A Fine (enough) Wine

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My fiance and I are pretty low-key when it comes to holidays and celebrations.  Don't get me wrong, we're not unromantic holiday haters.  We just both agree that gift giving can be stressful when the whole idea of v-day is to enjoy one another.

For Valentine's Day 2k8 we had a picnic in the Botanical Gardens at Golden Gate park.  We drank screwcap wine and read in the sun and then had a great dinner at a little Italian resto on Clement St.  2k9 found us picnicking and walking on the beach in Half Moon Bay followed by a walk-in dinner at my favorite joint Terzo.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that our plan for 2k10 was to go for a hike in the Marin Headlands and -- you got it -- bring a picnic and wine and call it a date.  

When it started raining and gusting on Monday morning, I thought we were sh*t out of luck.  "Taco Bell/KFC combo on Lombard it is," I said to myself on my rainy commute to Napa.  Luckily, my brilliant co-worker and good friend Jules told me about having made delicious french toast over the weekend.  "Omg, I love french toast!  It's like my favorite,"  I exclaimed.  "Ok, maple syrup is technically my favorite food, but french toast is ideal vehicle!"  

And so V-Day Brinner was born.

For those of you who don't know (aka didn't eat public school lunches or frequent Denny's during a rebelious phase in high school) having breakfast for lunch or dinner is the bomb.  Cam dug the idea too, "Yum! Love you!"  Yayyyyyyy!

Brinner Course 1: eggs, sausage, sauteed spinach.  Standard, healthy, delicious, and most of the ingredients were already in the fridge = easy and awesome.

Brinner course 2: GRADE A REAL VERMONT MAPLE SYRUP, french toast, strawberries, powdered sugar with a heart outlined in the middle.  I know, we are freaking adorable. 

Going balls out with the brinner theme, we (I) decided we should drink mimosas as to get the full brinner experience.  Let me tell you this, mimosas are f-ing delish any time of day.  Our v-day mimosas were excellent inspite of the bitter, artificial, semi-barfy mouth on the champagne I bought on a whim at Safeway.  

Piper Sonoma, I will never drink you again.

In my defense, Safeway was out of the $6 Cristalino (at 7 pm on Valentine's Day, go figure!), which is in my opinion perhaps the best deal in the entire wine industry right now.  Next up was the $13 Mumm Napa which I know is fabulous, but if I'm blending my sparkling with OJ, I need decent, not fabulous.  So I go for the $8 Piper Sonoma and could not have been more disappointed.  Barf-o-rama.  

An yet even shitty sparkling could not take away from the ideal night.  Just me and mah baby:)

 

 

 

 

I have what financial planners might call "ridiculously low risk tolerance."  Case and point: when visiting the Dominican Republic with my family a few years ago we decided to go to a hotel casino one night.  My dad gave everyone $20 to gamble on whatever game they most enjoy.  My mom lost her twenty playing slots while my siblings had a variety of successes but mostly failures on the blackjack table.  Fun was had by all, in spite of losing money.  For me, however, the act of gambling is seriously anxiety producing.  So I decided to just pocket my Andrew Jackson and watch from the sidelines.  Super lame, I know.

Below: Telander kids in Punta Cana, DR

With that story in mind, it should come as no surprise that I used to have a very un-adventurous wine buying habit.  Once I found a wine that was enjoyable or even just decent, I would purchase it almost exclusively until I tried a new wine that I could obsess over.  I do not even want to know how many bottles of Folie a Duex's Menage a Trois I have had in my life, but it is safe to assume its nearing the century mark.  

The truth is, however, that novelty is a key to happiness.  It is fun to try a new varietal, new brand, new country, to be wowed by the spices and flavor profile and nose of something exotic.  The problem for me, is that when a new wine is bad, I end up with a serious case of buyer's remorse that exponentially outweighs the worth of a $9 bottle of red.

One day, while feeling frisky and perusing the wine aisle of Safeway for a bottle of wine with the funniest label, I thought to myself, "There has a got to be a better way to choose a good wine."  Um, duh Cary.  

