Dallas Wine Chick

Desert Wind Winery – A Five Star Experience

After #WBC10, my husband, John, and I were invited to stay at Desert Wind Winery in Prosser, WA, with Margot, her husband, Dave, Barbara and her boyfriend, Jason.  Margot told me what a beautiful place the winery was and that we were in for a treat.  We usually take family vacations to an amazing resort in Punta Mita, Mexico, so I just expected a pleasant winery stay.  Let’s just say that sans beach this was a comparable five-star experience. 

Courtesy of Desert Wind Winery

Desert Wind Owners Greg and Amber Fries served as exemplary hosts from the moment we arrived and greeted us with a refreshing glass of Sauvignon Blanc on the spacious patio.  We had some time to relax in a fabulous, fully-stocked suite that had everything one could need from bottles of wine to munchies to luxurious bath products (and I love luxurious bath products). 

Just when I didn’t think it could get any better, we started our food/wine experience. We began with a tour of the winery and had the opportunity to barrel taste the 08 Petite Verdot, 08 Barbera and 08 Tempranillo. I was impressed that Greg was so willing to go off the beaten path of the varietals to  see what wines would blossom with his talent.

Chef Frank Magana and Darren Dewalt from Picazo 7 Seventeen treated us to a multi-course dinner paired with Desert Wind and Duck Pond wines (Greg is also the wine maker).  The food parade started with Dungeness Crab Cakes with Chipotle Aioli Firecracker Prawns, Patatas Bravas, various wonderful cheeses, Marcona Almonds and Olives, paired with Desert Wind’s 2008 Sauvignon Blanc and  2009 Viognier.  My foodie and chef hobbyist husband was absolutely in heaven.  I innocently asked Chef Magana exactly how many course were coming and realized some restraint from the appetizers would be necessary in order to stay the course.

The good news is that you too can enjoy Mojave by Picazo at Desert Wind, which is open noon – 3 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays.  But back to this meal, this glorious meal….

Our first course was Prosciutto-wrapped Mixed Field Greens with Ancho Chile Vinaigrette, paired with 2009 Dry Rose’ and 2008 Semillon. If you read this column regularly, you know I’m not the biggest fan of Rose and I’m allergic to pork, so I choose the Semillon and had a special menu adaptation.

We moved on to the Basil-Stuffed Salmon with Tempranillo Pan Sauce, Blue Prawns & Trumpet Mushrooms with Cream paired with a 2008 Tempranillo and 2006 Duck Pond Cellars ‘St. Jory’ Pinot Noir, one of the many library wines we tried. Loved, loved, loved this course.

And then came the beef – the filet of Beef Tenderloin Ruah Sauce, Black Truffle Risotto followed by Grilled Lamb Chops with Ruah-Garlic Marinade was delightful. The meats and sauce paired perfectly with a vertical of Desert Wind Ruah wines from 04, 05, 06 and 08.  Sublime.

I was glad to have run that morning (even though I got lost like an idiot) because the dessert plate … well, it rocked.  It was a trio of Espresso Crème Brulee, a Chocolate Crème Brulee and then a Gorgonzola Truffle.  It’s been a few weeks now and I still fantasize about that darn truffle matched with a 04 Duck Pond Port.

When I returned from my run the next morning, there was a food basket waiting for us with yogurt, fresh fruit, baked goods, coffee and other assorted goodies that we enjoyed on our balcony.

If you are looking for a great winery and gourmet food married with a five-star resort experience that is centrally located near several great wineries in Prosser, I highly recommend checking out the hospitality of Amber and Greg.  It will certainly be an experience that you will always remember and I’m certainly looking forward to my return.

My Pre-WBC Conference Love Affair with Oregon Wines

In reading the materials for the Wine Bloggers Conference, one theme remained the same.  Figure out your blogging strategy.  Clearly, I failed miserably in heeding this advice.  Part of it was that I was fully engaged on Twitter during the conference.  Part of it was the pre-trip to Oregon and the post-trip to Washington State with a fellow friend, blogger and co-worker.   And, finally, it was the massive workload explosion that I walked back into that consumed me.

