The notion that Chateau Bellefont-Belcier 1998 (a combination of Merlot and Cabernet Franc from Bordeaux’s “right bank” region of St. Emilion) was produced in the same year that I graduated from college made me feel a bit like I was opening a time-capsule when I popped the cork…. not to mention, old.  But anyway, the effect of ten years’ time in a barrel/bottle was unmistakable from first whiff (a gorgeous whiff at that) through to swish and swallow.

We found the wine to be wonderfully complex, with layered aromas of green pepper, nutmeg, mellowed cherry, and hard apple cider, and flavors of apple, cherry, and nutmeg.   The acidity was remarkably brisk given the ageing, and that convinced us that this wine was probably still relatively young.

The merchant that sold us our bottle was adamant that it constituted one of the best values that he had in his shop.  Quite honestly, it was very easy for us to understand why.

Where to get it: We bought our bottle at Plumpjack Wines in Noe Valley, but note that the store was running out quickly.  You might also try using the Snooth search function under “Wine Locator” in the right hand column of this page, or visiting wine-searcher.com or winezap.com.

See below for the events that we recommend for this weekend and beyond.  Click on its title to visit the official web site.

• California
  • Sonoma
    • Sonoma Wine Country Weekend: August 29 - 31.  Sonoma food and wine… all weekend long.  If you have a Visa Signature card, you get a big break on the ticket price.  By the way, this time of year up there is gorgeous!
• Atlanta
  • Corks and Forks: August 30 - 31, 1 - 5 p.m. on both days; $35 in advance/$45 at the gate.  Frankly, it was this event’s catchy name that drew our attention more than anything else, but anyway, interesting wine and beer ought to pair well with food prepared by some of Atlanta’s top chefs.  We’d attend if we lived in the area, especially given the reasonable entry fee!
• New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.: Nothing of interest happening this week. Tune in next Wednesday!

Every once in a while, the bottle that we’ve selected as our Weekday Wine doesn’t live up to our expectations, and that was the case for the wine that we were hoping to write about today.  Fortunately, it’s rare, but it happens!

Tonight’s poor performer was a Chardonnay from Northern California’s Carneros region.  The wine had a beautiful straw color and excellent aromatics, but alas, it was far too mouth-puckeringly tart to be worthy of recommending.

No matter!  We’ve already got a stunner lined up for Thursday’s Weekend Wine post.

Tune in tomorrow for this week’s “Don’t Miss” Wine Events post.

Shortly after we moved out west from New York City, a dear college friend, who had been living in San Francisco for several years, organized, through Segway Tours of Sonoma, an intimate group tour of the lovely Sonoma Valley one sunny weekend morning.

After a brief introductory video and an instructional lesson (included within the ticket price), we were off on our two hour tour of the valley atop our Segways — or as they are more formally known, Segway Human Transporters.   Always following our instructor, we rode alongside vineyards through the meandering and peaceful back-roads of Sonoma.

For our tour (I have since learned that tours stop at one of three wineries — Buena Vista, Gundlach Bundschu, or Ravenswood), the final destination was Buena Vista Winery.  Buena Vista is a perfect “first” for any visitor to wine country.  The winery’s history alone makes it a special trip — Buena Vista was founded in 1857 and is California’s oldest premium winery.   Indeed, while the working winery of today is located in Carneros, the original, found just outside of the town of Sonoma, is now a California Historic Landmark.  The bucolic setting is ideal for a picnic, with a few inviting tables set in the shade just beyond the winery’s grand entrance.  And the wine is superb.

As we nibbled on a sampling of fine locally produced cheeses purchased by our instructor and sipped from our glasses of Pinot, New York City seemed worlds away, and we felt wonderfully content (at least in that carefree moment) with our decision to move to California.