oh so compact cube!
Syrah is juicy and hot
simple but pleasant

*props go out to my buddies at Red Wine Haiku blog, for inspiration for this piece

When I was home for Mother's Day my mom gave me a Wine Cube she picked up at Target on a shopping trip. Isn't it fantastic the ways moms will continue to buy you random stuff that makes them think of you, even when you're a confirmed adult? Thanks, Mom.

The cube I tried has the equivalent of two 750 mL bottles inside and fits snugly into a small space in your frige. I really enjoyed giving it a whirl, especially since it's so cute. I would definitely take the cube along with me to a party this summer - it's good enough to not be declared bad on the spot (can't you picture them saying "oh horror! boxed wine!"?) but forgettable enough you won't mind if it's scarfed by a drunken party-goer or two when you're getting your BBQ outside.

What else to say about this thing? It's available exclusively at Target, and it's inexpensive - $9 for the equivalent of two bottles. I tried the 2003 California Cabernet-Shiraz blend, and they've got a few more types available, including Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. But what I really like about the cube is that it's further evidence of good ole' Tar-jay's successful movement into the realm of hip and cool stuff. First they had Isaac, now they've got the cube.

The taste? Really simple, but not bad. I didn't think the stuff really merited a serious tasting note, so, taking a cue from my buddies over at Red Wine Haiku blog, I thought I'd try my hand at the medium to describe the stuff succinctly and cutely. Appropriately, in other words.

Enjoy!

Posted by Courtney at 08:37 PM • Comments (1)

The saying USED to go, "to make a small fortune in the wine business you've got to start with a big one." No more! With the WinePod from Provina you can now make your own wine with very little fuss and, fantastically, rather little up front capital, relatively speaking.

The MBA in me just couldn't resist crunching the numbers to see just how much capital it would cost to produce, say, a single bottle of your very own Cabernet Sauvignon. Armed with some stats on the purchase price of the Pod and the key ingredient - grapes - I set out to come up with an estimate. Here's what I came up with: $53 a bottle.

Yep, just $53 a bottle.

That's what I estimate it would cost you on a per-bottle-basis to make about 65 bottles of your VERY OWN California Cabernet Sauvignon using the Provina WinePod. Not all that bad, really, compared to what other bottles of the stuff fetch on supermarket and wine store shelves these days.

Here's how the numbers break down:
Pod: $1,999
Grapes: 640 (160 lbs @ $4/lb)
Barrel: 230
Bottling: 230
Miscellaneous shipping fees and taxes: 370

TOTAL: $3,469
Per bottle for 65 bottles: $53.37

Compare that to the millions of dollars it would otherwise take to launch your own winery.

Note: I didn't include labor in my calculation, which is, of course, your own hard earned spare time away from the office/family/gym/mall/whatever. I could certainly quantify that based on an opportunity cost method, but to do so would probably render the cost much higher and, at the end of the day, maybe there's no other way you'd rather spend your spare time than tinkering with this, er, egg shaped "winery" and so I decided it's a moot point.

Worth it?
So, now that it's (somewhat) affordable (perhaps more so if you drink $50 bottles of wine on a regular basis) to produce your own wine, do you think it's worth it? Meaning, do you actually want to make your own wine at home in this...egg? The beat about this thing is that some pretty illustrious winemaking types contributed to its development, and there's also word out that some of these same winemakers will be on-call so to speak to consult with at-home winemakers following the product's summer 2006 launch.

And, for those of you tech geeks out there who are wondering just how the thing works, allow me to explain to the best of my ability: the thing comes with software called Wine Coach, which the makers are trumpeting as "the first interactive winemaking software ever developed." You collaborate electronically with "real" winemakers who help you decide what to do with the Pod/egg , and when. They go on to say that the software is "like having your own personal consulting enologist wherever and whenever you like."

The thing thinks on its own too, wirelessly connecting to your home computer to do...something. It'll even guide you through the winemaking process, alerting you via alarm if you've missed anything or if you need to adjust the wine's pH level. George Snell, founder of Provina, said of his new gadget in a recent San Francisco Chronicle article: "the WinePod is more sophisticated than 99 percent of all wineries in the world. It virtually eliminates winemaking mistakes."

Which brings me to my opinion of the product: it just seems awfully squeeky clean to me. From its appearance to its high tech wireless connectivity to its all-in-one no mess cleanliness it all seems too...easy. If you want to make wine, you ought to get a little bit of juice on your hands, have to muck a few tanks,...you know, get a little dirty. This gizmo eliminates all that - I can't see what you really do to the stuff besides dump in the grapes and fiddle with a few controls.

