wine on the lawn

I ended up coming across a group of folks on campus who gather for intermittent wine tastings. They don't really happen on a regular basis, just whenever someone declares them. My group moved to a lovely office with a courtyard lawn, so I thought it was a good time to declare one. Unfortunately the warm weather didn't make it to Friday, but it didn't stop people from coming. Usually we have maybe 10 people, this one drew a good 30 folks with 15-16 bottles of wine. I think we went through 10 of them and half way through 4 more with only 2 left unopened.

Along with my "mystery" (scraped off the label from a 2005 2 buck chuck Chardonnay - the California State Fair winner), we also enjoyed:

Villa Creek 2005 Mas de Maha Tempranillo from Paso Robles - a very good screw top Tempranillo. It was great because we didn't have a bottle opener yet and it was the only thing we could open. We have since rectified the situation of the wine bottle opener.

Another wine that people enjoyed was Edmeades Zinfandel, but I didn't get to it before it reached the bottom.

Another wine I enjoyed was a Malbec, but I didn't catch the vineyard, all I know is that there were ants on the neck label. The ants were meant to coincide with the theme of "grass".

For those who didn't drink there were tons of snacks and just all around good conversation. Grant it people couldn't resist talking "shop", but somehow "shop" is so much easier to talk about while sipping wine.

One person brought their sweet beagle who sat on her hind legs at everyone who had food sending her dog telepathy, "drop the food. drop the food".

People enjoyed themselves so much we're thinking of doing the next one in December perhaps with a Champagne theme.

raincheck

We had to cancel Fleur de Lys as the hubby wasn't feeling well. So instead we picked up dinner from Gregoire Restaurant and set up a mini-Bistro at home in the middle of the living room along with candles, Edith Piaf CD, and 1999 George Latour BV Reserve.

On the menu:

-chicken noodle soup
-french fries or pomme frites
-Sauteed Maine skate wing with lemon almondine sauce
-Roasted butternut squash & caramelized onion orechiette pasta
-Vanilla poached pear, dark chocolate sauce

Not a bad way to start a third year of marriage!

meandering napa valley

My sister and I left the significant others at home and headed up to the Napa valley for a girl's weekend. It had been my sister's first trip in 10 years, since her Davis years.

We noticed that the big tasting rooms on the southern edge of 29 seem to be open later and later with many of them open until 6p. Obviously attempting to catch the last of the last tasters. We decided to stop off at one of them: White Hall Lane. It was packed and we barely got to the counter. They had a regular and a reserve cabernet tasting. Their wines were decent but most notably, they were really overpriced for the quality. Grant it they were pricing for what was standard, $75/bottle for the reserve cabernets, but it doesn't mean they were worth the $75. Their best wine that we both agreed was an orange muscat that was not syrupy sweet with flavors for lime, lemon, and apricots.

Dutch Henry Vineyard - My sister's fiance specifically requested that she return with bottles of Dutch Henry after the hubby and I had given them a bottle. So this was a required stop. The winemaker, Scott, recommended their Syrah, that had an aroma of cut grass yet had a great deal of body and weight. Their Carneros Chardonnay was buttery balanced with fruit. And while my sister doesn't usually favor whites, she liked this one.

LaTour Vineyards -A delicious Pinot Noir 2004 Willemette Valley that went well with chicken salad.

Laura Zahtila Vineyards - Get to the end of the Silverado Trail, hang a right at 29 and immediately to the right is Zahtila Vineyards where a darling golden retriever named Zoey will practically meet you at your car with her toy football and escort you up the hill to the wine room. Five of their wines on the tasting list were already out of stock including their 05 Chardonnay. If they were anything like the remaining Zinfandel and two Cabernet Sauvignon, we could see why they were completely sold out. Rich, deep, berry and plum flavors in all their wines. We walked away with a bottle of each of the three we tried. Plus tastings there were $5, half of the usual $10. There was a time when no one charged for tastings, but times have changed, and one too many freebie tasters have killed that practice.

Larkmead Vineyards - The next stop on Tom's handwritten map which we much appreciated as we could easily avoid any more Whitehall Lane type places. Larkmead has been in the valley since that late 1800s, but only recently opened this wine tasting room that's usually appointment only. Lucky us, they were open and let us in for a tasting without an appointment. Whoo-hoo! And thanks to Ted, our most gracious server, a former sommeilier at the Four Seasons in Boston, for letting us in. Since I was driving, I was doing the sip and spit, which made Ted ask if i was part of "the industry," because he usually only sees industry people spit. It turns out that sipping and spitting actually let you taste the wine better as the flavors spread across your tongue right after you spit. I guess you could do the same if you drank the wine, but I just drink the wine too early.

Larkmead focuses on a Bordeaux style wine. We couldn't get enough of all their wines from their first Sauvignon Blanc to the Firebelle (a predominantly Merlot mix, but not enough to be called Merlot), and their Salon Cab. Their Sauvignon Blanc was buttery and cremy like a chardonnay. They've grown sauvignon blanc grapes for years but sold them to other vineyards. Their Salon Cab was in one word, "yummy!" with white and dark chocolate, plum, and spice with a flavor that travels from tip of the tongue always the way to the back of the throat. Plus, at $60, easily great quality for a decent price. They only sell the wine there, a few distributors, and 3-star restaurants. While we waited for our bottles, Ted let us try a 1999 Salon Cab that he said matured early to give us an idea of what the current Salon bottles would evolve to. Oh yeah, it's going to be worth the wait!

