Just a little shout out to the great man who worked so hard - and did so much - to make a name for California wine. Not only did Mondavi run his eponymous winery for decades, he helped introduce Americans of all stripes - not just the snobs! - to the modern wine lifestyle. For more on this legend, check out Alan Goldfarb's recent article on Mondavi at Appellation America.

What a fantastic guy. We'll miss him.

Click here to read my list of his top contributions to wine at WineCountry.com

Posted by Courtney at 05:55 PM

Enjoyed this new article at DivineCaroline about women's physiology vis a vis that of men and how this impacts our ability to compete with guys in, oh say, a drinking contest. The results aren't in our favor (sorry, ladies) unless you happen to be a very buff woman paired off to compete with a fat guy of roughly your same height. Here's a brief excerpt from the piece, and link to check out the rest:

"Winning a drinking contest, or just being able to gauge how many drinks you can have while still remaining vertical, depends on numerous factors, including regularity of drink, that day's food and sleep intake, and genetics. But based just on gender...,

Photo Credit Simone Van Den Berg | Dreamstime.com

Continue reading "Buff Women, Drink Those Blubbery Dudes Under the Table" »

Posted by Courtney at 05:50 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

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)

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)

Okay, okay, so this is NOT Jude Law, but my new pal Sharif looks so much like the actor I couldn't resist. And, as an amusing aside, I actually HAVE had a tete-a-tete with Jude Law once upon a time at a small Malibu bash, although I doubt he remembers me (sigh). But back to this pic - last night Sharif came along with some friends to keep me company (and eat my leftovers) as I tasted through the entire menu at a SF resto where I'll be giving the wine list a face lift in the upcoming months. More on that later, as the list comes to fruition. For now, cheers, and thanks for being a good sport, Sharif!

Posted by Courtney at 06:10 PM • Comments (0)

Whoever said hospitality is dead in the wine industry clearly hasn't been to Mendocino. Well, I haven't either (I know, clearly a little embarrassing for someone who gets up to Napa & Sonoma on a regular basis!), but I DID get a great sense for the friendly people and delicious wines of this exciting region at last Saturday's Mendocino By the Bay tasting here in the city. I'll post more on my discoveries - both vinous and lifestyle/travel-oriented - from my regular column at WineCountry.com in the upcoming weeks, but for now I'll leave you with this pic of Mendo man-about-the-vines Casey Hartlip of Eaglepoint Ranch, who shows off his commitment to his award-winning Coro Mendocino wine (very cool story behind this forthcoming) by way of this tattoo. Now that's dedication, ya'll.

Posted by Courtney at 05:48 PM • Comments (0)

For those of you who haven't already seen it, be sure to read the great piece on SF's many unpretentious wine bars in yesterday's NY Times. Even better, SF's own reliable, resourceful and very funny wine blogger, Alder Yarrow of Vinography, has a "starring role" in the article! Wine bars profiled by writer Gregory Dicum include Nectar, Hotel Biron, Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant, and Yield (I STILL haven't been, ugh). Congrats, Alder!

Posted by Courtney at 03:36 PM • Comments (0)

I asked a handful of up-and-coming winemakers, such as Richard of Napa's HALL winery, to answer a few questions about things I thought readers would like to hear about. Read on for Richard's responses, and be sure to check out the Napa Man blog for the scoop on HALL's totally fabulous upcoming collaboration with the one and only Frank Gehry (yes, that means there will be a Gehry-designed winery for you all to visit in Napa before too long).

Interview with Richard Batchelor

Continue reading "Hip Winemaker: Richard Batchelor" »

Posted by Courtney at 12:07 PM • Comments (0)

Those of you who keep up with the blog will recall that I took part in a really fun panel discussion called "Hot Young Sommeliers" (I didn't pick the name!!!) held at San Francisco's historic Commonwealth Club not long ago. Author and Emmy award-winning television host Leslie Sbrocco moderated the discussion, and my co-panelists included Christine Dufault, sommelier at the fabulous Quince restaurant, and Mark Bright, sommelier at Oola (and winner of best new sommelier honors from Wine & Spirits magazine at the tender age of 21).

Listen in here!

Posted by Courtney at 10:49 AM • Comments (0)

I'm really pleased to announce that I was profiled this week (with a special shout-out given to the upcoming book launch!!!) on UK-based blog All the Best. Penned by Texas-raised expat Ronda Carman - pictured here, and who lives in Glasgow - the blog chronicles her favorite things, from books to antiques to personalities. She's got quite an impressive global following, and I'm super flattered to be included in her lineup!

Read the interview here

Posted by Courtney at 08:10 PM • Comments (3)

I asked a handful of my favorite up-and-coming winemakers, such as Kenny here, to answer a few questions about things I thought readers would like to hear about. Read on for his responses, and check out his winery, Hobo Wine Company, if you'd like to taste Kenny's take on the great world of wine.