But, to be fair, the other side of the argument is that, until now, there were few other viable means for folks like you and me (i.e. us duds sans enology degrees) to make our own juice. Without a somewhat decent knowledge of chemistry and...well, winemaking, there's really no way for us to get from juice to wine on our own, at home. The Provina WinePod provides that possibility for the first time, although I'm skeptical of just how much of a personal touch you can leave on a product that's been, for all essential purposes, created by an all-enclosed machine that tells YOU what to do.

Other things you can buy for $3,469 (more or less):
I thought it would be fun to look at other ways you can spend a chunk of change like that. Here are some of my favorites, in order of descending impressiveness to me:

- 1987 Porshe 924, red - just like the one Jake drove in Sixteen Candles! - $3,500
- 6 night stay for two at Bikini Bootcamp, at Tulum, Mexico's eco chic Amansala Resort - $3,684
- Square vintage styled lambskin Chanel bag, in periwinkle, and Christian Laboutin Linen Platform Wedges with periwinkle detail - $3,670, together
- Single bottle 1961 Chateau Latour, awarded 100 pts by Parker ("liquid perfection") & WS - starting bid $3,100

The verdict? If you've got the cash lying around, feel a hankering for a post-modern-looking egg-shaped almost-fully-automated wine making device, AND you've got the time to tinker, why not? Knock yourself out.

www.personalwinemaking.com

Posted by Courtney at 02:35 PM • Comments (2)

I recently had the great pleasure of visiting one of the best estates on Napa's Spring Mountain, Smith Madrone. I'd connected with the two brothers who own and run the operation, Charlie and Stu Smith, through Stu's wife, Julie Ann, with whom I recently became acquainted. Julie Ann said that if I was ever in Napa looking for a good spot to visit and taste, I ought to consider her husband's place. When I planned a trip earlier this month, I reconnected and made an appointment. Boy am I glad I did! In going to Smith Madrone I felt like I took a step back in time.

The first clue was this gorgeous and mysterious cave entrance I drove by just before I got to the winery. Charlie Smith, who welcomed me to the winery and showed me around, says it's an old pre-Prohibition relic. They were making wine on Spring Mountain over a hundred years ago, he reports; further evidence of activity up on the hill way back when can be seen in these ancient olive trees that reside in the midst of their 200 acre property. They, too, are more than 100 years old.

Here's a closer look at the beauties. Takes a long time for olive trees to get that big!

One of Napa's better known mountain appellations, Spring Mountain AVA comprises 8,600 acres of territory - of which just about 2,000 are planted to vines - situated between 400-2,600 feet above sea level on the western side of the Napa Valley above the town of St. Helena. Views from many of the vineyards on the east-facing slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains are spectacular - as this pic, taken at Smith Madrone of the floor of Napa Valley below - attests.

The most popular vinous offerings from celebrated Spring Mountain wineries including well known names like Cain and Pride are Cabernet Sauvignon-based. But, surprisingly, the real story at Smith Madrone had to do with the white wines I tasted. Specifically, the 2004 Chardonnay and the 2005, 2001 and 1995 Rieslings were all amAzing. More about them later.

Here's a picture of Charlie Smith, who makes the wine at Smith-Madrone. Charlie is fantastically entertaining and highly quotable; I found myself jotting down funny things he said throughout my time there. A sampling: on why wine undergoes a funky period often referred to as "bottle shock" just after bottling: "wine is like a nice lazy dog - it just likes to lay around [in the barrel]." And, about the freaky looking tools hung up on the wall next to the tasting table, "those are for our S&M room downstairs."

And, I was tickled to discover later when I looked at the Smith Madrone website that Charlie is a world-class croquet player. From the site: "Charles Smith... currently holds the World Croquet Federation record for the longest single game: at the World Championships in Newport, Rhode Island in 1992, he played a 7 1/2 hour match against the Japanese champion, which, thankfully, he won."

Funny, that never came up during my visit.

What DID come up, however, was a lot about winemaking, old Napa, and life in general. Charlie's something of a philosopher, a fact evidenced in this charming sign he has hanging up next to barrels in the winery. "We are all mortal until the first kiss and the second glass of wine. - Eduardo Galeano." I mean, COME ON. How great is that?!

Now, back to the wines. The 2004 Smith Madrone Chardonnay, aged for 10 months in 100% new French Oak and made from 100% estate grown fruit, was my favorite wine of the entire Napa trip. It. was. simply. fabulous. Charlie reports that they've gone back to a "big" style and are using malolactic fermentation and lees stirring - the whole nine yards - in making the stuff.

