This past Saturday, we followed our own advice in Wednesday’s “Don’t Miss” posting and decided not to miss the Pathway to Pinot Paradise in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Our first stop, of a total of four wineries visited, was Alfaro Family Vineyards.  This past summer, we had stumbled across a bottle of the 2005 “A” Estate […]

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This is hands down the best value in a Pinot Noir that I could ever expect to come across.  The only problem is that the $18.58 price tag existed for only 48 hours during Gundlach Bundschu’s 150th anniversary sale a couple of weeks ago.  As you might remember, we told you about it as it was happening, and those of us […]

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Here are the events we like this weekend.  Click on the title of an event to visit its official web site.

California

Santa Cruz Mountains

Pathway to Pinot Paradise: March 29, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.; $25 fee per person.  In our view, this barrel sampling and library wine event is the Mack Daddy of wine country festivals.  Although many of the participating […]

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This is not the thick, syrupy Syrah that many wine drinkers out there may be accustomed to.   Nope, we’re talking about the more elegant French version, which usually — but not this time – costs a lot more.   
The Domaine la Bastide Syrah 2005 has a beautifully attractive ruby color, and flavors and aromas of plum, earth, licorice, smoke, and black pepper.  […]

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Since we had the fortune of spending a decadent night at Calistoga Ranch (as we described two weeks ago), we decided to combine the trip with a visit to nearby Chateau Montelena.  We had recently finished reading Judgment of Paris by George M. Taber, the only reporter to have witnessed the 1976 blind tasting contest that […]

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In case you haven’t noticed, we love talking about wine.  But we also realize that much of the fun achieved from discussing wine is from hearing about other peoples’ experiences, and not just our own.  In fact, if you read Wine Rabbi often, you probably agree!
With the above in mind, we decided that once a month, beginning today, we’ll pose a […]

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In Chardonnays, we tend to prefer the lighter, crisper style of French Burgundies over the bigger bodied, creamier, and less acidic New World versions.  Still, every once in a while we’ll be taken by surprise by a bottle from the non-European regions that will defy our usual preference.  This was certainly the case with the Taz Santa Barbara Chardonnay 2006.   
So, ok, the Taz had some typical California characteristics […]

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Gosh, a sleepy weekend this will be on the wine scene.  We didn’t see anything to recommend — whether on the West or the East Coast – that was directly related to wine, which we’re sure has a lot to do with the big holiday coming up this Sunday.
Particularly for those of you living in the San Francisco Bay […]

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