Champagne for the holidays

I'm a huge fan of champagne and sparkling wines. In general, they are easy to drink (other than the "cardboardy" stuff), complement food surprisingly well, and usually make for a great time. I've got my favorites and usually opt for Veuve Clicquot's "Yellow Label" for a nice occasion. For ~$40, it's a beautiful champagne. When our friends found it for ~$33/bottle, they bought several cases of it and it quickly became our "day-to-day" drinking champagne. Yup...I'm spoiled. The problem is that it's pretty much the only champagne I've been drinking for the last year or so...well, it's not really a problem....once again, I'm spoiled.

My wife came home last week with a 1/2 case of Perrier Jouet Grand Brut per the recommendation of a local wine shop. I've tried it before a while back, but couldn't remember how I felt about it. I couldn't wait to retry it, so I cracked a bottle that night with some friends...I was surprised and awed at this wine. I find that the Veuve is great for its acidity and crisp finish. The Perrier Jouet has some citrus notes, but in contrast to the Veuve, is a much more balanced and polished wine, full in the mouth, and simply delicious. At $32/bottle, it's not over the top expensive, and I would highly recommend it for upcoming holiday meals and events. Unfortunately, I have a new problem...the 1/2 case is already gone.

Post Ranch Inn

My wife and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this past weekend in the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area. In my opinion, it's one of the prettiest regions of Northern California, although the highlight of the weekend was certainly the food (along with the companionship of my wife, of course ;) ). Lunch at Roy's at the Inn at Spanish Bay and then dinner at the Post Ranch Inn...a 1-2 combination that is certainly difficult to beat. Dinner at the Post Ranch Inn was particularly special...I think it was probably as perfect a meal as I've had in the States. The food was impeccable, the service was outstanding, and the view/ambiance was killer (a perfect sunset followed by a bright moon lighting up the ocean).


The one small let down of the experience was our interaction with the Sommelier. We decided to bring a bottle of wine to dinner that we had brought back from a vacation to Italy several years back. It was not the most expensive bottle, but we had visited the winery on our trip and had an emotional tie to it that made it personal and important to us. As the Sommelier poured the wine, we offered him to have a taste, which he accepted. We asked him what he thought of the wine and his reply was completely generic. He must have used the same "floral nose and good structure" response a hundred times before.


Unfortunately, I am disappointed more often than not in these situations. The best Sommeliers I've run into know the wines they serve backwards and forwards and make recommendations that truly add to the enjoyment of the meal...and at different price points to ensure the customer is comfortable. Since we didn't order off of his wine list, perhaps it's unfair to criticize this Sommelier...he was certainly gracious about pouring the wine and seemed sincere in his appreciation of our offer to taste it. I truly was curious about his opinion, though, and asked him for it hoping for his analysis of the wine to help us better understand it. Oh well...in the end it had no bearing on our enjoyment of a perfect evening. Maybe I should just start lowering my expectations.

Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc ~ Viognier

I have to admit that I am a creature of habit. Although I love trying new things...especially new wines...I tend to have difficulty giving up things that are tried-and-true. Take my summer white wine drinking habit for example. Once I fell head over heels for Geyser Peak's Sauvignon Blanc (which you can still purchase at Safeway for $8.99/bottle after discounts), I've pretty much had an open bottle of it laying around nonstop.

On a whim, I picked up a bunch of new whites to try. One of them is certainly a "keeper"...Pine Ridge's Chenin Blanc/Viognier blend is simply fantastic. At ~$10/bottle (loving my Safeway for that discount again), it's a steal. What I like best about it is how different it is from the clean & crisp acidic characteristics that I enjoy from Sauv Blancs. For those that aren't familiar with Viognier, it's usually smells pretty floral, and is smooth with lots of fruit...almost sweet. I'm admittedly not that familiar with Chenin Blanc, but the balance that this wine from Pine Ridge has is excellent! Another $10/bottle that I will surely have an open bottle of in the fridge for years to come.

1/2 Price Wine Nights in the SF Bay Area

The economy is hitting all of us where it hurts, and the possibility of splurging on a fine bottle of wine in a restaurant is about as likely as Bernie Madoff getting away with his ponzi scheme with only a slap on the wrist. While visiting friends in L.A. this past weekend, it came up during conversation that they had recently eaten at a local steakhouse that offered ½ price wine on Monday nights. What a concept!!! I had never heard of such a thing, but during these tough economic times, creative offerings like this will certainly get customers into restaurants…I would go in a heartbeat. So, I did some research and came up with 10 restaurants in the Bay Area that offer ½ off wines or similarly good deals:

1. Solstice – half-price bottles on Monday nights
2. Perry's - half-price bottles on Monday nights
3. Levende Lounge - Wine Wednesdays: half-price bottles with $20 minimum food purchase
4. Harry’s Bar – half-price bottles on Tuesdays
5. Ruth’s Chris – half-off bottles on Wednesday nights for any bottle under $100
6. Santi (Geyserville) - Cheap Vino Wine Night on Tuesdays offering half-off wines
7. Lark Creek Restaurants (Lark Creek Inn, One Market, Yankee Pier, and others) – half-price wine month in July
8. Cuvee Restaurant (Napa) – half-price bottles on Thursdays
9. Maverick - 40% off bottles Monday nights (I found a reference to this, but couldn’t validate it)
10. Bacar - Monday's 5:30 - 7pm half-price wine by the glass in the bar (although I couldn’t find confirmation of this, it’s interesting to note that Bacar also offers a wine list that includes 50 bottles of wine under $50…not bad!)

Have any additions to this list?

Marques de Caceres - a fantastic Rioja

Next time you’re at your local Safeway (or comparable supermarket), look for this wine in the Spain section of the wine aisle. I’ve been drinking this particular Rioja for more than a dozen years now, and it remains unbelievably consistent. It’s not one of those wines that will blow you away with its depth and complexity. It’s just yummy, and always has been. Good fruit up front makes it so easy to drink…and drink it you will. Have several bottles handy because your friends will be putting this back incredibly quickly…and at $8/bottle you can actually afford to drink the stuff. Riojas are generally quite easy on the palate and are versatile to pair with food, the longer aged reservas and gran reservas being more complex with deeper tannins than the younger crianzas. Drink this vino during the colder months, and then when things turn warm, add some sugar, fruit, ginger ale, and ice and turn it into refreshing sangria.

Martin Family Cabernet

I hosted a dinner party over the weekend and the wine was flowing again. The best of the bunch (by far in my opinion) was a Cabernet from a small Dry Creek Winery called Martin Family. We discovered them a couple of years back during Dry Creek Valley's annual Passport event. The Cab was big and fruit forward, and it was a great complement to the big hunk of steak that we ate. I've got a couple of bottles of Syrah and Zin remaining in my Martin stash...and now I'm very much looking forward to finding out if they're as good as their Cab is.

New Year’s Eve Dinner (Debacle) @ Boulevard Restaurant

Individuals who love wine inevitably love food (ask my wife about my increasing waistline). Lovers of food tend to like to eat out a lot…and on special occasions aren’t afraid to drop some coin to get a good meal. Unfortunately, the cost of a meal doesn’t always translate into a fine dining experience. Take New Year’s Eve 2009. After narrowing down a number of restaurant choices to a select few, friends of ours got a bit nostalgic for an old standby named Boulevard Restaurant in San Francisco, at which I’ve been to probably a dozen times. Their tuna tartare used to be arguably the best in the city (although fans of Aqua will contest this one fiercely), and their filet mignon is consistently excellent.

Unfortunately, their standard of excellence was not upheld this particular instance. In fact, it was one of the worst meals I’ve had in a very long time…and at $175/head, was a HUGE disappointment. Now my expectations for pre-fix events like these are lower than normal…getting food out to dozens of tables at similar times is not easy. However, everything about this meal fell short…starting with the most uninspired amuse-bouche I think I’ve ever had - slices of bland beets sandwiching a ball of bland mozzarella. I was so distracted with how bad it was, I actually dropped most of it on the floor. Next to the table came a couple of tuna tartare dishes, foie gras, and a Maine lobster appetizer. The tartare was literally flavorless, the foie gras overcooked, but surprisingly the lobster (the only dish not recommended by the server) was outstanding. Other than the lobster, it was disappointment followed by disappointment. The meat dishes were tough and poorly cared for and what was marketed as “truffles” turned out to be finely sliced mushrooms with little flavor. Thankfully we were all pretty drunk by the time desert came around not to care about the thoughtless final dishes that were served.

Boulevard is an old standby that I’ve heard is getting more and more mixed reviews. Well my review is not mixed at all…I won’t go back…which is really a shame because their front dining room, with a beautiful curved brick ceiling, is one of my favorites in the city. They simply did not care for their guests on this occasion... and we had enough liquid courage to mention it to the uncaring hostess. The ingredients were poor in quality, the dishes were uninspired and poorly executed, and the service was mediocre at best. The saving grace of the evening is that we were with some of our best friends and we brought our own wine (with a $40/bottle corkage fee I might add) which we knew would be excellent (including an outstanding Cab from Frank Family). I suggest that restaurants don’t sit back on their laurels during these difficult economic times…be sure that I for one will start spending my dining dollars much more selectively.