TheWino.net

It's been a long time...

a long, long, lonely time.  I've been on a journey the past few months trying to determine what it is that will make me the happiest in my career.  I apologize for the lack of consistency with this blog but my drinking hasn't declined much (ago I'm on a beer kick but the truth is that I've started a regimented diet of vegetables, some fruit, dark chocolate, chocolate milk, nutella and gluten free, wheat like bread.  Oh yah, and cashew cookie Larabar's.  That doesn't provide much room for wine, though with a pregnant wife there is plenty of pasta dishes that require some shark like red wine.  We had a wonderful 2006 Argentinia Malbec.  That was a nice year, somewhat underrated in my opinion, and if you can get your hands on any Mendoza Malbec from that year you won't be disappointed. 

Drink Freely...

I recently left my job (no worries, it was a mutual decision - basically we didn't agree on the direction of the business, and rather fight we decided it was best to part ways) and thought one of the first things I'd do is spend more time writing on this blog.  Huh!  What a joke, while I had good intentions, the reality is looking for a job takes more time than just having one, and just as importantly, I needed down time from blogging after doing this as a regular hobby since spring of '05. 

Martinelli Visit & Tasting

Martinelli winery is located outside Santa Rosa on River road. Specializing in Chardonnay, Syrah & Pinot Noir, their winemaker is the renowned Helen Turley.

This was our third stop of the day, and while I'd like to say I spit, the truth of the matter is I rarely do. So needless to say I'm a little toasty.

The Chardonnays are nice, a lot of variety between the 6 different types but I personnally not a white lover.

The Pinot Noir's are earthy with pleasant nuisances. They have been known for their Pinot but nothing stood out to me.

The Syrsh's were very impressive, especially the 2005 Lolita Ranch Syrah ($75/bottle) which displayed ripe raspberries that stuck thru the palette. Also of note was a 100 year old vine Zinfandel called the Vigneto di Evo from the 2006 vintage which had a nice kick unusual for Zin and is high alcohol at 17.2%.

Bin 38, San Francisco Wine Bar

My sisters friends put together a birthday party at a Marina District wine bar called Bin 38. The first thing I noticed was the crazy disparity between women & men, a ratio that was close to 90/10 (take a note guys, get your ass to wine bars for happy hour or Saturday afternoon drinks - the game won't be on but you will have plenty of eye candy to entertain you).

The wine list was average, nothing blew me away but they had good diversity and plenty of high quality wines to choose from.

I had a Kingston Family (Chile) "Tobiano" Pinot Noir. Overall if was nice but a bit too acidic for an afternoon drink in Bin 38's back patio.

Jeff Runquist Wines Tasting Notes

We visited Jeff Runquist Wines, which sources grapes from around the state of California but put down permanent roots with a nice tasting room in Amador Valley, directly off Shenadoah Valley Road (E16). Runquist did a nice job with their tasting room (opened in the Spring of '08), its a rectangle bar with tasting space all around, they offer free tastings & serve up cheese plates on the house for every visiting group.  In my wine travels around the world, its rare to receive such solid service. 

Wine or Water?

This is one of those stupid things you receive in your spam email folder but given its relevance to wine drinkers I thought it was worth at least posting for posterity sake.

Wine 2.0?

Last Thursday, during the Web 2.0 Expo, there was an event called Wine 2.0 held at the Crushpad offices in the Dogpatch neighborhood of San Francisco.  It was hailed as a merging of technology & wine that would showcase both area wineries as well as technology related to the wine industry.  While there were plenty of wineries there was a lack of any interesting wine technologies sans Crushpad itself.  The event was a lot of fun but it was more of a boozing, singles party than a true wine tasting. 

Bella Circus

We spent Saturday at Bella Winery & Caves for their event, Bella Circus.  It was part of the Passport weekend, and Bella has made it a point to go all out with their events.  While we're fans of Bella, what brought us to the event was to see a family friend perform in the circus - a random coincidence. 

Revelation Meal

Tonight, hosting a small, small as in two couple dinner, I realized my wino voice has been stifled by this faux desire to be PC and poetic. The reality is I'm not such a good writer anyway, especially when I'm forcing it. No, if I want to be true to myself I need to be me.

Does Wine Define Me?

I had a small gathering over today for the tourney games, called it 'brats & elite eight games'. I carmelized onions, grilled up red & green peppers, bbq some Wisconsin brats and made a plantain starter from a vegetarian cookbook. But my mind was reflecting on how I was the only one pushing wine, while others were content drinking beer, I couldn't stop thinking about how much more interesting vino is.