I certainly tasted lotsa caramel and hazelnut you'd expect from good French oak, but I also got lovely apricot, kiwi, peach, pear, banana and honey flavors that could only come from the fruit. There was a lovely burst of acidity on the mid-palate that made all the other big-ness of the wine totally okay - delicously in balance, in fact. They made about 1,000 cases of the stuff, which clocks in at 13.7% alcohol and retails for around $27.00. TRY IT!

Now, the '05 Riesling, also from estate fruit. WOW. Here are my tasting notes, verbatim: "nose: grapefruit, flowers! like a buncha lilies. Also that green quality, like sugared grapefruit and honeysuckle; mandarin orange. Candied lemon zest, honey, apricot." When I read Charlie the notes he was thrilled, because apparently they use a German yeast that makes the stuff smell like grapefruit. 12.9% alcohol, .9-1% RS.

Observing my enthusiasm, Charlie reached for something still more special next: a bottle of the 2001 Smith Madrone Napa Valley Riesling, which won Food & Wine Magazine's 2003 award for best Riesling under $20. More golden in color than the '05 thanks to bottle age, the stuff was fabulous, just fabulous. The nose was redolent with layer upon layer of all sorts of different stuff, from candied citrus and marzipan to petrol, orange zest, clover, melon and baked apricot.

The palate was unexpectedly restrained, however, with very zippy acidity given the stuff's age. Green apple and lemon squirt dominated the mix, and I certainly agree this stuff will continue to improve with age - up to 10 years, even. Charlie reports they're going to re-release some of it exclusively to their wine club in about 18 months - something I certainly think worth joining for.

We went on to taste the '95, which was showing cantaloupe, the same sugared lime and grapefruit qualities, as well as tropical fruits like banana and kiwi. YUM. Did I mention that Riesling is my favorite variety? Basically, I was in heaven.

Here's a final pic of Charlie, who, if you look very carefully, is sillhouetted in the giant doorway of his winery, chatting to someone outside. Inside, I was savoring one of his amazing Rieslings and thinking that, if this is the kind of kindness, hilarity and genuine sincerity you could expect from every winemaker in Napa I'd be here even more. What a treat.

Some additional pics: the very orange-bright volcanic soil prevalent at Smith Madrone, old-ish Merlot vines - look at those rocks!, the tasting table.

www.smithmadrone.com
by appt only: 707.963.2283

Posted by Courtney at 01:16 PM • Comments (0)

There's nothing quite like a wine tasting on a Monday to get a week started right. Which is the way last week started for me, with a lovely tasting called TASTE Sonoma at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts downtown.

The tasting featured a trade portion open to the press and trade only in the afternoon followed by an "open to the public" session later in the evening. I did double duty and went to both. Call it wine penance. This girl paid up at TASTE Sonoma.

It happened like this: I planned to attend the trade portion and skedaddle home afterward to catch up on some work. Work earlier in the day pushed my arrival at the trade portion later and later, however, until I barely caught an hour's worth of the early session.

With my sister en route to the public tasting after work it only made sense for me to stick around and taste some more wine, I reasoned. We could do family time and wine time AT THE SAME TIME. Talk about killing two birds.

And so. The tasting was very nice, as I said earlier. I'd love to tell you about my favorite wine which, as you may have guessed, I had the opportunity to try twice since I was there for, ahem, quite a long time. But first, here I am with Greg O'Flynn , proprietor of the California Wine Merchant in the Marina and someone I run into at lotsa these events. I always enjoy chatting with Greg about the wines and the crowds. I actually ran into Greg again today at another tasting, but I digress...

My absolute favorite was a Chardonnay from Medlock Ames , a winery I'd never heard of. Here I am pictured with Ames Morison, the winemaker, and Kenneth Rochford, "the marketing guy". Medlock Ames is a small winery located at Bell Mountain in Sonoma's Alexander Valley. Not only were these guys a lot of fun to talk to, they pursue something called "environmentally sustainable" farming, which immediately caught my ear as a responsible-sounding way of making wine.

Indeed, beyond the vineyard (where they farm organically), Medlock Ames takes their unique philosophy into the winery, where they use native yeasts and gravity flow winemaking techniques. Plus, look at the very cool frames Ames is sporting. Hip as well as responsible. Now we're talking.

And the wine! The 2004 Alexander Valley Chardonnay was hands down my favorite of the tasting. Made with 70% new French oak, the wine was rich but still smooth and had a healthy dose of acidity like so many of the Alexander Valley Chards I've been enjoying lately. It was a sheer pleasure. I enjoyed their Merlot as well, the last vintage made from 25 year old vines about to bow out from phylloxera infestation.

