Some of you will recall my pic-filled account of last year's fabulous Auction Napa Valley. This year I've been asked by the Napa Valley Vintners to tell you more about how you can attend this year's event (June 7-10), something I'm happy to do. This year the NVV has introduced a new four-day package called "The All-American Package" that includes attendance at all sorts of fun events throughout the weekend.

When you consider that tickets to the venerable Friday Festival (now called "Taste Napa Valley") - the place I snapped all the gorgeous pics of people, food, wine and general revelry last year - are already sold out, the All-American package starts to look even more attractive, as it gets you in there.

Here's an overview of the All-Am pass's perks:

Thursday
* Vintner invitations to Auction Eve kick-off winery events

Friday
* Daytime activities, including:
o Taste Napa Valley
o Barrel Tasting and Auction
o E-Auction
o Live Auction Lot Exhibition

Saturday
* Daytime hospitality event

Sunday
* Farewell Reception
This package includes one bidding number for use at the Barrel and E-Auctions, and the catalogues for the Barrel and E-Auctions.

Cost - $1,000. Not exactly chump change, but if you've got the means and the hankering to spend four days perpetually surrounded by fabulous food, wine and entertainment, it's your oyster.

Posted by Courtney at 05:57 PM • Comments (1)

Earlier this month I escaped to Sonoma for some much needed relaxation. I'd just turned in the final chunk of my book and was anticipating another round of edits when I just thought "why not?!" Or, perhaps more appropriately, "if not now, when??" Besides winery visits and other adventures, I decided to travel home by way of the Russian River Valley and then down the coast on Highway 1. Here are some of my favorite snaps from that journey.

When coolness & sunshine work together
Notice how sunny it is in Russian River (which is super close to the coast) and then how overcast it is once I get out to the coast. When looking back from the coast towards the Russian River, though, you'll see how the marine layer dissipates further inland (at least I hope this is apparent from the pics below, the 3rd, 4th and 5th shots from the bottom, to be precise). This is a great perspective on the cooling effects of the Sonoma Coast; it's this combination of coolness from the ocean and the abundant sunshine in the Russian River Valley that makes such outstanding wine. Also striking to me was the sheer ruggedness of the Cali coastline in these parts. Spectacular!

Posted by Courtney at 05:30 PM • Comments (0)

Geeze, louise - I've been gone for so long everyone probably wonders if I've dropped off the face. Hardly! Just been wrapping up the Hip Tastes book (why didn't someone send me the "your book will take you WAY longer than you expected" memo?!) and taking some much needed R&R as that chapter of my life wraps up. As I'm coming up for air I thought I'd check back in and share with everyone a little 411 on the most AMAZING Pinot I've had in a long time - definitely one of the best ever. It's stolen my heart, that's for sure, Bon Jovi style. What's it called? Thought you'd never ask...

2001 Archstone Vineyards Russian River Pinot Noir

Caveats first: I have absolutely no idea how you can find this wine. It was a gift, and the back label makes clear that only 29 cases of it were made, so my guess is that it's beyond the reach of most mere mortals. Does that make it any less worth hearing about? I certainly hope not, but just wanted to manage everyone's expectations before I start rhapsodizing.

So now that that's out of the way, a little more background info: Archstone is a little-known division of The Chalone Group, which was purchased by Diageo for a cool $260 mill in 2005, according to a 10K statement I found on Yahoo! Finance. The back label of the wine goes on to say that the 29 cases of it made were crafted exclusively for Shareholders of Chalone Wine Group. Somehow, it found its way into my hands with six years of bottle age. Eeeeexcellent, Smithers.

What's it taste like? Great question - I can't wait to tell you all about it. I'll start with what it looks like, though (the somm in me coming out) - it's definitely a Pinot with some age to it, which shows up in its brick-orange colored rim.

On the nose, it's absolutely fabulous: It smells like a mature wine (so that means you'll pick up "developed" notes like figs, raisins, and prunes). Besides all that there are layered scents of leather, clove, allspice, sage brush, poppy seed, and dark chocolate. I also pick up a little orange rind and brown sugar - sort of like you might smell in mulled wine.

The palate delivers the great balance you'd expect from a classy Pinot along with a soulful depth I'm just not used to in California versions of the grape. Flavors of dark fruits including brown-black plums, black-ripe cherries, and blackberries are backed up by hints of tobacco, more clove, espresso, herbs, and smoke. The finish wraps up with tobacco and wood char (in a good way! that's the oak talking, after six years of mellowing) and more black fruit, all spiked with a subtle note of allspice.

My ONLY gripe is that the alcohol is still noticeable - meaning the wine's a touch out of balance (it's 14.2%, after all). Scores a 96-98 rating in my book. Gives Cali Pinot a great name (and Chalone's to blame, bless them).

Posted by Courtney at 08:59 PM • Comments (1)