A Last Hoorah in Fairplay

And I'm back!

 Please forgive the lack of posts this past weekend, my Saturday was filled with drinking wine and my Sunday was spent wishing I hadn't. That's not true. I never curse the wine, only my inability to stop drinking it.  :)

Luckily I have friends who share my love for all things vino, and one just happened to be having a bachelorette party that involved a day of wine tasting and a dinner theater show - all via a limo with a designated driver, which as Harold Hill would put it, is trouble with capital T.

Tony, our dapper chauffeur from Brooklyn, took us from the sweltering heat of the valley to the rolling green hills of Fairplay in El Dorado County, a lesser known yet very fun place to taste. Despite the brain cells I undoubtedly lost during this excursion, I'll give a quick rundown of the tasting highlights of the day. Hopefully something here will strike your fancy and convince you to head up there, you won't be sorry.

1) Perry Creek: Beautiful, unpretentious exterior that feels more like coming home than going away. The tasting room is cozy and well-lit, with loads of retail space for the requisite bedazzled shirts, aprons and even baby onesies for the winos-in-training. The staff didn't miss a beat when our group walked in - one sporting a sash and toting her own polka-dotted glass - and we were tasting in seconds. I'm not sure I tasted a wine there I didn't love, but the highlights for me were:
  - 2008 Estate Chardonnay: Nice and crisp, full of citrus, apple and pineapple flavors, rounds out smooth.
  - 2006 ZinMan Zin: Their most popular line. This Zin was on the sweet side, with more fruit and vanilla than I was expecting. It tasted more like a Barbera to me, so I tried the 2007 Estate Barbera right after and found that the ZinMan was like a kicked-up, brighter version of the Barbera I preferred the former over the latter.

2) Fitzpatrick: I love this place. Nothing fancy by any means, but it's family owned, Irish-themed and has the best view anywhere around. The oldest winery in Fairplay, you truly feel like you're stepping into another time and place here, where wine is made and enjoyed not for the money or the publicity, but because it is in these people's blood. They serve a small selection of lunch fare which they make on site and present with pride. Try the hummus, which is very garlicky and homemade. In honor of the bachelorette, they gave her a bottle of wine of her choice which we enjoyed on their wooden deck overlooking the hills and valleys that surround the winery. On Fridays they have pizza night where the owner makes wood fired pizzas on the oven located right on the deck. I haven't made it there for that yet, but hope to soon.
     Wines here are hit and miss for me, but my favorite is their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Rich and deep with chocolate and dark berry flavors, and a bite on the finish. The best part is that most of their wines are less than $20.

3) Iverson: Another small, family-owned winery, with a fantastic selection of wines. They don't produce a lot - less than 3,000 cases a year - but what they do produce is very high quality. Highlights for me were the 2007 Barbera, 2007 Merlot and the Raspberry sparkling wine. There is also the Fifty-Fifty, which is a blend of Zin and Barbera which is a more mellow version of both. Next to the tasting room is a nice patio and deck that is a great place to grab a bottle and relax.

4) Windwalker: This was my first trip to Windwalker and I can say that I'm glad to have met it's acquaintance. A towering stone wall and wrought iron gate at the beginning of the winding driveway gives away no sign of the charming tasting room and spacious wooden deck hidden in the trees atop the hill. The light and airy tasting room and friendly staff made for a nice tasting experience. I wish I could give more detailed feedback on the wines, but 1) this was late in the day..enough said, and 2) I was so interested in tasting their Barbera that I had to buy the last bottle they had and split it with another interested party just to get a taste. And oh, was it worth it. The 2007 Copper Vineyard Barbera bright and "coconutty" - I believe the professional description is "toasted vanilla" but I made up my own, as usual - and had body that just didn't quit. We enjoyed our little glasses on the deck and had that not been the last bottle in the place I might still be there drinking it.

The night continued at Morton's where we raided a friend's wine locker and shared a Far Niente Chardonnay and a 2006 Lamborn Zinfandel. Both were fantastic...and not because we stole them. :)

Finally, at the dinner theater show, I let the server choose a Zin for us and he brought out a 2004 Quivira Dry Creek Valley Zin. I'm going to be honest, I could have been drinking Rossi at that point and thought it was wine made my Jesus himself. Yet somehow the remainder of the bottle ended up in my purse and I plan on finishing it off tonight, so I'll have to let you know how it holds up after a couple days.

I paid the price for this day of sinful consumption, but it was worth every drop. I hope this makes at least one person think about heading up to Fairplay and supporting local wineries. Thanks for reading (...if anyone actually is)!

Bringing Down the House...Whites

Summer may officially begin on June 21st every year, but for me, it isn't official until I hear the first strains of a show tune under the big top of Sacramento's Music Circus. Nearly every summer I can recall, back to when the theater was literally a tent, I've come to the Music Circus for some of the best entertainment money can buy. Cool story: My sister and I went to the Music Circus quite a bit throughout our childhood, and my first job out of college happened to be the project that brought the theater from a fabric tent with no air conditioning to a new, state-of the-art facility in 2003. How's that for fate? Since then I have had the pleasure of getting to know the folks who run it and see how much passion and work gets put into providing Sacramento with this gem of a theater.

