After what may seem an eternity to the most dedicated Hip Tastes fans, I'm thrilled to report that A BUNCH of terrific new SF events are up at hiptastes.com! I'll be posting more in the upcoming weeks about our brand new lineup of Saturday School and (*new*) Night School classes at two fabulous new venues in SoMa, but meanwhile, I want to share the custom illustration I had created for the next Friday night soiree, The Salty & Sweet Tasting! It'll all go down Friday, March 28th @ Sugar Cafe, and all the dets are available at hiptastes.com.

Get your tickets before this one sells out!

Posted by Courtney at 06:44 PM • Comments (0)

If a prominent French Champagne producer's putting the American flag on a bottle of bubbly isn't proof of improving French-American relations, I don't know what is. This new, limited edition single serving offering from Pommery's design-forward "POP" (Product of Pommery) line of bubblies is just what it appears to be - a visual tribute to Americana, all the way from the blustery vineyards of northern France.

Made in a slightly sweeter style than typical Pommery Brut bubblies, POP America is being billed as the perfect drink for 2008 Fourth of July celebrations and summer BBQs, and I have to admit - a bucket of it would make a smashing centerpiece at a luxe Fourth gathering. Why luxe? Because at $13.99 per single serving bottle, these are pricey bubbs. But then again, who can put a price on independence?

Posted by Courtney at 05:35 PM • Comments (0)

Just stumbled upon this video of another interesting young guy (already a good theme) doing something - er - different with wine. Can't really say this stimulated the sommelier in me, but it's good for a quick laugh, as is the "About" page on the guy's site, SundayDrinker. What's the point? According to the site, "If we at Sunday Drinker can get 10,000 members we can finally be recognised as an official religion and take steps to have every Monday morning off as a religious holiday [for drinking]."

Not a bad idea, if you ask me. Watch the video here at sfist; the title you see above the pic is also theirs.

Posted by Courtney at 06:00 PM • Comments (0)

As far as we're concerned, the Academy Awards are far more than just a glitzy star fest - they're one of the year's best excuses to break out a wine lineup as varied as the pictures and people being considered for the elusive Oscar. And whether your perfect pairing takes a cue from the films themselves or from something altogether more frivolous (yes, we're talking gowns here), come along for the ride as we riff on the program itself and some of this year's most celebrated films, suggesting wine pairings as we go. The envelope, please!

Verdicchio & Valentino

Viewers who think the red carpet is the real show come Oscar Day, listen up: The only thing better than seeing a superbly dressed starlet emerge from her limo is taking it all in while sipping a red carpet-ready wine. We like crisp, mineral-laced whites like...

Continue reading my latest Top 10 List at WineCountry.com

Posted by Courtney at 12:18 PM • Comments (0)

Not sure how this guy escaped my notice until now, but I was just tipped off to his site, WineRendez-vous, and I must say AWESOME! Everyone, meet Olivier Magny, a hilarious young French certified sommelier and entrepreneur (some of that sounds familiar...) who's started up what can best be described as the French version of WineLibraryTV. In this episode, he sabors a bottle of bubbly in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower (seriously). There's a great intro with him in some sort of rapper-cum-somm getup, then really cool French music before the saboring. Plus, he's wearing pink. (!!) Love it. Other videos show him in cool Parisian locales (e.g. Place de la Concorde, Luxembourg Gardens), so each short is also like a little window into Paris.

Check it out, and apparently he's got a book in the works, too, so I bet we'll be hearing a lot more about him before long.

Posted by Courtney at 09:48 AM • Comments (0)

Dearest readers - I'm sorry I've been away for so long. I promise to start posting lots again very soon, and in the mean time please enjoy this snap from my recent NY book release party and a Valentine's-appropriate ditty I just wrote for WineCountry.com. Cheers, CC ;)

"Once upon a time, there was a wine so big, so bold and so outrageously outsized that its fans felt ashamed admitting it was their favorite. "Oh no," naysayers would insist, "a wine that big just can't be good with food. Why, it's so ridiculously over the top as to hardly even resemble what I think of as a wine."

Despairingly, lovers of Petite Sirah would retreat to enjoy their prodigious darling in the privacy of their own homes, away from the prying eyes of fellow drinkers who insisted that a wine must have impeccable balance - meaning it could harbor neither outsized fruit nor high-octane alcohol - in order to be enjoyed..."

Continue reading my latest article at WineCountry.com

Posted by Courtney at 02:37 PM • Comments (1)

There's tons of stuff to do in wine country around V-Day, including romantic treks in seaside botanical gardens in Mendo, tango lessons in Temecula and wine and food pairing in Placerville. Now, if I wasn't single myself I might've been a little more enthusiastic about penning my latest Top 10 List at WineCountry.com, Top Ten Class Acts for Valentine's Day.

But still, it's done and - if I do say so myself - there's some pretty sweet stuff on the list, so check it out if you're still looking for something to do with your honey this weekend. Just please - don't go and tell me about how great it all was later - I think that might be overkill for this singleton. Anyway, I'll probably be incommunicado, holed up in my apartment with a bottle of insanely good wine - there's got to be something good that comes from this holiday, after all.

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