Category: Wine Regions

Lionheart Wines @ Artisan Recap

Last Thursday's Lionheart tasting at Artisan was a roaring success, with both tasters and winemakers very satisfied with the evening. Wine was discovered, bottles bought and taste buds were pleased. Outside Artisan WinesAs I announced previously, Lionheart's winemaker Leon Glover brought out 5 wines for us to try, all pre-release until his Mane Event Summer Release party later that Saturday at Crushpad. I got there a little before the start of the event and said hello to Leon and Artisan proprietor Lena and caught up with them for a bit before tasting some of the wines there that night. I hadn't tasted most of the wines since the barrel tasting, and I was excited to try them now from the bottle. I was so busy getting caught up that I forgot to try any of the wines before we got busy! Once that mistake was rectified, I was free to mingle and check out our crowd, with had great diversity in age, style and wine knowledge. Also making the event were Marshall & Brittany, founders of WineQ.com. After raving about Lionheart for so long, I was glad that they could finally check out the wines for themselves.

Parsonage Village Vineyard 1st Annual Wine Club Party

Parsonage Family VineyardMost of my readers know that I have a fond place in my heart for the wines from Carmel Valley, CA. Beth and I have made numerous trips to the Carmel-by-the-Sea and Carmel Valley region over the years, as evidenced by the travel post I wrote earlier this year. We've tasted some great wines over the years from wineries such as Heller Estate, Bernardus, Galante Vineyards and Boete. I only get truly excited, however, by the wines from Georis Winery and Parsonage Village Vineyard (PVV). Last weekend, Frank Melicia, Bill Parsons and the entire rest of the combined clan threw their very first party, their 1st Annual Wine Club Party, to be exact...and I was fired up!

Walnut Creek Wine Walk Recap

Walnut Creek Downtown Wine WalkThe Walnut Creek Downtown Business Association launched a new yearly event this past Wednesday (06/25/08) with their first annual Downtown Wine Walk. For a $20 fee, you (were supposed to) receive a commemorative wine glass and a map to that showed the various downtown stores, restaurants and bars that were participating and pouring wine from 6-9pm that evening. This first event focused on Napa wines. The event fit in well with their long-running annual Art & Wine Festival and various downtown art and farmer's market events. It also was well-timed to take advantage of the wine renaissance that is continuing to take place downtown where many wine bars and stores have gone in over the last year or so (and is also taking place across the Bay Area). I met up with my friends Kristin & Ian and we had high hopes for the evening until we realized that we should have bought Presales...

Syrah or Zinfandel?

One of the things that I've really tried to step up in my personal wine education is my ability to guess a blinded wine's provenance or origin. What is the grape, what is the region and if I'm super-lucky, what is the actual wine? In this case, led by Lisa and Joe, the gOenophiles' intrepid vinous adventurers decided to try and tackle one of the most difficult cases of guessing a blinded wine's varietal...New World Syrah/Shiraz vs. Zinfandel.

A Patriarch's Passing

www.Carolyntillie.comCalifornian and American wine has lost one of its greatest leaders. Robert G. Mondavi, wine industry scion and founder of the the famous eponymous Napa winery passed away at the age of 94 on Friday, 05/16/08. Arresting and vibrantly engaging even towards the end, Mondavi is widely regarded as the greatest influence on American wine over the last four decades and an unstoppable force that led to the international renown that Californian wine in particular, now enjoys across the globe. He was a leader that introduced and blended New and Old World fine winemaking techniques... (more after the break)
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