So why don’t I start at the beginning?  I was lucky enough to be invited to an unofficial pre-conference trip that originated in Portland going to the Willamette Valley.  Since I was arriving later than the rest of the bloggers I fully expected to fund my own cab for the hour plus trip that began at Solena Grand Cru Estates.  But no, this is Oregon wine country so  I found myself in a car with Amy, a delightful tour guide and person who welcomed me with the biggest chocolate, peanut butter and Rice Krispies covered donut that I’ve ever seen.  After ripping it in half and handing half to Amy, I joyfully took a bite of my first donut in probably five years.

Voodoo Donuts

As we reached the gates of Solena, our bloggers chariot awaited — a candy apple red double decker bus.

The Double Dutch Bus Coming Down the Street

The day only got better from there.  We toured the winery and got to experience “do it yourself blending.  If you didn’t like the blend, you could only blame yourself, but it is hard not to succeed with so many good wines at Solena.

Rolling out the red carpet

We were then seated for a four course lunch prepared by chef Matthew Howard matched with Solena Estate’s wines.  The first course, early summer corn soup with fingerling potatoes, prosciutto and basil oil with 08 Solena ElvenGlade Vineyard Chardonnay.  The second course, Plank-roasted wild sockeye salmon with fava bean puree, shaved fennel salad, rhubard and nectarine compote with 07 Solena Domaine Danielle Laurent Pinot Noir.  The third course, grilled cascade natural flat iron steak with yukon gold potato and leek hashbrown with heirloom cherry tomato relish with an 08 Solena Hyland Pinot Noir.  Our dessert course matched a rosemary and fleur de sel shortbread, oregon strawberries, Bellweather Farms carmody cheese with an 08 Solena Late Harvest Riesling.

Early Corn Soup

Plank-roasted sockeye salmon

Our next stop was Soter Vineyards where we were greeted with a glass of sparkling rose.  Even though it had rained for six weeks straight in Portland, we had an absolutely gorgeous day.  My favorite was the  2007 Mineral Springs Ranch Pinot Noir with big notes of plum, earth and cherry.

Time at Soter

We wrapped our winery tour with Anne Amie, which is well known for its Pinots, but offers a wide array of affordably priced red and white wines.  I was familiar with the Pinot Noir because I discovered it at Veritas Wine Bar in Dallas and it sold out quickly.  We were surprised to learn that the winemaker Thomas Houseman first had a career as a modern dancer.  This was something interesting to try to reconcile after several glasses of wine.

Thomas Houseman, wine maker and former dancer

We were feeling lucky, so our bus stopped off the beaten path so we could buy Powerball tickets and beer.  I can’t imagine what the gas station attendants were thinking when our fire engine red bus stopped and Liza ran in with a fist full of money.  Alas, we were too late.  Powerball had closed.  We decided to donate our money to next year’s Wine Blogger Scholarship Fund instead.  So I thought… but I recently learned that a different scenario actually took place.

Our hospitality continued with a BBQ at Mary and Sean Cressler’s house, who live in the city in a fabulous home in a charming historic neighborhood.   Their backyard was made for entertaining.  Sean had spent the day smoking a pork butt for us.  The wines flowed freely, the weather on their back patio was spectacular, the conversation was hilarious and the food, oh the food.  Because I have pork allergies, I tried everything else from the tofu that they grilled for me (which was surprisingly tasty), the smoked salmon dip, the veggies, freshly baked bread and anything else that I could cram in my mouth.  Everyone else raved about the pork actually before, during and after the conference.  This was the day the diet died…

It was close to midnight so I was dropped off at my hotel – or so I thought.  The Marriott Courtyard had bumped me to another hotel.  When I got there, I was given the only room left – the one with the handicapped bathroom.  I was tired and in hindsight, trying to navigate the shower was pretty humorous the next day after an hour run throughout the city.

We were then off on our next adventure – the caravan to Walla Walla.  Mary had set up a private tour with Bob Morus of Phelps Creek Vineyards where we spent a great deal of time learning about the intricacies of the winery and harvest.  Since I geek out during conversations like this with the winemaker, I was in heaven and thought it was fascinating that they have two wine makers — one American and one French that make two entirely different styles of Pinot.  I personally loved the 08 Cuvee Alexandrine, a big Burgundian style Pinot.