Interview with Kenny Likitprakong

Continue reading "Hip Winemaker: Kenny Likitprakong" »

Posted by Courtney at 10:00 AM • Comments (0)

I asked a handful of my favorite up-and-coming winemakers, such as Ames here, to answer a few questions about things I thought readers would like to hear about. Read on for Ames' responses, and check out his winery, Medlock Ames, if you'd like to taste his take on the great world of wine.

Interview with Ames Morison

Continue reading "Hip Winemaker: Ames Morison" »

Posted by Courtney at 04:07 PM • Comments (0)

8 = # of years of trash talking I've endured from obnoxious Trojan acquaintances
4 = # of points we beat those jerks by
1998 = last year I was able to celebrate sweet victory

Priceless = Finally beating #2 team in the nation and - more importantly - cross town rival USC last Saturday

Just remember: you can't spell SUCKS without USC!!!

Ok, back to that wine thing :)

Posted by Courtney at 11:01 PM • Comments (1)

The Wine Spectator reports that Italian road safety authorities are enraged that hotel heiress and debauchery-prone party girl Paris Hilton is promoting a new Italian bubbly called Rich Prosecco just after she was nabbed for DUI in Hollywood. USA Today counters that the latest in Paris' slip-ups just functions to boost her popularity, and probably won't hurt sales of the bubbly either (may even give 'em a little boost, much as her now famous video did for her own image not long ago). So, which is it - good or bad? Let's weigh in, shall we?

Continue reading "You Go Paris, Just Don't Drive" »

Posted by Courtney at 09:31 PM • Comments (2)

Ok, I admit it: this entry is totally self gratuitous. Maybe it's because I miss Tasha Petunia. Maybe it's because I'm just a sucker for pets. Regardless, here you have it: PETS OF PROVENCE!!! My sister and I have been snapping some amazing pet pics throughout our travels and really want to share the best of them with you. I assure you: these are the cream of the cream of Provencal pets! That is to say, la creme de la creme, pour vous qui parlez francais.

Continue reading "POSTCARDS FROM PROVENCE 6:
Pets of Provence" »

Posted by Courtney at 02:17 PM • Comments (2)

Everyone, meet Jen Cohen, my long time BFF and soon-to-be Harvard MBA (Class of 2008, baby). There are oodles of reasons she's a Hip Taster, but the main one is that Jen has never, ever turned down an invitation from me to drink some good wine. Heck, I'll even go out on a limb and let it be known that she's enthusiastically downed tons of totally sub-par vino with me (JC - remember that case of Two Buck Chuck?)

And, besides being obviously very bright and an excellent partner in vinous crime, she happens to have a fantastic sense of humor and general joie de vivre that makes her a perfect Hip Taste-r. Check out this very cute pic of her wearing her Harvard sweatshirt and clutching a glass of vino. She's come a long way since the time back in college when she asked me if they "really put strawberries" in a wine we were drinking.

Continue reading "HIP TASTER of the Month: Co-Dogg" »

Posted by Courtney at 08:53 PM • Comments (1)

Who knew that Turtle, the unofficial "house manager" of the LA mansion housing the stars of this hit HBO show, could sniff out "lead pencil" in a glass of red wine? I almost fell out of my chair when Jerry Ferrara, the actor who plays Turtle, let this descriptor slide during the show's most recent episode, "Guys and Doll".

The best part was that the rest of the guys were totally oblivious - per usual - to Turtle's subtle genious. You see - Turtle's got a lot going on, he just doesn't get a lot of cred for it amongst this crew.

Continue reading "Entourage's Turtle: Secret Sommelier" »

Posted by Courtney at 12:31 AM • Comments (0)

Everyone, I just have to say HOT DAMN I am so excited - my very own kitty cat, Natasha Petunia, made it onto the illustrious stuffonmycat.com web site with this very attractive picture of her all corked up.

For those of you who aren't in the know, the motto of stuffonmycat.com is "stuff + cats = awesome." I couldn't agree more.

Continue reading "Natasha Petunia, Feline Sommelier" »

Posted by Courtney at 02:45 PM • Comments (6)

Name: Claire
Profession: Litigator
Hometown: Visalia, CA

How sneaky of me to feature my own sister as this week's HIP TASTE-r of the week! She's been an awesome help to me in jump starting HIP TASTES Events and has always been one of my best supporters. But, these are not the only reasons she's a HIP TASTE-r.

Continue reading "HIP TASTER of the Week: C is for Claire" »

Posted by Courtney at 06:23 PM • Comments (0)

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.

Continue reading "HIP TASTER of the Week: B is for Barta" »

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.

Continue reading "HIP TASTER of the Week: A is for Alina" »

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