Later that month I had the chance to meet up with the parents of my oldest friend in the world, David and Susan Sabin, at their outrageously fabulous home/winery in St. Helena.  While at dinner, David offered up to me the advice I had been searching for.  "Buy 2007 Napa Cabernets.  It is a once a century vintage and all of the good wines will be worth their weight in gold in a decade."   And like that, the key to discovering new wines was given to me; try wines that you know are from a great vintage.

Below: Chester Sabin at the Sabina Estate

Finding a great vintage: Grapes are a crop, pure and simple.  As with any crop, the quality of a grape is very much effected by the quality of the growing season during which it matured.  Though winemakers have been known, through art and chemistry, to coax a good wine from bad grapes, its much easier to create a good wine from good grapes.  So if you know that a particular area (Napa Valley) had a particularly great vintage (2007) and is know for a particular varietal (Cabernet Sauvignon), look for a wine that fits those criteria and purchase away.  Though certainly there is no guarantee that all wines from these vintages will be great, you are giving yourself a serious head start!

Great vintages to look for:

2007 Napa Valley (California)

2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (France)

2006 Piedmont and Tuscany (Italy)

2009 German whites

2005 Southern Autralia

2006 New Zealand

2008 Willamette Valley (Oregon) 

 

Photo shown below in attempt to re-gain/gain cool status -- wearing my ridiculously talented friend Gill's Olympic gold medal.  Yes, I am going for cool-by-proxy.

Did it work?

Since I've already revealed my love of Safeway frozen pizza, I figured I might as well share this gem from Friday night while your expectations are low.  

Being budget conscious (aka: broke) means that I often take the bus on cross-city journeys rather than paying out the rear on cab fare.  Unfortunately, there appears to be a law in San Francisco requiring that buses break for yellow lights and stay under 13 mph.  So as one might imagine, spending an hour of your Saturday night on a crawling packed bus is. not. fun.  

My brilliant friend Lydia taught me the perfect solution to buzz-killing boredom of long bus rides: the booze bot.  A booze bot is really just any type of liquid-tight receptacle that one can drink acholic beverages out of in public.  Ideally without getting arrested.  The classic booze bot tends to be a clear liquor/mixer combo (vodka/gin) poured into the remains of a mixer bottle (tonic/soda).  Civilized bot-ers try to add lemon or lime, but that pretty much screams mixed drink.  Some men choose to go "straight up," consuming hard alchohol sans chaser directly from a flask or emptied water bottle.  Brown bagging beers is perhaps the most common as it requires little planning ahead though is notably riskier.  But hey, sometimes you have to take risks.

This weekend the stakes were raised.  Enter: the Booze Bot Challenge (BBC)

San Francisco has lots of hills.  Like, really tall ones.  In fact, many sidewalks throughout the city are actually proper staircases.  Perks of these hills include gorgeous views and firm glutes.  A downside is that large vehicles (MUNI buses) cannot actually make it up some of these inclines.  

The 22 Fillmore bus, when traveling up into Pacific Heights from the Marina on Fillmore St. does a little move known as "the wiggle."  This is when the bus veers off its course by a block or two to avoid the steepest portion of the hill before resuming its route on the original road.

Scene: Lauren, Cam, and Cary on the 22 Fillmore bus heading to the Mission, 2 blocks before the wiggle.

Lauren: So, how long does this bus ride take?

Cam: Forever.

Cary: More like 35 minutes.

Lauren: Seriously?  Man, we should have at least brought something to drink with us.

Cary: Crap.  A booze bot would have been amazing.

Cam: I have the perfect solution.

What happens next is a feat of raw strength and ingenuity sprinkled with a tiny bit of stupidity.  Cam gets off the bus at Fillmore and Union, right where the bus begins the wiggle.  He walks (a little too calmly) to a liquor store across the street.  Lauren and Cary remain on the bus.  Cam's plan is to buy booze bots and then sprint straight up the Fillmore hill while the bus does its wiggle aka: the BBC.  