In short: If you you haven't gone, go. If you have, go again. And again, and again and again.

So far this year I have seen Spamalot  (fantastic if you're a Monty Python fan, and even if you're not) and last night enjoyed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I'm a little biased since this is one of my top 3 favorite shows of all time, but this production is AH-MAZING. Seriously, how they manage to pull off shows like this in the round - with a 48-child chorus, no less! - is beyond me. But they nail it every time. Take the kids, take the parents, take a stranger, everyone will love it.

And what's a night at the theater without wine?? Not a very good one, I say. Our night began at Bistro 33 (I told you you would hear about it eventually). I always get the same thing - Kobe sliders - so decided to venture into the unknown and ordered the lamb sliders. Ok, so I didn't venture very far, but lamb can be a crap shoot so give me some credit. The sliders were very good, cooked medium well which actually was perfect for this dish. The toppings were a caramelized onion (which is like a food group for me) and fig compote, goat cheese, micro greens and a mango aioli. The overall taste was very sweet with all the fruit going on, but the goat cheese was a nice contrast and helped round out the flavors. I could have done without the mango aioli. Still very good, but not as good as the Kobe.

It was happy hour, so we opted for the house white. $3.33 a glass, how could you turn that down? I wasn't expecting a 100-point mind-blower, but I was pleasantly surprised with the offering.

New Wine: 2006 Columbia Crest Two-Vines Chardonnay

Taste: Very light and crisp, fruity with a strong apple flavor, a bit buttery on the finish.

Experience: Had 2 glasses, would definitely order again at B33 happy hour on a hot day when looking for a refreshing white and a good deal. :)

On to the show. The Music Circus has started featuring a different winery at each week's show and this week was Ehrhardt Estates Winery out of Clarksburg (shout out to Tom!). Last week was Michael David, but I imagine I'll be talking about them enough in the future so I won't go into my love for them here. The offerings were a Chenin Blanc and a Petite Syrah. Since we were already rocking the white, I stuck with it. Not to mention a Chenin Blanc around these parts is pretty rare - I once read that "Chenin went out when disco came in" - so I went with it.

New Wine: Ehrhardt Vineyards Chenin Blanc

Taste:  Not a fan. It had a sharp taste that quickly soured and the strong fruit flavors seemed to be hidden behind the alcohol like they were trying to bust through but couldn't. (My reviews make no sense, I know, but it's what goes through my head when I drink it.)

Experience: At the theater with no food and after drinking a Chard. That could explain the dislike. I'll have to give it another shot, I hear their 2004 is pretty darn good.

So I look forward to another show and another Winery of the Week...and maybe a Kobe slider or two. :)

The Hooters Dilema

Last night was not exactly what you would call a "Wine and Dine" night. There was, in fact, no wine to speak of and the dining consisted of hot wings and nachos. Hey, when you live where I do, you get your kicks where you can and endless wings on a random Wednesday sounded pretty good.

Out of curiousity I grabbed the bar menu to check out the wine list. And I use the term loosely. It read "Ask us about our colors of wine!". Colors! Hilarious. I found the tongue-in-cheek attitude towards wine rather refreshing. Hooters knows that wine is not it's bread and butter and decided not to let it take up precious real estate on the menu.

But it got me thinking. If one were to venture into a Hooters and ask for a glass of one of their 'colors' of wine (no doubt resulting in a confused look from the waitress), what would one order?? I'm not one to get caught up in the intricacies of food and wine pairing - I prefer to drink what I want no matter what I'm eating - but the thought of drinking wine while eating hot wings left me drawing a complete blank. I'm not sure it's ever even been attempted. At least not at a Hooters.

The obvious choice - and what is actually listed on the Hooters menu (or used to be) - is a bottle of Dom Perignon. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to spend that much on dinner, I'm not eating at Hooters. But they may be onto something. Beer is like the Hall to hot wings' Oates. Their harmonies coexist perfectly. And beer is carbonated. So is Dom. Perhaps the carbonation cuts through the fat of the wings and cleanses the palate nicely? This suggests that a Prosecco frizzante or a Muscato d'Asti would be worth a shot. Although I'm willing to bet one of my favorite limbs that these fancy-shmancy wines are not among the 'colors' Hooters carries.

In the real world, the canidates of possible pairing wines are more common. Think Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Cab, Zin, Pinot Noir, Syrah, etc.... I wish I would have checked out the selection at the bar. I will next time for sure. In the meantime, I can only speculate on what would be the perfect choice of wines I can easily find, then try out my theory at home with the frozen wings in my freezer.

