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Happy Hour: The San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition

partysugar — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:15:08 -0800

Last week I attended a huge wine tasting hosted by the San Francisco Chronicle. The event showcased wineries from over 25 states that competed in the nation's largest wine competition. After the judging takes place - at another location on an earlier date - the newspaper hosts an impressive, almost overwhelming, public tasting. Although I tried countless wines, here are the bottles I plan on seeking out in the future.

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Happy Hour: Barefoot Bubbly Chardonnay

partysugar — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:27:33 -0700

Recently I had the chance to taste Barefoot's new Bubbly Chardonnay. Like a classic Chardonnay, it has a fresh fruit aroma, citrus apple flavor, and golden straw color. The body is refreshing and buoyant and the finish is crisp and light. The best thing about this bubbly is the incredible price; I've spotted it at Trader Joe's for only $4.99!

If you plan on hosting a Mother's Day brunch or shower and need to stock up on a good, affordable sparkling wine, I highly recommend you try Barefoot's Bubbly Chardonnay. It also makes a perfect bubbly for cocktails like a mimosa or bellini.

Do You Drink Charles Shaw Wine?

partysugar — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 11:57:18 -0700

Earlier today I told you about how the cheap, mass produced "Two Buck Chuck" recently won a blind taste test. Now I want to know, do you drink Charles Shaw wine?

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Wine World Reels As 2 Buck Chuck Wins Award

partysugar — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:13:38 -0700

Wine snobs all over the country are still fuming over a blind tasting in which Charles Shaw's 2005 Chardonnay was voted the best tasting California Chardonnay by the judges at the California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition. You may have heard this already, but so many people have been asking me about it that I couldn't let it go unnoticed! The shocking results were leaked on June 28th and declared "Two Buck Chuck" - as the wine is affectionately called due to its $1.99 price tag - the highest scoring white wine. The official verdict shows that 64 judges awarded "Two Buck Chuck" the prestigious Double Gold award, placing it first over 350 other Chardonnays, and in the top of the entire pack of 3,029 wines.

There are those who feel that the results should not be taken into account as the judges are not true, trained wine professionals.

The California State Fair competition is dismissed by some critics as representing broad-based consumer tastes rather than the palates of true wine connoisseurs.

Whether the outcome will be taken seriously or not, one thing can be certain, thousands of cases of this Chardonnay will be purchased. To be a part of the hype head to your local Trader Joe's and taste for yourself. At just $1.99 a bottle, you can buy one for all of your friends!

Source: The Press Democrat
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Happy Hour: Vignette Wine Country Soda

YumSugar — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:36:18 -0800

Last weekend, I headed over to 'wichcraft (Tom Colicchio's casual sandwich spot) for a tasty fried egg sandwich (which was yummy, if not a bit too heavy on the frisée). I was originally going to grab a nice refreshing bottle of water to accompany my meal when out of the corner of my eye I spotted this lovely little soda bottle. Upon inspection I saw that it was called Vignette Wine Country Soda, and well, I can't explain it, but just looking at it made my mouth start drooling like one of Pavlov's dogs.

So naturally, I put down the bottle of water and grabbed a bottle of the Chardonnay flavored soda instead. Now I assumed it would be a refreshing addition to my lunch, but I was not expecting it to be as delicious as it was. It was a crisp, bubbly kick in the tastebuds - not too sweet and with a subtle fruit flavor. I only wish all Chardonnay could taste this nice.

Also, while I was at the Fancy Food Show I had the opportunity to talk to founder Patrick Galvin. He let me know that Vignette is the first carbonated soft drink completely sweetened with the juice from Californian varietal wine grapes and is completely natural. While there, I took a taste test of the Pinot Noir flavor. Although it was also tasty, it just didn't seem to have the crisp, freshness that the Chardonnay had. But then again, regular Pinot doesn't really have the same crispness as real Chardonnay either.

Order yourself a bottle at Hello Delicious, but be warned, it's $4 a bottle. I'd like to say it's worth the price (it is delicious), but I'm pretty cheap and know that I purchased it for much less than that. Unfortunately it's slowly rolling out into stores, so unless you live near a store that carries Vignette, you'll have to pony up and pay the price.

January 26 UPDATE: Patrick Galvin just informed me that the price is now back to $2.50 a bottle at Hello Delicious. Now that's a price I can handle.

He also wanted to let me know that at the show, the "preference for the Chardonnay or Pinot Noir has consistently been split 50/50."

