Thursday, August 29, 2013

Wine Tasting Returns to Cheers at All Corked Up!




Raise Your Glass:
Wine Tasting Returns to Cheers @ All Corked Up


SANTA CLARITA August 28, 2013 – Taste a selection of international and domestic wines as you support the return of wine tasting to Cheers @ All Corked Up, the only fully-stocked wine bar and restaurant located in the Santa Clarita Valley’s east side and just 10 minutes from the center of town. 

Al Robles and Terri Rivera, the owners of Cheers @ All Corked Up, the venue that supported both Pour Into Haiti and Pour Into Sandy wine tasting events, would like to invite local and non-local, wine beginners and aficionados, back for their first private wine tasting event.

According to Al Robles, the following wineries and distributors are confirmed so far for this event: Cantara Cellars, Gagnon Cellars, Golden Star Vineyards, Reyes Winery, Southern Wine & Spirits, Trinitas Cellars and Wine Warehouse.

“We’re very excited to be offering this event to the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Al Robles.

The event will be held on Sunday afternoon, September 15, from 3 PM to 5:30 PM.  Wine paired appetizers are included, and unlimited tasting, for a $20 per person fee.  Additionally, wines that you taste and enjoy can be purchased; some at a special rate.

Contact Cheers @ All Corked Up at 661-259-2000 to guarantee your spot.  The address is 26340 Diamond Place Suite 100, Santa Clarita, CA 91350 and is located between Soledad Canyon Road and Golden Valley Road just off of Centre Pointe Parkway.  Landmarks include the Santa Clarita Sports Complex on one side and  the WalMart SuperCenter.  www.cheersatallcorkedup.com

Photo courtesy Eve Bushman - which may explain why it's sideways.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Wining with Francis Ford Coppola and Mr Chow...

As you know, sometimes the Goddess of Wine can't make it to trade events during the week, and so her trusty First Acolyte, JD, makes the sacrifice to cover and report on said events. This puts JD on the map for various mailing lists - and this week we are both very grateful for that.

JD was invited to a special dinner at Mr Chow in Beverly Hills highlighting the wines of the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Mr. Coppola wasn't there himself, but was ably represented by winemaker Corey Beck, accompanied by an enthusiastic staff of publicists and marketing folks.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Wineaux of the Goddess - August Meeting...Cava!

Cava
All the Wineaux agree: We love, love, love, love Champagne. What's not to love? However, we started off the year of wine region research with Champagne, so when the heat of the summer hit, we asked what other sparkling wine region did we want to check out. The answer: Cava.

Some background from Wikipedia: Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine of Denominación de Origen (DO) status, most of which is produced in Catalonia. It may be white (blanco) or rosé (rosado). The Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo are the most popular and traditional grape varieties for producing Cava. Only wines produced in the méthode champenoise may be labeled Cavas; those produced by other processes may only be called "sparkling wines" (vinos espumosos). About 95% of all Cava is produced in the Penedès area in Catalonia, with the village of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia being home to many of Spain's largest production houses. The two major producers are Codorníu and Freixenet.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Send in the Clones...Chardonnay - Part 2...

Part 2 of the Chardonnay Symposium, where the Goddess of Wine and her trusty acolyte, JD, taste a whole lotta Chardonnay...

After a fascinating morning listening to winemakers discuss Chardonnay clones, we downed the tasty box lunch provided as part of the event (turkey sandwiches with an apple and a cookie - and plenty of water), and got on the bus for the trip to Byron Winery and the Grand Tasting. Once there, we picked up our tasting glasses and got started.

The wineries included Alta Maria ~ Au Bon Climat ~ Baileyana ~ Bien Nacido Vineyards ~ Bridlewood Estate Winery ~ Byron Winery ~ Cambria Winery ~ Chamisal Vineyards ~ Chanin Wine Company ~ Conway Family Wines/Deap Sea ~ Costa de Oro Winery ~ Cottonwood Canyon Winery ~ Deovlet Wines ~ Dierberg Vineyard ~ Eberle Winery ~ Edna Valley Vineyard ~ Falcone Family Vineyards ~ Fess Parker Winery ~ Fontes & Phillips Wines ~ Foxen ~ Gainey Vineyard ~ Hartford Family Winery ~ J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines ~ J. Wilkes Wines ~ Jonata ~ Ken Brown Wines ~ Kenneth Volk Vineyards ~ La Fenetre Wines ~ Laetitia Vineyard & Winery ~ Landmark Vineyards ~ Lucia’s Wine Co ~ Merry Edwards Winery ~ Migration from Duckhorn Wine Company ~ Niven Family Wine Estates ~ Old Town Market, Orcutt ~ Patz & Hall ~ Presqu’ile Winery ~ Qupé Wine Cellars ~ Rancho Sisquoc ~ Riverbench Vineyard & Winery ~ Rusack Vineyards ~ Sanford Winery ~ Sierra Madre Vineyard ~ Solomon Hills Vineyards ~ Talley Vineyards ~ Thomas Fogerty Winery & Vineyard ~ Toretti’s Family Vineyard ~ Wente Vineyards ~ William James Cellars

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Send in the Clones...Chardonnay Clones, Part 1...

Much to our delight, the Goddess of Wine and JD were invited to attend the fourth annual Chardonnay Symposium - the only event of its kind in the United States focusing on the golden grape. This was a chance to taste the world’s (well, mostly California's) most celebrated Chardonnays alongside food pairings designed to enhance the wine experience, with an educational panel session moderated by Wine Enthusiast’s Steve Heimoff.

Although I was looking forward to tasting the diverse selection of Chardonnays, I was most interested in the winemaker panel, titled and subtitled: Bring in the Clones! Chardonnay Clones: Do you care? Should you? Top California winemakers weigh in on everything you ever wondered about clones and selections. The panelists included: Moderator STEVE HEIMOFF, Wine Enthusiast, MATT DEES, Jonata, Santa Ynez Valley, MERRY EDWARDS, Merry Edwards Winery, Russian River Valley, FINTAN DU FRESNE, Chamisal Vineyards, Edna Valley, ECKHARD KAESEKAMP, Guillaume Grapevine Nursery, JEFF STEWART, Hartford Court, Sonoma County, CLARISSA NAGY, Riverbench Vineyard & Winery, Santa Maria Valley, JAMES ONTIVEROS, Alta Maria Vineyards & Native 9, Santa Maria Valley, and KARL WENTE, Wente Vineyards, Livermore Valley.