Last night we were closed in on all sides by Friday evening traffic on the 101 highway just northwest of Los Angeles. Depressing strip malls and chain restaurants were all the eye could see.
Then we took the Mulholland Drive exit and the roads suddenly became twisty, romantic lane ways hidden in the magic hills of Topanga Canyon, a million miles from Los Angeles.
The roads reminded me of the close turns and roadside thrills of driving in Greece. Dry but beautiful indigenous plants, soaring rock formations and shady grottoes perfect for coyotes to rest.
Our dinner hosts were witty and well-traveled. They had a mesmerizing view of the green hills and steep canyons from their back deck. David told me he first fell in love with wine by drinking volumes of German and French wines while he was in college in Scotland.
Topanga is surely much warmer than Germany but the steep hillsides are similar. He wistfully shared that he would love to plant some vines on his land. I encouraged him to reach out to other local wineries who might be willing to tend his vines in exchange for the resulting grapes.
That reminded of a wonderful Topanga Vineyards wine I had a few months back.
Sandy Garber and her husband, Randy Meyer first started Topanga Vineyards by growing 90 vines on their property in Topanga. Now they have expanded and buy much of their fruit from the Central Coast. It is unclear if they currently use any Topanga grown grapes but they still live there.
Sandy also runs her own Los Angeles based wine distributorship, Garber and Company.
Topanga Vineyards Grenache Blanc 2008 $18.99
was fresh and lively. Aromas of lemon and beeswax dripping with honey were matched by luscious stonefruit flavors and a nice acidity on the finish.
Continue reading about Amazing Wines Emerge from the Hidden Hills of L.A.
In case you haven’t heard, Portuguese wines are hot, hot, hot right now.
And for good reason. The quality is high and the prices very reasonable.
The folks at Natural Merchants have done it again.
They have imported another delicious wine made from organic grapes.
These are organic wines that you can not only feel good about drinking, additionally, the quality makes you feel absolutely decadent.
Casa de Mouraz was the first winery to practice organic farming in the famed winemaking area of Dao in Portugal. The Dao is a mountainous region in the middle of Portugal that produces some of Portugal’s best wines.
Antonio Ribeiro and his partner Sara Dionisio (how awesome is that last name for a winemaker?) make the wines from 13 hectares of vineyards that coexist with pine, oak and chestnut forests.
Air red wine 2006 $14.99
Dark ruby color. Flavors of blackberries, plum tarts and dark chocolate. Spicy aromas of cinnamon and clove. Refreshing acids on the finish help lift the flavors. Amazingly rich flavors for 13.7% alcohol.
This wine is a sure crowd pleaser.
Pair it with chipotle braised short ribs or fresh grilled sausages.
So deliciously spicy, you won’t believe that this wine was fermented and aged in steel tanks. I could have sworn there was some neutral barrel aging.
Air is a blend of the following grapes: Tempranillo, Alicante-Bouchet, Trincadeira, Touriga-Nacional and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Buy it here.
Continue reading about Clean as Air: Organic Wine from Portugal
Woody Allen’s 40th film as a writer/director has just been released, the wine equivalent of producing 40 vintages in a row, from 1969-2009.
Whether with movies or wine, not all are going to be great, some might even be downright bad.
And yet, to paraphrase Woody at the end of his masterpiece, Annie Hall, as with love, [...]
I have just left Little Rock and the Capital Hotel. It is bittersweet, in that I have other stops on my journey through the South, but I could easily settle in for an extended stay at such a wonderful hotel with such an excellent staff. Two people specifically are to thank for their hard work and attention to detail- the two Lees. Lee Richardson is the executive chef at Ashley’s, the crown jewel for dining in Little Rock, and his counterpoint front-of-house, Lee Ingold, is the maitre d’. Collectively they run a tight ship- by ship, I mean restaurant. It was my third trip to Little Rock, the first being the Emeril fundraiser, when I first was able to experience the wonderful skills of chef Lee. The night after the fundraiser chef Lee sat me at a table and, without…
Don’t be afraid of the bargain bin, you’ll find some true diamonds in the rough. My local wine store must have bought WAY too much of this vintage and they were dumping it for pennies on the dollar. Their loss, our gain…
I’ve never had much luck finding a South African red I like, but the Seidelberg Merlot really surprised me! I was immediately met on the palate with smoke, then smoked bacon and ripe berries. It was thoroughly enjoyable and a unique departure from my recent tipples. Drink the Seidelberg 2003 Merlot now, it should pair nicely with your next BBQ or cheese plate.