Happy Hour With Entourage, Part 2

partysugar — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:00:08 -0700

On Friday I introduced you to Kimberly Jackson of Jax Vineyards. YumSugar and I met her at a recent wine tasting, where we were attracted to one bottle in particular: Y3 Chardonnay. We loved the sleek and chic appearance. The wine with its crisp, clean, freshly acidic taste and bright, rich aromas made it highly drinkable and totally food-friendly. The winery is owned and run by Kimberly and it's an exclusive wine seen on many episodes of HBO's Entourage. When Vinnie, E, & Co. are sipping Char while out at one of LA's hottest eateries, it's most likely they are sipping a bottle from the Jax Y3 label. At only $18.00 a bottle this is an affordable must drink-get a bottle today to enjoy while you watch the season premiere tonight! We spoke with Kimberly about how she stumbled upon the Entourage set and what pairs well with her Chardonnay.
To take a look at what she has to say about her wine, read more

P/YSugar: Can you describe the Y3 Chardonnay to readers who haven’t tried it?
KJ: We wanted to create a Chardonnay that would not be overly oaked or overly creamy which is quite common among Napa Valley Chardonnays especially in the low to moderate prices points. Our goal was to create a chardonnay that offered a bright acidity and crispness to it. This ultimately allows the specific fruits ie. green apple, white peach, and a touch of brown sugar to shine through. Often oaky, creamy Chardonnay styles mask the actual fruit in the wine. Additionally a more acidic and brighter wine will not overpower food therefore resulting in a great food pairing wine. To enhance the vibrance and crispness of this Chardonnay, our winemaker, Rob Hunter used light oak barrels and no malolactic fermentation in his winemaking processes.

P/YSugar: What would you pair the Y3 Chardonnay with?
KJ: The Chardonnay pairs well with just about any cheese, fish dishes, and chicken dishes. It would also pair with a lean meat. Ultimately, the acidity can cut through the cream based cheeses and accompany light to moderately heavy dishes without overpowering them. Our Chardonnay is very unique in that it caters to the Chardonnay drinkers who like texture and layers that a Chardonnay offers but the Sauvignon Blanc drinkers enjoy its crispness and acidity.

P/YSugar: How did Y3 come about?
KJ: Our family’s involvement in our winery originally started when my dad purchased a beautiful 38-year old Calistoga vineyard in 1996. Realizing that our dad made an excellent vineyard choice, my brother Trent attempted to produce his own wine by hand picking a second harvest from our Calistoga vineyard. The homemade 1995 vintage created in his San Francisco garage ultimately turned out to be Calistoga vinegar. Undaunted, our family got inspired by Trent’s efforts so we hired a winemaker to produce our first official vintage of Jax Cabernet Sauvignon in 1996.

As our estate Cabernet Sauvignon (Jax) continued to gain momentum, we decided to start additional varietals including our Y3 Chardonnay, Y3 Syrah, and Y3 Sauvignon Blanc. The Y3 name (which is a Jax brand) was inspired by our grandparents who had a cattle ranch where Y3 was a cattle branding symbol. We celebrate three generations of land-tilling entrepreneurs with the Y3 label. This label is for our wines that are sourced from vineyards other than our own. The Jax Cabernet Sauvignon comes solely from our own vineyard.

P/YSugar: Do you use screw tops?
KJ: No. Although screw tops are cost effective, easier to open, and the trend in bottle packaging, we like the traditional ritual of opening the wine. As a high quality winery, we prefer the image of a traditional cork. Also, corks outperform screw caps after three years so we prefer not to risk the accelerated air transmission (resulting in oxidation) that occurs after approximately three years in the screw top.

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An Afternoon at Argentina's Flichman Vineyards

partysugar — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:50:48 -0800

This story was written by member Eleuthera and comes from the Wine Cellar group in the YumSugar Community.I recently had a chance to attend a wine tasting for Flichman from Argentina. I especially enjoyed the experience because I had a chance to chat with the winemaker, Luis Cabral de Almeida. From my standpoint, it didn't hurt that he was pretty hot also. We began with a bottle of their Chardonnay for $8. Frankly, I didn't want to taste a bottle of $8 Chardonnay as I hate that overly oaked buttery flavor of vanilla predominating, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was delightful and easily equal to wines I have enjoyed at twice the price. In fact everyone of the wines' price points was spectacular.

To learn more about these amazingly priced Argentine wines read more.