4 blocks and 3.5 minutes later, Lauren and Cary stare anxiously out the back of the bus, fearing a failed BBC attempt.

Lauren:  Holy crap!  There he is!

Cam's head pops up above the crest of the hill.  Bus erupts into cheers as Cam just barely enters the bus's back door before it closes... Brown bag in hand!

Cam (breathing heavily, stripping off layers, sweating profusely):  Oh my gosh, I'm going to vomit.  

Cary: Oh my gosh, Tecate tall boys!  I love you so maaaaaach!

Hi fives and smiles of approval are shared by formerly skeptical fellow busmates.  35 minutes later, we arrive at our destination with a well-deserved buzz. 

You are welcome.

My lovely older sister, Lauren (above), came to visit from Chicago this weekend in search of above-freezing temperatures and a landscape that does not exist entirely on the gray scale.  And, of course, because she loves me so maaaach.  

As a part of my guerrilla campaign to get her and her hubby to move out to SF, I decided to whet her appetite with some of "the good stuff," aka: 2006 Benziger Stone Farm Syrah.  The bottle is a relic from my law firm days as a baller and I have been waiting for a special moment to break it out.  On her last trip out to SF, Lauren, her husband Mike, and I went tasting at the Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen, so it seemed particularly special for us to share this together (a photo from our visit below).  

Side note: if you ever find yourself wine tasting in Sonoma, Benziger is can't-miss winery.  Grab antipasti and sandwiches from the Glen Ellen Village Market beforehand and sit side at a vineyard-side picnic table for a memorable lunch!

Tasting notes: I would donate a non-essential organ to have a glass of this full-bodied, garnet beauty during these dark, damp winter nights.  The nose is all smooth blackberries but you get a lively mouth of classic winter spices.  Its a perfect wine for someone who enjoys voluptuous reds but dislikes the bold peppery flavors of an Australian Shiraz.  

Pairing: Being the classy lady that I am, I paired the elegant $37 Syrah* with a $5 frozen Safeway brand margherita pizza.  And you know what?  It was freaking delicious.  A marinated flank steak might have matched the wine better, but a bbq chicken pizza would do the trick beautifully.  As the old adage goes: "when life gives you a job that pays by the hour, eat discount brand frozen food."  I'm not one to argue with a classic.

 

*I will feature wines that are a bit more on the budget-friendly side later this week, so please come back!

Every week A Fine (Enough) Wine will spotlight a specific wine growing region or grape variety. I will share key facts about geography, history and flavor profiles as well as sharing my own tasting notes throughout the week. I'll be hunting down the highest quality inexpensive bottles I can find to share with you!  

This week's region is Sonoma County.  

The quick and dirty: Sonoma County is in Northern California between the Pacific Ocean and Napa Valley, has 13 separate AVAs and a relaxed, welcoming environment.  The county is best known for its Chardonnay, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir and Cabernet.  

Recommended Bottles: Easily located, high quality, and inexpensive wines included: Gloria Ferrer sparkling wines, La Crema and Chateau St. Jean Chardonnays, Ravenswood Zinfandel, Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon and Benziger red blends.

The full story: Located in coastal northern California, Sonoma County is home to 13 distinct AVAs: Alexander Valley, Bennett Valley, Chalk Hill, Dry Creek Valley, Green Valley, Knights Valley, Los Carneros, Northern Sonoma, Rockpile, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Sonoma Valley, Sonoma Mountain.  Grapes were first planted in Sonoma in 1812 and over half of all wineries in Sonoma are less than 20 years old.  To give a little perspecitve, Italy's wine history dates back to 800 BC -- talk about New vs. Old World!

Chardonnay (pronounced shar-doe-nae) is the undisputed king of the white varieties in Sonoma with over 16,000 acres planted in 2010.  Un-oaked Chardonays tend towards ripe apples and melon flavors and hints of minerality though many winemakers continue to produced classic oaky, buttery wines as well.  

