Thursday, February 4, 2010

Wining in Beverly Hills with LearnAboutWine.com...

Had a great time at the STARS of Santa Barbara event last night, although by the time we were able to start actually tasting, I wasn’t much in the mood, if you can believe it!  It seemed a bit crowded, and Ian was on the microphone making a lot of noise while encouraging folks to sign up for the silent auction. 

Laura and Joni and Meagan were glad we were there; we saw a bunch of friends – Mike Donovan (MD3), Deb Bizek and Kristen, her former roommate, sommelier Reneé Kuo (my new best friend), the gorgeous Karinna Zarate (pictured with us), Steve and Anne Cassidy of WineShop at Home, Sherry Campbell (formerly of LAW), winemakers Karen Steinwachs of Buttonwood, Josh Klapper of La Fenetre, Brian Loring of Loring, Michael Roth from Demetria, Teri Love from Gioia, and lots of new folks (well, new to us), too!  Everyone seemed to having a good time, great wines were being poured.  Had time at the end to chat with Karen, who gave us the remainder of her open wines – lots of stuff to sample tonight!

Laura was happy to hear that we’ll be in SF for the Burgundy tasting.  It will be easier for her to have knowledgeable folks to work with – especially folks used to working with his nibs.  We are enjoying the wine world so much.  We’ve met such great people and made friends who I think will last.  I hope so.

Before the event began, I ran out into the tasting area, made eye contact with a winemaker, and exclaimed, “I need wine!”  Julie Thompson-Dobkin of Thompkin Cellars quickly poured me one glass of her 2005 GSM and one glass of her 2006 MSG.  I gave JD the GSM and selfishly sipped the MSG – heavy on the Mourvedre – while we checked in the attendees.  What a lovely wine!  We went back later and chatted with Julie and her husband/partner, Jeff Dobkin.  Their grapes are from Santa Barbara, but their winery is in Orange County!  They cart all the grapes down south and do all the crushing and fermenting and bottling and aging in Costa Mesa.  I want to learn more about this interesting young couple and their Rhone varietal wines. 

Tonight, we have nothing scheduled, and I’m thinking about going to bed as soon as I get home!  Well, maybe not.  I want to find a wine bar that is reasonably priced and in the Burbank area.  The D’Argenzio Enoteca is walking distance, but they’re only open on weekends and they pour only their own wines, so that’s a bit limiting, although their wines are lovely, and the family is warm and welcoming.  I just want a place where I can hang out the way I used to at the long-gone Ridge Road Hotel in PA – a place that’s safe and not too expensive and not trendy.  Is that too much to ask for?  Are there wine bars in the Burbank area?  Help me out folks!

This weekend we'll be at the Valencia Wine Company for a special tasting of wines from the Republic of Georgia - wines made in amphorae (clay pots), just like wines were made for centuries before the invention of oak barrels and glass bottles.

Cheers!

9 comments:

haircutting in high heels said...

Ahh nice pic! The Peninsula huh? My old stomping ground where Courvoisier was my drink of choice as well as sharing a Cigar the big boys. Now a perfect night for me is an evening at home with a bulbous glass of Pinot Noir and blogging with my best friends at my side!
xxoo

Unknown said...

Denise
Glad you all liked the wine(s). Enjoyed talking to the two of you. If you are ever in our hood, drop us a line and we can bring you over to the "winery" and taste through some barrels.
Cheers
Jeff
Thompkin Cellars

Goddess of Wine said...

Ah...Gina...I can just see you with a cigar and brandy!

Jeff: So nice meeting you and Julie. I look forward to tasting much more of your wine!

Anonymous said...

Hi Denise! Did you taste any wines from Cargasacchi/Point Concepción Wines? :)

Goddess of Wine said...

Hey Chad! I've been a big fan of Peter's wines for a long time, and he was pouring some great ones on Wednesday, including the 2008 Salsipuedes Pinot Noir!

Anonymous said...

How was the 2008 Salsipuedes Pinot Noir? I got a bottle of the 2005 at CA Wine & Cheese in Monrovia. Sounds like it was a nice event! :)

KarinnaZ said...

Spectacular evening with LearnAboutWine, the Goddess and JD! It's always a pleasure seeing you!

Jeremy from Daniel Gehrs Wines said...

Good to meet you today, I like the blog. I should definitely take your class too, I think I could learn a lot!

Goddess of Wine said...

Jeremy - Thanks for the kind words. We had fun with you, too!

Denise & John