Bob Morus from Phelps Creek

My husband can attest that I am not usually a road trip person and I was a little hesitant to spend hours with folks that I’d met only on Twitter.  However, this was not your usual road trip.  From blasting tunes that I enjoyed from elementary school with Jason (Duran Duran and Missing Persons if you must know) to having a conversation imposed “time out” to force Doug to work on his client deadline while I became even more addicted to the Zombies and Plants game on my iPad, it was an experience that I’ll never forget and definitely hope to have again.

A special shout out to Lynette (and Amy) for their unmatched hospitality.  You truly gave as an experience that will be hard to replicate.

Sojourn, Mounts Family Vineyard and Michel Schlumberger

It was my last day in Napa and it was going to be a great day to spend time with friends.  I started the morning with a five-and-a-half mile run where I chased the hot air balloons gliding through the vineyards of Calistoga.  After finishing a fantastic gourmet breakfast at our charming new bed and breakfast find, the Cornerstone Inn, my husband and I waited for our driver from St. Helena Wine Tours to pick us up.  Tom pulled up at the bottom of the hill – in a shiny black Jaguar.  (Insert theme song from the Jefferson’s here as this is not usually the way we roll).

The sun was shining and the Valley was radiant as we began our drive to Sojourn, one of my favorite Sonoma Pinot producers.  I was excited about the wine as we have been loyal consumers over the years, but as excited to meet a long-time Twitter friend, @winebratsf, live.  Both met my high expectations.  I knew from experience that I would enjoy the 08 Sonoma Cost (earth and oak, needed some time in bottle); Sangiacomo Vineyards (cherry and earth) and Gap’s Crown Vineyards (blueberry, cherry and spice) – all priced at $48.  But, I was excited about trying the new 08 Rodgers Creek Pinot Noir.  I loved the ripe berry taste of Burgundian cherry, floral aroma and spiciness.  We then tried three cabernets that I feel are amongst the better cabernets from the trip.

We started with the 06 Sonoma Cabernet, which was a steal at $39.  It was a big blend of currant and black cherry flavors with lots of spice.  The 06 Mountain Terraces Vineyard Reserve Cabernet ($75) was full of dark fruit with earthiness and cedar.  We ended with the 07 Home Ranch Vineyard Cabernet ($39), which tasted of blueberries and had a more subtle finish.

Our next stop was Mount Family Winery where we went to meet some other online friends – @sonomawilliam, @sharayray @winedog – for a BBQ thrown for wine club members.  (Side question:  why does tri-tip seem to be the official beef product of Napa wineries for BBQs?)  I had the opportunity to sample their Grenache (still not released) and I am looking forward to adding a few to my collection.

The final stop was at Michel Schlumberger where we secured a picturesque table on the porch overlooking their lovely grounds.  If you haven’t experienced a tasting there, I would highly recommend you stop by.  The wines are organically farmed and as Evan, our host, said, “the wines have good poundability.”  Yes, they do – they are quite good.  We took home several bottles including the 08 Pinot Blanc ($21) that passed the Texas Summer porch test; the 06 Le Fou Pinot Noir ($32) that had lots of cherries and was perfectly described by a tablemate as having “red hots on the back end” and the 04 Deux Terres Cabernet ($75) which was framed by big cherries, spice and hints of chocolate.

The next morning we met @winebratsf and @wineevangelist for some Iron Horse Tut Cuvee bubbly and brunch for a great time.  You know it’s funny,  I started Twitter because I felt like I had to “understand” social media for my career.  I look back at what I’ve gained from my experience, the encouragement that I got from my friends to start this blog, the incredible wine lovers that I’ve met and I realize that was the venue that brought out my inner wino.

A Day on Spring Mountain with Barnett Vineyards

Our last stop in Napa was to see one of my favorite people and a wonderful  wine hostess, Jacquelyn St. Martin at Barnett Vineyards.  I had the opportunity to meet Jackie, recovering Texan, last year at a wine dinner in Dallas and we immediately clicked.  For years, I have always joked about my “Fred Flintstone thumbs” and hers are identical (hence the photo and trust me – this is a freak of nature thing).  Barnett is always at the top of my wine country list.  I love their wine, but it’s even more fun when they are in wood burning pizza making mode as the pairing is sublime.   Looking down Spring Mountain with a glass of wine in hand is just a majestic experience.