Time for a food break. There was some very yummy food at TASTE, although not as much in terms of quantity as I might have hoped. And, the hot prep food was crowded together in a corner of the outside area, making for a serious bottleneck when the tasting was at its most crowded.

The purveyors made up for the crowds with excellent eats, however. The best to be had were the delicious salumi and sausage offerings from Geyserville's Santi Restaurant. Here's a pic of Dino & Ari from Santi, clutching their good stuff. An Italian friend of mine assured me this was "the real deal" - so good he's considering having it shipped to him on a regular basis just to get his fix.

Tripe! Also from Santi. When was the last time YOU had tripe? Love the weirdness of it.

Fritz and Frick. I love the way that sounds. Luckily for me I loved both their wines, so I get to use them together now in the same sentence. Here's Clayton Fritz, the head of the operation and a really nice guy. His 2005 Russian River Sauvignon Blanc was excellent - very crisp with good mouthfeel - as was his 2004 RR Pinot Noir. Both are highly recommended.

Frick's 2002 Mendocino County Carignane was my second favorite wine of the day after the aforementioned Chardonnay. Made from vines over 100 years old and just $16 a bottle, this beauty was redolent with earth and dark fruit. I would enjoy sipping this with all sorts of foods, although the handy notes they had at the table suggest pairing it with duck pate, pasta marinara, salami sandwich and sharp cheeses, amongst other things. Covers a lot of territory, apparently.

Frick's 2000 Estate Syrah from Owl Hill Vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley was also delicious. They recommend pairing it with lamb shank, grilled squash, turkey and goat cheese. Hmm. Not sure I see the goat cheese thing but everything else sounds spot on to me.

Also of note: there were these cute signs reminiscent of street signs pointing out where wines from the various sub regions could be found. I was oblivious to them until my sister said, "I'm tired of Dry Creek, I want to go to Russian River." And I thought, "what is she talking about?? We're in San Francisco, for christssake." Then she pointed at the sign, and I had to smile. Apparently I was so seduced by the wine and salumi I hadn't thoroughly cased the decor, including these signs.

Quickie: There was some fashion on display at TASTE. Just a little reminder that we were, after all, in the big city.

Humboldt Fog. Was ever a cheese this good? Every time I see the stuff it's in some sort of nearly demolished state, as this example is here. This display must surely confirm the enormous popularity of the Fog. It's the BOMB, in my book. Too bad I didn't get any here.

And finally: Inman Family Wines. I really enjoyed their 2004 Russian River Valley Pinot Gris. It was beautifully balanced and had zippy citrus notes underpinned by a pleasant almond note I found really appealing. This is a wine I could drink every day. Gris doesn't get much attention around here, but if this stuff is an example of what's possible in cooler parts of California, I hope I'll be seeing more soon.

A few more pics, including Claire with Dan Glover (love the name), the new assistant winemaker at Dutcher Crossing and previously of Clos du Bois, guy tasting in the crowd, more good eats and more Medlock Ames. Until next time.

www.sonomawine.com

Posted by Courtney at 08:16 PM • Comments (1)

For as long as I can remember lovely rural Sonoma county has been eclipsed by its more glitzy neighbor Napa Valley. Which is why I was thrilled to find that Taste of Sonoma SF - a tasting and showcasing of the area's finest wines - will be held in the city next Monday.

Made up of six fertile valleys including the well known Alexander, Russian River and Dry Creek valleys, Sonoma is arguably the most prolific winemaking region in California. And the area is well on its way to achieving a well deserved reputation for high quality as well as high quantity output.

Sonoma can claim 7 of the top 40 wines of America according to Paul Lukacs, author of The Great Wines of America, and its bottles are appearing more and more frequently on celebrated wine lists throughout the country and abroad.

All of which means there's lots to expect from Monday's event.

Chefs using Sonoma inspired ingredients will be prepping foods to pair with the wines, and there are a number of other perks worth mentioning:

K&L Wine Merchants - my fav in SF - will be on-hand with recommendations on how to build your personal cellar.
Silent Auction will benefit the Junior League of SF - another of my fav organizations.
Live music and did I mention great wine?

Should be a really nice evening. Pics to follow.

Here's the 411:
For more information: www.sonomawine.com
Buy Tickets: www.ybca.org or 415.978.ARTS (2787)
May 8 | 6-9 pm | Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission St. at 3rd, San Francisco
tele ?s: 707.573.0974

--------

Posted by Courtney at 03:34 PM • Comments (0)