Cooking for Love...rocked!

Just a quick note as I am too tired to think clearly at the moment...

I was proud to be the Event Sommelier for Cooking for Love, a spectacular event to benefit Break the Cycle. All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you to all the wineries who participated!

It was an extraordinary evening, and I am honored to say that I have been asked to return next year in the same capacity. 

Hang in Paso with the Goddess in November...

November 12th - It's the Paso Garagiste Festival! The Goddess and various friends will be there. Will you?

Here's the scoop:

Artisan Wine Trend Gains Momentum at Paso Garagiste Festival

Forty Emerging Winemakers Sign On to Pour at November Event; Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Program to Benefit; Limited Tickets Available 

Paso Robles, Ca – September 14, 2011  – Paso Garagiste today announced that forty of California’s most cutting-edge artisan ‘garagiste’* winemakers are now set to pour at the first annual Paso Garagiste Festival: Celebrating the Artisan Winemaker to be held November 11 – 12 at Paso Robles’ Windfall Farms. A limited number of tickets for the festival, which will raise funds for the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture Program, are now on sale to the public at pasogaragiste.com.

Much Wining to take place...

Want a chance to meeting the Goddess and JD?

October 9th - Cooking for Love - a huge charity event to benefit Break the Cycle! I'm the Event Sommelier and have assembled almost a dozen wineries to go with the tasty offerings from all of the great restaurants in Los Angeles! Come and taste Shai Cellars, Martian Vineyards, Patel Winery, Chamisal, Roadhouse Winery, The Naked Grape, Bedford Winery, Collier Falls, plus great silent auction items donated by Tablas Creek, Dark Star Cellars and Brian Benson! It'll be great!
Here's more info:

Cooking for Love - Savor the Season
Sunday, October 9, 2011
5:30 PM VIP early admission, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM General Admission
Global Cuisine by Gary Arabia at The Lot Studios
1041 N. Formosa Ave - West Hollywood, CA
Now in its seventh year, Break the Cycle's Cooking for Love has become one of the most talked about and well-attended events in town. In fact, BizBash Magazine regularly names us one of the top ten food and wine events in Southern California.

Random wining...as usual...

The quarterly wine dinner extravaganza took place at FAB's Corner Cucina on the 21st. Manager and wine aficionado Amelia and Chef Ian once again put together an interesting and delicious meal with brilliant wine pairings:

Lamb chop perfection!

2005 Domaine Terlato-Chapoutier, Australian blend of Shiraz and Viognier paired with a perfect lamb chop sitting on diced butternut squash and complemented with a mint yogurt sauce. A spicy Shiraz from the vineyards of Central Victoria brightened with a boost of Viognier for aroma and balance, as often practiced in the Côte Rôtie. The grapes grown in this Austrialian vineyard were planted on 19th century French rootstocks, another nod to the French tradition & influence in this new world wine. This wine is a collaborative effort between two renowned wine families; Chapoutier from the Rhône Valley in France, and Terlato family of Napa Valley in California. Delightful!

Wining by proxy...Austria Uncorked & Drink Ribera, Drink Spain...

A few months ago, the Goddess' First Acolyte, JD, ventured to the SLS Hotel for concurrent tastings - Austrian wines and Spanish wines from Ribera del Duero. It took him a while to report, but here it is!

As is often the case, the events were at a hotel in a busy, hard to reach area with no real parking other than the valet at the hotel. I turned over the truck. A person in front said that while the Austrian group was not validating parking, the Spanish group was. Since Austria closed first, I went in the direction the person indicated for that. Spain (and validation?) would come later.

I was not too knowledgeable on Austrian wines so this was going to be almost entirely new ground.

Random wining...

Every time I complain that I don't have enough time to write about all my wine adventures, it just sounds like bragging...but JD and I have been all over the place!

8/20 - Showed some support for SSH at a small tasting of mostly local wines at J. Hamilton Wines (actually at The Plug Nickel) in Westlake Village, about whom there will be a separate post. Got to spend a bit of quality time chatting with noted winemaker, Norm Stafford, whose 2006 Humaliwo Ventureno blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc was full of chocolate and spice. Norm was the winemaker/consultant for several of the wineries there that day, and it was interesting to see how he dealt with different grapes and styles of wine.

Exciting news from Four Brix Winery!

So exciting! My friends at Four Brix are having their Grand Opening on September 17th and 18th! You should go!

Four Brix Winery, part of the Ventura County Winery Association, celebrates the Grand Opening of its urban winery and tasting room.


Ventura County wine lovers have an excuse to sip and celebrate California Wine Month this September with the opening of Ventura's only full-fledged winery and tasting room. After two years at the Wine Yard in Thousand Oaks, Four Brix Winery is celebrating the Grand Opening of its new winemaking and tasting facility the weekend of September 17th.

Four Brix Winery Grand Opening Weekend
Saturday & Sunday, September 17-18 from 12 noon to 5pm
2290 Eastman Ave. #109, Ventura, CA 93003
Open to the public Wine Tastings $10

Guests will have the opportunity to join Four Brix Winery's wine club at the "Founders Club" level, which affords members the ability to self-select each wine for their wine club shipment. "Founders Club" membership will only be open through Grand Opening Weekend future wine club members will receive standard shipments of newly released wines and will not have the ability to change the wines in their shipments.

Local art displayed throughout Grand Opening weekend. Light hors d'oeuvres, cheese plates, and charcuterie available for purchase. No reservations required. More information email the winery.


Cheers and congratulations! The Goddess and JD will be there celebrating, too!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Tasting Room...

I was feeling like we've been going non-stop. Then I took a look at my calendar and realized there was a reason for that: We've been going non-stop! Geez, no wonder we're tired!


7/20 - Kickoff lunch for Break the Cycle - Cooking for Love - How do I convince small production, artisan winemakers to donate wine for me to pour at this event? Suggestions? Better yet: Donations? Anyone? Anyone?

www.cookingforlove.org

A lot of wining in a very short time...

Panini @ VWC - Yum!

Headed up to the Valencia Wine Company for the monthly meeting of the Grape of the Night back on the 11th. This month's grape was Cabernet Franc, and we had 7 wines to sample, ranging from inexpensive 'supermarket' wine to seriously overpriced.

Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. Cabernet Franc is lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon, making a bright pale red wine and contributing finesse and a peppery perfume to blends with more robust grapes. Depending on growing region and style of wine, additional aromas can include tobacco, raspberry, and cassis, sometimes even violets. Records of Cabernet Franc in Bordeaux go back to the end of the 18th century; it was planted in Loire long before that. DNA analysis indicates Cabernet Franc is one of two parents of Cabernet Sauvignon, a cross between it and Sauvignon Blanc.

Wining and whiling away the time...

Time goes by so fast. Fortunately, we're doing a lot of wine tasting while it's going by!

Shai @Santa Barbara

6/25 - Santa Barbara Wine Festival at the Natural History Museum - At the very last minute, Shawn Shai Halahmy pinged me to ask if we could help him pour his wines in Santa Barbara. We said 'Sure!' and headed North. We weren't familiar with this particular festival, but it was huge! More than 70 wineries - most of whom I knew - lots of fun food, a gorgeous setting, and a really enthusiastic crowd. Shawn was pouring his 2008 Shai Cellars Adome, plus doing a sneak preview of his just-bottled 2009 Adome and 2009 Grenache. With all the great wines being shown, a significant number of guests came back to us to tell us how much they like Shai! What's not to like? Oh, and the photo of Shai is courtesy of Bob Dickey, a great photog and wine lover in Santa Barbara. No relation to JD.  Just a fortunate name.