Fiona and Hal Barnett launched the winery in 1983 with a focus on producing Cabernet Sauvignon wines, but have expanded to include Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Merlot with grapes taken from other single vineyards.  Because of the nature of the Spring Mountain terroir, the grapes are harvested by hand. 

We started with one of my favorites Barnett whites – the 09 Sauvignon Blanc, which had just been released that week and harkens from Dry Creek Valley.  At $25, I loved the crispness and tasted citrus, herbal and tropical fruit flavors.  I adore this wine.  Our next glass was the 07 Savoy Chardonnay priced at $35.  It was made in the Bordeaux style.  I tasted citrus, floral notes and a little vanilla.  They were totally sold out of the Tina Marie Pinot, so we tried the 08 Viento Valle Pinot Noir instead.   Our group almost collectively brought home two cases of this wine, which is priced at $45.  Big cherry, a touch of sweetness and some earthiness. 

We then tried the 07 Merlot, which was described by one of my travel companions as “the soup that drinks like a meal.”  It’s a deep purple color with lots of stone fruit, earthiness and licorice.  Priced at $48, it is a great wine and one that should be tried with food.  We then tried three different Cabernet Sauvignon wines.  First up was the 07 Spring Mountain District Cabernet Sauvignon, which was a good Cab, priced at $65.  We also tried the Cyrus Ryan Cabernet, which was very nice, but the 07 Rattlesnake Hill Cabernet brought the group to our knees (in a good way).  It’s a special occasion wine at $125, but its dark color, deep fruit and complexity, made it the favorite wine with the group.  There is some urgency to getting this wine.  When we were there, only ten cases remained and we probably cleared out two of them.

Lora waiting on the plan

After a wonderful time at Barnett and a great dinner at Redd, we ventured back to the hotel to get ready for our return.  The drive to Sacramento was uneventful and then we jinxed it with the comment that this had been such an easy trip.  Wrong!  Due to some weather in Dallas, we ended up diverted to Oklahoma City for a few hours.  Only one of our team had upgraded to First Class and when she came sashaying back with her Bailey’s as we were pooling the snacks at the bottom of our purses, we were kind enough to not do her harm.  We finally arrived back home about four hours later than we originally planned and I was realizing the return to reality might not be as easy as I had hoped.

A Night with David Mirassou

One the of the coolest things about having a blog are the invitations that you receive from wineries to attend wine dinners and events.  Bloggers are starting to gain credibility as a media source and because 1,800 of you have logged on since I began Dallas Wine Chick in February, this blog has built some fast “street cred.”  So, let me start with a big thank you to all of my readers (especially the 1,780 of you who are not related to me in any way).

Mirassou Winery and Stephen Pyles teamed up to host a media dinner last week and I had the chance to attend with one of my favorite friends and bloggers Write for Wine who happened to be in town from Seattle at a work event.  I was vaguely familiar with Mirassou wines, which you’ve probably seen at your neighborhood grocery store, due to their large distribution and value. 

We were hosted by the delightful David Mirassou, who is the sixth generation of one of America’s oldest wine making families.  My husband always says when he likes someone that they “are someone you’d want to sit down and have a beer with to talk.” David is one of those guys – funny, unassuming, likeable and just an all around good person.  Even though he addressed the crowd with every wine poured, he took the time to sit down at every table so we could ask him our questions and he kept us laughing with his stories.  And, a bonus for me is that he and my uncle Mike are dear friends.

We started with 08 Mirassou Pinot Grigio as an appertif.  It was crisp and fruit forward.  It was served with an amuse bouche of cured hake, caviar and a confit of pine nuts with a balsamic gelee.  Delightful match.

Next step was the 08 Mirassou Sauvignon Blanc paired with sea scallop “migas” with spring pea emulsion and chorizo.  Recently, I have been surprised at how well sauvignon blanc pairs with spring peas.  This wine was my personal favorite of the bunch.

We moved on to the 08 Mirassou Chardonnay matched with a butter poached lobster with corn milk-green chili custard, hearts of palm and black garlic cream.  I tasted green apples, tropical notes and it was very food friendly (and how can you not get friendly with lobster?)

The rest of the group ate sous vide pork tenderloin with masa cake and texas strawberry-pasilla gastrique with the Mirassou Pinot Noir, but they substituted lamb for me due to a pork allergy.  I tasted cherries and a bit of pepper.  Super interesting fact – the Mirassou family (his great, great grandfather) was the first to bring over pinot noir cuttings from France.  

