What an absolutely gorgeous day. Enjoy this lovely orchid I stashed in a used Jurancon bottle, in celebration of a mellow March departure. On, April!

Posted by Courtney at 05:26 PM •

Woo hoo! I'm thrilled to announce my contribution to this month's issue of Maxim, that venerable publication of scantily clad pretty young things and useful man tips on everything from screws to booze. Cue moi - I selected the wines and did much of the writing for the "Quaff On the Cheap!" piece in the Expert section of the March issue. I chose my fav five widely-available inexpensive reds, which they photographed for the very cool piece, and wrote up my thoughts on why they'll appeal to the mag's readers. Read on for the list of wines and a link to check it out! ;)

My picks for Maxim:

Marques de Caceres Crianza Rioja $12
Bogle Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel $11
Penfolds Koonunga Hills Shiraz-Cab $9
Casa Lapostolle Rapel Valley Merlot $13
Alamos Mendoza Malbec $11

Read it here (.pdf)

Posted by Courtney at 04:33 PM •

When I met Suzanne Phifer Pavitt at a recent conference in Napa, I knew I liked her immediately. Tall, blonde and friendly with a self assuredness amiably matched by a good dash of down-home Southern Charm (from Georgia, this one), Suzanne was thrilled to tell me about her new wine - Phifer Pavitt (Date Night) - that she lately launched with her husband, Shane Pavitt. And when I tasted (Date Night) - named for the weekly date nights during which the couple devised the plan for their own label - I was thrilled to find it equally charming.

Brimming with lovely aromas of toasty oak, caramel-and-chocolate-covered coffee beans, black cherries, star anise and cocoa, the full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon delivers big on the palate, too, with delicious flavors of ripe black fruits, cocoa nib, brown sugar and blackberry jam. In spite of its heft, the wine's super-rich, almost dessert-wine-like concentration is in balance, and the finish is loooong. I scored it 92 points. One to check out, although I don't recommend waiting around for a date night - this wine will win you over ANY NIGHT.

If you can afford it, that is ;) - 300 cases made, $75/bottle.

Posted by Courtney at 03:52 PM •

I was pretty psyched when BUZZLogic - a SF-based technology consulting firm specializing in social media - asked me to participate in this week's video log about my blogging exploits. Shot at District wine bar in SoMa last week, the eight-minute spot features social networking banter against the backdrop of a wine tasting (Cold Heaven Viognier, yum). My only gripe - why did I have to wear the "bag" dress? Seems to have added some virtual poundage, eek.

Check it out here!

Posted by Courtney at 10:19 PM •

Just want to give a shout out to the fabulous photogs from my San Fran book launch party last fall. Lensman-about-town John Curley - I swear this guy is everywhere! - did a fantastic job and is as entertaining as he is talented. Check out his Flickr page here - his Burning Man pics are especially cool. And Curley's pal Tracy Bugni - who goes by MS Trouble on Flickr - is terrific, too. Check out her shots here - the portraits in her Favorites section are incredible.

And you can see all the snaps from the launch party at the Picasa album. Thanks again for the support, John & Tracy!

Posted by Courtney at 11:03 AM •

"As with so many things in life, trends in food and wine come and go. One season, chefs scramble to pair Riesling with faddish new foam sauces, the next they're matching up Cabernet with the likes of PB&J. But a handful of tried-and-true pairings consistently rise above these of-the-moment fads, delivering the unsurpassed pleasure that can only result from an absolutely perfect marriage of food and wine. Read on for my favorites, and bon appetit.

Champagne & Caviar
With a tagline like "Champagne wishes & caviar dreams" it's no wonder the popular TV show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous was such a hit. But this famous food and wine pair have more in common than just air time..."

Continue reading my latest Top 10 list at WineCountry.com, about the all-time best food and wine matches.

Posted by Courtney at 11:57 AM •

Do you ever get that feeling that you've done something wrong? That you've somehow ignited a really lethal chain reaction of bad karma that's impossible to get out from under? For me, this has for some reason taken place (the alleged bad deed followed by said bad karma response) and is causing an inexplicably large number of wines I'm opening to be "off." In the last few weeks I'd say close to 30% of all the wines I've cracked have been oxidized, corked or infected with brett, the icky spoilage yeast that some un-shy women at my last tasting declared smelled like a "stinky baby diaper." And it did.

But I wonder - Perhaps it wasn't something I did, but a recent spooky event that took place? Like the lunar eclipse? (These same well-plied women insisted it had to be due to the lunar eclipse.) Whatever it was, I'm crossing my fingers its ill effects go away soon.

Or, perhaps I should appeal to some arbiter of wine spoilage to let me off the hook? After all, I didn't get into this business to drink icky wine. But where to find this unidentified sketchy wine guru??? Oy vey.

Posted by Courtney at 10:42 PM • Comments (0)