Name: Barta
Profession: Project Management
Hometown: Danville, CA

Meet Michelle Barta, one of my all time best buds and one of those people almost everyone calls by her last name. In fact, I'm not even sure I've ever called her "Michelle", something that strikes me as a little odd I suppose but makes her a perfect candidate for this week's HIP TASTE-r of the Week.

This pic was taken at one of my favorite San Fran haunts, Absinthe bar & restaurant. Absinthe is the kind of place where you can spend a whole Sunday afternoon noshing on yummy French-inspired eats and sipping delicious wine before you realize the sun's on its way down.

That's exactly the way things played out a couple of weeks ago when Barta and I enjoyed a beautiful bottle of Burgundy (how's that for alliteration in winespeak?) at the bar one sunny Sunday afternoon. The wine was fantastic - a Faiveley 1998 Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru - and we were so pleased with it we took a picture.

Barta, in addition to being beautiful and always impeccably put together (seriously!), is a budding wine enthusiast who's always game to try new things. Whether it's good Burgundy or the latest "freak" wine selection I pick up, I know I can count on her to give it a go.

And so you see, there's really nothing B-level about her - she's an A all the way!

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Posted by Courtney at 12:46 PM • Comments (0)

Name: Alina
Profession: Artist
Hometown: somewhere in the Ukraine

Alina is a regular at my salon in LA, "Nine Zero Two Two", located at, appropriately enough, 9022 Sunset Boulevard. And when I say regular I mean she's often there when I'm there, sometimes just hanging out.

When I brought my much beleagured stylist, Vanessa, a bottle of wine to share while she styled my 'do last visit, Alina joined us in a little toast to Friday afternoon and not being stuck in the bumper to bumper snafoo just outside the door.

I'd brought a bottle of Fresno State Winery red that I'd picked up at my folks' place on my way down to LA from the Bay Area, and this is what we drank. We had it in water glasses, since that's all that was on hand. The wine was a Rhone blend and, although it didn't exactly echo some of the complex flavors I've been pleased to find in Chateauneuf-du-Papes of the past, at that moment in time after a long week it was just right.

Alina admitted to not knowing much about wine but was enthusiastic about trying something new. For that she gets an A in my book.

9022: http://www.yelp.com/biz/UePzjPRysV_Tfy2o1cdrvA

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Posted by Courtney at 12:10 AM • Comments (0)

This past Tuesday I had the pleasure of tasting a number of excellent wines at the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association trade tasting in downtown San Francisco (subtitled, rather cutely, "Santa Cruz Mountains Wines Are Coming to San Francisco"). I particularly enjoyed the region's Chardonnays, although there were some standout Pinot Noirs and a Syrah to boot.

My absolute favorite people at the tasting were Dexter and Val Ahlgren of Ahlgren Vineyard, whose 2001 Ventana Syrah had black pepper and salami aromas bang-on typical of a Syrah from the Northern Rhone, the varietal's ancestral home in the south of France. It's so rare to find a California-grown Syrah that so truly fits the varietal's profile, and I couldn't have been more tickled to find it in my glass. As I enjoyed the Ventana I thought to myself, "the Ahlgrens are alright." Retails for about $24/bottle.

The winemakers generally forego filtration and follow a very hands-off winemaking philosophy, which I'm sure is much to the credit of this fabulous wine. What's more, the Ahlgrens are sweet, dedicated winemakers whose flair for enjoying life was all too obvious. Val and I kibbitzed about their upcoming trip to France (they'll be visiting most of the country's fab wine regions during a month-long trip!) and I've since been corresponding with them via email.

BTW: if anyone's interested in buying a winery in the Santa Cruz mountains, theirs is for sale and they're looking for someone fabulous to pass it along to! Visit http://www.aninavanalstine.com/listings/listings.html to learn more.

Moving right along, check out Burrell School's Cabernet Franc if you get a chance. It's strange and very Cab Franc-esque (true to the varietal), which is, if you like that stuff, probably perfect for you. And, their 2002 Pinot positively ROCKED, apparently netting 90 pts from the Pinot Report (not that I really follow that stuff, but that's what they said). Here's a pic of their sales guy, Anthony Kresge, and owner/winemaker Dave Moulton. Nice!

Mount Eden Vineyards had some dynamite Chards, particularly the 2001, which was apparently their "bastard" wine since it had higher acidity than most California Chards. While quite possibly consumer-scary, this wine was just fine for me, with a great undercurrent of crisp but pleasant acidity complemented by still substantial oak and beautiful floral aromas.

And, what would a Santa Cruz tasting be without RIDGE? The old player was there in full force, and their sales guy remembered me from ZAP, which was cool. Loved everything I had there - no one wine was a show stopper, but they were all damn good. It's what we've come to expect from Ridge, and they definitely didn't disappoint.

And finally, some miscellaneous crowd gossip. This guy with the camera. He was so weird - he wouldn't tell me his name, although he introduced himself to my sister as Bruce. He kept telling me his camera was better than mine, and, I'm sure it was but, whatever? I was there to talk wine, not shutter speed.

He DID, however, take me over to the Hallcrest table, where I tasted the best wine of the day, the Potter Valley Powerhouse, I think it was called. Amazing depth for a California Pinot. Funky, earthy, but fruity and deLIcious! Thanks, random camera dude.

Here's Neil Mechanic from Arlequin wine shop next door to Absinthe in Hayes. Really nice guy, has pointed me towards some great wines in the past.

Eric Quanstrom from Appellation America, a great up and coming site dedicated to unearthing the secrets behind American appellations' uniqueness - what some call terroir. Super nice guy.

And, this chick (on the left in pink) had bad tasting manners. She came up behind me and literally shoved me aside like twice to get to the tasting tables. Bad tasting karma, babe. PS - that's my sister on the right. She's a Hip Taste-r, and definitely not a shover!

http://www.scmwa.com/

http://www.ahlgrenvineyard.com/

http://www.appellationamerica.com/

http://www.burrellschool.com/

http://www.mounteden.com/

http://www.ridgewine.com/#home

http://www.hallcrestvineyards.com/

http://www.arlequinwine.com/

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Posted by Courtney at 09:22 PM • Comments (0)