At this point I was stuffed, but the food kept coming.  A foie gras “forest” with shaved chipotle brioche and carmelized figs was paired with a 08 Mirassou Merlot.  This was the smoothest red to me and I liked the spiciness, big fruit, hints of vanilla and balance.  Definitely a fabulous pairing.

The 08 Mirassou cabernet sauvignon was paired with a cherry salsita-stuffed waygu shortrib with Dallas goat cheese-chimichurri tamale.  I am still dreaming of that tamale.  And, did I mention I was stuffed beyond belief two courses ago?

Our finale was the 08 Mirassou Riesling with mango-semolina croquettes with coconut-marcona almond sauce.  The fruit in the dessert paired well with the tropical notes in the wine.  Truly a “wow inspiring” dinner with value wines that held their own with the food.  And , did I mention that all wines are under $12? 

Since Summer seems to be the month of weddings, here’s my Dallas Wine Chick insider tip.  Mirassou is hosting its 6^th annual “I Do with Mirassou” contest where brides- and grooms-to-be can enter for a chance to win $10,000, plus a trip to San Francisco to meet with Food Network Chef Aida Mollenkamp and David to plan a custom wedding menu, complete with food and wine pairings. To find out more, enter by June 27, 2010 at www.mirassou.com/ido.

A Small Town Boy from Iowa Turns a Hobby into Wine Magic

I had the opportunity to attend yet another wonderful wine dinner that Lakewood Country Club hosted for its wine locker members.  Co-owner Gary Luchtel from Surh Luchtel joined us for a wonderful four course dinner prepared by Executive Chef William Koval.  Poor Gary drew the short straw and ended up seated next to me.  For the next three hours, I proceeded to pepper the poor guy with questions that he handled with incredible patience and good humor.

A small town Iowa boy who followed an attractive exchange student to California, Gary told me his story about the wine hobby he and Don Suhr shared that began in 1990 and became a career in 1999.  I always am intrigued when I see people who have made their passion a success.  However, Don gave me a new perspective when he stated, “you know you lose your hobby when it becomes your job.”  Hmmm.

Suhr Luctel has grown and now  produces 4,000 cases of ten wines – Pinots, Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet, Zinfandel and Viognier.  He and Don serve as the only two employees of the winery and their focus is on making good wines at even better prices. While they source grapes from high-end growers all over California, they also own Fortanati Vineyard, which produced the Viognier that has become a new favorite of mine.  More on that to come later.

During the cocktail hour, we sampled the 07 Surh Luchtel Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast.  Cherries, spice and earthiness in a glass that retails for $32.  The other wine served was the 06 Surh Luchtel Mosiaque.  This wine priced at $31 was a Bordeaux blend with lots of blackberry and stone fruit.   I’d like to try this wine in a few years as I feel age would make it very different than it is today.  These two wines were paired with passed appetizers of mini crab cakes with tomato jam and lobster sauce; black peppered beef, arugula and parmesan and pork shumi with karashi mustard.  The appetizers and wine matched well.

Our first course was a soup of spring green garlic cream with fresh peas, morels and seared rabbit loin.  This was served with the 08 Surh Luchtel Viognier from Oak Knoll in Napa.  An unlikely pairing in my mind, but I can’t find my way around a kitchen.  It was a fantastic match.  The wine is my new favorite Viognier.  It is produced in stainless steel barrels, but after the primary fermentation, they add a partial malolactic fermentation to bring out the creaminess of the wine.  The combination of the minerality, crispness, apricot, white peaches and pepper make it one of my top new summer wines and it is a great find for $28.   

The next course was a seared long island duck breast with a Japanese sweet potato, cardamom, mango, shitake served with star anise duck sauce.  This was served with the 06 Surh Luchtel’s Gary’s Vineyard Pinot Noir from Santa Lucia Highlands.   This was a very expressive and big Pinot with a taste of berries and cherries.  It was a wonderful match with the course.  It is priced at $50.

