQ/s320/Paso+Robles+May+2009+010.jpg" /></a>In recent weeks and maybe even months, it has occurred to me that I suddenly have come to be regarded as having <em>experience, </em>in the wine business, that is.<br /><br /><div align="left"><div><div>How did that happen? In a blink of an eye, I have 5 years experience in the wine biz, 2 years in sales on the "street," with 3 years in retail.</div><br /><div>Just last evening, I was working an event at a terrific wine bar in Santa Monica called Pourtal, and I met fellow wine people also pouring for Oktoberfest - a terrific line-up of German and Austrian red wines, including Blaufrankish, Zweigelt, St. Laurent, Portugeser, Spatburgunder, Samtrot and more. Fantastic, eclectic bunch of sales reps all selling some of the most interesting wines in the world. I met a new gal who recently started her own business importing and distributing wines after years in the business, and she asked how long I had been working for Rudi Wiest, and I said, "A little over 2 years." She replied, "Oh you've been doing it for a while then." Is two years a while? It seemed like yesterday that I started.</div><br /><div></div><div>I'm glad that the time I have spent in the business has been successful so far, and has made me appear experienced beyond the years. I'm grateful for that! I don't think 2 years doing outside sales is much time at all - I spent over a decade working in health care as a dietitian and I still don't consider myself very experienced in that, just moderately experienced. But in all, I'm happy to give people the confidence that I seem to know what I'm doing and seem to know a little about the products I sell.</div><br /><div>By the way, last night at the Oktoberfest tasting, the <strong>2007 Schnaitmann Samtrot </strong>rocked, if I may say so. Great velvety texture, nice integrated acidity along with a smooth rich red fruit body. This is a red wine variety that is a regional clone of Pinot Noir. It tastes like Pinot Noir, but also not like Pinot Noir. We're going to have this wine at the Fora Restaurant Wild Game and German Wine Dinner next week on Sunday Oct 24 and it will be terrific with the wild boar sausages!</div><br /><div>I also got to taste my cohort's Spatburgunders (Weinhof Scheu, from Schweigen, same village Friedrich Becker is from!), Pinot Noir from Austria (Juris), Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch, all very delicious red wines... more people should drink these. I'm glad there are other wine folks other there promoting the good word about these wines. And I love working an event with them - they are so much fun! Good seeing you Adam, Stetson, and Amy!</div></div></div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7039015367701651107.post-61857436658517335172010-10-09T10:02:00.000-07:002010-10-09T10:46:18.939-07:00End of summer impromptu wine & steak night at friend's house<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiG0XYAgDiiGaLBXFCk7ImKoWmNHqX_zDow2knhhgJjzn23qo_YjmmxBYFThuuPiofg5oL9S681KjBzEGqX-3zOrp529NiIoGVqtZVBWaixS7B78ydnejgyCdqe3WRoXOGep-MjWaGfLY/s1600/063.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526097872762842274" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiG0XYAgDiiGaLBXFCk7ImKoWmNHqX_zDow2knhhgJjzn23qo_YjmmxBYFThuuPiofg5oL9S681KjBzEGqX-3zOrp529NiIoGVqtZVBWaixS7B78ydnejgyCdqe3WRoXOGep-MjWaGfLY/s320/063.JPG" /></a> Is there anything better than dinner & wine at a friend's house? If there is, it's hard to remember what it could be when you are there. It really is the essence of fun and the good life.<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhst29_tyjdCqRHMsAyX9FwTwKFsB2OSeLaSEkkKPrPByeZANDNHol4tQX2LlJNyb-BL8qQaFoitNRplBFyhFxNiKOS-wu-v50uw7c0JtaRvgAENDtCQyliil_BA6VSZKiy-3Z7CwpN4/s1600/065.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526094135037701826" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhst29_tyjdCqRHMsAyX9FwTwKFsB2OSeLaSEkkKPrPByeZANDNHol4tQX2LlJNyb-BL8qQaFoitNRplBFyhFxNiKOS-wu-v50uw7c0JtaRvgAENDtCQyliil_BA6VSZKiy-3Z7CwpN4/s320/065.JPG" /></a>A couple of weekends ago, good friends Linda & Bennett had us over for what started as an initial idea of watching the Swedish movie "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," since we have been obsessed with the Stieg Larsson trilogy, read most of the three books, and heard that the movie was graphic and worth watching. Of course, mostly we heard it was worth watching from folks that had not read the book, so we didn't hear much "the book was better," which I'm sure is what most people say most of the time about good books..... but anyway, movie night on Sunday night turned into dinner, with Bennett firing up the grill and putting on delicious Chateaubriande slabs onto the hot grill along with autumn squash. But first, before that, we tucked into a delicious bottle of Rose that our friend Derek had left us, from a producer in Washington State we had never heard of.<br /></div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPTg5-Pbs0-jvzB5POxr81EBb89ZR4xgoJB7oLAkj7NsOhGo1t2Rh4Bfd911hHuTDjz1EdxVM4XjUeup-RcRI7iUTMxEAq0bYnN6d8s-uGNSTZeIZekECnp8F8FeNAIU1Ry4WuBua2xY/s1600/064.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526093955954860306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPTg5-Pbs0-jvzB5POxr81EBb89ZR4xgoJB7oLAkj7NsOhGo1t2Rh4Bfd911hHuTDjz1EdxVM4XjUeup-RcRI7iUTMxEAq0bYnN6d8s-uGNSTZeIZekECnp8F8FeNAIU1Ry4WuBua2xY/s320/064.JPG" /></a> As it happened that it was a rare hot day in this summer, we downed this puppy pretty quickly, the <strong>2009 Barnard Griffin Rose of Sangiovese. </strong>It was juicy, round, fruity, not too alcoholic, and fit perfectly with the weather and the home-grown tomatoes, savory dry salami, and addictive cured olives we were munching on.