Cheers!
The second International Green Wine Competition is being held in Santa Rosa this Monday, June 22nd.
The lead judge is Paul Dolan from Mendocino Wine Company and Paul Dolan Vineyards. He has been an industry leader in building successful and high quality wine brands made from organic and biodynamic grapes.
There are four Competition Classes: Certified Biodynamically Grown and Produced, Certified Organic Wines, Certified Organically Grown Grapes, and Transitional.
I am a judge this year and cannot wait to taste through all these delicious wines made without chemical pesticides and herbicides.
I chose to focus on wines made from organic and biodynamic grapes on MyDailyWine because I am a believer that high quality wine starts in the vineyards.
Later this year, I will be launching an online marketplace for organic/biodynamic wines as well.
This competition is super cool on several levels. First off it raises awareness for both consumers and wine trade about the growing interest in organic and natural wines.
This trend will not go away soon. In fact the opposite is true, since organic wines have become more widespread in the past few years.
Matter of fact, in a recent study, 31% of American consumers said they are spending more money on organics than one year ago.
More large wineries are starting to make at least one brand with organic grapes and many smaller brands are hanging their hats completely on the organic trend.
Here is a shopping list of last year’s winners at the 2008 Green Wine Competition.
The same organization also presents the National Women’s Wine Competition.
“The National Women’s Wine Competition is the first and only U.S. based wine competition judged solely by superstar women of the wine industry.
This is the competition that answers the question, “what wines do women love?”Women make 60%+ of all the wine buying decisions in the U.S. Our annual “shopping list” that is distributed worldwide via the web tells women the wines women with great palates find medal-worthy. This helps consumers to make informed wine purchases.”
Let me state for the record that I am the most happily married man I know.
So why do I find myself cursing every time I sift through the Weddings Page in the Sunday Times? Is it because the people who choose to acknowledge their nuptials there fall into very specific catergories:
1. Ivy League Educated
2. Doctors, [...]
Every Friday we bring in our leftovers and challenge each other to a pizza-off. Today we were joined by our friends John Merritt from Frontier Packaging and Cinematographer Ben Garvey who is the producer of the Oregon Pinot Camp movie. John, Ksandek, Ben, Jason, Thomas & Annie in preparation mode Katie’s garlic spears + cream sauce vs. Kim’s jalapeno sesame seed surprise guest appearance by house band “ethyl acetate” ben + thomas face off with tim + katie shadow + henk wait for scraps! thomas, jason, henk + kim dedication + concentration = perfection PS – tonight we have the first of our flicks ‘n flights series. we’ll be showing the movie amelie. join us at dusk. who knows, there might be left over pizza. it’s free + you’re all welcome. we will have wine for sale along with charcuterie…
Unlike the confusing and arbitrary definition of the USDA, I include all wines made from organic grapes as organic, despite their levels of added sulfites.
Three Good Reasons to Buy Organic Wine
1)Nowadays nobody wants to eat fruit that has been sprayed with toxic chemicals. We might do it anyway occasionally out of laziness or a misguided sense of thrift, but people generally would prefer their fruit without the chemicals. Why should wine grapes be any different?
2)These winemakers have grown or purchased the most pristine grapes available. This level of attention and care will be evident in the wine.
3)No toxic chemical runoff into the surrounding soil, groundwater supply or local rivers/streams.
Three Good Organic Wines to Buy
Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc 2008 $13
Bright fresh citrus aromas, more white grapefruit and tropical fruit flavors follow. Crowd pleaser. Perfect with pan fried fish and avocado salad.
Ca del Solo Sangiovese 2006 $14
Full of dark plums and brambly berry fruit flavors. Wonderful acidity keeps it light and bright. Drink it with grilled lamb sausages and summer veggie skewers.
Grgich Hills Estates Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 $60
Dark purple color. Aromas of cocoa powder and vanillan oak. Big flavors of spicy plum pudding, blackberries and dark chocolate. A winning wine with short ribs.
Continue reading about Three Reasons to Buy Organic Wine & Three Organic Wines to Buy