Our dessert course was served with the 05 Surh Luchtel Stagecoach Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa.  The fresh fruit almond cream pastry and pistachio almond ice cream – especially the ice cream – worked well with the Cabernet.  This was also a big wine with blackberry, cherry, currant and hints of chocolate.  Priced at $40, this wine would evolve for another 5-7 years with cellar age.  The bonus of the night was the glass of 63 Taylors Port that Clubhouse Manager Tony Zaranti poured at the end.  It topped off a great evening of fun, friends, food and wine.

I Tweet. Therefore I Drink Wine.

I’ve been asked a lot lately by friends who are not on Twitter why I spend so much time ”Tweeting”. I joined Twitter close to a year and a half ago because I thought I needed to know more about the interworkings of social media due to my job in PR management. I logged on and had absolutely no idea what to do or how to navigate. I stayed in that mode until about three months later when I went back and collectively read my responses, or Tweets. I was ridiculously boring and I had only a handful of employees and loyal friends who were following me.

At that point, I decided I was going to focus and follow my passion of talking about wine. Slowly my community grew into an ecosystem of wine lovers, food lovers, wineries and wine logistics people. It was then that I understood the allure of Twitter – it’s about interacting with a group of people interested in your passion. It became fun – and somewhat of an obsession – just ask my husband who sometimes refers to himself as a Twitter widow. I started tweeting questions such as: What wine should I drink tonight? What wine pairs best with a certain food? Where can I buy the best sake in Dallas for a dinner party? Should I go to the gym or drink wine? Not only could I get an answer, but it was like having hundreds of wine experts available at any time to respond to my questions.

My network of folks continued to grow and I found myself beginning friendships with a core group of people. Those people lived all over the world, worked in all kinds of industries and had different lives than I did, but we all shared a love of the grape. These are the folks who encouraged me to start the Dallas Wine Chick blog. I sat back and learned from them for a year and they offered me a ton of (free) advice on how to make this site the best that it could be.

You may ask, “Melanie, how do you maintain friendships and connections with people that you have never met?” Through Twitter, I have actually had the chance to meet about 15 of those people. I have found that they are people I would have become friends with under “normal” circumstances. Also, I’ve had some really memorable Twitter experiences through those interactions. Here are some of the highlights – I’ve tried to hone in on experiences where I have actually met the person vs. friendships and interactions or this would column would go on forever:

• @donatifamily. I had never heard of Donati Family Vineyards prior to Twitter. But, based on my interaction with Brandi, who runs the wine club program on Twitter, I found out that she was coming to Dallas. I set up a lunch with some wine lovers at Lakewood Country Club followed by a wine blow out at our house that went into the late hours. The wine was wonderful and the people were better. I also had a new friend @amyperryhall who happened to be in town and came to spend the night for the festivities.

• @rickbakas. Rick, the director of social media of St Supery, and I shared a fantastic meal at my favorite restaurant, Abacus. Rick was doing a tour of Texas with St. Supery and we enjoyed some wonderful wine, food and fun. Rick also brought along some very cool folks from Dallas that I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting until that time.

• @cleavagecreek. Cleavage Creek was another winery that I was not familiar with, but I loved their story of donating proceeds of gross sales to breast cancer research. They quickly have become a good Twitter friend and someone I cannot wait to meet. I also have several bottles of their wine that I plan to open with some breast cancer survivor friends.

• @baconator. I met Ryan in Austin for a drink at a wine bar with lots of Austin charm. The wine list was interesting and global and we brought out the snarkiness in each other. It was a blast. I was also forgiven for being allergic to pork.

• @wineevangelist. This lunch was so much fun at a great wine bar in town, Dali. Barbara, a renowned expert on Pinot Noir and former vineyard owner, and her charming family ordered a crisp White Burgundy that complimented the food and fun conversation. I look forward to learning much more about Pinot from her.

• @lynnerae. A fellow wine lover and marketing person who lives in Punta Mita, my favorite vacation place. My husband and I had a fantastic time meeting she and her boyfriend. They even hooked us up with an in-town wine connection so I don’t have to always bring wine and have introduced us to all the great local places in town (including my surfing instructor).

• @winewonkette and @houstonwino.  I was invited to the Urban Wineauxs road trip to Dallas where we had a wonderful meal at Abacus (sense a theme) paired with wines that brought out the nuances of the food.  Because a flood caused us to move out of our house temporarily, we continued our evening at Veritas Wine Bar.  Another great night with great wine, food and people.