<br /><br /><div>Next up, we opened the red wine we brought, the <strong>2007 Burrowning Owl Meritage </strong>that my sister and her hubby painstakingly brought back for us from the winery in Oliver, British Columbia (that's in Canada, just north of Washington State!) This is a region I have not visited, but plan to do so in the near future. In fact, my plan is to do a driving trip through the Washington State wine regions (Walla Walla, and others) then drive up to Oosoyos (hottest town in Canada) and Oliver and do all that area. I think that would be quite rugged and fun. Especially now with all the wineries there (I'm sure the area was considerably more rugged back in the day when the winery craze had not yet hit).<br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqx3ZCHHvUHMAXhDqosEIohrUgunErwtTm_t-hoF_W88kW3AoaqNkuU0GpziGghy6PK9VObEOP59IcPNxHiAnQi4WyX41al05vuXDzbmVezR1q2OzVP9avA1AhSH2SKn_ccI8P6SxgsDc/s1600/067.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526093516555095202" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqx3ZCHHvUHMAXhDqosEIohrUgunErwtTm_t-hoF_W88kW3AoaqNkuU0GpziGghy6PK9VObEOP59IcPNxHiAnQi4WyX41al05vuXDzbmVezR1q2OzVP9avA1AhSH2SKn_ccI8P6SxgsDc/s320/067.JPG" /></a> The Burrowing Owl Meritage (Bordeaux-style blend, which, if I recall correctly, had all 5 of the Bordeaux grapes in it: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. Admission: I didn't remember exactly, and I wasn't sure if Petit Verdot was a <em>masculine ou feminine, </em>so I cheated and went to the Burrowing Owl website, and man, are those pictures of the winery stunning. I mean, if you like that sort of thing - nestled in the mountains, gently sloping vineyard, pristine interior of B.C. type scenery... if I learned anything in my recent weekend in Las Vegas, it is that appreciate more and more the look and feel of nature (I even admired the mountainous backdrop of Las Vegas more than I admired the neon and the gambling - new for me).</div><div> </div><div></div><div>Anyhoo, I do plan to go there sometime. A driving trip sounds like a nice adventure, especially combining it with a jaunt down to Washington State, whose vineyards I have yet to visit as well.</div><div></div><div>Oh, the wine: I found it oaky; perhaps it needed more time in the bottle to integrate its oak, but the fruit was fantastic, and it went terrifically with the steaks that had some terrific char on the outside and juicy middles. I have had Osoyoos Larose, another somewhat well-known B.C. wine from this general area, and I also found it to be on the oaky side - again perhaps I need to age these wines a bit longer before I will like them. But I do think definitely that these wines from B.C. see more new oak than French wines that I like, but perhaps they are as oaky as Napa wines? Perhaps that is more the model? I don't know. I haven't tasted too many Napa cabs as of late, but maybe I will soon...</div><div> </div><div></div><div>(From the website's tasting note, it indicates that this wine is aged 22 months in a mixture of French, American, and Russian oak, of which 25% is new. Perhaps what I taste is American oak, which I find stronger.)</div><div> </div><div></div><div>Next time, perhaps I will lay a bottle of Burrowing Owl down for a few years, or who am I kidding? Maybe I will try to source an older bottle that someone else has had the patience to lay down for a few years! :)<br /><br />After the Burrowing Owl, we moved on to something from Bennett's cellar - he stayed with the Pacific Northwest theme and pulled out a wine I have never seen before: <strong>2000 Cayuse "Camaspello." </strong>This is a Bordeaux-style blend with three Bordeaux varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc.<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTB__smYAJ_5ApXhtrQPWbufKLnDruNzjKSHFKV4Jh2x4V-7wGw6r2XA-d8FLgmFCqrtngc97hBJkItUxdvLGw06BSmwSRMn7n7ZHmOL8KKNfNrFiXfyf50_RYHXrqtRtiByKPwqlNDM/s1600/071.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526093347075239698" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQTB__smYAJ_5ApXhtrQPWbufKLnDruNzjKSHFKV4Jh2x4V-7wGw6r2XA-d8FLgmFCqrtngc97hBJkItUxdvLGw06BSmwSRMn7n7ZHmOL8KKNfNrFiXfyf50_RYHXrqtRtiByKPwqlNDM/s320/071.JPG" /></a> I really liked this wine, perhaps because it was a 10-year old.... not only am I starting to like nature more, I'm starting to like older wines more. It seemed complex and layered (those are things that come with age in good wine)....aside from that I don't have any more accurate tasting notes. I felt that it was old world in style, but my host thought it was quite a big wine, so perhaps I wasn't really tasting at that point, just enjoying. </div><div> </div><div></div><div>Later, Bennett told me he is selling this wine - he had a couple of bottles - if I was interested, and I was - in fact, we're going to a wine tasting at someone's house tonight and the theme is new world Bordeaux varieties (and I think we are tasting some 2000 Bordeaux too), so I thought this 2000 Cayuse would be kind of fun to open. So I got one from Bennett!</div><div></div><div>I don' have any more Burrowing Owl Meritage at this time (I have a Pinot Noir left) but if I did, I would bring that too.</div><div> </div><div></div><div>Wine - what fun. I look forward to an exciting tasting tonight as well, and I'll try to take some good notes and pics. </div></div></div></div></div>Nancy Deprezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00898821881106722982noreply@blogger.com2