St. Clement Vineyards - Our last stop on our cheat sheet. It took us a while to get into the wine tasting room. With the long weekend with wonderful weather, everyone was enjoying a day in Napa. And then when we got there our server just disappeared for several minutes. Maybe if we had started there first. Maybe if we weren't already spoiled by the wines we tasted at Zahtlia and Larkmead. maybe it was because we felt abandoned by our server. Or maybe after tasting 14 other wines our tongues were burning out. St. Clement just didn't seem that great. They were good and fine wines, but not quite yummy. Aroppas, their prized wine was quite good, but we couldn't find the will to pull out our wallets for that one.

It was nice that we were able to get so many wines tasted. Like most things the only way you learn about which wines are good, which ones are bad, before the alcohol starts talking is to try a wide range of them. Price certainly isn't everything and doesn't guarantee a quality wine.

A coworker asked me why I liked wine tasting. One of the things I enjoy about wine tasting is how I get to expand my sense of taste and smell, learning to taste on all parts of my tongue, learning to discern the different smells. In the same way I want to learn languages to expand my hearing, it's really about creating experiences.

because I don't know the direction of my accents

I ran the previous post through an online translator. My spelling is still pretty bad and I have difficulty with the direction of my accents. But here is the translation as put through the online translator:

it was finished

My class of French was finished. I learned seven verb tense: present, imperfect, present perfect, near future, simple, conditional future, imperatif, and subjunctive. But I do not know it that this would be very good. They confuse me. I do not think that I will take the next one classify french 3. The french 3 east literature. I like it to know to speak, not any literature. It is possible that I will take the french 2 another time, but not before of our trip has france.

The class was happy for me. I do not speak very well french, but this better one when I do not speak nothing.

I had a final oral presentation. I have talks about the wine taste. It is happy! I bought four bottles of wine: two of white wine and two of red wine. I asked them which they like.

The wine that we tasted:

1. Bordeaux 2003 Charles Mioeux (?) - Two of class comrade said that they like it. A man said that it tasted bays. Me? I think that it was well. The odor was well with bays. The first taste would have the pepper taste, but the end was weak.

2. 3 Blind Mice Merlot 2005 - We all suited that this wine was very delicious. A man said that it will buy a bottle for its friends.

3. Red Bicycle 2004 France Chardonnays - THIS IS very good! It had heaviness for a white wine. The drink today! It fills your mouth with pleasure.

4. Blackstone Chardonnay 2005, Monterey - This wine was well, but this did not be better. The fruit taste. It is easy in general. The odor was fruit, of apple.

And my comrades of the class brought two bottles:

5. Cabernet sauvignon of the Argentina - The woman that brought it said that was as "2 buck chuck". One can drink it. As çì, as that. There is better wine than this bottle. Why drink it you if it there has the better ones?

6. Barefoot Merlot 2005 - For a moderate cost, the wine of Barefoot is not poorly. This is well wine for the cost. Often, this is five dollars a bottle.

This all of bottles cost less than ten dollars. I bought them Safeway. There is a discount for six bottles. The others are Trader Joe's. I think that I buy again a bottle of Red Bicycle, of 3 Blind Mice, and of Barefoot.

C'était fini

Mon class de français étais fini. J'ai appris sept tense de verbe: present, imparfait, passé composé, futur proche, futur simple, conditionnel, imperatif, et subjonctif. Mais je ne le sais pas que ce serait très bon. Ils me confondent. Je ne pense pas que je prendrai le prochaine class de french 3. Le french 3 est literature. Je l'aime savoir pour parler, pas de literature. C'est possible que je prendrai le french 2 un autre temps, mais pas avant de nos voyage a la france.

Le class était heureux pour moi. Je ne parle pas très bien francais, mais ce plus meilleur quand je ne parle rien.

J'ai eu un final presentation oral. J'ai parle de le goût de vin. C'est heureuse! J'ai acheté quatre bouteilles de vin: deux de vin blanc et deux de vin rouge. Je les ai demandé quel ils aiment.

Le vin que nous avons goûté:

1. Bordeaux 2003 Charles Mioeux(?) - Deux de comrade de class a dit que ils l'aiment. Un homme a dit que il goûtait des baies. Moi? Je pense que c'était bien. L'odor était bien avec des baies. La premiere goût aurait le goût de poivre, mais la fin était faible.

2. 3 Blind Mice Merlot 2005 - Nous avons tout convenu que ce vin était très délicieux. Un homme a dit que il achetera un bouteille pour ses amis.

3. Red Bicyclette 2004 Chardonnay de France - C'est très bon! Il a eu lourdeur pour un vin blanc. Le buvez aujourd'hui! Il remplit votre bouche avec plaisir.

4. Blackstone Chardonnay 2005, Monterey - Ce vin était bien, mais ce n'était pas meilleur. Le goût de fruit. C'est facile en general. L'odor était de fruit, de pomme.

Et mes comrades du class ont apporté deux bouteille:

5. Cabernet sauvignon de l'Argentine - Le femme qui l'a apporté a dit cela était comme "2 buck chuck". On le peut boire. Comme çì, comme ça. Il y a plus meilleur de vin que cette bouteille. Pourquoi le buvez vous s'il y a les meilleurs?

6. Barefoot Merlot 2005 - Pour un coût modéré, le vin de Barefoot n'est pas mal. C'est bien vin pour le coût. Souvent, c'est cinq dollars par bouteille.

Ce tout de bouteilles coûtait moins de dix dollars. Je les ai acheté de la Safeway. Il y a un esompte pour six bouteilles. Les autres sont de la Trader Joe's. Je pense que je achtèrai encore une bouteille de Red Bicyclette, de 3 Blind Mice, et de Barefoot.