I love the idea of a crisp COLD white, with a little sweetness and tartness. I imagine carbonation would be too distracting on the tongue with all that heat going on from the wings. I'm a big fan of Riesling and bet it would be a winner. On the other hand, I worry that the lighter flavor of the white wine would get lost in the strong, spicy flavor of the wings mixed with the richness of the dressing I tend to drown mine in. I love Zin with just about anything - yes, even chicken - and imagine that a rich, jammy Old Vine Zin would make for a zingy pairing, and would be a completely different wing/wine experience than the Riesling.

So I will follow my favorite wine-related rule: When in doubt, try them all! Stay tuned for how this theory all pans out...

New Wine: 2008 Pascual Toso Malbec

Taste: This was a little lighter than the Layer Cake Malbec, more medium-bodied but still rich. At first it was floral and spicy, then became very sweet and lingered. After drinking for a while, the spice became stronger,. BF liked it, though not as much as the LCM.

Enjoyed with: Louisana Hot Link Sandwich and brownie bites

Experience: We bought this at Costco for around $9. Had it a few days and BF suggested we drink it while watching a movie. I love it when he does that. Watched Zombieland, pretty good movie. Goes great with a Malbec. :)

The Great Malbec Search

My Corona-loving Boyfriend freely admits the first time he ever drank a full glass of wine on purpose is upon meeting me. At first he was tolerant, as men always are in the beginning. He would look sceptically at the wine I poured for him as if it was neon green and boiling, then put it up to his pursed lips and might have let a drop or two past before wincing and returning to the cool comfort of his Corona. I learned quickly that glasses of wine were not going to get me anywhere with him. After all, if I couldn't get this man to drink wine, our future together looked rather bleak. (Don't get me wrong, I love a cold beer as much as the next red-blooded American, but I couldn't picture a lifetime of romantic evenings by a crackling fire with a bucket of Bud Light at our sides.) I shifted my attack plan from glasses to tastings. It was simple, really. Every time I would drink a glass of wine, I would ask ever so nicely that he taste it. For me. Please. Pretty please? And being the fantastic guy he is, he would oblige. There were countless grimaces and frowns and rolled eyes, as expected, but then something crazy happened. Raised eyebrows. The true sign of surprised pleasure. He would taste, the eyebrows would kick in, and he eventually began to admit the wine was "not bad". Mission accomplished. Sort of.

Fast forward a couple years to a dinner out with friends. (In case anyone actually reads this and happens to live in the Sacramento region, it was Bistro 33 in El Dorado Hills. If you continue reading you will no doubt hear about it again, as it is one of my favorite places.) Fellow Winos, they perused the wine list and picked out a bottle of 2008 Layer Cake Malbec. I wasn't sure I had ever had a Malbec before, so I was interested, and my boyfriend went along with the group and gladly accepted an entire glass. Big step. Imagine my surprise when the eyebrows went up and instead of "not bad", he actually liked it! He really, really liked it!

If my memory serves me correctly - but let's be honest, there was wine involved so I'm not counting on it - we went through the first bottle and ordered a second. I guess that's what happens when you have four people drinking, instead of three and one guy downing import beers.

So I rushed to BevMo, signed up for the club card, and stocked up on 2008 Layer Cake Malbec. At $16.99 it's a decently priced wine and with the club card it's usually on sale for less. I did find it at Raley's/Bel Air and I believe it was an even better price.

So I now try to keep at least one bottle in the house for those nights when he feels like wine. And every time we see a Malbec, we grab a bottle and try it out. So far nothing has beat the Layer Cake, but he drinks the new bottles every time. I'm not sure who it makes happier, him or me. He loves the wine and I love that he loves it.

He would kill me for saying this, but the guy likes sweet wines, which is why he loves this wine. It is pretty sweet, but full-bodied and dark. Kind of like him....

Our search for more Malbecs will continue, and we welcome suggestions! :)

Article to check out: The New Black - 6 Things You Should Know About Malbecs

Here Goes Nothing...

In an attempt to fill my work-free days, as well as document what I consider to be a most interesting time in my life, I am hitting the blogosphere and letting it flow. If for no other reason than to document things that my ever-fading memory will no doubt fail to recall in the future - be it near or distant. Perhaps that could have something to do with the wine....

But I digress. So here I am, on "summer vacation", with a loving boyfriend, a passion for wine and hell of a lot of time on my hands. My days are currently being eaten up by endless reruns of crime shows, wedding shows (hey, a girl can dream, can't she??) and my new favorite hobby, vacuuming. I recently acquired a Dyson (thank you, Loving Boyfriend) and the thought of squeaky clean floors has become a bit of an obsession. Then again, with four dogs, the thought of anything being squeaky clean is more of an impossible dream. I suppose I should stop obsessing.

Anyhoo - so why "Wine, Dine, Love"? Simple. It is me summed up in three words. It's the trend now, haven't you heard? And while I may not publish a best seller or have an A-Lister star in a movie about it, it is what I love and what I do and certainly sounds more fun to me than praying. Stay tuned for wines I've discovered, recipes I've found or made up, rants about nothing and a little bit of everything...