Although there were some I preferred more than others, I enjoyed all of them. All the others, with the exception of an interesting and delightful champagne (for about $8!!) were red. In fact, even the champagne was made in part from Malbec also! The biggest surprise of the afternoon was how much I enjoyed Malbec.

Several years ago a friend tried to tell me how great the Argentinian (and Chilean) Malbecs were, but I wouldn't even taste them. However, the grape I knew from living in Bordeaux was a far cry from the one I finally tasted in South America: Malbecs from Argentina are rich, jammy, and luscious with some surprising complexity. Malbec thrives in Argentina, Luis explained, because of the low humidity. This explains their ability to get the delightful jammy qualities which I thoroughly enjoy.

One I liked is called Gestos (2007) (gestures in English) and it was made from Malbec at two different elevations. You have to be careful because there are several varieties of Gestos, including one with Cabernet. The first thing one notices was the lovely aromas, like blackberries and maybe blueberries. The taste was even richer with jammy qualities mixed with the French oak and the earthy background.

Luis was kind enough to explain to me at length that he uses two different elevations of Malbec in order to achieve an extremely well-rounded wine. It is somewhat interesting that Argentina seems one of the few places where this combination can be exploited, although to a lesser degree, California winemakers have been touting mountain grown fruit for years. I rated this wine at least 88 points and perhaps even 89 out of 100. It was $12 or 13 and worth every penny.

Another wine I liked and purchased was the 2007 Expresiones reserve which was 60% Malbec and 40% Cabernet. I would rate this slightly better, perhaps 89-90 points as it had a lingering finish. The complexity reminded me greatly of a Bordeaux style wine and it had the great structure of the Cabernet with the luscious sweet berry qualities of the Malbec. Personally I think this will do better with a few years of patience, although it is delightful now.

The last one I tasted was called Dedicado (2004) and it was clearly the top of the line. At almost $20 it was hitting my price point, but rarely have I had a wine this good for this money...so I bought two. The bottle weighs a ton and it is a mixture of Cabernet, Syrah, and Malbec (30%,10% and 60%). It spends 12 months in new French french oak and 12 months in the bottle according to the label, but I thought Luis told me this one spent 2 years in wood. In short, I thought the result was stunning, perhaps even 91-92 points. The deep intensity and aroma of the berries and black pepper is wonderful and its opulence is nothing short of amazing with a lovely lingering finish. It will benefit from a year or two more in my estimation but it's fantastic just the way it is, at least with an hour or two of breathing.

Because of the high inflation in Argentina and the fact that they are tied to the Euro which is strong (the owners are a Portuguese group) the wines get the benefit of great prices on oak barrels. As far as price point is concerned, I thought each of these wines was wonderful and they certainly impressed me a great deal. Luis wasn't all that bad either!

Have you been to an amazing winery? Join the Wine Cellar group, upload your photos and a description of the experience, and it could be featured on YumSugar! If you are new to the YumSugar Community, here's a detailed guide to posting to groups.

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Happy Hour With Entourage

partysugar — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:00:11 -0700

At a recent wine tasting, YumSugar and I were attracted to one bottle in particular: Y3 Chardonnay. We loved the sleek and chic appearance. The wine with its crisp, clean, freshly acidic taste and bright, rich aromas made it highly drinkable and totally food-friendly. The winery is owned and run by Kimberly Jackson and it's an exclusive wine seen on many episodes of HBO's Entourage. When Vinnie, E, & Co. are sipping Char while out at one of LA's hottest eateries, it's most likely they are sipping a bottle from the Jax Y3 label. At only $18.00 a bottle this is an affordable must drink-get a bottle today to enjoy while you watch. Just in time for the season premiere of the 4th season of Entourage this Sunday, we got an exclusive interview with Kimberly!
To take a look at what Kimberly has to say about her wine and the cast of Entourage, read more

PartySugar/YumSugar: What was it like on the set of Entourage?
Kimberly Jackson: Frankly the set of Entourage was completely a surprise! In other words, I had great luck the day I found myself on the set of Entourage. It happened one year ago, when I was selling my wines to high profile restaurants in Los Angeles. I had an appointment with the sommelier of Dakota Restaurant at the Roosevelt Hotel (a traditional Hollywood celebrity scene) in the mid afternoon. When I arrived at the hotel, the restaurant was blocked off with a sign that indicated a private party was taking place. Undeterred by opportunity to show my wine, I entered the restaurant and found myself front and center on the set. I literally walked onto a scene with the entire cast, dozens of gorgeous extras and dual cameras.