This doesn’t include all the virtual wine tastings or TTL (Twitter Taste Live) events where the wines might range from Oregon Pinots to Washington Merlots to California Cabernets.  Through Twitter, I signed up for the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, Washington in June. I cannot wait to put names and faces to Twitter handles. I will get the opportunity to hang out with @writeforwine, a work colleage, estabished blogger and friend, who I have yet to meet in person. I’ll be the new kid on the block there, but I know there will be a supportive wine blogging community to show me the ropes.

There’s No Business Like Snow Business

Last week, I had it all planned out.  I was going to go to a Women for Wine Sense event in Dallas featuring notable women in the wine industry including award-winning proprietor, Lindsay Woodward.  Then I was lucky enough to be on the short list for a small post event dinner with Lindsay and her explosive Retour Pinot Noir. 

Then snow threatened to get in the way.  I was called to Michigan for work.  I crossed my fingers and flew into the eye of the storm – literally – successfully connecting flights in Chicago and then on to Michigan.  I was relieved to get home, but I was too late to make the original event.  I joined a small group of women for dinner at Salum, a local favorite and I am so happy that I did since Lindsay’s wines exceeded my expectations with the 07 vintage (I was lucky enough to try her first vintage with a friend last year).

For those of you who have not had the opportunity to try her Retour Pinot Noir, it is coming to a wine list near you soon.  Retour, which is only in its second vintage and is the French term for returning home, was rated a 92 and named by the Wine Spectator as “one of the most important new labels in Oregon.”  Bottom line – the Pinot is delightful – big fruit, spice and a long finish.  But what was more delightful was Lindsay.  She’s smart, she’s funny, she’s sassy and she loves what she does.  She took a gamble and left a successful communications job.  She turned her love of wine, knowledge of the industry and her passion into a successful venture while she was in her early 30’s.  She’s agreed to do a Q&A with me for a future posting, so look for that soon.

On another note — I returned from Michigan on Wednesday evening with the thought of writing my article about my dinner at Salum and posting  it no later than Saturday.  Then the mother of all storms hit Dallas.  We woke up on Thursday to a dusting of snow.  It was pretty – nothing that would keep me from going to work.  But, it continued to snow. And snow.  And snow.  Ten and a half inches later, our power went out and wasn’t restored until very late on Saturday.  Because we have a young daughter, we finally threw in the towel, grabbed two bottles of red wine (2005 Del Dotto Cab Frank and 06 Sojourn Cabernet Sauvignon) and went to a hotel on Friday night.  I do have to admit that I was worried about my wine collection and thankful that the power outage happened during the winter months. (No power in August for a few days in Dallas is not good for wine).

So, this Dallas girl now completely empathizes with what has been going on in DC, New York, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit.  What I did gain from this experience is an appreciation for what I have and the knowledge to pack my wine bottles, wine opener, Riedel glasses and head to a hotel much faster should Dallas become a winter wonderland and I lose my electricity once more.

My Four Year Old Has a Better Palate Than Mine?

A few days ago, I was going through my usual wine consumption ritual – view the color and clarity, sniff the aroma, swirl the glass, and was getting ready to taste when I suddenly heard, “Mommy, can I have a sip?” I looked down to see the big blue eyes of my four and a half year old daughter staring up at me. “Um, no. This is an adult drink.” Strange – she had never shown an interest before other than looking at the Eurocaves and asking if those were full of “adult beverages.” I saw the disappointment in her eyes and said innocently, “would you like to smell it?” I showed her how to swirl the wine to bring out the bouquet (it wasn’t pretty). I figured she would lose interest immediately. She did not.

She took a deep sniff and declared, “I smell cherries, chocolate and strawberries.” Holy crap – we were drinking an Archery Summit Pinot Noir 2002. Did I have a sommelier in training? Should I give the blog over to her since her palate was so much more evolved than mine? I did what any good mom and wine lover would do – I bragged to my friends and on Twitter all week.

A week later, I poured a glass of Failla Viognier and handed it over to her. She sniffed, she swirled. I held my breath. Finally, she declared, “I smell cherries and chocolate and strawberries.”

Seems those childhood experts are right about kids picking up the darndest things. And so I wait for the next college scholarship opportunity.