Cabernet Sauvignon (cab-er-nay saw-vin-yawn) is most planted red variety (12,000 acres) and tends to grow best in the warmer, dryer AVAs of Alexander Valley, Sonoma Valley and Sonoma Mountain.  Russian River Valley, with is cool and foggy river air, is famous for its dense, silky, fruit forward Pinot Noirs (pee-no nwar).  The  jammy, berry-rich Zinfandels* of Dry Creek Valley are among the most distinct and best Zins produced worldwide.

The next time you are at the grocery store or local wine shop, find a Sonoma County wine that is in your budget and is one of the key varieties I mentioned and give it a go.  I'll share the wines I taste this week and would love to hear about what you all are drinking at home!

 

*When I write about Zinfandel, I will always be referring to RED ZInfandel.  As the t-shirt slogan goes, friends don't let friends drink White Zinfandel.  So friend, consider yourself warned;)

This is a little trick of the trade I learned from our winemaker in Napa.  If you ever have an opened bottle of wine you'd like to save you can: 1) give it to me and I will help you out of that jam, 2) spend $20 on a wine pump or gas canister, or 3) exhale a large, quick breath into the bottle and immediately cork it.  

Wine structure deteriorates when it comes into contact with oxygen but a neutral gas, such as the CO2 we respire, will help the wine stay stable while it waits for you.  Gases such as argon, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide (from "melting" dry ice) are frequently used throughout the wine making process to prevent oxidation.  Though our exhalations don't look as cool as dry ice fog (imagine that!), they nonetheless will preserve wine just as well.  

When stored in this matter, a bottle can last 3-5 days versus a number of hours if left uncorked or in contact oxygen.  

Totally awesome, right?

You might be asking yourself, "Why, exactly, should I be reading this lady's blog?  Though she possesses phenomenal wit and freakish ability to memorize lines from bad 90s rom-coms, I don't know what she can tell me about wine."  

The short answer would be this: "I am totally, butt crazy in love with wine."*  

The longer version goes something like this.  I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area 3 years ago in the hopes of gaining legal experience and then applying to/attending Berkeley Law.  What actually happened is quite different.  I met an amazing man, really disliked my paralegal job, and fell in love with all things wine (wine country, wine stores, extraordinarily large wine glasses).  

After much soul-searching and alcohol fueled late night conversations (aka: quarter-life crisis) I quit my job at the law firm and began working as a Harvest Intern at a Napa winery.  I traded in my pumps and sweater sets for steel-toed galoshes and flannel shirts.  I sorted through moldy grapes and earwigs, learned to drive a fork lift, innoculated grape must and everything in between.  And holy crap, did I love it.  After the 2010 harvest, I was invited to stay on at the winery and continue to commute to Napa everyday.  

Which brings us back to present times and your initial question about what the heck I know.  I'm not a winemaker and I didn't go to Davis, but I have learned some pretty awesome facts and tips and I promise to share them all with you.  I want to demystify wine so that everyone can feel comfortable and confident when trying a new wine or locating a wine you know you love.  Wine is, afterall, meant to be a pleasure.

*Yes, that is a borrowed phrase from Cher Horowitz of Clueless.  Who can blame her, Paul Rudd is a total babe.

 

 

A seemingly simple question with an infinite number correct answers.  I believe that however you choose to answer that question, you are right.  This is because wine preferences are deeply personal; just as with visual art or music, everyone has there own aesthetic inclinations.  Though knowledge and exposure might alter one's opinion, one does not need to be an expert in order to have a valid opinion.  My hope for this blog is that by earnestly sharing my thoughts and education on wine, you will feel comfortable and confident discovering or further developing your own set of wine-values.

Though it is perhaps my least favorite subject to dwell on, the recession surrounds us in our everyday lives and effects how and where we choose to spend our money.  I will not say that the consumption of wine is an inalienable right or a necessity, but oh my is it a pleasure!  And so the other purpose of this blog will be to help you locate the best possible wine for the money you have available so you can continue to enjoy wine, recession be damned!

So then, a cheers to the stuff that is good enough!