Sunday, August 26, 2007

wow - a bright white

Summer in Texas is coming to its steamy climax and the Hill Country grapes are getting picked for the 2007 vintage. A soggy summer for sure so hats off big-time to Texas growers who had their hands full getting grapes picked and vineyard fungus managed. As the heat continues, stock up on some fun refreshing whites. Like this inzolia (that's the name of the grape) from Italy. Actually Sicily to be exact. A rich, viscous wine unlike the usual simple Italian white, this one works well to sip on the porch or enjoy with something creamy - brie or alfredo sauce. A pretty big white but not at all chardonnay-ee so no worries for those of you not crazy about chard. I picked this bottle (and 5 others) up at Vino Vino on Guadalupe - with the 15% discount it was about $17. Good stuff.

Monday, August 20, 2007

bottling the 06 chard

Sunday ended up being bottling day for our co-op 2006 Carneros chardonnay. The second of 3 chard batches for 06, this one is classic Cali with that creamy vanilla caramel thing going on. Yum! This was of course to be expected as this wine was fermented from its raw juice state in a small French oak barrel and stored in that same barrel to pickup some of those expensive and exotic flavors. Labels will get printed soon and then we will have a "label your own" get together, so watch your email for that...

Monday, August 06, 2007

wow - a working vacation

I am taking a brief break from vacation to dutifully post a wine of the week: I suggest that next time you are in Berkeley, CA and hungry for a bite of lunch you stop in and enjoy a glass of the house zinfandel at Chez Panisse - no kidding! We found ourselves in this situation after a little Berkeley shopping (Zac had to have some Birkenstocks from Berkeley) and got lucky with no reservations as they had a couple no-shows. Fabulous lunch of course and great fun to visit Alice Waters' hallowed shrine of the Slow Food Movement. The wine is made for Chez Panisse by Green and Red Vineyards and is a yummy balance between great zin fruit and a bit of earthy seriousness.