Because the production filled the entire restaurant, I set up my wines next to the set in preparation for the tasting. While waiting, the director kept looking over at me and my wines and I saw him chatting and looking towards my direction several times Shortly thereafter, I find the producer halting the scene and yelling across the room at me to join the next episode and to put those wine labels front and center in the scene as well. Ever since that day, the product placement team has put our wines on the show at least 8 times over the past 2 seasons. Even more exciting is that I have become friends with Adrian Grenier, the director, Gary Goldman, and the product placement team. Trent and I have visited the set and are going back on July 3rd. We are also having some of the crew up to our winery this fall. Of course, we would be thrilled if they film at our vineyards.

P/YSugar: Who’s your favorite Entourage character and which cast member did you like in real life?
KJ: My favorite character on Entourage is Ari Gold. He plays every scene brilliantly and his attitude is just priceless. Not to mention the fact that our wines are displayed in every scene in which he is involved.

However my favorite cast member is Adrian. Adrian and I have become friends. He stocked his new wine cellar in Brooklyn with our wines, and he invited me to come to his biography premiere Shot in the Dark in New York. What I love most about Adrian is that he really tries to stay away from stardom. He wants to hang with real people outside of his industry. He is also very approachable. My mom and I called him last week after watching “shot in the dark” and like always he picked up his phone immediately and talked to us extensively about his experience filming that show. How many stars would do that the night after their premiere?

P/YSugar: What has the Entourage exposure done for your winery?
KJ: Certainly, our business is off the hook nationally. But what is truly exciting is that the placement on the audience of Entourage could not be more perfectly matched. Entourage capitalizes on “edgy, high quality, cult brands that are not easy to come by.” They are like Sex and the City for the male set. Our wines are foremost about quality and to be a premium brand. Beyond making small lot wines that the entire family must stamp with approval, we are focused on a more modern, forward thinking approach. We did not want to be an arrogant, intimidating, stuffy brand that our generation could not relate to. The audience that appreciates Entourage is precisely our demographic!

How fabulous is her story?? Wouldn't it be amazing to have the wines you produce featured on a show like Entourage?? For the rest of Kimberly's exciting interview, check back on Sunday before you watch Entourage!

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Come Party With Me: Almost Meatless Thanksgiving - Drinks

partysugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:00:06 -0800

Kick-start your Thanksgiving meal with a refreshing sangria-style glass of white wine. Made a day in advance, this wine is infused with oranges, Grand Marnier, and Pernod. Bay leaves and whole cloves give it an herbaceous, aromatic appeal that's sure to pair perfectly with baked brie and walnuts.

For the main course, select a versatile wine varietal that can support a lot of flavors. An affordable Chardonnay or light red are great options. Chat with your local wine shop owner for more suggestions. Tell him what you plan on serving and your budget, and he's sure to provide you with lots of ideas. For the orange wine recipe - this would also make a great Thanksgiving hostess gift! - read more.

Spiced Orange Wine
From Gourmet

Ingredients

2 (750-ml) bottles dry white wine
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier
1/4 cup Pernod
2 whole cloves
4 Turkish or 2 California bay leaves
2 navel oranges

Directions

Bring all ingredients except oranges to a boil (reserve wine bottles and corks), stirring until sugar has dissolved.
Remove zest from oranges in a continuous spiral using a vegetable peeler and cut off any white pith with a paring knife. Reserve oranges for another use and divide zest between empty wine bottles.
Fill bottles with orange wine and cool, uncorked, 1 hour.
Cork bottles, then chill at least 4 hours.

Makes 2 (750-ml) bottles.

Print recipe with images | without images

13 Under $20 Wines Perfect For Hostess Gifts

partysugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:15:34 -0800

Do you have an iPhone? Then stop what you're doing right now and download the Nirvino (my preferred online drinking community) wine ratings guide. With over one million wines listed by name, price, grape varietal, flavor profile, region, and producer, the wine application is an amazing resource to always have at your fingertips.

Not only does it provide food pairing suggestions, but there's also lots of fun lists to browse. Food Network's Aida Mollenkamp shares her favorite wines to drink while cooking, Sommelier Mark Bright rounded up his top bottles from Whole Foods, and yours truly has even created a list!

I headed to Safeway to pick out the best wines - all of which are under $20 - for hostess gifts. I've tasted and enjoyed these wines and would bring them to a party. Be it a birthday bash at Hog Island oyster farm, an intimate Thanksgiving dinner, or an upcoming holiday soirée, there's a bottle for every occasion. To check out my list, keep reading.